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Nitkowski Beating Odds with Stem Cell Treatment; Worse Economy Looks, Higher Romney's Numbers Go; Condoleezza Rice for V.P.; Interview with Jamie Moyer; "Stand Your Ground" in the Spotlight

Aired April 19, 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. I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 out West. We've got a busy hour ahead, so let's get straight to the news.

We begin with "stand your ground" in the spotlight. Right now, Florida governor Rick Scott is filling out a task force that will rethink the self-defense statute as we all came to know when George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin in February.

In 2005, Florida led the way in giving citizens the right to use deadly force against threats they perceive not just in their homes, but almost anywhere. For his part, Zimmerman is due back in court tomorrow for a bond hearing.

And the oldest and most traveled space shuttle welcomed this hour at the museum where it will live out its days. More than 13 months after its final mission, "Discovery" on public display in a hangar near Dulles Airport in Virginia.

It's part of the National Air and Space Museum, home to that stuff that won't fit in the building you've probably visited on the mall in D.C. "Discovery" flew into Dulles on Tuesday aboard a 747.

Its sister shuttle, "Endeavor," is bound for Los Angeles and "Atlantis" will stay at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. We're following live pictures throughout the morning.

And after 38 seasons at the University of Tennessee, it's about two and a half hours until the end of an era. Pat Summitt is stepping aside as the head coach of Tennessee's women's basketball team. Summitt will now take the title of head coach emeritus.

The university and Summitt are expected to make an announcement at a news conference, 1:30 Eastern. We'll bring that to you, live.

This comes less than a year after Summitt was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.

Well, we now know that a body found in California on Tuesday is that of the missing wife of a deployed Marine. Investigators discovered 22-year-old Brittany Killgore's body in a rural area near San Diego.

Kilgore, who had recently filed for divorce, was last seen alive Friday night when she left her apartment for a date with a 45-year-old Marine staff sergeant. That marine and a 25-year-old woman are in custody in connection with Killgore's death.

Killgore's husband, who was deployed to Afghanistan, left for the states on emergency leave when he heard of his wife's disappearance.

Also this hour, Washington marks Holocaust Remembrance Day. Live pictures from ceremonies that started at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, honoring the millions of victims of Nazi persecution and death camps in World War II.

This day is the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The theme of this year's observance, stories of rescue.

In Baghdad, a series of explosions killed at least 31 people today and more than 50 wounded. Shiite areas were among the targets. In other attacks, two car bombs in Kirkuk killed four people and wounded 23.

According to Reuters, this was Iraq's bloodiest day since March 20th when more than 50 people were killed in a series of blasts.

Where North Korea failed, South Korea has apparently succeeded. The South's defense ministry says it now has a cruise missile that can hit anywhere in the north.

This comes a day after North Korea said it was prepared to retaliate in the aftermath over international criticism over its failed rocket launch last week.

The United States says that the north's failed test was an attempt to launch a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Oklahoma City pausing to remember the bombing heard around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a day of unspeakable cowardice and pain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That attack on the Alfred Murrah Federal Building 17 years ago today killed 168 people, including 19 children. Joining today's, events were survivors and rescue workers from the 9/11 attacks in New York.

The terror attack was the deadliest in the U.S. prior to 9/11. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were convicted for that bombing. McVeigh was executed in 2001. Nichols is serving a life sentence in prison.

A New Jersey school district is paying the price of bullying. The Ramsey School District has agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle a lawsuit. It was filed by Sawyer Rosenstein, a student who was paralyzed after a bully punched him in the gut in 2006.

His family alleges that school officials knew about the bully's violent behavior and failed to protect their son and comply with state law.

Scientists say that sick fish are turning up in areas hit by the B.P. Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. KKTV reports that some of the fish have large, open sores and strange black streaks.

Other reports mention fish and shrimp born without eyes and other deformities. Scientists say that they can't be sure this if is related to that 2010 oil spill. Experts say they don't believe the fish pose any health risks for people at this point.

And the Oregon man who stripped naked at Portland Airport says that he did it because he was being harassed. John Brennan felt humiliated by the way the TSA was screening him and he says he decided to prove that he was really not carrying a bomb.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRENNAN, STRIPPED IN PORTLAND AIRPORT: At the point I found out I tested positive for nitrates which are an explosive, I decided the best way to show them that I'm not carrying a bomb is to take off my clothes.

They get to choose when they see us naked in those machines and I just decided I'm going to speed this process up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Brennan now faces charges of disorderly conduct and indecent exposure.

Still no word on a public memorial for pop music icon and entertainment mogul, Dick Clark. As you know, he died yesterday at the age of 82, seven years after suffering a stroke that all, but ended his TV work, except on New Year's Eve.

Clark brought rock-and-roll into mainstream, American living rooms and turned talented performers into superstars. Says Tony Orlando, quote, "Only God is responsible for making more stars than Dick Clark."

Florida's "stand your ground" law under intense scrutiny after the Trayvon Martin killing. Florida Governor Rick Scott is listening. More on that next.

But first, live pictures once again of a piece of history. You are now going to be able to go see the space shuttle "Discovery" yourself.

We're following the celebrations and the ceremonies and we'll give you more information as the morning rolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, it is too soon to know whether Florida is backing down from "stand your ground," but in the firestorm arising from the killing of Trayvon Martin, the self-defense statute that Florida pioneered in 2005 is getting a second look.

As we mentioned Florida's governor naming members of a task force on citizens' safety and protection right now. They'll try to make sure that the laws protect the innocent and not shield the guilty.

Let me read you the Florida statute verbatim. Quote, "A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has the right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony."

You don't have to be a famous trial lawyer to grasp that, but we've got one anyway. Paul Callan joining me from New York.

So, Paul, how do laws like this change the equation for prosecutors when one person kills another?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Florida's law is especially strange, Kyra, because, of course, in every state in the United States you have the right to defend yourself.

You can act in self-defense in your home or even outside of your home if you are in fear of death or if you're in fear of serious bodily injury. You can meet force with force. That's standard, old- fashioned self-defense theory.

But what Florida did was they added this what's called a "stand your ground" law and, as part of the law, they created what's called an immunity hearing and what that says, basically, is that when you're charged with killing somebody, you have the right to a hearing well in advance of trial in front of a judge and, if you assert self-defense, the judge has to dismiss the case.

In almost every other state, that's a jury question as to whether force was appropriate under the circumstances. You have a trial and there's a big fight about it, but Florida says, no, we'll let a judge decide that first and only then will there be a jury trial.

So they really put self-defense on a pedestal, that it's not on in really any other state in the United States.

PHILLIPS: Let's take a look at these laws and I want to ask you a bit of a broader question here and we've got some maps so folks can see exactly where these laws are in place.

Florida may have been the first, but it certainly isn't alone in having a "stand your ground" law. We can see that and then even more states, Paul, have this so-called "castle doctrine." You touched on it, allowing deadly force against threats inside the home, the car and even the workplace. Do you think we're becoming a society that shoots first and asks questions later?

CALLAN: I don't think we've seen a radical change in that, at least in the "castle doctrine" cases, because you have to understand this castle doctrine, which basically means you can defend your home using any necessary force.

This is a doctrine that goes back to King Henry VIII in England and, you know, if you broke into a peasant's hut, the peasant could kill to protect the interior.

But when he went outside into the village then it was the job of the king's men to enforce the law, so that's why you had the duty to call the police and retreat, not use deadly, physical force on somebody yourself.

So what has happened in the United States since about 2005 when these states started passing "stand your ground" laws, they said now, you know, you don't have to call the police. You can turn and fight and meet force with force.

So we've now seen that law being used in a lot of states in a way that's never been used before, but the real question is -- yes, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Do you foresee any of these laws going away?

CALLAN: I think a lot's going to depend on this Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case. This is the first time we've seen a very public display of what happens with these laws.

And you also have to understand that the Florida law is very, very unusual. It has this immunity hearing that a lot of the other states don't have.

A lot of the other states just have a law that says, at the time of the jury trial, you can tell the jury you acted in self-defense and you don't have this duty to retreat, to run and call the police, but Florida has this special immunity hearing.

So the Florida law is especially strange and, I said, it puts self-defense on a higher pedestal than really any other state that I know of, but I do think everybody's going to be taking a second look at "stand your ground" laws.

PHILLIPS: Paul Callan, thanks very much.

CALLAN: OK, nice being with you.

PHILLIPS: One of the prostitutes at the center of the Secret Service scandal is talking. What she said, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Demands for more answers as Washington is rocked by the sex scandal involving the president's Secret Service.

The agency has now booted three members following sordid allegations of Secret Service agents serviced by prostitutes, bringing them back to their hotel in Colombia for a wild night.

Now, we're learning more stunning details from one of the escorts. She spoke to "New York Times" reporter, William Neuman.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

WILLAIM NEUMAN, THE NEW YORK TIMES: One of them was essentially hitting on her and said he wanted to be with her and she says that she told him, that's great, but you have to give me a gift. He said how much is the gift?

And she says that she told him $800 and then a lot of drinking happened and, at some point, she and him went back to the hotel.

The next morning this woman asked for her payment and the guy says -- he became angry and he said I was drunk and you can't expect me to pay that and she insists and he calls her names and gets angry and throws her out of the room.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Apparently, that was just the beginning.

Let's bring in Brianna Keilar who is monitoring the latest from the White House.

So, Brianna, a review board is now being created, right, as separate investigations are underway? How is the White House responding?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, at this point the White House hasn't responded to this. Don't be surprised if Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, is asked about this and a number of other details in the briefing that'll be in the 1:00 Eastern hour.

But what you have, according to sources, is that the Secret Service will soon announce an external review board that's going to be looking at the standards and the ethics of the agency and really try to figure out the question, I think, that so many people want an answer to, which is, is this kind of just a one-time thing or is this something that's a systemic problem with the Secret Service, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: And now at least one congressman is calling for the director of the Secret Service, Mark Sullivan, to be replaced. What do you think is going to happen?

KEILAR: This is Congressman Forbes, a Republican from Virginia. So this is one voice, but I think it is also really important that you focus on the fact that there are a lot of other more powerful Republicans, powerful chairmen of committees, who are standing by Mark Sullivan at this point. That said, I think what you really have a lot of people doing, Democrats and Republicans, is they're waiting to see what the findings are.

The question to be asked and answered is, was this a problem that was so systemic that Mark Sullivan should have known?

Now, if a lot of people can reasonably say, you know, he should have known then that really may increase the pressure on him and certainly on the -- or that will increase the pressure on him perhaps to step aside, but we really just have to wait and see, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Do you have any more information on these three agents that are being forced out?

KEILAR: Two of them are supervisors, as we understand it. One has 26 years of experience in the Secret Service and, when he was let know that they were moving to fire him, he decided to go ahead and retire.

The other supervisor has 20 years of experience, sources tell us. He is actually -- he actually, the Secret Service is moving to fire him and we're expecting that he will contest that and then the third is a relative newcomer to the agency who, when he learned that he was going to be fired, he decided to resign, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And, you know, we've talked about this going beyond the Secret Service. I believe the numbers now as many as ten military personnel from all branches of the armed forces being questioned, including five members I see of the Army Special Forces.

Any word on the military end? Will there be a separate investigation there?

KEILAR: They are looking into this separately. You can't imagine that they wouldn't reprimand, obviously, on that side as well, Kyra, because you have the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff coming out and saying that he's disappointed. I mean, there will be reprimands.

We do know some details about what some of these members of the military did. According to sources, one of them or -- pardon me, some of them were Marines who worked with military working dogs.

Others worked on an explosive disposal team or as an explosive disposal expert. So these are some highly trained, certainly, members of the military, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Brianna Keilar at the White House for us. Brianna, thanks so much.

It stretches two-thirds the length of a football field and can fly anywhere in the world at a moment's notice. The C-5 is one of the U.S. military's largest and most vital planes. An inside look, next.

But first, you can't get enough of these live pictures. Space shuttle "Discovery" officially received by the Smithsonian. It will be placed on permanent display. It will replace the shuttle "Enterprise," in the center.

All types of festivities going on. We just heard the national anthem sung by Denise Graves. We're now getting music by the U.S. Marine Drum and Corps Bugle Corps and the Marine Corps Color Guard.

And apparently there are 14 of "Discovery's" 31 living commanders there at the site. There is John Glenn. He spoke also earlier today. He'll be speaking again and we'll be following these live pictures for you throughout the morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures, once again. The space shuttle "Discovery" officially being received by the Smithsonian.

Here's a little tidbit for you. Since that inaugural flight in 1984, "Discovery" has completed more than 30 successful missions, surpassing the number of flights made by any other orbiter in NASA's fleet.

And now, you have participants here, including 14 of "Discovery's" 31 commanders, living commanders, there up on stage.

We're following all the events as the space shuttle "Discovery," received by the Smithsonian, placed on permanent display there in D.C.

In just two hours, an era will end for women's college basketball. Thirty-eight seasons, more than 1,000 wins, a record eight NCAA championships later, the legendary Pat Summitt is stepping down as head coach of the University of Tennessee.

The university and Summitt will make that announcement official at a news conference at 1:30 Eastern time. We will take that live.

That move was expected, but dreaded. It comes less than a year after Summitt revealed she was suffering from early onset Alzheimer's.

"USA Today's" sports columnist Christine Brennan has covered women's sports for so many years, including Pat Summitt for a number of years. Christine, joining us on the phone.

Summitt now taking this title of head coach emeritus, let's talk about exactly what that means in terms of her role now.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, SPORTS COLUMNIST, "USA TODAY": Hi, Kyra. It's certainly a big change and, for people who are used to seeing Pat Summitt stalking the sidelines and yelling at officials and screaming out instructions to her players and all those fiery roles and the way she looked and the stare and everything about her, that's over and that is incredibly sad.

The early onset dementia that she told us about in August has taken its toll and she just can't diagram plays. She can't call plays. She can't be the coach anymore. So she'll be around in Tennessee in a figurehead role, but in a good way. She'll be able to help as much as she can be, but she can be in the locker room with the team, but she can't coach the team.

So it sounds the emeritus role is exactly what it is, kind of the grand coach being around and helpful when she can.

PHILLIPS: Christine, if you were to write her story today, what would the first paragraph include?

BRENNAN: Well, I did do a column, of course, for "USA Today," Kyra, and I think it would just be, frankly, that as we're about to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Title IX signed by Richard Nixon in June of 1972, it's fascinating how Pat Summitt's career and Title IX -- that landmark legislation opening the playing field for women and girls in this country, for millions of them -- that basically those two things, Pat's career and the law, share the same historical space.

I think that's hugely significant when we think about the advancement of women in sports, all sports not just basketball, Pat Summitt is one of those figureheads, one of those pioneers that has led the way and I think that's certainly historically what we should remember about Pat Summitt.

PHILLIPS: I was listening to some interviews with some of her fellow players, Christine, and they said that she wasn't just great coach and they didn't just learn thing from her on the court and how to play ball and how to be a team player, but they, once they graduated and moved on in life, they were implementing what they learned from coach in the business world.

BRENNAN: That's correct. And I think the main thing there is that Pat Summitt is tough. We've seen that, you know? We know how she coached.

PHILLIPS: You'd want her in the boardroom.

BRENNAN: But that tough love, if we can call it that, is exactly what made them successful. It made them successful on the basketball court, eight national championships, never missing the NCAA tournament, never in Pat Summitt's career, never once did her team one season did they miss the tournament.

But it's also what made them successful as people, graduating the Tennessee brand, the name is huge. The success stories in business, in coaching, in life, in broadcasting, whatever they're doing, they're great at it because Pat Summitt never coddled them.

She told them life was going to be tough. She trained them for life being tough. They learned how to win and, even more importantly, they learned how to lose at a young age. They handled that and they have become better people because of that.

PHILLIPS: Christine Brennan, always love it when you call-in on these great stories. Thank you so much.

BRENNAN: Kyra, thank you.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

More from the "CNN Newsroom" straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're still following the live pictures of the space shuttle "Discovery" that's being officially received by the Smithsonian. And this is pretty neat. This is what they're doing right now. They're showing the before and after. There are apparently 14 of "Discovery's" 31 living commanders on stage. They're telling you about each one of the commanders now and then going back and telling you about them at the point where they were a part of the crew. We'll follow the live pictures throughout the morning.

It's the Hercules of aircrafts. The C5 Galaxy is one of the largest planes in the world and the largest airlifter in the U.S. Air Force. It can carry a fully equipped military unit anywhere in the world.

Our Reynolds Wolf had a chance to tour the jet for this week's "Travel Insider."

(TRAVEL INSIDER)

PHILLIPS: That is so cool.

A comeback for a 39-year-old baseball player who's willing to do almost anything to stay in the game. His story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: By the time they're in their late 30s, most major league pitchers are thinking about retirement, but not Christopher John Nitkowski. After a checkered career playing on Major League Baseball teams, he suffered a shoulder injury. Instead of hanging up his glove, he's trying to beat the odds with stem cell treatment.

Our Drew Griffin has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At 39 years old, Christopher John Nitkowski offer has no business trying to pitch in the major leagues. In baseball terms, he is a "has been," just don't tell him that.

CHRISTOPHER JOHN NITKOWSKI, BASEBALL PLAYER: You go as long as you can. I had a good friend tell me make them tear the ump off of you. You can do whatever you want to do the rest of your life. You can't play baseball forever.

GRIFFIN: His major league jersey collection is evidence that he has tried.

NITKOWSKI: They're almost all there.

Detroit, they're in order, Houston. I went back to Detroit. Braves, when

I got traded to the Mets, from the Mets I went back to the Astros and Texas picked me up and within four weeks I was back in the big leagues again and it's been a roller coaster.

GRIFFIN: So many teams hired and fired Nitkowski and the path is almost dizzying. He was a fresh-faced rookie in 1995 with the Cincinnati Reds. Then after 10 big-league seasons came the final cut in the majors. The Washington Nationals in 2005. That only sent him looking for other jerseys to wear.

NITKOWSKI: My Japanese jerseys, home and away. I played for three different teams in Korea.

GRIFFIN: Finally last year, the career-ending injury. He was hurt, he says, right here, pitching to high schoolers, trying to increase his velocity. He felt a twinge in his pitching shoulder. At 39, married with three kids, it was the moment he should have stopped playing games, moving on like so many others into coaching or perhaps a real job. Instead, he took the biggest gamble of his professional career.

UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: Pain again.

Doing all right so far?

NITKOWSKI: I'm fine.

UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: I don't want you to faint on us.

NITKOWSKI: No. I'll take our magic potion.

GRIFFIN (on camera): You have been working out crazy. Do you ever lay in bed and think, am I delusional?

(LAUGHTER)

NITKOWSKI: There are times when you question yourself. Anything you want to do, you have a passion about it you'll do whatever it takes to do it, and so that's where I'm at. There are times doubt definitely creeps in and I'm saying what am I doing?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Love it.

GRIFFIN: Super nice guy, but crazy. Kyra, these guys, he's been playing ball since he was a boy. He doesn't want to give it up and when he says make them rip the jersey off you. He really means it. The guy has passion for the game.

PHILLIPS: OK, passion combined with admiration and interest in another baseball player, right? GRIFFIN: That's right.

PHILLIPS: Did the stem cell.

GRIFFIN: It's a therapy.

PHILLIPS: Therapy.

So tell me about Colon.

GRIFFIN: This started with a guy named Bartolo Colon, who was then a New York Yankees sitting on his butt. Goes to this doctor in Florida who gives him a controversial stem cell treatment and what they do is harvest your own body's stem cells and inject them into your arm. No scientific that this works at all and a season later he comes back and has a phenomenal comeback, and last night throws 38 strikes in a row for the ankles and Nitkowski says I can do the same thing, goes down to Florida and gets the injections. The problem is we don't know if it work -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Because there have been so many stories done on this and a lot of stories on how there are a lot of frauds out there, there are doctors saying I can do this. I can save your lives and people go broke doing this.

GRIFFIN: In the case of Colon, no scientific proof. No scientific proof it works for Nitkowski. His agents said all it took for him to get back in the majors is to get his butt off the couch and start working out. I don't know if it's a placebo effect, maybe.

PHILLIPS: Still, 38 consecutive --

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: You can be a believer. C.J. Nitkowski wanted to bring it back this next season.

PHILLIPS: It's pretty fascinating.

Thanks, Drew.

Stick around because I'll talk to a 49-year-old big league pitcher who just got a historic victory. Do you know the story of Jamie Moyer? Well, 11:55 eastern, you'll get it so you don't want to miss it.

Condoleezza Rice for vice president? The former secretary of state is now the top pick for many Republicans. Is she the secret weapon for the Romney camp exam? That's "Fair Game" next.

But first, a question for all of you "Political Junkies" out there. Who was the first U.S. president to receive full-time Secret Service protection? Be the first to tweet me the right answer @kyraCNN. I'll give you a shout out after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Before the break I asked who was the first U.S. president to receive full-time Secret Service protection. The answer, Theodore Roosevelt, on the assassination of President William McKinley. A shout out to Donald of Montreal, one of those who tweeted me the right answer.

President Obama and Mitt Romney locked in a dead heat in the battle for the White House. The biggest concern for voters, the economy, and the worse it looks, the higher Romney's numbers go. So is the GOP quietly rooting for a bad economy? And is that campaign strategy "Fair Game"?

CNN contributor, Maria Cardona; and Republican strategist, Ana Navarro, joining me.

Maria, let's start with you.

Are Republicans purposely bad-mouthing the economy to make them look bad?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR & DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Sometimes they are and they need to be very careful with that, because the last thing they need to be seen especially by middle-class families who are really struggling to get by is that they are talking down the economy. I hope that's not the case, but the more that they go out there and bash this president and his economic policies when, in fact, there have been -- there has been more than 25 straight months of private sector job creation, more than 4.1 million jobs that has been created and if you're one of those people going back to work thanks in part to policies Obama has put in place, it is not going to be a good measure for the Romney campaign if they are seen as talking down the economy.

PHILLIPS: Ana?

ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I don't think there's any American rooting for a bad economy. The economy is not Republican. It's not Democrat. The unemployment numbers are not Democrat or Republican. There's not a different level of mortgage crises for Republicans than there are for Democrats. We're all in this together.

I don't think there is a single American that is rooting for a bad economy, we understand that, but what we're also not going to do and what Republicans should not do is pretend that the economy is better than it is and that Obama has delivered on the economic promises he made three and a half years ago. That certainly has not happened. There are still one out of five Americans that are under water in their mortgages, and I can tell you that for al of those people that are unemployed and underemployed and have stopped looking for jobs, it is a reality, so no, it shouldn't be talked down, but it also should not be covered up.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk V.P. There's been a lot of talk about who Mitt Romney should pick as a running mate and this poll caught our attention this morning. The new CNN/ORC poll, Condoleezza Rice on top of the list, 26 percent and second, Rick Santorum. Ana, holy cow! Talk about two totally different people. What do these two top picks tell us?

NAVARRO: Kyra, I suspect that Condoleezza Rice is looking that, and saying holy cow herself. I think when she left office she said that what she wanted to do was a commissioner of the NFL. So I suspect this is a surprise to her as much as it is to me.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Ana, do you think she'd do it?

NAVARRO: You know, I don't think she would. I think for someone who has never been in elected office -- elected office is very different from appointed office. Certainly she's a very qualified woman, she's been a pioneer for African-American women and she brings important foreign policy experience and diversity, but no. I don't think she's interested in it and I don't think she's given us any indication that she's interested in it and, I think it would be risk toe put someone in who has never run for elected office. Campaigns can be pretty treacherous, as we've learned.

PHILLIPS: What do you think? Condoleezza Rice?

CARDONA: I agree with Ana in the fact that she certainly would be ready to take on the position. Her experience has been terrific. She's got a great background story, and in terms of having a woman on the ticket, it certainly is an area where mitt desperate for help, and that is women voters in America. But I have also heard her say more than once that she's absolutely not interested in this. That it's not something that she's thinking about, and I know that reporters and the media and everybody sort of take that is with a grain of salt --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: But you look at the poll, 26 percent. What does that tell you about what folks are saying that were polled?

CARDONA: Well, I think what it tells you is that they don't seem to think that there are any other V.P.s that would excite them, and I think it's the one thing that the Republican field has been suffering from, from the very beginning, which is excitement about their own candidates.

NAVARRO: I think it tells you there's a lot of people that respect Condoleezza Rice. She did a very good job as secretary of state. I also think she represents a wow factor. Many people feel that we need a wow factor, and you'd have the first African-American woman. You have somebody coming totally out of left field on this. But I'm a little surprised by those poll results.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: I agree that Romney is desperate for a wow factor, but I also think that there could be a downside because she's so connected to the George Bush -- George W. Bush administration. And a lot of people still do not remember that administration fondly in terms of the Iraq war and the economy. That could be a downside.

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you both then -- Ana, what would be your wow factor?

NAVARRO: You know, if we're going to have a first, I'd love to see Marco Rubio be on the V.P. ticket. He has said himself he's not interested and he doesn't plan to be on the ticket.

But, Maria, I don't know if you share this, but it would be great to break that glass ceiling for Latinos. It would be great to have the first Hispanic on a national ticket and the sooner the better.

CARDONA: As a Latina, I would love to see a Latina or Latino on the ticket, no matter from what party. But, again, Marco Rubio is another one who has said no time and again. He says he wants to focus on the Senate. And other Republicans, frankly, have said that they would be afraid that the Marco Rubio pick would be too similar to the Sarah Palin pick in terms of others thinking he's just not ready for this right now. And that's exactly what the Mitt Romney campaign cannot afford right now. So I think they're probably going to instead of looking for a wow factor, I think that they are going to probably play it safe.

PHILLIPS: OK. You want your Latina --

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: Let me just say that I know Sarah Palin, and I know Marco Rubio very well. And there is a world of difference.

(LAUGHTER)

Let me just leave it at that.

PHILLIPS: Ana, Maria, thanks.

CARDONA: Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: How cool is it to be the oldest guy ever to win a major league game? Well, I'm going to ask him right after this. I'm talking to Rockies pitcher, Jamie Moyer, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Today Jamie Moyer --

(LAUGHTER)

-- is 49 years old, 150 days, which I mention only because the night before last, at 49 years, 150 days Moyer made baseball history. He actually became the oldest pitcher ever to win a major league game, leading the Colorado Rockies to a 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Jamie joins me on the phone now from Denver.

And speaking for all 40-somethings everywhere, Jamie, I have to say you are the man, and, second question, are you sore?

JAMIE MOYER, MLB PITCHER (via telephone): Well, thank you very much, Kyra, and, no, I'm not. It's something I've done for a long time, and your body kind of gets acclimated to it and you just kind of move on. Some days I'm a little stiff, but I don't really get sore.

PHILLIPS: OK. And I have been dying to ask you this, too. Everything I have been reading, you've been called baseball's old man, vintage lefty, aged wonder. How do you take that, Jamie?

MOYER: Well, you know, it is what it is, and, you know, I guess, you know, I am a little bit older than most that play this game. But I'm proud of it, and, you know, I think for a while it started to bother me. When I was a little younger it started to bother me, but at this point I think I've heard every old joke.

PHILLIPS: It gets old.

MOYER: Everything you can equate to the word old. So I kind of laugh at it.

PHILLIPS: You know, I was thinking of the movie "For the Love of the Game" with Kevin Costner, and my E.P. and I were talking about this, and, you know, he's standing there on the mound, and he tells himself, cue the mechanism, and then the crowd goes silent. And I'm curious, is that what it's like out there? Is that what you do?

MOYER: I'm not really thinking about cueing the mechanism. But, you know, I have an ability when I'm pitching, in a lot of cases, when I'm really focused, I really feel like I can silence the crowd inside my own head. And I feel like I'm -- the pitcher's mound is kind of like my office, and, you know, and my focus is on throwing the ball to my catcher and getting hitters out consistently.

PHILLIPS: You're a father of eight, right? Eight kids.

MOYER: Yes, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: So when this happened, Jamie, when you broke this record, when you made history, what did your kids say to you? Is there something that maybe one of them said that you'll never forget?

MOYER: You know, our oldest wasn't there. He was in college. Our second guy, Hutton, he just said congratulations. I think they all -- they're kind of living it with me, and I appreciated my wife being there with me as well as my sister. We had a good time. We shared some laughs after the game, and, you know, we try to do everything as a family, and family is important to us.

PHILLIPS: Jamie, you are being so humble and so low key. There had to have been a moment during that game where you wanted to scream, jump, do something.

MOYER: Well, actually, it's funny you ask that because, was it in the third or fourth inning, I got Mark Kotsay (ph) out. And it's funny, over the course of my career, this guy has handled me pretty well as a hitter. To getting him to hit into a double play -- and we're friends away from the field in the off-season, so it's kind of a running joke that, you know, he wears me out pretty well. So when I got him out, I kind of threw my arms up in exuberance that I was able to get him out and we both had a chuckle about it. We had two hits off me that night as well. Just for us to win a game and get back on track -- we won again last night and we're going on the road here today. We go to Milwaukee and Pittsburgh on this road trip. We have a young team, and it's an exciting team. Hopefully, we can get back on track and win a lot more baseball games this year.

PHILLIPS: They're keeping you young, that's for sure. Final question.

MOYER: Sure.

PHILLIPS: I know the Baseball Hall of Fame wants a piece of memorabilia. Have you decided what you're going to give the museum?

MOYER: Yes. They have inquired about my hat and the glove. So I need to break another glove in first. So, yes, and I'm honored to be able to give the Hall of Fame some mementos from last evening.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's pretty awesome. And Jamie, you're not doing -- you're doing so much for the game, but you also do so much for your family and also your foundation.

Thank you so much for joining us. It was a big honor. Thanks, Jamie.

MOYER: All right. Thank you for having me on, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

Thanks for watching. You can continue the conversation with me on Twitter @KyraCNN or Facebook.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Suzanne Malveaux.