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Obama Courts Young Voters; Obama Honors National Teacher Of The Year; Obama, Romney Agree On Student Loans; Sanford: Police Chief Can't Quit; Jennifer Hudson's Teary Testimony; Teacher Of The Year: Rebecca Mieliwocki; Pivotal Immigration Decision Looms; Exclusive Look at Border Patrol Operations; Retired but Not Relaxing

Aired April 24, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I think so. Thank you, Jeff. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Just ahead in the NEWSROOM, back to school, President Obama hitting two college campuses later today, touting his plan to save students money on their college loans.

Mitt Romney doesn't want to lose those young voters so he's speaking out about the president's plan. You might be surprise what had he has to say.

Out of jail and into public life. New details of Robert Zimmerman's life after bail.

Plus the city of Sanford divided over the police chief. The police chief turns in his resignation, but the city council refuses to accept it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chief Lee is paying for the sins of past police officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He's known as the toughest sheriff in America who loves the spotlight and is giving his opinion. But today, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's controversial comments about arresting illegal immigrants are drawing some unwanted attention from the feds.

Elizabeth Taylor signifies old Hollywood glamour. Now we've learned the controversial actress who spent time in jail will play one of the most famous and celebrated stars of all time.

We begin this morning with this, though. President Obama is college bound later today as he tries to woe young voters with just months to go until November.

But first, he's set to honor the teacher of the year finalist at the White House. That will happen just moments from now. Around 1:00 eastern, he'll address students at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill as he pushes Congress to keep rates from doubling on federal subsidized student loans.

Following that, the president is scheduled to sit down with comedian, Jimmy Fallon, for an appearance on his show. And then the president gets a break for a few hours before he speaks to students at the University of Colorado tonight. Let's head to the White House now and check in with Dan Lothian. Good morning, Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, how are you?

COSTELLO: Good. The president has a busy schedule.

LOTHIAN: He does. You know, it's all about reaching out to young people. Look back, not too long ago, young people were criticized for getting all energized during campaigns, but not showing up on Election Day.

That did not happen in 2008. They were really at the heart of the president's grass roots effort help him to win over John McCain. Take a look at the exit polling at the time. Young people with ages 18 to 29 went for President Obama, 66 percent over Senator John McCain's 32 percent.

The challenge for the president is trying to again revive that enthusiasm among those voters, those young voters who went for him in 2008 who are a bit older now and those who could not vote at the time.

It's also a challenge for Mitt Romney who has been reaching out to those young voters, but the most recent polls from CNN/ORC looking at voters 18-34, their choice for president, still overwhelmingly President Obama, 64 percent, Mitt Romney 32 percent.

The key, though, is to reach them on the level of what they can do to help turn the economy around. They have some of the same concerns older Americans have, jobs especially those coming out of college having a hard time finding good, solid jobs.

So they are frustrated as well and are looking to which one of the candidates has the best solution -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And as I mentioned before, Dan, the president is also honoring the teacher of the year, which is a pretty great honor. What do we know about that teacher?

LOTHIAN: That' right, the top teacher in the country. Her name is Rebecca Mieliwocki. She is a seventh grade English teacher from Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, California. She has been a teacher for 14 years.

Even though she's about to be honored here at the White House as the top teacher in the country, she was a bit humble in a recent interview saying that she is not the best teacher in America, but one of so many.

So she's about ready receive the top honor. By the way, a side note here, she found out about this a month ago, but had to keep her lips sealed and in fact, only told her son about it just two weeks ago -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Good for her. We can't wait to hear from her. We'll go back to the White House with you and listen together when she starts speaking from behind that podium. Dan Lothian reporting live for us today.

Mark this day on the calendar, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney actually agree on something. The presumptive Republican nominee echoes the call to extend the low interest rates on student loans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans. There was some concern that that would expire half way through the year. I support extending the temporary relief on interest rates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It's up to Congress now. There may not be a lot of drama left, but five states are holding primaries today. They are offering the largest windfall of delegates since Super Tuesday some seven weeks ago. The states voting today are Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

This morning in Sanford, Florida, the embattled police chief remains on the job whether he likes it or not. The city commission refused to accept Bill Lee's resignation despite blistering criticism that his department botched the investigation into the Trayvon Martin killing. His supporters say the chief is a scapegoat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATTY MAHANY, SANFORD, FLORIDA CITY COMMISSIONER: Chief Lee is paying for the sins of past police officers. He's police chief. He has been here -- he has been in office 10 months. How do you steer a boat that big, Mr. Mayor. How do you steer a boat in 10 months to a complete turnaround? You don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Martin Savidge is in Sanford, Florida with the latest. So how is the larger public reacting to the chief staying on?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know it's interesting. It depends on who you talk to, Carol. There's a lot of frustration in the community. I think you saw that last night in the way a number of those speeches were delivered.

That they feel that this community overall has been maligned. That it's gotten bad treatment in the media. That you have people that have come from outside the community and stirred up emotions and passions and that Sanford has come off looking very bad.

They say that the police chief has suffered from that. That of course, many people have perceived that the investigation of Trayvon Martin's death had been mishandled and thereby, it was the chief's fault.

That's why he got a vote of no confidence about a month ago and he stepped down temporarily. He tried to make it permanent. As you say, the board rejected that last night. So there were those who say he's been improperly blamed.

There's another side that says, you know what, he has to go. If the city wants to move on from all of this, the chief of police has to leave. It's just part of the protocol that's required.

One of those that might fall into that category is the city manager, Norton Bonaparte. He tried to sum up what happened last night. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORTON BONAPARTE, SANFORD, FLORIDA CITY MANAGER: Basically, what the city commission said is that they want to have more information. In particular, they want to have the results of an independent investigation that would determine what actually took place that night and how the Sanford police department reacted. Did they do things they shouldn't have done or did they not do things they should have done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Which is true, there are a number of investigations that are under way. So why let go of the chief until you determine whether he did or didn't do anything wrong.

Well, from a city manager's point of view, there's a real problem that's called the budget because right now, the chief of police is being paid on administrative leave even though he's not doing his job.

And even though the city has to go out and find another chief, an interim chief. So they will be paying for two chiefs, but they'll have only one on the job. That's going to financially work out to be a problem later. But right now, the decision is the chief gets to stay on the job and investigations continue -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And just briefly, you know, a lot of people are wondering about George Zimmerman, where he is and how he's doing. Can you give us an idea?

SAVIDGE: Well, I mean, we have some ideas. He's not sending postcards or anything like that, but we know through his attorney and that is the man who knows him directly.

Mark O'Mara is saying that George Zimmerman is adjusting. That he is doing well. He is apparently getting rest. He is relieved. I think would be the greatest word underlined there, to be out of jail.

But he is worried about security and those security concerns continue. That's why we don't know where he is. That's why he's in a safe house and that's why his whereabouts will continue to be undisclosed to any of us. But the state of Florida knows because they have GPS on him.

COSTELLO: They do, indeed. Martin Savidge reporting live from Sanford, Florida.

The government star witness back on the stand, on the trial of presidential candidate John Edwards, former presidential candidate anyway. Edwards is accused of using hundreds of thousands of dollars from two donors to hide his affair with Rielle Hunter.

Edwards' former aide, Andrew Young, is the first witness in the trial. He testified yesterday. One of those big donors felt Edwards was going to be, quote, "The savior of America."

Another high-profile trial that's starting up again this morning. Singer Jennifer Hudson broke down in tears on the stand. She was testifying in the trial of the man accused of killing three members of her family.

Ted Rowlands is covering the trial in Chicago. Ted, you were in the courtroom. Tell us about it.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, it was a very dramatic day yesterday when Jennifer Hudson was on the stand. She broke down, as you said, a couple of times. She really transfixed the jury and the entire courtroom, really.

Whenever you have a witness on the stand who is a family member, obviously it carries a lot of weight. When the family member is Jennifer Hudson, it just multiplies that factor and that's what we saw yesterday, absolutely riveting.

She broke down a few times and she got angry a few times talking about the defendant in this case, William Balfour, saying that she didn't want her sister to marry him or even be around him.

And when the prosecutor said why, she said because of the way he treated her. It really did transcend to the jury. I think she's a very effective witness. Her sister was next on the stand, very emotional, talked about finding her mother dead in the house, another very powerful witness with the prosecution.

COSTELLO: Ted Rowlands reporting live for us. Ted, we have to go because the president is speaking now in Washington to honor the teacher of the year, Rebecca Mieliwocki. She's a seventh grade English teacher from Sacramento, California. Let's listen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Let's face it, a lot of important people visit the White House. But, to young people in classrooms around the country, nobody is more important than the men and women that we honor here today, the state and national teachers of the year. These are the kind of teachers who change lives forever. I wouldn't be here today if it were not for teachers like these who challenged me and pushed me and put up with me and inspired me and set me straight when they had to.

I think everybody here can say the exact same thing. Teachers matter. That's why I often tell young people, if you want a guarantee you are making a difference every single day, become a teacher.

A teacher is the key to a child reaching their potential. If we need more proof, yes, it's true. Yes. She agrees. If we need more proof that teachers matter, just look around this room. I'm honored to be here with teachers like Gabe Barnes from Madison, Alabama, one of the four finalists for this award.

There's Angela Wilson who teaches children of military families at a middle school in Italy. Not a bad place to hang out. There's Alvin Davis who teaches music in Florida.

And there is our 2012 national teacher of the year, Rebecca Mieliwocki from Burbank, California. This is her crew right here, who are very proud. An aunt, cousins and --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My boss.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Boss, even more important. Now, you might say that teaching is in Rebecca's DNA because both her parents taught in public schools. She saw how hard they worked, how much time and energy they devoted to their jobs, how much they gave to their students.

But, when she was 18, of course, the last thing she wanted to be was a teacher. What teenager wants to do what their parents are doing? So in college, she really rebelled and went to law school.

She then tried a few different careers after that, after studying to become a lawyer, she went into publishing and floral design, event planning. But, ultimately, she found herself drawn back to the classroom.

Her students are so lucky that she did. She's got high expectations for her seventh graders and for herself. She also knows school can be fun. That fits a personality that she describes as a 12-year-old goof ball dying to get out.

I have to say, she was a little goofy when I met her. She was -- she was back there teasing me and asking about our basketball games and stuff. You can tell she's just got a wonderful spirit.

So, in addition to everything they learn in her English class, her students have had a chance to film their own adaptations of Henry story. They worked with a local writer to develop 5-minute plays that professional actors performed.

Rebecca led field trips to the science center, aquarium, Chinatown and even the tar pits. That's a trip you really don't want to lose track of anybody. Only one kid --

They never showed up that morning. I was wondering where they were. Rebecca knows that education also is begins at home. She hosts family nights to get parents involved. She sends home weekly parent memos so moms and dads know what's going on at school.

She maintains a Facebook page for her class where families can get information and updates 24/7. All this extra work makes a huge difference. When they finish her class, they are better readers and writers when they started.

But even more on that, they know how important they are and they understand how bright their futures can be and they know that if they work at it, there's no limit to what they can achieve.

So Rebecca is the definition of above and beyond. So many teachers around the country are like her. She throws herself into her work for a simple reason. She knows that her students depend on it.

As she puts it, life is too short and too difficult to have anything less than the most engaged, enthusiastic teachers in schools. I couldn't agree more. I know Arne couldn't agree more.

I want to point something else out. Rebecca said in applying for this award. She said that in some ways it's harder than ever to be an educator. Even in the best of times teachers are asked to do more with less.

Today, with our economy still recovering from the worst recession since the great depression, states and communities have to stretch budgets tighter than ever.

So we have a particular responsibility as elected officials in difficult times, instead of bashing teachers to support them. We should be giving states the resources to keep good teachers on the job and reward the best ones.

We should grant our educators the flexibility to teach with creativity and passion in the classroom and not just teaching to the test. We should allow schools to replace teachers who, even with the right resources and support help our kids to learn because we have all got something at stake here.

Our parents, our grandparents, you know, they didn't build the world's most prosperous economy and the strongest middle class in the world out of thin air. It started with a world class education system. That was the foundation.

In the long run, no issue will have a bigger impact in our success as a country and the success of our citizens. So, every day, when teachers like you put in long hours or dig into your own pockets to pay for school supplies or tweet lessons so they are better than they were last year.

You are not just serving your schools or your students, you are serving your country and you're helping to preserve the basic promise of America. No matter who you are, where you come from, what you look like, what your last name is, you can succeed.

You can make it if you try, if you put in the effort. So on behalf of the American people, thank you all for everything that you do. Congratulations, I'm going to present this spiffy looking award to Rebecca Mieliwocki.

REBECCA MEILIWOCKI, TEACHER OF THE YEAR: That is very heavy, that award right there. I have a little bit of laryngitis this morning so please excuse my voice. Thank you, Mr. President, for your kind introduction and especially for taking your time to honor American education in the way you have inviting us here to the White House to be recognized by you is a proud moment for us, for our families and for our students.

Your commitment to us, to American children and the ideals in a free public education are tremendously inspiring. I couldn't be prouder that you are my president.

Thank you, Secretary Duncan, for being a dedicated advocate to the strengthening of American education in all its forms and facets, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you to my Burbank school family and the California delegation for coming all this way and supporting me every step of the way and cultivating a place where I can do great work with students, students who are right now taking their state tests.

So go yellow jackets. Do your best and make us really proud. I know you are going to. Thank you to my parents for coming here today to see a dream come true.

My parents are themselves retired public schoolteachers. They devoted much of their lives to guiding, growing and loving young people, one of whom was me. I think you did pretty well.

To my father and mother-in-law, Tom and Joan, thank you for loving me as one of your own all this time. But most importantly to my amazing husband, Dwayne and my son, Davis, your love, laughter and devotion sustain and complete me. I could not be here without you. I love you so much.

I stand here today with 53 of America's finest educators, the state teachers of the year. Dedicated, intelligent, compassionate hard working group of professionals you will never meet.

I stand here among them as one of them simply blows me away. Why, because I am not the best teacher in America. There isn't one. All across this nation, there are millions of teacher who is do the work I do and many do it better.

But what I do have are the qualities some of the best teachers have. I have an absolute passion for my work. I have a bottomless well of belief in my students and their potential. I have a thirst for getting better at what I do every single day.

I have a warm and welcoming heart for all the students and the unique gifts that they bring to my classroom. But underneath all of that, I have an unshakable understanding that with a strong education, children can do anything they set their minds to.

Our children are our future. I have a hand in guiding and shaping that future compels know make every minute, every lesson, every moment with them count. All across this nation, millions of teachers just like me are working wonders in their classroom.

To be sure the challenges that we face are enormous and complex. There are barriers to student successes that we didn't create and which are far beyond our control, but despite these burdens, teachers persevere.

Every day here in America, teachers with patience and creativity are opening doors for students to reach deep into themselves, to learn more, to solve problems, grow and nurture their dreams.

We do this work with conviction. It's not unusual. It's not even rare. It happens in America's classrooms every day and you need to know that. To my fellow educators here today and across this country, I commend you for the magic you continue to make day in and day out in your classrooms.

You pull your students in with imaginative lessons and push your students to perform the best they can every single day. The devotion that you show to all of your students will reap a lifetime of benefits.

Benefits that will continue to strengthen this already exceptional nation so, teachers, I want to say to you, be passionate about your work and students. Stay curious. Never stop learning. Bring the joy of what you know into your classrooms and share it with your students.

Set the highest expectations for your students but do me a favor and set a higher set of goals for yourself. You are a hero to someone and you may not even know it. If the future depends on your passion, your dedication, your professionalism, we are in remarkably capable hands and it is my honor to represent you. Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: OK. We are going to step away. What a speech. She's a great speaker. That's her with laryngitis? I mean, what is -- she like completely healthy. Congratulations to Mrs. Mieliwocki from Burbank, California. We're going to step away from this now and go on to other news.

Arizona's immigration law is one of the toughest of the country. The U.S. Supreme Court will review it tomorrow. We'll look at both sides of the case. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's 26 minutes past the hour. Stories we are watching now. This morning, many wonder what will happen to Sanford, Florida Police Chief Bill Lee. The city commission last night rejected his letter of resignation. Lee's been criticized for his agency's investigation into the Trayvon Martin shooting. He remains on paid leave.

ESPN is reporting New Orleans Saints GM Mickey Loomis had an electronic device in his Superdome suite so he could eaves drop on opposing coaches. The Saints deny the allegations.

The government star witness in the trial of former presidential candidate, John Edwards back on the stand now. Edwards is accused of using hundreds of thousands of dollars from two donors to hide his affair with Rielle Hunter.

"Political Buzz" is your rapid-fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Democratic strategist, Robert Zimmerman is playing today along with Chris Moody from Yahoo News and Crystal Wright from conservativeblackchick.com. Welcome to all of you.

First question, Speaker John Boehner, we know he cries. But will he be sobbing in November. Here is what he said about the GOPs chances of keeping its majority in the House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I say there's a two in three chance that we win control of the House, again. But there's a one in three chance we could lose. I'm being myself, frank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So one in three chance that they have to give up the gavel to a Democrat. What do you think of those odds, Crystal?

CRYSTAL WRIGHT, EDITOR/BLOGGER, CONSERVATIVEBLACKCHICK.COM: The Democrats getting control of the House is like a snowball surviving in hell. The reason Speaker Boehner did this was to throw Nancy Pelosi a bone.

It reminds the American people why they can never let Democrats gain control of the House, again. I mean, the Republicans are the ones passing budget, passing job creates bills since they have had control of the House in 2010. They are trying to put the country on the right path, not the wrong path backwards.

COSTELLO: Robert?

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Crystal, I need Dramamine to go with that spin.

WRIGHT: Sorry.

ZIMMERMAN: Let's remember, first of all, Democrats only need 25 seats to carry the House. Now, the speaker acknowledges in an interview that 50 seats are vulnerable. Let's also remember that President Obama carried 64 of these congressional districts in 2008 that are now presently held by Republicans. In short, Speaker Boehner is not going to need tissues, but might need to wear depends.

COSTELLO: Robert.

ZIMMERMAN: I'm here to help, Carol.

COSTELLO: Chris, save us from the madness.

CHRIS MOODY, POLITICAL REPORTER, YAHOO! NEWS: That's what I always do. It's refreshing to hear a politician, especially a leader in the House say something like this. I can't remember how many times they say the opposing party is going to win.

They stand on the bow of the ship and say we are not going down and they win. It could be for fund raising. A lot of attention is going to be on the presidential race, not the House. He's sending a message to Republican donors saying we are here, too. We matter. To Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner, may the odds be in your favor.

COSTELLO: We love that. Mitt Romney is mum Romney when it comes to the VP selection. The media is left to guess and analyze the topic on the ground.

Dick Cheney says picking a vice president is a huge decision. The first, he says they have to be presidential looking. Here is the thing you do, here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It gives the public a chance to watch you operate and see what you think is important and what kind of individual you choose to serve as your running mate. What are the criteria?

And I think the single most important criteria has to be the capacity to be President. That's why you pick them. And lots of times, in the past, that has not been the foremost criteria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh. So is the former VP warning Mitt Romney not to pull a John McCain from 2008 -- Chris.

MOODY: Well, you know, I think the media is mostly -- partially at least to blame in -- in focusing so much on the political impact of choosing a VP. They say will -- will Portman help him in Ohio, will Rubio help him in Florida? I think he could be talking about John McCain, he could also be talking about Joe Biden in this -- in this -- in this case.

But we also have to remember who Dick Cheney picked when he was given the task to pick a vice president, himself.

COSTELLO: Robert.

ROMBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: You know, maybe it's just me, but advice on governing or the vice presidency from Dick Cheney. Let's remember he is the vice president who declared that vice presidential office was a separate branch of government. Totally ignoring the Constitution in our country's history. So I don't think -- I don't think really he's the best source to go to.

But the bigger issue for Mitt Romney is that every prospective vice presidential candidate when they talk about running for Mitt Romney, they all look like they need a blindfold and a cigarette. That's his biggest problem.

COSTELLO: Crystal?

CRYSTAL WRIGHT, CONSERVATIVE BLACKCHICK.COM: I don't even know where to begin after that comment. But -- but I'm going to try to dig myself and everybody else towards insanity here. You know Mitt Romney -- Cheney is absolutely right, you have to pick someone that can actually lead. And he's warning Romney, don't fall down the rabbit hole that McCain did to pick a game changer like Sarah Palin who weighed your ticket down and helped you lose the election in 2008.

Romney is a rational man, he's a businessman. He's not going to pick somebody to make news. and I think we're going to see a really smart choice come from him.

I mean, you know and let's remember, President Obama didn't even serve -- he didn't even serve out -- look what a year and a half when he was senator and then he said I'm going to be president? Come on.

COSTELLO: Ok on to your "Buzzer Beater" now, 20 seconds each. President Obama goes on "Jimmy Fallon Show" tonight. If you're thinking wow, he and the First Lady have been on TV a lot, you are on to something. The Washington Free Beacon, knows the President and First Lady have made more TV and movie appearances than any other first couple including the Reagans who are both actors. And far more than the Van Burrens (ph) of course there was no TV back when old Kinder Hook (ph) was in office. So do you think the Obamas are on TV too much? Robert?

ZIMMERMAN: Well, I think -- I think it's a serious issue by way that President Obama and his team have got to figure out. In 2010, he was criticized. And I think it did hurt that he was doing so many different kinds of shows. Remember, it's not just the quantity of the program, it's the quality. And every show that he appears on is magnified through the Internet and through cable television.

So I think being more selective maybe a good strategy going forward.

COSTELLO: Crystal?

WRIGHT: This President and the First Lady thinks -- they think they are actors, actually. And the reason why the President is on TV all the time is because he's thick on personality, thin on record. So he thinks that if he keeps going on TV and talking about how I've got a great personality, vote for me, it'll distract the American people from his lousy record. This is why the President can't get enough of TV. COSTELLO: Chris?

ZIMMERMAN: Time, Carol.

MOODY: I think Obama is very good on TV. This is where he shines. When he sits down in that chair with Jimmy Fallon or Jay Leno, the crowd is going to cheer for him really loudly, it's going to make him look good at least for that media appearance.

So I don't blame him. Although it could blow back. Do you remember a couple of years ago there was a woman who got rid of her television because she was sick of seeing him on TV. I don't know what happened to her or her TV in the end.

WRIGHT: Right.

MOODY: But you know it could blow back. But still, it's where he shines.

COSTELLO: Chris, Crystal and Robert, thanks for playing today.

WRIGHT: Yes.

COSTELLO: It's fun always.

ZIMMERMAN: Thanks.

MOODY: Thank you.

WRIGHT: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Coming up on NEWSROOM, we've got an exclusive look at how border agents patrol the busiest part of America's southern border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the greatest threat to our nation. And all agencies and all departments need to be focused on their portion of how to stop that threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Thirty-seven minutes past the hour.

Right now on Capitol Hill, a Senate hearing getting under way on an Arizona law that targets illegal immigrants. It's called SB 1070, critics say it relies on racial profiling and is racist.

The hard line measure goes before the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow because it raises the question of whether state laws can trump federal authority on immigration issues. Now the case could yield one of the most important immigration rulings in years. And the political impact could be huge in a presidential election year. Here are some of the specifics of the law and why it's so controversial. It orders immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all the times. And it requires police to question people if there's reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally.

The law also targets those who hire illegal immigrant laborers or knowingly transport them.

CNN's Kate Bolduan is live in Washington for us. So what is the federal government arguing here, Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Really simply Carol, the Obama administration argues that the state is stepping on federal authority. And the key issue before the Supreme Court is the question of who should be enforcing illegal immigration laws?

The State of Arizona argues that it's facing an economic and public safety crisis being a border state that state officials attribute to illegal immigration. And that the law is meant, really to assist the federal government in working to stop illegal immigration. Simply put state officials say that they are stepping in where the federal government has so far failed.

But the Obama administration argues Arizona would be interfering with what is exclusively federal authority and that the law could damage relations with other countries and make immigration matters worse. Because the federal government they say is in charge of all foreign policy matter.

Opponents like a local police, a Phoenix police officer that I mentioned -- I've actually interviewed for a piece. He says that the law will lead to racial profiling. But supporters of SB 1070 say that local law enforcement have the training and will be getting the training to enforce this law and that they should be doing it.

COSTELLO: Ok so it is a presidential year. And whatever the -- well, the court won't decide for awhile. But what's the potential political impact of this?

BOLDUAN: Well, immigration issues have long been hugely political. But you really hit it. The fact that the Supreme Court is taking this up in the middle of an election year only increases the political stakes. The issue and this law specifically has become part of the conversation on the campaign trail.

And don't forget Latinos are a growing and important voting bloc, a factor that you really cannot ignore when you're taking a look at the case. They are going to be hearing oral arguments tomorrow Carol before the Supreme Court and we could be getting a ruling in the next couple of months on where they stand.

COSTELLO: Right. Before the election. Another one coming down the pipe.

BOLDUAN: It's been an amazing term for the Supreme Court, yes. COSTELLO: Yes, it has. Kate Bolduan, live in Washington live for us.

BOLDUAN: Thanks Carol.

COSTELLO: Coming up, an exclusive look at how agents patrol the busiest part of America's southern border. It's where half of all illegal immigrants are captured.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: 42 minutes past the hour. Other stories we are watching right now.

The Jennifer Hudson family murder trial resumes after an emotional first day. Hudson broke down in tears as she testified against the man accused of killing her mother, brother and young nephew in 2008. Hudson's sister testifies the defendant threatened to kill her family.

Check this out. A spectacular light show over the Minnesota . The Northern Lights are behind these purple and gold -- isn't that awesome? This is Time-Life video shot by a company that normally chases tornadoes. A much different scene, to say the least, and a beautiful one at that.

Lindsey Lohan's movie career is about to resume. She will portray Elizabeth Taylor in the Lifetime movie called "Liz and Dick". The movie begins filming in Vancouver, Canada in May.

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COOPER: The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the Arizona immigration law tomorrow in Washington. But in Arizona, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency continue this patrol.

According to border agents, more than 24 million people were processed trying to enter the United States through Arizona in 2010. Approximately half of all illegals apprehended are caught in Arizona.

So we wanted to get a closer look at how the border operations work. CNN's Suzanne Kelly takes us inside and out for an exclusive tour of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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SUZANNE KELLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So this is it. This is the border between United States and Mexico. We are close to Nogales, where there's a lot of traffic from Mexico coming into the United States mostly at night.

But if you want to know how quickly the landscape is changing here, the road we are on wasn't even here three months ago.

Why the push for building the roads? AGENT LESLIE LAWSON, PATROL AGENT IN CHARGE, NOGALES STATION: This area right here, we have had a difficult time getting what we call east-west lateral access in order to patrol the actual border. You can see the end of the fence over there. So in order to even get here with a vehicle we needed to build roads. Previously, it was only on horseback, ATVs and foot.

KELLY: The terrain is really pretty unforgiving. We just came down about a 200 foot drop a few minutes ago. And this tells you what they're up against. Now post-9/11, CBP has taken sort of an all- threats environment stance. That means it doesn't matter whether these groups are people trying to come here illegally, drug runners or potential terrorists. The threats and the environment in which they have to chase them down is just the same.

These guys patrol this area day and night. And they are looking for signs -- this ancient art of sign cutting they call it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we are looking for is footprints, any impressions, anything in the dirt that would indicate somebody walking through here. So what we do in this case is we always want to look into the sun. We want the (inaudible) sunlight to reflect off the ridges on the ground or the oppressions on the ground. And that's going to help define what we are seeing.

KELLY: So I'm seeing -- and I'm not trained to do this but I'm seeing footprints here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

KELLY: The bottom of a tennis shoe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. Tennis shoe.

KELLY: This is a joint operations information center; really, the nerve center for CBP and everything they've got eyes. They have eyes on the ground here. They are watching the ports of entry. They have eyes in the air.

And then over here, the guys who watch it 24 hours a day gather all of this information together and figure out what to do next.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That one single human intelligence source was reporting that they were using vehicles in order to beat us on the border.

RON BELLAVIA, DIR. OF INTELLIGENCE, JOINT FIELD COMMAND: The terrorism threat is the most important thing the CBP focuses on. It's the greatest threat to our nation. And all agencies and all departments need to be focused on their portion of how to stop that threat.

KELLY: All right. So now, we are at the Davis Mountain Air Force Base. And we're going to get a very up close look at the aerial assets that the border protection uses. What do you need the black hawk for along the border.

AGENT MEREDITH MORRIS, CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: There are some places that we take them that would take probably 24 hours to get to. Sometimes we have too -- actually hover on one wheel, when we kind of jump out and hover. You can't land.

KELLY: It's the trolling on horseback is the more traditional approach to keeping the border secure. This is the future. This is a predator. It's a 66-foot wingspan. Weighs just a touch over 8,000 pounds. But here is the pay off; it has a $2.5 million camera. It can take pictures day or night. And it's also equipped with an infrared sensor. That's a big deal because it can direct people on the ground exactly to the location of the target.

Inside the trailer really is the cockpit of this predator. And on one side we have a pilot who's actually flying the vehicle. Now, the other sensor operator; it's gathering information based on request or intelligence that come from different centers which we have seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very difficult to seal any part of the border 100 percent guarantees. We don't offer any guarantees in the border patrol.

KELLY: On your shoulders sits the responsibility of making sure there's not another 9/11 in this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's true.

KELLY: Is that how you look at your job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every day. Every day I want to put on this uniform.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And Suzanne joins us live now. She's in Washington. So Suzanne we always hear about illegal immigrants from Mexico coming over the border into Arizona. Do they capture other people trying to come into this country illegally who are not Mexican?

KELLY: I was really surprised by the numbers Carol. I mean so far this year, in the first quarter -- so January, February, March, the CBP says they've caught some 34,500 people who were not from Mexico. Now these people do come from countries like Afghanistan and Iraq where there's a very real threat of terrorism. All sorts of countries in the Middle East.

And so if you can imagine, they sort of take this layered approach to security really because 34,500 people, it only takes one to cause catastrophe. That is their concern.

COSTELLO: Fascinating look behind the scene. Suzanne Kelly, thanks so much. There's more information on Suzanne's story on CNN's security clearance page. Go to cnn.com/securityclearance.

Baby boomers refusing to slow down, even after they've retired. They are not kicking up their heels so to speak, but volunteering their time, sweat and energy to give back. More on this growing trend, next.

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COSTELLO: In today "Daily Dose", if you suffer from high blood pressure, some extra Vitamin C might help. A researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine says the systolic pressure, that's the top number dropped by nearly four points in some patients during a recent study. They were given about 500 milligrams of Vitamin C a day over an eight-week period. The researchers caution, they still need to gather more information.

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COSTELLO: When you think of retiring, you probably think of spending your time relaxing, maybe moving to a warm state like Florida or Arizona. But for many baby boomers they are retiring from their jobs, but their work is only beginning -- this time without a paycheck.

CNN's Mary Snow shows us what one couple is doing as part of our serious, "Age against the Machine".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Meet this 55-year-old Brian Schieferstein and his wife 56-year old Lilian, married for close to 30 years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Underneath the stick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think you have to if you put another nail in. They met as teenagers volunteering at a camp for handicap children. Many moons later, they are retired and still volunteering.

LILIAN SCHIEFERSTEIN: This is just a full circle moment for both of us. Because we both were working and didn't have as much time for the volunteer work. And now, we are trying to get back to it. That's where our roots came from.

SNOW: Lilian was a special education teacher for 30 years. Brian a carpenter by trade worked seven days a week, often 15 hour days. They never travel much.

SCHIEFERSTEIN: We didn't do a lot of vacationing because we did a lot of dog rescue and cat rescues.

SNOW: Now, they build houses for those less fortunate. Volunteering their time as a Christian-based organization, Habitat for Humanity on Long Island New York. They are part of a generation of 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 -- the baby boomers

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Up, vertical and straight.

SNOW: Supervisor, Trisha Heckers' has seen an increase in boomer volunteers.

TRISHA HECKERS, HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: They are a role model for the younger generations. And I know a lot of them have kids that they want to bring out and show them this is what you can do. This is a path that you can volunteer and, you know, like, roll that into your life.

SNOW: According to volunteeringinAmerica.gov, the national volunteer rate between 2008 and 2010 was 26.5 percent. The national rate for baby boomers was 29.7 percent -- a difference of 3.2 percent. Boomers volunteered a total of 2.9 billion hours of service in 2010 alone.

SCHIEFERSTEIN: So how do you think the day went?

SNOW: The Schiefersteins don't have children and say they lived a simple life, not getting weighed down by material items enabled them to retire early.

SCHIEFERSTEIN: We don't live large therefore we have always been able to manage.

SNOW: A quick lunch break to play with their dog and --

SCHIEFERSTEIN: Back to work.

SNOW: -- hammering nails and hauling lumber. Not your typical retirement plan but for Brian --

BRIAN SCHIEFERSTEIN: I don't do (inaudible) and put things in a line. I don't have to stand there and go ok, do this or do that or whatever. It's actually relaxing. We don't have to worry. We'll make it work.

SNOW: The Schiefersteins volunteer several times as month both for Ht habitat and at their church. Like their baby boomer partners, they show no signs of slowing down.

L. SCHIEFERSTEIN: There are other interests that we both have, but this is a big piece of it. A big piece of our hearts.

Mary Snow, CNN New York.

COSTELLO: "CNN NEWSROOM" continues right now with Kyra Phillips.