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Latino Presidential Vote Critical in Florida; High Speed Rail in California Turns into Slow Train to Fresno at High Cost; Diamond Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth; Romney Clinches Republican Nomination

Aired May 30, 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: And good morning, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East Coat, 8:00 out West.

With a victory in Texas, Mitt Romney clinches the Republican nomination for president, but for Latino voters, he has a lot to prove, especially with his unpopular position on immigration.

CNN's Juan Carlos Lopez going in-depth in San Laredo, Texas. So national survey last week, we talked about this, Juan Carlos, had Obama leading Romney among Latino voters 61 percent to 27 percent. How can Romney climb?

JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL: It's going to be interesting to see what he does now, Kyra. We had the primary season and we heard him talk about important issues to Latinos and non Latinos, but so far, the polls are proving that his positions, which were tough on immigration and other issues didn't convince Latinos.

Now, he's at 27 percent. For a Republican to win, they need anywhere above 35 percent. The last one to do that was former President George W. Bush. He was around 38 percent, 40 percent and he had a very aggressive campaign to court the Latino vote.

Mitt Romney hasn't done that so far and we'll see if he has time from now to November to change his message and to bring Latinos on board. He has a strategy. Let's see if it works.

President Obama, obviously, has a wider lead. There are questions and doubts from Latinos, both on Democrats and Republicans, but obviously, we see the numbers confirm what has been historically a trend and that's Latinos tend to vote more for Democrats than they do for Republicans.

PHILLIPS: We talked a lot about immigration and Romney's views on immigration, how that impacts Latino voters, we haven't talked a lot about border security. How's that playing into this?

LOPEZ: Well, they're tied and one and all and Mitt Romney has made very, very tough statements on board security, but President Obama has said that he has doubled the size of the border patrol, that the border is more secure now than it ever has been.

Republicans don't buy that argument. People on the border have a different take. They can see a different reality than maybe we see out of Washington and Congress.

Now, Mitt Romney said for example that one way that the immigration problem can be solved is self-deportation, that pressure from laws similar to Alabama's, SB 1070, could help people leave on their own.

Many people believe that's not going to work, but it's more than his position on border security. It is what he said so far. There has been this discussion on the Dream Act.

The Dream Act is a law that will allow kids who arrived in the United States with their parents who have no say in deciding to come or not, he said he would veto it as president and that's a very controversial issue.

Today, there's a Republican proposal for a version of the Dream Act, so he has a long way to go and he's going to surround himself, obviously, with people who will help him get that message out, but border security and immigration are not his strong topic.

PHILLIPS: Juan Carlos Lopez, thanks so much and coming up at the half hour, the battleground state of Florida and the push for the Latino vote there.

More aftershocks rattling Northern Italy where a seventeenth body has been pulled from the rubble of Tuesday's earthquake. The government has declared a state of emergency following the 5.8- magnitude quake which came just nine days after an even stronger jolt killed seven people.

Witnesses reported on Twitter that the city of Cavezzo was about 70 percent destroyed. Next Monday has been declared a national day of mourning.

Ruthless killing going on in Syria. Thirteen bodies with hands tied behind their backs, some apparently shot in the head at a short distance. These images are said to be of some of the victims, but CNN is still working to confirm its authenticity.

U.N. officials say that they were discovered in the eastern part of the country, coming just days after the massacre of more than 100 men, women and children in the town of Houla.

The head of U.N. observers in Syria calls the killings appalling and inexcusable.

Ivan Watson is still on the story for us, monitoring all the developments out of Istanbul. So, Ivan, any idea who killed these latest victims?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The simple answer is no. The U.N. observers have not suggested who may have carried out the attacks. Images like this that we see coming out of there every day just indicating how nasty and awful this conflict has gotten.

The general in command of the U.N. observers, Kyra, are saying that all of the victims had their hands tied behind their backs, some of them shot in the back of the head, apparently, summarily executed.

Some opposition activists have claimed that they saw Syrian security forces dumping the bodies. We can't confirm that because the Syrian government will not allow CNN to work in Syria legally to report what's happening there in that bloody country.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Is there any hope at all? You've been monitoring this for months and months and months, for this U.N./Arab League peace plan?

WATSON: I think everybody agrees it's pretty much in shambles. You still have scores of people being killed every day.

The Syrian government signed onto this peace plan, but hasn't carried out basically any of the six points it was supposed to do, which was to allow people to protest peacefully, to pull back troops from Syrian population centers.

Instead, we're getting reports, again and again, of Syrian security forces lobbing shells into Syrian cities. Scores of people reported killed in the city of Hama by artillery strikes there on Sunday.

And in the meantime, the rebels are increasingly armed. I've got a report that in the southern city of Daraa, there are negotiations underway for one rebel brigade to release some 16 policemen of the Druze sectarian group that they kidnapped about five days ago.

Negotiations underway in hopes that that will not trigger a sectarian crisis between Sunni Muslims there and that Druze minority in the restive southern city, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ivan Watson out of Istanbul. Ivan, thanks so much.

And to London now where Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, is one step closer to extradition, but he's not gone yet. Assange is wanted in Sweden in a pair of sexual assault allegations from August of 2010.

He's been confined to a country estate in Britain while insisting the sex case is payback for publicizing thousands of confidential U.S. military and diplomatic documents.

The U.K.'s highest court today upheld the Swedish extradition request, but in a twist, it invited Assange to appeal one last time. We'll keep you posted.

His first apology since being convicted of spying on his gay roommate. We're talking about former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi. He was back in a New Jersey court this morning where he gave up his right to remain free during his appeal.

Ravi will report to jail tomorrow and, as you'll recall, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail for bias intimidation for using a webcam to spy on Tyler Clementi during an intimate encounter with another man.

Yesterday, Ravi for the first time apologized for his actions, saying, quote, "I accept responsibility for and regret my thoughtless, insensitive, immature, stupid and childish choices that I made."

Clementi jumped to his death after learning that Ravi had spied on his two years ago.

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PHILLIPS: And just a quick note for those of you heading out the door. You can continue watching from your mobile phone or, if you're heading out to work, you can also watch CNN live from your desktop. Just go to CNN.com/TV.

Jury selection in the child sex abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky is due to start next Tuesday and the final pretrial hearing is today, about two-and-a-half hours from now.

But it's an unannounced, closed-door hearing yesterday with Sandusky himself in attendance that has everyone talking, including Sara Ganim. She's a CNN contributor and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for her work on this story for "The Harrisburg Patriot News."

So, Sara, what exactly do we know about what went down?

SARA GANIM, CRIME REPORTER, "THE HARRISBURG PATRIOT NEWS" : All we really know, Kyra, is that he was in the courthouse yesterday in a conference with the judge, with prosecutors and with his attorneys.

It lasted about two hours. As far as I know, it wasn't something that was announced. It could have been on a court schedule somewhere, but it wasn't a publicly announced hearing. It wasn't open to the public in any kind of way.

But reporters, as this started to get out, had gathered around the courthouse, saw Jerry Sandusky and his attorney leaving the courthouse, asked them what was going on and, because of the gag order issued by the judge a few weeks ago, they can't say.

But the sheriffs of Centre County told me yesterday that the meeting -- while he couldn't tell me what happened in the meeting, in the conference, he said it had no effect on today's hearing.

Sandusky still won't be in court today for this hearing that's going to take place basically on some housekeeping issues as we approach trial. It's still scheduled and he's still not going to come to court today.

So it's leading to a lot of speculation, but we really don't know anything more than he was in the courthouse yesterday.

PHILLIPS: And of course, part of that is there are a lot of people extremely concerned about a plea deal, Sara. Is that even a possibility? GANIM: Well, it's always a possibility up until -- you know, up until the point that there's actually a verdict announced a defendant can decide to go the route of a plea at any time.

But it's something that Joe Amedola has said over and over and over again, that while anything is always possible, they're taking this trial and so you know, again, it could be all speculation at this point.

All we know is that he was in there for a conference and that could mean a million things. It could really be an issue of yesterday, some of the representatives for the victims filed a motion that will protect their identities in court.

They could have been talking about that. They could have been talking about evidence. They could have been talking about a whole variety of things. It's really only speculation at this point.

PHILLIPS: We do know the defense wanted to slow things down, though, right?

GANIM: I'm sorry, can you repeat that?

PHILLIPS: We did know, or we do know the defense definitely wanted to slow things down.

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes, the defense has been asking for more time for months now, saying that the prosecution and police had years to put this case together and they've only had a few months to create a defense.

But the judge is dead set on having this start next week on Tuesday, jury selection. I think at this point, the only thing that could delay it is if they can't find a jury to seat in Centre County, which is also something that's been talked about.

And if they have to go somewhere else and try to find a jury somewhere else, that could create a delay, but the judge had not -- has repeatedly denied a request for a continuance on any other basis.

PHILLIPS: Sara Ganim, thanks so much and today's hearing gets underway 1:30 Eastern time, about two hours and 15 minutes from now and you'll hear any new developments right here in the CNN "Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: In the long-celebrated history of the U.S. Navy, only men have served on submarines until now. Twenty-four women have completed the training and are now officially submariners.

On Memorial Day, they met with President Obama and the first lady at the White House. Their achievement comes two years after the Navy decided to open the elite submarine force to women.

Barbara Starr joining us from the Pentagon. Barbara, tell us more about these pretty fascinating young women. BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that picture is a piece of military history, really. As you said, these are the first female U.S. Navy officers that will be going to sea onboard U.S. Navy submarines as part of the crew.

A real moment in history because that was one of the last places in the Navy that women could not serve. The Navy, a couple of years ago, began to struggle with that issue -- where will they sleep, where will they shower?

Solved that problem and the women who were accepted into the submarine program focused very much over the last couple of years on their education and training to join U.S. Navy submarine crews, so it's a moment forward.

They met with the president. They met with the first lady, who is continuing the tradition of first ladies. She will sponsor a U.S. Navy submarine, as many previous first ladies have.

And a step forward for those who think there are still barriers for women in the military. There are some, but the Navy has dropped one of the last barriers it has for women.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: And, Barbara, these women have been serving on these subs. What have they been saying about the experience? What has it been like?

STARR: They've all gone on some of the initial training out to sea. So far, no problems. By all accounts, all of them really embracing the program and really wanting to make this the focus of their naval careers.

These women come from all over the country, all sorts of backgrounds, just like everyone else in the U.S. military. Not a surprise. So, what they really are mostly talking about is they're anxious to move ahead and get on with the job.

PHILLIPS: Speaking of that, the Army, the Marines, you and I have been talking about what is the latest with regard to women serving there in ground-combat units.

STARR: That's absolutely right. You know, all of this goes back to what is perhaps the military and public perception that women do not serve in combat and, of course, they absolutely do serve in combat. You've seen that over the years yourself.

But what's happening now in the other services is the Army and the Marine Corps because they're so focused on ground combat are actually looking at opening up more ground-combat jobs to women, more in those small front line units that they haven't been allowed to serve in to see if there's ways they can get women into those types of jobs, rally, putting women into the infantry, that kind of thing, right on the front line. There's some programs going on, especially in the Marine Corps and the Army right now, to try it out, to see how it works and they expect to report back in the next several months on their results to see if they can make it work.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, Barbara Starr. Barbara, thanks so much.

STARR: Sure.

PHILLIPS: An unbelievable story of courage and going to the extreme to save the life of a comrade in arms. The Afghan war zone in January, a call goes out for a Medevac chopper for a wounded Afghan girl.

Turns out the person in danger was a U.S. Marine, Corporal Winder Perez, a live rocket-propelled grenade embedded in his leg. The slightest movement could possibly cause it to explode.

No one would blame the Army medics not to treat the Marine, but soldiers and Marines did not leave their buddies on the field of battle. Perez was placed in the chopper, flown to a remote medication station.

Army Staff Sergeant Ben Summerfield removed the RPG from his leg. Perez has now recovered and is back home.

They fought the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, they're taking on a new challenge, going to college. As this graph shows, of the more than 900,000 vets who got federal education benefits last year, more than 500,000 served after 9/11.

And with the Afghan war winding down, the ranks of vets at colleges across the country are expected to continue to climb. One of the main reasons? The Post 9/11 G.I. Bill. Enacted four years ago, it has paved the way for hundreds of thousands of those to enroll in college.

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PHILLIPS: Move over, Barbie. There is a new doll in town, all thanks to one mom with a mission.

Jane Bingham is a cancer patient and, when she lost her hair, she wanted a toy to help her daughter embrace the change, so she lobbied major companies like Mattel and won. Now, they're creating "Beautiful and Bald" dolls.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports in this week's "Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Jane Bingham had bounced between doctors for more than a year before finally being diagnosed with an incurable type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. JANE BINGHAM, FOUNDER, BEAUTIFUL AND BALD MOVEMENT: They say that this cancer is always there because it's your lymph system. It's in your immune system.

GUPTA: For five years, doctors were able to keep the cancer in check with immunotherapy then that stopped working and doctors told Bingham she would have to start chemotherapy.

Only then did her daughter realize that her mom was sick.

BINGHAM: She was 4 when I was diagnosed and she had just turned 9 when I had chemotherapy and lost my hair.

GUPTA: Bingham's hair loss became a defining moment for both her and her young daughter.

BINGHAM: She always knew me with long blond hair and said numerous times she missed my hair. She wished I didn't have to lose my hair. That was her big focus, was the hair.

GUPTA: Her daughter's experience prompted Bingham to petition toy companies to consider manufacturing a bald doll.

Companies are listening. MGA Entertainment has created "Bald Moxie" and Bratz dolls as part of a new collection that's going to go on sale this June.

Mattel has promised to manufacture 10,000 "Beautiful and Bald" friends of Barbie.

BINGHMA: I think it's important to focus your energies outward instead of just focusing inward on yourself.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: For more on this and other "Human Factor" stories, watch "Sanjay Gupta MD" every Saturday and Sunday, 4:30 p.m. Eastern, and Sunday, 7:30 a.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Day eight of deliberations and still no verdict in the John Edwards trial in North Carolina. Yesterday, the judge in the case had to remind the jury not to discuss the case outside the courtroom.

Edwards is accused of using illegal campaign contributions to conceal his former mistress and her pregnancy. Attorneys for the former presidential candidate say Edwards was only guilty of being a bad husband.

And in the race for president, the Latino vote will be critical and the fight for the key battleground state of Florida may once again be a knockdown-drag out. In 2008, President Obama won 57 percent of the Hispanic vote in Florida. Four years earlier, George W. Bush won 56 percent. So what's the key to winning the Sunshine State?

John Zarrella takes an in-depth look for us with the voters. He joins us live from Miami.

Hey, John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Key, Kyra. Well, I know you know this place. This is Domino Park in Miami's Little Havana. And for decades, Cuban Americans have been coming here to play dominos, to talk politics and, on more than one occasion, discuss the overthrow of Fidel Castro.

You know, 13 percent of registered voters in Florida are Hispanic. It is a critical vote coming up this November, getting Hispanic voters, but it's no shoe-in that either one of the candidates will get the majority.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice-over): Patrick Manteiga enjoys a good cigar and a game of darts at his favorite hangout in Tampa, but the publisher of a small weekly newspaper, is not your traditional Cuban American. He's a Democrat, not a Republican. He says that the issue that will decide how many Hispanics in Florida will vote is not what you might think.

PATRICK MANTEIGA, PUBLISHER, LA GACETA: Immigration, at the end of the day, doesn't affect many voting Hispanics. Schools affect them, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare. All these other issues. Jobs, jobs, jobs.

ZARRELLA: Experts say stereotyping Florida's voters has focused on only hot-button issues like gay marriage or immigration is just flat wrong.

Reuben Perez says there's no question about it.

REUBEN PEREZ, ENTREPRENEUR: Small batches, you're going to receive a product that was roasted every week, fresh.

ZARRELLA: Perez owns a restaurant, food stands and a small coffee-roasting business in Orlando. He hears and overhears a lot.

PEREZ: Some things, it boils down to the economy, getting people to work.

ZARRELLA: And getting them out to vote. The Interstate 4 corridor between Tampa, Orlando and Daytona Beach is split nearly 50- 50, Republican and Democrat, with a large voting block of Cuban Americans in Tampa and Puerto Ricans in Orlando. Perez himself is 50- 50, half Cuban and half Puerto Rican.

PEREZ: It's amazing. They got strong opinions, but you ask them, oh, tired of it. I don't think my district -- so whatever political party can get those particular folks out to vote probably can win or lose.

ZARRELLA: That may come down to which candidate does a better job at courtship.

SUSAN MCMANUS, POLITICAL SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA: The issues are clearly economic like they are for everyone else. But Hispanics really like to be appealed to. They love for candidates to come to their fiestas, to events at their churches, and to speak a few words in Spanish, but to not look fake about it.

ZARRELLA: Sure, there are specific issues that will sway some. Cuban-American Wal Hernandez said one such issue was the Obama administration's granting Raul Castro's daughter permission to attend a conference in San Francisco.

WAL HERNANDEZ, CUBAN EXILE: I don't like Obama before, and now, worse.

ZARRELLA: Experts say some hot-button issue could gain enough traction between now and November to turn Florida's Hispanic vote one way or the other. Absent that, it will be, as Patrick Mantaiga says, jobs, jobs, jobs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: I know you're a domino player, John, so my question is have you been back there mingling with those gents, talking with them about which political party has the advantage with Latino voters in Florida?

ZARRELLA: Well, you know, that there are more registered Latino Democrats in Florida than Republicans. But the fact of the matter is that, four years ago, many people who might have voted for change, and the thinking now is that people might be voting for change again. Although, here in this crowd, predominantly Cuban-American, they have always very heavily voted Republican and that's not likely to change. And, Kyra, quite frankly, it was never very good at dominos.

(LAUGHTER)

I might go take a couple of lessons.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I know. You always mingle with the folks. You've taught me about Cafe Versailles, Domino Park. That's what I love about you.

(LAUGHTER)

John Zarrella in Miami. John, thanks so much.

ZARRELLA: Sure.

PHILLIPS: The construction of a controversial mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, may have to stop. A judge has now ruled the county failed to give adequate notice to the public of its plans to the public. Opponents have been fighting the Islamic center's construction for two years now. They say Islam is not a real religion and it doesn't deserve First Amendment rights and its members have ties to terrorists. Those claims have been dismissed. If the judge's ruling is appealed, both sides promise the war will continue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALEH SBENATY, ISLAMIC CENTER OF MURFREESBORO: Obviously, we're saddened, shocked. We're disappointed. We believe in our justice system. We believe in the due process.

JOE BRANDON, ATTORNEY: If this Islamic political organization does decide to go back through the process again, we will be standing right around the corner ready to go battle again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The mosque was weeks away from completion before the ruling. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, the preliminary hearing for the two men accused of a hate crime that left three people dead on Good Friday has been postponed. Jacob England and Alvin Watts did appear in court today. Their hearing will be continued at a later date. Both are accused of shooting five African-Americans at random on April 6th. They're charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

And we all knew him as Doc, Doc Watson. And he was born to be, yes, born to be a legend, of course.

(LAUGHTER)

Doc Watson wowed the world and picked up seven Grammies with the two-finger guitar style that he perfected. And if you don't believe me, ask the generation of bluegrass folk and gospel musicians he inspired. Doc Watson, blind since the age of 1, died yesterday in a North Carolina hospital from complications from colon surgery. He was 89 years old.

(SINGING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A high-speed rail that President Obama talked so much about had Californians dreaming of a 200 mile-per-hour train ride from L.A. to San Fran. But instead of a fast ride from the City of Angels, the city by bay has to settle for a slow ride to Fresno at a higher cost. So, who's paying the price for this fiscal nightmare?

CNN investigative correspondent, Drew Griffin, looks into it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It sure looks like the future, an animated version of California's high- speed rail and it sounded really cool, too -- L.A. to San Francisco at more than 200 miles an hour. No planes, no cars, no fuss. That's why Californians voted for it back in 2008, passing a $10 billion bond measure for a train that was projected to eventually cost $34 billion.

Keeping them honest, it's now four years later. Not a single track has been laid and a bombshell report was dropped on California's taxpayers last fall. Their $34 billion train would actually cost closer to three times the estimated amount.

LISA SCHWEITZER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, PRICE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY, USC: The new business plan puts a cost estimate to about $198 billion.

GRIFFIN: It was a shocker. Three times the estimated cost, and guess what, you, the federal taxpayer, might be on the hook for a big chunk of it. We'll get to how that's possible in just a moment. But in California, the sticker shock caused yet another change in accounting, a big turnover with California's high-speed rail authority board and yet another rethinking of just where the train will go and how fast and how much it would cost.

DAN RICHARD, CHAIRMAN, CALIFORNIA RAIL AUTHORITY: Today, we are releasing the revised plan.

GRIFFIN: In a press conference, a new route, a new slower speed and new cost estimate, now in the neighborhood of $68 billion. Still twice as much as originally sold.

RICHARD: There's no question that the cost has gone up.

GRIFFIN: Dan Richard is the new chairman of California's Rail Authority and co-author of that report that set the high-speed rail plan, well, slightly off track.

RICHARD: That report was a draft. It was intended to engender comment. It did that rather successfully. And we're looking now at how we revise and strengthen the plan and go forward.

GRIFFIN: But that is also very troubling. It turns out, the latest plan could be for a much slower train, not actually the high- speed futuristic cartoon California voters approved four years ago. More of a hybrid that goes slower, makes a few more stops and doesn't quite deliver the L.A. to San Francisco promise of just a few hours.

And that's not the half of it. This is about to become really political. California's high-speed rail has one huge backer -- President Barack Obama -- and that is where you come in. The administration has pledged $3.5 billion in stimulus money, also known as federal tax dollars, and that's just so far. Now, California admits it will need even more, tens of billions of dollars more from federal taxpayers to finish it.

But first, you have to start. And that's where it really gets dicey. The foundational segment, the first stretch of track, will cost at least $6 billion alone and, under the new plan, will connect Fresno to Burbank. It won't go anywhere near San Francisco. And in the process, will dissect generations-old dairy farms, nut orchards and towns that don't want it.

JOHN TOS, ALMOND FARMER: We want them to stay off the land. It is not our intention to allow this to happen through our property. We farmed here for a reason, the tranquility of it all. This is farming country. And we want to keep it like that.

GRIFFIN: USC's Lisa Schweitzer says the board is doing everything it can to justify spending tens of billions of dollars on a train that may be a huge economic blunder that few want to ride.

SCHWEITZER: Every infrastructure project has the potential of being another Solyndra, whether it's high-speed rail or whether it's a bridge to nowhere. The construction costs can overrun like that, and that's especially true in California, where our permitting and approvals process is tough.

GRIFFIN: Does all this have California rethinking its plans? Absolutely not says rail board chairman, Dan Richards. And for one reason -- they've got the promised $3 billion of your tax dollars in federal stimulus. California may not get another dime from President Obama, but it has no intention of giving back the $3 billion already promised or the billions more from California voters.

RICHARD: So, let's be very clear on this point, we have $6 billion to build the foundational segment.

GRIFFIN: Even if that foundational segment turns out to be a high-speed rail, well, to nowhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Could this really end up being the train to nowhere?

GRIFFIN: You and I have both lived in California.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

GRIFFIN: Who is going to ride a train from Bakersfield to Fresno? Five years from now, if all goes right, that's what you have after spending $6 billion. If that's where it ends, yes, that will be a train to nowhere.

PHILLIPS: And we're talking -- OK, first of all, yes, because we worked there. We lived there. We remember this project almost 20 years ago, and where was it going to go? The price. I mean, not just the route, but how much it would cost.

GRIFFIN: Yes, it -- you know, it's all a numbers game. California voters really wanted this in 2008. Now, they've got something that's going to cost twice as much. It's going to be a little slower than advertised. Not quite sure where it's going to connect the cities, Burbank to now outside of San Francisco, near San Francisco. And keep in mind, not until 2028. Will this be completed? If it all goes fine.

California is starting this program without having the money to finish it. There's a lot of fear and a lot of questions about whether or not this will ever come to completion.

PHILLIPS: And back to the routes. That's -- I remember, those in Los Angeles, that I even thought, oh, wouldn't that be great to hop a train to San Francisco. Yes, it's a beautiful drive, but to be able to get on to a high-speed train and go, that's what sold so many people in the area.

GRIFFIN: That's right. And if you went from downtown Los Angeles to San Francisco, that would be perfect. But they're not talking about a blended system where you might have to change trains. You can't go down to Orange County now. You'll get on the local trains to do that. So it's a bit more complicated, a lot more expensive and a bit slower. So will this work in the very end? There might not be a very end.

PHILLIPS: And will it get to San Francisco? Not if there isn't an end, right?

GRIFFIN: That's exactly right.

PHILLIPS: All right.

GRIFFIN: It will get you to Fresno if you're leaving from Bakersfield.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Drew.

It's funny, but it's not funny.

GRIFFIN: Yes, $6 billion.

PHILLIPS: That's a lot of taxpayer dollars.

Drew, thanks.

Just yesterday, a new CEO was named to the California High Speed Rail Authority. Jeff Morales is an executive, working for a contractor on this project, and he's going to fill the position that's been open since January.

Let's get to the White House. President Obama is renewing the charter of the Export/Import Bank. It's a typically uncontroversial agency that's been around since the New Deal. But this year, some Republicans, not all, tried to kill it, calling it corporate welfare, rather. The president and others say it promotes U.S. exports and creates jobs. With Mr. Obama's signature, the bank is reauthorized through September 2014.

A reminder, if you're leaving the house, you can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone. Also watch from your desktop. Go to CNN.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Sure is good to be queen, especially when subjects throw you a big party to celebrate. This weekend, Britain's Queen Elizabeth begins her 60th year on the throne, her Diamond Jubilee year. That's no low-key affair. Coverage will be right up there with last year's wedding of future King William and Kate Middleton. Though Her Highness wasn't always that big a deal with a royal grandkids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY: When we were young, easy to take our grandmother for granted. She was just a grandmother to us. And it's only really sort of been over the last sort of five, eight to 10 years, that we understand it and accept the huge deal that she is around the world, especially within the U.K.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Prince Harry and brother, Will, sat down for interviews with Katie Couric.

And Max Foster joins me from London now.

Even now, conversation never strays far from Princess Diana.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And they talked emotionally about Diana. Both of them talking about how she would have really liked Kate, and such a shame she didn't get to meet Kate, actually. William saying that it's the one part of his life since Diana died that he really wishes she could have been involved with. But Harry coming up with quite a nice line, saying probably, during the royal wedding last year, Kyra, that Diana had the best seat in the House. So there charmingly positive but also very reminiscent. Still tough for them, of course, what they went through in those early teenage years.

PHILLIPS: They also talked about how much they looked forward to being parents, right?

FOSTER: Absolutely. But William never being completely, wanting to reveal his wife is pregnant, of course, and add to the thrown that's been born. He never quite comes up with it but what he does talk about is how he has always wanted a family. Harry similar. Let's hear what they said about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE WILLIAM: I'm just very keen on family and looking forward to having a family.

KATIE COURIC: Is there anything you'd like to tell me about that.

(LAUGHTER)

PRINCE WILLIAM: You won't get anything out of me. Tight lipped.

PRINCE HARRY: I've longed for kids since I was very, very young. Waiting to find the right person, someone willing to take on the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Absolutely true with Harry as well. He connects with children like no one I've ever seen, really. He really bends down, talks to them. He's fascinated with kids, but he'll wait to settle down, I think, before he goes into all that.

PHILLIPS: He's definitely having lots of fun, isn't he? The party prince. Did you get a sense they really understand their roles?

FOSTER: Yes. They're getting much more serious about their royal lives. Harry certainly this year has really come out of his shell and grown up a lot. And certainly, he took that on in a much more mature way. I was with him throughout. Dancing, also serious events as well. And William has some interesting comments with Katie Couric, talking about how he's struggling with balancing his military career with his royal career. The royal career is really starting to pile up pressure on him, but he wants to stay in the military as well. He implied -- actually, it's linked with starting a family. The suggestion being that if he has children while he's in the military, he's going to be much more protected in terms of privacy that if he left the military. So I think the bets are really on him staying in the military and starting a family soon.

PHILLIPS: You're the one we always talk to about the royals. Where are you going to be for the big jubilee?

FOSTER: All over London.

(LAUGHTER)

On Sunday, of course, is the big river pageant day. Watching these thousands ship going down the river. It will be spectacular. People can't really imagine what it's going to look like because it hasn't been done for 300 years. But the big event is on Tuesday when we see the carriage procession. I was out, Kyra, in Buckingham Palace recently filming the carriages. That carriage that Kate and William used last year in their wedding will be out again. And you'll see lot of Kate, William and Harry each step of the way. So the queen's putting them really at the forefront.

PHILLIPS: Do me a favor. Send some picture, will you?

FOSTER: Definitely.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Max.

We're going to have more on the royal family, Sunday, June 3rd. Watch "The Royal Celebration, Elizabeth's 60 Years as Queen," hosted by our Brooke Baldwin and Piers Morgan. That's Sunday, 11:00 a.m. eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's a record Facebook surely wants to do nothing with it, but the first time since it went public, Facebook stock has fallen below $30. It dropped just over $3 to close to $28.84 yesterday. That's down 24 percent since it went public on May 18th. Facebook's troubles don't stop there. You may recall rather those recent reports that just before the IPO an analyst was lead underwriter Morgan Stanley allegedly shared a negative assessment of Facebook with major clients. That, in turn, triggered a shareholder lawsuit against Facebook and Morgan Stanley.

A warning for users of Adderall. The Food and Drug Administration says a counterfeit version is being sold over the internet. They're sold as 30 milligram Adderall tablets. The FDA says they don't contain the right ingredients. And they're white and round and don't have any markings like letters or numbers. Genuine tablets are an orange-peach color and have the letters D.P. and have a number 30 on the opposite side.

Harry Truman can scratch off that IOU to his paper boy. $56 was handed over to George Lund by a member of the Truman Library Institute. That's the $7.50 he was owed, plus interest. Lund was 15 years old in 1947 when he faithfully delivered "The Independent Examiner" to the first family who just never paid up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE LUND, FORMER PAPERBOY: I didn't get to collect, but I was in hopes that he would be there one day and I could collect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Mr. Lund is 80 years old now and he plans to donate his money to the ladies of the Quilts of Valor.

He gave up his daily morning talk show last year, but Regis Philbin is back on the air right here on CNN. He was a guest host for our Piers Morgan last night and he sat down with his close friend David Letterman. Letterman opened up about his fears of going back on TV after 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIGIS PHILIBIN, FORMER TELEVISION TALK SHOW HOST: Television, as we knew it, was shut down. It was all about the news and over and over again we would live through this horrible phase of our lives. And then one day you called me about 2:00 in the afternoon, and you said I'm going back on the air, I'd like you to join me. I was very flattered. And sure enough you went back. Do you remember that night?

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: I remember that night and I remember not wanting to go back, not feeling ready to go back, but knowing we had to go back. And, you know, my concerns were minimal compared to people who really suffered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: It's guest host week on "Piers Morgan Tonight." To find out who fills in his shoes, watch CNN tonight at 9:00 p.m.

Thanks for watching. You can continue the conversation with me on Twitter, @kyraCNN, and on Facebook.

CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Suzanne Malveaux.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Kyra.