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President Obama Announces Major Change in U.S. Immigration Policy; Egypt Chooses President; Jerry Sandusky Trial Continues; Gadgets for Summer Driving Season; Elections in Greece; Tiger Woods in the Lead at the U.S. Open

Aired June 16, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's get to the intensifying debate over the new U.S. immigration policy. The president announced yesterday the U.S. will stop deporting young, law- abiding illegal immigrants who come to the U.S. as children and have lived here for at least five years. He says it's the right thing to do and he explained why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe that it's the right thing to do because I've been with groups of young people who work so hard and speak with so much heart about what's best in America, even though I knew some of them must have lived under the fear of deportation.

WHITFIELD: Mitt Romney was critical of the changes. He spoke while campaigning in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe the status of young people who come here through no fault of their own is an important matter to be considered and it should be solved on a long-term basis so they know what their future would be in this country. I think the action that the president he took today makes it more difficult to reach that long-term solution, because an executive order is, of course, just a short-term matter. It could be reversed by subsequent presidents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what has the reaction been like in U.S. Congress? Well, no big surprise here, it comes down along party lines. Athena Jones breaks that down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Senator, could we have a response on immigration?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to answer shouted questions about the Obama administration's new immigration policy, but the reaction from other congressional Republicans was strong. Texas Congressman Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee calls the move an amnesty that would encourage fraud and illegal activity.

REP. LAMAR SMITH (R-TX), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHMN.: And I think the American people are getting tired of this president picking and choosing what laws to enforce. That's not the democratic way. Maybe you can do that in a dictatorship, maybe you can do that in another country, but this is a president who is sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

JONES: Some members took to Twitter. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina tweeting President Obama avoids the hard work of fixing an immigration system, which is broken and fractured along numerous fronts. Republicans say the president is bypassing Congress, which has repeatedly failed to pass DREAM Act legislation that would give young undocumented immigrants brought to America illegally by their parents a path to citizenship if they meet certain criteria. Meanwhile, Democrats like DREAM Act co-sponsor Senator Dick Durbin are applauding the administration's move.

SEN. DICK DURBIN, (D-ILL.), MAJORITY WHIP: I believe that this is an important step forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Athena Jones now joining us live from Washington. All right, so lots of friction right there on the grounds of the U.S. Congress, but what kind of leverage does U.S. Congress have when an executive order has been imposed?

JONES: Well, that's really the question here. I mean this is executive action on the part of the president. It's not some law that's gone through Congress and we asked Representatives Lamar Smith about that when we spoke with him yesterday. He said that what they could do is they could try to cut off the money that's being used to implement this policy. They could also try introducing a -- a resolution, I should say, disagreeing with the president on this and they could even file a lawsuit to try to take President Obama to court for not upholding the law, but the congressman also acknowledged that he thinks this is all going to play out ultimately in the court of public opinion, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Athena Jones, thanks so much, in Washington.

JONES: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: So when the president made the announcement that he also, you know, clarified who would qualify. Young, law-abiding illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and lived here for at least five years who will get a reprieve. Those are some of the criteria. Well, Jessica Colotl fits most of the criteria. She came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico when she was just 11. While in college, she gained national prominence. She almost got kicked out of the country after being ticketed and arrested for driving without a license and having an expired Mexican passport. We spoke with her earlier today and got her reaction. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: What was that news like yesterday? Where were you? How did you receive it? How do you digest it all?

JESSICA COLOTL, ARRIVED IN U.S. ILLEGALLY AT AGE 11: I was actually in school for an event with my sorority when the news broke out and I was very excited. I was very thrilled, but at the same time I knew that it was only a short-term solution and it doesn't really solve the overall problem. I think it's more of a Band-Aid, if you will.

WHITFIELD: So what does that mean, exactly? You're saying this is a short-term fix. It really is a Band-Aid approach. Instead you would prefer what? You would have preferred to hear what?

COLOTL: The passage of the DREAM Act and/or an immigration reform, because that's essentially what this country needs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And the DREAM Act would offer a path to citizenship, and this immigration policy is just shy of that, not offering that path to citizenship. So Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also repeated the White House position that this is neither amnesty nor immunity for illegal immigrants.

All right, turning to Egypt now where polls just closed for the day in a crucial presidential election. Millions of Egyptian voters braved long lines to cast ballots for either the conservative Islamist candidate or the former of the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak. Polls reopen again tomorrow. Let's bring in Ivan Watson. He has been monitoring the voting all day. Now, polls closing until tomorrow. Is it likely that the turnout would be larger or about the same tomorrow?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, idea, and some of that may depend on the heat, but what's striking is that everybody you talk to, Fredricka, says that their vote could help determine the very future of this country and it underscores the big choice. You've got on the one hand a candidate who is a former air force general, whose critics accuse of being a symbol of the dictatorship that was overthrown here last year. And on the other hand you've got a candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood, and his critics claim or accuse him of wanting to take the country into a theocracy, something like Iran or perhaps Afghanistan as one woman told me. So they see this sharp -- this sharp choice in front of them.

There are also big political stakes and confusion because just two days ago, the court ruled that the parliament in this country should be dissolved because there are some previous election irregularities. It's only been in office for a couple of months. We talked to an election observer, a U.S. congressman who said, yeah, he would have liked for the political atmosphere to be more a little more calm for this election. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not happy with everything that has taken place, and I don't think anyone is, but let's look at the advances. I mean for the first time in 7,000 years, the people of Egypt are this weekend going to elect a president, and no one knows for sure who the winner is going to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, we've gotten reports, Fredricka, of some of the opposition activists are being arrested by police, another disturbing sign with one more day of voting still ahead. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ivan Watson, thanks so much in Cairo. I appreciate that.

All right, now to another crucial election. This time in Greece. People are getting ready to go to the polls tomorrow to choose a new government. In May, voters failed to do so and that created political chaos and now, everyone's watching and waiting to see if tomorrow's vote in Greece will result in that country withdrawing from the Euro zone and that could deepen the debt crisis and shock world financial markets, potentially.

Now to the Middle East. The heir to the Saudi throne has died. Saudi officials say Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz had health problems and died while seeking medical care in Switzerland. CNN's Nic Robertson reports, the prince was known as a hard line conservative.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After 9/11 and in the mid-2000s, 2003 and 2004, he was really leading al-Qaeda's -- Saudis' charge against al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda at that time in Saudi Arabia were turning against the crown, and they were seen as a very serious threat, blowing up apartment complexes where foreign workers were living, taking control of oil facilities. And the threat of -- dealing with that threat was taken on by Prince Nayef at that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The body of the crown prince will be flown to Saudi Arabia and then buried tomorrow. His unexpected death reopens the question of succession in Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah is 88 years old and has outlived two successors.

After an explosive week of testimony in the sex abuse trial of former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, some wonder how the defense can win the jury over?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This week the alleged victims in the trial of former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky gave disturbing, heart wrenching details of their sexual abuse claims. One accuser cried during his testimony and another testified that Sandusky called himself the tickle monster. As we expect the prosecution to wrap up its case the defense prepares to defend the former football coach. Our Jason Carroll has more on how the case played out this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The week began with prosecutors telling the jury Jerry Sandusky is a serial predator, sexually abused children, not over days, weeks or months, but years. An 18-year-old identified in court papers as victim number one sobbed as he testified the former Penn State assistant football coach began sexually assaulting him when he was just ten years old. "After rubbing and cracking my back and the blowing of the stomach he put his mouth on my privates." Victim one also testified Sandusky would expect the oral sex to be reciprocated. "He sat there and looked at me and said it's your turn." Prosecutors say Sandusky followed a pattern using the charity he founded Second Mile to target young boys, many of them fatherless or troubled, giving them gifts, taking them to games and then sexually assaulting them.

TOM KLINE, ATTORNEY FOR VICTIM #5: There he was with this relationship with this boy after boy after boy, which, by any conventional evaluation of any normal adult would say this is just so terribly odd and wrong.

CARROLL: A key witness for the prosecution, Mike McQueary testified when he was a grad assistant back in 2001 he saw Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in the Penn State shower. He says he heard smacking sounds, skin on skin, "I looked directly into the shower and again so coach Sandusky standing right against the back of the young boy. Coach Sandusky's arms wrapped around the boy's midsection, just as close as I think you could be." The defense challenging his account of what he saw and when he saw it, pointing out McQueary had initially said the alleged assault happened in 2002, a year later than he now says it occurred.

The week ended it as it began -- with the jury hearing graphic and disturbing testimony from an 18-year-old identified as victim number 9. He says Sandusky repeatedly forced him to perform oral sex and he says Sandusky sodomized him. Quote, "He got real aggressive and just forced me into it. And I just went with it. There was no fighting against it." His screams for help from Sandusky's basement, he says, went unanswered.

JUSTINE ANDRONICI, ATTORNEY FOR VICTIMS #3 AND #7: No one sitting in that courtroom could sit there and listen to what these victims are saying and not be convinced that they're telling the truth. That is powerful testimony about deeply personal issues, and none of them wanted to be here today. The jury is going to see that.

CARROLL: Throughout the entire proceeding Sandusky stared at his accusers as they testified. The question now, will he testify in his own defense?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: The commonwealth is expected to rest its case on Monday, then the defense will have its turn. The defense is likely to highlight how many of these accusers have hired civil attorneys hoping to convince jurors these young men are falsely accusing Sandusky in order to sue Penn State later. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Jason.

Let's get you caught up on some news making international headlines now. First, Alberta, Canada, where a massive manhunt is under way for this man. He's a 21-year-old armored truck guard who Canadian police believe attacked his fellow guards, killing three of them and then robbing the truck before fleeing. Police warned Travis Baumgartner should be considered "armed and dangerous."

And now to Japan where the government is restarting two of its nuclear reactors at the troubled Fukushima Plant. The reactors are the first to be put back online since being shut down during last year's earthquake and tsunami crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ignition. Lifting off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And with that, China blasts its first woman astronaut into space as she is a 33-year-old air force pilot who will stay in space for the next 20 days. China sent its first man into space back in 2003.

A Texas town is standing behind a young dad who claims the man he beat to death was sexually assaulting his five-year-old daughter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Texas, authorities are trying to piece together a story of a beating death in an alleged sexual assault on a child. One part of the story is certain, the town is standing behind the young dad who says the man he killed was trying to molest his five-year-old daughter. Randi Kaye reports from Shiner, Texas.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here's what we're told happened at the family farm. The father and the grandfather of this little girl were apparently working with the horses, setting up for a barbecue. The girl was apparently, according to the sheriff, in the pasture area behind the barn, perhaps at the chicken coop, when suddenly the father heard her screaming. So he raced toward the area where he heard her screaming from and found, according to the sheriff, this is what the father told him, found this man, this 47-year-old man attempting to rape his five-year-old daughter. So what he did according to the sheriff is pull this guy off his daughter, punched him repeatedly in the face and the head and ended up killing him.

Now, the question, of course, is whether or not this father will be charged. The sheriff's office is investigating along with the Texas Rangers. Then the case will have to go to the district attorney and possibly to the grand jury next month. So it might be some time before we know, but certainly, the feeling among neighbors in this community is that justice was served, that this father did no wrong, that he was attempting to protect his daughter in this case. The sheriff says he showed remorse, he said that this man did not intend to kill this 47-year-old man, but neighbors have said that, you know what, if it was their daughter, they would have done the very same thing, possibly even made this man suffer is what one neighbor told me.

So, this -- this man, this father in this case, as far as we know, he grew up in this community. He has a high school diploma, he's a single father, he doesn't have any history of violence. He walks around here referring to neighbors as sir, he's respectful. So it's just a question now of what will happen to this man, who apparently committed murder as trying -- as he was trying to protect his young daughter?

Randi Kaye, CNN, Shiner, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, now, let's talk about one of the number one issues in America, the economy, and the gridlock, the nagging unemployment and the slow recovery. What can be done to get the U.S. on the right track? Ali Velshi investigates in this week's "Fortune Brainstorm."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. economy is paralyzed by indecision. Economic growth measured by GDP remains stubbornly low. The economy is adding jobs -- it has for 20 months -- but not enough jobs. And consumer confidence has declined for three months in a row, and that by the way is despite record government spending.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the CBO, projects that the U.S. will end the fiscal year with a $1.33 trillion deficit. That's the shortfall between what we take in and what we spend, and that's just for one year.

David Newton is a professor of entrepreneurial finance and a venture capital expert. He knows exactly how businesses are started, financed and grown, and how jobs are created, and he is the editor of a new book called "Crisis of Confidence," which by the way, the foreword was written by our good friend, Stephen Moore.

David, thank you for joining us. David, you lay out two scenarios for the U.S. economy going forward. The first scenario, we change nothing. The economy grows at 2.3 percent, and in ten years, the GDP stands at just over $19 trillion. The government takes in 15 percent of that in taxes.

Here is the second scenario on the right. The economy grows at 4 percent. That pushes GDP a lot higher, to $23 trillion. It gives the government $3.9 trillion of tax revenue at 17 percent. We'd all prefer the second scenario, how do we get there?

DAVID NEWTON, PROFESSOR OF ENTREPRENEURIAL FINANCE: One of the things we have to do is we have to be very serious about taking on these entitlements and recognizing that they are not sustainable. In their current form right now, they're already in deficit. They're only going to remain in deficit going forward, and ultimately the spending that creates all these annual deficits and adds more debt each year is ultimately going to have to be paid in terms of the interest on that, and the short-term low interest rates that we're looking at right now are artificial, and they can't stay like that forever.

VELSHI: Thanks, David.

I'm Ali Velshi with this week's "Fortune Brainstorm."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And the Greeks are going to the polls Sunday, and how they vote will not only affect their future, it is going to impact you and your wallet as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here's a quick look at major stories we're following today. In Saudi Arabia, the heir to the Saudi throne has died. Saudi state TV says Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz died in Geneva, Switzerland. He was there for medical tests. Nayef was known as a hard-line Saudi conservative who led several crackdowns on al Qaeda militants.

In southern Mexico, Carlotta has weakened to a tropical depression. All warnings and watches are discontinued, but the storm did leave a mark as a hurricane. Two children were killed. Carlotta is expected to continue to dump eight inches of rain through Monday.

And firefighters in Larimer County, Colorado are really hoping for rain today so they can get a handle on the Hyde Park wildfire. It has burned more than 55,000 acres and has forced thousands of people from their homes. Right now, the fire is only 20 percent contained, and officials say the newest danger in the area are scared, hungry bears, so firefighters are trying to keep their distance.

Tiger Woods could be on the verge of a huge comeback. It's been four years since he won his last major title, but now he's tied for the lead at the U.S. Open in San Francisco. Here's CNN's Patrick Snell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After 36 holes, three-time U.S. Open champion Tiger Woods is in his share of the lead at one under par. This despite shooting a second round of 70 on Friday, which featured three consecutive bogeys. He does have company, though, in the shape of former major winners Jim Furyk and David Toms. Though you'd have to say at this point it's now Tiger's tournament to lose.

TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: Being, you know, patient is certainly something that, you know, you have to do in major championships, and I think I've done a pretty good job of that over the years. I won my fair share, and I understand how to do it.

SNELL: For a short while, the 112th U.S. Open featured a 17-year-old American amateur in the lead. High schooler Beau Hossler got to two under par at one point before falling back to three over, but not before his name was trending out of control worldwide.

BEAU HOSSLER, GOLFER: I was pretty excited about it. But then again, there's still what, I have another 40 holes at least to be playing in the tournament. You got a long way to go and you can't get too wrapped up on where you're at, but you have to keep focused.

SNELL: Another amateur player has had a tournament to remember, but sadly for 14-year-old Chinese Andy Jung, he's now out of the tournament after being cut. He's in good company, though. The defending champion, Rory McElroy at ten over par, is also leaving the tournament far earlier than he would have wanted.

Patrick Snell, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, keep us posted, Patrick.

So it is a summer road trip season, and before you hit the highway with the kids, we have got some useful gadgets to reduce the "are we there yet?"

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's that time of the year again, time to pack up the car, throw the kids in the back seat and hit the rod for the summer vacation. And we have some gadgets to make that ride a little bit easier and a bit more fun, fewer headaches, hopefully.

Tech expert Marc Saltzman is on the road, joining us via Skype from Toronto. You can do anything. OK. Good to see you.

All right, let's talk first about this Jabra Freeway, we're talking about hands-free safety while you're driving on the road.

MARC SALTZMAN, SYNDICATED TECH. WRITER: Sure, absolutely. Before we get to some of the fun ways to keep the kids entertained, let's talk safety first. This is the Jabra Freeway Bluetooth headset or Bluetooth speaker phone, rather. So this mounts on your visor, and of course, lets you make hands-free calls. But the quality is outstanding. It has got three speakers built in, it's got two microphones to cut down on ambient noise, so the person you're speaking to can hear you. You can use your voice to ask for your text messages and to send e-mails, to post to Twitter or Facebook, if you like. And the quality is very clear. Like I said, look, you turn it on and it even walks you through the setup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Power on.

SALTZMAN: Like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome. You are now ready for (inaudible).

SALTZMAN: You get the idea. It can actually pair two different devices to this Jabra Freeway, and it sells for about $130.

WHITFIELD: Oh, cool stuff. All right. Now, let's talk about satellite radio. There's something new about it?

SALTZMAN: Yes, so this is the latest player from Sirius XM called the Lynx Portable Radio. It is the most powerful satellite radio to date. You can buy a vehicle mounting kit and keep it in your car, but what I like about it is that it's also portable. As you can see, it's battery powered, so you can use it like an mp3 mean player as you walk around, and you can use it at home because it also works over wi-fi. You can stream your satellite radio subscription to the device anywhere in your home or your office.

You can also use it like a DVR or a digital video recorder, where you can store up to 200 hours of programming on the device to its built-in memory and play it back whenever you like.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.

SALTZMAN: You can pause live radio, skip forward and back, and it also has a feature called TuneStart, so whenever you skip stations and you land on a song that you like but maybe it's toward the end, you'll press a button and it will rewind it to the beginning automatically.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.

SALTZMAN: It sells for about $250.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: You are not going to want to get to your destination. You're going to want to just stay in the car.

SALTZMAN: True, yes.

WHITFIELD: OK. So you have got kids and they're in the backseat and they're asking, dad, are we there yet? How much longer? Are we there yet? And you have something to stop the madness.

SALTZMAN: I do. This is for those who own an iPad 2 or the new iPad. And this is from Scosche called the backSTAGE Pro II. This is a headrest mount for the touchscreen tablet. So the idea is that it mounts to any of the headrests in any of the cars on the back of the passenger or driver's seat so that the kids can watch video, they can use their finger to play games. It's secured and mounted in this durable shell. It can tilt up and down, but there's also some technology in the mount itself, Fred. It's got built-in speakers so it will make the volume louder for their games and movies and TV shows. You can wirelessly sync a couple of pair of IR headphones or infrared headphones, and as you can see, it has got a USB connection. So if you've got a thumb drive filled with photos on it, you can snap it into the dock and it will show up on your iPad right away. So this sells for $150. It's called the Scosche backSTAGE Pro II, headmount or headrest for iPad.

WHITFIELD: Oh my God, these accessories are just -- they're just through the roof, really amazing. And then let's talk about a portable hard drive, unlike what you just had with that little flash drive, but now what do you have? SALTZMAN: Sure, so our last road trip gadget recommendation is from Seagate, called the GoFlex Satellite Portable Wireless Drive. So this looks like any other external hard drive. You connect it to your macro PC. You drag and drop videos onto it, and then what you can do is you press a button when you're on in the car, and it will wirelessly send video to up to three different devices at the same time. So you may have three kids. One's on a (inaudible) and one's on an iPod Touch and one is on the iPad, they can all watch something different at the same time, because this creates its own wi-fi hot spot. It stores about 300 movies, it's a $200 drive, and it's from Seagate. I love this little guy.

WHITFIELD: Oh my God. All of that stuff is just amazing. I can't wait to hit the road just to have an excuse to get all of those gadgets. Marc Saltzman, thanks so much, good to see you and keep your eyes on the road.

SALTZMAN: I will, thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Don't get distracted by all that technology. All right, for more high-tech ideas and reviews, just go to CNN.com/check, or follow Marc Saltzman on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Voters go back to the polls in Greece tomorrow, and there's a lot at stake. The country has been in chaos since voters were unable to elect a parliamentary majority in the May election, and now there's fear that the political turmoil could result in Greece ending its use of the euro as currency. John Defterios is in Athens. So, John, a lot at stake. How are people feeling leading into this vote tomorrow?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I would say they're quite nervous right now, Fredricka. Both candidates are suggesting they'd like to stay in the euro. The problem is that U.S. investors and international investors don't quite believe it.

We have two candidates that share that common belief, at least that's the way they're campaigning, but they are miles apart in terms of their philosophies. In fact, a quarter century apart in terms of age. Antonis Samaras is the center-right candidate here. He is saying he is going to continue with austerity so Greece can continue to receive this bailout money from Brussels and the European Union so they can stay in the euro, although he said he wanted to do some amendments.

The younger candidate, Mr. Tsipras, is 37 years old, and he said he wanted to tear up this memo of austerity, what he called a memo of bankruptcy, says that the measures put forward by Europe are too austere, and the Greeks are suffering a great deal.

So it's early days to see if Greece will have to exit the euro and whether that will happen. What people are hoping for here is you have some clarity after the second round of the election that takes place tomorrow. We'll know a lot more Monday morning, and that's when the international markets will respond accordingly. They're looking for one single party. If not, they'll have to go back to negotiations here to see if they can form a coalition, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my. And so what do voters seem to be leaning towards?

DEFTERIOS: Well, that's a huge question mark. To be very candid, and I spoke to a lot of different ministers, a lot of people on the street, and it's a coin toss right now. It is that tight. There is a separation of maybe two or three percentage points in the various polls right now.

Why should we care as Americans? I mean, this is a very large European market that Greece belongs to. 330 million consumers share the euro right now in 17 countries, and the biggest fear out of this election is that if Greece eventually has to exit the euro, it breaks the dam in southern Europe, if you will. Greece goes out. That's a potential. It spreads to Italy, spreads to Portugal, spreads to Spain, and then you could have the whole eurozone kind of fall apart. The U.S. exports 25 percent of its total goods to Europe right now. So that's the biggest concern.

The other concern is that it spreads like wildfire into the financial markets, and you could have a big sell-off as a result if you can't get leadership here in Greece.

WHITFIELD: All right, John Defterios, keep us posted there from Athens. Thanks so much.

Well, it's not every day when someone decides to simply walk across the Niagara Falls on a tightrope, but Nik Wallenda dared to show the world that he could at 121 feet in the air walking 1,800 feet across a tightrope in the dark. Nik Wallenda made history as he crossed over Niagara Falls, and he told ABC who motivated him to finish.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIK WALLENDA, TIGHTROPE WALKER: A lot of praying, that's for sure, and that helps a lot, but it's all about the concentration, the focus, and it all goes back to the training. You know, in the middle of the wire at one point I just started thinking of my great-grandfather, paying tribute to him, and all the walks that he did and he was successful on. That's what this is all about, paying tribute to my ancestors and my hero, Carl Wallenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. With mist and wind blowing all around him, as you see right there, he still finished in just 25 minutes. That's some concentration.

All right. After losing his daughter to a drunk driver, a father in Montana set out on a mission to try to protect all the children in his community from the same fate. Ahead of this Father's Day, we celebrate CNN Hero Leo McCarthy, the courageous dad who refused to let his daughter become just another statistic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LEO MCCARTHY: October 27, 2007, was a beautiful, autumn day. Mariah was with her two friends. I didn't know the last time I kissed her it would be my last time. Later that night, they were walking down this path when an underaged drunk driver swerved off the road and hit them. Mariah landed here. She died that night. They were only a block away from my house. Mariah was only 14, and I'm thinking, how did this happen? It is so preventable.

My name is Leo McCarthy. I give kids tools to stay away from drinking. Our state has been notoriously top five in drinking and driving fatalities in the country. The drinking culture is a cyclical disease that we allow to continue.

Mariah's challenge is: Be the first generation of you kids to not drink.

In the eulogy, I said if you stick with me for four years, don't use alcohol, don't use illicit drugs, I'll be there with a bunch of other people to give you money to go to a post-secondary school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I promise not to drink until I am 21.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I promise not to get into a car with someone who has been drinking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I promise to give back to my community.

MCCARTHY: I think Mariah's challenge is something that makes people think a little bit more to say we can be better.

Mariah's forever gone, I can't get her back, but I can help other parents keep their kids safe. If we save one child, we save a generation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And, remember, all of our heroes come from your nominations. So go to CNNheroes.com and tell us about your hero.

She is the youngest American gymnast to win a gold medal at the Olympics, but behind the scenes, her life was a real struggle, and now she's telling her story.

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WHITFIELD: All right. A U.S. Air Force spacecraft in orbit for more than a year will come back to earth today. The robotic X-37b is set to land at Vanderberg Air Force base in California. Officials are keeping a close eye on the weather and hoping it will cooperate. This is an artist's conception of what the ship may look like. Only a few people really know.

As for its mission, officials aren't saying much, but hopefully we'll get some answers once it does return.

And an old computer worth its weight in gold and then some. One of the few original working Apple One computers has sold for more than $374,000. Sotheby's auction house says it was only expecting to get half that price. You're not looking at it, by the way. If you had bought one of the computers when they were on sale back in 1976, it would have cost you just $666.

All right. The youngest member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, Dominique Moceanu is telling her story in her new book called "Off Balance." She talks about the alleged abuse she suffered during training. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has this week's "Human Factor."

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SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanu hasn't lost the focus and the smile she is known for as a member of the magnificent seven in Atlanta. But behind that smile, she has hidden a lot of pain. While she loved the sport, Moceanu says her coaches, Martha and Bela Karolyi, made her life miserable, severely restricting her eating, forcing her to hide any sports-related injuries, and constantly chipping at her self-esteem.

DOMINIQUE MOCEANUE, GYMNAST: The name calling like piggy and fat. The Karolyis, for example, they hit me in a lot of personal and emotional places. They used my father as a medium of abuse.

GUPTA: She says the coaches would call her father to complain about her performance in practice, and he'd punish her by hitting her.

MOCEANU: For so long I was silenced by those very people who never wanted me to say anything.

GUPTA: The Karolyis declined to comment on her accusations, but tell CNN, quote, "we have known Dominique since she was a young gymnast and wish her only the best of success as she goes through life."

At 17, she went to court to be granted legal independence from her Romanian parents, to reclaim her money and choose her own coach. Moceanu's younger sister Christina says she witnessed the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, but says Dominique reconciled with him before he died from cancer.

MOCEANU: I learned to take those experiences that were difficult and that in my life and the adversity that I had overcome, to use it for a positive change.

GUPTA: Moceanu retired from gymnastics in 2006, and soon afterward, while she was pregnant with her first child, she received a letter from another sister, one she never knew she had, a sister born with no legs and given up for adoption.

MOCEANU: I got the biggest bombshell of my life. And it changed everything. My life will forever be divided now into before knowing about Jen and after knowing about Jen.

GUPTA: Today Moceanu is happily married and wants to help other young gymnasts fall in love with the sport she loves so much. She says her two children may even be gymnasts in the future.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

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WHITFIELD: In politics, in America's Hispanic communities it isn't all about immigration, it's also about baked goods. You'll see what I mean.

And if you have to go out today, just a reminder. You can continue to watch CNN from your mobile phone. You can also watch CNN live from your desk top, or lap top. Just go to CNN.com/tv.

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WHITFIELD: In New York City a police recruit claims he got kicked out of the academy because of the length of his beard, and it's got our legal guys talking.

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AVERY FRIEDMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think the police department is going to have a very difficult time if he can establish it. I mean, I think the more complicated issue is what if he is walking around like Rip Van Winkle? Then what happens?

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WHITFIELD: And you can watch the rest of our discussion with our legal guys at 4:00 Eastern time.

All right. We've been talking a lot about the issue of immigration. But there's another big issue affecting the Hispanic community -- the economy. And one bakery in Los Angeles is seen as something of a barometer for the community. Paul Vercammen paid a visit.

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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Huntington Park, well worn shoes walk through a working class Mexican neighborhood.

RICARDO CERVANTES, CO-WONER, LA MONARCA BAKERY: All the drivers (ph), all the (inaudible), all the construction workers, they were out of a job. So for us, some of the adjustments were not only in terms of the cost, but trying to learn what people's new situation was.

VERCAMMEN: The situation, dire. Unemployment estimates here up to 20 percent in 2009. La Monarca is a full service Mexican bakery. All baked goods are made on the premises. It was started by two Stanford Business School graduates from Monterey, Mexico. As the economy tanked, they saw customers disappear.

Owners Ricardo Cervantes and Alfredo Livas knew they had to cut production and workers' hours, but they were open with employees.

ALFREDO LIVAS, CO-OWNER, LA MONARCA BAKERY: You see what's going on on the street. We obviously have to make some adjustments. We made a conscious decision not to -- try not to lay anyone off. It is better to have someone working 25 hours than not having them work at all.

VERCAMMEN: Named after the Monarch butterfly, La Monarca also faced rising costs. Wholesale flour prices tripled, but the bakery didn't skimp on quality or raise prices. Customer favorites, the pendulse (ph), the pastries, the conchas (ph), the shells, are still a dollar or so lower. La Monarca also got creative with poor families who could no longer afford cakes.

CERVANTES: A couple of families to buy one bigger cake, and we'd decorate it no charge for both families. On the same cake.

VERCAMMEN: The friendly bakers survived and thrived.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are so friendly. That's why we come out.

VERCAMMEN: Their business was built on childhood memories of great Monterey bakeries and cooked to perfection at Stanford.

Here you are graduating and your classmates go off to Silicon Valley, and they say to you what? Happy baking?

CERVANTES: They bake microchips and we bake cookies. So it's baking in the end.

LIVAS: I think being at Stanford gives you, like you said, you combine what you've learned in your life and it gives you a framework, and it gives you sort of a discipline of understanding how business works.

VERCAMMEN: Fast forward to 2012. La Monarca now has three stores, plans to open more. The fitting symbol of spring and renewal is spreading throughout Southern California.

Paul Vercammen, CNN, Los Angeles.

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