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GSA Burning Up Taxpayer Money; George Zimmerman Talks; Antonin Scalia Says No Fallout with Chief Justice. Severe Drought Across U.S. Continues; Suicide Blast Kills Israeli Tourists in Bulgaria; Chick- Fil-A Anti-Gay Marriage; Washington State Teams Up With Facebook

Aired July 19, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West.

Speaking out, George Zimmerman calls his shooting of Trayvon Martin "God's Plan". It's outraged his parents.

Guilty as charged, Chick-Fil-A's president proudly proclaims claims his company is anti-gay marriage. We've got the online uproar.

And Bashar al-Assad, Syria's embattled president, MIA just one day after a suicide bomber kills a powerful player within the regime, his brother-in-law.

But first, the largest drought in 56 years, crippling our country right now. The USDA has classified nearly 1,300 countries across 29 states as disaster areas. That's a third of our country. Fields are bone dry, crops withering, food spoiling and all of this is now threatening to drive up the cost of food for you and your family.

Now, we've talked about corn and grain crops, but now the drought is threatening the nation's dairy supply. Let's get right back to our Rob Marciano. He's live in Whiteland, Indiana, for us.

So, Rob, let's talk about the livestock that supplies all of us with milk and cheese. Is there enough food and water for them at this point?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, no. Right now, they have enough now, but a lot of that is left over from last year which was a pretty good crop.

What worries farm serious what's going to happen as we get towards fall and the winter. Do they have enough to get these dairy cows through the winter?

This herd, by the way, this farm just south of Indy, 500 dairy cows in this herd, so that's a lot of mouths to feed, for sure. How much milk do they produce? Well, check out the milking station just behind this barn, video showing just how high-tech it is. They can pump 20, 30 pounds of milk in about five minutes. They do that three times a day.

So, they need lot of food. They need a lot of energy. And this particular dairy farm has been around for well over 150 years. I spoke with the owner, a sixth generation farmer and he talked about just how bad this drought is affecting his farm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRILL KELSAY, DAIRY FARMER IN WHITELAND, INDIANA: We've had some ups and downs in milk prices and some dry weather before, but this is probably the most -- I've been here 42 years doing this as an adult and it's probably the worst that I've seen overall.

We just were fortunate last night to get about half inch of rain, but it's kind of too late.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: Yes, they'll probably get a little bit more rain today, like he said, too little, too late. Here's what these cows are feeding on. A lot of this is grown right here, about 60 percent of it. It's corn. It's some alfalfa hay and it's actually some by- products from ethanol production which is down also.

So, what they don't grow here, they've got to go buy elsewhere and the cost of that is going up because the supply is down as well.

And, by the way, cows like it cool, much cooler than it has been. So, they've got these sprinkler systems, kind of misters, and fans that kind of try to keep them cool. They prefer 50-degree temperatures, so 90, 100 degree temperatures, just like me and you, they don't like to eat.

So, they lose the weight and they don't have the energy to produce milk, so the production of the milk goes down and that's the problem and the ripple effect that this situation is having on these farms.

Sixty thousand dairy farms in the U.S., 99 percent of them are family-owned. We produce 21 million gallons of milk every year, Kyra, and some of that gets exported, so it ties into the global economy, as well, and farmers are worried, not just right now, but what's to come in the next six to 12 months.

PHILLIPS: Did you, by chance, see the interview with the agriculture secretary, Vilsack, earlier this morning, Rob?

MARCIANO: Yeah, we talked to him yesterday and, you know, he's not optimistic, you know? I was trying to get some silver lining out of it, but he looks at these crops and he says, you know, even if we hold on to what we have, it's almost disastrous what's coming to the ag business and supermarkets here in the coming year. So, not much optimism there, but ...

PHILLIPS: I knew he was come through the area. He was actually on CNN this morning. I think it was when you were out on the farm. Let's just take a little bit of what he had to say and then I've got a question for you about prices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM VILSACK, SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE: We obviously need to help these folks. This is why we have a safety net. This is why we need passage of a food, farm and jobs bill quickly. It's why we need to help these livestock producers, in particular.

It would impact and affect, obviously, over the long haul, food prices, not as dramatically as some people would expect because farmers only get 14 cents of every food-dollar, but it's still going to impact consumers, as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Something that caught my attention, he's talking not only how it's going to impact our prices, but jobs as well.

MARCIANO: Yeah, I mean, these farms employ a lot of people. So, yes. And, you know, not just dairy, but the crops themselves. Two- thirds of an acre or two-thirds of the cost of an acre -- what they make in a bushel of corn that they get through an acre, two-thirds of that is expenses.

So, they are not just throwing seed out there. It costs money to plant an acre of land, so anything that they don't profit, it's not like, oh, well, we just don't have a crop this year. They've got money invested into it.

So, that's why these bills are important. A lot of these guys have insurance and, you know, hopefully that will kick in, but the bottom-line is it spreads out to the entire economy and to me and you, as well.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, Rob Marciano live for us again this morning. We'll stay on the story. That's for sure. Thanks so much, Rob.

And, as you just heard, the impact of this drought is far- reaching. We're talking farms, supermarkets, your dinner table, even your fuel costs. Corn prices are nearing record highs and that's now causing huge concern within the ethanol industry.

Bill Day is with Valero Energy Corporation, one of the largest energy producers in the country, and, Bill, I was talking with Rob about this yesterday. I'm glad you're able to join us this morning. I was reading about one of your plants temporarily shutting down. Now, you've had to close down two of your ten plants. Tell me what's going on at this point.

BILL DAY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MEDIA RELATIONS, VALERO ENERGY CORPORATION: That's right, Kyra. We've actually temporarily halted production at two of our ethanol plants in the Midwest and now we have a third plant in Ohio that's taking about a week off to do some maintenance. This is an opportunity for us, since there's not a lot of need for ethanol, to go ahead and take that plant down, as well. So, with the corn prices going up and demand for ethanol being flat at best, a lot of those plants were actually seeing negative margins where it was costing more to bring the corn in and make the ethanol than we were getting for the ethanol itself in the marketplace.

PHILLIPS: So, of course, a lot of people are wondering, OK, what is this ultimately going to mean for us when it comes to fueling up our vehicles?

DAY: Well, what we have not seen yet is the price of ethanol go up as dramatically as the price of corn has. Once that happens and we expect it to, then you'll see a widening out of these margins.

So, if corn prices stay high, then you will see an increase in the price of ethanol and, because ethanol use is mandated in gasoline, that can translate to the price of gasoline, as well. We haven't seen it yet, but we expect it to come.

PHILLIPS: How soon?

DAY: Probably within the next few weeks. Valero's not the only company that has halted production at some of its plants, so as more of that happens, you'll see ethanol margins will widen out and you could see price increases after that.

But right now, there's plenty of ethanol in inventory. There's actually a high number of days of supply, higher than usual, so it hasn't really factored out yet and a lot of ethanol is being blended from inventories.

PHILLIPS: You know, before I let you go, Rob was just mentioning -- I don't know if you heard that interview. He's out on the farm there in Indiana, about jobs now being impacted.

Now, if you've had to close down two of your ten plants, did you -- I mean, did your workers not come in today and is this going to impact jobs for your workers?

DAY: It has not impacted jobs, Kyra. All of our Valero employees are still on the job. They're still on the payroll. We consider these to be temporary halts in production and we expect those plants to be back up and running in the next couple of weeks and making ethanol.

So, we've kept all the employees on the job. They are still being paid. We haven't laid anybody off.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Bill Day, thanks so much.

And, according to the Oil Price Information Service, right now, the fourth quarter ethanol is fetching a price of about $2.51 a gallon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, Iran says it had nothing to do with the deadly bombing of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. That blast killed seven people, including the suicide bomber, a suicide bomber who was carrying a fake Michigan driver's license.

Officials say that he had the bomb in a backpack which he placed in the luggage compartment underneath the bus. President Obama has condemned the bombing as a barbaric terrorist attack.

Now to Syria. A president MIA, key regime players dead, and now China and Russia veto a U.N. resolution. All the while, gunfire across the capital of Damascus. Our Arwa Damon, live in Beirut for us this morning.

So, Arwa, let's go ahead and start with President Assad. Quite a turn in character from a pretty arrogant leader to missing-in-action now.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Especially given the developments over the last 24 hours, one would fully expect that a president would come out at a time of crisis, at a time when it most certainly seems like his government is not in control of the capital and when there is such a security breach that led to the death of his minister of defense, deputy minister of defense and security advisor yesterday.

A lot of speculation where the president is and what his strategy may be at this point in time. There have been various reports that he could possibly be in the coastal port city of Latakia.

Now, this is an area where the president and his family have historically spent summers, trying to escape the desert heat, but strategically speaking, it also would potentially possibly provide the president with an escape route via the sea. It is also an area where he does enjoy a, relatively speaking, you know, fairly solid support base.

That being said, Syrian state television broadcast an anchor read statement that said that the president had sworn in a new minister of defense. There were no images, interestingly that were broadcast, but it does -- and, sorry, there was no location that was given, so it does seem at this point in time that, well, a lot of people are wondering where the president actually is.

PHILLIPS: And a lot of people coming forward saying that he's afraid for his life and afraid that this may be it. So what's your sense? Could this actually be the beginning of the end?

DAMON: You know that is so incredibly difficult to determine, as has everything that is surrounding this uprising in Syria. What this has certainly created is widespread fighting across many suburbs and, in fact, Central Damascus, in and of itself.

It most certainly will be causing the regime to look over its shoulder, no longer feeling that perhaps the senior-most members, members of that inner circle, can fully trust themselves. But one also has to bear in mind that the Assad government still has a fairly solid military base, a fair amount of military firepower, not to mention armor, and the president still has significant individuals very close to him, his own brother who commands the most elite units amongst analytical.

And, of course, let's not forget about that critical international support. That Assad regime still has the backing of Russia and China and, when it comes to the region, of course, Iran.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Arwa, thanks so much. And you heard Arwa just mention Russia and China. The U.N. director of Human Rights Watch just released this statement after the vote on the U.N. resolution, the veto, rather, on the U.N. resolution vote.

Here's the quote. "Russia and China have once again turned their backs on the Syrian people as the Syrian government continues its brutal assault on the civilian population. Their callous disregard for the violations that followed their serial vetoes is unbecoming of permanent members and could make the security council irrelevant to the developments on the ground."

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tennessee Muslims finally get to open their mosque just in time for the holy month of Ramadan which starts tonight. A federal judge has ordered Rutherford County to conduct a final inspection of the Islamic center today. And, as you may remember, this comes after two years of legal challenges and several acts of vandalism, arson, even a bomb threat.

Well, Chick-fil-A has made no secret of its Christian values and now its president is making it clear that, when it comes to opposing gay marriage, he and his company are guilty as charged.

Those are the words of Chick-fil-A's main man, Dan Cathy. And, as you can imagine, it's unleashed a firestorm of outrage. According to "The Christian Post," Cathy goes even further during an interview on the Ken Coleman show saying, quote, "I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about."

Kat Kinsman is the managing editor of CNN's Eatocracy food blog and has been following this story. Tell you what, Kat, talk about huge backlash.

KAT KINSMAN, MANAGING EDITOR, CNN'S EATOCRACY FOOD BLOG: Oh, my goodness, social media is on fire right now, both on Twitter and on Facebook. People have known about this particular stance of Chick- fil-A for a long time and now they are using the power of the Internet, you know, to talk back about it.

Our news blog, "This Just In," lined up a whole bunch of the most sort of vehement tweets about it today, including, you know, stances like, you know, "Hate-mongers," "Never again," "Not another dollar from me," and "Goodbye, Chick-fil-A. All you food was delicious, but I can no longer eat nuggets filled with hate."

So, you know, both sides are weighing in pretty heavily on this. People are glad that they are standing up for their beliefs and others are saying, well, you know, chicken is delicious, but I'm going to forego that for right now.

PHILLIPS: What about, it's received also a lot of support, too, right, Kat?

KINSMAN: This is certainly true. And really the story is, this has been going on for a very, very long time. We've written about it, you know, pretty extensively on Eatocracy and on the belief blog.

For ages fast food companies have been putting their dollars towards beliefs, causes that they believe in. It's just that it hasn't been quite as blatant, up until now. You have things from, you know, In-and-Out Burger, you know, putting Bible verses on their food and putting it out for the public, but this is actively taking a stance against a certain part of their consumer base and people are just not having that.

PHILLIPS: All right, so, you read some of the criticism there on Facebook and also some tweets. Here's someone that we pulled actually in support of what the president had said.

David Jones -- "Just wanted to say I'm proud that you stand firm in your beliefs. You knew the risks and still took the plunge. May God bless this company with abundance. Never back down."

Sharon Boyd writing, "Thank you for standing up for what you believe. The truth is not hate it's just the truth."

Question for you, what type of impact -- because we have talked about this before and we've talked a lot about the Christian values that Chick-fil-A always talks about and their hiring practices and how they feel about certain issues, especially gay marriage. What kind of impact do you think the company is really going to see?

KINSMAN: I really don't expect that they will see very much because they have been so public about this issue up to this point that I think anybody has pretty much made their decision.

I actually received an e-mail from a colleague today who is gay and who would sort of pay people money to stay in line at Chick-fil-A for him before so he wouldn't be seen in line. But he said, as of today, no more.

In fact, there is a very popular video online right now, a chef has shown how to make a "Chick-fil-Gay," which is a sandwich that mimics the taste of a Chick-fil-A sandwich, so you can still fill that need and not have to support the politics of a brand who doesn't necessarily support you.

So, it's pretty divided.

PHILLIPS: We definitely should not be surprised. I'm sure there will be a lot more of videos and et cetera put together.

You know what, Kat? Let me go ahead. We did get an issue from Chick-fil-A. Let me read this quickly.

"The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor and dignity and respect, regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. Going forward our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena."

So, it kind of sounds like, possibly, Mr. Cathy might have gotten himself in a bit of trouble, coming out, saying what he said, because now this statement clearly is sort of toning down what he had commented on.

KINSMAN: Yeah, this is true. In their mission statement, they write that, "At the heart and soul of our company, we're a family business that serves people," and, you know, they believe in the biblical definition of marriage.

So, I think it's going to take a while for this to blow over, but I've actually been really surprised to hear how many people are swayed by really delicious chicken to step over the line.

PHILLIPS: Hey, it's true. I mean, I never knew about Chick-fil- A until I moved to the South. Let me tell you, it's quite a popular place.

KINSMAN: You know, it's funny. I come from New York City here and you say Chick-fil-A and people don't necessarily even know what you're talking about. There's only one here. You have to go onto the NYU campus in order to eat there.

So, this may be an issue that's sort of contained regionally, but as long as they have a Facebook page, as long as they have a Twitter, people are going to be talking about this for a while.

PHILLIPS: Well, we'll follow it. Kat Kinsman, thank you so much.

Chick-fil-A was founded, by the way, by Truett Cathy in the 1960s right here in Atlanta and, today, it has more than 1,600 restaurants across the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The GSA is supposed to be overseeing federal agencies and the spending of our tax dollars, so we were all pretty outraged when we found out that some of its employees ventured out on that now- infamous $800,000 Las Vegas conference.

Now, it turns out that wasn't the only boondoggle. Our Drew Griffin investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: It happened had here at the Culinary Center of Kansas City on a quaint street in Overland Park, Kansas, where GSA employees did not just get a free lunch. They got to spend most of the day making it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cooking is not a mystery. Everybody can learn it.

GRIFFIN: It's all about what the Culinary Center's own video calls "team-building." Teams make entrees, make desserts.

What did the GSA employees get out of this? This is one of those employees who says he's afraid to show his face because his boss will be mad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was lunch. We had 25 minutes to get a recipe together, cook for three. I think there were roughly 25 or 30 people there. And then we were critiqued along the way by the chefs at the institute on what we could do better.

GRIFFIN: And those GSA employees got the whole day off real work to do it.

So this was the day's activity, learning how to cook?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GRIFFIN: And it didn't just happen once. Since 2007, GSA employees came to the Culinary Center of Kansas City nine times for these team-building exercises. They cooked lunch. It cost you more than $20,000.

That's the total amount for all those cooking classes. Granted, in the world of trillion-dollar government budgets, that's not a lot of money, but our insider says it is part of the free-spending culture that's gone on for years at the Kansas City regional headquarters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of what I would look at as juvenile behavior when it comes to caring about what the taxpayers' money is used for.

GRIFFIN: Our investigation into spending at the Kansas City office found, not only did workers learn how to cook lunch, the GSA hired an etiquette instructor to teach workers how to eat it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How to hold your napkin, how to use your fork, knife.

GRIFFIN: He's not making it. The etiquette instructor who billed the federal government nearly a thousand dollars confirms she taught GSA employees about the place settings and the different courses, how they are going to be served, how to eat soup and salad, what to do with your napkin, how to butter your roll. To top it all off, we also found the GSA's Kansas City office awarded its workers with a $3,000 awards lunch, possibly to show off that newly learned etiquette.

When we began asking about this we were directed to Washington, D.C., to the headquarters of the GSA, where we were told we could get answers in writing, but no one would be able to answer our questions on camera.

So we showed up at this public ceremony back at the GSA regional headquarters in Kansas City to meet this man.

JASON KLUMB, ADMINISTRATOR, GSA HEARTLAND DIVISION: Good morning.

GRIFFIN: Jason Klumb is the politically appointed regional administrator of GSA's Heartland Division which covers four states. He's been in charge since February of 2010. In charge of three cooking classes, etiquette speaker and $3,000 awards lunch.

(on camera): This is outrageous to people when they hear things like government workers going to cooking classes and not just one but very many over several years. Why was that allowed to go on?

KLUMB: It was the culture, the old culture at GSA. And we saw it in all the news that was generated out of their western region conferences, the old culture.

GRIFFIN: Why weren't you able to put a stop it when you came into the office.

KLUMB: We've seen new leadership at the agency and that will affect my ability to put a stop to those kinds of things. But, absolutely right, it's not acceptable.

GRIFFIN: Do you, as the administrator, have the power to stop that kind of stuff.

KLUMB: When we see new policies put in place there's more authority that will be given to regional administrators to stop things like that.

GRIFFIN: Do you not have the power now?

KLUMB: Don't have it now.

GRIFFIN: Really?

KLUMB: Haven't had it. Yes

GRIFFIN (voice-over): One other thing Jason Klumb didn't have the power to stop --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scrooge, this is the ghost of GSA present. Let's take a look at you action.

GRIFFIN: -- last year's holiday video contest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the ghost of GSA past.

(MUSIC)

(SINGING)

GRIFFIN: It's another team building exercise. The team that came up with the most creative video about -- get this -- efficiency in the GSA, would win an ice cream social. All of what you're seeing was written, produced, acted, taped and edited on federal government time.

(on camera): Will these videos make people better employees, improve the systems, improve the efficiencies of the office?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. They were just for see how cute they could be would be my estimation.

(SINGING)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): GSA employees used to be able to watch the videos online. But when the news broke about that spending scandal in Las Vegas, that's when the holiday videos disappeared.

Klumb, who says he didn't know about the cooking classes, couldn't exactly use the same excuse when it came to the holiday videos.

KLUMB: I was one of the judges. Again, that was part of a culture that was pretty common throughout GSA. And absolutely something that is changing. I think you see a new day at GSA.

GRIFFIN: GSA headquarters tells CNN in a statement, "These events indicate a pattern of misjudgment, which span several years and administrations." The agency spokesperson went on to show that "Under the new GSA leadership, these events would not have been approved. And only light refreshments like water and pretzels will be allowed inside a federal facility at future team-building exercises."

KLUMB: We see a need at GSA. We see a culture shift and a new day. I'm very optimistic about that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: If you're leaving the house right now, just a reminder, continue watching CNN from your mobile phone. And watch CNN live from your desk top. Go to CNN.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Florida watchman, on trial for killing Trayvon Martin, says he's not a racist. George Zimmerman went on FOX News last night to tell his story on what happened in February when he shot and killed Martin who was walking to his father's house. So is this another strategic move in a high-profile case? We've seen Zimmerman's look change several times. He's gone from heavy set with facial hair to a smiling, wearing a tie, to a clean-shaven baby face, to his look just last night on FOX News.

Beth Karas, from "In Session" on TruTV, joins me now.

Beth, are the changes and TV appearances part of the strategy.

BETH KARAS, CORRESPONDENT, IN SESSION ON TRUTV: Yes, I do think it's part of the strategy. A lot of people are questioning the wisdom of the defense in allowing him to make a statement like this. It wasn't a particularly aggressive interview that challenged him on a lot of points but maybe that was the deal, that he was basically going tell his side and not be too challenged. This is an opportunity for Zimmerman to get his story out, not be cross-examined, as he will be when he was testifies at a Stand Your Ground hearing or trial. This is the type of case that begs for a defendant to testify, since he's saying what I did shouldn't be considered criminal, I was justified in doing it. He'll have to take the stand I would argue.

So it is a risk, though, because every time a defendant makes a statement, including the times he talked to the police, he testified at the bond hearing, now he's got a statement out in public, the prosecution can use all these statements to challenge him on inconsistencies.

PHILLIPS: So, Beth, Trayvon Martin's family, actually their attorney talked to CNN this morning. I want to get your take on their reaction. Let's roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN CRUMP, MARTIN FAMILY ATTORNEY: The state attorney will see this interview as a gift when they get ready to cross-examine George Zimmerman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You touched on this a little bit just a second ago. Let's talk more about what he means by a gift.

KARAS: Well, any time you make statements, people just don't tell the same story exactly the same each time. Sometimes the questions are posed differently, calls for a slightly different answer. But he is going to be challenged about his statements initially when he says that Trayvon Martin was running. And last night, he said, well, he wasn't really running. he was skipping. You know, he's going to have to explain that one away.

I got to tell you, Mark O'Mara is too good of an attorney to let this happen. This interview with FOX News did not have to occur. It was done voluntarily. I'm sure he's confident that George Zimmerman, if there are inconsistencies, can explain away those inconsistencies. What he said was inconsistent with the 911 call. That was an audio call not a videotape. We don't know what was happening. You hear what you think is someone running. But it could have just been panting, not from running. We don't know. It's an audio. I think that Mark O'Mara knows what he's doing, wouldn't have allowed this if he thought it is going hurt him more than help him, and may help raise some money for the defense as well.

PHILLIPS: What happens next? This went from homicide to a murder case, and now we're hearing that his cousin accused him of sexually abusing her when she was just a kid?

KARAS: Yes. Very interesting. George Zimmerman's explanation for that, "Isn't it interesting that's the only person who says I'm racist is this person who is also making these allegations of molestation." Let's keep in mind they are two years apart. She said he molested her when she was 6, he 8. If she was 9, he was 11. We're not talking about an adult molesting a child. These are allegations. No charges were filed. When it comes to molestation charges the law typically requires that be a big age difference between a molester and the child being molested. More than four years or more than 10 years apart or the child is under 13. You don't have that in this situation. They are close in age.

PHILLIPS: Beth, thanks so much.

Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and is free on $1 billion bond while awaiting trial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Facebook and the state of Washington teaming up. State officials announcing the launch of a Facebook ap that allows state residents to register to vote online. The application is expected to go live sometime next week making Washington the first state to allow voter registration via the social networking site. You can get both candidates, well, likely looking for friend requests from all those voters.

No hard feelings. Justice Antonin Scalia says he has not had a falling out with Chief Justice John Roberts over the Supreme Court's landmark 5-4 decision that validated much of President Obama's health care law. Roberts was the swing vote that kept the individual mandate in place as a tax not a penalty.

Scalia told Piers, there's no bad blood between the two conservatives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, PIERS MORGAN: You and Justice Roberts had a parting of the ways. You went from being best buddies to warring enemies.

ANTONIN SCALIA, JUSTICE, U.S. SUPREME COURT: Who told you that?

MORGAN: I think I read it in the papers.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER) MORGAN: A credible sources.

SCALIA: You should not believe what you read about the court in the newspapers because the information has either been made up or given to the newspapers by somebody who is violating a confidence, which means that person is not reliable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: You can tune in tonight to CNN. Senator John McCain will join Piers Morgan to talk about everything from Syria to the presidential election. That's tonight, 9:00 p.m.

California moving full speed ahead to build the nation's first high-speed rail station. Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill yesterday authorizing the first leg of construction. This is a rendering of what's planned. The train will go up to 220 miles per hour. The line is envisioned to carry travelers between Los Angeles and San Diego in just 80 minutes. Passengers can zip between San Francisco and L.A. in two hours and 40 minutes. And the cost? $6 billion. Price tag for the entire project is estimated to cost as much as $68 billion.

Travel insider, deep in the heart of Texas. The Lonestar State is known for ropers, wranglers and darn good Texas Mex.

Let's ask our own Ed Lavandera. He loves working for CNN out of Dallas but he loves stopping in on Fuel City Tacos even more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What if I told you some of the best tacos you'll find not just in Dallas, Texas, but the entire state of Texas are hidden in this gas station, Fuel city.

You're not going to find this place in some fancy photo spread with the Dallas Chamber of Commerce. It's off the beaten path. You have to drive by a bunch of bail bond stores, liquor stores and closed-up strip joints, but worth the drive.

I'll take you inside where the magic is made.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(CROSSTALK)

LAVANDERA: Check it out. You got beef, you got chicken, you got pork. Check out the jalapenos and grilled onions. Delicious.

Fuel City is like Texas on steroids. You've got car washes where you can look at real long horns. There's donkeys, car washes, windmills. It's like Texas over the top.

This place is opened 24 hours. They have breakfast tacos. Come here any time. It's $1.40 for a taco. Time for to us order. We're ordering for everybody.

We have a feast ready for everybody to enjoy.

Heaven. It's all good. Beautiful.

(CROSSTALK)

LAVANDERA: Now after you've enjoyed your tacos and you're full, take a moment and feel sorry for the poor animals that don't get to enjoy them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, there is some good news for parents who have kids with allergies. Researchers are working on a new method to help children who develop a tolerance for foods they cannot otherwise eat. The technique is called oral immunotherapy.

CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here to explain what it is, and how success it is.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Immunotherapy is for kids who are allergic to peanuts or eggs. And what they do is to give them a teeny, teeny, tiny amount of what they are allergic to, and then work their way up. We're talking like .0001 of an egg and then build up.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: These kids were ages 10-11, school-aged kids.

PHILLIPS: And this is not like when they were tiny babies?

COHEN: No, not to babies at all. But what they found out is successful. It is a small study and 40 kids doing the immunotherapy and what they found is 30 of the 40 had a temporary cure. In other words, it worked, but it did not necessarily work forever, but 11 of them were cured and I say that in quotes, because I don't like using that word, but it worked long term. In other words, some of the kids who could not touch an egg were chowing down on eggs.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh.

COHEN: That is great. That is amazing, because there is not a lot of great news for people out there with severe food allergies, so this is exciting.

PHILLIPS: What about the other kids?

COHEN: Either it did not work or they could not continue with the therapy, because it became dangerous for them. They actually developed an allergy reaction, so for a sizable chunk of the kids, they could not do it. PHILLIPS: I don't know if I could volunteer my kids for something like that. It is pretty scary.

COHEN: Well, they were started it so, so small, and they worked their way up. As they worked a small amount. And I want to say this do not try this at home. Again, do not try this at home.

PHILLIPS: And it could be a disaster.

COHEN: You could kill your kid. Do not do it that way.

PHILLIPS: Help me to be an empowered patient here and this is your book and what you talk about, what do you do as a parent?

COHEN: As a parent, go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient and you will see two things there. One is a blog by my colleague, Elizabeth Landow, that talks about the study. And, two, is a link to clinicaltrials.gov. There are doctors doing it experimentally, and you can see if you want to join one of the clinical trials. It is not offering widespread in a responsible way, so you want to look at these clinical trials.

PHILLIPS: Excellent.

Thank you so much, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The London Olympics is running into one problem after another. First came the trouble with security or rather lack thereof. And now a possible train strike. Transportation officials plan to walk off of their jobs in the Olympics and it would be tremendous disruptions. British officials are warning the unions not to carry out the threat at a time if the country wants to show the best face to the world.

And if you are an Olympian, you need talent and talent. But that is not do case for U.S. swimmer Collin Jones, who grew up as an inner- center kids whose parents were pushing him towards basketball. A near-death experience that changed it all for one Olympian.

Our Sanjay Gupta has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Beijing, Cullen Jones wins the gold medal in the 400 relay. Becoming the second African-American to win gold and the first to hold a world record. But growing up, learning to swim was the last thing on his mind.

CULLEN JONES, OLYMPIC SWIMMER: My dad was a basketball player and I watched the NBA, and he said, you want to play basketball.

GUPTA: But a trip to a water park at the age of 5, changed his life.

JONES: We went down a ride and I ended up flipping upside down because I was so light, and I almost drowned. My mom tried to save me, but she could not swim and so the lifeguard had to come get me and my dad had to get my mom.

GUPTA: And learning to swim was not a priority in the neighborhood he grew up in.

JONES: Walking around in a neighborhood where wearing a little brief was not common.

GUPTA (on camera): And he stuck to the challenges.

JONES: And I said, dad, I want to swim. And people need to learn how to swim.

GUPTA: That has inspired him.

JONES: This important has given me a lot and I want to give back.

GUPTA (voice-over): At this Olympics, he has fulfilled his dream of qualifying for not one, but two Olympic events by winning the 50 freestyle and second in the 100 freestyle.

JONES: I am excited about it. I wanted to swim the 50 and the 100 in Olympics for a very long time.

GUPTA: Jones will also compete in the 4x100 relay which is the event that won him gold. Here at the Olympic training camp, he is fine tuning his techniques.

JONES: Everything has changed. My mindset has changed and my diet for sure has changed. My coach has changed my stroke, everything, my execution of races. I think that I have learned more about not only just sprinting, but how to do it correctly.

GUPTA: Jones says that the hard work is finally paying off. He says he has one goal for London, winning more gold.

JONES: When you can sit back and you are standing on the podium and hear your national anthem, that is what I swim for.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And Sanjay Gupta goes back to the pool this weekend on "Sanjay Gupta, M.D., to talk to Olympic swimmer, Dana Volmer, one of the top gold medal contenders in London. Turn in Saturday, 4:30 p.m. eastern, and Sunday at 7:30 in the morning.

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

NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL starts right now.