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Remembering the Aurora Victims; Maryland Copycat Threat; Heavy Shelling in Key Syrian City; British History in Opening Ceremony; Social Media's Olympic Connection; Chicago Examines Chick-Fil-A Expansion; Food Prices Up After Extreme Heat; Romney Walking on Eggshells; Deadly Floods on North Korea and China; Navy To Christen Ship To Honor Flight 93; Jesse Jackson Jr. at Mayo Clinic

Aired July 28, 2012 - 12:00   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, you have a great day, too. Thanks so much. Any tennis today?

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, always.

WHITFIELD: It's very hot out there. Hydrate.

KAYE: I promise and then I'll come in and watch NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: All right, I like. That's all right. We'll give you a break for a few minutes.

KAYE: OK.

WHITFIELD: She's back in at 2:00. All right, thanks, Randi. Thanks so much.

All right, a mass shooting one week ago, hard to believe it was just one week ago in Colorado. It has a lot of people across the country in mourning today.

Memorials are taking place for three people killed in that massacre. The victims include a naval petty officer from Illinois, an aspiring sports reporter from Texas and a man who was last -- whose last living act was saving his girlfriend from gunfire.

All were under the age of 30. Nick Valencia joins me now with more on this people, who they were how they are now being remembered. Many being laid to rest. In other cases, their memorial services, a host of things.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's just a very emotional day for a lot of the people affected by this theatre shooting. As you know, Fred, funerals are for a couple things, to embrace your loved ones as well as remember life.

And three lives are being remembered today from this theatre shooting. One is John Larimer, 27 years old, followed the footsteps of his grandfather and his father. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was in fact in the first posting there in Colorado.

He's from Crystal Lake, Illinois. You see his photo there, charming man and a big smile on him. We spoke to his father last week, Scott Larimer who was just devastated. The family is still trying to make sense of his death.

His body was flown back to Crystal Lake, Illinois. You see it there crowds lining up and down the boulevard to receive him. It's just a very sad day for a lot of people.

Jessica Ghawi as well, we're peeking into her life memorial. The service for her, Jessica Ghawi, of course, was sort of the quintessential face of this shooting right there. She goes by Jessica Redfield in her aspiring sports broadcast career.

This is a live look at her funeral service there just a short time ago. That's, of course, in San Antonio, Texas. Just a short time ago, one of her broadcast colleagues remembering sort of embarrassing story about when Jessica first started saying she forgot to put her microphone on one of the first times she's on air.

So many things that we all forget to do sometimes from time to time. But you see her just an aspiring sports broadcaster whose life was cut short way too soon at 24 years old.

And last, Matt McQuinn's funeral will also be held today. Matt McQuinn, one of those heroes that dove on his girlfriend to take the bullet for her.

His family is trying to make sense of his heroic deed there on July 20th in Aurora, Colorado. His uncle spoke to a local affiliate and said that he's just glad that his son -- his nephew died in this heroic way, but it's just a big tragedy for the family.

WHITFIELD: All right --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERB SHAFFER, UNCLE OF MATT MCQUINN: You can't think. All can you do is react and for Matt to immediately react to protect the one that he loved showed us what a great -- what great character he had and made us proud that he was a part of our family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: And it's that character there, Fredricka, several of these men that died in the shooting of the 12 killed did protect their girlfriends from the bullets. And Matt McQuinn was one of them. Just a hero in the last legs of his life.

WHITFIELD: All right, our thoughts go out to all of them. Thanks so much. Nick Valencia, appreciate it.

All right, meantime, fresh evidence is surfacing that the suspected shooter was seeking psychological help and sent possibly damming evidence to a university professor. That evidence is now the subject of a legal battle.

CNN's Jim Spellman is following the development from Arapahoe County, Colorado. Tell us more on this -- Jim.

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hello, Fredricka. Last Monday, this notebook from James Holmes arrived at the University of Colorado there in the mail room, addressed to this psychiatrist that he was seeing there at the school.

So we know that the police came and they took that. Now there's this gag order in effect. So law enforcement first of all are not supposed to be talking to the media.

But there was apparently what other media outlets called leaks that reported these were writings from Holmes saying that he was going to hurt people with drawings of people with guns and violent imagery, things like that.

So the defense from Holmes says, look, there have been the leaks. This is privileged material between a patient and a doctor. We want this material. The DA's office says these leaks are inaccurate. They're not right. They don't have accurate sourcing.

We don't want to give it to you. The judge has said we're going to have a hearing about this Monday and we'll decide. What it does tell us though is that, one, he was seeking psychiatric care.

And, two, that he did make these writings and send them to this doctor. What we don't know is how long he was seeing this doctor, why he was seeing this doctor, or if he ever told this doctor about any inclinations towards doing any kind of violence -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, and that is key, the how long he may have been seeking attention and whether it's just this doctor or was this doctor someone that he was getting attention from or advice from after any other medical device being dispensed.

SPELLMAN: Right. I mean, we just don't know much of this stuff. There are a lot of laws that pertain to this. There is HIPAA. This is the health -- the privacy act that protects patients.

But there is also an obligation for health providers to report if they think that there is a risk of danger. We just don't know enough yet to know what kind of obligations anybody may have had in this scenario.

Now on that front, with these gag orders and so many of the documents in this case being sealed, it's really hard to know what's going on. Media organizations on Monday including CNN are going to petition the court to unseal some of these documents.

So we can have a greater insight. We'll know a lot more after the hearing on Monday -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jim Spellman, thanks so much from Arapaho County, Colorado. Meantime, tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time, CNN hosts a special report "Madness at Midnight, The Search for Answers in Aurora." Our Don Lemon will be bringing that special this evening tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time.

A Maryland man could face federal charges as early as today for threatening a copycat shooting attack. The suspect was in the process of being fired when police say he told a supervisor, quote, "I'm a Joker and I'm going to load my guns and blow everyone up," end quote.

As you may know, the suspect in the Colorado theatre shooting identified himself as the Joker. Maryland police say a search of the man's apartment yielded 25 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Possible federal charges come into play since the man was a federal contractor.

And now to Syria and what has become a day-to-day reality for people in the country's largest commercial center of Aleppo. Folks are searing the fiercest flashest yet in the 16-month crisis.

There was nonstop shelling this morning. Residents are fleeing the city and regime forces are preventing fuel and food from entering neighborhoods controlled by rebel fighters.

Activists say at least 100 people have been killed around the country today alone.

All right, the Olympic Games are in full swing today after a glitzy opening ceremony last night. The athletes begin their quest for gold. We'll take you to London live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, in London, it's the first full day of the 2012 Olympic Games. Yesterday, Britain showed its history in a glitzy ceremony featuring pastoral scenes and flying cyclists. The party was highlighted by a brilliant fireworks display as well as royalty dignitaries and celebrities looked on.

Our Pedro Pinto is live at the Olympic Park in London. So Pedro, this is the first full day of athletic events. Are people still talking about the opening ceremonies? Are they just focusing on the here and now, particularly like the cycling event today and then swimming qualifications?

PEDRO PINTO, SPORTS ANCHOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Well, Fred, all the English newspapers focused their attention on a spectacular opening ceremony at the Olympic Park behind be.

But today it's been about the medals because 12 gold medals are being handed out on the first official day of the London games. And there's been so much excitement. You can imagine the city has been waiting seven years for this.

So the buzz in London is just something special. And I can tell you the highlights so far for the British fans here was the cycling race because they were expecting Mark Cavinish to win their first gold medal.

That really didn't happen because Alexander Vinokourov, the rider from Kazakhstan, he broke the home fan's hearts. He won gold in the cycling, 250-K trek around the city. So the English will have to wait a little longer to celebrate their first gold medal on home soil of these games.

WHITFIELD: So what happened with him? He was out in front almost the whole time and then it was it just an issue of losing steam or did something else happened more technical?

PINTO: Well, you know, the Tour de France just ended a couple weeks ago. And what we're thinking is that he's just didn't have enough left in the tank, quite frankly. He's known as the fastest man on a bicycle worldwide.

He won a few stages of the Tour de France. He's a pure sprinter, but I don't think he had enough energy even though the team helped him and protected him in the main group. He just couldn't come out on top.

Alexander Vinokourov is kind of a veteran and he's very wily, very experienced. He proved that here today. Historic medal for Kazakhstan as well, they haven't won too many golds.

WHITFIELD: Yes, congrats to him. All right, let's talk about swimming, big day in swimming. They had some prelims earlier with Phelps and Lochte being kind of the showcase athletes. What's happening and how is this setup, I guess, what will some of the primetime racing?

PINTO: Yes, swimming is really capturing the attention of a lot of people here. Every time you put Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps in a race it really makes the headlines.

The headline with Michael Phelps today, curiously, is how slow he was and how much he struggled to make it into the final. He just made it by 700th of a second. He was actually the slowest out of the eight swimmers who made the final.

Ryan Lochte was third overall and curiously it was a Japanese teenager who clocked the best time in the heat. So we are really wondering, was it a case of Michael Phelps taking it too easy, maybe being too relaxed or is he just slower than Lochte?

We'll find out at 2:30 Eastern Time today when the final takes place at the Aquatic Center here in London.

WHITFIELD: All right, Pedro Pinto, keep us posted. Thanks so much from Olympic Park.

All right, between Twitter and Facebook, it's pretty easy to be driven to digital distraction, but not if you want to get in on all the Olympic action.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, if you're like me, you're already glued to the Olympic action and Facebook and Twitter are more valuable than ever. Well, Karen Kaifa has tips for making your mobile device your ticket to London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREN KAIFA, CNN CONSUMER WATCH (voice-over): Hear your smartphone? That's London calling. Forget being a casual spectator on the couch. This year's summer Olympics will offer more social interaction than ever.

MARIO ARMSTRONG, TECH EXPERT: They're going to have a second, third, and fourth screen with them. They're going to have so many ways they can interact, watch and view things happening at the London Olympics beyond television that they've ever had before.

KAIFA: Between Facebook, Twitter, web sites and apps, it's easy to get driven to digital distraction. Tech expert, Mario Armstrong, says to choose just a few.

ARMSTRONG: Identifying who you want to get your information from will help you better understand which tools to use and not overwhelm you at the same time.

KAIFA: He recommends a dashboard app like Banjoe that puts material from multiple social networking tools in one place. The best part of some Olympic apps is live extra streaming video, the worst part that can eat up data quickly. So run those apps on Wi-Fi.

ARMSTRONG: That way you're off the data charges. You're going to get a better connection in some cases to view the video and content. And you'll keep that bill way, way down, so Wi-Fi, connect over Wi-Fi.

KAIFA: I'm Karen Kaifa and you're now clicked in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, believe it or not, the U.S. swim team found some spare time for fun in between all those practice laps. They actually filmed their own parody of that hit song "Call Me Maybe." And yes, even stars Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte make an appearance.

All right, the women's team spearheaded the production there. It may not be considered to patriotic. Singer Carley Ray Jepson is actually Canadian, but the song is popular universally.

All right, Chick-Fil-A was the center of the same sex marriage debate. An alderman is taking a stand against the restaurant. Is he overstepping his bounds? Our legal guys will be joining us just minutes away to weigh in.

If you have to go out today, I just want to remind you, you can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone. You can also watch CNN live from your laptop, just go to CNN.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: One of the victims of the mass shooting in Colorado is suing. Torrence Brown was not hurt, but his best friend was one of the 12 people who died at the movie theatre in Aurora. But according to TMZ, Brown claims to be suffering from extreme trauma.

Let's bring in our legal guys. Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor joining us from Cleveland. Good to see you. And Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from Las Vegas. Good to see you as well.

OK, this is the first lawsuit that we understand to have been filed. Again, you know, this young man was not injured, but he was alongside his friend who did die. He says he is suffering from, you know, extreme trauma, but he is suing three entities.

We're talking about the theatre. He's suing the doctors of the suspected gunman and Warner Brothers, Richard. Is this just the beginning of what is likely to be kind of a litany of criminal and civil cases?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, Fred. It's three strikes and you're out. Those three are out. They will be dismissed. This lawsuit is ridiculous. I can't believe he even brought this.

You know, in the spirit of the Olympic Games, if you bring a litigation in the United Kingdom and you lose, you have to pay all the legal fees in a civil litigation. That's how it should be here to prevent frivolous litigations.

Suing Warner Brothers for making this movie is just plain stupid. Suing the theatre because the door did not lock when the door did lock and the issue really is foresee-ability with respect to the theatre is just ridiculous.

And lastly, suing the gunman because he didn't take care of himself and take his medicine --

WHITFIELD: Or his doctors, rather.

HERMAN: Yes. I think he missed law the day he went to law school, but this whole lawsuit is absolutely ridiculous.

WHITFIELD: So Avery, what would be behind this type of lawsuit?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, it may very well be jackpot justice. You know, there are going to be a torrent of cases. But Torrence Brown who brought this case is thinking because I feel terrible that I lost my friend that somehow that converts into legal liability.

Fredricka, I hate to do this, but Richard's right on this. The fact is there are no claims of a friend or an acquaintance against doctors or Warner Brothers or the theatre because there has to be a connection.

There has to be some level of connection and there is no basis. I can't come up with any legal theory, Fredricka, that would warrant as much as this man hurts. And I don't doubt that. There is no basis in the law for any claim whatsoever.

You know what? I think he will be taxed legal fees because the case is so utterly frivolous. The court has the discretion to penalize someone for doing that.

WHITFIELD: Do you suppose that Torrence Brown may have had a better chance had it been maybe part of a class action, if there were others who kind of joined in, wait a little bit? Is that issue so that he's not an individual trying to take on these three entities? Richard?

FRIEDMAN: I don't see it.

HERMAN: You have to have good --

FRIEDMAN: Whether it's individual or class.

HERMAN: Fred, you have to have grounds for liability. Here they just don't have these grounds for this person. They may be in a zone of danger. There are some theories of law. But they don't fall in this particular case. There is no theory of liability. Therefore, they can't recover.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right, let's move on --

FRIEDMAN: That's the issue, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes, OK. Let's move on now to Chicago. It's really reaching out to other cities, too. This involving Chick-Fil-A, you know, after the president of Chick-Fil-A, Dan Cathy, made some comments against same sex marriages.

And the Chicago alderman, Joe Moreno, is saying that he would block a Chick-Fil-A restaurant from being built in his district because of such comments. Now we have the issue of Moreno saying that the company is carrying out discriminatory practices.

But then, Richard, one might argue is he likely -- you know, if he was able to block this restaurant or this building permit, isn't he discriminating against a business?

HERMAN: Well, I cannot wait to hear what my colleague Avery has to say about this one. But let me just say, it's not only the alderman, it is also the mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who threatens he's not going to allow Chick-Fil-A in Chicago. That's ridiculous.

If the president of the company states his opinion, this is my personal opinion although when we conduct our business, we treat everybody with respect. We invite everybody to our stores. We don't discriminate against anybody.

Why can't someone state their own opinion, Fred? This is really ridiculous. I don't know what's going on here, but this is really, truly ridiculous.

WHITFIELD: All right, instead of my paraphrasing, how about if we hear, you know, Dan Cathy what he had to say on the radio. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN CATHY, COO, CHICK-FIL-A: I think we're inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, you know, we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Avery, are we going to be two for two that you're in agreement with Richard? Or do you see this alderman does have a pretty stable case by denying a permit if it comes to that?

FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, I've been fighting discrimination for over 40 years, Fredricka. And I appreciate that if a restaurant denies service to an individual because of where they're from or what color they are, their orientation, that's where government steps in.

That's where Moreno steps in or Rahm Emanuel or you know, officials in Philly or Boston. But you want to know something, this is alarmingly ignorant when it comes to --

WHITFIELD: On who's part?

FRIEDMAN: When it comes to politicians and their understanding of the first amendment. Believe it or not, it should be very clear to them this is protected speech under the first amendment. Mr. Cathy can say anything he wants as long as he doesn't deny service.

And if these politicians are not alarmingly ignorant, then they're clearly flouting what their obligation is under the constitution by swearing to uphold it. Frankly, it's really offensive that they're doing this.

You want to fight discrimination? Do it right, but speech is protected under the constitution. If that building permit is denied, watch out, Chicago. You're going to get hit with big damages and that permit is going to be ordered by a federal judge to be granted to Chick-Fil-A.

WHITFIELD: And we heard at least one Boston official is chiming in kind of in agreement with what Chicago is doing. But then New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg chimed in and said exactly what you said, Avery.

This is the first amendment right issue and that it would be wrong for the city of Chicago or Boston or any other city to deny a permit based on such comments.

All right, we're not done with you guys, of course. We're going to see you again in about 20 minutes. We're going to talk about another case, a ruling as it pertains to Disneyland's policy on what is legal use of a vehicle by way of assistance for any kind of patron to the park?

And this case involves the Segue Way. All right, in several parts of the country, they're burning up in the heat. It will take a toll on your pocketbook as well soon. We'll tell you exactly what we mean.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories now. Memorial services are happening today for three people killed in the mass movie theatre shooting in Colorado.

The victims are John Larimer from Crystal Lake, Illinois, Jessica Ghawi from San Antonio, Texas, and Matthew McQuinn of Springfield, Ohio. They were among 12 people killed in last Friday's terrifying massacre.

Overseas in Syria, parts of the city of Aleppo are seeing the fiercest clashes yet in the country's 16-month crisis. There is nonstop shelling this morning. Residents are fleeing the city and activists say at least 100 people have been killed around the country today alone.

An Albanian weightlifter was booted out of the Olympics for doping. International Olympic Committee said he has tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid. Meantime, several medals were won today including Kazakhstan taking the gold in men's cycling.

All right, back in the U.S., the country is sweltering under extreme heat and drought conditions and it will soon take its toll on our wallets as well.

With corn and other crops withering and dying in the heat, food prices are expected to shoot up. Emily Schmitt is live at an upper Marlboro farmer's market in Maryland. So Emily, how expensive is produce today?

EMILY SCHMIDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. We are beginning to see the first ripple effects of this drought and here's why. The federal government says 62 percent of the nation's farms right now are in an area that's impacted by the drought.

You can tell how the corn and bean farmers are already beginning to pay the price. Here is how consumers are at this farmer's market. Take a look at this box of beans. It's the last box they have. They've been through almost all of them.

These spots are a sign of how the beans have really suffered under the heat. The person who sold these beans had to get a lower price because the quality wasn't there because of the heat. This is something that is going to cost consumers more as they try to get these.

In fact, the next boxes of these are going to come from New York as opposed to Pennsylvania because it's the only place they can get the beans. Fredricka, this is just the beginning of the ripple effect that's going to impact people's pocketbooks.

In fact, this week, the U.S. government did some looking estimating how much the drought is going to cost people. They say you can expect because of these higher corn prices we're seeing, beef and veal will go up 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent.

Same for chicken and turkey. Cheese and milk up 1 percent to 2 percent this year. Fats and oils, which had soy beans as one of their major ingredients could go up 4 percent to 5 percent. That's in 2012.

It's expected to go up the same amount in 2013. Farmers market, we've been talking to people who know about these projected increases. They are concerned about how they're going to get less food for their dollar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just have to adjust. The economy is going up. The pay is going down. We just have to do the best we can to get through the hard times. But most of all, as my mother would always say, put something away for a rainy day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, because that's where we have to sit down and figure it out. Again, it's a concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHMIDT: The USDA says that the weather that has caused so many problems for corn and beef actually is causing one small bright spot. That is because in the produce section they have had great weather in states like California and down into Mexico that creates a lot of the fruit and vegetables.

So you're actually seeing lower prices there. Also at the meat counter, right now you may be seeing lower prices on beef. That's because so many cattle producers have been selling off their cattle because they can't pay for these higher grain prices.

The problem is that that supply is going to go away and you're going to look at the U.S. government says much higher beef prices in the future -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, right around the corner. All right, Emily Schmidt, thanks so much from Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

All right, palm reading, tarot cards and fortune telling fraud or a right of free speech and free enterprise? Our legal guys will share their predictions about fortune telling banned in one Louisiana City.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, Disneyland is known as the happiest place on earth, but a woman who has a form of muscular dystrophy was not so happy when her request to use her Segway was denied by the park. So she sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Our legal guys are back, Avery Friedman in Cleveland and Richard Herman in Las Vegas. So Avery, this woman says she needed that Segway in order to kind of get around more comfortably.

But Disneyland said, no, we have policies and two wheels vehicles are not allowed, but apparently an appellate court sided with her. Explain more, Avery.

FRIEDMAN: Well, it was a fascinating opinion, Fredricka. It was written by the legendary Chief Judge Alex Kaczynski. And you know what? The chief judge cited Walt Disney saying as long as there is imagination, Disneyland essentially has to evolve to that.

Well, under Title Three of the ADA, what Disneyland was doing is taking disabled people out of their Segways and other two wheelers and dumping them in wheelchairs. At least that's what the allegation was.

And a three-judge panel said, you know what? Because of the evolution in technology and Disney should certainly know that, it's time to treat disabled people as closely as we can to nondisabled people.

So using a two wheel Segway is no less appropriate. And now it goes back to the trial court to evaluate whether it's possible. I think it's a great victory for disabled people.

WHITFIELD: Interesting so Richard, it's as simple as being outdated or at least that's the challenge. Is Disneyland outdated even though they says, we do have wheelchairs being made available. We do have scooters being made available. But as Avery just said, you know, they have to evolve.

HERMAN: Fred, I can testify to the scooters at Disney because I'm not ashamed to say, I took a scooter when I was there. I could see my ankles at the end of the day. I took the scooter.

FRIEDMAN: How you are disabled?

HERMAN: Yes, I'm not, but they're all over the place. You can rent these scooters and wheelchairs all over Disney. You can take them in the hotels and the elevators, up to the rides. They make arrangements for everyone. Any disabled people are taken care of at Disney. These Segways are very dangerous, Fred.

WHITFIELD: You're saying that Tina is asking for too much?

HERMAN: I think she's asking for too much. I don't think she can ride a Segway. There's a balancing issue there. There's a lot of down time trying to learn how to ride those things.

This woman with partial muscular dystrophy, I think she's better off in a scooter, not a Segway, for the safety of everyone around here. There are a lot of crowds there, Fred. You know that.

Come on. The scooters, that's the way to go with the scooters right now. These Segways are never going to get approved.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's move on. Let's look into the crystal ball and move on to another case out of Alexandria, Louisiana. This one, you know, involving fortune tellers.

And one young lady in particular, Rachael Adams, who's a fortune teller, says she doesn't even charge people a fee. Her business is based on donations made.

But apparently the city came up with an ordinance and said, you know, we are outlawing fortune tellers to do work here because we think this is fraudulent business.

But this case is far from over. In fact, she got a bit it of a reprieve, didn't she, Avery?

FRIEDMAN: She got more than a reprieve, Fredricka. She got a resounding constitutional victory. It shut down Alexandria, Louisiana's, $500 a day fine if you fortune tell and to me this was one of the great opinions.

Listen to this language. If there's ever to be progress for mankind, men or women must be allowed to dream, imagine, and be visionaries for the future even if you can't prove it.

What a wonderful way of saying it. The court went on to say the government is engaged in oppression by shutting her down. What a wonderful victory for the first amendment.

So now can you go back and read your horoscope or anything else. I think it's a terrific, terrific decision.

WHITFIELD: And so, you know, Richard, this really does speak to, you know, government can only go but so far. I mean, this almost makes you think about the whole Chick-Fil-A case too.

The government can only go, but so far, you know, to dictate what is a legitimate business, what is a sound business, you know, what should be legal, what should be right?

HERMAN: That was a perfect Segway, Fred, right into the Chick-Fil-A case.

WHITFIELD: And the Disneyland Segway --

HERMAN: We're all over it.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

HERMAN: Other worldly -- the ordnance was a violation of other worldly communications. That was how they structured it. It was turned down first amendment protection fortune telling.

If you want to have your fortune told in Louisiana and you want to invest all your money in those fortunes, by all means, good luck. Good luck to you.

You know, I think it's for a person to decide if they think it's the right thing to do or not. But certainly Louisiana is not going to get involved in litigation over this. It is constitutionally protected speech -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, interesting stuff. All right, thanks so much. Richard and Avery, great to see you guys per usual. All right, thanks so much. Have a great weekend.

All right, the legal guys are here every Saturday at this time to give us their take on the most intriguing legal cases of the day. You got a sample of that so you don't want to miss them on any given Saturday.

All right, it was a trip that was supposed to boost his foreign policy skills. But after stumbling in Britain, can Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney rebound while in Israel?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Mitt Romney is heading to Israel today. The Republican presidential candidate is hoping to redeem himself after some embarrassing moments in London. As Jim Acosta reports, the gaffes have Mr. Romney walking on eggshells.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mitt Romney hit the reset button on his overseas charm offensive during his lone public meeting of the day in London. He was asked by the leader of Ireland about how he had to walk to the Irish embassy due to the city's intense pre-Olympics traffic.

Romney's response -- Romney is walking on eggshells and eager to please after he was blasted by British leaders for appearing to question London's readiness to host the Olympic Games dubbed, the party pooper in the "Daily Mail, nowhere man in the "Times" of London and "Mitt the Twit in "The Sun."

Romney sidestepped the controversy in an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan.

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, CNN'S "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": You've been slightly criticized for knocking the British enthusiasm as if you had picked up on much enthusiasm. You are feeling it now?

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I'm delighted to see the kind of support that has been around the torch, for instance.

ACOSTA: The uproar in London reached its crescendo when the city's mayor taunted Romney in front of 60,000 people at a pregame celebration.

MAYOR BORIS JOHNSON, LONDON: There is a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know whether we're ready. He wants to know whether we're ready. Are we ready?

ACOSTA: Romney is also taking heat for disclosing that he visited with the head of Britain's intelligence service, the MI-6, a meeting normally kept secret.

ROMNEY: I appreciated the insights and perspectives of the leaders of the government here, opposition here as well as the head of MI-6 and as we discussed Syria. ACOSTA: But Romney's top surrogates are brushing off the controversy seeing openings in the next two legs of his foreign trip Israel and Poland.

NORM COLEMAN, FORMER MINNESOTA SENATOR BACKING ROMNEY: The governor will be in Poland. Poland had the rug pulled out from under them on the missile defense.

ACOSTA: President Obama had his own awkward moments in Britain last year when he tried to toast Queen Elizabeth as an orchestra played "God Save The Queen."

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This earth, this realm, this England, to the queen.

ACOSTA: As for that morning headline hangover, we found Londoners who are willing to cut Romney some royal slack.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything should be taken with a bit of salt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Mitt Romney's next stop is Israel where he has a full slate of meetings scheduled with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as other Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Then a major foreign policy address in Jerusalem. Jim Acosta, CNN, London.

WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is making his own appeal for the Jewish vote. Yesterday, the president signed a pledge to increase military aid to Israel by $70 million.

The White House says it underlines the president's commitment to an important American ally. A new Gallup poll shows registered Jewish voters prefer Obama 68 percent to 25 percent for Romney.

The death toll from flooding across China and North Korea keeps rising. Eighty eight people have been killed and tens of thousands have been left homeless.

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WHITFIELD: The death toll from flooding in an impoverished area of North Korea has risen to 88. Most of the deaths were in two countries in the South Pyongan Province. The area was hit by torrential rains on Monday and Tuesday.

In neighboring China, flooding began 10 days ago after the heaviest down pour in 60 years. Yesterday, torrential rain caused highways to flood. Thousands of people in both countries are now homeless.

Veteran Latina actress Lupe Ontiveros has died of liver cancer. She played a maid a total of 150 times. Her best known role was a nosey mother-in-law on "Desperate Housewives."

She was a -- she had a guest spot. But she was still nominated for an Emmy Award. She died in California at a hospital there at the age of 69.

Up next, the inspiring story of a woman who is leading a crusade against domestic violence. We'll show you how she already helped more than 1,000 women.

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WHITFIELD: Today, "CNN Hero" saw domestic violence in her own family and now she is asking other survivors of such violence to share their dreams. Jo Crawford gives then them the resources to take the first step toward achieving that dream.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JO CRAWFORD, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: When I was 13, my dad was very violent and attempted to murder my mom. It wasn't until I was 55 that I came to work in a shelter and met a woman who had fled Chicago with two young children.

She had no documentation. She did not legally exist. She said, can you help me? I need $40 to get all the documentation. It is totally forbidden, but I gave her the two $20 bills and I'm thinking I just changed three lives with $40. I had no idea that I had actually changed my life as well.

My name is Jo Crawford. I ask women survivors of domestic violence to dream their best life. I give them the means to accomplish the first step. This is what you want and this is what you deserve.

The women are all out of a relationship for at least six months. They have to be free of alcohol and drugs. They have got to have a dream. It's not a gift. She agrees to pay it forward to three other survivors.

These women need to know that they deserve their dream and have the power to create it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got so much help which enabled me to buy a sewing machine and that made me realize I should be a person who not only receives help, but also gives help.

CRAWFORD: I am so proud of you. One woman can make a difference, but women working together can change the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And remember all of our heroes come from your nominations. So if you have someone you'd like to tell us about, go to CNNheroes.com.

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WHITFIELD: All right, checking our top stories. The Navy is holding a christening ceremony for the "USS Somerset" today. The ship was named in honor of the heroes of Flight 93.

That was the United Airlines flight that was hijacked and crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania on 9/11. Everyone on board that flight was killed. The president of the Flight 93 family's organization is speaking at today's ceremony.

The mystery about Jesse Jackson Jr.'s whereabouts has been solved. The Chicago congressman has released a statement saying he is at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

He's undergoing an extensive inpatient evaluation for depression and gastrointestinal issues. Jackson, the son of civil rights leader, Jesse Jackson Sr. has not been on Capitol Hill since late May.

One of upstate New York's most recognizable buildings was reduced to rubble this morning. The 19-story building just outside Rochester was built in 1973 and has been used as a nursing facility. But the small elevators made it to difficult for nursing staff to care for over 200 residences. So they decided to bring it down and then start again.

All right, coming up at 2:00 Eastern hour today, a new study has some encouraging news about reducing your chances of getting pancreatic cancer.

Also at 2:00, you may be paying thousands of dollars in 401(k) fees. More on a new law that will disclose the numbers and hopefully save you some money.

Coming up at 3:00 Eastern time, some new travel apps that can make your vacations a lot easier and a lot more affordable. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "YOUR MONEY" starts right now.