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Ukraine Protesters Topple Lenin Statutes; Ukraine's President Leaves Capital; Arizona Bill: Freedom or Discrimination?; Ted Nugent's Rant Rattles GOP Leaders; Noose Placed On James Meredith Statue; Sam Could Become NFL's First Openly Gay Player; USA Hockey Team Facing Finland For Bronze; Olympic Skier Adopts Five Dogs From Sochi; How California's Drought Affects You; Colorado Marijuana Sales Are Booming

Aired February 22, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's 11:00 Eastern hour in the CNN NEWSROOM. And that's a reason to be happy. The NEWSROOM starts right now.

All right some very fast-moving developments today. A president voted out but talking tough now. We've got the very latest live from Kiev.

And businesses that won't serve gay people. A new bill allows just that in the U.S. but will the governor sign it.

And Ted Nugent apologizes or does he for using a racist term to describe President Barack Obama. The only thing is there is a bust -- you'll hear the rocker's explanation.

All right. One day after signing a landmark peace deal, Ukraine's President has left the capital city of Kiev. And the parliament has unanimously voted him out of office.

But in a television interview earlier today from Eastern Ukraine, President Viktor Yanukovych said he will not resign. All of this comes just a day after Yanukovych shook hands with the opposition leader and signed an agreement.

Then hours later, his residence in Kiev was cleared out. The bloodshed in the streets had stopped for now but protesters are still taking action, toppling statues of old Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin.

That has been happening across that country but Kiev has been the center of violence for days now.

Phil Black is there live for us right now. So Phil, what is the latest? What more is the president saying and where is he exactly?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Fredricka. Let's start with some breaking news first. This concerns the former Prime Minister of this country, Yulia Tymoshenko. She's been in jail, today parliament voted to release her and we have just confirmed, CNN has spoken to a press officer from her Fatherland Party saying she has been released.

Now this is significant because she's the former prime minister of the country. She ran against Yanukovych to be president in 2010. Then in 2011, she was prosecuted, convicted and jailed for supposedly abusing power while she was prime minister. It sounds a little complicated that basically the rest of the Western world, Europe and United States have always said it was political payback. That Yanukovych had effectively manipulated the system the political system to punish his number one political enemy.

And so this woman, this former Prime Minister has been in prison suffering medical problems and alleging gross mistreatment at the hands of Ukrainian prison officials ever since, ever since 2011. Now, today, she is free. This comes only after the parliament also voted to dismiss President Yanukovych himself.

Now there has been some doubt through the day about just how legal these parliamentary proceedings. The political landscape within parliament has really shifted because before the last few days, President Yanukovych had the numbers. All the votes went his way. Now, they are not -- now he's not in town to sign the laws that parliament is passing.

And so it has been unclear just how enforceable some these resolutions are. But one that has been passed today and this is to free the former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko that appears to have resulted in a concrete result, she has been released from prison after from being jailed back in 2011 -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Ok and then Phil, meantime behind you the singing, is that the national anthem? What's taking place?

BLACK: Yes, it is. There's been a lot of patriotic singing. A lot of chanting, particularly as these votes have been taking place in parliament. We've been watching a live feed down here in the square, screaming "Glory, glory to Ukraine." There have also been emotional scenes here today as bodies of some of the protesters who were shot on the street near here during the week were brought before the crowd took prayer vigils, where there have been farewells and as I say, very emotional scenes here today.

So this crowd is still here. And they are here because, although, a peace deal has effectively been negotiated they still don't trusted -- still don't trust the President Viktor Yanukovych. And though the people here is telling us we're going to stay here until they're pretty sure that this agreement is compromise, will be followed to the word. And some are saying they'll stay a bit longer. They're going to stay here until President Viktor Yanukovych is removed from office -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right Phil Black thanks so much, keep us posted.

All right meantime, here stateside the Obama administration is watching every move in Ukraine very closely. Yesterday President Obama spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation. But that was before Ukraine's President left Kiev.

Elise Labott is live for us now in Washington. So Elise what is the latest on how Washington, how the White House is watching all of these incremental details?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Obviously watching the situation on the ground very closely Fred to make sure that the violence stops but also looking ahead to see what the U.S. can do, hoping that this deal that was worked out between the opposition and the President yesterday can move forward and they're going to be looking forward to be implemented now. You have to have a national unity government. You have to have technocrats so they're going to be able to work with the International Monetary Fund to help Ukraine stabilize its very fragile economy.

So obviously looking at this situation on the ground and hoping the violence will stop. But really wanting to get Ukraine back on its feet and those are the kinds of things that President Obama and President Putin was speaking about yesterday.

WHITFIELD: Ok and so is there any indicator as to how far the U.S. would go with a commitment to keep an eye on this and maybe even go beyond that?

LABOTT: Well, you know, that President -- Vice President Joe Biden spoke to President Yanukovych -- in the last few days for about an hour and a half. Vice President Biden has been seen really as the kind of -- President Yanukovych whisperer, if you will. At every time in the conflict when it really looked as if President Yanukovych was leaning more towards President Putin and trying to obey his instructions, Vice President Biden would call up and say, "Listen, you really have to move forward. The United States will stay with you. We'll help you with your economy. You're the only guy that can do this."

And so now, we understand that Deputy Secretary of State William Burns will be traveling to Kiev next week to try and help this along, working with the European Union, obviously.

But now that the protesters are still in the streets it's unclear the future of President Yanukovych. The parliament voted out, if he refuses to go if President Putin decides once the Olympics are over and Russia is out of the spotlight that he wants to protect his plank and send Russian troops in, perhaps, that's a very big concern.

So this is all far from certain. And it's still, as the U.S. points out, still very fragile. I think the U.S. will continue to remain engaged along with the European Union.

WHITFIELD: All right Elise Labott thanks so much. Keep us posted. I appreciate that from Washington.

All right and also overseas, a very rare meeting that hasn't happened for thousands of years. Why Pope Emeritus showed up where the new Pope was conducting business at the Vatican.

Plus it's a big debate over Freedom of Religion in Arizona; on the governor's desk right now a bill some say will sanction discrimination. Will Jan Brewer sign it into law?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Quite a moment today at the Vatican. Two Popes at a Cardinals ceremony. It happened today as Pope Francis selected 19 new cardinals at St. Peter's Basilica. And Pope Emeritus Benedict was there as well. After an embrace there Francis installed the new cardinals, his first such appointments since he was elected head of the Roman Catholic Church a year ago.

In Arizona people are protesting at their state capitol. They want the Governor to veto a proposed law that would allow businesses and individuals to refuse service to people on the basis of their religious beliefs. Supporters say the bill protects against activists federal courts. Critics of the bill say it sanctions discrimination particularly against to gay people. But others could be impacted as well. For example, a pharmacist could refuse to dispense contraceptives claiming it's against its religion. A Muslim could refuse to do business with Christians because he might consider them infidels.

Well let's check in with Miguel Marquez in Phoenix.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, this is the scene outside the Arizona capitol, lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender community and the business community here in Arizona joining in to protest senate bill 1062. It is not been signed by the Governor yet, it is expected to be on her desk as early as Monday. And then she would have five days by Arizona law in order to sign it.

We suspected that means she would have until Saturday at midnight to sign that bill, although she said she would make up her mind by next Friday.

The people here are concerned about this because they believe because Arizona does not have a nondiscrimination clause for LGBT individuals that this bill would allow people who have deeply held religious beliefs to discriminate against them. Those who support this bill say it does nothing of the sort and they are basically lying about the bill but there are concerns that this bill will create a separate clash of citizens for the LGBT community here in Arizona.

And people have gathered here in the hundreds in order to protest it -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Miguel Marquez, thanks so much, in Phoenix.

All right, coming up, we're going in-depth on what's happening in Arizona. Is it religious freedom or is it outright discrimination?

Plus he said horrendous things about President Barack Obama. Is rock singer Ted Nugent making things worse for Republicans?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Leading Republicans are distancing themselves from a well- known supporter who they have counted on to attract conservatives. Rock singer Ted Nugent was asked on a conservative radio show if he apologizes for derogatory remarks about President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED NUGENT, ROCK SINGER: I did cross the line. I do apologize, not necessarily to the President, but on behalf of much better men than myself, like the best governor in America, Governor Rick Perry.

BEN FERGUSON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: People are saying it wasn't a real apology. So, again, for the record, are you apologizing to the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, for calling him a subhuman mongrel?

NUGENT: Yes.

FERGUSON: If he hears this, and it's a good chance it's going to be played later today, and he's watching or listening, what would you say to him directly?

NUGENT: Good lord, there's an agenda for you. He's violated so many laws. He's violated his oath to the constitution.

So in the Texas governor's race Republican candidate and gun advocate Greg Abbott has been campaigning with Nugent. But when CNN's Ed Lavandera caught up with Abbott, he just didn't want to talk about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA (voice over): Texas Republican Greg Abbott is in a high profile race for governor against Democrat Wendy Davis. On Wednesday Abbott found a friendly crowd inside this Tyler Texas Restaurant owned by the grandparents of college football star Johnny Manziel. But when we asked about his campaigning with right winging rocker Ted Nugent things got tense.

(on camera): Mr. Abbott why did you think it was a good idea to campaign with Ted Nugent?

GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: You know it's funny how reactive the Davis campaign is to this. It shows that he's driven a wedge and exposed the fraud that they displayed on Second Amendment based issues. And so Ted Nugent was a way to expose Wendy Davis for her flip-flopping on gun related issues.

LAVANDERA: But this is Texas, but this is Texas --finding someone who is pro-gun is not that hard but why does that have to be Ted Nugent?

(voice over): Neither Abbott nor his campaign would answer the question, Abbott wants voters to see him as a crusader for gun rights. Abbott's credentials aren't really in question. This picture greeting voters at this campaign stop showing the candidate next to his hunting trophy says it all.

When we tried to follow up on the Ted Nugent question a campaign aide stepped in.

LAVANDERA: You could have found a lot of people to talk about gun rights.

ABBOTT: I thank you.

LAVANDERA: Mr. Abbott you could have gone to a lot of people to talk about gun rights.

ABBOTT: I'll be happy too.

LAVANDERA: That's not a press conference. You know that's not a press conference. One question is not a press conference.

ABE HUERTA, GREG ABBOTT'S COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Everybody got the answer to their questions.

LAVANDERA: That's not a press conference.

HUERTA: Come on Ed.

LAVANDERA: No, come on.

We told you, we said specifically what we wanted to talk about.

HUERTA: No, but you said.

LAVANDERA: We tried one more time to ask if Greg Abbott would appear again with Ted Nugent.

Mr. Abbott, will you give us a chance to clarify?

HUERTA: Security --

LAVANDERA: On Ted Nugent. Why would you associate yourself with someone who describes a sitting president as a sub-human mongrel? And described female politicians in vile ways?

Will you use him again in the campaign?

Greg Abbott didn't answer the question that time either and headed back out on the campaign trail.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Tyler, Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right.

Abbott's not the only Texan who likes Nugent. Senator Ted Cruz loves his politics, but this controversy, maybe not so much. Here's what he told our Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Would you campaign with Ted Nugent?

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXT: You know, I haven't yet and I'm going to avoid in engaging in hypotheticals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining us now, Ellis Henican, a columnist at "Newsday" -- good to see you --

ELLIS HENICAN, COLUMNIST, "NEWSDAY": Hello.

WHITFIELD: -- and Margaret Hoover is a CNN political commentator and Republican consultant -- good to see you as well.

All right. So you just heard Ted Cruz putting distance, sort of, between himself and Ted Nugent. He did kind of still paid him a compliment. And Rand Paul had earlier called for Nugent to really apologize to the President. So Ellis, you first, does this hurt the party or individuals?

HENICAN: Well a little bit of both. You know, you have to feel sorry for someone like Greg Abbott, right? He needs the Ted Nugents of the world to help him stir up the hard core base on the right side of the Republican Party but recognizes at the same time that it alienates say modern conservatives.

And so at this point he's trying to have it both ways. I think Rick Perry probably did a better approach to it which was actually distance him from Nugent but still trying to embrace some of the issues that Ted likes.

WHITFIELD: So Margaret, does this even more about the candidates who won't necessarily condemn Ted Nugent's remarks, will instead say, well, he does have a following, he has done a lot of good work for the GOP but won't necessarily condemn what he just said about the President of the United States?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, that's not good work for the GOP. That's not good work for the country. If you care about the Republican Party and you care about the country you want people who are saying responsible things for the party and about the country.

And Ted Nugent is a mark on that. And Ted Cruz's refusal to distance himself from that is cowardice in my view. I felt Rand Paul standing up -- really to contrast Rand Paul is quite refreshing. I don't like the generalizations, all the Republicans they're terrible. They like Ted Nugent, they're all crazy. I mean these guys sort of fuel that narrative.

So good on Rand Paul for distinguishing himself and we need, frankly, a lot more Republicans who stand up to the Ted Nugents and the people who really have vitriolic rhetoric that doesn't help the discourse, doesn't help policies, doesn't help the country.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk now about Arizona and this new bill passed by the legislature and full disclosure, Margaret, you are an official of a super PAC that funds Republican candidate who also support same-sex marriage. So Margaret, you first on this one. You know, Governor Brewer will either sign or veto the bill that allows businesses to refuse business to someone or a group based on religious beliefs. The governor herself, a former business owner has said she doesn't believe, I'm quoting her now, "that it needs to be statutory in my life and in my businesses. If I don't want to do business or don't want to deal with a particular company or person or whatever, I'm not interested. That's America. That's freedom.

WHITFIELD: So it doesn't sound like Governor Brewer would not likely sign this bill in your view, Margaret?

HOOVER: Yes, it's unclear what she's going to do but what you're seeing Fredricka is actually a larger trend on the right here. What you have on the center right of the party in the Republican Party are up to almost 40 percent of Republicans who are in favor of the full freedom to marry for gays and lesbian which is a very high number. Some people don't realize how high it is.

So a lot of -- 70 percent of Republicans, for example, are in favor of employment non discrimination. You have Republicans who are really in favor of gay rights and then you have some traditionalist elements in the party who are not in favor of gay rights.

What you're saying is the battle take the form of a religious exemptions fight. And people are saying, the traditionalist faction in the party are saying under the guise of religious freedom, we actually are -- we're going to argue religious freedom but in effect, carve out a special right to discriminate against gay and lesbian Americans.

And that's the work that I do. And that's the work that of Republicans are pushing back on which is not specifically the Arizona law however there is a Kansas and an Oregon law that do just that.

WHITFIELD: So Ellis, how do you see this? Is this just something that is going to impact Arizona? Or do you see that this could in large part impact Republicans as a whole are or even inspire other states to perhaps, you know, adapt the same kind of way?

HENICAN: Well, Fred, Margaret's right about the trend. It is going toward openness on this but listen, there is still a big audience for bigotry. And we don't always see it in Arizona. We see it in a lot of other states and you know what, it really does turn out the Republican base. And as long as that's true, there are going to be Republican politics who try to seize on it?

WHITFIELD: Margaret?

HOOVER: You know, I appreciate that Ellis thinks it turns out the Republican base. A lot of the work I do is specifically on the polling of Republican primary voters. It actually isn't the wedge issue that we think it was from 2004. Increasingly, Republicans don't want to start this fight. Increasingly Republicans are favor of full freedoms for gays and lesbian Americans. And so it isn't necessarily this wedge issue that has been portrayed in the past. Moving forward -- Ellis is right -- the country is changing and the Republican Party is changing on this issue too.

WHITFIELD: All right. Last word -- Ellis.

HENICAN: But listen, it's still a great wedge issue for Democrats. You know, the more Republicans are fighting about this, the more Dems look reasonable.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ellis Henican, Margaret Hoover, thanks so much.

HENICAN: Good to see you guys.

WHITFIELD: Good to see both of you -- appreciate it.

We're going to talk more with our legal guys in the next hour on this topic as well.

All right. Meantime, the FBI is now investigating a case of vandalism at the University of Mississippi. We'll tell you what someone did to the statue of a civil rights pioneer next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An act of vandalism at the University of Mississippi perhaps motivated by race is now a criminal investigation. The FBI is working with the University administration after someone put a noose on the statue of a civil rights icon.

James Meredith was the first African-American admitted to Ole Miss in 1962, an event that led to deadly riots. Police also want to know if a separate incident involving racial slurs aimed at a female student is connected.

Our Nick Valencia is live for us now in Oxford, Mississippi. So what can you tell us about apparently three freshmen who have been kicked out of their fraternity connected with all of this or at least one of the incidents?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's part of their investigation, Fred, they are trying to investigate school officials and police are trying to investigate whether these two incidents are connected. It's obviously stirring some very uneasy emotions and feelings of the past.

This, of course, our viewers note at home, Old Miss historically been a lightning rod for racial issues and racial tensions. Although people here are very quick to distance themselves from the actions or alleged actions of these three students and whoever it was that allegedly threw that alcohol and gave that racial slur to Kiesha Reeves.

They do acknowledge the history here of racial tensions. Earlier, I spoke to the leaders of a majority black fraternity and they talked to me about their impressions here at the University of Mississippi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to say it's like completely gone -- it's not like these are against you know, what's not said is still in people. I believe everybody is not over it, but the majority of the students want to do their thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Those students went on to say that they have full faith and confidence in the chancellor here at Ole Miss that they will do the right thing. These students who allegedly desecrated James Meredith's statue, they are facing a student judicial board, which could mean expulsion. There's still no arrest warrants just yet, Fred.

We understand that the university is pushing the police to make those arrests and also as you mentioned the FBI has taken a strong interest in this last week here on campus. And what happened to Kiesha Reeves as well. They're looking into federal hate crimes for these three students so lots going on here at the University of Mississippi -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, what more is the university saying or committing to do as a result of all of this?

VALENCIA: You know, I asked point blank, we had a very frank discussion with the chancellor yesterday of the University of Mississippi, and he acknowledged that there is systemic racism here, in the state, at the university. But that times have changed and that they've tried to do a lot in recent years to get over that hump and have honest conversations about the realities here.

They say that this doesn't reflect or is not indicative of the current culture or climate here on campus. And when you talk to students, you know, black students, white students here, they, again, distance themselves from this. But they do say that there is subtle racism here. Even if it isn't spoken, there are those here, however much a minority they are, there are students here that still carry beliefs of the past -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia, thanks so much in Oxford, Mississippi.

So incidents like the one at Ole Miss are apparently occurring on too many college campuses these days. A report in the journal of blacks in higher education found no fewer than 36 racial incidents since January of last year, and those are just the ones that were reported.

They range from racial taunts being hurled at black co-eds at the University of Florida to a confederate flag being raised at the University of Rochester. And the formation of a white student union at Georgia State University and CNN cannot independently verify all of these incidents.

Overseas now, an American student studying abroad in Italy is missing. John Durkin, an economics major, from New Hampshire, is a student at Bates College in Maine. A family spokesman says that two days ago, he went to a bar with a group of friends and never returned. He has been in Rome for a little more than a month now as part of a semester-long program. The State Department says it is unaware of this situation.

Also, straight ahead, we'll meet a U.S. Olympian who is trying to help the stray dogs of Sochi.

And next, Michael Sam wants to be the NFL's first openly gay player. I'll tell you why today say big first step for him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Michael Sam's historic journey to become the NFL's potentially first openly gay player makes his first stop at the league's scouting combine. Andy Scholes has more in today's "Bleacher Report." another step, his really first step was kind of saying, I'm gay?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: That's right, yes, Michael Sam is going to be one of the most watched players at the league's annual talent evaluation. Not because he's expected to be a high pick, but because everyone wants to see how he handles being the first openly gay NFL prospect. The 6'5", 255-pound defensive end is going to draw a huge audience when he steps up to the podium later today.

This is going to be the first time he meets with the media since he announced that he is gay. Now Sam, he was a 2013 SEC co-defensive player of the year. But many experts do question how his game's going to translate to the NFL due to his size and that's the big reason why Sam, he's not expected to make a huge splash in April or May's NFL draft. Right now, he's widely regarded as a mid-round draft pick.

WHITFIELD: OK, and so let's now talk about it -- there's a lot to talk about there, but you know, we'll save it for later. We're hoping to actually hear from him too when he takes to the podium. Let's talk about hockey -- again.

SCHOLES: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Last week, we were talking about hockey and that shoot-out and the U.S. is back in the game. It's a little different right here.

SCHOLES: Today's game is not going well. Right now, USA taking on Finland in the bronze medal game and they trail 2-0 heading into the third here. This game took a turn for the worse for Team USA in the second period. Finland scored two goals in an 11-second span. They scored, face-off, scored again right away.

WHITFIELD: In terms of --

SCHOLES: You don't see goals that often that happens that quickly. But USA had their chances, Patrick Kane, he missed two penalty shots. A loss here as we've been saying would be devastating for Team USA. They had high hopes after beating Russia, T.J. Oshie in that amazing shoot-out. Now just a few minutes losing back-to-back games and leave Sochi without medal altogether. So it would just be a very rough ending. And more bad news for Team USA --

WHITFIELD: No! No, we can't take it.

SCHOLES: Vic Wild, I don't know if you've heard about him yet. He is the American snowboarder who turned Russian. He's won another gold medal, first man ever to win two snowboarding gold medals at a single Winter Olympic Games. Now this one really hurts for the U.S. because Wild, he's from Washington, he originally competed for the U.S., but after becoming frustrated with the lack of U.S. funding for the sport, Wild was granted Russian citizenship after marrying a Russian snowboarder.

And now because of Wild, Russia owns two gold medals that really should be around the neck of an American. Now those medals they really helped Russia volt all the way into first place in the medal count. They now lead with 29, 11 of their medals are gold. The U.S., you can see in second place with 27, Norway in third with 25. Canada's got 24. Of course, they're looking for gold in the hockey -- men's hockey gold medal game tomorrow. See if they end up getting it.

WHITFIELD: Isn't it interesting, this kind of rivalry between the U.S., Canada, always standing -- between Russia, too, it's ugly.

SCHOLES: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, you know, half glass full.

SCHOLES: They could still come back. It's not over yet.

WHITFIELD: Bronze is a medal.

SCHOLES: If we can come back.

WHITFIELD: It would still be herculean but you know, rooting for them, go USA. All right, thanks, Andy. Appreciate it.

All right, you probably heard about the stray dogs in Sochi as well. Some the Olympic athletes have been trying to give dogs a new home. In the case of Gus Kenworthy, a silver medallist for the U.S. in men's slopestyle skiing, he's actually adapting not one, but five of them. It's a mom and her puppies, and he told Anderson Cooper how the whole thing came about in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": These puppies are unbelievably cute. How did this happen?

GUS KENWORTHY, U.S. OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALIST: I had a friend that was out in Russia doing some media stuff during the Olympics. He knows that I'm just dog crazy. He texted me a photo of the dogs and I basically just ran over and had to check them out and instantly fell in love with them.

COOPER: Did you have dogs growing up?

KENWORTHY: Yes, when I was really young, we weren't allowed to because the house my mom.

COOPER: Dude, you're still really young.

KENWORTHY: When I was really, really young, we couldn't have dogs in my mom's house because she lives in a restricted area. You just can't have dogs and then after my parents got divorced, my 11th birthday, my dad got me a puppy from the shelter. He was like my best friend growing up. He passed away like year and a half ago. So I've pretty recently been thinking about getting another dog, been wanting to.

COOPER: Getting one dog is one thing. Are you ready for all these dogs?

KENWORTHY: I'm not going to take care of all of them, but definitely just wanted to keep them together and try and bring all of them home and give them all a better life. My oldest brother and his fiancee have asked if they can have one of the puppies. My mom is going to take the mother dog and there's definitely good homes for them. But I'm going to keep two of the puppies.

COOPER: Do you have names yet?

KENWORTHY: Yes. The littlest dog, my sweet little girl, Rosa and the biggest dog is the other one I'm going to keep. We've named him Jake. And then the other puppy is Gorky because they were living underneath the Gorky Media Center. And then the mom we've just been calling mama the whole time. So I think he's just going to keep that.

COOPER: How hard has it been? They're still over there. How hard is it to get them back here?

KENWORTHY: It's been pretty difficult getting the dogs back. I mean, there are all sorts of paper work and obstacles you have to get past and hoops you have to jump through. But it hasn't been too crazy. I have a friend that's over there, the friend that helped me find them.

He's still there and trying to help me bring them back. My agent and the Humane Society here, there's been a ton of people that have reached out and just wanted to help.

COOPER: The Humane Society has said this has actually been a really beneficial thing for even dogs here in the United States, that there's so much focus on now stray dogs that they're getting a lot of calls.

KENWORTHY: Yes. I mean, for sure. I think a lot of people too were like, why are you bringing dogs back from Russia? The amount of money and energy and everything it costs to do that, you could adopt way more dogs here. It wasn't really the fact that I had to bring a dog home from there.

It's just that I saw these dogs and it was more just like I fell in love with them. I couldn't bear to leave them. So I had to bring them back. And hopefully it sparks people's interest to adopt dogs here and for people in Russia to maybe bring some of them inside and make the strays pets.

COOPER: Do you know when they're going to get here?

KENWORTHY: I think my dogs are coming in like ten more days. They've been vaccinated, had all their inoculations, and they just require a bit more time before they're able to travel.

COOPER: You couldn't bring them to the Olympic Village, right?

KENWORTHY: No. It sucked! They stayed underneath the media center the whole time. I was like dudes these are mine I'm taking these, but then I had to leave them every day. I'd go in the morning and go to practice for an hour or two and then I would go to see my dogs and play with them.

COOPER: You had dibs on them.

KENWORTHY: They're mine.

COOPER: What's better, the medal or puppy love?

KENWORTHY: I mean, the puppy love is fantastic. I mean, they're both -- I'd say they're equally awesome. The dogs I'm pretty excited about for sure. Just because they are adorable and so fun to cuddle with and I'm just really excited to have them in my life. But the medal has been something I've worked really hard for, for a long time.

COOPER: The medal is incredible. It's very heavy. What does it feel like to finally -- I mean, you've been doing this since you were 3 years old.

KENWORTHY: Yes. It's been awesome. I'd say I pretty much have been like preparing for this moment since I was 3, just skiing as much as I could. I don't know if we really call it like training necessarily because we are just having a lot of fun. That's one thing that's so great about action sports, every time we're out on the hill we're kind of progressing ourselves and learning new tricks and trying to get better and push ourselves.

COOPER: Congratulations on all your success --

KENWORTHY: Thank you.

COOPER: And also getting the dogs over here.

KENWORTHY: Thanks. Appreciate it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, happy moments there. Meantime, not so happy moments in California, severe drought there is gripping that state, a state that produces a third of the country's fruits and vegetables. What this means for your grocery bill.

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WHITFIELD: A severe drought will not let up in California where one report says the whole state is quote, "Abnormally dry." And now, California's problem is impacting the rest of the nation. Farmers there produce half of the country's home grown fruit and vegetables, and when that market gets hit, your grocery bill goes up. Our Jennifer Gray is here to lay it all out for us -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right, Fred. We are definitely seeing a dire situation in California. A new report came out just last week, 61 percent of the state in extreme drought. Now, 68 percent of the state under extreme drought, this is something we've never seen before and pretty soon, we could all be feeling the pinch.

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GRAY (voice-over): The drought that is plaguing California and as a result, hurting the nation's food supply, could get a whole lot worse. Friday, the federal government said it will not provide any irrigation water to Central Valley farmers and only 50 percent of contracted water to surrounding urban areas.

JOSE DEL BOSQUE, FARMER IN FRESNO, CALIFORNIA: Our rain is way, way behind so we expected zero, and this just confirms it.

GRAY: Joe Del Bosque is the farmer who just a week ago gave President Obama a tour of the Central Valley operation. He grows almonds, spinach, cherries and cantaloupe, but without the federal help, California growers like Joe may have to leave a lot of land unproductive.

BOSQUE: There's going to be a lot of crop reduction, a lot of food lost and a lot of jobs lost.

GRAY: With more than 90 percent of the state in severe drought conditions, there could be a big impact at your grocery store checkout line. There are 80,000 farms in California. More crops are grown there than in any place in the country. It produces nearly half of U.S. grown fruits, nuts and vegetables.

Experts say this drought could race your produce prices 10 percent over the next few months, but Mother Nature could come to the rescue. Rain is in the forecast for California next week and farmers say every drop could make a difference.

BOSQUE: Will they capture that water, you know, and bring it to the storage because if they don't, if they keep the pumps shut off, that water's going to go out to the ocean.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRAY: Yes, this is bad. Look at these numbers. Not even a quarter of an inch of rain in L.A. should be at 5 inches by now. Some areas need double, triple, even more than what we've seen to even get close to normal, but a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. We do have a couple of storm systems moving through, the first one at the end of the week. The next one as we get into the beginning of next weekend could be a little bit stronger.

Fred, it is going to give a little bit of relief for the State of California, but we need much more than this to help with the situation.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Jennifer.

All right, well, one crop is having no problem growing is marijuana. And in Colorado, the sales are booming turning that state very green.

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WHITFIELD: Coming up next hour, a juror from the so-called loud music murder trial gives us an inside look into jury deliberations. Many people say the case was about race, but juror number eight says race was never a factor. Our legal guys will be weighing in.

And a woman in New York was lucky to walk away uninjured when her car as she was in it, plunged into a sinkhole. Gail Sorentino's Subaru was almost completely submerged. She said she was just pulling into her driveway like she always does when the ground simply gave way. She was able to call 911. Rescuers say they had to work pretty quickly because the car was starting to shift, but again she's OK, one lucky lady there.

And it looks like a marijuana business is booming in Colorado. The first reports of revenue from pot sales are coming in. They're confirming that the pot business is generating tens of millions of dollars, not just for sellers, but for the Colorado state government. Here's Ana Cabrera.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Remember, it's been about six weeks since recreational pot sales started here in Colorado and to say business is strong is an understatement. New tax revenue projections released by the state of Colorado beat expectations by tens of millions of dollars. Now, leaders here at the state capital get to decide how to spend that money.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA (voice-over): High hopes for a Colorado green rush are being realized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just exceeded all my expectations.

CABRERA: Business at Ever Green apothecary previously just a medical marijuana dispensary has more than quadrupled.

(on camera): More than a month after recreational pot sales became legal, people are still lining up to the door to get their hands on this stuff. This place packed at 10:00 when doors opened.

(voice-over): In fact, this pot shop averages about 500 customers a day and the state of Colorado is reaping the benefits as well. Sales and excise taxes on recreational cannabis are over 25 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to be 1.77.

CABRERA: Marijuana dispensaries were required to turn in January tax reports on Thursday. TIM CULLEN, CO-OWNER, EVERGREEN APOTHECARY: We paid about $190,000 in sales tax that we collected during the month of January.

CABRERA: While official numbers won't be made public until March, the governor's budget office just released its own tax projections. It estimates the state will collect about $184 million in tax revenues in the first 18 months of recreational pot sales. Here's Colorado's plan for spending that money, 40 million automatically goes to public school construction. That was mandated by voters.

Then the governor wants to spend about 85 million on youth prevention and substance abuse treatment, 12.4 million on public health, about 3 million on law enforcement and public safety, and nearly 2 million on industry oversight.

MASON TVERT, MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT: I don't think the people who are buying marijuana want the tax money to be used to discourage adults from buying marijuana.

CABRERA: While not everyone agrees on how that money should be spent and although early, there's no denying the apparent economic boost. That's come from recreational pot sales.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Right now, Colorado and Washington State are the only places where recreational pot is legal and Washington still working through how to regulate sale, but we know at least eight other states from California to Maine that are considering this. And when they take a look at the kind of money Colorado is making from taxing their marijuana, you think that's going to have some kind of influence over their decision -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ana Cabrera, thanks so much in Colorado. We have much more straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM and it all begins right now.