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Circus Accident in Providence; More Violence in Odessa; Shelly Sterling Claims Ownership of Clippers; Donald Sterling's Long Record of Discriminating against Blacks; Discussion of Jokes at White House Correspondents' Dinner; Bode Miller Helping Disable Athletes; Weather Report; Jordan Metzl Showing Exercises to Restore Body Strength
Aired May 04, 2014 - 16:00 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. We have much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, which begins right now.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. Topping our news this hour, a terrifying accident in the middle of a circus. Eight acrobats dropped to the floor from at least 20 feet up when an apparatus holding them somehow gave way.
Just - they went careening to the ground. About a dozen people were hurt including nine performers with the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. I want - more news that we are about to show you the video of the incident. It is very disturbing. We're going to play it for you right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here it comes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suspended.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So you saw right there, it is being called a human chandelier. You saw that that shield around it or that curtain kind of dropped and then a couple of moves and then suddenly the performers careening down and hit the ground there. No net. No crash pad or pads as far as we can tell.
Nick Valencia has been following this for us. We have now since received clearance to show that video, even though it is very disturbing but when you look at it, surely people were very seriously injured. Do we know the extent of the injuries?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Without a doubt. You look at that video, and it certainly makes you wince, even the compression of a human falling from that height, 20 to 30 feet landing on top of another person, we know at least 11 people were hospitalized, Fred. Nine of them we can confirm were performers there at the Ringling Brothers circus downtown Providence, Rhode Island.
The circus got in town on Friday and was expected to do these shows until Monday. This part of the show involved a hair hang apparatus where performers or acrobats were hanging, again, about 30 feet off the ground suspended only by their hair with no safety net to catch them underneath. Earlier, we talked to a spokesman for the parent company of the circus and told us what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN PAYNE, CIRCUS SPOKESMAN: This apparatus had been used for multiple performances each week since this show launched back in January and each and every time that we would come to a new venue, all of the equipment that's used by this performer, this group of performers as well as all the other performers is carefully inspected. We take the health and safety of our performers and our guests very seriously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: At least 11 people hospitalized. We do know that one of them is in critical condition. Earlier, we were told that nine performers were taken to the hospital, one of them on the ground. Eight of them in this hair hang apparatus. We would like to show you this video again in. But be forewarned, if you're sensitive to dramatic video or having your children in the room, now's the time to take them out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here it comes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suspended only from the strength -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Amazing.
VALENCIA: This act had just gotten under way, this part of the performance, very early into the show. This happened earlier as I mentioned in Providence, Rhode Island. The shows, we should mention, for the rest of Sunday, there was another 3:00 p.m. show and a 7:00 p.m. shows. Those shows have been canceled according to the circus.
WHITFIELD: So it looks like structurally there may have been some sort of failure there but we really don't know what part of it. You could only see as that curtain drops, then they did what, two moves? It was like a straddle move and then some sort of a pike move and then, boom, that's when it all went down. Just to get better clarification, you say they are - their hair is attached to this apparatus?
VALENCIA: That's right. They're married to this apparatus hanging from their hair and we talked to the spokesman who said that this is a move that had been done repeatedly, 12 to 14 times per week, in fact, over the course of the last several months since January without incident. It's still very unclear what happened to this part of the apparatus, whether this cable snapped. We just don't know. Of course, that's certainly part of the investigation. Eleven people in the hospital. One of them at least one in critical condition.
WHITFIELD: Those performers becoming one with that apparatus. We don't know if it's the cable, if it's -
VALENCIA: That's right.
WHITFIELD: You know, any portion of what is holding them in one uniform way. We just don't know.
VALENCIA: We just don't know. It's a scary situation. Houseful of people, you know,
WHITFIELD: Yes.
VALENCIA: I'm sure initially they may have thought it was part of the act but it's very clear now that something went terribly wrong.
WHITFIELD: All right. Nick, thanks so much. Appreciate that.
All right. Overseas we're also watching very volatile situation, the site of Ukraine's deadliest clashes in months now seeing more violence today. Just two days ago, more than 40 people were killed after a riot ended in a fire in Odessa. Dozens of activists were detained after that.
Well, today, hundreds of pro-Russian activists stormed a police station demanding they be released. Police did end up letting dozens of people go, greeted with cheers and hugs right there is the moment.
Phil Black is live for us now in Odessa. So Phil, explain to us all the things that happened in detail.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Fredericka. The day started with a large sorrowful crowd gathering at the building where that terrible fire took place. The clashes, the fire on that day killed 46 people. Now, this crowd, part of it, broke away and headed to the police station where dozens of pro-Russian protesters have been detained since those clashes on Friday.
There was screaming for these people to be released and some of them wanted to do more than that and they really tried to break them out. They attacked the police building, smashing windows, doors, whatever they could, security cameras. Broke their way into the inner court yard of the police station and at some point there with the police really looking powerless to stop them, a deal was struck where the police agreed to release the detained people if everyone else agreed to go home and that's what happened.
Some 67 or so of these detained people really public enemies of the Ukrainian government allowed to walk free, greeted as heroes and incredibly emotional scenes there at the police station and since then, pro-Russian, pro-Ukrainian crowds marching around, chanting quite angrily. But so far, no further clashes at this stage, Fredericka.
WHITFIELD: And so, is there a way in which to read this kind of violence that it is likely to spread at least from this city on to another or, I mean, what do people anticipate from this?
BLACK: Throughout the Ukrainian crisis, people have been worried about Odessa. It's a long way from the Russian border but there's a big Russian-speaking population, historic ties to Russia, as well. It is a port city, it's incredibly important to the Ukrainian economy. So there's always been concern and we had disturbances but nothing like this.
The loss of lives we've seen here in recent days, the legacy of it will be bitter, a bitterness, resentment. Incredible ill feeling now exists in this city. A great deal of anger and healing it is going to take a great deal of time. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Phil Black, thanks so much in Odessa.
All right. Back in this country, Donald Sterling's wife is making one thing very clear when it comes to the L.A. Clippers. That she is a co- owner of the team. Shelly Sterling made that assertion in a statement reacting to the NBA's decision to appoint a new CEO to oversee the team's operations.
Well, that comes on the heels of the Clippers emotional win last night in game seven of the playoffs. They beat the Golden State Warriors, 126-121 and advanced to the semi-finals. The team managing to stay focused despite the controversy surrounding Sterling's racist tirade.
Meantime, Sterling's wife, Shelly reacting to the upcoming changes in the front office.
CNN national correspondent Deborah Feyerick is covering the story for us from New York. So Deborah, Shelly Sterling has put a new cog in the wheel making this legal road potentially even more complicated.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. There's no question about it. What Shelly Sterling did in sending out this statement, she did two things. She asserted her right as a co-owner of this team and she distanced herself from her husband. She basically said, "Look, we didn't do anything wrong. We didn't make any racist remarks and we shouldn't be forced to sell a team, specifically under circumstances that might not be in our financial interest, i.e., a fire sale."
You have to remember, this is going on within a larger context. The NBA renegotiating a media deal so it could be worth multiple times what it is worth now. So Shelly Sterling coming out very forcefully, not only that but she established a direct connection to the NBA commissioner himself. She said that had spoken with him, that she supported his decision to put a new CEO in charge of the team and she said, as a matter of fact, in a statement she came out and she said "I welcome the NBA commissioner's involvement in the search for a person of the utmost character." Huh. Who does that sound like it's not? "A person of the utmost character, proven excellence and a commitment to promoting equality and inclusiveness. I'm a co-owner. I'm fully committed to making the necessary - to taking the necessary steps to make the Clippers the best team in the NBA, that's been my aspiration ever since 1981."
So right there, she is letting people know that she is part of this for last 30-plus years and she's not going to let it go, certainly not without a fight. She's put all the focus now on Donald Sterling and certainly putting into context what his alleged mistress said to Barbara Walters on Friday which he feels alienated, isolated and he feels like his family has turned on him.
Well, you know, what greater sort of turning is there than for somebody to say, "Hey, this is his mess. Let him clean it up. We didn't do anything."
WHITFIELD: Wow. This is interesting because she has a track record, too, as it pertains to the apartment discrimination cases. So if the NBA is talking about character being a criteria for ownership then I don't know. She may have a problem with that one, too, Deborah. We appreciate it.
FEYERICK: Yes. Exactly.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Thanks so much. Keep us posted on all of this.
OK. Vice President Joe Biden, he may not have actually been at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night, at least not live and in person but he was there on tape. And wow, what a good actor he actually is. You might agree. You're going to see more of it right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to be so star struck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here because I came last year and I had such a good time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: why are you making her work? She should be in there with the president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have your geek on?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've still got my geek on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, there's Chuck Schumer. What's up, Chuck?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Nice to see you. Glad to be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Lots of fun, lots of star power at last night's White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Hey, Vice President Joe Biden wasn't there live and in person but he was there on screen with another famous vice president, Julia Louis- Dreyfus, star of the HBO show "Veep" and this was their version of what it is to be vice president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, ACTOR: Hello?
JOE BIDEN, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Selina? What are you doing?
LOUIS-DREYFUS: God, I thought you were the president. Hey, listen, are you going to this snorespondents dinner tonight?
BIDEN: No. I'm not going. I've been there once. It's a bunch of politicians trying to explain politics to Hollywood. It's not worth it.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Exactly. I mean who wants to see David Gregory crying in the corner all night? Hey, do you want to come and pick me up? Yellow? Seriously? Yellow?
BIDEN: Get in the car.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh sh - this is the west wing. Oh, it's locked.
BIDEN: Just check for me.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: No.
BIDEN: Good.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh! I'm going to remember that! Oh yeah.
BIDEN: Shh shh.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh.
BIDEN: Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no. Don't touch the desk.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: OK.
BIDEN: OK. Come on. Let's go get something to eat.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Yes.
BIDEN: This is good. My granddaughters like the sprinkles.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Like, the sweetest thing you can get in the executive branch.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Hey, guys. What are you doing?
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Nothing. M. OBAMA: What's in your mouth?
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Carrots.
BIDEN: Hey, don't talk.
OBAMA: Haven't you guys listened to anything I said about healthy eating? Hand it over. Hand it over. You guys, come on. Let's move.
BIDEN: OK.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Busted.
BIDEN: You can say that again.
OBAMA: Oh, looks good. Hmm.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh, I just forgot my purse so -
OBAMA: I'm sure there are raisins in here. It's a fruit. Plus it's more than they give you at that correspondents' dinner. Let me tell you. Plus I work out every day.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Yes, sure you do. I do, too.
OBAMA: You want to arm wrestle?
LOUIS-DREYFUS: I don't really work out.
OBAMA: Yes, I didn't think so.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: So where are we headed next?
BIDEN: The real seat of power.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: We can write any headline we want?
BIDEN: Knock yourself out. Go to it.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: The headline I'd like to write is, Selina Meyers sworn in as president, but all in good time. Yes, we can all look directly into the camera, Kevin. The point is, you're not supposed to. Oh!
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Hey, Selina, Hi, Joe.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: What are you doing here?
PELOSI: Getting my tattoo done. You know the difference between a tattoo and a Koch Brothers?
LOUIS-DREYFUS: No.
PELOSI: They're both painful but you can get rid of a tattoo.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: I'm in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's do it.
BIDEN: Bring it on.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh yes. Bring it on.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Hey, girl.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Hey, J-dog. Are you going to this dinner thing tonight?
BOEHNER: Well, hell no, I'm not going. I got important things going on here in the Capitol.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Yes. OK. Right. Thanks. You know what, Joe? I'm going to need to go to the dinner. You see, the thing is, I'm not really the VP but you are. I'm an actress from Hollywood.
BIDEN: I know.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: So can you give me a ride?
BIDEN: Hey, the Secret Service doesn't let me drive off the property.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: That makes no sense.
BIDEN: You can get a cab.
LOUIS-DREYFUS: Yes. I got my dress. And this hair. Thanks a million, Joe.
BIDEN: Good luck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh, those veeps so cool. They had a lot of fun at the White House Correspondents' Dinner and enjoyed that flick put on by those veeps.
Coming up later on this hour, "State of the Union's" Candy Crowley gives us her score card on last night's dinner. The whole thing, not just the video there, which jokes landed and which ones missed. Stick around for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. The next few hours could determine what the new phase in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will look like. Chinese and Malaysia officials will attend trilateral talks in Australia to discuss what direction in which to move.
So meanwhile, three Bangladeshi Navy ships searching the Bay of Bengal haven't found any wreckage. And back in Malaysia, police are holding 11 suspected terrorists. They were arrested last week near Kuala Lumpur but police say there's no indication the group has any connection to that missing flight. Meantime, more bodies have been recovered in the South Korean ferry disaster raising the death toll to 248. Government officials say 54 people remain missing. Hundreds of divers have been part of the search since the vessel sank in mid-April. It's been difficult because they have had to break through cabin doors that are blocked by debris and no one has been found alive since the day of that disaster.
For the first time since nearly 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped in Nigeria more than two weeks ago, the country's president addressed the situation. People around the world have been taking to the streets demanding more action and Nigeria's government is criticized for not doing enough but earlier in a televised address Goodluck Jonathan, the president repeatedly promised that the girls would be rescued and he called for more cooperation in the efforts to find them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOODLUCK JONATHAN, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA: Getting them out, what we request is maximum cooperation from the guardians and the parents of these girls because up to this time they have not been able to come clearly to keep the police clear identities of the girls (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: International pressure has been building for the Nigerian government to do more to find those missing girls. The Islamic militant group (INAUDIBLE) has blamed for the abduction of these girls and so far there's been no official claim of responsibility.
The controversy surrounding Donald Sterling's racist rant is fueling a big debate about the state of race relations in the NBA and the whole country for that matter. We'll take a look at that straight ahead.
But first - it's this week's CNN hero. When the long-time fitness buff learned about the limitations faced by the disabled in his community, he got to work the best way he knew how.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I'm running, I feel limitless. Being in motion makes me feel free. When you're really pushing yourself, that's when you really feel alive.
But there are millions of people around the world that are facing severe physical limitations. They can't be independent, they can't live their lives. I spent years training Olympic athletes, football players, bodybuilders, one day a young guy, newly spinal cord injured, came to the gym asking for help.
At first, I didn't know what to do but just worked together. He made tremendous progress. Take a breath. Reach out, reach out. Bring it back. Before you know it, my phone rang off the hook people asking for help. Bring it up. So I opened a gym designed to fit their needs. Ready to go to work?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heck, yes. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the past 25 years, I provide strength and conditioning treatment for people with disabilities.
Nice job.
People come to me at their lowest.
Up, up, up. Hold it. Rack it.
You come to the gym and all of a sudden you have a natural support network.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 1971, I broke my back and I've been in a wheelchair ever since.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it, Tom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks to Ned, I keep my upper body strength at a maximum. I've been able to live a full life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never worry about what they can't do. I worry about what they can do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can do it, Ned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you can. Good job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did up to 10.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm building them up, build them strong, so they can go out and live life like they're supposed to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Each week, we honor a new CNN hero, an every day person making a huge difference. If you know someone who deserves this kind of recognition, tell us about them at cnnheroes.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The controversy surrounding Donald Sterling's racist tirade is generating a whole lot of discussion and debate about race relations in the NBA and in this country as a whole. The owner of the L.A. Clippers got hit with sweeping sanctions, including a lifetime ban from NBA games after he was recorded making racist comments to associate V. Stiviano. But joining me here in Atlanta, attorney and radio personality Mo Ivory and Jason Johnson, a contributor for HLN and political science professor at Hiram College. All right. Let's begin with you, Jason. I mean this is really something else, but it really did kind of hit a nerve in this nation. It was enlightening to many who thought that racism doesn't exist and then it was a reminder to another segment of the community who, you know, of our population who says, I'm aware of this. You know? The only difference is this is a big, wealthy employer and it was recorded on tape.
JASON JOHNSON, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Right. Look. It's not shocking to most people who have ever had a bad boss and that's what's key about this. We can talk about the racial elements. But he was a terrible boss. He abused people, he discriminated against people. He used to take his girlfriends into the locker rooms after the games and say look at the beautiful black bodies that I own. I mean the guy had a long history of being a wretched boss. And so, I think, one of the greatest accomplishments in this is that the labor, the players have actually forced the owners to take care one of their own. And that's a real accomplishment above and beyond the racial issue.
WHITFIELD: Is it perplexing or even troublesome that this would get a whole lot of attention, but perhaps his track record as someone who owned property and then discriminated against blacks and Latinos didn't get the same kind of attention that this would? There's a track record of bad behavior as it pertains to race.
MO IVORY, ATTORNEY & RADIO PERSONALITY: Yeah. Like how do you even answer that? Yes. Right.
WHITFIELD: So, what happened? Why is it that this resonates, but the other stuff didn't?
IVORY: Because it's at the top of the center stage, it's the NBA. There's sex. I mean this has everything, every element that we needed for it to be, you know, attractive to people to start getting up in arms about it, and so I think that's the reason why. So I really and what Jason just said about the players, you know, forced the owners to think about this and for hard sanctions, I don't think the players did that at all. I think the tone and America and what would have happened to the NBA if Silver did not come down this way. This is about money. This decision was made to say, don't turn away from the NBA. Don't turn away from the sport that loves and embraces African- American men just because this happened.
WHITFIELD: But this is under a new commissioner.
JOHNSON: Right.
IVORY: Right. But what does this say? Did the NBA turn a blind eye?
(CROSSTALK)
IVORY: Really? David Stern knew.
JOHNSON: They turned a blind eye - they turned a blind eye to this and - also, I have got to be honest with you. I don't think this happens ten years ago. I don't think this happens 20 years ago. If you look at the top players in the NBA, maybe, in 2004, I don't know that Kobe Bryant comes out and says, I think that this is a problem, there is no place for this guy in the NBA in 2004. I don't know if Jordan necessarily says that in 1994. I think the players involved ...
WHITFIELD: What do you mean?
IVORY: Yeah, I don't agree with that.
WHITFIELD: What do you mean by that?
JOHNSON: Because I think there was - there was a collective action here. I think LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and Jeff (INAUDIBLE) a lot of these players, they didn't have to become involved in this. They could have said that's a terrible situation.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Because it was recorded and everyone got to hear it.
IVORY: Sure, sure.
WHITFIELD: Whereas ...
IVORY: And we also have social media which sort of makes the heightened - like everybody got involved. I mean what were they going to do? They had to tweet, they had to social media. Nobody really walked out on a game, nobody lost any money. Nobody - so, to say, like, oh, you know, I don't think that Jordans or those ten or 20 years ago -- they don't have the same tools to sort of make their message loud. What did they really do? What did they really do?
JOHNSON: They easily could have just said that's a problem with that particular franchise. And I don't want to be involved.
IVORY: No.
JOHNSON: And we have players ...
IVORY: But here's the other thing. They know ...
JOHNSON: Do that all the time. Jordan said the same thing about his sneakers. He said the same thing about ...
IVORY: Yeah, OK. But the truth about it as that the players on the current Clippers players knew as opposed to NBA Stern, knew about Donald Sterling's past racist issues. The settlements, the lawsuits and they still accepted multimillion dollar contracts from this man. They still allowed him to continue being the owner. So, not only alarmed because he got caught, only alarmed because it came on the news and all of that. That's it.
WHITFIELD: Interesting. I know you still disagree with that.
IVORY: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Go ahead.
JOHNSON: All I can say is yes, there's a difference between the players who were on the team who obviously were just chasing those dollars and the players who aren't on the team, who actually stood up for them. I think that's a difference. I have a lot of respect for the players who are outside of that team who said, look, we're going to stand up for you.
WHITFIELD: So, now you have swift action or what appears to be a very swift action by the new commissioner, Silver, the NBA as a league, owners potentially this week ...
JOHNSON: Right.
WHITFIELD: But then you have Donald Sterling's wife who comes out today particularly with the statement and says not so fast. He is not the only owner of this team.
IVORY: Correct.
WHITFIELD: I am, too.
IVORY: And legally when that announcement was made that they were going to put all the owners together and vote to take away his ownership piece, I thought to myself. Wait a minute. They can't just decide on 50 percent of what they want to do. She is a co-owner.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: So, now this can't be about Donald Sterling, this has to be about the ownership.
IVORY: The whole of the ownership.
JOHNSON: But the reality is, when you - and this is what was also interesting about this, none of us really knew what the NBA constitution was before.
WHITFIELD: No, we didn't know there was one.
JOHNSON: Exactly. We didn't know whether there was one.
IVORY: You have to think about it.
JOHNSON: So, no one knew that the owners could actually kick him out of the club and I think that's what's key here. That only voters can vote him out.
IVORY: I don't know that they really ...
WHITFIELD: If that can happen.
IVORY: Yeah, I'm not really sure.
WHITFIELD: I'm not a lawyer.
(CROSSTALK)
IVORY: No, they can begin the action to vote to say this is what we want to do and he can hold it up and hold it up. And there's a bunch of reasons why it could not happen. So I mean we are at such an early stage of believing that he will no longer be an owner.
WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. We still have so much to talk about.
IVORY: Yes. WHITFIELD: But we are going to have to save it for another day. Not because we're out of time, but because there is so - this is such an incredible situation and we know that they're continuing to be moving parts in the days to come. We'll have you back. Thanks so much. Jason, Mo, good to see you. I appreciate it.
All right. Coming up --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
: Good evening, Mr. President. Or as Paul Ryan refers to you, yet another inner city minority relying on the federal government to feed and house your family.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: I know you guys saw a few clips of this and maybe you laughed, too. Maybe in some cases a little kind of nervous laughter. So who got the best of whom and what at last night's White House correspondents' dinner? Were there any real political points that were scored? We'll break it down with Candy Crowley next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: At one point, things got so bad the 47 percent called Mitt Romney to apologize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: President Obama poking fun at himself at last night's White House correspondents' dinner. Reporters, Hollywood stars and, of course, politicians attending the annual dinner to raise scholarship money and, of course, rub shoulders with Washington's A- list. Candy Crowley is our chief political correspondent and, Candy, some rather interesting jokes last night. I want to get your take on a few and tell us if there are any political implications. The president took a rather racy jab, so to speak at House Speaker John Boehner. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: And I'm feeling sorry, believe it or not, for the speaker of the house, as well. These days, the House Republicans actually give John Boehner a harder time than they give me. Which means orange really is the new black.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Racy, indeed. But you know, this is the podium, the stage in which the president can really do anything he wants to be funny.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, yes. And nobody gets to reply. I thought a lot of this was so interesting politically. The first byte that you played, he was actually talking about the Affordable Care Act and what a mess the rollout was and what's interesting to me politically in a midterm election is what this White House dearly wants is for people to move on past that horrible rollout. He needs to really push Obamacare to help strengthen Democrats in 2014. They're not looking at a great midterm. So, even in the jokes, you can see a rationale for where he is going politically.
WHITFIELD: I wonder, too, if that's because the president is feeling a little confident. He kind of wants to, you know, stick the finger in the eye of the many opponents because the registration, people have signed up -- so many people have signed up and so he's feeling a little confident about it and he can afford to make a little fun maybe.
CROWLEY: Well, absolutely, but confidence breeds confidence, so, you know, you want to appear that way even if you aren't. But yeah, I think so. I think they're happy with the sign-ups. So, why not have a little fun with it? Because they didn't have a lot of fun last year.
WHITFIELD: Right. And now the comedian Joel McHale took a shot at potential presidential candidate Governor Chris Christie over the bridge scandal in New Jersey. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOEL MCHALE: Governor, do you want bridge jokes or size jokes because I got a bunch of both. I can go half and half.
(LAUGHTER)
MCHALE: I know you like a combo platter.
(LAUGHTER)
MCHALE: Now, I get that. I'm sorry for that joke. Governor Christie, I didn't know I was going to tell it. But I take full responsibility for it.
(LAUGHTER)
MCHALE: Whoever wrote it will be fired. But the buck stops here. So I will be a man and own up to it just as soon as I get to the bottom of how it happened because I was unaware it happened until just now.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: It's kind of some awkward moment, but that is what this dinner is all about. You have to come with a sense of humor. CROWLEY: You do have to come with a sense of humor, but you also have to sharpen your political skills, because that, again, heading right toward Chris Christie's weaknesses if indeed he is to be a 2016 candidate, the kind of like I take responsibility, but I didn't know anything about it. And he's mimicking essentially Christie's press conference about that bridge. So it was -- it's funny, but inside don't you kind of think, I'd love to know what he's thinking right now?
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: I know. And it is interesting because, clearly, Chris Christie had a sense of humor, he was laughing, but you noticed, he was sitting next to Jake Tapper, I mean he was one of the guests for the CNN table and it's a little awkward for some of the reporters to feel like they can laugh, too, at the expense of their own guest. Even if ...
CROWLEY: Yeah, there's that, and there's also, you know, obviously, you know, the cameras are on you,
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
CROWLEY: And Donald Trump, I remember last year they made fun of Donald - the president made fun of Donald Trump, and he was not amused. It doesn't look good. It doesn't look good you are joining in the fun. So Chris Christie played along.
WHITFIELD: All right, Hillary Clinton, of course, also the focus of some jokes. Here's what McHale said about her if she does indeed decide to run for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCHALE: Hillary Clinton has a lot going for her as a candidate. She has experience, she's a natural leader and as our first female president, we could pay her 30 percent less.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
MCHALE: That's the saving this country could use.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, there was fair game whether you were there or not.
CROWLEY: Yes, yes.
WHITFIELD: And that's never a funny topic, but somehow he kind of made it funny or poked fun at it.
CROWLEY: Right. But it's not even about her, right?
WHITFIELD: Right.
CROWLEY: Its' at the whole wage differential.
WHITFIELD: The disparity of money.
CROWLEY: You know, it was great.
WHITFIELD: Candy Crowley, thanks so much in Washington. I appreciate it.
CROWLEY: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. And you might remember this. An entire street collapsing following last week's severe weather. No one was killed thankfully. So, why do residents feel desperate and frustrated?
But first, he's won six medals in the Winter Olympics. The most of any U.S. skier. Now fresh off his bronze medal win in Sochi, downhill ski champion Bode Miller is making an impact. CNN's Chris Cuomo shows us how he's helping disabled athletes take part in sports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BODE MILLER: Do you want to sign to the different color?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bode Miller was inspired to start Turtle Ridge Foundation after a close friend suffered an accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down.
MILLER: I was trying to help him get revolved in sports and just to watch him to go through that, I saw how hard it was and how little support there was for him. People who are in a wheelchair or handicapped, we provide the sporting equipment for them and sort of the environment that allows them to participate in whatever sport that is.
CUOMO: Once a year, skiers flock to Bode-fest in on Bode's home turf of Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire for a day of fundraising and a chance for kids to race the ski icon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is really cool and really fast.
MILLER: These are my super-G skis. For those of you who watch the World Cup this year, that super-G run for me was the best I skied all year.
CUOMO: It's also a chance to test out the latest equipment the foundation has helped develop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The program's really changed my life. I never thought that I'd be able to ski, but this program has really changed my opinion on adaptive sports.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we built some of our ski equipment and you give it to a kid who never had the chance to go up and experience what it is to ski down a giant mountain and you watch how life changing that can be for them. I think it's really - it's pretty incredible.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: This week, President Obama heads to Little Rock, Arkansas to survey the damage and meet those affected by last week's deadly tornadoes. Meantime, services were held for six of the 15 killed in that state. One of them was 22-year-old college student Jeffrey Hunter. Before he died, he sent his mother a text saying good-bye.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My god!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: That was an incredible moment, wasn't it? Days after the Baltimore street came crashing down, cars and all, residents are frustrated about what will happen next. City officials say they may not be able to go back for up to 40 days citing safety concerns and they are putting them up in hotels, but the evacuees want to know why trains are running below their homes and how the street passed inspection one year ago. The collapse followed last week's torrential rains.
All right, let's check the rest of the country's weather outlook. CNN's Karen Maginnis is in the weather center.
KAREN MAGINNIS, METEOROLOGIST: It looks like some problems in the weather coming up for the Great Lakes region, also pushing into the Northeast and New England, will keep the gray skies and the rainfall moving in. Some areas could see up to an inch of wet weather, but if you remember back a few days ago it was the Panhandle of Florida that just got soaked with astounding rainfall totals. Well, we are still looking at some pretty heavy rain, but this time over Central and southern sections of Florida, two to four inches in that swath from Tampa to Vero Beach and now the next several days, these temperatures are really going to be rising across the south central United States. Oklahoma City, is it possible we could see close to 100 degrees by Monday? Computer models are saying plenty of sunshine, not too much to interrupt that. And certainly is the possibility. And the Santa Anas were really ferocious over the last two days in southern California. We'll see those temperatures in some of the desert regions top out at in the triple digits, but it looks like by Monday we'll see those temperatures back off a few degrees, so not so bad as we go into the beginning of the work week. Still, a little on the toasty side, but near normal temperatures all the way from Boston and New York. Readings mostly in the 60s.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Karen Maginnis.
All right, thank you so much Karen Maginnis. All right, a dramatic scene unfolded in a Ukrainian City ripped apart by violence. Why they're trying to break into a police station coming up at the top of the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Every athlete at every level will someday face the same challenge. Coming back from an injury. A sports medicine expert Dr. Jordan Metzl offers a few lessons in todays' "FitNation."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. JORDAN METZL: So, I'm going to show you a couple of different exercises that you are going to do a few times a week.
The first one is just a simple squat. I want you to spread your feet a little wider than shoulder width. Put your arms straight out here. Now, I want you to keep your chest up just like me. You are going to squat down below your knees. Get down lower there if you can. Good man. So, with this one - watch me first, I'm going to come down. I'm going to do an easy jump and I'm going to come right back down. The benefit of these is that you're both strengthening your muscles and you are starting to strengthen your heart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
METZL: Give me five more of those and you can see what happens to your heart and you are breathing as you start to go here. Number two exercise, I'm going to give you is what we call an isometric. So, we are going to introduce an exercise - I call it plane, which is great to strengthen your core muscles, the muscles in the front and the back of the spine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
METZL: I want you to basically get right into a plank position just like this. What's happening is the muscles in the front and the back of the spine are being worked even though they're not moving. Can you feel that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yeah.
METZL: And watch me. You are going to turn this way and you can give me 30 seconds just like this. Try this and face this away. And see what that looks like. There you go. Maybe a minute forward and 30 seconds on each side and you can do these every single day. All right? And then finally, we're going to talk about exercising some of the muscles around your chest and I think there's nothing as good as a push-up with maybe a little bit of a rotation. So, for this one, let's kind of face this way. The classic push-up down to the ground, back up. Let's put in a rotation in this and if you get better, you can start using some weights, too. But I'm going to have you rotate left. Push up. Rotate right. Push-up. So, we are going to strengthen your whole body. And again, it is not strength training or cardio. We can do those together and I think we can do that a few times a week we are going to get you ready for the race. All right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Awesome.
METZL: You are definitely going to be great. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. I appreciate it.
METZL: My pleasure.
WHITFIELD: All right, some great tips on staying fit. That's going to do it for me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The next hour of the NEWSROOM begins now with Randi Kaye in New York.
