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CNN Saturday Morning News
Computer Glitch Strands Thousands of United Airlines Passengers; Major GOP Conference Under Way; Anthony Weiner's Pension Package; 300 Years of Royal Ascot; Casey Anthony Murder Trial; Rory McIlroy Dominating U.S. Open
Aired June 18, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you all.
The computer glitch that left plenty of United Airlines passengers stranded overnight has been fixed, we've been told. The delays for travelers, however, remain.
Also, look at this -- you see this? This was outside the Casey Anthony trial. She's in there fighting for her life inside the courtroom, but this is also grabbing headlines outside the courtroom.
Plus, the road to the White House leading to New Orleans for the Republican presidential hopefuls this weekend.
Hello to you all from the CNN Center. This is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this June 18th. I'm T.J. Holmes, thank you for being here.
Reynolds Wolf will be along in just a moment, but we need to start with some developing news out of Afghanistan this morning regarding reported peace negotiations.
Afghan television reporting that President Hamid Karzai told a youth group today that Washington is involved in peace talks with the Taliban. President Obama, as you know, expected to announce soon plans for troop withdrawals next month.
Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins me now from Washington.
Barbara, what are we to make of this? And do we have a real indication that, yes, Washington, DC and the U.S. government is sitting down somewhere in peace negotiations with the Taliban?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I think it's pretty unlikely, you know, that Bob Gates is sitting down with Mullah Omar directly across the table, you know, working out a peace agreement.
Not to say that that isn't a goal, to have some communication with Taliban leaders and try and draw them back into the fold. It has long been said that Afghanistan will be solved by a political settlement with the Taliban and with the insurgents. You can't kill them all, you know. This is not going to happen, so there will be eventually, it is hoped, some type of political settlement.
What is going on is certainly the U.S. is trying to identify key insurgent leaders that they potentially could work with, that they and NATO could work with. For months now, they have been reintegrating individual fighters back into their communities. They release them from detention eventually, send them back into their communities and try and develop a little forward momentum that way.
But one of the big problems right now is when you say the Taliban, who are they? There's so many groups out there. There's so many different insurgent loyalties. Just to say you're going to sit down with the Taliban would be very tough wouldn't really solve the problem.
So, the strategy that President Obama's really going to talk about is, has there been enough governance, enough real improvement in the Karzai government, in the Afghan government, to make things work in that country enough so that there's no room for the Taliban to come back and rise to power. They can come back and join the government maybe someday, but they can't come back and take over, because the Karzai government is now so strongly in place. That's the real strategy at work here, T.J.
HOLMES: All right And Barbara, one other thing to you, just perspective on Hamid Karzai, making this comment. What kinds of things has he said publicly like this before in the past?
STARR: Right.
HOLMES: And also, do you think the U.S. government will be in the position and the Pentagon where they need to come back and clarify? Are we expecting possibly to get some kind of response to what Karzai said?
STARR: Well, we are asking our sources this morning what they know about this. There will be a couple of things to watch in the coming hours. Was this an exact translation of Karzai's remarks? Is this precisely what he said or was there some ambiguity?
And Hamid Karzai makes these types of remarks not infrequently. We've seen him say so many times that U.S. troops must leave Afghanistan because of civilian casualties, these types of things. Hamid Karzai says certain things for his own domestic political audience inside Afghanistan to appeal to his own constituency, knowing full well that that may be very different than his dealings with the coalition and with Washington -- T.J.
HOLMES: Very important perspective, Barbara, we appreciate you hopping on for us this morning, thank you so much. If you get anything from the Pentagon this morning, please let us know, and we'll get you right back on.
STARR: You bet.
HOLMES: thanks so much, our Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent. Five minutes past the hour, turn now to the flying public. If you are flying today, you might be delayed because of the lingering effects of a United Airlines computer glitch. United says the problem is fixed.
The system went down for several hours last night. Thousands of folks affected, some passengers may still be affected, might still be stuck at airports this morning, waiting to get out. United tried to process everybody by hand while the system was down. Listen to how that went.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN HABBAS, STRANDED PASSENGER: We're waiting. We don't know what to do. We're hungry. We hope we can make it at least to the restaurants in there in time to have some food. We haven't had food since noon and we're just really hungry and nobody's accommodating us for anything. It's horrific.
It's the end of our vacation. We want to get home. We're exhausted. We're hungry, we're tired. We just want to get home. I feel sorry for the moms and their children that are out here. I don't know what they'll do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've done a pretty bad job of communicating. They've done a pretty bad job of telling us what we can expect or what they might help us with. They haven't really offered a lot of help and on top of all of it, they don't really seem to care if we sit here and hang around and we do nothing for several hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A tough spot for a lot of passengers last night, but United Airlines is responding this morning saying, quote, United apologizes for the disruption caused to travelers at affected airports and is re-accommodating travelers where necessary. United also waived change fees for the stranded passengers.
Turning to some politics now, Republicans are gathering in New Orleans and they are getting a pretty healthy dose of enthusiasm from their presidential candidates, candidates like Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, making the most of the chances to talk to supporters.
They're in New Orleans for a three-day Republican leadership conference. That's what it's called. They lined up yesterday to take shots at President Obama on issues like the economy, the war in Afghanistan, Medicare as well, Congresswoman Bachmann talked to our Wolf Blitzer after she addressed the Republican conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELLE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Two weeks ago I was in a closed-door, private meeting of the president of the United States where he was asked not once, not twice, but three times, Mr. President, what is your plan for Medicare? What do you propose to do? His answer, Wolf, he doesn't have a plan. Well, the Federal government actually does have a plan. It's called bankruptcy for Medicare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, today, conference participants vote for their favorites. There will be a straw poll there. Mitt Romney won it last year. He's not there this time, though. The one guy who is there but he's not even running, just yet at least, he's getting a whole lot of attention, that guy, Texas Governor Rick Perry. He says he is considering a run. He speaks at the conference in the next few hours.
We'll have a lot more on Rick Perry's prospects and what's happening in New Orleans this weekend from our CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. He's there, he'll join us live, he's following everything happening, again, at the Republican leadership conference.
Meanwhile, President Obama, he's getting ready to tee off I think in just about an hour and a half or so, in what may be one of the most-watched golf matches of the year. It's not the masters, it's not the U.S. Open, which is going on right now, of course.
But the president is set to take on House Speaker John Boehner in a round of golf today. This is being billed as the golf summit, but we don't how much they'll be talking about issues like the economy, the debt ceiling, jobs. Maybe they'll just be talking about golf. So, yes, 9:30 Eastern time is when they're expected to tee off. We'll have more on this match-up coming your way next hour.
Also, in Chile, a volcano that began erupting two weeks ago and affecting air traffic as far away as New Zealand has now come full circle. Yesterday the ash cloud began impacting domestic flights in Chile for the first time after circling the planet. This particulate matter from the clouds can do serious damage to jet engines. It's already blamed for flight cancellations in neighboring South American countries.
All right, nine minutes past the hour. Time for us to say good morning to our guy, Reynolds Wolf. Good morning kind sir.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.
HOLMES: What you got there?
WOLF: This is a great weather image that we have. This is actually pulled up by weather crews from (INAUDIBLE). She found this NASA image. What is so cool about it, this shows the volcano that T.J. was talking about in Chile. Not only do you see just the volcano and you see the ash cloud, you also see something else pretty interesting.
What we're seeing is not only that plume that starts here and begins to dissipate as it moves around the planet, but you're also seeing right below that some of the ash that's actually filtered its way down to the surface, very, very rough stuff -- T.J. mentioned moments ago how difficult this happens to be on a lot of jet engines. The jet engines of course have that intake where they take in the air and they push it out, propelling, of course, the aircraft through the air.
But when you have that silt that (INAUDIBLE) material comes from the volcanoes, very detrimental to those engines, no question. So a lot of aircrafts certainly going to steer their way around that big plume. Let's send it back to you, T.J.
HOLMES: Reynolds we appreciate you. We'll be checking back in with Reynolds plenty throughout the morning.
Saggy pants, a lot of people don't like. We have some jurisdictions even passed laws against having your pants sagging. Well saggy pants actually landed a college athlete now in jail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DESHON MARMAN, KICKED OFF FLIGHT FOR SAGGY PANTS: My pants were actually not even below my knees, below my buttocks. They were slightly below my waist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's Deshon Marman. He plays football for the University of New Mexico. We'll tell you what happened when he was asked to pull his pants up when he was on a flight in California. That's coming up next hour.
Also, New York could become the latest state to legalize same-sex marriage. Supporters say they're one vote away from passage.
Also, the Minnesota Twins reprimand a security guard, scolded a couple for kissing at the game. It was a lesbian couple. The details of that story after the break. I'm back on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twelve minutes past the hour now.
New York is reportedly one vote away from becoming the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage. The state senate debated the bill yesterday, did not take action, however. A vote could come as early as Monday. Thirty one of the senate's 62 members support the bill, including two Republicans. Backers need one more GOP vote for the bill to pass.
Supporters have been lobbying hard for this bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA SALZER, SUPPORTS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: I think we're sending a loud and clear message about whether our families and our life and our choice and who we are and our love is legitimate or not and kids are watching.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The New York state assembly has already passed that bill. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he will sign it into law. And some Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about what they call the bill's unintended consequences and some opponents, including former New York Giants wide receiver David Tyree, actually likens it to anarchy if it passes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID TYREE, FORMER NFL PLAYER: If they pass this gay marriage bill, you know, and, you know, I guess you can say my peace is in God's sovereignty, you know, but what I know what happened if this does come forth, this will be the beginning of our country sliding towards, you know, it's a strong word, but anarchy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The Minnesota Twins baseball team, meanwhile, has reprimanded a security guard for scolding a lesbian couple for kissing. The women say they exchanged just a quick peck on the lips during a baseball game last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You kissed that girl, you can't do that. And I was like, yes, I can. And he said there's no grab (EXPLETIVE DELETED). And I was, like, grab (EXPLETIVE DELETED), I didn't even grab (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here in the stadium we expect to adhere to the Ten Commandants and after that statement I immediately stopped conversing with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The Twins organization now has apologized to the couple, offered to meet with them as well, also reprimanded the security guard who still works at the field, though.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN SMITH, MINNESOTA TWINS SPOKESMAN: The director of security verbally reprimanded him for that behavior and now he's got also a written reprimand in his personnel file.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Lately it seems the Casey Anthony trial has been notable for what's happening not inside but outside the courtroom. Yes. Last week there was a little pushing and shoving, but now head locks and fists flying. This fight led to changes for the people who want to get into the courtroom. Also, severe weather over a highway in Colorado. We'll tell you why it could have been worse and we'll tell you how this weekend's forecast is shaping up. That is next on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Sixteen minutes past the hour now in this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Take a look at what they're dealing with in south Georgia right now. A lot of people really thinking back and think this is shades of 2007 in much of the area. Yes? A lot of the area. A lot of people will remember this. This area was charred by a string of wildfires then, but here we are now, some 225,000 acres have burned in wildfires in the Okefenokee swamp. Lightening being blamed for sparking blazes in three counties near the Florida border.
Now we're not done, let's switch the picture now and look over to what's happening in Arizona. The situation there appears to be getting worse. That's not what you want to hear. We've been telling you about a particular fire that's burned nearly half a million acres already, but some of the video you're seeing now is in the extreme southeastern corner of the state where crews there are firing three different fires. Red-flag warnings are up for today and tomorrow. Reynolds, what kind of weather conditions in both places are they dealing with, Georgia and Arizona with these fires?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Reynolds, appreciate you as always buddy. Thank you so much.
We're at 20 minutes past the hour now and now that former Congressman Anthony Weiner has resigned, the question becomes what happens to the $5 million he has in campaign funds? We try to get some of those answers next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, 23 minutes past the hour now on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
You know by now that Congressman Anthony Weiner has resigned. He's now a former congressman, but as he leaves Congress he's going to be taking some money with him from the Federal employee retirement system.
"The Wall Street Journal" breaking down the benefits that Weiner will take with him. In just a few years he'll start taking pension payments of $25,000 to $35,000 a year. That ends us breaking down to him getting about $1.3 million for 12 years of work in Congress, three weeks of scandal.
That's his money you can argue, but Weiner leaves behind a campaign war chest worth millions of dollars. That has a lot of people wondering what will become of all that cash? Here now, our Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The outgoing congressman references his humble financial background.
ANTHONY WEINER (D), FORMER CONGRESSMAN: The middle-class story of New York is my story and I'm very proud of that.
TODD: As for his current finances, Anthony Weiner has a few hundred thousand dollars in assets to fall back on if he needs it. According to disclosure forms, that includes a stock portfolio worth between $190,000 and $285,000.
He's got more in campaign money. Election records show he's got more than $365,000 cash on hand in his war chest for a congressional re-election campaign and $4.5 million in his prospective campaign for New York City mayor in 2013.
What can he do with all this money?
KENNETH GROSS, CAMPAIGN FINANCE ATTORNEY: Well, he can't take it with him and go to Disneyland. It's not -- he's not able to convert it to personal use.
TODD: Campaign finance expert Ken Gross was once chief of enforcement for the Federal Election Commission. Gross says Weiner could keep those accounts intact if he decides to run for either of those offices in the future.
But if he doesn't, he'd have four options for those accounts. He could give the money to other candidates. He could give it to charity. He could give it to a party committee, or he could give it back to donors. Ken Gross says donors to disgraced politicians often demand their money back.
As for other candidates -- if he wants to give it to other candidates, would they take it or is he too radioactive?
GROSS: I don't know. That's a tough one in his case, because, yes, he's leaving under a cloud, but he's not going to prison. He didn't violate the law. I think some for the time being may think the money's a little radioactive, but over time I would not be surprised if others would accept contributions from him.
TODD: But since the scandal broke, Democratic candidates have been under increasing pressure from Republicans to return the money Weiner gave them.
According to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Republicans have targeted 20 of the Democratic candidates who Weiner gave money to during his time in Congress and demanded that they give it back. The NRCC says so far only seven of the candidates have given the money back.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, I want you to listen to something now that you are going to be hearing a lot over the next several months.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BACHMANN: The Tea Party and all of America has one goal, and it's this -- that Barack Obama will be a one-term president!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yep. You are going to hear that a lot over the next several months from her and others. That's Michele Bachmann. She's leading the chorus there as presidential hopefuls bash the president in New Orleans. They're having a major conference there. We will take you there live coming up next.
Also goodwill ambassador for the United Nations right now, you recognize her and you know the name, Angelina Jolie. She is on the border with Syria trying to encourage those who have fled the violence in their own country. We're getting close to the bottom of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We are at the bottom of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Welcome back to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. I'm glad you could spend part of your weekend here with us.
Need to let you know today is day three of a major gathering of Republicans in New Orleans. It's called the Republican Leadership Conference, and most of the presidential hopefuls from the GOP side, they are there. In just a couple of hours people there also going to be choosing a party favorite in a straw poll.
CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser live for us at the conference in New Orleans and clearly, it is just a jam-packed event as we can see from the room you're standing in, Paul. Explain.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: And T.J., I guess I can really clear a room, huh? I promise you a couple hours from now, there will be here.
And who will be in the spotlight? A guy called Rick Perry, he's the governor of neighboring Texas. You know what, he's been in the spotlight the last couple of days because he sure looks and sounds like a presidential candidate. He says, he is considering -- considering -- a run for the Republican nomination, that's why everybody today will be taking a look and listening to just about every word Rick Perry says, because some Republicans still are not satisfied with the field they have, all eyes on Rick Perry this afternoon -- T.J. HOLMES: Everybody is hanging on to everything he does and every word he says looking for some indication that he's going to get in this race. And he's just kind of been teasing people, if you will. He won't give a straight answer.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, he sure sounds and talks like a candidate and says the right things about taking the country back and criticizing President Obama. We heard a lot of that yesterday right here too, with the four presidential candidates, already candidates in the field. All of them I tell you got a lot of applause, because basically here you're preaching to the choir, this is about 2,000 Republican strategists, activists; really hard core Republicans from most of the south of 38 states.
They all did well, Herman Cain got the crowd going a number of times and so did Ron Paul with his tons of supporters who rushed the room and Rick Santorum as well, but you know what, Michele Bachmann by far was the number one person here yesterday. T.J. back to you.
HOLMES: All right, she's getting a lot of attention right now. We're going to be talking to you again, Paul, I think it's going to be important to know who else is not also at the conference there. And one guy who is not there who I guess got -- got sick and couldn't make it. We'll be explaining that and try to get into that a little later.
Paul, good to see you as always buddy; thanks so much.
Now here we are right now. About 32 minutes past the hour.
We turn to Angelina Jolie now she's in Turkey trying to bring attention to the refugee camps there. She's the United Nations goodwill ambassador and is thanking Turkey for taking in close to 10,000 Syrians who crossed the border to escape the ongoing violence in their country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELINA JOLIE, U.N. GOODWILL AMBASSADOR: The Turkish government and the Turkish Red Cross (ph) have just been extraordinary in -- in their generosity and in all that they've done. And they're very organized and we're just so grateful to them. And they've also made a point that they're not going to be forcing anybody back and that they're going keep the border open.
This is saving the lives and making a difference to all these children and their families. So we're very, very grateful to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, a senior administration official says the U.S. is collecting information on possible war crimes carried out by the Syrian government during its crackdown on protesters.
Well, there has been another setback at that damaged nuclear plant in Japan. Tokyo Electric says it has temporarily stopped cleaning up contaminated water because of higher-than-expected levels of radiation. The company cranked up a new cleanup system just yesterday, but now that's on hold.
The plant was damaged, as you know, in the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.
Boy, you still can find ways that you can help out those who have been affected by the quake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis in Japan. You can just go to our Web site, CNN.com/impact.
Well, British royalty, the rich and famous, at a big time horse race -- Ascot's 300th Birthday. If you don't know what this is? It is the event of Britain's summer social season. The big story this year: a sign of approval from the Queen to the Middleton family. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, its 35 minutes past the hour.
We're joined by Nadia Bilchik for this morning's "Morning Passport", again. All you have to say is 300 years of British glamour and tradition and that -- that should get people's attention, right there? Right?
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Absolutely. And this isn't only Ascot, the most prestigious horse race in the world.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: This is the month of Royal Ascot, the month of June, because the Queen attends.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: And there're even bets on the color of hat -- there is the Queen in her beautiful hat -- the color of the hat she's going to wear for each event.
HOLMES: OK. Does she always attend?
BILCHIK: She attends June. Ascot's very important to the royal family. It's only six miles from Windsor Castle and the land is still owned by the royal estate. But Thursday was a very significant day --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: -- because it was Ladies' Day at Ascot.
Now, this is a day made famous by Eliza Doolittle. Remember Aubrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady". She comes out as an upper class woman. She's expected at Ladies Day at Royal Ascot. That's where her unveiling happens and of course, remember she said when she sees the horse, "move your bloody ass" and that does it for her. But that's her moment.
HOLMES: OK and you said come out and be accepted. We're kind of having --
(CROSSTALK)
BILCHIK: Accepted by the upper classes because she was a commoner. Much like --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: -- Thursday another couple of commoners got accepted and that was the Middletons. That's why Thursday was such an important day, Carol and Michael Middleton --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: -- the mother and father of Duchess Kate, Duchess Catherine, were invited by the Queen to be in the royal procession for Ascot.
HOLMES: Oh wow.
BILCHIK: And that really is a big deal, because remember up until the wedding, we spoke about the fact that the Queen didn't really approve of her grandson marrying a commoner; not only not royalty, not even aristocracy.
HOLMES: Wow.
BILCHIK: But obviously they behaved in such an impeccable way, that they have received the royal stamp of approval and the Queen invited them to attend this race.
HOLMES: OK and what does it mean as well? And maybe I'm taking it too literally, but to be accepted by this crowd. What do they necessarily do? Or is it just a matter of you being invited or fitting in? Or how does that work exactly?
BILCHIK: Well, the fact that she was invited by the queen --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: That's big.
BILCHIK: Not Charles, not William, invited by the Queen, shows that the queen is publicly saying "I have accepted these people." And in terms of British royalty and decorum, that is a big deal.
And you can see Mrs. Middleton, Carol Middleton, wore a beautiful champagne outfit. She had a saucer hat, very elegant, very understated, very beautiful. And her husband's Michael shares the Queen's active adoration of horses, one of his horses Sarad (ph) was actually running in the Friday race.
HOLMES: Oh wow.
BILCHIK: Don't think won, but was running. So the Queen has accepted them. Now she never -- the Queen never invited Fergie's parents to attend or even Diana's parents.
HOLMES: Wow.
BILCHIK: The only people the Queen has ever invited is actually the youngest son, Edward's wife Sophie Wessex's parents.
HOLMES: Oh wow. So --
BILCHIK: So this means a lot, this is saying "I have full confidence in this marriage and I like the Middletons."
HOLMES: OK so Kentucky Derby doesn't seem like as big of a deal once you see how they get down over there.
BILCHIK: Oh God.
HOLMES: How they get down over there.
BILCHIK: Ascot and the hats and the fashion, one woman was wearing an ice cream cone hat. It has to be seen to be believed.
HOLMES: Is it -- this is it? What am I looking at there?
BILCHIK: OK, there are all kinds of hats. The fashion is just I would say, glorious.
HOLMES: Oh wow.
BILCHIK: You know Phillip Treacy and his hats in full display and Vivien Sherriff (ph) and others, but certainly glamorous and definitely interesting.
HOLMES: Nadia Bilchik, for our "Morning Passport" we appreciate you as always, Nadia; thank you so much.
We're at 39 minutes past the hour now.
Outside the courtroom, look at what's happening. Literally brawls, you could call them in some cases, breaking out. Some are calling this the trial of the century. And now, there are some changes on how spectators will be allowed into the trial of Casey Anthony.
Meanwhile, there is action still inside the courtroom. Wait until you hear what one witness had to say about evidence the defense brought in.
Our Sunny Hostin breaking it down for us. Stay with us on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We're about 41 minutes past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
We have been keeping up with a lot of things as you know weather- wise. The weather is having a major impact on fires that we've been watching.
In Arizona, as you know, but also on fires going on in Georgia right now. We're actually told that the situation in Arizona could actually be getting worse. You know, the largest fire they've had in the state's history has been getting so much attention. But in another part, the southern part of the state, they've got three other fires they're keeping an eye on.
Meanwhile, our Reynolds Wolf is keeping an eye on the weather situation and how the weather is affecting all of these fires as well as you're weather around the country. Hello to you once again, Reynolds.
WOLF: Good morning, T.J.
You know one we need where you have all of these fires is you need the exact opposite of what they're getting. You need higher humidity, at the same time you need very gentle conditions in terms of your wind. The problem is you got very strong winds, even stronger into the afternoon, with the very, very low dew points, so not good at all.
You're seeing the exact opposite across parts of the mid- Mississippi Valley and into the Ohio River Valley, also heavy rain. We've had I think three -- yes, actually three tornado warnings earlier this morning. Thankfully, they were -- they're just Doppler- indicated. There are real visual confirmations on them, not much in terms of damage reported, but still thunderstorms very strong.
And at the same time we now have a threat not of severe thunderstorms but rather one of the components that you have, when you have these in immense storms, heavy rainfall. With that there is going to be the threat of flooding in many places: Kentucky, parts of Illinois, into Indiana, very, very heavy rainfall, right along I-64 because there's going to be some pounding along the freeway. So please be careful on that long drive.
Very quickly, a couple of other things we're following the potential for storms later into the afternoon and also the extreme heat in portions of Texas, Dallas going up to 103, 103 in El Paso, Albuquerque, 98 in Houston but with the high humidity, it's going to feel much warmer.
We're going to have more on that coming, T.J., back to you.
HOLMES: Reynolds, I appreciate you as always, Buddy. I'll talk to you again here shortly.
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: Well, it is the closest to perfection for any player in the history of the U.S. Open. He's a 22-year-old and he is good; breaking records that were set by Tiger Woods. We'll tell you what he is up to, Rory McIlroy, you're seeing right there. Also, President Obama versus House Speaker John Boehner but not on the economy, not on jobs, not on the debt ceiling; rather, on the golf course. They are hitting the (INAUDIBLE) within the hour. We'll tell you about this matchup that everybody is watching.
It's 43 minutes past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. 46 minutes past the hour now. It's day 22 now in the trial of Casey Anthony and day three for defense attorneys for this mother accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, but on Friday the drama started not inside, but outside the courtroom. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SCUFFLE OVER SEATS IN CASEY ANTHONY TRIAL)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Headlocks and flying fists. Police had to respond to this outside of the courthouse. This broke out when two men apparently broke line. They were among the dozens of spectators lining up to get one of the roughly 50 seats that are open to the public to go in and see the trial.
No arrests have been made in connection with this incident. Meanwhile, that fight has led to some rule changes for courtroom seating for spectators.
We have been watching this. What the judge is going to do now is requiring people to line up the day before. They actually have to line up the day before to get in line, and they can only line up at certain times during the day.
So, they're hoping that it's going to keep those types of ugly incidents from happening again. What you're seeing here, folks, this is a live picture. Do I have this right? Deirdre, this is a live picture.
Court is now in session once again down there. They have been meeting on Saturdays trying to get through this trial. But here we go on day 23 now. But that's a live picture they have fixed on her always and also they have another camera that moves around, shows the witness stand, shows the attorneys as well.
But interesting testimony yesterday from one of the defense attorneys, who was talking about bugs and things and what's been found in the car. So this trial continues for another day, as the drama continues inside and, yes, outside.
You can watch special coverage of the Casey Anthony trial live today from 9:00 to 1:00 on our sister network, HLN.
Meanwhile, a 22-year-old is dominating the U.S. Open. Kind of making it look easy. Rory McIlroy, his incredible story, is next. But can he keep this up?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We're about eight minutes to the top of the hour here.
Now joined by Joe Carter, HLN Sports, friend of our show here on the weekend. Good to see you.
You have some video you told me I have to see. We'll get to that in a second, but a world class athlete, but you give him a baseball he doesn't so much look like one. We'll show you that video in a second. I haven't even it myself, you all have been telling me about it.
But let's start at the U.S. Open and a young fellow who is Tiger- like some are saying?
JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS: You know a lot of people compare him to being the next Tiger Woods. He's yet to look (ph) those expectations. But we're talking about 22-year-old Rory McIlroy. He is the Irishman, the sensation that is now dominating the U.S. Open.
Through 36 holes no one in the 111-year history of this tournament has ever played a better 36 holes. He's currently 11 under. And he has got a 6-shot lead heading into this weekend.
The last person to play this well was Tiger Woods in 2000. He ended up winning the U.S. Open by 15 shots. We'll see if Rory can play that well through the weekend.
But if you remember a couple of months ago, back in April, Rory McIlroy he had the lead at the masters. On the final 9 holes he went from first to 15th. He totally tumbled. The wheels fell off the wagon.
So people are saying can he hold the lead again? Now, there's a 25-hour difference between when he got off the course yesterday to when he'll walk back on the course today. Some are saying, I read a couple different places that he was going to attend a movie last night to get his mind off golf.
And people who watched yesterday know that he played a bogey-free 35 rounds of golf -- or 35 holes of golf. On his final hole yesterday he double bogeyed which means he could have been 13 under and he's now 11 under. And he said the bogey actually helped him kind of calm his nerves down because he got it out of his system.
Now he heads in today with a six-shot lead which at course is a monster lead. If he can shoot even one under, two under, he's in a great position to walk away with this tournament and live up to all the expectations of him being the next Tiger Woods.
HOLMES: He was brilliant when we say him at the Masters. He was fun to watch, there was no way you would have thought he would have lost the lead. We'll see what happens.
Let's turn now, the world class athletes should stick to their sport sometimes, right.
CARTER: Yes. Keep your day job John Wall.
He was a great basketball player in Kentucky. He's the number one draft pick in the NBA, plays for the Washington Wizards. They asked him to come out and throw the ceremonial first pitch and he walked --
HOLMES: Oh. Come on, whoa.
CARTER: Now his excuse was there was a one-hour plus rain delay, and his arm got cold. His arm was ice.
HOLMES: His arm was freezing.
CARTER: We've seen so many people throw out bad first pitches, but I've never seen a guy who makes as much money or with his athletic ability throw out such a bad pitch.
This is a guy who's going to make $24 million over the next four years playing basketball. Now, he's obviously a good basketball player. He said he played high school -- played baseball all the way up to high school. He says, again, he got cold because of the weather.
HOLMES: He's going to make how much over the next couple years?
CARTER: $24 million plus over the next four seasons playing basketball. Like I said in the graphic, don't quit your day job.
HOLMES: If you're making $24 million, you can pitch a baseball however you want to pitch that baseball. But you undersold it. You all told me how bad it was, now that I'm seeing, you all didn't even do it justice. That is horrible.
CARTER: Horrible. It's so good because it's so bad.
HOLMES: Appreciate you as always, buddy. Thanks so much.
We're getting close to the top of the hour now. We're going to check in with Christine Romans who is taking a look at what's coming up on "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" at the bottom of the hour.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, T.J. Zero, that's how many time education came up during CNN's two-hour Republican presidential debate. Maybe it's just too early in the campaign season to be fair, with all the focus on debt, jobs, health care, but on "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" it remains a priority.
We've got some of the best minds debating how to fix America's schools.
Also ahead, T.J. how to avoid the parent trap when graduates move home after college. And from homeless to the boardroom: how Chris Gardner of the "Pursuit of Happyness" fame, how he's sharing his financial secrets with his kids. That's call coming up at 9:30 a.m. -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks to our Christine Romans there.
Also we can take a look at some other business news. Investors keeping a close eye on the Federal Reserve next and how it plans to deal with the slowing economy.
Poppy Harlow has that story, but first Alison Kosik tells us about Pandora, the web radio company.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, T.J.
It was a roller coaster week for stocks as investors wrestled with economic concerns at home and abroad. Pandora became the latest big Internet name to begin trading at the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of the personalized radio company surged after their Wednesday IPO, but the enthusiasm wore off quickly as shares ended the week well below the initial offering price.
Pandora has never turned a profit and relies heavily on advertising revenue to offset high royalty fees -- Felicia.
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks Alison.
New numbers confirm what most people already know, college is too expensive. According to the College Board, tuition and fees at public universities have more than doubled since 1988, while middle-class incomes have been stagnant. The Department of Education says a growing number of middle-class students are opting for two-year programs instead of the traditional four-year degree.
That may be a good short-term financial plan but it could hurt their earnings potential over the long term -- Poppy?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Thanks so much Felicia. Well the Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet this week. No major policy changes are expected, but investors will want to know how the fed plans to tackle the challenges of the slowing economic recovery.
Since the Central Bank's last meeting, job growth has slowed, stocks have stumbled and prices have risen. So far the fed has no plans or any announced plans for more stimulus to reverse those trends once its current program ends in less than two weeks. We know the market will be watching this decision very closely.
We'll follow it all on CNNMoney.
T.J., back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
