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CNN Saturday Morning News
Navy Jet Hits Apartment Building; Disappointment in Job Numbers; Woman Lands Plane After Husband Collapses; Three Dead After Oklahoma Shooting; Romney Widens Delegate Gap; Bombshell NFL Audiotapes
Aired April 07, 2012 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center, this is WEEKEND EARLY START. It's Saturday, April 7th. Good morning. I'm Randi Kaye.
A killer on the loose in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Four shootings that left three dead may be connected and now the FBI is involved.
Also --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole thing was in flames. The whole backyard. And then things started to explode.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: A fighter jet turns a Virginia apartment building in a ball of fire. What was behind this crash?
And a quarter past the hour, we put the jobs report in focus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got a lot more work to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Its impact on the election and future unemployment numbers.
And later --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HELEN COLLINS (voice-over): Don't you have any faith in me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: A gutsy grandma, 2,000 feet in the air. You will not believe this story.
We start with a manhunt under way right now in Oklahoma. Local police in Tulsa, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals are looking for what they think is a lone shooter who's responsible for three deaths. Two others were injured in the series of shootings carried out over several hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. DAVE WALKER, TULSA POLICE: Three dead bodies in one day, spread out like we have here, in one general geographical area, but yet far enough apart where obviously somebody's mobile.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is scary if they're randomly running way, because they can do it at any time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Investigators are also looking at the case as a possible hate crime. All of the victims are African-American. The suspected shooter is white.
Your tax dollars at work this morning and you are not going to be happy. There's new video now of skits played at a government agency gathering that has lawmakers asking new questions about government spending. "The Huffington Post" posted video of the skits on its website. They show members of the government's General Services Administration, the GSA. It came under fire for a nearly one million dollars convention in Las Vegas, paid for by you, the taxpayers. Also on your bill is about half a million dollar in employee gifts, like iPods.
Noted artist Thomas Kinkade has died. He was just 54 years old. His family says the self-described painter of light died of natural causes. Kinkade is known for his paintings portraying scenes of wooded cabins, seascapes and classic American scenes.
A quote "catastrophic mechanical failure" being blamed for a Navy fighter jet crash into an apartment building in Virginia Beach. Investigators are working on two fronts this morning trying to figure out why the plane crashed and looking for three people from that badly burned apartment building. CNN's Sandra Endo joins me live now from Virginia Beach.
Sandra, good morning. What can you tell us about the people who are unaccounted for who lived in that building?
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, that's exactly what emergency crews are wondering as well. They have been working overnight here. It's still a very active scene here in Virginia Beach. They are looking for those three unaccounted for people. So far, though, there are no fatalities and no people reported missing.
Here's the scene as it stands right now. Take a look behind me. That is the destruction left behind by the fiery crash. Now it happened at around noon yesterday when a Navy jet crashed into the apartment complex, damaging about five buildings. We're talking about 40 apartment units in this senior citizens apartment complex. And the Navy, as you mentioned, Randi, is calling this a catastrophic mechanical malfunction. And it was conducting a training exercise. And all of this happened really all of a sudden. Seven people were injured, including the two pilots who ejected shortly before the crash. And one resident described the scene and even seeing the pilot before emergency crews arrived.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAT KAVANAUGH, RESIDENT: So I got off the couch and went to the back door, the sliding door. And when I looked out, I saw a pilot laying there, bleeding from the nose, and his parachute hanging from the building. And I knew exactly what happened, a jet had crashed. I just didn't know where until I saw the smoke.
He apologized sincerely for hitting our complex. And I told him, don't worry about it. You just take care of yourself. We'll take care of you. Everybody else will take care of the other stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENDO: And according to the local are hospital, one pilot is still being treated, but reportedly doing well. The six others who were injured have been treated and released.
And so far, to give you a perspective of this entire area, we can tell you that the Navy airstrip where the jet took off is only about two miles from this community. And residents here say they are used to these training exercises. Hundreds of jets fly overhead daily. This is a very heavily populated area with military families. And even local officials here say they train with the Navy in case something like this happens. So they are very used to hearing the jets overhead.
But a lot of witnesses we spoke to yesterday and throughout the night say they just knew something was wrong with this jet by the sound overhead. And one witness says that they also noticed that fuel was hemorrhaging from this jet overhead. Something Navy officials also admit to. And, of course, Randi, the investigation is ongoing.
KAYE: All right, Sandra Endo for us there in Virginia Beach. Sandra, thank you very much.
A witness in the Trayvon Martin case is offering up new details now on the night George Zimmerman shot and killed the Florida teen. Listen, but know that we altered the witness' voice to preserve their anonymity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: There was two, as I say, yells for help. And the first was a like just a very clear, loud yell for help. But it really is the second one that really always will stay with me. It was kind of almost like a yelp. It was like a devastating, desperate type of yell for help. And, you know, even to a sense it could even be -- possibly been a cry. The lead investigator said to me kindly, he just said, well, if it makes you feel any better, the person that was yelling for help is alive. I really thought it was the boy crying for help, but here's the lead investigator, you know, telling me that, no, it was Mr. Zimmerman.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: Zimmerman's attorney disputes those details. A grand jury is expected to convene next week to take up this case. Zimmerman has admitted shooting Martin, but says it was in self defense. Protesters have called for Zimmerman's arrest.
Just days before an important dead in Syria, the opposition says at least 62 people were killed today in the government's brutal crackdown. Tuesday is the day that the Syrian military is supposed to cease fire and withdraw from cities and towns. Syrian President Assad agreed to the peace plan put forth by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last month, but the killing of civilians hasn't seemed to slow down since.
Safety concerns will indefinitely delay the reopening of a nuclear plant in California. The San Onofre plant shut down in January after a small, radioactive leak. There was a problem with pipes in one of the generators. The pipes are fixed, but the plant will stay close until they figure out why the pipe's leaked. The plant powers around a million-and-a-half homes near San Clemente.
We may never know exactly who won last week's massive Mega Millions jackpot. The Kansas winner finally came forward yesterday, but wants to remain anonymous. So lottery officials presented the big check to a cardboard poster figure. There is also a woman in Maryland who says she won but she can't find her ticket. That is a bummer. Someone bought the other winning ticket in Illinois. The winners are each getting around $218 million before taxes.
All right, let's say good morning to meteorologist Reynolds Wolf.
Reynolds, can you imagine not being able to find your ticket if you won $218 million?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's what one of them claimed?
KAYE: That's what she's claiming. Who knows.
WOLF: Oh. Well, Randi, we couldn't, you and I, we couldn't find our winning tickets either.
KAYE: Yes, that's what I was remember too.
WOLF: I'm trying to look and see if I can find them some place.
KAYE: Somewhere in the weather center.
WOLF: Oh, darn, they're just going to have to give us the money. So how we'll make ends meet. Unreal.
KAYE: SO, Reynolds, a lot of people celebrating Easter and Passover both in the same weekend. Are they going to have some nice weather you think?
WOLF: You know, it should be OK for parts of the country. One place where we do have a bit of concern, Randi, is going to be in the central and southern Plains where later on today we could see some strong storms develop, maybe some hail-producing. And, unfortunately, we can't rule out the chance of some tornadoes. So we're going to watch that for you very carefully. But we're also going to take a sneak peak at your travel weather. We know a lot of people are trying to cross the country. We'll give you an idea of what you can anticipate coming up.
KAYE: All right, get back to looking for our lottery ticket now.
WOLF: I will. You better believe it.
KAYE: OK. All right, well here's the rundown of some stories that we're working on.
The numbers are disappointing but there is a silver lining. We'll break down the numbers from the new jobs report.
Plus, an 80-year-old woman forced to land a plane after the pilot suffers a heart attack. I'll share their story coming up.
Also, we'll play some shocking audio recorded inside the New Orleans Saints locker room. Their scandalous bounty program named specific targets.
And dogs may be man's best friends, but they're also heroes. You're watching CNN WEEKEND EARLY START.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Good morning, Atlanta. We're awake here at CNN Center. And it looks like folks are waking up. A few lights there in downtown Atlanta. Looks like it's going to be a great day.
If you have a dog, well, you know that they will eat almost anything. And here is proof. You're looking at four tickets to the Masters golf tournament. Yes, they look a little chewed up, right? That's what's left of them. Russ Burkeman's (ph) dog, Sierra (ph), apparently had the munchies for golf tickets. Burkeman says he gave Sierra hydrogen peroxide and, well, you're looking at, of course, what she had coughed up. After a whole lot of phone calls, Augusta's ticket office reprinted those tickets for Burkeman and he was able to go.
Reynolds, don't you love that story?
WOLF: A big mistake by Augusta. A big mistake. I mean I hate to say this, but I think it showed a little bit of irresponsibility by the owner allowing the dog to eat the tickets. They should have made him bring the dog and have them scan the dog for the tickets, or at least made him wear the dog around his neck. Seriously. Unbelievable.
KAYE: Oh, yes, they do eat anything, though.
WOLF: Indeed they do. My goodness.
Well, the weather today at Augusta National is actually going to be pretty nice. In fact, as we take a look at the forecast, plenty of sunshine. Chance of rain, absolutely zero for today and for tomorrow. Monday we're going to see things change a bit. A 20 percent chance of scattered showers. Humidity is going to be back in the forecast too with temperatures in the 80s. But it's going to be wonderful on the final back nine right among the azaleas. It will be picture perfect for you at Augusta National. Just don't eat your tickets or allow your dogs or even kids to eat those. Yes, exactly.
Hey, scattered showers and a few thunderstorms this morning south of Omaha and right to the west of the city. Also between Wichita and Oklahoma City, if you're making that drive on I-35 and you're listening to us on satellite radio. The showers that you have are going to be driving away to the east and you're going to keep the windshield wipers on for quite a bit until that moves off.
And the thing that's making the rain happen is basically this frontal boundary. The frontal boundary, interacting with that moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, it will give you not only a chance of scattered showers, but later in the afternoon some damaging winds and possibly large hail. And again, in a situation like this, we can't rule out the possibility of a tornado or two that may spin up or spin down as we make our way into the afternoon.
Other than the issue of severe weather that we have in the central Plains, we are seeing breezy conditions across the northern Plains, including big sky country. The wind is going to be relentless in places like Lincoln, Nebraska. Plenty of sunshine today for central and southern California, but check it out, we see another storm system brewing off the coast. That's going to bring rain to you later on the rest of the week and also plenty of sunshine for the eastern third of the country, including the Great Lakes.
Beautiful conditions in Chicago with a high of 67, wrapping it up in Atlanta with 74 degrees there, 83 in Dallas, 80 degrees in Los Angeles. And speaking of Atlanta, that we were talking about just a moment ago, beautiful shot that we have outside, things looking fantastic. The sun is going to be up before long giving us a great day at Bicentennial Park.
Randi, you're up to speed.
KAYE: All right, thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
KAYE: See you shortly.
WOLF: We've all come across traffic accidents, but it's not often you see this, an armored truck left dangling over a bridge. Take a look at that. We'll tell you about the problems this caused just ahead.
Plus, inside the new jobs report. Why do experts say the falling unemployment rate is misleading? We go in focus, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. The anticipated jobs report is out. And as you know, it is the leading indicator of how the economy is actually doing. We're putting those numbers in focus now with the help of Christine Romans, who tells us why experts are a little disappointed in what we would normally consider good news.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, since when is a drop in the unemployment rate disappointing? Well, it's disappointing when you only have 120,000 jobs created in the month of March. Many had hoped for 200,000. And this is clearly a slow-down in hiring from what we've seen over the prior three months. And the 8.2 percent unemployment rate, it's interesting because economists say 164,000 people dropped out of the workforce, and that's why you saw the jobless rate come down.
I want to take a little look at where the jobs are, OK? We saw job losses in retail, 34,000 jobs lost in retail. Why is this important in particular with all these different job categories? Because retail is sort of the pulse of how the consumer is feeling, right? And if you're losing jobs in retail, maybe that shows a little bit of a consumer slow-down. We have seen lately as well, strength in retail sales. So this certainly bears watching.
I want to talk about the politics of things too, because this is what the trend looks like. And when you're talking about economics or markets the trend is your friend. Here, right here, is this big sell- off in the last months of the Bush administration and into the early months of the Obama administration. Hundreds of thousands of jobs lost every single month. Here is stimulus spending and here is census hiring, and it looked like things were picking up. And then big disappointment and concerns about a double dip recession.
And here is the trend of job creation since then. A lot of economists had wanted to see this trend continue higher. You've got about half the pace of hiring in March than they would have liked, half the pace of prior months. But it still shows that you are on the positive side of the ledger of job creation, although many people would like to see it more robust than this.
Randi.
KAYE: Christine Romans, thank you very much.
We'll have much more on the job numbers and how they affect you throughout the morning.
Well, she has no pilot's license and had never flown a plane, but even experienced pilots are giving kudos to this 80-year-old grandmother. What she did when her husband collapsed in his Cessna, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: We're waking up the East Coast. We're waking up the West Coast this morning. Good morning, Los Angeles. Hope you're with us. Hope you're watching. It's 21 minutes after the hour. Time to check out some of the stories making news around the nation. Traffic came to a stop on a highway just outside of Los Angeles after this armored truck crashed. A California Highway Patrol officer said the truck was hanging on the edge of the bridge and leaking gasoline onto surface streets. No word yet on what caused that crash.
And the FAA is investigating a surprising incident at Denver International Airport where confusion between an air traffic controller and a pilot during an emergency landing led to this exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PILOT: 5912, emergency, smoke in the cockpit, roll trucks please.
CONTROLLER: And who is that?
PILOT: 5912.
CONTROLLER: United 12, what's your position?
CONTROLLER 1: Did you hear that?
CONTROLLER 2: Yes.
CONTROLLER 1: I know that's BS. I know it is.
CONTROLLER 2: You know it's what?
CONTROLLER 1: United 12. Do you know of a United 12 anywhere?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: As you heard, the controller thought the pilot said United 12, not 5912. In a statement, the FAA said once controllers identified the plane, they notified the fire department. Only one of the 22 people on board was taken to the hospital.
And a Massachusetts man trapped in a paper silo has been rescued. Rescuers say the man was working on a jam in the silo but got stuck when additional paper fell down. A fire department chief says the silo was nearly full when the rescuers arrived. Wow.
All right, here's a story that will have you thinking, what would you do in that same situation. There are two things that you should know. Helen Collins does not have a pilot's license, though she's flown many hours by her husband's side. And he's 80 years ago. This is her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice-over): Good thing Helen Collins was paying attention all those years flying around in small planes with her husband. On Monday, 2,000 feet above the ground, Helen's husband, John Collins, who was piloting the plane, had a heart attack and lost consciousness.
With her husband slumped over the control, this 80-year-old Wisconsin grandmother did what most of us probably could not. She took control of the twin engine Cessna. Low on fuel and without a pilot's license, Helen began to maneuver toward Cherryland Airport, about 150 miles north of Milwaukee. Her heroic efforts were recorded. One thing she makes clear right away, she needs to land, fast.
HELEN COLLINS (voice-over): You better get me in there pretty soon, I don't know how long I'm going to have gas.
KAYE: If Helen was nervous, she hardly let it show. Friends on the ground at the airport were alerted to the emergency and quickly made contact.
AIR OFFICIAL (voice-over): Hi, Helen. This is Cathy.
COLLINS: Hi, Cathy. It's a hell of a place to be.
AIR OFFICIAL: OK, Helen, um, we're going to launch another aircraft. It will come up and it will fly right next to you and give you instructions.
KAYE: Within seven minutes, pilot Robert Vuksanovic was in the air in another plane. Helen had herself a wing man. Everything he did, she did.
ROBERT VUKSANOVIC, PILOT: She was confident. Now she wanted to know if I was confident in her confidence? And I said, well, if you're confident and I'm confident, I think we're confident. I think we can do this.
KAYE: Despite the fact Helen hadn't had a flying lesson in years, Vuksanovic says she was familiar with some of the switches. But he thought she was coming in too fast and too high. So he had her do some practice runs. But when her wingman asked the airport to close the road, Helen, again, questioned his confidence in her.
PILOT: This is going to be a little bit -- a little bit of a flight lesson, but you'll enjoy it.
COLLINS: What do you mean by close the road?
PILOT: I was talking to the people on the ground, Helen.
COLLINS: Don't you have any faith in me?
PILOT: I do. I don't trust the drivers on the road.
KAYE: The final approach was tricky. An eyewitness caught it all on tape.
PILOT: Turn left. Turn left. Left turn. Left turn. Helen, turn left, bring the nose up. That's it. That's it.
KAYE: Not only was Helen out of fuel, but her right engine was out. Her wingman shouted urgent commands.
PILOT: Nose down. Nose down. Turn right a little bit. Turn right. Right here. Bring the nose down. Nose down. Come on, get down. Get down. Bring the power back. Power back. Power back. Reduce the power, over. Reduce the power. Nose down, over. Helen, do you read me?
COLLINS: I read you.
KAYE: About 45 minutes after this nightmare began, Helen landed best she could.
VUKSANOVIC: She did a great job. The timing was perfect. Came down, landed a little less than three points. Landed on the nose.
KAYE: Her plane bounced hard off the runway and then skidded about 1,000 feet.
PILOT: Power off. Power off. Power off. OK, you're down. Great job, Helen. Great job.
KAYE: Helen escaped with just a few minor injuries. All those years of flying with her husband paid off. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital, but no doubt he would have been proud.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: The Collins' son hopes to repair the plane one day and then fly it as a tribute to his father.
Mitt Romney has the math on his side in the Republican race for the White House. But rival Rick Santorum says that he's been doing some calculations of his own and that he still stands a shot at winning. Our political gut check just moments away.
Plus, Oklahoma police say it is unprecedented. The details on a deadly shooting spree coming your way, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back.
We've been telling you this morning about this bizarre shooting spree in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Three people killed in four shootings. On the line with us now is Jack Henderson (ph). He's a councilman from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Good morning to you, councilman. Can you tell us exactly what's happening there in Tulsa. What do you know?
JACK HENDERSON, TULSA, OKLAHOMA CITY COUNCIL (ON THE PHONE): Well, to this point, all I do know is that there has been three people killed, others have been shot, in four different incidents, like you said. It appears at this time that we have a person, a white individual that has started going around and taking shots at black people.
KAYE: And is this person still on the run as far as you know?
HENDERSON: Absolutely. They have not captured him at this point. There are - I have talked to the mayor as well as the chief of police, and they have assured me that they have officers, many, many officers working on this 24 hours, seven days, they will do it as long as it takes until they bring this person to justice.
KAYE: What can you tell us about the victims? We understand obviously as you said that they are all African American, did they know each other? What age were they?
HENDERSON: No, the ages range from I think in the 50s to younger people which I think 17, 18. I don't know of anyone that was injured that is younger than that. But I do know that allegedly these people are walking -- driving up to people that they see walking and ask them for directions, and when the people give them directions, or tell them they don't know, then as they are walking away, this person opens fire.
KAYE: So the shooter is asking for directions.
HENDERSON: Right.
KAYE: What is the mood there? I would imagine that people there are pretty concerned.
HENDERSON: Oh, absolutely. And we had a press conference last night and we had all the news media there to really alert the citizens that the police department has assured us that they are, like I said before, doing all they can, trying to bring this person and they have had a couple of leads, I don't think they panned out. But they are working and trying to apprehend this person or persons, to this point I don't know if it's more than one.
KAYE: And as I understand there was a meeting at the church last night and NAACP members are certainly saying this could be a hate crime looking at it that way, is that what the mayor and the police are telling you as well?
HENDERSON: Well, I think that they have not said those words specifically, but I do think that they understand that that could be a possibility, you have somebody white that has come into a community and taken shots and killing black people, to me that would indicate that we have some kind of racial problem.
KAYE: Is there a better description of this person at all? I mean is it a male, female? How old?
HENDERSON: Male.
KAYE: A male shooter. Any idea what the age is?
HENDERSON: White male, at that time he was driving a white pick-up truck. It had a tail pipe hanging. You know, the people that survived naturally gave the information that they have to this point. And I'm sure that the police department may have other evidence at this time, but I have been in touch with them on numerous occasions. They are calling me and keeping me informed when they get leads but -
KAYE: And of the four locations where the shootings took place, anything specific about those? I mean where were they? HENDERSON: No, they are all in the North Tulsa area which is predominantly Afro-American community. And you know, that, too, would lead to the belief this was a hate crime because that particular area, the target area and they went at four different locations in that area and these locations are within a five mile radius of each other.
KAYE: So as a councilman there, what is your advice to community members?
HENDERSON: Well, that is my whole meeting last night, what we were trying to do was to assure the citizens that we don't need anybody to go and take matters in their own hands. We want to give the police department an opportunity and to support them in trying to apprehend this person. We need to cooperate with the police. I know there are pockets of people that have not traditionally done that, but this is a crisis situation, a lot of people are afraid for their lives, afraid for their children, afraid for their loved ones, and if you can't walk outside or walk down the street in the city that you live in, then that is definitely a problem. So we need to see this person apprehended, apprehended expeditiously and we need to help all we can to try to make that happen.
KAYE: Absolutely. Councilman Jack Henderson, if you do get more information throughout the morning, please be sure to check back in with us, appreciate your time.
HENDERSON: I certainly will, you have a blessed day.
KAYE: You too.
Getting a check now of some of your top stories.
Sad news to report from the art world, beloved painter Thomas Kincade has died. In a statement, Kincade's family said he died of natural causes in his California home and that they are "shocked and saddened by the artist's passing." More details will be released in the coming days. Kinkade was 54.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is flying back to Cuba tonight to continue his cancer treatment just two days after returning home. The 57-year-old says he'll meet with the cabinet before he leaves today. Neither Chavez nor his government are giving details about the cancer that he's battling.
Time now for something we like to call your political gut check where we take you beyond the speeches, where we break down what is really going on in politics. It seems that most GOP leaders and Mitt Romney believe that he's pretty much all but secured the Republican nomination, and here's why.
Take a look. Of the 36 primaries and caucuses Romney has won 23, Rick Santorum 11, Romney has a total of 659 delegates to date, Santorum has less than half that, 275. The magic number, of course, you heard it before, 1,144. That is what it will take to win the nomination. So whether you're a gambler or not, it's easy to see that the odds aren't exactly in Santorum's favor. Yet he says he's not going anywhere. So what does Santorum gain by staying in? I asked our political director, Mark Preston.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: The fact of the matter is this is probably the closest that he is ever going to be to getting the Republican nomination. And the reason I say that is if Mitt Romney becomes the nominee and he loses to Barack Obama, who is the next cast of characters that could potentially be the Republican nominee in 2016? Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, some of the, you know, up and coming superstars, that would make it hard for Rick Santorum to decide to get out of the race now. This might be his only shot.
KAYE: His team, Santorum's team is talking a lot about - what I guess, I would call fuzzy math. They say that the numbers that people are reporting in terms of the delegate. The delegate math isn't adding up.
PRESTON: Yes, you know, they're trying to put a spin on the numbers to make it more advantageous to themselves. This is a very complicated process on how they actually elect delegates from each state to the national convention. The bottom line is though by CNN's account, which is really the gold standard of where we are in the delegates, is the fact that Mitt Romney only needs 44 percent of the remaining delegates to become the nominee. Rick Santorum needs about 80 percent of the remaining delegates. So really if you're a gambler, who are you betting on?
KAYE: Yes, but meanwhile his team and Rick Santorum himself is saying "we're just at the halfway point. Don't count me out yet." So does he expect the gains later on?
PRESTON: Well, he does. So his big strategy right now is to get through the month of April say for Pennsylvania. But to get through the month of April because once he gets to May, there are some states that he thinks he is going to do better in. States such as Arkansas, or Indiana or Texas, states that tend to be a little bit more conservative, states that have the same kind of voter profile where he has done well so far. The problem with that is though is that even if he were to win those states, those delegates are going to be divided up proportionally. They are not winner take all. So how to you get to the 80 percent?
KAYE: So when you look at Pennsylvania, I mean, he's a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, is this is a make or break state for him?
PRESTON: Sure, this is something that you're going to hear in the next couple of weeks. Will Rick Santorum, if the polls continue to show that he is really in trouble in Pennsylvania, will he decide to get out before the Pennsylvania primary so as not to lose his home state, that will become a major talking point. But let's get through Easter, after that, that is what people will be talking about. If he loses Pennsylvania how can he stay in the race at that point?
KAYE: Yes. Meanwhile, he had a pretty big meeting, some secret talks with conservative leaders this week. Do we know what that was about? PRESTON: Yes, you know, it was the message, what are they going to do, how can they recapture the momentum that Rick Santorum has been able to pick up in spurts so far? You know, the big question for Rick Santorum is not can he get the delegates to get to the convention but how do you deny Mitt Romney the delegates to get to the convention and if he is successful in doing that, his conservative leaders and Rick Santorum think that they could have a convention fight and at that point they could potentially win the Republican presidential nomination. Look, could it happen? Anything could happen in life. That is really, really difficult.
KAYE: So they want a floor fight.
PRESTON: That is the way that Rick Santorum becomes the nominee at this point.
KAYE: All right. Mark, thank you. Nice to see you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And you can read more from Mark Preston every day at cnn.com/gutcheck.
The smallest town in America has been sold in an auction. How much do you think it actually went for? 90,000, 900,000, nine million, 90 million perhaps? I'll tell you next.
You're watching "Weekend Early Start" where the news doesn't take the weekend off.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back, everyone. Time for a little R&R.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Bring it.
KAYE: Yes, bring it. Are you ready?
WOLF: I'm ready to go.
KAYE: We look at our favorite stories of the morning. So let's start - you heard about this town, Buford, Wyoming.
WOLF: Yes, not a huge place.
KAYE: Not a big place. Actually population, one. Well, it was up for bid this week. The minimum to start things off was 100,000, which wouldn't even buy a townhouse (INAUDIBLE) in many areas. But a mysterious businessman from Vietnam actually won with a bid of almost a million dollars, $900,000 at auction.
WOLF: What makes a town? Do you have to have the post office, is that basically the main thing?
KAYE: That is good question. This place apparently has a gas station, a three bedroom house and a few small outbuildings. WOLF: My gosh, if you're the only resident in that town, you're jumping around a lot of things, aren't you?
KAYE: Yes, well, apparently he started crying. He shed a tear - one resident shed a tear when the town was sold.
WOLF: Unbelievable.
KAYE: How about this? All right. You know, it's Easter tomorrow. The "Washington Post" asked its readers some who are very talented, but have I guess maybe too much time on their hands, to take a look and make some peep dioramas. The Peeps, you know, an annual contest. You see them there. It's a peepshow of sorts.
WOLF: OK. That's where you're going.
KAYE: All right. But look at this thing. They have movie scenes from the "The Hunger Games," or Hunger Peeps, "Titanic 3D," and here we are this is in the situation room. So they have political dioramas as well. The Peeps situation room, isn't that hilarious.
WOLF: That is bizarre. My gosh.
KAYE: But my favorite, my favorite though is the Peep-publicans, the GOP Republicans which is actually pretty funny as well.
WOLF: It's disturbing. I mean the whole thing is a little bit bizarre. And delicious. I mean what is not to love.
KAYE: I know, it makes me want to eat one of those.
WOLF: Very much so.
KAYE: All right. We'll have some more of that later.
WOLF: OK.
KAYE: I'll get you some peeps. I promise.
All right. You also have an interesting look at one of the most deployed airmen in the military, but they are not who we normally think of, right?
WOLF: That's right. We're (INAUDIBLE) about the two legged variety but the four legged variety, it's all moments away. Sit tight.
KAYE: And also inside the Saints locker room as one coach instructs players how to hurt the opposition. We've got the tape, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Bombshell audio tapes from inside the New Orleans Saints' locker room. These tapes give us disturbing details of just how the Saints' so called bounty program worked. It was recorded by a documentary film maker who says the voice is former Saints' assistant coach Gregg Williams. In it, Williams names specific players and tells his team to target their known injuries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGG WILLIAMS, FMR. NEW ORLEANS SAINT'S DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: We need to decide how many times we can bull rush and we can (INAUDIBLE) Vernon Davis' ankle (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: All right. That is just a small part. On multiple occasions Williams encourages his players to aim for players' heads. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Kill the head and body. We need to find out in the first two series of the game, the little wide receiver, number 10, about his concussion. We need to (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of this recording. The portion released is an edited version of what was a 12-minute speech.
Here with me now is former NFL linebacker Coy Wire. He played under Williams with the Buffalo Bills. So some of what - good morning to you.
COY WIRE, FMR. NFL LINEBACKER: Good morning.
KAYE: Some people might say that you know, that is another pre-game rally speech. But when you are talking about $1500 on the table. There is some incentive here , what do you make of it?
WIRE: Well, the audio is a glaring example of what used to exist in the NFL. And I say used to because it has no place any longer in the game. That sort of jargon or vernacular that you just heard is common place in locker rooms all across the country, from the time a player puts on the helmet they are told by their coach, go hit that player as hard as you can, rip their heart out and eat it. You hear those sort of things. And vernacular to inspire players is OK. But there is a difference between inspiring to hit and play hard, and inspiring to injure. Money was involved, a line was crossed.
KAYE: So it sounds like more than a pep talk to you.
WIRE: Yes, the line was crossed. Absolutely. There is no place in the game all that we know now with brain trauma, the long term adverse effects of playing football. There is a decreased life span by 20 years for the average football player than that of the average American. So we know that change is necessary and not the change now would be destructive.
KAYE: Let's listen to another clip and I want to get your reaction to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: We need to find out in the first two series of the game, the little wide receiver, number 10, about his condition. (INAUDIBLE) right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So in that clip he's talking about 49ers receiver, Michael Crabtree, taking out his ACL, that is a career-ending injury.
WIRE: Absolutely.
KAYE: How does that sit with you?
WIRE: Well, football is a game, is in a state of evolution right now. The rules are evolving, athletes are evolving. They are getting bigger, faster, stronger. They are hitting harder. The physics of the game are evolving, and the way the game is approached and the rules that pertains to the game must evolve also to compensate for those changes because if not, then someone is going to die.
KAYE: With these tapes being made public, what does this mean for the NFL?
WIRE: I think that this is going to be one of the best things that ever happened for the sport. It's making us cognizant of something that has existed in the game that maybe at some point will be looked upon as being the old barbaric ways. We need to change, move in a positive direction. Again what we know with head traumas, concussions, that sort of attitude, mentality, that malicious intent just cannot be in the game anymore. We can still play the game with good old fashioned sportsmanship and respect for fellow man, just follow the rules and play the game hard.
KAYE: Coy, nice to have you here.
WIRE: Thank you.
KAYE: When I say airmen you think of the men and women serving in the air force, right? But you may have to rethink that image because take a look, these airmen, yes, you heard me right, airmen, are among the most deployed in the military. We'll explain in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. We're about to show you a story that may redefine how you see at airmen. You were lucky enough to hook up to some of the - some airmen not of the two-legged kind, I should say.
WOLF: Absolutely. A little bit different, a little bit unique, (INAUDIBLE) Robbins Air Force base and got to meet some amazing soldiers with a couple of CNN folks. My good friend (INAUDIBLE) our producer and photojournalist (INAUDIBLE). What we found was pretty incredible.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WOLF (voice-over): Robbins Air Force base in Georgia is home to some 7,000 airmen. Six of them are among the most deployed and most vital in the military.
(INAUDIBLE) a five-year-old German Shepherd. Yes, he's a dog, but he's also considered an airmen.
STAFF SERGEANT ROCKY FOREMAN, U.S. AIR FORCE: They're not people, obviously, but you know, they are our partners, that is how we look at them.
WOLF: Staff Sergeant Rocky Foreman is (INAUDIBLE) handler.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
WOLF: He says there is a lot more to his job than just holding a leash.
(on camera): What is his specific role?
FOREMAN: He can find certain type of explosive or narcotics. He is also a patrol certified dog. That means he can do the bite work, escort, the detention and apprehension of suspects.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your dog. Get it, boy. Get him! Get your dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your dog of me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out!
FOREMAN: They can save lives like soldiers and airmen can. They can stop the whole line of patrol even before you get to a detonation or hazardous area due to their detection scents. That is when you (INAUDIBLE) everything and (INAUDIBLE) whoever is with you, that is how many lives you saved because of his nose.
WOLF (voice-over): It's estimated that these dogs save an average of 150 lives each.
LT. COL. TOM MOREA, COMMANDER, 78TH SECURITY FORCES SQUADRON: The dogs don't know that they are being heroes, they are just doing what they think is right between the relationship that they have with their handler and themselves.
WOLF: That partnership is critical to their success.
MOREA: It's extremely important we find the right handler with the right dog. The better relationship, the better the detection capability, the better the capability they are going to be having when they are going out there and doing any kind of mission.
WOLF (on camera): How do they decompress? How do they separate themselves from a very frightening situation? MOREA: They have some down time where they can go relax and it might be just that handler having time with the dog. Petting it, playing with it a bit more and then they go out and do the mission again. It becomes routine, and it becomes something that the dog looks forward to.
WOLF (voice-over): Staff Sergeant Foreman is relying on that relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out, sit. Stay.
WOLF: The two will head overseas in a matter of weeks.
(on camera): Do you feel confident when you're deployed having this guy with you?
FOREMAN: I'm completely confident with him by my side overseas. We're good to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Amazing stuff to see them. Just very, very cool, and certainly an amazing thing to see these airmen. You know, part of the air force I referred to them as soldiers, big mistake, airmen (INAUDIBLE).
KAYE: And you actually have an airmen in the family.
WOLF: You see that is where it gets crazy. Again, my grandfather actually in World War II helped the canine corps, they were referred to as soldiers. Here's a great picture of my (INAUDIBLE). And at the time, it was actually part of the Army now, the air force has this program itself and they have certainly done an amazing job. Just outstanding to see the team work between the handler and these amazing dogs.
KAYE: And you don't miss the bond between the two of them, you know, it's really something special.
WOLF: Truly impressive. It's breath taking. It's an amazing thing to see the team work they have and a lot of times they try to match dogs with some of the handlers. Actually adoptions do take place. So it's pretty cool.
KAYE: You might need to get one.
WOLF: Maybe so. We'll see.
KAYE: Bring him home to the Wolf household.
WOLF: Absolutely.
KAYE: All right. Thanks Reynolds.
Just ahead, it's 7:00, the coolest way to beat traffic, a flying car. Yes and guess what? It's street legal. Don't go anywhere.
Plus -
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. A new study out this week suggests this country's obesity problem is even worse than we thought. How to break your addiction to food, lose weight and also keep it off really, coming up at 7:30 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
