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CNN Saturday Morning News
Beginning Of Military Tribunal For 9/11 Planner; Obama Begins Reelection Campaign; Supermoon To Occur This Evening; More Details On Secret Service Scandal In Colombia; North Carolina Definition Of Marriage; Free Ivy League Education Online; Smart Phone App Measures "Beauty"; Super Moon; "A Hero for Wondla"; Kentucky Derby Race Today
Aired May 05, 2012 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): From the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has to be the death penalty.
KAYE: Families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks arrived in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as the alleged mastermind behind the notorious day of terror is arraigned. We'll take you there.
Plus President Obama officially kicks off his campaign today in Ohio. We'll take you there live.
Also a Colombian prostitute speaks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're a bunch of fools. They're responsible for Obama's security and they still let this happen.
KAYE: Her story about what really happened the night she met U.S. Secret Service agents.
Do you know how ugly you are? A new app does. We'll talk to the creator and explain why bullying activists are so worried about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 8:00. Thanks for waking up with us. Let's get you caught up on some news.
We start today with the court appearance that we'll all be watching. The man accused of planning the 9/11 attacks will be charged during a military tribunal. Khalik Sheik Mohammed and four other alleged terrorists are being arraigned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Mohammed is the admitted mastermind of 9/11, blamed for planning the attack that killed nearly 3,000 people. It will be a rare look at the man now dubbed KSM. After Osama bin Laden's death, he's probably the most notorious terrorist alive in the world.
Our Pentagon correspondent, Chris Lawrence, is in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for us this morning. Chris, attorneys are saying that today really could shape up to be a legal circus. Why is that?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, nobody knows what Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the other defendants are going to say. In past court appearances, KSM has boasted of planning the attacks on September 11th, taking credit for it, having a swagger, as one family member described it.
So no one knows how this is going to play out except Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and those other defendants. It really depends on what they say. They could plead guilty and then they would move towards more of a sentencing type phase or they could plead not guilty and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed could stay on that soap box and have more opportunity to bash the United States.
KAYE: Chris, I want to ask you about what may happen actually in court today. Is there a chance that this could get delayed even again?
LAWRENCE: It is, because, Randi, some of the defense is going to bring some motions objecting to some of the conditions here at Guantanamo Bay, including they allege that the government has been opening, reading some of the correspondence, the written letters between these defendants and their attorneys, which they say violates attorney/client privilege. It really is a question of what happens with those motions.
But I spoke with some of the family members last night who had journeyed here. They are all here right now. Some of them are very emotional about the length of time this has taken. You know, this was arraigned, looked like it was going to be over and then the rules had to be rewritten. It got referred to Federal court in New York and then brought back here. They say there is only one outcome that would be satisfactory to them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has to be the death penalty. It doesn't have to be an ugly death. You can select what you wish off the menu. But they have experts that deal with that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think prison drags it out. And it costs us government money. And it just -- it lingers in the back of your head that these people are still alive. I mean they're not glorious, but it would bring closure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: And that is something that a lot of the families are looking for here. They say they are not afraid to look KSM in the eye. They want to see him and they want to at least get started on the road to closure.
KAYE: And Chris, in terms of the defense, isn't it going to be tough, considering that some of them have already admitted plotting the attacks?
LAWRENCE: Indeed, but because these charges were referred as they say without prejudice, pretty much all of that is sort of in the past. These defendants could come in and please not guilty if they want to drag this out.
The defense attorneys obviously have a vested interest in keeping KSM and the other defendants from going off on some rant which could alienate the 12 military officers who are going to decide their fate, but ultimately how much actual control they have over their clients, that remains really to be seen.
KAYE: Chris Lawrence for us at Guantanamo Bay. Chris, thank you very much.
A blind Chinese activist who appealed to President Obama and Congress for help may end up coming to the U.S. In a dramatic turn-around, the Chinese government now says that Chen Guangcheng can apply for a travel visa. He's under guard at a hospital in Beijing after leaving the U.S. embassy where he had sought refuge from house arrest.
President Obama officially kicks of his re-election campaign today in the battleground state of Ohio. The president has stopped in Ohio 20 times since taking office. Mitt Romney has been there twice in just the last month.
CNN's political editor, Paul Steinhauser is there for us right now.
Paul, I know you haven't been there 20 times, but it's nice to have you there for us this morning. Any indication of who the voters in Ohio are supporting?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Ohio is such an important state, Mitt Romney coming back here again early next week on Monday, the president here today.
All right, Randi, take a look at this. This is the latest polling in Ohio. Quinnipiac University just came out the other day and you can pretty much see it's dead even here, a two-point margin for the president but that's within the sampling error. It's all tied up here in Ohio.
That's why you're going to see Mitt Romney. That's why you're going to see President Obama here over and over between now and election day, which is just six months away now or six months to go either way you want to look at it.
Randi, hovering all over this is the economy and that jobs report that came out yesterday. You saw the unemployment level inching down from 8.2 to 8.1 percent. Not as many new jobs created as expected and that's why you're seeing both of these gentlemen talking so much about the economy.
Listen, it's obvious, Mitt Romney is trying to make this election a referendum on President Obama and the job he is doing on creating jobs. It is as simple as that, Randi. KAYE: And how do you think the president is going to try and frame the jobs report today there?
STEINHAUSER: Well, you heard him yesterday, the president commenting yesterday late morning about the jobs report. Again, he talked about trying to recover from the worst economic recession since the great depression.
So the idea here is that when he came into office, he's trying to make the point that things were really bad and he's trying to fix it. He also touted the number of jobs created and he talked about not going back to the philosophy, the strategies, the policies of the Republicans, which he says got us in this mess in the first place and he says Mitt Romney would do that. So you're going to see both of these gentlemen battling about the economy between now and election day. Here in Ohio the unemployment rate is actually a little bit lower than the national average, 7.5 percent here, 8.1 percent nationally of course Randi.
KAYE: Do you expect that he'll have the same message, because the Obamas are heading to Virginia today as well?
STEINHAUSER: Yeah in Virginia as well the unemployment level is slightly below the national average. Behind me here to the right, that's the (INAUDIBLE) center, Five hours from now that is where the president is going to be having his rally. Of course behind me you notice the CNN Election Express. You're going to see a lot of that between now and November, Randi.
KAYE: One day, Paul, I really hope that you invite me on that bus. I've never been on it in all these years.
STEINHAUSER: Come on board, come on board.
KAYE: All right, will do. Paul Steinhauser, nice to see you. Thank you.
Planned Parenthood says it will consider a legal challenge to a new Arizona law that cuts off state funds for the organization. The law signed yesterday by Governor Jan Brewer prevents taxpayer money for being used for non-abortion services, even though Arizona already bans the use of public money for abortions except for certain situations. Supporters say the broader ban is needed to make sure no public money indirectly supports abortions.
A former adviser to John Edwards says he warned him to stay away from Rielle Hunter but the aide says Edwards told him that he, quote, didn't need a baby-sitter. It was the latest twist in the case which centers on whether Edwards used campaign cash to cover up an extramarital affair and then lied about it.
Before you go to sleep tonight, make sure you get a look at the moon or the supermoon that is. There's really no way to miss it, it's huge. The moon may appear up to 14 percent larger and nearly a third brighter than any other full moon this year. For the best views, NASA says look on the horizon right after sunset. Reynolds, when is actually the best time to see this so-called supermoon?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It really is interesting. It should be directly overhead for each time zone when you get to 11:30, but I think NASA is right.
When it gets up over the horizon it's actually going to appear bigger because the horizon, you have more water vapor. You have a lot of dust. It gives it a neater effect if you will. Look at this one from March of just last year. You can see a little bit of volcanic dust gave it that reddish hue, just beautiful.
Coming up we're going to give you a specific forecast of where the best spots around the nation will be to view this incredible phenomenon. That's coming up in a few moments.
KAYE: My view is going to be at my pillow I think at that hour.
WOLF: Exactly.
KAYE: All right Reynolds, thank you.
She is the woman at the center of the scandal that's humiliated the Secret Service. Now in her own words, hear her explain what really happened that night.
Plus, there is a fight going on in North Carolina over an amendment that would strictly define marriage in that state. Time is running out for voters. The showdown sure is getting ugly. We're talking with a man at the center of the debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Secret Service agents buying and drinking alcohol like it was water, acting crazy, dancing on bar tops and leaving sensitive files open in hotel rooms. That's what a now former escort is saying about the Colombian prostitution scandal that's implicated two dozen members of the Secret Service and the military.
Dania Suarez gave her side of the story to a Colombian radio station. She offered a laundry list of accusations aimed at those agents and I talked with it with Drew Griffin of CNN's special investigations unit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The woman did not know that these guys were Secret Service agents. Otherwise she says she wouldn't have turned them into police.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was an amazing moment in this very casual interview, I should say, Randi, because the Secret Service was really intent on making sure that the prostitutes, the girls or whatever, did not know they were Secret Service agents. So that would mean that the president's security was never threatened.
But she says this probably would have never happened had she known that. It started out as a very casual kind of party in a bar it sounds like, some outlandish behavior, a lot of drinking, a lot of fun. One of her friends even attracted to one of these Secret Service agents, whom again she said she had no idea who they were.
KAYE: And she says these guys were dancing on the bar and drinking a lot of vodka and pulling up their shirts and then a friend introduced them?
GRIFFIN: That's right. I mean it sounded like your typical rowdy, raucous pick-up scene. And that's where she says it led.
DANIA SUAREZ, ALLEGED ESCORT (via translator): My friends nor I, we didn't know they were agents, you know, Obama's agents and then we left and we went to this place to buy condoms and then we went to the hotel.
Who went? Well, my friend -- well, she's not really a friend, she's an acquaintance and the agent who was with me and the other one, the four of us.
And then my friend went with him because she liked him. No, I don't understand because she liked him. It wasn't the same thing I was doing.
GRIFFIN: And what she says she was doing she admits was trying to get payment for, quote unquote, escort services. She says she and the agent she was paired with had an agreement, an $800 gift if she spent the night in that hotel room and she did. She went in at 1:30 to 6:30. She won't say what happened, but she will say what happened after it ended.
KAYE: So what happened the next morning? Because the hotel called and said that she had to go.
GRIFFIN: That's right. And she wakes up the agent, whom she's just a friend, right, and says it's time to pay me. Take a listen to what she says happened next.
SUAREZ: I told him to wake up and give me my gift that I asked him for and he says no. Just go [ bleep ], I'm not going to pay you and then he just 50,000 pesos for the taxi. I was like -- I was in shock in that moment when he just said that.
GRIFFIN: 50,000 pesos is about 30 bucks. She was not going to leave with $30 after being promised $800. She spent the next three hours getting the Colombian police, getting other agents to pool their resources, eventually leaves with $250, not knowing until the next day this was all, quote unquote, Obama's agents.
KAYE: Wow. And that's money other agents pooled together.
GRIFFIN: That's right. This guy would not open his door.
KAYE: Wow. So now she's saying that selling her body is not something she's going to do anymore, according to this interview, but she's not opposed, I guess, to posing in men's magazines? GRIFFIN: Not opposed. It's been rumored that there might be some deals in the works. She wouldn't release any of those details, but I mean, let's face it, it's been two weeks since her claim to fame. She's probably still figuring out where she's going to go with this.
KAYE: Drew Griffin, thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Our thanks to Drew Griffin, incredible revelations in that Secret Service scandal.
So how do you do define marriage? That is the question being asked of voters in North Carolina and it is creating a firestorm. We wade into the debate next.
And an Ivy League education costs big bucks, but now there's a way you can take the classes without having to dole out all that cash. Mario Armstrong joins us to tell us how.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Good morning, Washington. It's about 17 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
In just three days, North Carolina voters will be making a big decision at the polls, the decision to change their state's constitution with Amendment 1. So what is Amendment 1? It's a measure that will define marriage as only between a man and a woman, something several other states have done.
But this amendment goes a step further. Not only would it ban same-sex marriage, which is already illegal in North Carolina, it would also invalidate civil unions and domestic partnerships between unmarried heterosexual couples too.
As you can imagine, the measure raises all kinds of legal questions and is causing a heap of controversy. Both sides are spending millions to convince voters. Recent polling has the amendment passing right now with a 54-40 margin.
This morning we are focusing on Amendment 1 talking with supporters and opponents. Everyone gets a voice. Joining me now, a leading voice against the amendment, Reverend William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP.
Reverend, good morning to you. Thank you for being here.
REV. WILLIAM BARBER, NAACP: Good morning.
KAYE: What concerns you most about Amendment 1? What is your fear if this amendment does pass Tuesday?
BARBER: First of all, the NAACP and our peoples' coalition of more than 125 organizations, how people feel about same-sex marriage religiously or personally is a matter of their conscience. But the real question here is do we want to support codifying and voting on placing discrimination and hate and division in our Constitution.
Do we want to follow groups like the Family Research Council that have been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Organization for Marriage who have said clearly in their own document that the goal of these type is not so much about marriage but about splitting Democratic party constituencies.
Do we want to follow those who have fought us in every area on voting rights, civil rights. They cut public education by $1.6 billion. They tried to pass a voter ID law. They tried to repeal the racial justice act. They have given money to the wealthy rather than deal with the fact we got 1.6 million people in poverty in North Carolina. And now they want to ask us to codify discrimination in our constitution, to literally put up for a public vote peoples' constitutional rights to try to get a state constitution to trump the Federal constitution and the 14th amendment, equal protection under the law. This is a very dangerous precedent --
KAYE: Reverend, let me just jump in here for a second because last hour I spoke to Representative Paul Stam and I want you to hear what he told me about Melissa, a woman in a lesbian relationship of 10 years who will lose her and her daughter's health insurance if the amendment is passed because her wife is working for the government. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL STAM, NC HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: The vast majority of governmental insurance would not cover her child anyway and those handful of cities and counties that have it of that nature, if they reformat it so that they want to cover the unmarried household members and all the children, they could do that if they want to. Now, that would be very poor insurance policy, but it would be legal if they want to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So he's talking about reformatting their status. I guess you can call them roommates instead of wives. What is your take on this?
BARBER: Well, the problem is, first of all, you have to know the source. Again, this is an ultra conservative Tea Party-type ideology trying to split the community. This is bad law. They didn't allow any of the family lawyers across this state and every one of them at every law school said this is bad law because it will hurt even heterosexual families because it does not recognize any other domestic union. It will hurt children. It will hurt those that need protection in domestic violence issues. It's bad law. There was no public comment on those laws.
Then when you check somebody like the senator you just mentioned, look at the rest of the record. He stood against us on voting rights. He stood against us on dealing with disparities in the criminal justice system. He tried to repeal the racial justice act. This is nothing more than ultra conservative regressive Tea Party-type ideology trying to split the community and it's bad, particularly in the south where we talk about a state's rights agenda to trump the equal protection clause.
KAYE: Let me ask you very quickly, because the NAACP doesn't take a stance on same-sex marriage. I'm curious why that is and maybe in light of issues like these coming up on the ballot, might the NAACP reconsider?
BARBER: No, that's really actually the wrong question. We believe that is a matter of religion, a matter of conviction, a matter of conscience. This is a matter of constitution. And since the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the constitution, we have never narrowed constitutional rights, we've always expanded them. When we did write narrow things into the constitution, it cost us 250 years of slavery and 100 years of Jim Crow. We originally wrote women out of the constitution. We wrote poor white people out of the constitution. The general assembly is not the council of Nicea.
The reality is we should never seek -- however we feel about same-sex marriage, we should never seek to codify discrimination, hate and division into the constitution. On those grounds when you ask people that question, when you let them know who's behind this, what it will do, we find the polling is much different. People can be against same- sex marriage personally and religiously, they have a right to do that, but they also find themselves standing against this amendment because they understand that that is fundamentally contrary to the American way, contrary to our constitutional value to vote on peoples' rights, to put peoples' constitutional rights up for a public vote. That's the debate we should have. We're not voting on how you feel religiously or otherwise about same-sex marriage, we are voting on the constitution.
KAYE: Reverend William Barber, thank you very much for your time. Appreciate that.
BARBER: Thank you so much. God bless you.
KAYE: Still ahead, want a free Ivy League education? I'll tell you how to get one, seriously.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Happy cinco de Mayo, everybody. The festivities getting under way a little early in Washington, DC, on the national mall there with some food, some dancing and some arts and crafts. Of course it all goes back to this day in 1862. That's when the Mexican army defeated their French rivals in the battle of the (INAUDIBLE) during the Franco-Mexican war.
It is starting to look like an Ivy League free for all. Top colleges, we're talking Harvard, Stanford, Princeton and MIT are offering free, yes, free online courses if you can get your hands on a computer.
Mario Armstrong, HLN's digital lifestyle expert, joining me now from Baltimore to talk about this.
MARIO ARMSTRONG, CNN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: Hey, good morning.
KAYE: This got our attention but it sounds a little too good to be true. Is it for real, seriously?
ARMSTRONG: It is for real. This is serious. The bottom line is education in America needs to change. It needs to be more accessible to people that cannot necessarily afford it or get to it. Now, what you get with these universities, there's two different kinds of programs going on. One is called Ed-X which is a combination of Harvard and MIT.
The other combination is really with several schools, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Princeton and that's going through a program called Corsera. Both of these programs at the end of the day Randi don't give you a degree, but they do give you a certificate and you can't get credit but you can actually achieve mastery of a specific skill. So this is a big deal. I talked to a lot of people who are laid off, looking for work, ready to change careers and this is a way for them to access the education necessary to do so.
KAYE: So can anyone take these classes? As long as you have a computer, you can do it?
ARMSTRONG: That's the case, as long as you can get online. Whether that's at home or whether that's at a public library, as long as you can get online because you can do this at your own pace, on your own time. You learn incrementally. They imbed video lectures into this, interactive embedded quizzes into it. It's really the best form to me, interactive learning is really a great form, not necessarily just online but interactive learning is great learning and anyone can take it. So if you have a young student that really wants to achieve mastery in building circuits, you can take that MIT class.
KAYE: And you get a certificate, as you said, not a degree.
ARMSTRONG: That's right. But hey, if you can make it through the process, it's still not easy. These are still college-level courses. They haven't dumbed down the material, so it's still going to be credible or at least some value to be able to have this type of certificate. So I hope that what you'll see, is you'll start seeing these things on resumes. You might start seeing these things on peoples' Linkedin pages, things like that where they can prove what their expertise and background and education is.
KAYE: Got it. That's pretty cool, but listen, before I let you go this morning, your iPad can now help you study like a good college student as well but it can also, from what I understand, help you drink like one?
ARMSTRONG: Yes, it can.
KAYE: Maybe a few too many times last night?
ARMSTRONG: Here's the deal. I wouldn't recommend this for just any use of this is Ipad charger. But if you have any extra iPad chargers laying around and you happen to have a good old sombrero around the house for cinco de Mayo, you might just find people using this to open a bottle of beer and it will actually open, there you go. KAYE: Should we call it cinco de Mario then instead of cinco de Mayo?
ARMSTRONG: Cinco de Mario, tech style.
KAYE: Very, very cool, I love the hat, Mario. It's you, it's all you.
ARMSTRONG: Thank you Randi, have a great one.
KAYE: You too.
ARMSTRONG: Take care.
KAYE: And of course, join us every Saturday at this time as Mario Armstrong, not always holding a beer and wearing a sombrero, gives us the scoop on the latest technology.
Hot or not? Just check the ugly app. What is an ugly app? We'll explain. And wait until you see how it works.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. I'm Randi Kaye. Thanks for starting your day with us.
When your friends won't tell you the truth, the ugly meter will. That is the motto of one of the newest Smartphone apps that has become an unlikely best seller. Using a picture of your face the ugly meter rates your attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 100, one being the ugliest, 100 being the most attractive.
If you don't make a perfect score, it will tell you why. Like this one. Your longer face is less attractive. Your eyes are slightly too far apart. The app creators the company Dapper Gentlemen say it started as a joke but not everyone is laughing about it.
Jo Overline is one of the app's creators. Good morning to you.
JO OVERLINE, CREATOR, UGLY METER PRO: Hi, how are you doing?
KAYE: So you say that -- I want you to explain how this works because you actually say that there's real science behind this.
OVERLINE: Yes, Ugly Meter Pro uses facial recognition technology to actually scan your face and takes 100 points of measurement and measures different ratios and symmetry to give you a beauty rating.
KAYE: That does sound like science.
OVERLINE: Yes, it is.
KAYE: Let's look at some of the celebrities the app has rated.
OVERLINE: Sure.
KAYE: Take a look at these with me. We have Mitt Romney, he got a what, a 66, I believe. Barack Obama got a 74. Oprah got a 42. And Brad Pitt got a 91. That's pretty impressive. Beyonce got a 92, even more impressive. I'm curious, have you ever scanned yourself and what was your rating?
OVERLINE: Yes, I unfortunately come in at about a 32. So --
KAYE: 32?
OVERLINE: And I can't argue with my own app, so --
KAYE: You do expect the Ugly Meter to make a million dollars in sales, right? Just this month? Is that correct?
OVERLINE: If we keep on track, we should hit it this month.
KAYE: Why do you think it's been so successful?
OVERLINE: Well, vanity is something everybody has, everyone's is interested in. And when people get up in the morning, everybody looks in the mirror and wonders how they look and this gives a true new answer.
KAYE: Were you surprised at all by the success?
OVERLINE: Oh yes, we never expected it to sell. It was just something we did for fun and it took off from there.
KAYE: I know you think it's fun but as we mentioned not everybody thinks that it's a joke and some parenting and bullying experts are actually concerned about it. And here are some feedback I just want to share with you from Parenting.com.
OVERLINE: Sure.
KAYE: They say "What the app developers don't realize is how readily available they've made another tool for bullying. Kids have found countless ways to bully via Facebook and texting but now with this app there is another means at their disposal." What is your response to that?
OVERLINE: Well, you know the app has been out for over two years and there's never been one reported case of bullying. And there's hundreds of bully tools out there that they are -- they're calling, that they call bully tools.
But it's never happened. I think people that are reasonably intelligent understand that apps are for fun and this is an app that's for fun too. It's pretty simple.
KAYE: Well, bullying is something we talk about on the show.
OVERLINE: Yes.
KAYE: And a couple of weeks ago on this show we had a 14-year-old girl who had a picture taken of her at school and friends distorted it and made her look fat and wrote horrible things about her on this fake Facebook page. Does it at all concern you though, that it could be added to one of these bullying tools one day?
OVERLINE: Hey bullies will be bullies. I mean, if they don't use this, they'll use something else so I don't believe that -- that any of the responsibility lies with us. It was made to be for fun and we think people take it that way.
KAYE: You're a father yourself, right?
OVERLINE: Yes, I have a 5-year-old son.
KAYE: So I mean, is there any when you look at this you don't see any irresponsibility here at all?
OVERLINE: No. I think parents need to take responsibility for their own kids. I take responsibility for my son. If he's a bully or being bullied, that's something I need to deal with as a parent. I don't need to kind to put the blame on apps or violence in movies or video games. I need to be a parent. And the other parents out there should do that too.
KAYE: And to those who say well, this is just another tool, so why give them another tool to do it?
OVERLINE: Well, they can say that about anything. They just -- bullying is a hot topic. They like to find the next thing that they can try to blame bullying on. But it's completely fabricated by the press. There's never been any uses of Ugly Meter bullying.
KAYE: Any plans to develop more?
OVERLINE: Yes, we actually hired on more programmers. We're -- we're doing -- doing a lot of different apps. We -- we make -- we make different things. We make games. We make others -- other stuff too, yes.
KAYE: All right, Jo Overline thank you very much.
OVERLINE: Thanks.
KAYE: I appreciate it.
It is the biggest full moon of the year and it is almost upon us, but what makes this moon so super?
Planning a trip with your family can be time-consuming, especially if you are looking for places to stay that allow pets. CNN producer Jamie Maglietta reports for this week's travel insider.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE MAGLIETTA, CNN PRODUCER: Hi, I'm Jamie Maglietta, a producer at CNN and this is Rambo, our little mini poodle. My husband and I, we live in Atlanta, Georgia and we've been looking for some pet friendly vacations good for Rambo. Our favorite is Hilton Head, South Carolina. Go get them Rambo. If you're looking to book a pet friendly trip, I suggest you search for pet friendly hotels or rentals at BringFido.com. Out of all the Web sites this one is the most reliable. We booked a condo instead of a hotel for a low rate. Just keep in mind that if you bring Fido, it could cost more. Some places require a dog fee. And if you want your pooch on the beach all day, plan your Hilton Head trip before Memorial Day or after Labor Day.
During the summer, your pup can only be on the beach leashed before 10:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m. If you think planning a dog vaca is hard, think again.
Besides hotels, there are also pet friendly restaurants. We found a few in Hilton Head that offer a dog menu. And consider this, if you travel with your pet, you don't have to find someone to watch him and Hilton Head made it easy to enjoy a weekend away as a family.
That's Hilton Head, South Carolina. I'm Jamie Maglietta, CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: It was the song that helped transform three Jewish guys from Brooklyn into the ground-breaking rap group, the Beastie Boys, but today that trio has lost one of its founding members. Adam Yauch who performed under the stage name "MCA" has died after a three-year battle with cancer at the age of 47. The multi-talented Yauch who was also a filmmaker and humanitarian is survived by his wife and his daughter.
And reaction to Yauch's death is pouring in from the music world and beyond. Here is just some of what we found on Twitter.
From rapper Eminem, "I think it's obvious to anyone how big of an influence the Beastie Boys were on me and so many others.
Singer Justin Timberlake says that he is, quote, crushed to hear the news of Adam's Yauch's passing calling Yauch a true pioneer of art.
Even politicians are weighing in, New York Senator Chuck Schumer tweeting, "born and bred in Brooklyn, USA, they call him Adam Yauch but he's MCA. Rip Adam". Schumer added the hash tag beastieboys and nosleeptilbrooklyn" a nod to another of the group's big hit.
Later today, three astronauts will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame joining the ranks of John Glenn and Sally Ride, including Charlie Precourt who was inside Columbia in 1993 when a valve sprung a leak causing a dangerous engine shutdown. He survived and will be honored today in NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Joining him will be Dr. Franklin Chang Diaz. He holds the record for flying in the most space missions -- seven -- tied with astronaut Jerry Ross. Diaz has spent more than 1,600 hours in space. General Kevin Chilton was the pilot on space shuttle "Endeavour's" first voyage and has also been a commander. And as for Colonel Precourt, he was a shuttle mission specialist and spacecraft commander. The ceremony starts at 3:00 Eastern Time.
You will want to look into the heavens tonight. The biggest and brightest moon of the year will be on display. But when is the best time of course to get the best citing of this? Reynolds is keeping tabs on the skies for us.
So Reynolds what's the answer, what time should we all head outside?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We need to synchronize our alarms and watches to 11:30. It doesn't matter what time zone you happen to be in, go outside at 11:30. That should be your best time to see it. The problem is though, Randi, although it is going to be bigger and brighter than it is during any other time of the year, in fact 14 percent brighter -- 30 percent brighter, 14 percent bigger is how it's going to appear. The problem is the weather is not going to cooperate for everyone.
Very quickly we can expect relatively clear conditions in parts of the northeast and partly cloudy in the southeast, but for much of the mid- Atlantic, including the Outer Banks it may be very difficult to see. Also in the Northern Plains you're going to be dealing with storms but clear skies out towards the west and for the West Coast.
You may have a little bit of marine layer to deal with but for the most part if the sun -- if the moon rises up over the east, it should be just picture perfect especially in California as it rises over the Sierra Nevada. It's just spectacular.
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: All right, so I know it's going to be super, but officially why do they call it the Super Moon?
WOLF: Well, you know the moon actually takes one pass closer to the earth during its orbit each year that's a little closer than others. Last year it was in March and the pictures we have from them ware spectacular. This year it falls to fall tonight. It's going to be tonight again at 11:30, it should be amazing to see.
And many people say that it has weird effects on the planet. It can enhance tides. It can do all kinds of strange things -- make birds fly backwards, that sort of thing. Even people have tied it into disasters like the Titanic. But I tell you that Titanic's issue didn't have to do with the moon, it had to do with an iceberg, plain and simple.
KAYE: Yes. Yes. Also big and white but --
WOLF: Very much so.
KAYE: But not up in the sky.
WOLF: No down below. If they had kept their eyes on the water as opposed to the sky, things might have turned out a little better for them. KAYE: Exactly.
All right Reynolds. Thank you.
WOLF: You bet.
KAYE: Well, he is likely to be the next J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins or Stephanie Meyer. And if you don't know author, Tony DiTerlizzi him just yet, well, you are going to, especially if you have a teen in your midst. We'll talk to him about the next book in his trilogy, "A Hero for Wondla".
And later, the Kentucky Derby hours away; umbrellas are a banned item, so if the weather doesn't hold, well, it won't be pretty. But we will take you there live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. There is a new book that you should know about if you know a young adult. Think "The Hobbit", "Twilight" and maybe even a little "Harry Potter", all of it thrown in for good measure. It is called "A Hero for Wondla" and it's coming out next week. It is the second book in a trilogy from best-selling author "Tony DiTerlizzi" who has woven together a fantasy world full of intriguing characters.
Tony, welcome to you.
TONY DITERLIZZI, AUTHOR, "A HERO FOR WONDLA": Thanks for having me Randi. Wow. "The Hobbit" -- well, you compared me to all that. That's good. I'm off to a good start, I like that.
KAYE: It's pretty impressive.
Well, you know, I'm looking at the book. It has a great cover, very impressive. But for those who are just catching up, who is Wondla?
DITERLIZZI: Who is Wondla? What is Wondla? Wondla is -- it focuses on a young girl named Eva Nine. She's 11 years old. And what we find out is that she is living on an alien planet. And she realizes she's the only human alive on this alien planet. So that's what the first book kind of focuses on.
It was inspired by my love for "The Wizard of Oz" -- "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", I love that book; "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Peter Pan and Wendy". I wanted to try to do a 21st version of that.
KAYE: Well, the first one was so successful so I'm sure this one will be as well. But the action takes place in New Attica, an interesting choice for a name -- any relevance there to that?
DITERLIZZI: Well, Attica actually was -- I was thinking of Greek and Roman and the beginning of civilization. And I know a lot of people think of the jail Attica, but I wasn't thinking of that at all. I was thinking of the beginning of civilization so it's kind of this new Rome, this new Greece is what I was more referring to. It's where the humans have begun.
What we find out is that the planet is not an alien planet, but the earth very far into the future where there's really no humans left and aliens have immigrated and taken over. So the humans have this little outpost city that they're trying to get re-established.
KAYE: Where do these ideas come from as I'm listening to you? I mean it's such a great fantasy --
DITERLIZZI: I'm making it up right now as I'm talking to you.
KAYE: Really? How does it all come to you?
DITERLIZZI: You know, Randy, I was the kid that sat in the back of the classroom and while the teacher was talking, I was in the back drawing and coming up with crazy stories and stuff. And you know, I'm very fortunate that both my parents and a lot of my teachers in my life when I was young, really encouraged my imagination and that fostering has allowed me to kind of become, you know, a kids' book guy.
KAYE: Well, it's great. Yes, you wear your imagination.
I want to talk about -- it has a really interesting component, sort of a link to an online bit of a game really.
DITERLIZZI: Yes. We were using a little augmented reality in these books which, if you don't know what that is, it's kind of an application that relies on a web camera on your computer. What you do in the case of the Wondla books, there's certain images -- little symbols in the book. When you hold them up to the web camera, in the first book, a three-dimensional map popped out that you could kind of look at and control --
KAYE: Oh, that's great.
DITERLIZZI: -- and in the second book, the ship there on the front, you'll actually be able to fly the ship in this kind of video game kind of --
KAYE: All just by holding it up to the webcam.
DITERLIZZI: Just by holding the book and steering it. And you know, the folks at Simon and Schuster came up with that and I thought it was a really interesting idea especially if it just gets a kid to pick the book up and read. And I think I'll kind of -- I'll go to any length to kind of do that because I was kind of a reluctant reader I was young.
KAYE: Yes. I know that you're very involved with the Starlight Foundation.
DITERLIZZI: I am.
KAYE: Does some of this go to that? You help them?
DITERLIZZI: Well, I help them in different ways. My wife and I spent some serious time in hospitals when our daughter was younger. And it dawned on me, there's a lot of anxious moments and then there's a lot of waiting and kind of waiting for the doctor to come, waiting for tests to happen and stuff like that. And I thought I'd go on tour, I'd go out and I'd visit with a lot of children in schools and libraries, et cetera.
The kids in hospitals, they don't get that. So the starlight foundation is so fantastic in kind of bringing events like that to schools. They offer video games and all kinds of other things to kind of help distract with pain management and stuff like that.
So I've been doing my book events that I would normally do in a bookstore in a hospital, and it's awesome. It's awesome. I love doing it, they're great people.
KAYE: Well, I know I'm not a teenager, but I'm going to read these since you brought them to me. The first one is "Search for Wondla". The second one -- the new one, "A Hero for Wondla". Thank you very much.
DITERLIZZI: Thanks for having me.
KAYE: Tony DiTerlizzi, great to have you here.
Aside from the horses, they are probably some of the most famous images of the Kentucky Derby -- the hats. This year they may be more functional than fashionable. That is next.
Plus today could mark the path to justice for families of 9/11. The man accused of masterminding the worst attacks on U.S. soil will face a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba today. We'll take you there live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: It is derby day in Louisville, but severe storms could dampen the big day -- Joe Carter joining me now from Louisville. So Joe, the Kentucky Derby has never been cancelled due to weather, but I guess they had to evacuate some folks yesterday?
JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS: Yes. As a matter of fact, Randi, the Kentucky Derby itself, the race has never been delayed or cancelled in 137 years. But yes. Yesterday was the Kentucky Oats Race. It's really the biggest race the day before the Kentucky Derby. And just before that race yesterday there was some pretty severe weather that blew through town. They had to evacuate the infield as well as the grandstands. The race was delayed itself about 45, 50 minutes but the weather blew through.
It rained throughout the night. There was pretty heavy downpours, (inaudible) thunder and lightning. Right now it's sunny skies and it looks like we're going to have pretty good weather throughout the day. The forecasters are saying maybe a little later in the afternoon there's a chance for some severe weather. But the track is pretty wet right now but they have the tractors out grading it up, so we'll see.
137 years they have never cancelled, or delayed or postponed it so the odds are we're going to get this Kentucky Derby off and running on time.
KAYE: All right. Well, that is good news. But I don't want to just talk to you about the horses today. I want to talk to you about the wacky fashions. What have you seen?
CARTER: Hats. It's all about the hats, Randi. That's the fashion. All sorts of hats and from there you work it down.
KAYE: How come you're not wearing one?
CARTER: I know. That's the question that everyone else has been asking. I left my fedora at home, I'm sorry.
But the hats, you'll see both men and women wearing them. The women are trying to express their inner southern belle. I talked to a few folks yesterday. I said what's the deal with the hats, what's the rule? They said there are no rules, there are no limits. Do not hold back, be as creative as possible.
Some spend anywhere from $500 to $10,000 on these hats. There's a lot of traditions that lie within the Kentucky Derby, of course, the hats, the roses, the mint juleps. It's a great day. It's the most exciting two minutes in sports Randi.
So if you have plans this Saturday afternoon, don't worry, the race only lasts two minutes. It should be a good one.
KAYE: It's a whole lot of celebrating for two minutes there. Thank you, Joe. Have a mint julep for me.
CARTER: Thank you.
KAYE: A day of hang gliding turns fatal, and police say this man, the instructor, may have kept key evidence from them. I'll tell you how they say he did it.
Plus drinking alcohol like it was water, dancing the night away at a seedy bar. An escort is spilling bombshell revelations about what Secret Service agents were doing in Colombia. But find out why she says they could have compromised President Obama's security.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Coming up in just 30 minutes, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" with Christine Romans. Christine, what do you have on tap today?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE": Hi Randi.
The key to winning this election, getting you a job; we'll show you the battleground states both candidates need to worry about.
And the Occupy Wall Street movement shows that free speech and protests are alive and well in America, and it's not just limited to Tea Partiers. Lots of people in the 99 percent are now asking themselves six months on, does Occupy Wall Street represent everyday Americans? Or, are they now the 1 percent of the 99? And 10 rules for raising boys right with attorney Lisa Bloom. That's all coming up at 9:30 A.M. Eastern -- Randi. .
