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CNN Saturday Morning News

North Korean Threats and U.S. Missiles; Pope Francis Wants Church to Be Poor; Breaking Down March Madness; Conservatives Craft their Message; Interview with Iowa Congressman Steve King from CPAC; Steubenville Rape Case Trial; Celeb Hacking Claims; Women Need More Sleep than Men

Aired March 16, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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

SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Saturday morning to you. I hope you're having a great one so far. I'm Susan Hendricks in today for Randi Kaye.

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Joe Johns in for Victor Blackwell. It's 8:00 on the East Coast, 5:00 out west. Thanks for starting your day with us.

And we start with threats from North Korea forcing a change in U.S. national security. The Pentagon has now announced a major expansion in missile defense.

HENDRICKS: New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made that announcement on plans to put more interceptor missiles along the west coast.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence has more -- Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Susan, Joe, the Pentagon plans to spend up to $1 billion to beef up its missile defense, but the big question is, will the missiles actually work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): If a nuclear missile is ever fired at the United States, this is the best hope to stop it. Thirty interceptor missiles, which can be launched from ground silos in Alaska and California. Now the Pentagon is deploying up to 14 more.

CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The reason that we're doing what we're doing, and the reason we're advancing our program here for homeland security, is to not take any chances, is to stay ahead of the threat.

LAWRENCE: North Korea tested a long-range missile in December. It conducted its third nuclear test in February. And just this month threatened a preemptive nuclear strike on the U.S. That caught the Pentagon's attention.

JAMES MILLER, UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR POLICY: North Korea's shrill public pronouncements underscore the need for the U.S. to continue to take prudent steps to defeat any future North Korean ICBM.

LAWRENCE: But as far back as the State of the Union speech, President Obama said the U.S. would --

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Strengthen our own missile defense and lead the world in taking firm actions in response to these threats.

LAWRENCE: But Republican congressional sources say the president's actions has been anything but firm. In 2011, the administration mothballed one Alaskan missile field, arguing intelligence showed there wasn't enough of a threat. A short-sighted move say the congressional sources. Quote, "the intel didn't change, this is right where we expected North Korea to be."

And that is in possession of a missile that could travel nearly 5,000 miles, in theory, since North Korea has never successfully launched a long range ICBM.

STEVEN PIFER, DIR., BROOKINGS ARMS CONTROL INITIATIVE: I think what you see here is mainly a political signal to North Korea that no one's going to be intimidated by their December launch and then the subsequent nuclear test.

LAWRENCE: The existing interceptors have had technological problems and haven't performed as planned. The Pentagon is testing a new missile and won't buy the additional 14 until officials are sure they can fly.

JOE CIRNCIONE, PLOUGHSHARES FUND: We spend $10 million a year on missile defense. We spend about $250 billion over the last few decades. We still don't -- aren't anywhere close to a system that can actually protect the United States from a determined adversary. Yes, I'm saying we're wasting our money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: The Pentagon expects to have the 14 new missiles ready to go by the year 2017. And officials are also scouting locations for a potential third launch site on the East Coast of the United States -- Joe, Susan.

JOHNS: Chris Lawrence, thanks for that.

HENDRICKS: Now lawyers will be back in a Steubenville, Ohio courtroom this hour in the case against two high school football players accused of raping a 16-year-old girl.

JOHNS: This case centers on whether the girl was too drunk to know what was happening to her.

HENDRICKS: CNN's Poppy Harlow is following the case live in Steubenville, Ohio.

Poppy, what do we expect to happen today in court?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Today could be a very big day in court. We are still to hear from the alleged victim or either of the defendants, so there's a chance they could take the stand. We have been told by attorneys they will call the alleged victim. A decision hasn't been made whether or not those two defendants will take the stand.

We're talking about the case of a 16-year-old girl allegedly raped back in August by two star high school football players here, Trent Mays, and Malik Richmond.

Yesterday, guys, I was in court for more than 13 hours. It was explosive in terms of the testimony. The first day the prosecution has brought eyewitnesses to the alleged rape to the stand, three teenaged boys, all three of them friends of the two co-defendants.

One of them testifying that he saw Trent Mays, one of the defendants, in a car engaged in sexual activity with this girl, activity that would be considered rape in Ohio, if it is not consensual.

After that car ride, they went to a home late at night in the basement, two eyewitnesses testified seeing this girl laying naked on the basement floor and seeing the other defendant, Malik Richmond, engaged in similar sexual activity with her and, if she was not participating, that would be considered rape.

One of those witnesses when asked was this girl responsive said, quote, "she wasn't moving, she wasn't talking, she wasn't participating."

That's really the clutch here, how much did she have to drink and was she involved in this willingly or not, guys.

JOHNS: So what's the defense trying to show at this stage, Poppy?

HARLOW: Well, it's a good question when you have these three eyewitnesses that are friends of the co-defendants. The defense has not had them say, I didn't see this actually. That's not been their strategy in cross examination. There have been a few things.

First of all, every witness they've asked how do you know how drunk this girl really was? Were you with her all night? How can you prove that?

Another thing they've gotten witnesses to say multiple times is this girl did indeed want to leave one party with those two boys and go to the next. She wanted to be with them and she said that very clearly.

Also, they've talked about this now infamous photo surrounding this case of the girl seemingly unconscious being held by Trent Mays and Malik Richmond. The defense says that was in jest, that that was a joke, that she wasn't unconscious and some witnesses have said yes, that was a joke.

So there's a lot of strategies here that the defense is going after and they're yet to present their case, guys.

HENDRICKS: There's recordings, pictures, Poppy, text messages as well. How important are the text messages in this case? HARLOW: I think they're very important. The state brought a witness to the stand for hours this week, Joanne Gibbs. She's a computer forensic scientist for the state. She went through 17 cell phones involved in this investigation, pulled thousands of text messages, read hundreds of them in court.

A lot of them were between the defendant, Trent Mays and his friends about that night and some even between Trent Mays and the alleged victim about that night.

The victim texted, alleged victim, texted one of her friends saying I think I was drugged. I don't know what happened after I left, meaning left one of the parties.

Trent Mays also joked around about what he did with the girl that night, telling some people he had engaged in sex with her, telling others that he hadn't. So there are a lot of questions and these text messages were pretty damning for the defense.

HENDRICKS: We shall see what happens today, Poppy Harlow live in Ohio thanks so much.

Coming up in about 40 minutes, our legal contributor Paul Callan weighs in on whether this trial should have been tried in front of a jury because right now it being tried in front of a judge.

JOHNS: Absolutely, Poppy Harlow working this weekend for us bringing that story.

A patient waiting for an organ transplant learns a donor has been found, supposed to be amazing news, right.

HENDRICKS: Usually is, but that dream come true has become a nightmare for four people who recently received the organs from one man in Florida.

Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the frightening story.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Susan, Joe, this is a bizarre and tragic story, two lives taken, three lives in jeopardy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): Organ transplants, usually a life-saving operation, but in this case a deadly one. In 2011 a man in Florida died and his kidneys, liver and heart were donated to four patients in Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Maryland. No one knew he had rabies.

The Maryland patient who received a kidney died last month, tests confirming the victim contracted rabies from the donor. Now the three other patients who currently show no signs of rabies are under treatment to make sure they don't die, too.

This has happened before. In 2004, four people, including 18-year-old Joshua Hightower, died after receiving organs and tissues from a donor who also had rabies.

JENNIFER HIGHTOWER, JOSHUA'S MOTHER: (INAUDIBLE) like some foreign branch of rabies, some kind that is uncommon or rare or the kind that you vaccinate your dog every year for? And he said Jennifer, the kind you vaccinate your dog every year for.

COHEN: In that case, a bat had bitten the donor and the virus spread through the bloodstream. All the organs were transplanted. All the recipients died.

In this recent case there were red flags. Doctors knew the donor had encephalitis or swelling of the brain and behavior changes. Doctors tested for other causes of encephalitis but not for rabies.

DR. LLOYD RATNER, TRANSPLANT SURGEON: There's thousands and thousands of potential pathogens out there that organ donors could be infected with. Rabies is so uncommon, the screening test for rabies are not universally available.

COHEN: Only labs in Georgia, New York and California are able to test for the disease in humans according to the CDC. A doctor at the CDC told CNN today, perhaps there needs to be a change in policy so that when someone has encephalitis, they are tested for rabies before organs can be donated so that a life saving operation doesn't kill someone once again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: In a sad coincidence, it turns out that both the donor and the recipient were military men. The donor was training to be an aviation mechanic in Pensacola, Florida and he was just 20 years old. The recipient was a veteran of the army -- Joe, Susan.

JOHNS: Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for that.

HENDRICKS: Lawmakers in North Dakota passed what could be some of the strictest abortion bills in the nation, if they are signed into law. One bill bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected which is normally about six weeks. The only exception is life of the mother, no exception for rape or incest. Another controversial bill bans abortion on the basis of gender or genetic defect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARET SITTE (R), NORTH DAKOTA STATE SENATE: Is it right to destroy life because of the perception that a person may not meet someone else's standards as being acceptable to live?

JOHN WARNER (D) NORTH DAKOTA STATE SENATE: I cannot think of anything more cruel than for the state to require that first pregnancy to be carried to term and watch my grandchild die on the delivery table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: The ACLU is calling on the governor to veto that bill. JOHNS: Pope Francis told reporters gathered at the Vatican this morning he wants the Catholic Church to be poor. The new pope spoke to the media for the first time since his election Wednesday. He explained why he picked the named Francis, saying it reflects a concern for the poor. He says the name keeps the spirit of St. Francis of Assi alive, calling him quote, a poor man, a simple man, as we would like a poor church for the poor.

HENDRICKS: Politics now today, it's the last day of the conservative political action conference or CPAC. Sarah Palin is one of the scheduled speakers today. There will also be a straw poll as conservatives pick their new flag bearer. Mitt Romney won the poll four of the last six years. He spoke yesterday about how the party needs to move forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've lost races before in the past, but those setbacks prepared us for larger victories. It's up to us to make sure that we learn from our mistakes and my mistakes and that we take advantage of that learning to make sure that we take back the nation, take back the White House, get the Senate and put in place conservative principles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Mitt Romney was well received by the crowd, though it was just a day earlier that Senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio basically blamed him for the election laws and then there's comedian Bill Maher who had this to say about Romney's CPAC speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL MAHER, COMEDIAN: Guess who spoke today for the first time since the election for a speech. Mitt Romney was up there and I tell you something, Mitt Romney has not lost any of the warmth and charm that we have come to know. He still sounds like the flight attendant who tells you, you can't use the bathroom in first class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: That's an analogy. We've got much more ahead this hour.

JOHNS: Here's a look at what's coming up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CORRESPONDENT: The shocking testimony from the Steubenville trial is making lawyers wonder, will social media now be rape victim's greatest advocate or worst enemy?

Senator Rob Portman's revelation this week that he supports same-sex marriage has sent shock waves through the GOP. So what do CPAC's leaders think? Congressman Steve King joins us live.

After marathon testimony, Jodi Arias is finally off the stand, but will her 62 seconds of fog end up costing her her life?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: Eighteen days, that is how long murder defendant Jodi Arias testified on the stand in her own defense, all over a crime that lasted just 62 seconds. How did she do as a witness and did she save her own life by testifying?

Earlier I asked HLN's Jane Velez-Mitchell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN: A lot of people said, look, she had to take the stand, because first she lied, said she wasn't there, and then she said two ninjas did it, and then she finally said, oh, yes, I killed him but it was self-defense. There is no corroboration for that self- defense except her telling it. But she was so elaborate with some of her -- well, I think we have all concluded, lies, that she may have created so many inconsistencies that it was a opportunity for the prosecutor to really show beyond a reasonable doubt that she is a liar.

HENDRICKS: Speaking of the prosecutor, Juan Martinez, he has really gone after her full force on the stand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN MARTINEZ, PROSECUTOR: Ma'am, were you crying when you were shooting him?

JODI ARIAS, DEFENDANT: I don't remember.

MARTINEZ: Were you crying when you were stabbing him?

ARIAS: I don't remember.

MARTINEZ: How about when you cut his throat, were you crying then?

ARIAS: I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Did you think at all that his style may be turning off the jury?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it's very, very aggressive. But I have to say, when you are dealing with a pathological liar, and I do believe she is a pathological liar, you have to be aggressive because you can't nail them down. She is constantly using phrases like I guess, asking him to define his terms, well, if you say so, it's possible. So she slides, she slides out of everything she tries to pin her on.

So it's frustrating. I think sometimes he lets his frustrations show. But as far as aggressive, you have got to really hone in on a pathological liar and rattle them to shake them off her story. That's how I think he got her to say, oh, there was a holster, which was totally bad news for her, because now she has to take the gun out of the holster, then she says, well, maybe the holster was not there. So it showed the inconsistencies in her story even more, so I think he is a little over the top but he's got to do something.

HENDRICKS: And I think we really got a look into what the jury may be feeling and thinking, with their questions, 200-plus questions. Do you think that rattled Jodi Arias on the stand?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, I think it had do. I think she would be back in the cell rocking in a fetal position over that break where she is, the questions, echoing in her mind. Why should we believe you now when you have lied so many times before? How can you remember intimate details of sexual encounters but you can't remember stabbing somebody 29 times? These questions were hostile, they were sarcastic, they were almost rhetorical, and certainly they gave us an insight into the soul of these jurors, they are not buying her act.

HENDRICKS: They were sarcastic, and I remember a couple of them being snide. It does not seem like they like her at all. The next phase in this is the experts. Do you think they will save Jodi's life?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Her life is riding on these experts. Clearly the jurors through their questions did not believe the fog. Well, they are going to bring this psychologist on who is going to argue ferociously that yes, this fog does exist, and we've heard battles about this already, that he is saying, well, look, police officers even go into this fog when they shoot somebody, and they are trained to shoot somebody.

So if he can prove that this so-called fog, which the prosecutor was so sarcastic about, which the jurors were so sarcastic about it, is real, then maybe, maybe that's the only chance for Jodi Arias not to get the needle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENDRICKS: And stay up to speed on the Jodi Arias trial with Jane Velez-Mitchell. You can catch her on HLN weeknights, 7:00 Eastern. Joe.

JOHNS: Coming up we're going to have more on the Steubenville trial and on those damaging cell phones and texts.

Plus has the Miami Heat cooled off? An update on their red hot streak.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: In the NBA, the streak continues. LeBron James and the Miami Heat rolled over the Miami Bucks 107 to 94 last night with their 21st straight win. James and Chris Bosh (ph) each scored 28 points in the Heat, 12 more wins to tie the NBA record. The Lakers won 33 straight all the way back in 1971.

HENDRICKS: And speaking of March Madness kicks off tomorrow with selection Sunday. That is when the country's top teams are selected and seeded for the annual basketball tournament. But it can be hard to keep track of it all.

CNN's Matt Weiner breaks it all down. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT WEINER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: March Madness is really a nickname for the NCAA men's division one basketball tournament. It's also a description of a phenomenon which happens every March which is why people are interested in the first place because it really is sort of insanity in the world of college basketball.

There are well over 300 Division One basketball programs within the NCAA. There are 68 teams that get in each year, 31 by what is called automatic qualification or automatic qualifiers by virtue of winning their conference either in the regular season or through a conference tournament.

The other teams, the other 37 are so-called at-large bids. It's a little more tricky there in terms of who gets in and who doesn't. There's a selection committee that looks over the resumes of each and every one of the teams available to play in the NCAA tournament and deems 37 of them worthy of the tournament.

The bracket itself for most people is the physical piece of paper you hold in your office pool when you try to determine who the winners are of the tournament. As you look at a bracket, you see 32 teams on either side of it, which then whittle themselves down to 32 teams, then 16, then eight, et cetera, all the way to a final four and then of course the final two teams who play for the national championship.

People tune in to watch March Madness first and foremost I think because it's a compelling sporting event and there's a lot of drama inherent to those games, but it would be naive to suggest that gambling doesn't play a significant role in the popularity of the sport. The estimates I've seen are that there is something like $2.5 billion wagered each year on the NCAA tournament and most of that is illegal betting. It's tolerated largely because it's in the form of low-stakes office pools.

There are a million methods. You could pore over all the data you want to. You could look into trends. You can look into match-ups between coaches, match-ups between players, schools, conferences. You can employ the which mascot would win in a fight method if you like. I've always thought if Notre Dame is in the tournament I'm hesitant to pick against them on St. Patrick's Day. Does that matter? I don't know.

My advice, don't think too much about it, go with your gut and have fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: And for all you college basketball fans as NCAA March Madness kicks off this weekend, you can test your bracket skills against CNN anchors. Go to CNN.com/brackets and see if you can pick the NCAA brackets better than our CNN anchors.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HENDRICKS: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back everyone. I'm Susan Hendricks in for Randi Kaye. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us.

Here are the five stories we're watching this morning for you.

Number one: the Pentagon is expanding the missile defense network on the West Coast in response to threats from North Korea. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says they could spend as much as $1 billion on the expansion. Reports say North Korea test fired two short range missiles this morning.

Number two: in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, two people are dead after trying to rescue a 6-year-old boy from a waterfall. The boy fell into the Big Sioux River yesterday, his 16-year-old sister and 28-year-old man jumped in after him. The boy did survive. Crews found his sister's body. They are now looking for the man's body.

Number three, it certainly was a rough week for Carnival Cruise lines as three different ships face technical problems, The "Legend" ended its trip to Honduras early the ship is having some problems with speed, passengers on the "Dream" flew back to the U.S. from St. Maarten on Friday after power outages caused some toilets to overflow. And last Saturday another ship the "Elation" had to be towed into a port by a tugboat because of steering problems.

Number four this guy Hendrix, the Springer Spaniel is happy to be with his family after an airline cargo mix up sent him to Ireland instead of Phoenix, Arizona. Well United Airlines acted quickly when it realized the mistake, getting the dog back to the U.S. and on the right flight. His owners say she is not putting him on a plane any time soon.

Number five Maryland is preparing to ban the death penalty. Yesterday Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley said he will sign the bill into law after it passed the state legislature. He said the death penalty does not deter criminals and is more expensive than life in prison. Maryland has executed only five people since 1976. One prosecutor is promising to challenge that new law.

JOHNS: The heavyweights of the Republican Party are gathered for the annual CPAC conference. It's where that they set the tone and the strategy for the party. Today is the last day.

Last night Jeb Bush took the stage to talk about the road forward for the GOP. He said the party can't write off whole segments of the population and need to be a party of inclusion. He also said Republicans are wrongly considered anti-gay and anti-immigration.

Iowa Congressman Steve King joins me now.

You're speaking at CPAC in about 30 minutes. Some of Bush's remarks seemed to be aimed squarely at Republicans such as yourself. You're against a path to citizenship for example, against same-sex marriage, you equated it to socialism and said it was an attack on the sacrament of the church. Is there still room for staunch conservatives like you in the Republican Party, Congressman?

REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: You know I smile when I hear that, "still room for staunch conservatives", that is what the Republican Party -- the core of the Republican Party is. Yes, there's a struggle going on within the party between some people that want to redefine or rebrand the Republican Party and those of us who stand on our first principles and our core principles but in the end we're not going to be a party if we abandon our principles and one of the -- one of the wise members of Congress said after November 6th just because the American people did something such as they did, electing Barack Obama on November 6th, is no reason for Republicans to abandon our principles.

JOHNS: As you know, Ohio Senator Rob Portman really made headlines by coming out in support of same-sex marriage, he was influenced by his gay son. What is your reaction to his change of heart?

KING: Well this is a very personal decision on the part of Senator Portman and he is a friend and I have great respect for him and his family. This is no reason for us to either abandon or change our principles however that might fall on Rob Portman personally.

But what's important here is that marriage has been marriage for a couple thousand years or more and we know that the very best way that we can pass our values on to the next generation is people joining together, a man and a woman in holy matrimony and blessed with children and then passing our values down through that marriage into those children, that's why -- that's why the states offer a marriage license.

And a license is by definition a permit to do that which is otherwise illegal. License to drive, license to do brain surgery or cut hair, for example and you need to meet those qualifications in order to get the license. So the marriage license is an affirmative thing that promotes -- that promotes traditional marriage and that doesn't mean that we can't be inclusive of people who have -- who have a different set of beliefs or a different set of inclinations.

JOHNS: Let's talk a little bit about immigration. You've offered some very strong thoughts on the subject including a metaphor about dogs. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING: You want one that's going to be aggressive pick the one that is the friskiest, the one that's engaged of all and now the one that's over there sleeping in the corner. If you want a pet to sit on the couch pick the one that sleeping in the corner so that -- so you get the pick of the litter and you've got yourself a pretty good birddog.

We got the pick of every darn civilization on the planet because it's hard to get here, you had to be inspired to come, we got the (inaudible) of the planet come to America.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JOHNS: Now as you know some Republicans have been suggesting they're moving toward a reform that includes a path to citizenship. Have you changed your position at all or are you in the same place?

KING: You know, I have been misquoted and mischaracterized on that. That may -- I couldn't hear the audio of it at all, but I'm going to guess that -- that was an edited version and here is what I said, that entire delivery that day and it was in Pocahontas, Iowa, the entire delivery that day was about the vigor of America exceptionalism, about the vigor of legal immigrants. And there have been people on the left who have mischaracterized that substantially, they've misquoted me and they've lied about my record.

The truth is I am an enthusiastic supporter of legal immigration. We get an American vigor that comes from them. We get the cream of the crop from every donor civilization on the planet and that's one of the reasons for American exceptionalism and I hope that the people on the left can understand that as well.

JOHNS: Now it is our understanding that what we played was an unedited version there of your remarks. But moving on, the question I've been wanting to get to for some run, are you going to run for Tom Harkin's Iowa Senate seat?

KING: First thing, it is not his seat of course. It's Iowa's seat and I will make that decision but I'm looking at it, I'm looking at it seriously and as I've said over the last week or so, we're going out to do some polling. We will build a campaign on paper, take a look at that and make a decision, yes or no and I don't know.

I don't have a timing set on that but it won't be in a few days, it will be longer than that and I -- I do thank the people across the state that have demonstrated their support, the people here in CPAC that have demonstrated their support in a such a strong way.

And I'm going to go out of this place like a rocket. This is such a dynamic place for conservatives to gather together. There's no better place to be in America right now.

JOHNS: You know not too long ago Congressman you came out harshly in opposition to three members of the state Supreme Court there who in a ruling essentially supported gay marriage, if I'm correct. Now the Supreme Court of the United States is preparing to hear cases related to gay marriage. Would you suggest that members of the United States Supreme Court step down if they supported gay marriage, like you did with the Iowa Supreme Court members?

KING: Well, we have a different constitutional structure for the Iowa Supreme Court justice. They made a very, very flawed, unconstitutional decision and they were up for a retention ballot and Iowans put their -- put their vote on the ballot and voted three off the bench including the Supreme Court chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court.

Of course our Supreme Court justices here are appointed for life, if they choose to stay there and that's a different equation entirely so no, I will make my arguments as I have, I'll put up my vote when I have the privilege and honor to do so. If it's the will of the people to change the definition of marriage, then that would be the proper way, but I don't believe that constitutionally of the court can look at the document our founding documents and come to a conclusion that our founding fathers intended for same-sex marriage.

And so I think it needs to be and must be if a question is going to be settled in America on the marriage issue it needs to be settled by the people electing their representatives in this constitutional republic and then those votes need to make the difference.

Congress has established the Defense of Marriage Act -- that is the law of the land. That is the will of the people until the will of the people is reflected through Congress and that would be my message, if I'd ask the judges to consider that as they hear the case.

JOHNS: Now speaking of the Supreme Court as you know quite recently the court actually heard a case on the Voting Rights Act and Justice Scalia as -- was reported in a lot of different places, said that he thought the Voting Rights Act was essentially if I'm quoting him correctly "a racial entitlement". What do you think of that? Do you agree with that?

KING: I didn't read all of Justice Scalia's statement on that but I did hear that part and I was engaged in the debate on the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, I believe it was 2005 when that last happened. And what it -- what it does it has section five excuse me is covered districts, these are the districts that were defined as having a racist influence on the election access to people back then when the Voting Rights Act was first passed.

Now it says that the granddaughter of someone who lived there at that time is, by definition, a racist and they can't make their own decision and the Justice Department rules over that I think that it should be repeal and I think the justice can take care of any kind of discrimination that we have that might keep people from going to the voting booths.

I point out also that the Justice Department have blocked the prosecution of the Philadelphia Black Panthers when they already had a conviction in their hands.

So there are two sides to this coin. But I think justice can handle it, we have to put that away sometime and we just cannot continue to label every future generation a racist and that's what a lot of Section Five does in the Voting Rights Act.

JOHNS: Do you think the racial -- the Voting Rights Act is a racial entitlement?

KING: You know I don't -- I didn't look into that definition part enough to think so I don't know that I would define it that way. But here are -- here are something that Republicans and Democrats I think both get wrong and that is through redistricting drawing congressional districts that are either strong Democrat district, strong Republican districts and often they are -- they are African-American districts and that trade-off I think has polarized politics in America. If every state did it like Iowa does without regard to those kind of things and redistrict according to the best balance of population then we would be a better Congress, we would resolve those differences in the congressional district level rather than have to do so in a polarized way in Congress.

JOHNS: Congressman Steve King always great to have you on. Good to see you and please let us know if you're going to run for that senate seat.

KING: We will make a decision sometime out there in the future. Thanks for having me on this morning.

JOHNS: Thank you.

A small town in Ohio is divided by a trial involving three teenagers, two popular football players accused of rape and one girl who claims to be the victim. We'll ask our legal expert what he thinks, next.

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JOHNS: Lawyers are back in an Ohio courtroom this morning for the trial of two teenagers charged with raping a 16-year-old girl. The trial is going on right now in Steubenville. The accused: 17-year-old Trent Mays and 16-year-old Malik Richmond. The teens are football stars in the small mostly blue collar town that reveres the high school team.

I want to bring in CNN's legal contributor Paul Callan. Paul, thanks for being here this morning.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.

JOHNS: The witnesses say the alleged victim in this case was very drunk the night of the party. Is that something that's really going to play a role in this trial as you see it?

CALLAN: Well, you know, it plays an important role because the whole trial really now as it gets into its closing day is focused on the degree impairment of the alleged victim caused by alcohol use. Was the girl drunk? Was she conscious? Was she able to consent to sexual activity?

These are the things that the judge is looking at. The boys, the attorneys for the boys are saying hey, she was drunk, everybody had been drinking but she was capable of consenting to the sexual activity. Prosecutors are saying her degree of alcohol impairment rendered her unable and having an inability to consent. That's what it's all about.

JOHNS: The question also is at the center of the trial, Texts, pictures, video recordings among other things, by the way we're looking at a live picture right now from inside the courtroom. There's one picture that I do also want to show which is allegedly Mays and Richmond carrying the passed out girl. Richmond says the girl was awake and willing to participate and video clips like this one. Let's look at it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God. Yes. She is raped right now.

She might have wanted to. That might have been her final wish.

You didn't see how they carried her out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So ability to consent here is a big question and there's a certain point you're so drunk, you're so impaired you don't have the ability to consent. Is that the bottom line?

CALLAN: Yes, that's the bottom line. And you know, let's bring this down to a simple fact, you know, a lot of juvenile boys, a lot of adolescent boys think hey, let's get a girl drunk and have sex with her. It's a crime. It's rape, and if the girl can't consent at the time of the sexual contact it's potentially rape and that's the law.

And you know, it wasn't enforced, it's never really been enforced in the past because in the past we didn't have cameras and text messaging and cell phones that could record this kind of criminal activity, and now kids are making recordings all over the country, and you're going to see a lot more cases like this being brought.

JOHNS: And you look at those pictures and you listen to the recordings. How much trouble is that for a defendant in the courtroom?

CALLAN: Well, it's very serious trouble because, you know, usually these cases consist of people after the fact trying to recreate what happened. Here you have at least one important thing already on film and that film of her being carried because she's clearly unconscious really is very suggestive that you know something, even if she woke up, it was obvious that she was so drunk she couldn't consent to anything. So that's a very, very devastating piece of evidence that's available to the prosecutor for use against the defendants in this case.

JOHNS: It certainly is, and people in future public trials like this are probably going to be looking along social media lines to see if they can dig up some evidence.

Paul Callan thanks you so much for that; always good to see you.

CALLAN: Good to see you.

JOHNS: Ever been annoyed by overhearing someone chatting away on their cell phone? Well you are certainly not alone. And a new study reveals just why those calls can be so annoying. Coming up, we're going to have that story.

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HENDRICKS: Think everyone's private information is safe online? Think again. Tiger Woods, Mitt Romney, Governor Chris Christie -- you name it, just some of the new names added to a Web site posting of what it claims are personal financial records of public figures. Now, it's not clear how much of this information is accurate and whether it was obtained through hacking or through public records, but the FBI and the secret service are investigating.

Radio personality Kendra G. is back joining me live and political comedian Dean Obeidallah is live in New York. He's also a former attorney. And Dean I want to start with you on this. It seems like anyone can get information out there. It's pretty easy these days to do that. What do you think?

Dean Obeidallah, political comedian. It seems like it is and they're really targeting like the who's who list. I aspire to be on that list just so I can be a big celebrity like them.

But you know, to be honest, just this week President Obama's national security advisor said the biggest threat facing America is no longer al Qaeda. It's cyber threats like this, hacking by governments. So I think it's a concern for us.

It's no longer science fiction. We're going to have computer wars, drone wars and it's something we have to defend the country and ourselves personally against.

HENDRICKS: So if you're listening out there, Dean wants to be hacked.

OBEIDALLAH: No, no. I don't want to be hacked. I don't mean it that way but you know what I'm saying.

HENDRICKS: Well, Kendra, do you think that celebrities and politicians are the new targets? Do you think that holds true?

KENDRA GILLIAMS, V0103 RADIO PERSONALITY: They are targeted but you know, also the regular people are targets as well. My Facebook page was hacked twice. All I kept thinking about, first thing about your pictures. The biggest thing about it -- wait, I've sent people my phone number, my mailing address. It's an invasion of privacy and it's horrible and we have to stop it.

HENDRICKS: How did you first find out your Facebook page was hacked?

GILLIAMS: Well, I tried to login and then my picture was changed. I'm like this isn't me. I'm like someone's changed my identity. And it was absolutely horrible so I can only imagine how it feels to have your bank statement hacked or your social security hacked. I mean Facebook for me was horrible so I can't imagine going to the next step.

HENDRICKS: Yes, it's certainly not fun. I can't believe it goes on as much as it does.

GILLIAMS: It does.

HENDRICKS: This next topic about women, we're all guilty of getting up on the wrong side of the bed, everyone. But women may now have the better excuse if they're feeling grumpy. According to a new Duke University survey, women need more sleep than men. I knew this, and they say our health is more directly associated with catching Zs than it is for guys.

Dean, what's your experience on this one? Do you think women are more grouchy in the morning? Watch what you say.

OBEIDALLAH: They had to do -- they had to pay for a study for this one? I could have told you this information. I've lived with a woman for years. No, I'm kidding. I don't want angry -- I don't want my phone hacked and I don't want my women being mad at me. I'm kidding about this.

Look, I'm grouchy, too. If I was up a few hours earlier to come on here, you wouldn't like me on any level. And you know what; there are real health concerns about it. It helps your efficiency at work when you sleep better so all of us need to sleep more and take vacations, both things.

HENDRICKS: Yes. I like that. Kendra, now it's scientific, right?

GILLIAMS: Yes, it is scientific and this is something that we know, women we have to do so much when we wake up in the morning. We have take a shower, do our hair, do our makeup and yes, we can be grouchy at times when we know what we have to do in order to make ourselves look as beautiful as we are. We like everything with that.

HENDRICKS: We need our beauty sleep.

GILLIAMS: Yes.

HENDRICKS: And speaking of grouchy I want your take on this one as well. Have you ever been in a public place and someone is speaking loudly on your cell phone? You can't help but listen in to their conversation because they're that loud, you're hearing everything they're saying.

Well now, it can really put anyone in a bad mood. Researchers from the University of San Diego say they know why. Among the reasons in their new study hearing a one-sided conversation is more unpredictable than when two people are chatting so the brains are in overdrive filling the message in. Or you could just be annoyed about the person's voice.

Dean what do you say on this one?

OBEIDALLAH: This is the equivalent of, you know, the nails on a blackboard. It really grates me. And I'm a comedian. I have people in front of me in a comedy club sometimes take their phone out and have a conversation as if no one's around and they do it loudly.

My only advice is take out your phone and walk next to someone talking really loud -- just as loud try to answer their questions like you're having the other side of the conversation and a lot of the times they will stop. But it's really -- it's so disrespectful and frankly rude in certain circumstances like on the bus or public places to have these loud conversations as if you're the only person there. So please stop doing that. HENDRICKS: In an airport, too, right Kendra.

GILLIAMS: The airport is the worst place and I actually will stop you and tell you because I hate when you swear. I feel like it's so disrespectful and you're so loud. And I tell you hey, I don't want to hear that. Tone your voice down. If that's your mother, tell her you'll call her back.

(CROSSTALK)

HENDRICKS: What's so important that it can't wait?

GILLIAMS: Yes.

HENDRICKS: Kendra G., thank you. Dean Obeidallah, always fun, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

OBEIDALLAH: Nice seeing you.

HENDRICKS: Conservatives on the rebound looking to get on the right track. Who will they turn to today? This woman, Sarah Palin of course, we are live from CPAC next.

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