Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Killer Tornados Leave Town Dazed; Deadly Tornados Before & After; Bank of America Pursuing More Fees; Americans Killed in Afghanistan; Blogger Andrew Breitbart Dies at 43; Finding The Cheapest Gas; Senate Rejects GOP Health Care Plan; Lahood Responds To Son's Release; The Movie McCain And Palin Won't Watch

Aired March 1, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. A busy, busy day. Let's get to it. Roll it.

Two more families got the news today that their loved ones won't be coming home from the war. Two American soldiers shot and killed in Afghanistan. We're told a couple of gunmen approached these soldiers, including one wearing an Afghan national army uniform. This is just another round of violence there since word got out that the U.S. troops burned those Korans.

And Senate Democrats today killed a controversial Republican health insurance plan and what it would have done would have allowed employers to refuse to provide insurance to cover birth control, other health services that they disagree with on moral grounds. As you can imagine, debate very much so heated on both sides.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARY CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: But it seems as if the other side of the aisle, in all the discussions we've been having for the last year about jobs, about appropriations bills, about the debt ceiling, about moving forward on reconciliation, all come down to one thing -- let's get rid of reproductive health care for women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A vote to table the measure was --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ORIN HATCH (R), UTAH: This was all about contraception. My gosh, that's not what it's about. It's about the right of people with religious beliefs to practice their religion unmolested by government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The vote to table the measure, 51-48.

And after three weeks here, three weeks of relentless shelling, a hard hit area in the Syrian city of Homs may finally be getting at least some relief. The International Red Cross says it's gotten permission to take food and medical supplies into the war-torn Baba Amr neighborhood starting tomorrow and also evacuate those in need. Government forces moved in today as opposition fighters retreated. The opposition says it pulled out just to give civilians a break from all these relentless attacks.

As just a short time ago President Obama speaking at a community college there. This is New Hampshire. He talked energy. He talked gas prices, which, by the way, jumped yet again today. The 23rd day in a row. Tonight, the president will be in New York for a wave of private campaign fund raisers.

And Google. Google is watching you. The Internet giant is combing 60 different privacy policies all into one from sites it runs like gmail, YouTube. So this whole thing goes into effect today and the changes will give Google new ways to track you and gather information unless you specifically say, no thanks. The company says it will lead to more personalized services, but critics say it is a serious privacy invasion.

And Andrew Breitbart has died in California at the age of 43. His lawyer says the brash conservative blogger died overnight of natural causes. Reports of Breitbart's death just totally exploded this morning in media circles and echoed on the campaign trail, as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What a huge loss, in my opinion, for our country and certainly for the conservative movement. And my prayers go out to his family. And I'm really sorry to hear it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We're going to have more for you on the death of Andrew Breitbart about 15 minutes from now.

Also, one student is dead, another critically injured after a stabbing today at a Chicago alternative school. Police say the two teens were attacked at the school's front door. And we also know a 17-year-old suspect is in custody. No word yet as to what led to the stabbing, why this happened. The school is for students who have been expelled or suspended from a public school.

And police in Maine have now located the body of a Florida firefighter who had been missing for just about two weeks. They found the remains of Jerry Perdomo on property that police say belonged to the family of Daniel Porter. So Porter is now charged with murder in this case. Court documents show Porter owed Perdomo money and the two made death threats to one another.

The warning sound, tornadoes are on the ground. This is Frankfurt, Kentucky. This is video shot overnight. The second straight night of violent weather in the region has now left. Total number we have, 13. Thirteen dead in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Tennessee. Hundreds are hurt. And survivors are now having to assess just what's left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We immediately jumped in the car, came out here. Basically, the same time, we walked down through here and discovered there was no apartment. It was gone. And --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is that apartment?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's right back over there where there's a van and then a car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Heavy damage is being reported in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Kansas.

A federal judge says no to requiring graphic warning labels on packages of cigarettes and other tobacco products. So a new federal law would have required written warnings, as well as alternating images, including a corpse, smoke infected lungs on some of those cigarette packages. Tobacco companies sued, saying the warnings would be cost prohibitive and dominate the packages. And the judge says the requirement violates freedom of speech.

A lot more to cover for you in the next two hours. Watch this.

One of America's biggest banks is floating the idea of a new fee. And this one would involve just a basic checking account. Could your bank be next? I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I crawled over all this stuff and came out to here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Powerful tornadoes devastate lives as folks brace for another wave.

It's a move that won't make Sarah Palin very happy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isn't the press defining me right now?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: HBO will soon release a behind the scenes portrayal of how John McCain's campaign chose her as a running mate. And the man getting heat for making the movie joins me live.

Plus, a priest denies a woman communion during her mother's funeral. Why? Because she's gay. Barbara Johnson tells me what she wants to happen.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN: I was 42 years old and wanted to get pregnant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN's Kyra Phillips gets candid and reveals how she had twins after 40.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Clean-up, as you can imagine, very much so underway after two nights of fierce tornadoes in the middle of the country. What an eerie sound, those sirens. This is Frankfurt, Kentucky. This is last night. Warning sirens, thank goodness for them, sent people running for cover. The death toll from the two days of storms, it has risen yet again. A death in Kansas now brings the total to 13, but hundreds were injured.

And just look at this. Look at what is left. This is what the storm did to people's homes and lives. Cars, washing machines, refrigerators, the contents of homes tossed all about. No signs of walls. No ceilings here. Shelter damaged like this is being reported in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Kansas.

Hardest hit, we talked about this for just about two hours straight yesterday, Harrisburg, Illinois, where that tornado packing a 180- mile-per-hour winds killed six people. And Don Lemon is part of our team on the ground there in Harrisburg.

And, Don, I know, you know you cover stories like this and it's one thing for us to see the images play out on television, quite another to be there in person. How is everyone doing?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it doesn't really -- it doesn't really translate ever on television, right, when you see it, Brooke? You see it at home. And then once you get out here, it's really just unbelievable.

I have a -- let's show, since you asked, how are people doing. I think this is a good example. Look, you see the backhoe over there? And if I'm quiet enough, you can probably hear a little bit of the backhoe. You see the guy up there on the roof putting new singles on and trying to, you know, shore up whatever they have left. That's how people are coping here.

What they're doing, Brooke, is they're trying to put one foot in front of the other, those who were spared, just to be honest, and they're trying to get their lives back together and trying to at least secure whatever it is that they may still have. A lot of people here don't really have a lot. Two to three hundred homes were damaged and six people lost their lives right in this area where I am.

BALDWIN: Two to three hundred homes damaged. We saw the images also of the med center there in town. One wall totally wiped out.

LEMON: Yes.

BALDWIN: What about help? Are they getting the help they need?

LEMON: They are getting help. And, you know, I want to talk to you more about help because I think they're going to need a lot more of it. They have a lot of people who are helping out. But they're also, Brooke, they're going to need a lot more time. And a lot of people feel pressured by the time constraints that were put on them by the local officials to get everything packed up.

I want to introduce you and our audience to Patty Anslinger. She and her 91-year-old mother at home at the time the storm, the tornado, rolled through. She put her mom in the tub, right, and she got on top of her and she saved both their lives.

BALDWIN: Wow.

LEMON: Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Is this the bathtub where you guys were?

PATTY ANSLINGER: Yes, it is. It's right here. Yes. We hunkered down right there. She was in the back. I was over here. And we had all these apparatus to help us out with. And we just ducked. And I think I put like towels and stuff over our heads. And that's the only time we had. The warnings, sirens went off and we had about two minutes to get into the bathtub and get covered and then it was here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So that was this morning, Brooke, that they gave them about 12 hours. They've got about six, seven hours to go. And I think, I really hope that local officials will give them a little bit more time to get their things out because that's all some people had.

This is a strip mall where I'm standing, Brooke, and you can see a couple of media guys here. But look at this truck I want to show you. You can see the complete undercarriage of that truck. And that's a pretty big truck.

BALDWIN: Oh, wow.

LEMON: I mean it shows you how strong these winds are. Just -- yes, you see that. Just to the left of that. That's where you can -- it's not a good shot, but that's a ridge up there, that neighborhood where Miss Anslinger lived and a couple of other people. That's where the six people died right up there. And, I mean, half a mile wide, this thing. And as you said, when you introduced me, 180-mile-an-hour winds. Enough to bend big steel girders like that, that hold these buildings up.

BALDWIN: Yes, and we were talking to a reporter standing in front of that exact same strip mall yesterday and he was talking about a piece of plywood had essentially sliced into concrete in the side of that strip mall.

LEMON: Yes.

BALDWIN: Just to prove the point of how strong those winds were.

Don Lemon, thank you.

We're thinking about everyone where you are, of course.

And I want to bring in Chad Myers.

And, Chad, correct me if I'm wrong. We were talking about that tornado yesterday being an EF-4, right?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right.

BALDWIN: EF-4. You have some images before and after and also amazingly, thanks to Google, showing how that tornado kind of hopped, skipped and jumped around town.

MYERS: A little bit sobering, but I want to take it to you, I mean, right here. It was 170-mile-per-hour the preliminary numbers yesterday. And after the weather service went and took a second look today, they said, yes, that's probably 180-mile-per-hour storm.

Here's Harrisburg here. Here's Carrier Mills. 5:00 in the morning the tornado touched down one mile north of Carrier Mills. And this was OK. It touched down in farmland. It was 100 mile -- or probably 150-mile- per-hour storm. About 100-yard wide bowling ball headed to Harrisburg.

It stayed on the ground all the way through this farmland, into the town of Harrisburg, right over Liberty, that strip mall that Don Lemon was just talking about that's right there. We're going to get a little closer. That bowling ball rolled right over all of these homes over that strip mall and out to the other side of Harrisburg.

Take you down, take a look at what those homes look like right now. From this perspective, we're turning you around so that you look from the northeast. There are the homes that were all built. Homes here. Now let me take you to what the aerial pictures of that exact image looks like.

BALDWIN: Oh.

MYERS: That's what that neighborhood looks like right now from the helicopter from yesterday. The shot coming through, the bowling ball, that tornado right on through from the west to the east.

And now one more shot. Sean (ph), we're going to take you over here to where Don Lemon is standing. Right there. There is the strip mall before the tornado. Almost looks like a little bit of a landing strip. Like an airport. That's what that strip mall looks like right now. And believe it or not, the way this picture was taken, I can take you right to that truck, right there, that Don Lemon was pointing at --

BALDWIN: With the undercarriage.

MYERS: Said it was on its side right there. There's that same truck there. And this is what that strip mall looks like.

BALDWIN: I have a quick question. When we talk about the tornado and you show the damage, you see some homes destroyed, some not.

MYERS: Yes.

BALDWIN: Is an analogy like a bouncing ball with forward momentum, so once it hits the ground, it pops back up? Is that what it does?

MYERS: Not an F-4. An F-4 really stays on the ground a long time. It stays on the ground. It was skipping in the fields, in that land to the -- to the west of the town.

BALDWIN: Got it.

MYERS: That's where it was skipping. But when it touched down in Harrisburg, it was down and stayed on the ground.

The randomness means that it was probably a multi vortex tornado, which you just see one big cone. But inside, Brooke, there's actually more than one suction spot rotating around. So if that suction spot got your house, it may have missed your neighbors as it moves around.

BALDWIN: Got it.

MYERS: So those different pieces of internal wind are bigger than maybe some of the -- you may see the whole cone being 200 yards wide, but the biggest part maybe only be 50. It's like a tornado inside a tornado.

BALDWIN: Oh, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: I know a lot of you are wondering how you can help. You can help those affected by the tornadoes. Don was just talking about the help they need. You can go to cnn.com/impact. There you'll find names of organizations, ways you can help those in need. So, again, cnn.com/impact.

And now to -- remember those debit card fees Bank of America tried to impose late last year? We talked about that. That didn't go through. But the bank is back with a new fee. We're going to break down the figures for you after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Bank of America at it again, adding fees to customer accounts. We all remember the last time the bank tried to impose that $5 monthly charge for just using your debit card. Yes, that didn't work out, leaving behind, though, a battered image for some banks. And now Bank of America testing out another fee program.

Alison Kosik, do tell. What are they trying to do this time?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. OK, they're trying to impose fees, but it's really going to depend on what kind of account you have, Brooke. According to "The Wall Street Journal," what Bank of America is doing is it's testing this sort of new fee schedule, ranging anywhere from $6 to $25 for a new Bank of America checking account.

Now, this program is being tested in a few states. In Arizona, Georgia, and Massachusetts. And apparently, according to Bank of America, it's being received well by these consumers.

But there is a way to avoid these fees. You have to meet certain requirements though. You'd have to maintain a minimum balance, do online banking, take out a mortgage at Bank of America.

But one thing I want to be clear about with this is that Bank of America's nationwide checking accounts, they currently have fees. So what Bank of America is trying to really do is just kind of restructure the fee schedule at this point.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: So just so I'm clear, does this -- this wouldn't affect people with already existing Bank of America checking accounts. You mentioned new accounts. Is that right?

KOSIK: Exactly. Exactly, yes.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. And so bank fees across the entire industry, though, Alison, they keep popping up. They're more common. Why is that?

KOSIK: Because what's happening with the banking industry these days is that it's really being hit hard by the weak economy, the new government rules that are limiting how much revenue they can bring in through fees. So the bottom line with that is it means that these banks are making less money and banks are businesses just like any other. They need to make money.

And you look at how Bank of America's annual sales have been, they actually fell by the double digits last year. And they even came out and said they're going to go ahead and cut 30,000 workers. So what they're trying to do to make up for all this is, is put more fees.

And Bank of America is not alone in this. You know, you see checking accounts having fees. It's a more common thing. You know, you look at how many checking accounts actually have fees compared to 2009. In 2009, 24 percent of accounts had those fees on the checking accounts. Compare that to 2011. It's up to 55 percent.

BALDWIN: Fifty-five.

KOSIK: Yes, I mean, you know what, they're businesses like any other. We don't like it. They're just trying to find more ways to make money. And it's not just B of A in this situation. It's industry wide.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: It's a trend. They're hurting, apparently, as well. KOSIK: Yes.

BALDWIN: Alison, thank you very much.

And now to this one. You know, this much is certain. Andrew Breitbart never shrank from a fight. As we've been reporting, the conservative blogger died overnight in Los Angeles of what his lawyer is calling natural causes. He was only 43. So, you know, no two ways about it, this guy relished verbal combat. I want us all to look at something. This is vintage Andrew Breitbart. This was shot just last month in Washington. This was Breitbart confronting the "Occupy" movement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW BREITBART: Behave yourself. Behave yourself. Behave yourself! Behave yourself. You are freaks and animals. You're freaks and animals. Behave yourself. Behave yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This is not some isolated incident here. Wherever Andrew Breitbart went, the volume just seemed to go up and up. The name Breitbart is possibly better known to us in the media perhaps than to anyone else. But here's something our viewers might recognize. This is James O'Keefe. Remember this? He is the undercover provocateur funded by Andrew Breitbart. His expose of A.C.O.R.N. pretty much spelled the end of that long established community group. And just a short time ago, media critic Howard Kurtz pointed out that some of Breitbart's biggest so-called scoops were not necessarily solid journalism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD KURTZ, CNN'S RELIABLE SOURCES: Had he not had a tendency to go too far on occasion, I think he would be remembered more as a successful warrior on behalf of causes on the right. But in the example of Shirley Sherrod, who your viewers may recall, he had posted an incomplete edited video that made her appear to be saying racist things when her message exactly was the opposite. Not only did he do that, but he never really apologized for it. And that's the reason I think that he actually leaves behind a mixed legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And despite some criticisms such as that, Breitbart often times found himself called upon to offer political analysis. In fact, he appeared just this week on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, CNN: How much was Rick Santorum to blame for his own slight failure to win in Michigan? Because, you know, I gave him a bit of hammering earlier. Perhaps a little unfairly. He had a poor debate by common consent. People didn't like the attack on Kennedy's speech, even though he clarified it later and sort of backtracked a bit. And nobody seemed to like this snob attack on President Obama for the college thing, even though friends of his tried to explain what he really meant. The triple whammy wasn't helpful, was it.

ANDREW BREITBART: I would argue that he missed an opportunity. Newt Gingrich is the candidate who, during his flurry there awhile back, was attacking the mainstream media. And this week they came out to try to frame him just as Herman Cain was known as the 999 candidate, they very well made Santorum the 666 candidate. The guy that's worried about Satan and all that type of stuff. He could have used this moment to pivot to the issue of religious liberties in this country and where many conservatives are feeling that Barack Obama is attacking the concept of the separation of church and state, but instead he played to, unfortunately, form.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Still (ph) on the screen, that was Tuesday. And that was one of Andrew Breitbart's final interviews. He died around midnight, again, of what his lawyer is calling natural causes.

Two more American soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The latest to die in this nationwide protest of the burning of Korans by NATO troops. And coming up next, we're going to get the details from Kabul, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It has happened yet again in Afghanistan. Two more U.S. troops have been killed and, once again, there are signs that the killings were inside jobs carried out by America's supposed Afghan allies. Here's CNN's Nick Paton Walsh in Kabul.

Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, we now have six Americans killed in about the last week by men in Afghan army uniform turning their weapons on them. A psychological impact of this on American soldier who have to work hand in hand with Afghans every day is bounds to be significant.

The details from today are still sketchy. ISAF confirm two NATO personnel killed, one by -- one of the gunmen being an Afghan soldier, the other apparently a language instructor working at this base in the south of Afghanistan. An Afghan official gave a few more details, saying that this language instructor was there to teach the Afghans English, had apparently been there for a year and they found documentation upon him to suggest links to the Taliban, suggesting perhaps this was a long-planned operation. They also confirmed that both of the dead were, in fact, Americans.

And I should point out this goes right to the heart of the key point of America's exit strategy here. They have to be able to trust the Afghan soldiers they're working alongside. They're training to take over security across the country. Without that, NATO can't withdraw. And with these instances, three now in just over a week, one of which two Americans were shot dead in the heart of the securest part of Afghanistan's interior ministry, are really beginning to erode that trust. And if that happens, that could really put the exit strategy in trouble here, Brooke. BALDWIN: Nick Paton Walsh for us. Nick, thank you so much.

Back here at home, as gas prices continue to go up, so does gas shopping. I do it. You do it. You know, you look around maybe on websites, maybe your driving around looking for the station with the cheapest gas. So, do you go with the independent brand or do you go with the big name? You've got to hear this before you fill up your next tank, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You know, you look around maybe on web sites maybe you drive around looking for the station with the cheapest gas. So do you go with the independent brand or the big name? You've got to hear this before you fill up your next tank next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, if it seems like the price of gas is going up each and every time you pull up to the gas station, it's because it is. Today is the 23rd day in a row that gas prices have increased. AAA says the national average now $3.74 a gallon.

But if you are thinking that you might be saving a little bit of money by trading in that big name gas station for the no name independent, think again. Watch this. CNN's Casey Wian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Most of the time gas stations like this one are not affiliated with a major oil company like Chevron or Mobile offer gas at a significantly lower price, sometimes 10 cents a gallon or more. But because of a quirk in the way the retail gas business works that price advantage has now completely disappeared.

"PAUL," GAS STATION OWNER: The price is lower than everybody else right now. The price I'm buying almost 20 cents higher than anybody else.

WIAN: Today, this station is selling unleaded regular for $4.27 a gallon. Normally, the station owner says his prices are 10 cents a gallon cheaper than any other station in the neighborhood. But just down the street is a 76 station selling unleaded regular for $4.25 a gallon, two cents cheaper than this unbranded station.

(voice-over): Here is why. Branded gas stations sign agreements to buy gas at a price the refinery sets. Unbranded independent stations can shop around and buy gas from anyone. They normally rely on surplus gas, which usually sells for as much as 15 cents a gallon less.

JAY MCKEEMAN, CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT OIL MARKETERS ASSOCIATION: Unbranded gasoline is kind of what's left after the branded stations are able to market their product. So technically, it's a leftover product and it gets priced that way. WIAN: When surplus gas is scarce because of greater demand from the branded stations, the price that unbranded stations pay rises much faster. This station's wholesale gasoline cost has jumped 70 cents in the past month.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: Times like this can be a financial struggle for independent non-branded gasoline stations. In fact, the owner of this station says he's losing money selling gasoline only being kept afloat by profits from his convenience store. Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.>

BALDWIN: Casey, thank you. And Senate Democrats today stopped this Republican measure that would have undone the Obama administration's contraception insurance mandate. This was a 51-48 vote. The measure was tabled. Discussion on this one was very fierce though. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: The issue here is protecting the conscience clause and the religious beliefs of the American people.

SENATOR MARIA CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: Every step of the way it seems as if there is an assault on women's reproductive choice.

SENATOR ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: This is tyranny. It is the political bullying of a religious group.

SENATOR MICHAEL BENNET (D), COLORADO: It would allow any employer deny any health service to any American for virtually any reason.

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Having a conscience clause exemption used to be something the Democrats and Republicans all agreed to. Now it's not.

SENATOR PAT MURRAY (D), WASHINGTON: We defeated an amendment that would have historically taken away something that women in this country have counted on for decades. And that's the ability to make their own health care choices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Coming up here, a 41-year-old teacher, an 18-year-old student. The teacher quit last week to be with his former student. Coming up next, you're going to hear from the student's mom. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Got some news into us here at CNN. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood now responding to the news that his son along with a number of other Americans have been released in Egypt. They have been held in Cairo for weeks after the government there accused them of fraud. We're told the group was there promoting democracy. Secretary Lahood tells CNN in a statement, quote, "I am pleased the court has lifted the travel ban and am looking to my son's arrival in the U.S. I'd like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this time."

Now to this one. This California woman has moved in with her boyfriend. No big deal except for the fact that just last year, this young woman was a high school student taught by the 41-year-old man who is now her live-in lover.

She turned 18 in September, but her mother has called police suspecting an improper relationship actually began some time before the girl was of legal age. George Warren from our affiliate KXTV has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE WARREN, KXTV: A teacher at Enochs High School quit his job last week, the same week that he moved into an apartment with one of his students, a senior.

(voice-over): The 41-year-old James Hooker has known Jordan Powers since her freshman year. And he told the Modesto Bee that they as a couple are just following their hearts. But even though Jordan turned 18 in September, her mother believes that Hooker has committed a crime.

TAMMIE POWERS, MOTHER: James Hooker has been texting Jordan over the summer. I do have concrete proof of that. There were text messages back and forth as a minor.

On the first day of school, there was a phone call. I do have proof of that. That's pursuit in my opinion. Some type of intent. There's no summer class. There's no reason they should have been texting back and forth.

WARREN: Tammie Powers became aware of the relationship last month and she says the real shock came last week when Hooker arrived at her house while she was away to move Jordan's things out of her bedroom.

POWERS: I couldn't believe that he would have the audacity to come in to a child's home, his student and pack her room.

WARREN: Tammie has turned her Facebook page into a warning for other parents.

POWERS: Clearly, he has a disconnect and bad judgment and I don't want another student to be in this position or another family ever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Again, that was George Warren, our affiliate KXTV. So the former teacher and student responded to the accusations that there was something improper going on when she was underage and they were just on "Good Morning America" today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN POWERS, FORMER STUDENT GIRLFRIEND: I think they're just digging for something that wasn't there. Of course, they're going to be curious. I know for a fact there's nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think I look at her as a student at all. I think we are sharing a life.

POWERS: People don't agree because of the age difference and because he was a teacher and I was a student. But I think it's a normal relationship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The mom, Tammie Powers told "Good Morning America" that she found that there were 8,000 text messages, 8,000 between the teacher and her daughter when she was a minor.

Coming up, it's called Game Change. The movie about Sarah Palin and John McCain in their run for the White House against Barack Obama. We're going to talk live with Danny Strong, the screen writer and executive producer of the HBO original movie after this quick break. Hello, sir.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, so everyone knows the story of the 2008 campaign. It ends with Barack Obama in the White House, but there is a story you may not know. It's the behind the scenes sniping between the Clinton and Obama camps or the rush job on vetting Sarah Palin by the McCain campaign.

Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, they put all of this together in this book called, it's a best seller, it's called "Game Change." Now this book has been turned into a new highly anticipated HBO original movie. It premieres March 10th.

The movie version though it really only focuses in, hones in on the McCain/Palin campaign. Here are some of the major players. Have you Julie Ann Moore as Sarah Palin. Ed Harris as Senator John McCain, and Woody Harrelson plays receive Steve Schmidt. He was McCain's campaign manager. Here's just part of the trailer for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not sure how much she knows about foreign policy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My God, what have we done?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It wasn't my fault. I wasn't properly prepped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This might be the -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me what to say, what to wear, how to talk. I am not your puppet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We do need to mention full transparency's sake, both CNN and HBO have the same parent company, that being Time Warner. And that said, I want to welcome screenwriter and co-executive producer of "Game Change," Danny Strong.

Good to see you. It's nice to meet you. I know you've been an actor in everything from what Buffy, Gilmore Girls, Seinfeld --

DANNY STRONG, SCREENWRITER AND CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "GAME CHANGE": One of my first gigs, Seinfeld.

BALDWIN: But now we're doing politics. I want you to first as we mentioned the book focuses on the whole arc of the campaign both Obama, Clinton, McCain, Palin. You chose in this movie to hone in on specifically McCain/Palin. Why?

STRONG: Well, there are a lot of great movies in this book, but we only have time enough to do one. We ultimately thought that the story of Sarah Palin and how she was picked and what happened subsequently wasn't just one of the best stories in that book, but one of the greatest political stories of all time.

It's truly a unique dynamic exciting story. We genuinely believed it would make the best film out of everything. There was also a sense, too, that you know, the story of Barack Obama would be a great movie as well, but that movie should be told after he's out of office.

And that to do that story right now, it would be very difficult for it not to come across as an infomercial for his re-election and it would be immersed in politics as supposed to storytelling.

BALDWIN: Maybe that's something else you have up your sleeve for a couple years from now or perhaps next year who knows. I did watch the film on Monday and really my favorite was Woody Harrelson. So I just want to play another clip. So you have Woody Harrelson playing Steve Schmidt as we mentioned Julie Ann Moore playing Sarah Palin. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't want you to talk to anyone until after the convention because no one knows anything about you. If you answer these ridiculous allegations, you'll be defining yourself in a defensive posture.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But isn't the press defining me right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No new story lasts more than 48 hours anymore. News is no longer meant to be remembered. It's just entertainment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was when Sarah Palin you know, had really wanted to respond to a lot of reporters. I just want you to in terms of the meat part of the film, you focus on how a lot of these other vice presidential candidates get vetted for months and months and she goes through a five-day process. Talk a little bit more about that.

STRONG: Well, the vet happened unusually quick and it had to be done at the highest levels of secrecy because they were worried if it got out that they were trying to vet Sarah Palin, that it would kill the entire surprise of presenting her for the first time.

So in having a vet in total secrecy, you're not able to do a thorough vet because you can't question her political enemies or reporters in Alaska. It limits who you can talk to. It turned out to be a great disadvantage to them.

BALDWIN: As part of the vet I guess lacking in the vet, she, you know, is portrayed as lackluster world knowledge. There are parts in the film when they talk about do you know what the fed means.

It's not federal government. It's Federal Reserve and why we're in Iraq versus Afghanistan. You know, the fact that in the movie they have her memorizing answers to the debate.

STRONG: Sure. You know, I mean, she was in -- it was a unique position in which she was immediately you know overnight thrust into the national spotlight. And she had never been a national figure before.

She had never been under that sort of pressure and that sort of scrutiny and she certainly wasn't as prepared for it as say someone like Joe Biden who had been in national politics all his life.

So put in an individual like that makes for a really dramatic and exciting story. In many ways, it's a Pygmalion tale of how they're trying to get her to become a national candidate almost overnight.

BALDWIN: How though, Danny Strong, did you get your information? How did you corroborate what we saw in the film actually happened? Who were you talking to?

STRONG: Sure, well, first off, I used the book as my primary source. It's an outstanding book, was not refuted when it came out in 2010. But then I went out and interviewed 25 members of the McCain/Palin campaign.

And I interviewed people from every single level of that campaign from the lowest to the highest levels of the campaign and I pretty much spoke to almost every character portrayed in the movie except for McCain and Palin who denied my requests.

I also interviewed many people who weren't portrayed in the movie. So I got a huge swathe of people who lived the events of the film.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about McCain and Palin because they're not seeing the movie. You know, Sarah Palin releasing a statement saying it was a false narrative. Palin's Political Action Committee just today releasing this video mocking your film.

I want to read part of the press release reads, "Game Change" is the most recent example in a long history of facts being distorted for profit.

On top of that, her former aide, Jason Recher denouncing this whole film and says you backed out on this promise to show him the script ahead of time. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON RECHER, FORMER PALIN AIDE: February 3rd, I called him. I said I'm very uneasy with the trailer. It does not represent the narrative that I remember, which is a very positive one from 2008, it does not represent that at all.

I'd like to see the movie and be able to respond to. When reporters is started calling me for reaction to the trailer, he said HBO denied that. I don't understand why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Did you back out on that promise?

STRONG: No, no. Look, I never promised him or anybody anything. I certainly never promised to show him the script ahead of time, which is what he's claiming right now.

As far as asking if he could see the movie, you know, about four weeks ago when he called, I told him that you know, we're going to show the movie to Governor Palin.

And we offered to show the movie to Governor Palin because she's one of the main characters portrayed in the film and said she could bring any of her aides she so desires and Governor Palin denied that offer.

BALDWIN: Premieres March 10th.

STRONG: March 10th.

BALDWIN: HBO.

STRONG: Yes.

BALDWIN: Danny Strong, thank you so much.

STRONG: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Now this. I am a huge, huge space nerd so big that this next segment is one of my favorites, one of my favorites of the day.

NASA needs a few good folks to help test out some space food. We actually got NASA to send us some samples. You're looking at it. Chad Myers and myself doing a little taste test next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So, NASA wants your help top test space food. It's kind of like a space food camp. Right now, astronauts don't stay in space very long.

So they eat a lot of dried food. But NASA wants to make the food a little bit better, give them viable alternatives, more options if they have longer missions.

So they're choosing out regular folks to test out this food and Chad Myers fellow space geek is here to tell me first and foremost, and thank you, Jessica King and Kristin again for getting all this food FedXed from Hawaii for us. Let's begin with and sorry the deadline was yesterday.

MYERS: It is.

BALDWIN: But let's go through all of this. First, what does it take to become a space food tester?

MYERS: You have to have a bachelor of science. You have to be a smart guy.

BALDWIN: Like engineering, biology.

MYERS: Just to be a taster. But the food, it looks good. It looks better than this whatever this is. Here's a pair of scissors. Chipotle snack bread. This is the old stuff. This is what they're eating in the ISS because you can't cook in space.

BALDWIN: What is this?

MYERS: That's Chipotle snack bread like, go ahead. Some of this stuff like this, this is -- this is shrimp. Doesn't that look lovely?

BALDWIN: But the whole -- let's back up because the whole premise of this whole thing is hopefully, we talked to astronauts and they're hoping for blueprints on Mars in our lifetime.

So if they get up to Mars, they would be on Mars for an extended period of time. They want to be able to eat better healthier microwavable food.

MYERS: Correct. And they're going to be so long, they don't want food fatigue. You can't really eat that for four years. You would never want to eat anything in your life.

But they want to make foods that are better. They want to make foods that are a little bit more tasty and a little more appetizing. So they are putting these people, eight people actually for four months in their own little Mars pod in New York saying only eat this stuff, tell us what you think.

BALDWIN: OK.

MYERS: Here's the stuff.

BALDWIN: Why don't you start with this one?

MYERS: Why don't you start with the eggs because that really looks --

BALDWIN: That looks delectable. OK, Mexican scrambled eggs. You're trying the sweet and sour chicken.

MYERS: And I'm hoping it tastes like chicken. It doesn't.

BALDWIN: Can I smell first?

MYERS: Jessica, you were right. This is going to be the quietest segment of all time because there's no moisture in there. I won't be able to talk. Are the eggs awesome?

BALDWIN: They're OK. So they were looking for people 21 to 65.

MYERS: They want real people. They want real people with experience like somebody that actually might be an astronaut. They want people with experience maybe in submarines. They want EMTs. They want people that can save your life if you're sick.

There's not going to be anybody going in and out of these pods. They're putting real people in these experiences to see whether that really tastes like a pork chop.

BALDWIN: It's amazing. They take these syringes. I'm not going to use it, but basically what they do is they would take this mango peach smoothie. Did you notice this? There's a little bit of Velcro.

MYERS: Float around.

BALDWIN: So they attach this in whatever they're in. How do they store the rest of it?

MYERS: Well, the hard part is going to be they go to Mars. What do they do with the water? What do they do with the waste? How do they get all of this stuff up there for a four-year where you can't grow anything problem? That looks like real meat.

BALDWIN: Look at that.

MYERS: Yes, that comes part like meat.

BALDWIN: Can you guys get in close on this.

MYERS: A little bit of poi and you might have the something there. How do they store? This is going to be stored still probably freeze dried.

BALDWIN: It's not bad actually. MYERS: We should have started with that, but then the beans are there.

BALDWIN: We'll get to it.

MYERS: So they have to cook this in space. They want things to not look liking this when an astronaut has to eat this for four years, more like this. This has all been developed. The food is ready to go and there for them to eat for four months. Somebody has to drop out. There's going to be alternates to go back in and out.

BALDWIN: Would you do this?

MYERS: For $5,000 for four months? I'm going to pass. It's $5,000. That's all they get paid.

BALDWIN: But it's part of history and you could potentially be helping people who ultimately go to Mars.

MYERS: But I have bills.

BALDWIN: Bills to pay. This is cool.

MYERS: This is great.

BALDWIN: The pork chops really good. All right, Chad Myers.

MYERS: Tastes like chicken.

BALDWIN: It does. Thank you so much. There you go, the space camp food test.

Now, to this.