movement if your face has no movement. thank you. >> to folks at botox, look at my eyebrows. black does not crack. >> will cain, 15 seconds. >> look at roland's yellow pocket square. he coordinates. >> you wish you had brother's style. you know this. >> that's all the time i have today. i'm happy to say that. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello begins right now. >> thank you, soledad. i will come to your rescue. good morning, everyone. i'm carol costello. happening right now, standing strong. trayvon martin's parents this morning thanking god and remaining optimistic as george zimmerman sits in police custody just hours from a court hearing. sanford, florida, urging calm and healing today. firestorm. democratic strategist hillary rosen and attack on mitt romney's wife. >> his wife has actually never

worked a day in her life. she's never dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing. >> has rosen gone too far? we'll ask her live. extreme flooding. cars buried by water. texas getting hammered by hail the size of golf balls. we're tracking where the storm is heading next. were we taken for a ride? the department of justice throwing the ebook at apple accusing the computer giant of pumping up price these charge us for ebooks. the government says the winners in publishers and losers would be you. new information this morning about former arkansas coach bobby petrino and his motorcycle mistress. 6,000 ways to say no. ♪ >> axl rose in a lengthy 16 paragraph letter to the rock 'n' roll hall of fame says thanks but no thanks requesting he not be inducted.

"newsroom" begins right now. this morning we begin in a florida courtroom and the new epicenter of the trayvon martin case. just a few hours from now, george zimmerman will appear before a judge. this is his new mug shot. the first time we've seen him since the night he killed the unarmed teenager. zimmerman's attorney says he'll ask for his client's release on bond. this is zimmerman's arrival at the seminole county jail where he spent the night. it was just hours after being charged with second-degree murder. for the parents of trayvon martin, it has been an agonizing time. all along they demanded zimmerman's arrest and each day the public debate over race has grown more heated. >> just want to speak from my heart to your heart because a heart has no color. it's not black. it's not white.

it's red. >> martin savidge is in sanford this morning. will we see zimmerman in court today? >> reporter: no. what i mean by that is of course you will be able to see him but we believe it will be an electronic link. a video link. it isn't that george zimmerman is going to be in the courtroom physically. we do of course anticipate that his attorney will be there, m k o'mary aa and enter a plea of n guilty. the judge will read the charge against him. second-degree murder with a firearm. that's got a minimum of 25 years. possibly up to life in prison if george zimmerman were to be found guilty. there's also going to be a pool television camera inside the courtroom that will be able to give us some of the atmosphere of what's happening there. the real question here, carol, is if there will be a bond hearing. that would be a separate issue. >> he's stressed.

he's tired. he's been through a lot with the way this case has been handled to date. i'm just hoping that his mental health stays well and we can move forward with getting the face figured out. >> reporter: that of course was his attorney talking about the mental state that he says george zimmerman is in. he had a chance to meet with his client for an hour last night. he wants him out on bond because they need to start planning a defense. >> martin savidge reporting live to us from sanford, florida. a firestorm brewing over a democratic consultant's controversial comments about ann romney. it stirred up the debate over working moms versus stay at home moms. listen to what rosen said on anderson cooper 360 last night. >> you have mitt romney running around the country saying my wife tells me what women care about are economic issues. when i listen to my wife, that's what i'm hearing. his wife has never worked a day

in her life. she has never dealt with economic issues that women in this country are dealing with how to feed our kids and send them to school and why worry about their future? >> ann romney went on twitter for the first time ever to respond to that. she said via tweet i made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. believe me, it was hard work. others jumped on twitter to attack rosen's comment. even democrats distancing themselves from it. obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod tweeted, also disappointed in rosen's comments about ann romney. they were inappropriate and offensive. coming up in just about 35 minutes from now, rosen will join us and she'll answer her critics. lawmakers in connecticut have voted to repeal the state's death penalty. with the governor promising to sign it, two men on death row for a home invasion that left a women and two daughters dead. under the new law, their death

sentences would not be affected by the sole survivor of the crime warns the law will force appeals that could eventually spare their lives. today jury selection begins for john edwards, the former democratic presidential candidate that face as half dozen charges over the way money was handled in his 2008 campaign and specifically payments made to his former mistress. jurors will decide if money coming from campaign supporters should face the same federal regulation as political donations. edwards denies any wrongdoing. more fallout from arkansas football coach bobby petrino's firing. phone records were released showingsho showing an incredible amount of phone calls and text between the married father of four and jessica dorrell. 4,450 text messages including 62

picture and video messages. 1,775 were from petrino including ten picture messages. they spoke for 22 minutes the day after the motorcycle accident. raging waters paralyzed parts of texas panhandle after a hail storm near amarillo, texas. it was caught on camera by a storm chasers. the floodwaters washed out roads and everything else in its path including cars. hail and water washed together forming mounds of hail estimated to be four feet high. i've never even heard of that. rob marciano is here to explain. really? i saw a picture of a firefighter standing beside this mound of hail. >> if you think of it like a drift, like a snow drift. sometimes when you get 6 inches of snow, you can get a 6-foot snow drift. with ahail when you get five or six inches of accumulation which is remarkable, you get water that takes all that hail and

then kind of funnels it into a ditch and piles it up. that's where you get three and four feet of accumulation. >> crazy. >> pictures of cars that are stuck in side road drainage ditches with hail up and over the side rail. amazing stuff. this is the second day that this sort of thing has happened across the texas and oklahoma panhandle and because of that not only did we get hail but tremendous amount of rainfall there and when i say tremendous, you know, if they get an inch of rain in a day that's a lot. they got two inches in two days. both of those shots of rain came in about an hour to two-hour time period. that's why you had flash flooding there and raging rivers and today if you look at maps, this is where you will see the threat for supercell thunderstorms and potentially tornadoes today. certainly damaging winds and torrential downpours and large hail a good probability today and tomorrow and then as we move toward the weekend, there's a strong system coming into california saturday and sunday

look to be particularly dangerous at this point. we'll have to keep aware of that. >> i'm sure you will. thank you, rob. stand your ground, the controversial florida law could be on trial along with george zimmerman. hear how that could play out in the courtroom next. real life drama unfolding on a los angeles freeway. a police chase ends in a shootout and it's all caught on camera. we'll show you more. apple facing serious allegations of price fixing. how the case could end up saving you money.

according to the signs, ford is having some sort of big tire event. i just want to confirm a w things with fiona. how would you describe the event? it's big. no,i mean in terms of savings how would you sum it up? big in your own words, with respect to selection, what would you say? big okay, let's talk rebates mike, they're big they're big get $100 rebate, plus the low price tire guarantee during the big tire event. so, in other words, we can agree that ford's tire event is a good size? big big ♪ ♪ one, two, three, four ♪ you say ♪ flip it over and replay ♪ we'll make everything okay ♪ walk together the right way ♪ do, do, do, do

♪ made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. ♪ who knew being natural could be so delicious? coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. opinions on the trayvon martin case are varied, strong and coming from all corners. this one from the brady campaign for prevention of gun violence. i'll quote you here.

this is a quote. george zimmerman is the nra. florida shoot first ask questions later law and the paranoid mentality it promotes are products of the nra's vision for america where just about anybody can get and use a gun just about anywhere. let's talk more about that with cnn legal contributor and attorney paul callan. welcome, paul. >> nice being with you. >> good to have you here. a lot of people think george zimmerman will be on trial but so is florida's stand your ground law. how will that come into play during this trial do you think? >> not only florida's law but more than 20 other american states have similar stand your ground laws. a lot of states will be on trial in terms of this law. the way the law will come into place is after the arraignment in the case and working out of whether he gets bail or no bail, the next thing that usually happens in florida is a stand your ground hearing. at that hearing a florida judge will hear evidence as to whether

or not george zimmerman was acting in self-defense when he fired the fatal shot that killed trayvon martin. if the judge thinks that there's substantial evidence supporting zimmerman's self-defense claim, the entire case gets dismissed and is never submitted to a jury. now, this is pretty much unprecedented unprecedented. it doesn't happen in other states but it's a special florida procedure with respect to this law. >> you say that george zimmerman may never appear in criminal court if his lawyers can prove that he was just acting under the pretense of this law, the stand your ground law. >> he will appear in criminal court but he'll never appear in front of a jury. a judge -- this is a judge decision. it's a special hearing. florida lawyers call it an immunity hearing. his lawyers will stand up in front of the judge and say under florida stand your ground law, he felt his life was in danger and he used deadly physical force to protect himself and we

want the charges dismissed. if the judge agrees with that, he could throw the case out. i'm not saying that he will but i will tell you, carol, many, many florida prosecutions have ended this way with the immunity hearing and that doesn't happen in other states. in other states a jury decides this and not a judge. >> you have examined this law. i know you have, paul. and the one thing that sticks out, you can defend yourself if you're afraid that your life is in danger. if you're just afraid. the other person doesn't have to attack you. you can't follow a person, right? you can't stalk a person and then defend yourself. as we all know by now, george zimmerman followed trayvon martin against the advice of florida police. so how will george zimmerman's defense attorney spin that? >> well, carol, you say that we all know that george zimmerman followed him against the advice of the 911 operator.

i'm not so sure that the defense is going to agree with that. i think the defense is going to say that george zimmerman stood down and maybe started to return to his vehicle and was jumped from behind. i don't know what the defense is going to be. i'm suggesting that's a possibility. that would anyone give him the right to say that he acted in self-defense. he was in fear of serious bodily injury when he fired the shot. if you are correct that in fact he continued to follow trayvon martin and he started the fight, he initiated the fight, he becomes what we call the initial aggressor and he really -- the law won't allow him to use a self-defense claim. george zimmerman's case would be very, very difficult if he was stalking, following and provoking the encounter with trayvon martin. the facts are still very much out there, carol. we haven't really seen what the prosecutor has and what the defense attorneys have. >> paul callan, fascinating. thank you so much for your insight.

we appreciate it. >> nice being with you. now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you today. is the martin case more about race or justice? this is a case that's once again ripped the country apart along racial lines. the prosecutor, the florida prosecutor, was careful to say she is committed to justice for every race, every gender, every person. even martin family advocate al sharpton pivoted and calmly talked about unity. >> i want us to be very clear, this is not anti-anybody. there are whites, blacks, latinos, asians that have marched with us, that stand with us. >> that is a far cry from those fiery speeches where sharpton demanded that george zimmerman be arrested. >> don't talk to us like we're ignorant. we love our children like you

love yours. lock him up. >> critics like conservatives rush limbaugh says that zimmerman was branded a criminal before the facts came out. the facts will come out but will we ever come together on race? yesterday it took the victim's mother to peel away the racial politics. >> i just want to speak from my heart to your heart because a heart has no color. it's not black. it's not white. it's red. and i want to say thank you from my heart to your heart. >> so the talkback question for you. is the martin case more about race or justice? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comments later this hour. a frightening ride for children and two adults. school bus crashes into a house. just ahead, we'll tell you what led to this rather bizarre accident. a government lawsuit against apple could drive down the price

of your favorite ebooks. we'll tell you why. [ crickets chirping ]

[ traffic passing ] ♪ [ music box: lullaby ] [ man on tv, indistinct ] ♪ [ lullaby continues ] [ baby coos ] [ man announcing ] millions are still exposed to the dangers... of secondhand smoke... and some of them can't do anything about it. ♪ [ continues ] [ gasping ]

a high-speed car chase last night ends in gunfire. as you can see from these pictures, the driver who is cornered by police gets out of his car, runs, and then begins an apparent shootout with authorities. he then tries to hide behind another motorist's car. police fired back. the gunman was killed. one of the biggest and most stubborn brush fires along the new jersey turnpike is finally out.

the meadowlands fire was less than a mile from met life stadium and consumed near 100 acres. parts of the new jersey turnpike were shut down due to smoke and low visibility. in miami, a school bus crashes into the front of a house after being hit by an suv. the two children and two adults on board the bus suffered minor injuries. an 87-year-old man and his adult granddaughter were inside the home. they are okay too. the justice department is accusing apple of taking part in a price fixing scheme. it's suing the technology giant and several publishing companies for allegedly conspireing to raise prices on digital books. joining us live via skype, hln mario armstrong. serious claims. lay them out for us. >> they are very serious claims. about 20% of americans or adults out there have read an ebook and about 24 on average ebooks are

downloaded by these folks each year by the average ebook reader. there's a lot of money to be made and there's a lot of money being spent on ebooks. the problem is the u.s. government is alleging that publishers conspired with apple to come together to do price fixing on electronic books. and to really challenge the amazon pricing by raising the prices higher than amazon's normal price point. >> so you can only get apple's ebooks on apple products, right? you can get amazon ebooks on the nook and stuff like that. >> you can get ebooks across platform. you can download ebooks onto different devices. the problem was that amazon's prices were very, very low. and so what they were saying is amazon publishers, we're not going to give you these ebooks unless you let us help to really raise the prices. we're going to use apple as someone that has a tablet, a

very popular ipad and iphone as a way that many people read these ebooks. we'll bring them into the picture to really say you have to stop lowering the prices. we're not making enough profit on these books or you won't receive them. >> got you. so if the justice department is successful in its suit, what will that mean to consumers? >> if they are successful, that means prices will begin to drop down. people are used to paying around $9.99 or a little bit more for these ebooks. consumers are hopeful that that will mean that prices will drop. the bottom line is many consumers are frustrated. they say, look, with an electronic book there's no shipping. there's no restocking fee. there's no printing cost. there's really hardly any cost to creating an electronic book so why should it get the same amount of profit margin from a hard back or paperback book? >> thanks for making it clear. we appreciate it. >> thank you, carol.

appreciate it. an alert to all of you who are sleep deprived this morning. a new study says disrupted sleep would lead to obesity and even diabetes. the study in the current issue of science translational medicine studied 29 adults for six weeks. their sleep cycles were interrupted. participants had elevated blood sugar levels and burned calories more slowly than those who slept for eight hours a night. the good news, doctors say exercise and adjusting sleep schedules could help build metabolism. if you are thinking about cool new smartphone, make a decision fast. one wireless carrier is planning to stick a fat fee to customers who upgrade. that story is coming your way next. we'll talk more about the trayvon martin case and george zimmerman's arrest. how has this all affected the dialogue about race in this country? zap technology.

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the opening bell expected to ring in two minutes. stocks are expected to open higher today thanks to decent reports from yesterday. if you plan to get a new smartphone, better hurry up if you're a verizon customer. they will begin charging a $30 upgrade fee later this month. the trayvon martin/george zimmerman story isn't just about florida justice. it's a national debate about race. the special prosecutor who announced second-degree murder charges against george zimmerman basically had to assure the public that the law is color blind. >> those of us in law enforcement are committed to

justice for every race, every gender, every person of any persuasion whatsoever. they are our victims. we only know one category as prosecutors and that's a v. it's not a b. it's not a w. it's not an h. it's v for victim. >> cnn's contributors roland martin and will cain are here to talk about that. >> good morning. >> glad to be here. >> george zimmerman's brother went on piers morgan and contradicted what the prosecutor had to say. he said that the prosecutor did cave to pressure and it was all about race. what do you say to that, will? >> i have no idea of knowing if that prosecutor caved to pressure. i don't think so. i doubt it. i don't have evidence in front of me and facts in front of me that she has in front of her. there are several surprises as evidence come forward and we see it will be interesting to answer. what did she see what original investigator in the case didn't see? he suggested manslaughter charge? what did she see the original

prosecutor didn't see because that original prosecutor decided not to press any charges. as we get to facts and evidence, that will be interesting. she weekend for second-degree murder charge. what does she have factswise to go for a heavy charge? it will be interesting to see when the facts come out. >> roland, you respond. >> bottom line is simple. trayvon martin's family has made it perfectly clear along with 2.2 million people that signed a petition that justice needs to be served. what they want is for this to go before a judge and a jury. so trayvon martin is dead. george zimmerman is still living. he has a shot to do whatever he wants to do. and so this is why we have the criminal justice system and i will say without the public pressure, without the protest, without all of those different things, i don't think for a second we'll be sitting here today having this conversation and he will not sit in jail right now if people did not stand up, speak up and make their voices heard. >> by the same token, there are

people who say that because of that pressure, that was the only reason the prosecutor acted the way she did because she had to. if this were a normal case and i'm just saying what they say, that george zimmerman wouldn't be charged with second-degree murder. >> first of all, who is they? sure. those people can sit and say that. we talk about justice. bottom line is justice is supposed to be blind. as i said many times before for african-americans historically, the question has always been is it justice or is it just us? so we have seen for all too long the need to have the protest and make our voices heard because frankly some folks don't step up and do the right thing. that's part of it. african-americans and all of the other people who are white and hispanic who are asian and who march had the same right as anybody else according to our constitution to be able to protest and make their voices heard to say look at this much closer than the first prosecutor did. that's what it was all about.

>> will, race did enter into this case. there's no question about that. why do you think it split the country so passionately along racial lines? >> that's a deep question, carol. i think it has a lot to do with basically how each and every one of us and we can use roland and will cain as our proxies growing up in different surroundings with different experiences growing up. i have struggled throughout the entire case to see the other side and to see roland's side in this to say, will, race has something to do with this. when i look at the facts of this case, i see nothing but inconclusions but questions. questions but not conclusions. my wife explained this very well to me as i try to put myself in your house is. wh people check conservative boxes for you among that you are a racist usually. they check ten boxes. opposed to gay marriage and on and on. it's my job for some reason to disprove those boxes which unfortunately for some i don't check all of the boxes for

conservative. so i guess that's the best i can do to try to identify with what racial profiling might have had to do with this and how race might have been a part of this story. i still don't know with the facts of this case how much they are. i understand the issue is a big deal in the country and why it divided us. i still don't know how much it had to do with this particular case. >> so roland -- >> this is not new. this is not new. 1968. a commission came out with a report after the rise in '68 and the report said simply there are two americas. there's one black. there's one white. you look at the television shows that we watch, you will see a tota totally different deal. we have seen multiple polling, whether it's on this case or others where white americans have a different view than black americans. that's the history of america and so it's not new because of the trayvon martin case. that's been the case for quite some time. it is simply the reality. we do live in different worlds and see things in a different

way. >> i know that kind of makes me sad, roland. shouldn't we be further along than that? >> we are farther along but it's simply a reality. so will and i talked about it before. when celena died people said who is that? she was a huge star. and so i guarantee you that if garth brooks had been shot and killed by his fan club, it would have been a different reaction. the point is we don't know about somebody else's culture or experiences. we don't necessarily even really understand that. so this is just simply who we are as a nation. we live in silos. black silos, white silos, hispanic and asian. we do. >> i don't think this has to be a sad thing. i think we simply recognize that we have different cultures and we are very different in so many ways. that doesn't mean we're completely different. we do our best to identify with each other and understand each other. when we deal with cases like this, we ultimately pursue the truth. the truth. we also have to take all of

those differences aside but pursue the truth. that's honestly what i tried to focus on when it comes to the zimmerman/trayvon martin case. >> will and i are texans. we might differ than someone else who isn't a texan. it's a different in culture. >> that's a fact. >> thanks to both of you for an interesting conversation. >> so many differences. >> thanks will and roland. stay at home moms, republicans and even some democrats push back against a democrat's stinging comment about ann romney. >> his wife has actually never worked a day in her life. >> coming up next, hilary rosen explains her comments and answers her critics. ♪[music plays]

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that's where the interest in engineering came from. so now, as an engineer, i have a career that speaks to that passion. thank you, mr. davies. fiona here was just telling me that ford dealers sell a new tire like...every five seconds, how's that possible? well, we purchase 3 million a year. you just sold one right now didn't you? that's correct. major brands. 11 major brands. oop,there goes another one. well we'll beat anybody's advertised price. and you just did it right there, what's that called? the low price tire guarantee. wait for it, there goes another one. get a $100 rebate, plus the low price tire guarantee during the big tire event. look at that. it's happening right there every five seconds. your not going to run out are you? no.

it was a comment that sent shock waves through the political world to the world of stay at home moms and stirred up

debate on twitter. democratic strategist hilary rosen told anderson kocooper la night that ann romney, mitt romney's wife, never worked a day in her life. ann romney fired back on twitter for the first time ever. she said i made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. believe me, it was hard work. hilary rosen is here to respond. you know what you did, right? you stirred up the war between working moms and stay at home moms. now that's what we're talking about. >> well, but this really isn't about stay at home moms versus working moms. it's about women in general. i love stay at home moms. i have nothing against them. i support them all the time. go to cnn.com to see everything i have said about working moms. what the good conversation here is does mitt romney have a record about women and a plan for women that helps working women and women struggling

economically to find a better future? that's the challenge that i have for mitt romney. >> that's not how people took your comments. they said it was offensive and that you were attacking stay-at-home moms. you said ann romney never worked a day in her life. this is a woman that suffered breast cancer, has ms and raised five boys. that's hard work. >> i have kids. being a mom is the hardest job in the world. that's the truth of it. i have said consistently that the -- mitt romney has brought his wife into this conversation. this is not about ann romney. this is about the waitress in a diner in some place in nevada who has two kids whose day care funding is being cut off because of the romney/ryan budget and she doesn't know what to do. this isn't about whether ann romney or i or other women of some means can afford to make a choice to stay home and raise

kids. most women in america, let's face it, don't have that choice. they have to be working moms and home moms and that's the piece that i am not hearing from the romney camp. instead everybody is attacking me. that's fine. attack me. but it does not erase his woeful record on this issue. >> i talked to a lot of conservative women who say these kind of comments prove once again that liberal women really have no clue how conservative women choose to live their lives. and by your comment i think that's just opened up that wound and widened the kasim once again. >> i don't think that women across this country who have to work to support their families and raise their children look at the divide between liberal women and conservative women. women see themselves as having a tough time and wanting leaders

to speak to their issues. barack obama has done that. mitt romney has not. the republicans are making a very effective strategic decision today to attack me instead of talking about the issues that have been raised over the last few days. the fact that mitt romney didn't know what the act was and his staff wasn't sure whether he supported pay equity for women. the fact that he is lying about whether barack obama has created 23 straight months of job creation. the fact that he is taking off over women's health care. those are the issues he's trying to distract with a covers winve about his wife. >> even the obama administration is distancing themselves from your comment. disappointed in the comments about ann romney. they were inappropriate and offensive. they are sort of saying, you know, you said this.

that sort of takes the focus off of everything that you just said about the act. >> i don't think it does. think that what is taking the focus off is republican's desire to change the subject. whatever david axelrod says is fine with me. i think the issue that i'm focussing on is does mitt romney have a vision for bringing women up economically and can he himself stop referring to his wife as his economic surrogate. that's an important thing. he's the one that keeps doing this. not me. >> hilary rosen, thank you for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> okay. >> thanks. we're back in a minute. stay with us. cuban

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tdd# 1-800-345-2550 before giving you practical ideas you can act on. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck online, on the phone, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 or come in and pull up a chair. the man is he center of the trayvon martin shooting is expected to make his first appearance about four hours from now. george zimmerman turned himself into authorities on wednesday night. he's charged with second-degree murder. his new attorney plans to ask a judge to post a reasonable bond. in the meantime, zimmerman's family says they're glad he's safe in custody and they continue to defend him. >> there was no winner in this. us as a family viewed it as our brother could have been dead. our brother literally had to save his life by taking a life. that's no situation that anybody wants to ever be in ever.

>> the parents of trayvon martin say they're satisfied zimmerman has been charged and is in custody but realize there's a long way to go with this case. more fallout from the arkansas football coach bobby petri petrino's firing. phone records have been released showing an incredible number of text messages and calls between the married father of four and 25-year-old jessica dorrell. petrino called dorrell 283 times over the last seven months. the two exchanged more than 4,450 text messages. more than half are from dorrell including 62 picture and video messages. 1,775 were from petrino. petrino and dorrell spoke for 22 minutes the day after that motorcycle accident. turns out betty white has the last laugh. the 90-year-old actress had the twitter world in a frenzy after a story was reported that her

account, which was supposedly verified by the social network, wasn't really hers. tv co-star valerie bertinelli said that white was upset over the matter. turns out the actress was pranking people ahead of her upcoming series, "off their rockers." legendary rocker axl rose is saying thanks but no thanks to the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. the organization planned to induct guns and roses this weekend but axl rose wants nothing to do with it. he sent them this two-page letter. i'll let "showbiz tonight's" a.j. hammer break it down for you. >> carol, the members of guns and roses have been feuding for years. this is shaping up to be yet another battle. axl released that extraordinarily long statement to "showbiz tonight" about the rock hall and why he doesn't want the group that he co-founded to be given the honor. axl says he's declining the invitation to appear at this

weekend's induction ceremony and asking to not even be inducted. in a very small part and i must emphasize a very small part of this enormous statement, this is what axl rose writes. i'm sure there will be those who take offense. i don't intend to disappoint anyone especially the fans with this decision. since the announcement of the nomination, we have actively sought out a solution to what appears to be a no win so let sleeping dogs lie or lying dogs sleep or whatever. time to move on. people get divorced. life doesn't owe you your own personal happy ending especially at another or in this case several others expense. after this 1,000 plus word letter, the hall of fame passed upon these words. we're sorry that axl will not be able to accept his induction in

person. a rep for slash says that he will be attending. he intends to be in cleveland this weekend to accept the honor. greenday scheduled to induct the band on saturday. you know what? whether axl rose likes it or not, his band will be honored. >> just so bizarre. he's really bizarre now. that's all i have to say. let's talk about alec baldwin because he's threatening to leave 30 rock and nbc all together. >> this is stem iming from his recent encounter with an alleged stocker who was arrested after showing up at his home. after that happened, the media just descended on his apartment building to get coverage. one of the camera crews that showed up was from the "today" show, which is on nbc, an alec appears to think that as a star of "30 rock," he could get preferential treatment from their show and they should have stayed away. so we went on the twitter highway and among the things he

tweeted was that i am leaving nbc just in time. he is still reportedly under contract for the next season according to his tweeter feed, he's on vacation in rome, so maybe he just meant it was a good thing he was going on vacation. "today" show is part of their news division, so for them not to send a news crew would have been a little strange, if it was a news worthy type of event and i love alec baldwin. i don't know that he necessarily deserved preferential treatment in this case and that seems to be what a will the of people are saying. >> thank you. not just busting tackles on the football field, but also busting moves. the navy midshipmen take their practice to a whole new level. we've got sports in less than ten minutes. on our car insurance. great! at progressive, you can compare rates side by side, so you get the same coverage, often for less. wow! that is huge! [ disco playing ]

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we talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you, is the martin case more about race or justice? this from steven. without the racial spotlight and pressure, the case would not have been reopened. now, will zimmerman get a fair trial? and finding the truth even if it vindicates zimmerman. this from brian. it's about guns. from mark. a little bit of both. if the victim was white and the cop was block, there would have been an arrest earlier. question of race will always remain. it will never truly be about one human being taking the life of another. please continue to conversation on facebook and thanks for your

comments. archaeologists in jerusalem claim they have made an ine credible discovery. in the next hour, we'll tell you what they found and why it's sparking controversy and why scholars are reject iing the claims. made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. ♪ who knew being natural could be so delicious? coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. ♪ ♪ ♪

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the nhl stanley cup playoffs

began with a battle for pennsylvania. sydney crosby and the penguins hosting the flyers. first period, pens draw first blood. pittsburgh would go up 3-0. the flyers come back and send the game into overtime. the final 4-3, flyers. steven strasburg for the washington nationals missed almost all of last season with an injury. he's making up for lost time. he struck out nine new york mets. threw more than 100 pitches for the first time in his career. the nates win the game 4-0. clippers star blake griffin keeps raising the bar on dunking. watch this. yeah. it was a monster jam. why don't we take another look because it was so darn good. griffin will get the baseline

pass, then puts the hammer down. the clipper beat oklahoma city 100-98. fourth place in the west. and finally, college football spring practice can be tough, but even at the naval academy, coachers give the players a little break. check out this at practice. ♪ -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com just ahead, george zimmerman is hours away from his first court hearing. we are live outside the courtroom, plus, we're taking a closer look at the charge he is facing and how u the prosecution and defense may argue the complicated case. controversial comments about r mitt romney's wife trigger a twitter fire storm. >> his wife has actually never worked a day in her life. >> this morning, democratic

strategist hillary rosen defends her statements and responds to the criticism. calls, pics and texts, thousands of them. new information about bobby petrino and his motorcycle mistress. archaeologists say they've made a startling discovery and they hope this burial tomb will reveal the beginnings of christianity. >> right over here, you have the earliest icon of christian belief. >> well, take a closer look at the discovery and why some say it's being overblown. but we begin this morning by taking a closer look at the trayvon martin case. george zimmerman is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 1:30 eastern time. the judge will read the second degree murder charge against him and discuss his right to council. today's hearing comes 46 days after he shot and killed 17-year-old trayvon martin. his parents and hundreds of supporters have argued for

zimmerman to be charged once details of the altercation started coming out and were relieved at the special prosecutor's decision. >> we simply wanted an arrest. we wanted nothing more than, nothing less. just wanted an arrest and we got it and i say thank you. >> as attorney krump said, this is just the beginning. we got a long way to go. and we have faith. >> martin savidge is covering zimmerman's first court appearance today. so, will zimmerman physically be in court today? >> reporter: don't think so. the way it usually works is that he will be b connected electronically. it will be a television connection where he will remain inside the jail where he's being housed and he will appear in the courtroom in front of the judge that way. there will be a camera allowed for the media. we expect his attorney and

expected to enter a plea of not guilty. that's how we anticipate it's expected to go down with this arraignment or first appearance as it's called. >> tell us about the community reaction. are people relieved? still angry? >> reporter: it depends who you talk to. there are some of course, those who are supporters of trayvon martin. the best way to put it, they are pleased. nobody was really celebrating because they realize there's a way to go. the supporters who believe george zimmerman, clearly, they're not happy, but the city of sanford, you could say they let out a sigh. maybe it's not relief because emotions have been running so high. you had a couple of days ago the police car that was shot up, so there was a sense that as long as it continued as it was, there could really be a potential for violence and danger. now that it's fallen into the hands of the legal system, i

think people are hoping that the rhetoric is starting to die down. want to take a closer look at the man defending george zimmerman. ma he served as prosecutor, then entered private practice. he specialized in criminal and family law. he's well-known thanks in part to serving as a legal commentator on local television. he became a fixture of the local media during its coverage of the casey anthony murder trial and had the same role in the early days of the trayvon martin murder case and it was in that role he made an interesting comment about florida's stand your ground law, which may be central to zimmerman's defense. >> can you confront someone, shoot them and get away with th that? >> under certain circumstances, the answer would be yes.

>> with this law on the books, it sounds like people have a license to kill. >> people call it the license to murder statute because it doesn't require actions to avoid the confrontation. >> he says it's too early for him to map out a defense strategy. he says zimmerman needs to be released on bond to help prepare his case and for his own well being. >> he's stressed. he's tired. he's been through a lot with the way this case has been handled to date. i'm just hoping that his mental health stays well and that we can move forward with getting the case figured out. >> he says if the case does go to trial, it will probably be toward the end of the year or later. fz now, let's take a closer look at the stand your ground law and how things are now setting up for a possible trial. in order for the prosecution to win its case, it faces two challenges. first, it must demonstrate the death was caused by a criminal act, then must convince jurors

it was from a depraved mind. mike najane is in orlando. good morning. >> good morning. >> so, is this a difficult case for prosecutors? >> i think it's far more difficult than some would suggest and some media reports would indicate. mark hit it on the head when you saw that little clip there. actually, mark and i were co-commentators during that entire. i spent two months with him, almost every day. he knows it inside out. was very measured. under control. so, i think that he's going to be laying it out and looking for all the areas to present at some point before a judge on the immunity aspect of the stand your ground law. >> so, let me ask you this. george zimmerman's legal

advisers, we heard them in that news conference and people thought they were kind of whacky. how did zimmerman find his new attorney? do you know? >> i do. actually going to bring it up later, but since you asked, very simple. we got a phone call from mr. zimmerman and i simply said that i did not want to handle the case. not on any personal grounds, as far as having a strong opinion one way or the other about the case, but i knew natalie jackson on trayvon's side. she's a fabulous lawyer. and i simply found that it was best that young children of an older father, i've been involved in a lot of high profile cases and they own you. so i gave five different names to mr. zimmerman and his people and they researched and found mark to be the one they wanted to go with withment and they made a very excellent choice. >> interesting. >> the question i have, if you

were defending zimmerman, what would be p your line of attack? >> all the facts. i think that it's going to be an exhausting discovery in this case. there's a lot of things we don't know. biggotry and race. those 42 or 46 calls that he made telling about his suspicious activity in the area. were those uniformly, with those people of color. african-americans. were they against hispanics? against people who were white? if it was a cross section, it would suggest this was not a unique thing because he saw a young african-american male. if in fact those calls were disportion people of color, then there's an issue there as far as him profiling. those are the things we doept know right now. i think we would look at forensics, if there was a difference between the powder burns on trayvon, it would

suggest they were far away from each other. if we show they were close, we know there was likely a struggle that was going on and it happened at that time. there are so many things we don't know and need to be found out before people take these extreme sides they have taken. i think that this case is very important because you've got two tragedies without question for the martin family, but i also think that the zimmerman family never would have expected this to happen in their lives as well. it's a true, true tragedy for all involved and from what i understand, trayvon's mother took to the air waves today and showed great compassion and i think that will go along way towards healing and figuring out what went wrong. >> thank you so much for sharing your insight with us this morning. we have continuing coverage of the zimmerman case throughout the hour. we'll hear from representative fredericka wilson, and also from

zimmerman's brother. he says zimmerman is facing charges today because of characters influencing the case. also, a controversial comment about a white house candidate's wife has exploded across social media. string of sentiment for stay at home moms. it all started with this from hillary rosen onrosen. >> what you have is mitt romney running around the country saying well, you know, my wife tells me what women really care about are economic issues and when i listen to my wife, that's what i'm hearing. guess what? she has never worked a day in her life. she's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that the majority of women in this country are facing, how do we feed or kids, send them to school and why we worry about their future. >> went on twitter for the first time ever to fire back. this is her tweet. she said i made a choice to stay at home and raise five boys.

believe me, it was hard work. >> hillary rosen joined us in the last hour and had this to say. >> this isn't about whether ann romney or i or other people of some means can afford to make a choice to stay home and raise kids. most women in america let's face it, don't have the choice. they have to be working moms and home moms. that's the piece that i am not hear frg the romney camp. instead, everybody's attacking me. that's fine. attack me. but it does not erase his woeful record on this issue. >> i talk to a lot of conservative women who say these kinds of comments just prove once again that liberal women really have a clue how conservative women choose to live their lives and by your comment, i think that's just opened up that wound and widened it again. >> i don't think that women across this country who have to

work to support their families and are raising children, view the divide here between liberal and conservative women. they see themselves as having a rough time, wanting to speak to their issues. barack obama has done that and mitt romney has not. and the republicans are making a very effective, strategic decision today to attack me instead of talking about the issues that have been raised over the last few days. >> a panel will take on this hot topic. up in just about 20 minutes. a real life drama unfolds on a los angeles freeway. police chase ends in a shootout. it's all caught on camera. and a coach exchanges thousands of texts an hundreds of calls with a woman who's not his wife. bobby petrino's downfall logged in newly released phone records. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

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already does this. at&t and sprint have a $36 fee for an upgrade, while t mobile has an $18 fee. verizon has a trade-in program, you should ask if you're upgrading. >> why all the fees? they get you coming and going. >> i know. there are big changes in the wireless industry. companies are making a lot of money on smart, i mean, they're not making a lot of money on smart phones because of those subsidies and also makinging less on voice minutes because we're not usinging as many. instead, we're downloading videos, music, browsing online and that causes the wireless spectrum to get jammed up, so if carriers are spending billions to build that up. so these fees help pay for that. >> thank you. now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day.

the question, is the martin case more about race or justice? this is a case that's once again ripped the country apart along racial lines. the prosecutor was careful to say she's committed to justice for every race, every gender, every person. even martin family advocate al sharpton pivoted and calmly talked about unity. >> i want us to be very clear. this is not anti anybody. there are whites, blacks, latinos, asian that have marched with us, that stand with us. >> that is a far cry from those fiery speeches where sharpton demanded that george zimmerman be arrested. >> don't talk to us like we're ignorant! we love our children like you love yours! lock him up! >> critics like rush limbaugh accused them of race baiting, saying zimmerman was branded a

criminal before everyone knew the facts. will we ever come together on race? yesterday, it took the victim's mother to peel away the racial politics. >> i just want to speak from my heart to your heart because a heart has no color. there's not black. there's not white. it's red. and i want to say thank you from my heart to your heart. >> so the talk back question today is the martin case more about race or justice? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your responses later this hour. another hot story out there this morning. ann romney getting feisty on twitter. she fired back at the democrat who said mrs. romney never worked a day in her life. our political buzz panel will weigh in next. and new evidence about just how bad bobby petrino's behavior was. phone records show thousands of

calls between a now fired coach and a female staff member. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. do about medicare and social security... security. that's what matters to me... me? i've been paying in all these years... years washington's been talking at us, but they never really listen... listen...it's not just some line item on a budget; it's what i'll have to live on... i live on branson street, and i have something to say... [ male announcer ] aarp is bringing the conversation on medicare and social security out from behind closed doors in washington. because you've earned a say.

a 51-year-old married father of four, an attractive 25-year-old single woman on his staff. you know what this kind of sort of usually leads to. in the case of bobby petrino, it led to his firing as arkansas football coach. now, we see how consuming their relationship really was. carlos diaz joins us. just so tawdry. >> it really, it shows that it was a, consentual and b, it was not a one-night stand.

this went on for months. petrino was using a cell phone that the university of arkansas had given him, so that was mistake number one. then you've got over 4,400 text messages over the span of several months. sometimes as many as over 100 a day. going back and forth between dorrell and petrino. it was utterly, basically, it's kind of like a schoolboy crush. including in the seven months, over 60 photo text messages from dorrell to petrino. we don't know what was in those, but you can only imagine. >> i don't want to know. how did he have time to coach football? >> arkansas fans are saying what does that have to do with football. guess what? when they were playing on saturday, one saturday, they exchanged 70 text messages with each other last september. before a game last september.

so, it doesn't even matter when he's trying to beat a team, he's sending text messages. at the cotton ball, she texted him during the cotton bowl. he didn't send a message back because he was coaching. i would have loved to see him do that. >> he's got a checkered past, so arkansas, maybe they should have expected this to happen. >> talking about a guy, and he does. his past in coaching is suspect at best. here's a guy who was at louisville. there was rumors that he wanted to get back to auburn. he denied those rumors and it came out it was true, that he interviewed that job. went to the atlanta falcons and coached 13 games before ditching the falcons three games left before the end of the season and going to arkansas. you get what you pay for. what you expect and that's what they got with petrino. >> so, on a scale of one to ten, will he be hired again? this year, zero.

next year, zero. the year after that, five. after that, seven. time heals all wounds. >> thank you. miami heat star dwyane wade wants nba players to be paid if r they play in the olympics. the point guard is expected to play in londened. wade said there's a demanding schedule that comes with committing to the national team and says there's little rest between the end of the nba season and olympic practice, so hey, maybe he deserves a little compensation. >> yeah, because they don't make millions of dollars every year. >> that doesn't matter. stephen colbert broke big news. found out that michelle obama is endorsing her husband for president. maybe it's time for ann romney to do the same. colors are more vibrant,

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robert zimmerman says his family is devastated prosecutors have charged his brother with second degree murder. speaking to piers morgan, he said that political pressure influenced the decision to file the charges. >> we realized early on in this process there were various organizations, individuals, who were not satisfied with any part of the answers that were given by pertinent parties in the investigation at the time such as the police. they didn't like that answer. he had to go. the police chief i'm referring to, chief lee. they didn't like the answer. the florida department of law enforcement. they didn't like the first prosecutor. they were starting to apparently, the congresswoman from mr. martin's district was voicing concern about this prosecutor. we are a family who respects the system.

we understand there are many wrongs in the wheel of justice and this is one of the the characters, players, the prosecutor. prosecutors throwing the book. sometimes, they do that because they're hoping in some semblance of justice or some appearance of justice, that someone will plead down or somebody will take some deal. >> joining us live, congresswoman fredericka wilson. he represented trayvon's home district in florida. welcome. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for being here. i just wanted to get your reaction to zimmerman's brother's claims that political and public pressure unfairly impacted this case. did it? >> not unfairly. not unfairly at all. we were fighting for justice. it was a long time before i even knew that this murder has occurred. i had no idea of the incident and i think where the political pressure was in sanford with mr.

zimmerman's father being a judge and using his political influence to not have the state attorney press charges and i think that's where he needs to focus political activity. i'm a congresswoman who represents a district of over 600,000 people. and it's my responsibility to look after their needs, especially to fight for them for justice. >> and you have been outspoken about this case. repeatedly calling on prosecutors to charge zimmerman. even talked a t the case on the house floor. do you think your comments along with that public outcry surrounding the shooting influenced the prosecutor's decision to charge zimmerman? >> well, no, i think the evidence influenced to charge him with what he is charge d with. but i think that the outcries helped bring the case to justice. i think and i truly believe that

this case would have never been brought to justice without the outcries. this was a case that was almost, that almost slipped through the system without the public ever knowing it. >> are you satisfied with the second degree murder charge? >> i'm satisfy ied with the arrt and the second degree murder charge, yes, i am. i'm relieved that mr. zimmerman has been arrested. and i'm very proudful that the wheels of justice will continue to turn and justice will be served in the end. i know this is just the beginning. and we have a long process ahead of us. but no family should have to endure what tracey and sabrina endured and the hundreds of other family members he has in

district 17. >> the zimmerman family worries that because this case has gotten so much national attention and because it's such an emotional state, that it isn't possible for george zimmerman to get a fair trial. how do you respond to that? >> i think it's possible for him to get a fair trial. there have been other trials that have carried more sensationalism than this and i think that he will get a fair trial. and that's all i can say. that i am sure that he will get a fair trial. might have to change, you know, change the venue, but i'm sure he will get a fair trial. >> thank you for being with us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you, carol. political buzz is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. playing with us today, pete dominic on the left. jason johnson of politic 365.

in the middle and the right, cnn contributor, will cane. first question if you're feeling nostalgic for the mccarthy era, let's go to congressman alan west. he was asked how many members of congress are card carrying marxists. >> i believe there's about 78, 81 members of the democrat party -- >> okay, so 2012, maybe it's the new 1950. said he was referring to progressive congress members. palin thinks west should be romney's running mate, so how about it? alan west r for vp? >> love the specificity. 78-81. somewhere in that range. his mistake was limiting it so specifically to the communist party. the question said international

socialist. we start drawing gray lines. go from progress to social democrat to socialist economicist. he shouldn't have nor rowed it so much. vp, no. >> what do you mean you're kind of joking? >> take pete for example. you're a socialist, right, pete? >> no. >> i'm kidding. i'm kidding. on vp -- >> you heard that. you heard it. >> okay, so pete, you go next now. >> well, listen. i think congressman kid in play and proven over and over he lives in bizarre land, whatever district it is in florida. he constantly makes all kind of claims that have no evidence. he said i've heard this. this guy's an embarrassment to will and all conservatives. there's no evidence to anything he says. as far as him being romney's running mate, sounds great. one's pro-life, pro-choice, one's pro health care. that's a romney-romney ticket. i get confused sometimes.

>> jason. >> look, he's not a good idea. the guy is volatile. went after debbie wasserman shulgts. he will be a mistake through and through. he's not going to get you the military vote that's going to vote republican. he's not going to get you the african-american vote from like steve erkel or something. romney should leave him alone. >> second question. it started when rosen slammed mrs. romney for in her words, not working a day in her life. ann romney fires back, i made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. believe me, it was hard work. is this attack fair? will? >> no. i want to make a couple of points. actually, hillary rosen is a friend of mine and a mother of two children. she said something stupid and i think very, very should be rebutted strongly on the merits

of the idea, but as a person, hill ary is a very good person and i like her. what it does though is exposes the stupidity of this war on women talk. you play with fire, you get burned. you dance with the devil, use all those, you want to develop some narrative about a war on women, then wade into that, be ready for it to be turned on you. don't divide us. we're just all americans. >> this is just another example of how the republicans are trying to shift the war away from the war on women. everybody knows what rosen was talking about. romney raised five boys. great. raising children is work. but she didn't have to worry about going outside the home to get a job. everyone knows the difference here. the republicans are trying to make this a new issue because they have no policies that make independent women happy and romney is losing to barack obama by 18 points. >> wow, double down. >> i think hillary was a little careless and made the same

mistake i've often made in forgetting how difficult it is to raise kids, but to be fair, man, you know, ann romney was born into privilege. married into tremendous wealth and didn't have to worry about things that almost every woman in this country has to worry about. the economic inequality gap is getting more and more and women who not only have to raise kids, but go to work every day to make ends meet, that is what women are really concerned about. this is all perception. women know what's going on right now. we don't have to try to convince them. >> i would agree with that. women do know what's going on. we don't need people to tell us. your buzzer beater now. michelle obama has been all over the dial in the last few weeks. nickelodeon, jimmy fallon, the biggest loser and now, stephen colbert. >> you are popular. you are -- do you ever lord over the president the fact that you're more popular than he is?

do you ever say like, hey, watch it or i might not campaign for you? >> i might try that when i get home. >> have you endorsed him yet? are you prepared to do that? >> i am prepared. i think he will be a phenomenal president. he has done a phenomenal job. he's my man. >> making tv appearances is working for michelle obama and it might pay off for her husband, too, who knows. maybe ann romney needs to get out there, too, so what tv show do you think ann should strive for? will is this. >> i don't know, something like that. i've got to return to the phenomenal answers pete and jay gave on the last question. which i cannot believe the strategy of divided americans and narrowing down the qualified people to speak on the economy to exclude women who haven't participated in a job you earn a

wage. go with the strategy, boys. this is going to be a good one for you. >> first off, i'm not your boy. second off, we're talking about major issues that have to deal with how women function. if i was ann romney, the first place i would go is to the own network. she should see if she can pull some obama supporters from 2008 to join romney in 2012. >> what tv show? none. she should do radio. my show. i'd love to have you on the program, ann romney. dr. johnson is going to come on soon, i hope. but i'd pitch a couple. how about the housewife of mitt romney or no, no, no. what do republicans watch today? law and order, prenatal unit. my serious answer is every night at 6:00 p.m. right here on cnn, every night, john king is the most painfully fair interviewer ever, so i think she should go on with john king. >> okay, point taken.

thanks for playing today cht it was interesting and spunky and i liked that. >> thanks, carol. still ahead, a high speed chase takes a dramatic turn. what happened when the suspect opened fire on police? and looks like betty white got the last laugh. we'll tell you what had the twitter world in a frenzy. [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

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murder charges for killing trayvon martin will appear before a judge today. this is his new mug shot. his attorney says he'll ask for his client's release on bond. the international community is watching north korea as it prepares to launch a rocket. it insists it is for peaceful purposes, but u.s. and south korean forces believe it's a cover for a ballistic missile test. and new pictures of john edwards as he arrives for his trial. jury selection begins today. he faces a half dozen charges over the way money was handled in his campaign and specifically, payments made to his former mistress. he denies any wrong doing. rock 'n' roll icon axle ros is turning down a big -- went on a sort of diatribe in written

form. it was long. a.j. hammer has more on the story. good morning. >> hope you recycled that. that's a lot of trees there with that diatribe from axl rose. gunn and roses was one of the biggest band on the planet before they imploded in a massive fire ball. almost 20 years ago. for the most part, it's been nothing but problems ever since. axl released this long, long, long statement to "showbiz tonight" about the rock hall and why he doesn't want the group to get the honor. he's trying to be nice about it saying he is respectfully denying the invitation to appear this weekend and he's asking not to even be included. now, this litter from axl, it's massive. it's huge. over 1,000 words long explaining his position. now, the rock hall holds a position as well. they tell it in 14 words. we are sorry axl will not be

able to accept his induction in person. perfect. the other members of the band are expected to be there. green day is going to be inducting them into the hall on saturday. guns and roses been honored. >> he doesn't even look like him anymore. let's talk about someone extremely sane. that would be betty white. i love her. anything she does, i want to hear about. >> she's new to twitter, but actually knows how to make an impression. we figured that out pretty quickly. she famously said in the past, she wouldn't join twitter, but has now. and she joined up in part to promote her new show, betty white's off their rockers. kind of a hunks by seniors. very funny show. she apparently decided to pull another joke on valerie

bertinelli. she started tweeting off about this. is not here, don't know how that got verified, please retweet. so fans reportedly started repeating that and calls were flying in, then came this. stop the presses. betty just got a call. an account was opened on her behalf, more to come and it's all a misunderstanding. finally, this came in, carol. may be 90, but betty white has still got it and is going to have a lot more twitter followers now. >> thank you. if you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, a.j.'s got it tonight on "showbiz tonight." [ male announcer ] this is lois.

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i pray for the family. this from robert. it's not about race, it's about justice. the ineptitude of the sanford police department is what's turned this into a circus cht keep the conversation going, facebook.com/carolcnn and thanks for your comments. a 2,000-year-old engraving found inside a tomb in jerusalem. is it the earliest symbol of jesus' resurrection? more on the controversy, next. a. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios.

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a group of ark jol gists say they made a remarkable discovery inside a 2,000-year-old tomb in

jerusal jerusalem. a burial box that depicts jesus' resurrection. it's debuting in a documentary tonight on the discovery channel. here's a clip. >> will be laid right here. that is a symbol of christian resurrection. >> some historians say there's no proof the burial box shows jesus' resurrection, among them, our next guest. assistant professor after the university of iowa. this is just such a fascinating topic, but why are you skeptical? >> i am highly skeptical as are the majority of other scholars and archaeologists. the only scholars who accept the claims are working with or for simkai on the project. >> explain the symbol they're talking about and where it came

from. >> there are five basic claims. one is they're claiming to have found jonah's great fish. but it's not. it's a greek vessel inscribed on the side of an -- just like we have in dozens of vessels. but that didn't stop them from photo shopping this image, turning it on its side and then distributing it to the public so that it looks more like a fish. number two, there are no fish in the margins. there's geometry all around this vessel. there's squares, xs, zigzag triangles and circles. what they did is took digital ink and got the same color as the area and extended the circle so that it crosses the back and forms the tail of like a little jesus fish like on the back of a car, so they put that on a museum replica. number three, there's no cross. just parallel inscripted lines.

the inscription doesn't say what it has. only the people working for simkai says it has the name of god in greek. the funniest one of all, i use the word funny, it's the nicest word i can find. the base of the vessel, a semicircular base of the vessel. they claim was the, i kid you not, the seaweed wrapped head of a -- that they've already abandoned it and just this morning, released a new discovery that says they found the name of jonah in hebrew in the bottom of this vase. >> you've really slammed them now, so i want to get, i want to play this statement from the man who made this discovery channel documentary. >> right over here, you have the earliest icon of christian belief. the earliest statement of resurrection anywhere, found anywhere. even if it's not connected to

jesus, it's the earliest statement. you have something dating back earlier than the gospels. >> so, you're just saying he's full of it and doesn't know what he's talking about? >> they have turned this into a wor shack test version of archaeology. they're looking at lines, and they're trying to see whatever their imagination allows them to see. just this morning, you know, the name of jonah in hebrew is a bunch of different length lines. and you know, just this morning, if we're using that criteria, i found the name of yo-yo ma. it's just not there. there is no evidence whatsoever of early christianity in either of the tombs and it's commonly known that jewish groups believed in resurrection. some did long before christianity came about. >> okay, so i guess you won't be watching. >> i will be and block iing it

live. >> oh, great. >> we'll follow you then. an assistant professor at the university of iowa. thank you so much for being with us this morning. ann romney is now responding to hillary rosen's controversial comments about her being a stay at home mom. first, here's what the democratic consultant said on 360. >> his wife has actually never worked a day in her life. she's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing. >> okay. this is what ann romney had to say on fox news a short time ago. >> this is what's so interesting about this. my career choice was to be a mother. i think all of us know we need to respect choices women make. other women make other choices, like to have a career and raise family, which i think hilary rosen has done herself. i respect that. that's wonderful. there are others who have a choice.

we have to respect women in all those choices they make. >> in her defense, rosen says romney never had to care for her children and earn a paycheck. much more on this in the hours to come on cnn. we're back after a quick break. we processed on a given day about a million pieces of mail. checks, newspapers, bills. a lot of people get their medications only through the mail. small businesses depend on this processing plant. they want to shut down 3000 post offices, cut 100,000 jobs. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. the american people depend on the postal service. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks

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