an apology from one of the biggest names in basketball. lieuville coach rick pitino, married father of fire comes out on national tv and says he's sorry for his indiscretion six years ago when he had sex with a woman on a table at a restaurant and got her pregnant. the school is standing by behind him. if they don't want him fired, fine, but what kind of message does that send to players, students at the school? a teen sets himself on fire and mom is blaming youtube. turns out her 13-year-old son was trying to copy a stunt he saw online. his leg, hand covered with second and third-degree burns. it is awful. but let's face t.tons of garbage on the internet. we have to monitor what our kids

do online. >> couldn't versy, opinion, your point of view. this is "prime news." >> welcome. this is "prime news." what do you do with rick pitino if you're the university of lieu sflil your marquee basketball coach admitted to boozing it up and having sex with a woman on a table at a restaurant. she gets pregnant. pitino gives her 3 grand and she has an abortion. the coach apologized to everyone earlier this week. >> you tell the truth, your problem becomes part of your past. if you lie, it becomes part of your future, and i made a very difficult decision to tell the truth to the federal authorities, the local authorities, to university officials and most important to people that love me the most, my family and friends. >> this happened six years ago and came to light when karen f-fer was charged with trying to extoward the up to $10 million from pitino. after the charges, she then claimed she was raped. now authorities are not pursuing the rape charges. they said her story was too

inconsistent. that brings us back to today. should the school punish the coach? well, they are sticking by him. and the head of the athletic department says here's the quote they are 1 million percent behind pitino. what message does that send? a player could get kicked off a team for something like this and the father figure, coach, held to a higher standard, he stays. earlier this week we debated this one and i did that with a sports attorney, kent taylor, reporter, "prime news affiliate" wab o'and steven ainchlgts smith former anchor at espn. kent, you're there in louisville. is there any talk of any kind of punishment at all for the coach, or are they just moving forward? >> it doesn't sound like it at this point. as you said, the athletic director, vice president of athletics says he's a million percent behind him. we talked with dr. james ramsey, president of the university, and he's behind coach pitino.

unless something else comes out which is entirely possible at this point, it's been crazy for the last frour months, so as long as we have all the facts right now it sounds like nothing else will happen to coach pitino that he will not be suspended. won't take a leave abscents and will be back on the bench next season. >> real quick. the president of the school, james ramsey, knew of this but some details surprised him. what are the details that surprised him as this fally came to light? >> he has not said specifically. we can assume i guess the abortion thing i think was probably something that maybe he hadn't heard. >> okay. >> that's the only thing that kind of was shocking, had a shock factor around here and all over the country yesterday. maybe that was it, but he hasn't said much on the matter. >> gotcha. steven ainchlgts, joining us again. if this is about money and wins, when you -- we did a little research. forbes.com laying it out there, louisville basketball the most profitable in the country, is value of the basketball prom 24.4 million.

when pitino showed up they were 24 -- 9 the year before. he gets a pass because they win, right. is that what we get? >> all about the pendulum. the money that he brings the program and the prestige and the cache that he brings to the program, the all americans that he's able to recruit because he is rubbing pitino, being a national championship coach at kentucky, taking providence to the final four and louisville as far as he's done. all of those things factor into the equation, but i don't think you can minimize or diminish the impact of the woman alleging these allegations or throwing these allegations out there because the fact is there's been so many holes in the story what it comes down to in the eyes of these administrators is do we sit there and disrupt our program baubs the coach committed infidelity against his wife? no. he indeed raped her which he's swearing did not half. you get rid of him for those things. you might even consider it because of the abortion claim, but because he committed

infidelity or adultery rather with his wife i guarantee that is not enough of a reason to get rid of your head basketball coach that generates millions for your programs. >> let's bring in brian on this. we've got some calls. we want to hear from you. what do you think should happen to the coach here? brian, do you agree? is it about money? rick pitino is supposed to be the pillar of the community, a face of the school. i mean, how can you be proud when the pillar of the community, come on, let's face it, that table at that restaurant is going to be a tourist stop now. they have to be proud of that, huh? >> i think you're right and what remains to be seen is what the reaction is going to be as this plays out and becomes the basketball season, and is he going to continue to have the support, and is he going to continue to attract the recruits and make the money for the program? if he doesn't, then you look at what his contract says, and his contract clearly says that the university can terminate him if he engages in some sort of scandal, brings the university into some sort of public

disrepute or is dishonest to the university, and of all the things that have happened here, maybe you say that even providing money for an abortion doesn't rise to the level of termination, maybe the fact that he engaged in an extra marital affair doesn't rise to that level, but if he lied or was dishonest or not completely honest when he had the discussions with the university, that's very serious. >> yeah. >> you're absolutely right. are they willing to tolerate that? >> we just showed the contract, if they wanted, they have grounds to fire him if they were to choose to do so. let's get a call in real quick. shannon from west virginia is with us. shannon, what do you think should happen? >> caller: hello. i have too comments. first of all, i don't think he should be fired. >> okay. >> caller: he made a mistake, committed adultery, but if you take every man and woman out of america that commit adultery and fire them for that, you're going to have a lot of people on the unemployment line. and my second comment is i have to disagree with you about -- about it being a bad role mold for the students.

i actually think it's a good thing because the students are going to look at him and they are going to see, yeah, he made a mistake, but he went on national tv. he admitted the fact that he made a mistake and the university is sticking behind him versus some of these sports stars that are going out and saying they never did anything when -- >> we want to hear from you.

swroirks welcome back to "prime news" on hln. what should the university of louisville do about coach

pitino? sticking behind him. shannon said if everybody who committed an affair there would be a lot of people on the unemployment line. to that i would say that. part of rick pitino's job is teach integrity, character, well, he failed in that so i say he should go. let's see what rosemary says in mississippi. rosemary, what do you think? >> caller: oh, i'm sory. >> that's all right. >> caller: so glad to hear from you. i really agree with everything you just said because he is a role model and he goes on national television and tells everyone he's committed adultery. he's not hurting himself but his wife, his kids rand all the other kids around the world. especially when they look up to him. >> okay. rosemary, thanks for the call there. i mean, pitino said i'm sorry. that's what you do. big deal. he said he's story. steven a., go ahead. >> first of all, let's be real about something here and stop

with the nonsense. we live in the age of reality television. the more sleazier you are the more money you end up getting paid. that certainly wasn't rick pitino's mistakes. he made mistakes and we all recognize that but a long time ago people stopped worrying about stuff like that because they know it doesn't necessarily have a direct impact on their lives. at the end of the day this guy is a basketball coach. he's not the pope. he's not a priest. he's not a reenchd. he's a basketball coach. he screwed up. he acknowledged it, but it doesn't stop the millions of dollars he brings into the program. it doesn't stop the millions -- >> right. >> how it affects the university by bringing in the millions and everybody needs to get off their sanctimonious horse and recognize he made a mistake. >> i'm going to jump back on my high horse and lay it out there. money is more important than character and that's what the university of louisville is saying about coach rick pitino. money and benjamins is more important than character. if that's what they want to stand on, good luck. good luck, louisville. >> mike, you and i have known each other for ten years.

when have i not told you that. >> right. i'm not saying that's a surprise. would i like to see a school stand up and say, you know what, character and integrity matter. coach, you're began. >> i'll tell you when that can change, when it doesn't cost anything to fund those programs. it doesn't cost for travel or for uniform and the tv deals are for free. >> i'm not going to argue. >> you don't have anything to worry about. >> money talks, can't argue with that one. i wish character, integrity talk louder. brian, jump in louder on this. what do you think? >> let me make two points. first of all, is university of louisville basketball program was a great program before rick pitino and whenever he leaves it will still be a good program and the fact that he's not there money will come into that program. they will find themselves whenever they have to a great coach who will maintain it at the status that it's. in the secretary thing is rick pitino's contract says that he has to uphold the core values of the university, and i think the university has to decide what those core values is. is it benjamins or is it other

things like telling the truth to your employer, telling the truth to the government, not engaging in extra marital affairs? >> please -- >> let me get a call n.sfef any is with us right there in kentucky. stephanie about, 15 seconds g. >> caller: yes. rick pitino is like he's the most popular guy around here. he is never going to get in trouble. he's never going to get punished because everyone is going to stand behind him because everyone loves him. >> he's king. they win and they make money and that's what they are standing on. >> two aircraft traffic controllers suspended linked to that tragic crash over the hudson. one guy was talking to his girlfriend on the phone.

an update now to a sfoer we've been following you closely. two huge developments in the murders of a wealthy couple attacked in their upscale

florida home, a home they shared with 13 adopted special needs children. this week six men and a teenager were formally charged in the murders of byrd and melanie billings. they are charged now is upgraded from second to murder. that means prosecutors now have the option to seek the death penalty. police say the alleged ring leader lenered a gonzalez jr. led two teams of thieves in last month's ninja-style heist. all seven pleaded not guilty. the victim's family has filed an emergency motion attempting to keep the public from seeing photos of the crime scene. pictures of the autopsy and video from inside the home, police already released this surveillance video from outside the home just minutes before the attack. the suspects broke in through the front door and others took the back in less than four minutes. byrd and melanie billings were dead and what for? police say some of the men were actually there for a contracted hit. they still won't say why anyone wanted the billings dead. the other apparent motive robbery. a deadly moment of impact

caught on tape. two aircrafts collided in mid-air above the hudson river. no one survived last weekend's disaster. now there's new video of the crash and two new jersey air controllers have been suspended. susan candiotti from our sister network cnn has the story. >> reporter: as investigators studied this amateur video to find out what led to the terrifying mid-air crash over the hudson, there's more stunning information. an air traffic controller who was handling the piper airplane was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time of the crash. according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. what the faa in a statement calls, quote, inappropriate conversations, and there's more. the faa says the air traffic controller's supervisor was not in the building at the time as required. >> they are put in the tower to do a job, and if think not doing the job people can die, and in this case apparently they weren't doing the job. >> our source says the air traffic controller had already cleared the plane for takeoff

from teterboro airport in new jersey before talking about his girlfriend. the nooets ntsb sauce the plane had been hand off electronically to the next tower down the line in newark, and then the plane disappeared from radar. the faa calls the conduct of the controller and his boss unacceptable but says, quote, we have no reason to believe at this time that he's contributed to the accident. >> we have somebody missing in action. there's someone else who is not doing their job, so the only question is whether that negligence had a role in this accident. the faa is saying, well, maybe it didn't, but faa stands to lose millions and millions of dollars of taxpayer dollars. >> the faa says the two employees are now on administrative leave. the investigation is not over. ultimately the two could be fired. the national air traffic controllers association supports the investigation but asks there no one should rush to judgment

about what at the very least could be described as bad behavior. susan candiotti, cnn, new york. many historically black colleges and universities are being hit pretty hard in this tough economy and as enrollment decreases schools, students are struggling to make ends meet. here's a report from our sister network ater? >> reporter: this sophomore found a perfect fit at spellman college. >> this place was meant for me snow. >> reporter: with you when the tough economy hit her and her family hard she packed her bags ready to drop out. >> i wasn't able to get loans, neither were my parents. >> reporter: it's a familiar story at colleges amos the country, but especially at historically black colleges and universities where in some cases up to 95% of students rely on financial aid to fund their education. president barack obama has moved to increase financial aid with stimulus and budget funds, but still many black xhejs expect enrollment rates to keep

shrinking as families and students struggle in the economic downturn. >> many students want to come. will they be able to afford to come? >> reporter: since 2004 $238 million of federal funding was earmarked annually for historically black colleges, and in the last two years those institutions also benefited from an extra $85 million each year under the college cost reduction act which ends in may of 2010. so those institutions may feel the squeeze even more. >> you're underresourced. we try to keep our costs as low as possible. that means that our margins are always very tight. >> reporter: in the atlanta area alone morehouse college laid off 25 adjunct professors and spellman is eliminating 35 jobs next year and clark atlanta university's budget ax fell with 70 professors and 30 staff members let go. the white house budget office says president obama's budget calls for a 5% increase in permanent funding for

historically black colleges. >> we're saying you're moving in the right direction, but, unfortunately, in these tough times not far enough. >> reporter: for zakayia wurliams a scholarship came through at the last minute, and she says the struggle to say at a historically black college was worth it. >> i was completely relieved, and now i'm focusing on my studies. >> reporter: sandra endo, cnn, atlanta. >> coming up, a bizarre story. the end of the day we have a 13-year-old boy who set himself on fire. he was imitating a stunt that he saw on the internet, and his mom is now blaming youtube. she wants some restrictions. so kids can't see this kind of stuff that they are going to go imitate. as any other side is saying what about personal responsibility?

welcome back. this story you've got to watch this video here. it's a holdup at a convenience store. the clerk is being held up by a robber. the husband of the clerk is not having any part of it. watch him come flying in here. look at that, armed robber, and it is go time as the husband begins to wrestle this guy it lasts about ten minutes. we'll pick up the story from there a little bit later in the show. if you have thoughts on it, call in 1-877-tell-hln and we want to hear from you on this story. michael vick, major announcement. a lot of people are talking about it. he signs with the philadelphia eagles after almost two years in a federal prison for dog fighting. he's going to take the field again. here he is speaking just a few

hours ago at a news conference. >> only get one shot at a second chance and i'm conscious of that. >> all right. i think he should have a chance at redemption, and the eagles are going to give it to him, two-year contract. talking about a strong organization, good coach. he's got a friend in donovan mcnabb. known vick since vick was a senior in high school. a great opportunity. yes, what michael vick did was heinous but he's owning up to it. let's listen to michael vick. >> i was wrong for what i did. everything that happened at that point in time in my life was wrong, and, you know, it was unnecessary, and, you know, like to this day i can't understand why i was involved in such a pointless activity and why did i risk so much at the pinnacle of my career and i was naive and i figure if i can help more animals than i hurt then, you know, i'm contributing and i'm doing my part.

>> hopefully his platform playing football again will lead to the end of this barbaric dog fighting so let's hope he can do some good out of all of this. we'll take your calls. 1-877-tell-hln is the number. welcome to our guests, steven ainchlgts smith, journalist, wes pen, with me at csni and "philadelphia enquirer" and he knows this team and the fans as well. before we go on, a brief snippet of what fans are saying about the signing. let's listen to that and we'll take it from that. >> the guy has something to bring this team and he'll make it better. so what. >> he's a great football player. >> he's served his time. >> i'm just a little upset with it because i'm such an animal lover? i'm not sure where we're going with this team. >> craze signing. i don't know what they are going to do with the public relations part of it. >> all right. kind of mixed there. the fans in philly want to hear from you. anthony, what are you hearing

from fans? thumbs up or thumbs down from this? >> i think mostly it's been thumbs down. >> really. >> yeah. i was kind of looking at it as a moderate uprising. hasn't been an all-out revolt but fans haven't welcomed michael vick with open arms. >> think specifics on what they are saying? >> well, if you could forgive it. i think they are kind of caught off guard. they don't know michael vick. this is not -- this is not a town where he built up goodwill so they uhim strictly as what they saw, as a guy who did what he did, and they also question what he's going to do with this football team. >> we'll talk about that in a little bit. let's stick with the fans. steven, you know the team and the fans. do you think they will embrace him? >> i think they will embrace him if he's umt mattingly effective on the football field. he knows the pulse of philadelphia better than my man anthony. we've known him for years and he's right on the money in terms of the fans are going to be down on him at the beginning because they don't know him and you also

have to take into consideration, mike, the fact that this is a city that was down on it. o. because of an attitude issue. this is a man that helped him get to the super bowl. this is a man who helped donovan mcnabb record his best continue statistically until last year i believe. you consider what t.o. did and the fact that the city turned against him, didn't break any laws, didn't get any any trouble. he was just a mal contempt. here you have a guy who committed a felony that was responsible in large part for funding an operation in terms of torturing, hanging, electrocuting, killing and maiming dogs. it's going to be a long time. the city of philadelphia can be very hard. ultimately it's one of the best sports cities in america. it will stand by you and support you if you do right, but if you do wrong, you do not want to be on their bad side. >> he makes a great point, anthony. let's face it, fans can be brutal in philly. they boot santa. >> right. >> what it is, it's a town that is thrown i think to either

loving you or overloving you or like steven said it can be very, very harsh, and it bear its teeth. >> let me ask you this. so michael vick busts out a 50-yard touchdown run, electrifying run. is all forgiven at that point? >> yeah. you know, in the end, we're all prone to hypocrisy in sports so any kind of moral stance that the sports fan has now will certainly dissipate if he's in the end zone or if he leads them to a super bowl, something that happened with donovan mcnabb. >> real quick, a couple calls here. you say it's going to take a more than a couple touchdowns? >> more than a couple touchdowns no, question about it, but also if donovan mcnabb strug unless year and ultimately michael vick is inserted into that lineup as its quarterback and he produces, even if donovan mcnabb comes back like he did last year when andy reid benched him the reality is michael vick has made a positive contribution to the franchise without making a negative contribution off the field then i think then you'll

see a lot of people rallying around. >> let's get a couple of calls in. bob with us from florida. bob, your thoughts here >> caller: hello. >> hey, bob, go ahead. >> caller: my question i had was kind of different because why cleveland didn't try to draft him, but i was just thinking because maybe he has a dog pen and i wanted to know if he'd get a violation of probation. >> the sarcasm on a friday. that brings up a good point, anthony. when the eagles go on the road, michael vick is going to take a beating. it's going to get ugly. >> it certainly will. it's interesting about how much he's going to play, you know, like steven said donovan mcnabb is this team's quarterback and how it goes depends upon donovan mcnabb. can i see michael vick being in there for half a dozen plays as a wildcat. andy reid likes to do different gadget plays and there's a lot of things you can do with him but that's the role. he's not going to come in here as the quarterback. donovan mcnabb, this is his team.

>> one other point. >> we have to take a break, adrian. >> sure. >> got some calls lined up. want to hear from you and we'll let you know what the hue minsociety is saying about this, a thumbs up or thumbs down. can michael vick help eradicate dog fighting? call in.

welcome back. michael vick back in the nfl getting a lot of e-mails. this coming to us from barb ro in greensboro, north carolina.

here's what she says. xxxxx that's from barbara. he did have 17 months at stance. we look forward to working together with combat dog fighting in philadelphia and nationwide. steven, i would -- you and i talked about this as this story was really simmering that i think his career should be tied to real long-term work with the humane society and from that it seems like that's the case. will that quiet the critics somewhat?

>> it won't immediately, but i think over time as he proves to be diligent in his efforts with the humane society to curb the issue of animal cruelty and to address that head-on i think it's going to work wonders for him. the one thing that i would like to add that i think people need to be very, very careful about. michael vick was convicted of a felony financing a dog fighting ring. let's judge him according to that. let's not think that all of a sudden we have the right to sit there and say and make a big issue if the man doesn't smile, gets in an argument with his teammate, if he gets stopped for a speeding ticket and all of this other stuff the man was convicted of funding a dog fighting ring and as long as he refrains from any of that, refrains from that or any illegal activity, it's not for the rest of us to sit there and feel like we have the right to judge everything he does. >> jeff, from california, what do you think of mikal vick's warning with the humane society? does that encourage you? >> not real i.

>> i don't think he should be allowed to play football ever. all of the things that he did, you know, i -- what i can think is pete rose. he made acism rolle bet and he was -- he made a simple bet and he was denied entry into the hall of fame and he didn't hurt anybody or any animals or anything. he made a bet. >> all right. >> jeff saying that he's out of there. >> let's bring back anthony, sports reporter wip radio. as you dissect this and see the work with the humane society, you've seen michael vick as sincere, as a changed man. >> not yet. >> i think you have to see him. i think right now it begins his penance. he was just granted the opportunity so, of course, he's going to say all the right thing and he did that today but it's not ready just to welcome him back and now you have to prove to the masses that you are since sincere, that you do want to do the right things and that you do want to help a city that lets

face it is pragued by dog fighting. >> and hopefully he can eradicate it. here's michael vick. basically no excuses. let's listen. >> we used the excuse it was part of our culture and, you know, i don't think that's an excuse. now i understand that people care about their animals. they care about the health, you know, the welfare and protection of animals and now i do. >> all right. there it is. owning up to it right there. i've got to ask you this, anthony and see if you can weigh in as well. how are the fans in philly going to react if animal rights protesters come and disrupt egle football? >> well, i think they understand the bigness of this whole thing and how this situation transcends sports. obviously in the end it's a rabid football town and wants to see its eagles, but it's going to expect a lot out of michael vick, and it's going to be interesting because michael vick won't be out in the forefront. michael vick will be more behind the scenes.

remember, he's only going to be there half a dozen plays. >> right, right. >> steven, how are philly fans going to react to animal rights protesters? >> i think some of them will support them and some will come to the defense of michael vick but at the end of the day it does not matter. as long as this guy obeys the law and doesn't engage in dog fighting and does his work with the humane society he's going to have his critics and his advocates. that's really all it comes down to. the man spent 18 months in a federal penitentiary. >> leavenworth. >> he couldn't drop the soap. he had to watch his back. he had a lot of stuff to be concerned about. now he's a free man. i don't think he's concerned about it. i think he wants to stay out of trouble. >> thanks for the calls as well. here's a story for you. a convenience store robber, well, the husband sees what's going on there. he's going to tackle the guy. it's about a ten-minute fight. we'll let you know how it all played out and take your calls

in a little bit. we'll call him a hero. let's get to our heros of the week, new york merchandise chemistry teacher jude nambuki. >> i was coming from college at night and i see this computer thrown out. and i found everything was perfect. my name is jude and i refurbish the computers and send them to kenya. the children in kenya have very few resources.

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well a new program is helping african-american men beat some pretty serious odds. it started with a surgeon who saw the same shootings and stabbing victims again and again in the trauma center. richelle carey has that story in our weekly feature "what mar matters." >> yuk african-american men are at victim of falling victim to gun violence and some are likely to return to baddants but one man who could become a statistic decided to change and decides to turn away from street life. here's don lemon from our sister network cnn. >> this is where i used to get busy at, you know. >> reporter: adrian barnes admits he was a bad boy on baltimore's streets and says he even shot a man. >> i used to hustle drugs right here. this is where i got shot. >> reporter: he became a victim of the violence he had inflicted

with two bullets in his leg. >> i was laying there, you know, i was thinking about all the stuff i did to people, and i had to learn from a lesson. >> reporter: recovering in maryland's shock trauma center >> probation officer back then worked for the program asked me if i wanted to change my life. i thought about it and was like, yeah, i'm tired living the way i'm living. >> reporter: the program barnes is referring to is the violent intervention program or v.i.p. sergeant carnell cooper started it after he saw the same shooting and stabbing victims again and again. >> we all get frustrated with seeing patients that we work so hard to save then come back dead. i grew up in a neighborhood in south carolina. these guys were just like me. i did not feel that these were individuals who were so steeped in a way of life they could not turn them around.

>> reporter: cooper treated street violence as a disease. >> we need to have the same approach to the violence that we had with heart disease and smoking and embrace this problem of violence in our kids. because they're dying. >> reporter: cooper's cure, a combination of drug rehab, education, and jobs. >> the patients who got our intervention were much less likely to be convicted. >> reporter: patients like adrian barnes, who turned his life around. >> alls you need is somebody to help you, show you that they care about you. >> the program's been real good to me. they've never turned their back on me. >> listen to that. that was don lemon from our sister network, cnn, reporting. since 1998, the v.i.p. program has been committed to saving patients' lives and their future. today, similar promise are being considered in other cities. for more of what matters, check out the september edition of

essen"essence" magazine or log cnn.com/whatmatters. coming up, a husband tries to play here ree to his wife.