[Baldwin:] Count down with me, Winter Olympics start in all of 25 days, and you know what the medal podium looks like, it has a place for the top three finishers and that's the trials work, the top three get usually get to go. So why does U.S. figure skater, Maria Neggassu looked like this. Neggassu finished third in the trials Saturday, but she is not headed to Sochi, and the reason has stirred up some Olympic sized controversy today in the skating world. Here to set this up. This is Andy Scholes.
[Andy Scholes, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] After falling twice in the U.S. figure skating championships in Boston on Saturday, Ashley Wagner thought her chances of making the Sochi games were over. She tweeted after her performance, I am so sorry I let you all down. The top three finishers from the competition barring injury have always gone on to the Olympics but not this time. In a controversial move, the U.S. Skating Association passed over third place finisher Mariah Negassu and put Wagner on the Olympic team even though she finished a distant fourth in the competition. Patricia St. Peter, the president of the U.S. figure skating defended the decision saying if you look at Ashley Wagner's record in performance, she's got the top credentials of any of our female athletes. Neggassu was overcome with emotion after her performance on Saturday. She didn't fall or make any errors, but she was clearly disappointed when she learned she was passed over for the team.
[Scholes:] In a statement, she said I'm disappointed with the decision, although I don't agree with it, I have to respect the decision the federations have made. And I'm grateful to everyone who has supported me and look forward to what comes next in my skating career.
[Baldwin:] That was Andy Scholes. My next guest knows all about the pressures of making and doing pretty well when it comes to the Olympics here. Tara Lipinski won gold, she beat Michelle Kwan in 1998 at the Olympics at Nagano, Japan and she joins me now by phone. Tara, thanks for calling in. We appreciate it.
[Tara Lipinski, Olympic Gold Medalist, Figure Skater:] Of course.
[Baldwin:] So you were there this weekend. You were in Boston Saturday, and I want to get to the standing ovation and everything and how it felt being there in a minute, but first, just explain all to us non-skaters, how is this fair?
[Lipinski:] OK, well, first off, it was heart breaking to watch for both girls. Obviously watching Ashley fall apart on the ice, ruining her Olympic chances again after four years ago not making the team. And then Jean Marai, you know, skates the exhibition yesterday crying full tears because she knows she's not going. But the problem is, and it probably doesn't make sense to anyone just watching, but no one expected Marai to be in third place at this national. She's had a really rough year, actually the last four seasons. She's just struggled since the Vancouver Olympics. And in that time, Ashley Wagner has really made her mark, set her standard on the international stage, has two national titles under her belt and just fell under the pressure of this one competition. And with our federation, we do have certain criteria that you look at other than just making the top three at nationals.
[Baldwin:] OKK, so that's the context.
[Lipinski:] It's heart breaking either way.
[Baldwin:] It's like today you see all these pictures of Marai with the tears and you see Ashley falling. Have you been in touch with either of these women?
[Lipinski:] I have seen Ashley and I know this is really a hard for her as a skater, you want to skate your best, personally, for your family and your fans. She has taken Marai's so-called spot and she's going to want to live up to what she can do. I saw her in exhibition and she skated flawlessly. I think she's going to do well.
[Baldwin:] Walk me through what that pressure feels like. You know, you know what it's like to win, all eyes are on you, period, Tara, but now everyone knows her name and everyone's going to be watching for her.
[Lipinski:] Exactly and it's too much pressure. And you really don't know how to prepare for it.
[Baldwin:] How do you?
[Lipinski:] You don't. I think what it is, is training every single day, trying to prepare for any certain instance that might happen, or might surprise you and trying to stay calm. But as you can see nationals during an Olympic year is very stressful. She was trying to defend her title, but to be honest, when she stepped on the ice, I don't think she was thinking about winning. I think all she cared about was getting into those top three spots so that one had turn into what it had.
[Baldwin:] Tara Lipinski, while I have you, what are you up to right now just quickly?
[Lipinski:] I work with NBC now so I'll be going so Sochi with them as an analyst.
[Baldwin:] Have fun, enjoy it. Thank you so much, Tara Lipinski calling in here and talking about all that happened in Boston over the weekend. Coming up, the decision just in on the so-called cursing toddler. You've seen this video. We now can tell you today judges rule that this little one and his teenaged mother can live together in a foster home. We'll talk about the legality of all of this and of course, how this impacts just think of the mother, she's 16 and now she's going to live at a foster home, and how does that work for her psychologically speaking. Plus protest in Texas over a pregnant woman being kept on life support even though her husband says she did not want to be kept alive. The state disagrees. We'll take you live to Dallas next.