Marlins Manager Suspended for Castro Comments
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. I'm Carol Costello. I'm in for Kyra Phillips this afternoon. It's 11:00 o'clock on the East Coast, 8:00 o'clock on the west. We've got a busy hour ahead, so let's get straight to the news, shall we? Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen is going to have a little more time to think about his thoughts on Fidel Castro. He has been suspended for five games by the team for his comments to "Time" magazine where he said he respected the former Cuban dictator. Guillen has apologized repeatedly and had another chance to apologize a few moments ago.</s>OZZIE GUILLEN, MANAGER, FLORIDA MARLINS: It is not what happened today. It is what happens in the future. Hold on one second. It is what is going to happen in the future. I expect to be here for a long time. I live in Miami. My family is in Miami and I will do everything and I will do everything to try to make it better. I will help Cuban community, Latino community, like I always do. I hope I get better and people understand me and my situation, but I will be willing to do everything in my power or the Marlins' power to help and believe I will help this community like I always do.</s>COSTELLO: Guillen had come under criticism in the Miami community for his Castro comments. Remember, the Marlins' new ballpark is in Little Havana. His five-game suspension starts immediately. President Obama is on his way to Florida. On his agenda when he gets in will be an economic speech on the so-called "Buffett Rule." The president is expected to talk about how it will make for a fairer tax code and make it harder for the very rich to find tax loopholes. It's, of course, based on billionaire Warren Buffet who famously said that he pays less in taxes than his secretary. Former President, George W. Bush says the Buffett rule is a bad idea. He spoke at a Bush Institute economic forum in New York. Mr. Bush said increased taxes on the very rich are an attack on job creators. He also talked about the Bush tax cuts.</s>FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I wish they weren't called the Bush tax cuts. If they were called somebody other body's tax cuts, they are probably less likely to be raised. If you raise taxes, you are taking money out of the pockets of consumers. It is important for policymakers to recognize all the data about taxes causes capital to stay on the sidelines.</s>COSTELLO: The Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year. Marine Sergeant Gary Stein said he will fight his discharge. A military board recommended an other than honorable discharge for Stein after he posted comments on Facebook critical of President Obama. This is what he told Soledad O'Brien earlier this morning.</s>SERGEANT GARY STEIN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I am here to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I never disobeyed an order. I was never told not to take down Armed Forces Tea Party. I was never told not to do media interviews. I was never told not to write on redstate.com. I was never told not to do my own personal -- I was never told that.</s>COSTELLO: Stein is asking a federal judge to step in and stop the discharge, saying it violates his free speech rights. And weeks of protests, rallies and debate over Trayvon Martin's death and George Zimmerman's fate could come down to one prosecutor's decision, Angela Corey. Corey will decide whether or not Zimmerman will face charges for shooting Trayvon Martin. Corey ruled out presenting Zimmerman's case to a grand jury, but is expected to move quickly and could announce her decision at any moment. And for the first time, Zimmerman is speaking out on his Web site, therealgeorgezimmerman.com. Zimmerman posts, "I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately my entire life." And he is asking for donations for his legal fund and living expenses. A stunning confession in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the shooting rampage there. The suspects, 19-year-old Jake England and 33-year-old Alvin Watts, according to police reports, England has confessed to shooting 3 of 5 victims. Watts to the other two. The two allegedly gunned down apparent strangers at these four locations. Three were killed, two wounded, all of the victims were after African-American. Police are not saying whether they believe last week's shootings were racially motivated, but prosecutors say they are reviewing whether hate crime charges are appropriate. Another government worker is in hot water for that Las Vegas conference spending scandal. David Foley, a top official of the General Services Administration has been placed on administrative leave. Foley is the eighth GSA staffer to be disciplined. He appears in a video, joking about the lavish spending at a 2010 Las Vegas conference. There is also video of GSA workers mocking President Obama's clean energy campaign. More than $800,000 of taxpayer money was spent at that conference on mind-readers, clowns and music videos. Heavy shelling continues in Syria on the day the government had promised to withdraw their forces from all cities and towns. Opposition groups say at least 45 people have been killed. At least 160 died yesterday. President Bashar al-Assad had agreed to a U.N.- Arab League deadline to withdraw his troops today and a full ceasefire on Tuesday. In the meantime, U.N. special envoy, Kofi Annan, who brokered the peace plan, arrived in Turkey today to visit a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian. Accompanying him are Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman. A live report from the border in just about 30 minutes. An Afghanistan suicide attack today killed at least 18 people and wounded 27. Targets were police officers and local government officials. Among the victims, at least seven police officers and a police chief was among the wounded. The attacks were carried out in the western and southern parts of the country. In Norway, the man accused of killing 77 people was sane at the time of the massacre. That's the assessment of two court-appointed psychiatric experts in a report out today. It says that Anders Breivik was not psychotic at the time of the attacks last year and does not suffer from a psychiatric condition. Breivik is charged with killing eight people in a bomb attack in Oslo and gunning down 69 other people on a nearby island. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is set to start next Monday. Turning now to medical news, a new study is raising questions about the safety of dental X-rays. The study published this week in the journal, "Cancer," shows that people who have had dental X-rays frequently in the past are more likely to develop a type of non- cancerous brain tumor. This is not prove that X-rays cause tumors, but supports previous research about that connection. However, in a statement, the American Dental Association noted potential flaws in the study and encouraged further research. Smartphone theft is on the rise. Now, the FCC and lawmakers are stepping in. They met last hour and announced a national plan to stop thieves from using your smartphones. Here are some details. Wireless providers will work to initiate a database that will help prevent stolen smartphones from being used. The database will also help make sure smartphones reported stolen are deactivated. The FCC says the wireless industry's working with law enforcement to show consumers that they have their backs. Watching and waiting. All eyes on Sanford, Florida where charges may come down today on George Zimmerman. Martin Savidge live next. But first, it was like something out of a movie, a bus driver and a teen working together to stop a hit-and-run driver. Take a look at this surveillance video just into CNN. A car driving on a road in Pennsylvania hits a cyclist and flees the scene, but fast-acting witnesses come to the biker's rescue. You will see it there, including the bus driver who cuts the hit-and-run driver off. You see the bus there? And it stopped that car in its tracks.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biker stood up and signaled to me to follow the guy to I assume to get his license plate, so that's what I tried to do.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At that time, I blocked the bridge with the bus and he couldn't get around the bus.</s>COSTELLO: The cyclist was left bruised, but just happy to be alive. Thanks to the bus driver, Richard Govish (ph), and the other witness, Judd Small, this hit-and-run driver was charged with two traffic violations. So for your heroic moves on the road, you are today's rock stars.