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Solar Flare Heads Through Space; U.S. Resumes Airstrikes in Yemen; More Arizona Evacuations; Syrians Fearing For Their Lives; Royal Family Phones Hacked; Afghani Athletes Risk It All

Aired June 09, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Want to get you up to speed.

This just in -- Congressman Anthony Weiner is sticking by his decision not to resign. A source tells CNN Weiner told a colleague he is not stepping down. The source described Weiner as dug in.

A new X-rated photo apparently of the congressman has now surfaced online. Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart says that he didn't publish the picture, but shared it with two radio DJs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW BREITBART, BIGOVERNMENT.COM: My Web site refuses to publish this photo. They have admitted that they took this photo surreptitiously. They said they did it without my knowledge. They even said that there were no cameras there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: While Anthony Weiner fights for his political survival, his wife is carrying on with her career. Huma Abedin is a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and she is currently with Clinton in the Middle East. "The New York Times" reports Abedin and Weiner are expecting their first child.

The British paper "The Guardian" reports Scotland Yard is investigating claims that Kate Middleton's cell phone was among several hacked by a private investigator working for a news group. There are allegations the investigator also hacked into the phones of prominent British politicians, including former prime minister Tony Blair.

U.S. drones and fighters jets have resumed attacks in Yemen, and the military believes an airstrike has killed a top al Qaeda insurgent there. The U.S. military official tells CNN air operations were halted for several months because the U.S. didn't have faith in the information available to conduct targeted strikes against those suspected militants.

This amateur video shows angry Syrians heading for the border. Reports from Turkey say more than 1,000 Syrians have crossed into Turkey within the last 24 hours. They fear revenge attacks by Syria's military after its government claimed armed groups killed at least 120 security forces within the last week.

More evacuations in Arizona as a massive wildfire spreads. The towns of Springerville and Eagar are now fully evacuated on sheriff's orders. The fire has burned almost 400,000 acres. That's an area that is bigger than New York City and Chicago combined. Thousands of people are out of their homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCILLE ASHCROFT, EVACUEE: Well, we could see it. We could see the smoke so close, that we knew, you know, it's getting too bad, the air quality. I think my house is safe. I really think it will be OK when we go back.

I never dreamed that I'd ever be in an evacuation. Never in my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Beautiful pictures, right? But a concern on Earth.

This is a dazzling solar flare. It sent plasma particles heading through space.

They're being carried by solar winds at speeds topping three million miles an hour. Some of them are going to rain down on Earth. And experts say they might even cause problems with satellites or power grids.

I want to bring in our own Chad Myers to explain what it is -- what are we looking at? What are we seeing when we see something so beautiful and dramatic as that?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Let's just keep on this video, because you'll see the explosion. The explosion literally came out. It's called a coronal mass ejection.

Get used to that term, because it's going to be used very often in the next three to five years. We are now going into a solar cycle that's at its peak, the peak of this sunspot cycle, the peak of these coronal mass ejections.

The pictures you see there and the splash-down of this plasma, this just unbelievably hot stuff coming out of the sun, and then splashing back down, those splashes you see are the size of Earth.

MALVEAUX: Wow.

MYERS: I mean, it's hard to imagine the size of the sun and the size of the Earth. Let's go to this next graphic and we'll show you where we were and where we're headed.

Back in the late '90s, around 2000, we were in a solar peak. That solar peak means we had three of these per day! And we were getting static electricity and static charges all over the place.

But now we have more satellites up there. We have more power grid issues. We are running things almost full throttle.

So near the peak you get about one of these things a week. During the peak -- during the minimum, you get one -- during the peak, you might get two or three a day. And so these things are headed to the Earth, and they could cause these solar storms.

We know them as visually, you'll see the aurora borealis. Right? You'll see beautiful colors in the northern hemisphere, in the southern hemisphere, because they are interacting with the ionosphere.

But the dangerous part is when these plasma particles, this energy, comes to the Earth and can knock out satellites for a while. It can knock them out long enough that they may lose -- or they may wobble a little bit. They can knock out power grids, too.

This one probably is not going to do that. This was a very large -- this was a big CME. But it was not pointed directly at the Earth.

You have to understand the Earth and sun three-dimensional. Half of these we don't see because we're on the other side of the sun and they blast away from the Earth. This one kind of blasted slightly toward the Earth, but we're only going to get about a 20 percent brushing by of this one.

MALVEAUX: And there's no possibility that any of that stuff would come to the Earth -- like, land on the Earth?

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: The ionosphere protects us from all of that.

But I want you to go to a Web site called spaceweather.com. And you can learn all about this. This is one of my favorite Web sites of all time.

I go on there, I talk to the guys at spaceweather.com. They say these things coming. They'll tell you what it's going to look like, how big it's going to be, and they'll keep you right up to date on what everything NASA is saying.

MALVEAUX: That is great, because we saw these pictures and we were all just -- our whole team was in awe. We were like, wow, what is going on?

MYERS: I had them on my Twitter account yesterday. If you go to ChadMyersCNN for your Twitter, I had that on there. I had this video on there. Man, this is just unreal. The video is just unbelievable.

And now it's headed our way. It takes about 48 to 72 hours for this stuff to get here. So even though it happened a couple of days ago, it's good because we know what's coming and they can prepare.

And if it's a really big one, these satellite companies can shut their satellites down so they don't get bombarded by all this stuff. If can get them down in time. So it isn't like this instantaneous thing. It's not the speed of light, because that's when it takes, like, six minutes. So it would be really fast.

MALVEAUX: And just those flares, it's amazing.

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: The pictures are -- I know.

MALVEAUX: You've got to love this stuff.

All right, Chad. Thanks so much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

MALVEAUX: We really appreciate it.

Here's a look at what's ahead "On the Rundown" this hour.

First, U.S. drone attacks pick up again in Yemen. With the country's president reportedly still in a hospital in Saudi Arabia, could his potential return throw the country into civil war?

And thousands of Syrians fleeing for their lives. Syrians cross the border into Turkey. We're going to have a live report.

Then, Casey Anthony breaks down in the courtroom after seeing graphic pictures of her dead daughter.

And finally, President Obama's re-election campaign facing some pretty strong headwinds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Now it's time for you to "Choose the News." Here are your choices.

First up, female soccer players in Afghanistan. In a country where the oppression is the norm, these young athletes risking their lives every time they take to the field.

Second, the Metropolitan Opera returns to Japan and makes a symbolic step in recovery after the quake.

And third, in the United States, we love MP3 players. But in Zimbabwe, the hip way to listen to music, still on a cassette tape.

So, you can vote for your favorite story by texting 22360.

Text 1 for "Soccer Players in Afghanistan"; 2 for "Opera in Japan" or 3 for "Cassette Tapes in Zimbabwe."

The winning story is going to air at the end of the hour.

We now have confirmation that the U.S. has resumed airstrikes in Yemen, and it believes that a top al Qaeda militant has been killed there.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is working the story. She joins us live from the Pentagon.

And Barbara, give us the update on these attacks and who we think might have been killed.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, U.S. officials say that they believe one of their airstrikes in recent days in Yemen killed a man named Al-Harifi (ph) in southern Afghanistan. They identify him as an al Qaeda operative, part of this structure of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda in Yemen, if you will.

The real focus now is going after some of these key al Qaeda leaders in Yemen. Very concerning to U.S. officials, they say, because they believe al Qaeda in Yemen does pose a threat to the United States. You only have to remember, you know, the underwear bomber case of December, 2009, a man who tried to blow up a Detroit- bound airliner and was inspired, to say the least, by al Qaeda in Yemen.

The unrest on the streets of Yemen that we see almost every day now is causing some concern as well, because as the central government perhaps is less able to control the country, al Qaeda finds a vacuum, steps in, and begins to exert its power more and more.

At this hour on Capitol Hill, Leon Panetta, the CIA director, is testifying to become the secretary of defense. He is talking about al Qaeda and saying it is an immediate threat to the United States. Al Qaeda in Yemen, an immediate threat to the United States, all part of the reason you are seeing this resumption of airstrikes over Yemen -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Barbara, how does the White House square this, the fact that they would like for Yemen's leader not to return, and at the same time, now that the president, Saleh, he's gone, you've got this power vacuum, as you mentioned, and the potential for al Qaeda to gain strength?

STARR: You know, it is just a national security stew, I would say, to say the least. That is the problem right now.

They want Saleh gone in order to try and stabilize Yemen and have some sort of central government that would be acceptable to the people there. Saleh, injured in a recent attack, now recovering in Saudi Arabia, perhaps not expected to come back into Yemen. But the current central government remains so fragile, and really struggling for any control over the country.

You have al Qaeda in Yemen, you have tribal leaders in Yemen, all exerting their authority and their control over various parts of the country. And as we know, when there is no central government, whether it's parts of Pakistan, Somalia or Yemen, when you don't have a central government in control, that's when al Qaeda really flourishes with new recruits, financing, training, all of it. That's the real concern right now in Yemen.

MALVEAUX: All eyes on Yemen now.

Thank you very much, Barbara.

Well, thousands of people are on the run as a huge wildfire is spreading across Arizona. Now two more towns get the order to evacuate.

We're going to go live to the fire zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: More evacuation orders go out in Arizona as a massive wildfire spreads. The so-called Wallow Fire has driven thousands of people from their homes.

And CNN's Jim Spellman, he is with us from Eagar, Arizona.

Jim, give us a sense here. The weather is expected to get a little bit better. Do we think that the firefighters -- are they making any progress in trying to contain this massive fire?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, still, this fire is officially zero percent contained. But for the first time since this fire began 10 days ago, they've lifted what they call the red flag warning. A red flag warning is when there's high winds, low humidity, perfect conditions for fires to spread, and the worst possible conditions for firefighters to work under.

Today, the winds so far have been calm. They hope to make as much traction as they can today.

They're still doing controlled burns, trying to get ahead of the fire, starve it of fuel. And later today, they hope that if the weather stays good, they can use a 747 supertanker that they can fill with water and drop on the front. They haven't been able to use resources like that because of the weather. Hopefully today they will be able to -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Do we have any sense about how the evacuations are going? Are people still in the danger zone in their homes, hoping to wait this thing out?

SPELLMAN: Yes, there are. We've personally seen at least a handful of people that are staying there to defend their homes.

You know, people say they've lived there for decades. It's their home, all their memories are there, it's where they raised their kids.

We spoke with one man who has got a homemade system of sprinklers around his house. He's got a little water pump on a 4 x 4 that he's going to use to put out any spot fires. And he's ready to stick it out.

That said, everybody we've spoken to say, they say that if it gets worse, they are ready to pull out. The last thing the sheriffs and any of the law enforcement people here need to deal with is to have to deal with getting those people out of trouble while the firefighters are working on the fire. They hope everybody leaves, but ultimately they can't force these people to leave. And if they want to stay, they do -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Jim, are those folks going to be in trouble if the fire comes their way? Are the firefighters -- do they have the resources to even try to, like, pluck people out of their homes at that point?

SPELLMAN: It's going to be tough. I mean, there's 2,500 firefighters here, but they're all working so hard on trying to keep this away from these two towns of Eagar and Springerville.

Now, they are focused heavily on what they call structure protection, which is focusing on these populated areas, trying to divert the fire around those areas. But ultimately, a lot of it is going to depend on knowing where everybody is.

The sheriff has been going door to door, trying to create a tally of what addresses have people that are remaining so that they know where to focus and they're not starting from scratch should it get really worse, say, in the middle of the night. So, they hope to, but it's not going to be easy -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Jim, once you leave your house, can you go back if you've forgotten something that's really valuable? If you want to get your photo albums, or perhaps you forgot the cat was gone? Can they return to their homes?

SPELLMAN: No, absolutely not. And people have had to make some tough decisions about what to bring with them.

This is a roadblock right here. No entry. And they've really locked this down since yesterday afternoon.

Late yesterday afternoon, the fire got behind the firefighters on the west side and the north side of this fire, and they really ramped up the evacuations and locked this town down. Before yesterday afternoon, they were a little looser about it, people could come and go.

Now, absolutely not. They're turning people away here, no matter what your story is, unless you're vital personnel needed to fire this fire -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. Jim Spellman, please be safe. Thanks, Jim.

Dramatic developments in the Casey Anthony trial. We're going to tell you what made her cry today in court and what her brother said on the witness stand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are working on.

Next, Casey Anthony cries in court as photographs of her daughter's remains are shown. We'll have an analysis of the latest twists and turns of the case. Then, President Obama, the candidate, what he has to do to sell himself for 2012.

And in 20 minutes, Britain is dealing with a phone hacking scandal, and new royal wife Kate Middleton is one of the victims. A live report from London.

Well, just last hour in a Florida courtroom, Casey Anthony broke down and cried. It happened as jurors in her capital murder trial were shown pictures of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee's skeletal remains.

Now, earlier today, jurors heard from her brother, Lee Anthony, who said his sister told him a nanny took the child from her in an Orlando park. Casey Anthony earlier told police she dropped the child off at the nanny's apartment and never saw her again.

So, a lot of developments in the trial this week. Joining us to put it all in perspective, criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Holly Hughes.

Now, Holly, thank you very much.

Last hour we saw Casey breaking down, really very emotional. Is this significant at all on either side, that she seems to be upset?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, because there's no way of knowing, Suzanne, why she's breaking down.

Is it remorse? Is she feeling sorry and guilty now that she's actually seen her handy work? Or is she just crying for herself? Is she like oh, no, I'm sunk, now they're looking at the baby's bones.

We don't know what make this girl tick, but we do know based on her own attorney, Jose Baez' opening, that she is a pathological liar. So nothing that she says or does can really be trusted, because why is she crying? She's crying for herself.

MALVEAUX: What about the brother? Because we were quite surprised. He was only on the stand a very short while, 10 minutes at max here. And the story that he told about how the child was taken, was there an inconsistency there, or did it line up with her story of what she said initially?

HUGHES: No, it's another huge inconsistency, Suzanne. And here why this why they waited to call him back.

You know, he testified before, and they called him back because now we have the testimony of Yuri Melich, who is the lead homicide detective in this case. And they played all of the statements that Casey gave. And Casey was very descriptive in telling the lead homicide detective, I dropped Caylee off at the Sawgrass apartment at my nanny's apartment. When I went to get her after work that day, they weren't there. Zenaida, who she claims was the nanny, her phone was disconnected, I could never reach them again.

MALVEAUX: OK.

HUGHES: So what we have here is she's created two very different stories. Now she's claiming -- and her brother Lee testified today -- that Zenaida, the nanny, and the nanny's sister held her down, physically restrained her, held her wrists in a park, and sat her on the bench and said, we're taking Caylee away from you because you're a bad mother, you're unfit.

And so we're just going to -- well, now, that's crazy. It is a public park.

MALVEAUX: Two different stories.

HUGHES: And who would not have intervened?

MALVEAUX: Tell us a little bit about the forensics. There was the computer. We'll get to that, but the fact that there was no human decomposition near the swimming pool, that the cadaver dogs never actually detected that.

Why was that important?

HUGHES: Right. That's very big, because Jose Baez, the defense attorney, told us in his opening statement that the baby drowned in the pool.

Well, now, if that's true, Suzanne, and you scoop that child's body out of the pool, you're going to collapse right there. You're going to put her on the ground. You're going to attempt resuscitation. You're going to try mouth to mouth. You're going to be doing chest compressions.

If she dies, the body and the scent when she started to decompose would have been in the area next to the pool. It makes no common sense -- and you don't have to be a forensic scientist or a detective, or even trained medical personnel to know that if you scoop child out of a pool, you don't run all the way across the back yard and lay her down by the playhouse to attempt resuscitation. You do that immediately in that spot.

So, what it tells us is the defense's story is not backed up by the science. And no matter how many witnesses you put on, we know that science doesn't lie.

MALVEAUX: And we do know as well that when you use a computer, they can -- the digital forensics also contributes. You can track any kind of communication that you had on that computer.

HUGHES: Forever. It is never gone. People think -- they're under the false impression that when they hit delete or they put it in the little trash can, it's gone. Not true. It is there forever, and it can be -- unless you literally blow up your computer into little bits, it's going to be there.

And think about it this way, Suzanne. We have plane crashes, and a month later we find that black box in the bottom of the ocean floor. Yet we can pull it up, open up that sealed container and get all of that data out.

The electronics these days are absolutely just fascinating, and you're not going to get away with it. If it's on your computer, they're going to find it.

MALVEAUX: All right. And we'll get to those details about the computer and what was found at another time. But thank you so much, Holly. Really appreciate it. Fascinating case.

Our sister network HLN is your destination for complete coverage of the Casey Anthony trial. Watch special coverage of the trial throughout the day on HLN.

Republicans are lining up for the chance to take on President Obama in the 2012 election. But the president's biggest challenger may be the economy. That story up ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The field Republicans are itching to take on President Obama is getting bigger. Seven candidates are officially now in the race, but right now, the president is running against perhaps another opponent -- the sluggish economy. That story from White House correspondent Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Launching anything into strong headwinds is never considered ideal. But the Obama campaign, with its slick Chicago headquarters, is doing just that. Facing down a bad economy in the race to 2012.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously we're experiencing some headwinds. Gas prices probably being most prominent. It has enormous impact on family budgets and on the psychology of consumers.

LOTHIAN: Dealing with the psychology of the consumer before he or she heads to the polls is a daunting challenge.

AUDIENCE (chanting): Four more years! Four more years!

OBAMA: Now, actually, technically, it's about five-and-a-half.

(LAUGHTER)

LOTHIAN: While fundraisers from Michigan to Miami have put the president's campaign on an impressive track to a $1 billion target, the U.S. economy is still faltering. And that, says Republican strategist Kevin Madden, will be the fundamental issue GOP candidates use to show the president's economic policies have failed.

(on camera): The problem that he says he has inherited is now his and he'll be judged by it.

KEVIN MADDEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Right. I think you're going to look at an election that's very much about the present and then the future, where we're going to take the country. In the present right now he can no longer make the argument that he made when he was a candidate in 2008 which this is George Bush's economy. This is President Obama's economy.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): And you don't need a poll to tell you Americans don't like this economy. They want jobs yesterday. Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons says as long as people are looking for work, they'll keep their minds open to another candidate.

JAMAL SIMMONS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: He has to convince people his policies are actually helping the country turn the corner and do better. At the end of the day, he's going to have to run against a real-life Republican who's going to have flaws and other problems that the president's going to have to exploit.

LOTHIAN: And what about national security? Doesn't the killing of Osama bin Laden prove President Obama is a strong, gutsy leader who took a chance to keep America safe? Madden says getting the elusive terrorist was good news but voters like good jobs much better.

MADDEN: It may have been a temporary benefit, but it's actually not going to drive the long-term debate of this campaign.

LOTHIAN: But Simmons doesn't see dark clouds hanging over the president's campaign. While Republicans will hit him on the economy --

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I understand how jobs come, and I understand how jobs go.

OBAMA: -- he can hit back with his achievements.

SIMMONS: What the president can say, he can come back at them and say, I put two women on the Supreme Court. I passed health care for 30 million people. I have turned the corner -- helped the country turn the corner when it comes to the economy and we're growing out not as fast as we need to but we're doing it much better than we were in George Bush was in office -

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Dan Lothian joins us live. Dan, good to see you. The Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons in the report brought up the whole issue of health care reform. Do we think that that is something that Republicans are going to find beneficial in going back to the president on the campaign trail?

LOTHIAN: Look, that is such a good point. As you know, Republicans have been calling for repeal of health care reform. Simmons says that what the president needs to do is point out that health care reform is beneficial to millions of Americans and that you have to give it time, because you will start to see some of those benefits play out over the next year and beyond.

The bottom line though, he says, is that the president really needs to make the case, and those who are pushing his message -- that health care reform is good for the American people, is good for the economy. They have to do a better job of explaining that.

MALVEAUX: All right, Dan. Thank you very much. Good to see you.

CNN In-Depth is on a listening tour to hear about your concerns about the economy and how those concerns are shaping your views on the presidential race. Our correspondents are across the country, and CNN's Casey Wian has been listening to voters in Nevada.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Travis Ward and Jamie Miller work on a 30-passenger Hummer limousine, a symbol of the Las Vegas fast life surrounded by a Nevada economy that's hit the skids.

TRAVIS WARD, MECHANIC: It's just bad here. Everything is slow. A lot of people are out of work. They did build too quick here, and now, people are leaving because there's no job. Everything is empty. Look at the lot here.

WIAN: Their brake shop is the only business operating in the shopping center.

JAMIE MILLER, MECHANIC: If there are no cars coming in, I don't get no hours. How can I afford to pay for my kid?

WIAN: How is it going to impact your decision on who you vote for for president next year?

WARD: It will impact it some. I mean, it's pretty much picking the lesser of the two evils. I know I don't want Obama in there again because he pretty much (INAUDIBLE).

MILLER: You know, the only thing I can say I was happy about was finding Osama out there. That was one thing he did keep his promise about. I enjoyed that.

WIAN: Neither man has found a Republican to support in 2012, but both say the economy here is so bad, they plan to leave soon. Not so with these women on their lunch break from message therapist school.

TITIANA MATTHEWS, STUDENT: I am going to continue to vote for Obama.

WIAN: And why is that?

MATTHEWS: Because I don't think it's fair to take him down after he did all the hard work in our economy where we are now.

BOBBIE WOODS, STUDENT: I've been looking for a job for a year and a half. I think Obama has done a good job, especially with what he walked into. Am I going to vote for him? I don't know yet.

GREG MARTIN, BUSINESSMAN: I voted for Barack Obama.

WIAN: Greg Martin used to have a 5,000 square foot shop cutting parts for manufacturing companies. Now, he's doing small jobs in his garage for a tiny fraction of the revenue. He doesn't like the president's health care plan, although, he says he can't afford insurance.

MARTIN: I know it's not going to help me. You know, I'm a small business, and to get health insurance, it's really expensive.

WIAN: Down the block, one of Nevada's nation leading home foreclosures.

MARTIN: I'm not upside down. I'm not underwater at this time, but if it gives going the way it is, I will, and that's sad.

WIAN: What are you going to do in 2012?

MARTIN: I'm still undecided. At this point, I don't know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Casey Wian joins us live from Henderson, Nevada. And Casey, we know Nevada was a critical state the last go-round. Potentially even more important this time.

WIAN: Absolutely, Suzanne. It is a referendum on what's happening with the economy nationally.

We're here in a community center in Henderson. It is one of seven of these recreation centers that have been built in this town. This is a town that grew from 65,000 people two decades ago to almost 270,000 people now. It grew so fast, and then they had the home foreclosure crisis hit. Now more than half of the homes in this area that are sold are actually in foreclosure. The unemployment rate is about 12 percent. So, the economy is the first thing on voters' minds here.

Another reason it's very important nationally is the fact that Nevada's GOP primary, the caucus actually, is one of the first. It is the first after Iowa and New Hampshire. The electorate is very closely divided here. You've got about 100,000 more Democrats than you do Republicans in the state of Nevada, but there are 300,000 registered voters who are not affiliated with either of those two parties.

So, you've got a very, very critical race that's going to be coming up here next spring and next November, Suzanne.

MALVEUAX: All right. Casey, thank you very much.

On Monday, CNN is going to host the New Hampshire presidential debate. Join us as Republican hopefuls gather to size one another up and debate the issues. New Hampshire Republican presidential debate, CNN Monday night at 8:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: There is still time to choose the story you'd like to see. Vote for your favorite story by texting 22360. Text 1 for the story of Afghan women risking their lives to play the game they love. Text 2 for the return of the opera to Japan after the quake. Text 3 for Zimbabwe's favorite tunes played on cassette. Winning story is going to air in just ten minutes.

Zeroing in now on the Middle East. Region in revolt. We're keeping a close eye on the growing crisis in Syria. It is not who Syria is that matters most to the United States, but where Syria is. The country borders Turkey, Iraq, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon. And right now, Syrian refugees are fleeing into Turkey.

Our Ivan Watson is in the Turkish capital of Istanbul. He joins us live.

And, Ivan, first of all, we have seen more than 1,000 refugees streaming across the border just in the last 24 hours. What happens to those folks?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, Suzanne, I'm right on the Syrian border. The border is about a quarter of a mile behind me. And this is one of the unofficial crossing points that hundreds of refugees have crossed over here just in the past short while. More than 2,000, 2,400 according to the foreign minister of Turkey.

I want to pan down to this. Take a quick looks. We're not really allowed by the Turkish authorities to talk to the refugees as they come in, and we can't go into Syria. But we're talking to right now a Syrian activist via Skype who's just on the other side of the border in the farms behind us who's showing us video -- I know it's really hard to see here -- of mostly women and children refugees right now who are about to cross the border here in to Turkey, where Turkish border troops, as well as the Turkish government, then help bus them to a refugee camp in an abandoned tobacco factory.

And this activist here has been providing a lot of the information about what is going on about the killing and the fear in Syria right now that has prompted, according to the refugees, tens of thousands of people to evacuate the Syrian border town of Jiseralshabur (ph).

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Ivan, that's absolutely amazing. So those pictures that we're seeing, that's live stream?: We're actually seeing live pictures from your computer of folks who are on the other side of the border?

WATSON: Absolutely. They're less than a quarter of a mile away, these pictures. And again, this is a brave Syrian activist. One of so many who have been getting out images of what's happening in that country to the outside world, since journalists aren't allowed in there, and showing us -- he first alerted us to the fact that there was a stream of refugees coming across the border a couple of days ago. So this image of women and children lining up to come -- to flee to safety. And what they're afraid of is that the Syrian government is going to send troops to this rebellious border town troops where the Syrian government claims more than 100 Syrian security forces were killed in -- over the course of the last week. They're afraid they're going to be punished for the rebellion there.

And a very interesting point. We talked with one activist via a message system, GChat, and he told me this morning that some of his friends were burning tires trying to block a column of tanks from getting to this rebellious town last night. Trying to block nine tanks from getting to that very place.

And, once again, these are live images via Skype from a quarter mile away in Syrian territory of mostly women and children, Syrian refugees, lining up, waiting for permission to cross the unofficial border gate here into Turkey to flee the violence that has killed, officially, more than 1,000 people in Syria in the last two and a half months. That's according to the United Nations, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Ivan, obviously a humanitarian crisis that you're seeing there on the border. Excellent reporting just to be able to show us that live video stream of people on the other side of the border who essentially are fleeing for their lives, trying to cross in to Turkey and to essentially try to escape the Syrian military and forces that have taken action and created a great deal of violence. Thank you very much, Ivan. Appreciate it.

A private eye is accused of hacking into the phone of royal favorite Kate Middleton. We're going to tell you who allegedly hired him and who else may have been a victim.

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MALVEAUX: Scotland Yard is investigating claims that a private eye tapped into cell phone conversations of Kate Middleton and other members of the British royal family, as well as government leaders. CNN's Max Foster is in London with the latest on this British scandal.

And, Max, this is not even the first time, right, that we've heard from Kate complaining about spies on the phone. What are these allegations about?

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've just been speaking to the former deputy prime minister, John Prescott. He was deputy to Tony Blair. And he's an alleged victim of this hacking. And he's describing now something rotten in the state of England. He wants a full public inquiry. And that just describes how big this is in this country. It's very complicated, but it's very big. And it all goes back to allegations about four years ago when Prince William thought some of his aides had their phones hacked. And the royal correspondent at "The News Of The World" ended up going into prison after that. That's a Murdoch-owned newspaper.

And, since then, there was a litany of other cases and "News International," which owns "The News Of The World," has admitted liability in some cases, paying out, for example, to the actress Sienna Miller for hacking into her phone.

And what we've got now is a whole new set of allegations, which the police aren't currently investigating. It came up in parliament yesterday. David Cameron had to talk about it. It's about invasion of privacy and it involves many royals, we understand, including the Duchess of Cambridge. Also, Tony Blair himself, although he says he doesn't know anything about this. "News International" saying today, Suzanne, that they don't think there's any truth into this and they will speak to the police if they need to, but they don't think there's anything in it.

MALVEAUX: And, Max, do we think this is going to get much bigger?

FOSTER: Well, it's getting bigger all the time because there are lots of cases waiting to be investigated by the police and they do say today that they're going to investigate these broader cases as well. And the police were under a lot of pressure in the early days because they were seen as not handling this properly. The government got involved. Everyone's involved in this. So they want to make sure it's investigated properly. So we're going to hear more cases, I'm sure.

MALVEAUX: All right, Max, thank you very much.

You told us what you wanted to see. Your "Choose The News" story just moments away.

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MALVEAUX: You told us what you wanted to see. Here's your "Choose The News" winner. These young female athletes in Afghanistan are defying society's rules and risking their lives to play the game they love. Nick Paton Walsh reports.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Football has never been so dangerous, not just because this is Kabul, but because these players are not men.

KHALIDA POPAL, AFGHAN WOMEN'S TEAM CAPTAIN: I love football and football is everything for me. And when I come and feel the football, I forget everything and I become very happy when I see my team.

WALSH: Khalida captains Afghanistan's only female team, who face daily disapproval and even death threats in this conservative society. The only place they are allowed to play is this patch of grass lent to them by NATO outside its headquarters. There's one problem -- it's not just a football field. These girls love the game so much, nothing will stop them. Khalida can't live without football.

POPAL: When my family stop me to play football, when they said, no, just stop playing football, and I tried suicide.

WALSH (on camera): To kill yourself?

POPAL: Yes. WALSH (voice-over): In fact, unless they travel abroad, there's only one team they can play -- NATO's women. It's a full contact match. The Afghan women say that even being seen with NATO won them further hatred, particularly as the western girls have short sleeves and bare legs. But, like so many foreigners here before them, this time the NATO women lost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It wasn't until last week when I met the coach that I realized that I've taken a lot for granted just being able to play any sport and have the freedoms that I have.

WALSH: Things got even harder for the Afghan girls when they were stopped from playing in this stadium.

WALSH (on camera): Now the Afghan men's team have a lush pitch to practice on, but the women never got to use it. Instead, they were given this concrete down at one end. And now, they've even been banned from that.

WALSH (voice-over): Death threats are usually anonymous. A text message. A phone call. But they take their toll.

KHATTOL KHAN, SOCCER PLAYER (through translator): I'm thinking about quitting and two girls have already quit and left the country because of threats. My family wants me to quit and don't even know I'm here.

WALSH: Her father, fearing for her safety and reputation.

GULL SAYED KHAN, FATHER (through translator): My daughter is studying at the technical institute and I have someone who looks after her. I take her every morning to school and in the afternoon I bring her home. I'm worried, but I'm also proud.

WALSH: It's seen as one of life's joys in most of the world, but here it's a luxury to some, an outrage to others. Yet all the same, nothing has stopped these girls yet.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kabul.

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MALVEAUX: If your choice did not win or you just want to check out the runners-up, I'll have links to them on my page at facebook.com/suzannecnn.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kaye, who's in for Ali Velshi.

Hey, Randi.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Suzanne. Thank you.