First Papal Vote Today; Interview with Michael Notar
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching STARTING POINT. In just three hours, 115 cardinal electors will take an oath of secrecy and then head into the Sistine Chapel to vote for a new pope. We could see smoke from the chimney about the chapel at early as this afternoon at 2:00 pm Eastern. Black smoke would mean that the first vote failed to select a new pontiff. White smoke would mean that a new Holy Father has, in fact, been chosen. Earlier, the cardinals attended a special mass at the Vatican and Jim Bittermann is live for us from Rome this morning. He was inside that mass with the cardinals. Hey, Jim. Good morning.</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad. Good morning. I went to the mass; I've got the book to prove it. It's not the kind of book you see very often, issue by the Vatican for a mass, a holy mass for the election of a Roman pontiff, a real souvenir, Soledad. Basically this mass comes along only when there is an election of a pope. It was led by Angelo -- celebrated by Angelo Sodano, who's the dean of the College of Cardinals and all the cardinals were there, not only the cardinal electors who're going to actually vote later on today, but also the cardinals who are too old to vote as well as thousands of people. The public were let in and the basilica was pretty much full as this mass took place this morning. Sodano thanked Benedict XVI for his role as pope. And he went on to talk a lot about evangelization and the need for charity in the church and the idea that a pope should, in fact, be ready to give up his life for the church, kind of a -- something that would focus the minds of the cardinals present, because, in fact, one of the 115 that are going to vote is probably going to exit later on this week sometime if it goes according to what we think it's going to go to, as the pope. So that is basically the mass this morning. One of the things that I think was interesting for me was not in the mass but outside the mass, and that is a little chapel alongside -- many of the cardinals stopped to say quiet prayers this morning, because I think they really appreciate the seriousness of this vote -- of this event, Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: Jim Bittermann for us this morning, thank you, Jim; appreciate it. John Berman's got a look at some of the other stories making news. Must be so amazing, right, to be there while it's happening, just the pomp and circumstance, whether are you Catholic or not Catholic, to be able to be part of that.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (Inaudible) process that's, you know, 800 years in the making.</s>O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness, and the solemnity of this really. Really exciting to watch from here.</s>BERMAN: Fascinating. We do have some other news going on right now this morning. Tensions near a boiling point between North and South Korea. The South warning it's ready with U.S. help to respond to any provocations resolutely and destructively. Those words from South Korea. This follows the latest saber rattling by North Korea, which claims it canceled the armistice that ended the fighting in Korea 60 years ago. An update now on a story that we've been following; attorneys for two Steubenville, Ohio, teens accused of rape want the judge to dismiss the charges because they say key witnesses will not testify. They argue the 16-year-old boys' constitutional right to a fair trial is being jeopardized. Prosecutors say the accuser was too drunk to consent to sex. Defense attorneys say she was aware of what she was doing and making decisions. The boys' trial is scheduled to begin tomorrow. The federal government has charged the State of Illinois with securities fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission claimed that investors were defrauded because Illinois did not completely disclosed information about the financial condition of its pension funds. The two sides have reached a settlement; only once before has the SEC accused a state of securities fraud. That was New Jersey back in 2010. So manatees are dying in record numbers off the coast of Florida because of an algae bloom known as red tide. State wildlife officials say it's killed 174 manatees since January along southwest Florida. Scientists say what's happening is the manatees are eating algae that's settling on the sea grass, which is a key part of their diet.</s>O'BRIEN: Oh, my God, that's terrible. What are they going to do about that?</s>BERMAN: The red tide, apparently, will continue for some time. So it doesn't look to get any better any time soon.</s>O'BRIEN: Oh, that's awful. Some new details this morning about that tragic car accident that claimed the lives of six teenagers. It happened near Warren, Ohio.</s>O'BRIEN (voice-over): Authorities say the owner of the Honda Pilot that was involved in the crash reported it stolen. And police say none of the teenagers involved in the accident are related to the owner, nor did they ask permission to use the vehicle. Five boys and a young woman between the ages of 14 and 19 were killed when that SUV flipped over a guard rail and then landed in a small pond. Yesterday the mother of one of the teenage boys spoke out.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he can't come home, he can't come through the door, "Mom, what's for dinner? What did you cook, Mom?" I'm not going to hear none of it anymore.</s>O'BRIEN: Oh, just heartbreaking; the tragedy has rocked what is a blue-collar community, 41,000 people -- so a small town. It's right near the Pennsylvania border. Want to get right to Michael Notar. He's the superintendent of schools for Warren City, Ohio. It's nice to have you with us. Thank you for talking with us. How are the schools reacting? I know there's some thoughts about closing, and then it seemed that it was actually a better idea to keep the school open. Walk me through how that has gone.</s>MICHAEL NOTAR, SUPERINTENDENT, WARREN CITY, OHIO, SCHOOLS: Yes, we decided -- we met as an administrative group on Sunday. We had some services from an outside counseling agency come and kind of give us some direction as a school district. And there was some consideration in closing the school district down for yesterday. But after much discussion, we thought it was in the best interest of our students, our families, our parents, to open up our school buildings and provide our students, our teachers and families with counseling services that were available.</s>O'BRIEN: I know that some of the people who were seeking out help and certainly solace were some of the siblings of the kids who died in the crash, is that right?</s>NOTAR: Yes, that's true. I was at our high school yesterday; my associate superintendent was at our Willard (ph) K-8 building. And very, very emotional day. Some of the siblings of the deceased decided to come to school. We were happy to see them there, to offer our condolences. You know, once they saw some of their teachers and friends, they began to open up. And we felt that they needed that. It was good for everybody yesterday to be able to be around one another and support one another through these difficult times.</s>O'BRIEN: Just sounds brutal, it sounds horrible. Warren, of course, is a small city. I have to imagine it's the kind of place where pretty much knows everybody else or knows someone who knows everybody else. And this would be a largest loss of life in a car accident in the history of the community. What has the impact been outside of the school? But on the entire community?</s>NOTAR: You know, I've stated the last couple of days -- I've worked in a couple of different school districts and Warren is a wonderful community. One thing I have noticed, they come together in difficult times. Unfortunately, we had a tragedy about a year ago from today that involved some of our students and families, and we rallied together as a community, supported one another and we'll continue to do so. So a lot of local support, a lot of our pastors, and a lot of our local school districts reached out. They sent guidance counselors from various school districts to help out yesterday. So I can't say enough thank yous to everyone who has helped out and has come together and has tried to help the district and our community as a whole move forward.</s>O'BRIEN: Yes, it must be a really helpful thing. Michael Notar is the Warren City Schools superintendent. Thank you for talking with us this morning. We appreciate it.</s>NOTAR: Thank you. And again, my thoughts and our prayers go out to those families.</s>O'BRIEN: Oh, gosh, ours, too. What a terrible story to have to certainly report and certainly have to be living in the community where you are. Thank you, appreciate it. Ahead this morning on STARTING POINT, we're going to talk a little bit more about Sheryl Sandberg's new book. It's about why more women aren't at the top of the business world and it's sparked a reaction, a big one, and kind of polarizing. Is she the right woman to talk about how women can press ahead? STARTING POINT is back in just a moment.