african-american pastors are also voicing their opposition to the president's decision to support gay marriage. and the issue is expected to be a focus of sermons in churches all across the country this mother's day. ahead of sunday's services a group of civil rights leaders, include al sharpton and joseph lowery have written an open letter to the african-american community embracing the president's decision. it says, "we cannot fight to gain rights for some and not for all." in another part of the letter it says, "the president made clear that his support is for civil marriage for same kx couples, and he is fully committed to protecting the ability of religions institutions to make their own decisions about their own sacraments. there will be those who seek to use this issue to divide our community. as a people, we cannot afford such division." cnn's athena jones live out of silver spring, maryland with the latest public reaction to the president's decision. athena, what are you hearing and where are you in silver spring? >> we're actually at a market in downtown silver spring talking to a whole bunch of people. we've been talking to them all day. before i mention that, national poll numbers, gallop did the first national pole since wednesday when the president made the declaration for same-sex marriage asking what they thought, 51% approved, 45% disapproved. when it comes to how this will affect the president politically, 13% said it made it more likely, 26% less likely, for 60%, the vast majority said it wouldn't make any difference. that's a difference at some pole numbers. talking to jesse and daisy what they feel. you heard the president coming out in favor of same-sex marriage. how do you feel about that? >> i feel a bit conflicted about it. personally i'm not in support of same-sex marriage but i am for equal rights and treating people as people. i think the president coming out put a fine line between the gray area and made me take a stand. >> do you think this is going to lead to a lot more discussion in the black community, because you have a man who is a black president coming out for this right, civil right to get married? >> absolutely. i feel like a lot of the black community didn't really have a particular opinion on it or didn't feel like it februaried them personally because they didn't know a lot of people who are having that issue. so i feel like him standing up and saying that he's in support of gay marriage will make people wake up. it made us wake up and have to think and wonder how do we feel about it. we still are in between. i'm okay wit. he kind of has a little bit of a different opinion. yeah, it made us actually talk about and i think it's happening all over. >> in various families and communities. another question for you, does it affect your support for the president? you're old enough to vote, of course. does it affect how you'll vote for him? >> it does not. i actually appreciate him for taking a stand on something. it's a very controversial issue. i'm sure he could have pushed it on the back burner for a little bit longer. but he put his foot down and honest, integrity. that's what i look for. >> great. there we have it, fred. just a few people we're talking to in silver springs, their reaction. back to you. >> athena jones. we appreciate that. we'll check in with you later on in the afternoon. presumptive gop presidential nominee mitt romney tries to bond with evangelical christians, giving the commencement address liberty school that teaches romney's mormon faith isn't a true form of christianity. lynchburg, virginia, same-sex marriage was a strong talking point. he didn't elaborate further but made a strong statement. >> reporter: you made the sound bite of mitt romney playing into the issue. he made the point. there was loud applause from the people as you might expect from christian evangelicals, especially people here in attendance. then moved on of other parts of the speech were as the romney campaign promised yesterday not overtly political, fred, but some political points being made. he talked about lately he's been in four-year stretches. he made a slight joke about how not everyone has been doing so well in the past four years, hint hint. he also talked about, mentioned rick santorum, his former opponent saying rick santorum referred him to a brookings institute study who show people who graduate from high school and get a job and marry before they have a child are only 2% likely to be poor. there were some political references but it was not overtly political. one thing that struck as noteworthy was there were several references to god and religion. and you know there have been protests obviously with mitt romney coming to speak at this university which bills itself as the largest christian university in the country because he's mormon. as you mentioned, a lot of people here don't feel that his faith is a part of christianity. but one quote that stood out especially as mormon, romney tried to bridge that divide. he talked about a meeting and common purpose, people of different faiths. he said surely people of different kreeds and theologist can meet in the middle somewhere. two particular areas being service and moral convictions. fred. >> shannon travis, thanks so much in lynchburg, virginia. meantime not too far away, best and bravest in-law environment. short time ago president and vice president honored national organization of police organizations top cops. the winners in the rose garden. there were 34 recipients in all, 15 honored for taking down a gunman who opened fire with a shot done inside their detroit police station. all right. some u.s. military veterans find out the government has put them on the do not fly list. now they are taking action. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. it's showtime for savings. excuse me, sir, how much are you charging for your popcorn? $4.00. $4.00. i'm just going to let the people have a choice. $1.00 for popcorn. come and get it. guess we'll make it two. you got it. progressive showed me my options, i'm showing you yours. $1.00, fresh popcorn. enjoy the show. you should have an option, just like with car insurance. that is a really great price. ♪ [ camera clicks ] ♪ it's hard to resist the craveable nature of a nature valley sweet & salty nut bar. traveling by plane something people do every day without a thought. not the case if you're on the no fly list. a group of americans say they were put on that list, banned from flying and now they can't get off. four of them are u.s. veterans. cnn jason carroll joins us with more on this. jason, this has to be pretty frustrating when you think you're going to fly and you find out you can't. >> embarrassing, frustrating, all sorts of things. imagine arriving at the airport. you've never done anything wrong and you don't plan to yet you're told you can't board the flight. no one will tell you why or how to fibs it. that's the situation a former marine found himself in. he was heading from chicago to spokane for his dog training business. federal agents surrounded him and told him he could not go. he later found out he was on the no fly list. months later, fredricka, he says the fbi offered to get him off the list in exchange for being an informant at his local mosque. he declined that offer. he's now one of 15 people who along with the aclu are suing the government over the no fly list. a lower court threw out the case. an appeals court heard agents in portland, oregon. he says being on the list has hurt him. it has hurt his family and his business. >> well, it's very troubling. it's a major inconvenience, especially for somebody with a family. that's exactly why i joined the lawsuit hopefully my effort prevents it from happening to somebody else one day. a source told cnn in january the no fly list ballooned to 20,000 people as governments share more information. the government says this list is vital for keeping the country safe from terrorism. since the list created they have taken steps to improve the accuracy of it. a court spokesman says a decision will be forthcoming very soon. possibly, that's at least what we're hearing. at the end of the day they couldn't tell us specifically when. >> jason, aside from a lawsuit, if you find yourself on the no fly list, what's the process to try and get off the list. >> you've got to have access to the internet, here is what you have to do. i tried some of this. you go to the tsa website. go to redress process terrorism screening. there's actually a link you can click on. once you click on the link you're given a number. you explain what the problem was. you have to keep checking back using this number to determine whether or not a decision has been made about your status. but at the end of the day attorneys representing these plaintiffs say that's not adequate. what they want is some sort of independent situation out there for people to be able to access, to be able to go through this process and get some sort of justice. but as it stands right now, that is the only way you do it. you go online, submit a number, and hope the government decides in your favor. >> likely that decision doesn't come in a matter of days. it may take a long time and have you to have a whole lot of patience. all right. jason carroll, thanks so much in new york. big news, everyone anticipating it for the next week. facebook about to go public. the company will sell 337 million shares of stock at $28 to $35 a share. it could be the biggest ipo in history. so should you buy facebook shares? or maybe the better question is can you buy facebook? christine romans reports in this week's "smart is the new rich." >> suits meet the hoodie, facebook's mark zuckerberg gets star treatment on his company's road show but should he get your money when his company goes public. facebook will price that ipo between $28 and $35 a share. >> wait about a month until after the stock has been released. the mutual funds and institutional investors are going to be the major ones buying the stock. when the stock opens it's going to come in between $90 and $100 a share. let the hype go down. let the euphoria go down. >> because a lot of rich people get in before you ever will. investment banks underwriting the ipo gets the first crack at shares. they sell them to their best clients. hedge funds, big money managers and insiders. they get that ipo price. then retail investors, the little guys. they get their shot dead last. etrade underwriter of the ipo and etrade will have some shares available. td ameritrade and charles schwab. >> limit order. >> that's valuable limit order. you limit the price in which you're willing to pay on a particular stock. >> the most famous investors will not buy the facebook ipo. >> i can't recall in my life buying a new offering. the idea that something coming out on a monday, that's being offered with significant commissions, all kinds of publicity, the seller electing the time to sell is the best single investment i can make in the world among thousands of choices is possible. >> make sure you've maxed out your 401(k), balance properly and have mixed investments. that's a sure bet. christine romans, cnn, new york. an abused woman sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot. at least one lawmaker is saying the prosecutor overcharged the woman. our legal guys will share their thoughts in this case. and if you are leaving the house right now, just a reminder, you can continue watching cnn from your mobile phone. you can also watch cnn live from your desktop. go to cnn.com/tv. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ after days of testimony an emotional moment for jennifer hudson. a jury found the former brother-in-law of singer and actress guilty of murdering her brother, mother and seven and a half-year-old nephew. he'll be sentenced to life without parole. hudson broke down in the courtroom after she heard the verdict. she and her sister released a statement that they hope william belfour will repent someday for his crime. the case of a florida woman sentenced 20 years for firing a warning shot is stirring strong emotionings. she said she was trying to scare off her abusive husband during an altercation. a u.s. congresswoman brown confronted angela corey after the sentencing. >> my feeling is that your office initially overcharged her in this case. this is my feeling. this is my feeling. we can't try it here. >> yes, ma'am. that's why we're asking that it not be tried now. if the facts are going to be put out -- and i told mr. lincoln alexander i wanted to sit down with him. you can't tell people -- madam -- >> there's no justification for 20 years. it's a tough case. let's bring in our legal guys, avery friedman civil rights attorney and civil rights attorney in cleveland, good to see you. >> hi, fredricka. >> richard herman joining us from las vegas. good to see you as well. this is a different stand your ground case. she said she fired that warning shot to scare her husband, then wound up facing aggravated assault charges, was convicted and sentenced to 20 years for that act. avery what went wrong in the case of her defense. >> you want a laundry list? fredricka, this is terrible. number one, it does call into question the issue of stand your ground. if stand your ground has any meaning at all, it is when a degenerate husband or man decides to beat up a woman, that's when -- in this case miss alexander did what she should have done. she didn't shoot the guy, she fired at him as a warning and now she's convicted of attempted murder. because of mandatory minimum sentencing in florida, this is a 20 year sentence. a miscarriage of justice. terrible. >> why did the stand your ground defense not work in her case, even though it had been substantiated she was abused, even the husband admits to abusing her and others several times. >> right, fred. the biggest failure here was her lawyer. horrible legal representation. stand your ground says you do not have to withdraw. you do not have to withdraw. if you're in serious fear of imminent harm or death, you can stand your ground and shoot. what happened here, fred, she walked out of the house with her gun to her car. realized she forgot her keys and went back into the house. that's when she did that. that was the problem. the jury did not believe she was in reasonable fear of harm because she actually went back into the house. that's why this jury came back fast. twelve-minute verdict here, fred. there was no discussion. horrible. she had a three-year deal on the table. she rejected it. horrible legal representation i think. >> is there any recourse? you heard the congresswoman who said this was a case of being overcharged. this woman, marissa alexander was overcharged from the very start. can that be enough -- can that be ground for an appeal, avery? might her attorney be able to argue that or is it just too late to argue overcharged. >> yeah, it's too late. she was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt. i understand what congresswoman did, perhaps it was an overcharge, didn't matter, whether it was lousy defense work, whether the prosecution did a great job, whether the witnesses were credible or not, on the facts this case has very little chance of reversal on appeal. again, the legislators in tallahassee have taken away discretion from the judge. it's 20 years or nothing. it shouldn't be that way. judges should have discretion and florida is not giving it to them. >> i wonder, richard, real quick on this one. we have another case i want to get to, the john edwards trial. in this case, this was perhaps a prelude to another high-profile stand your ground case, george zimmerman, trayvon martin case, is this any kind of prelude or appear tud for stand your ground defense in florida, the courtroom? >> i don't think so, fred. in the end of the day i don't think trayvon martin will be a stand your ground kachlts i think it will be a self-defense case. here all they charged was aggravated assault. the shooting of the gun was the aggravating factor. that brought 10 years for assault, 20 years if it's aggravated. it's aggravated by the use of a gun. they didn't charge her with attempted murder. that's the problem in this case. okay. now let's talk about the john edwards case. now the defense is going to be presenting its witnesses next week. john edwards' attorneys tried to get this case dismissed. the judge said, no, forget about it, we're going to continue on. i have to wonder, does even that refusal of a dismissal, does it in any way impact the jurors' point of view or how the case will move forward at this point? >> fred, the jury probably doesn't even know they made a motion to dismiss the case. that's a pro forma motion made every time a government rests its case. john edwards must make a deal. he must cut a plea deal right now. he is going to be convicted if he does not. i believe that. if he doesn't make a deal, fred, i think he is such an ego maniac, i think he will absolutely get on the witness stand and try to persuade the jury. >> what? oh, my goodness. >> avery, do you believe the prosecutors have done a good job trying to establish proofing he misused campaign funds, that he should be cutting a deal at this point? he has no recourse? >> on the one hand, i think they are missing pieces. the key evidence, the attorney who said that bunny mellon gave money for personal reasons for the nor the campaign. should he cut a campaign? the evidence has really made the jury hate john edwards. if abbe lowell, the attorney, makes the argument to the jury in summation look at that this is, the pieces are missing -- the defense is coming up this week, fredricka, so we're going to learn a lot more. i've got to tell you, honestly, i have flip-flopped on this case. first i thought not a chance. this past week was good. let's see what happens this week when we review this next saturday. >> fred -- fred -- >> [ inaudible ] >> no, i don't think so. >> she escaped this. >> listen, the entire defense was this was to protect his wife from knowing. he got wind of this during the iowa caucus. move her, shut her up, get rid of her. that's because he was running for president. it had nothing to do with his wife. his wife knew about her. the defense fails. the defense fails. his wife knew all about rielle hunter. the defense fails, fred. i'm telling you, the jury is not going to buy it. this guy wanted to be president, a supreme court justice. he was using that. he wanted to shut her up because he knew that information would destroy his presidential -- >> like you said, avery, are jurors going to make a decision they don't like this man or is it a case they are going to see there's evidence to support. >> that's where it's going to tu