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American Morning
Egypt After the Revolution; Ron Paul Wins Straw Poll; Obama's Spending Plans; Energy Drink Overdoses; Grammy Awards Highlights; Asian Fashion Invasion
Aired February 14, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hope you join us when AMERICAN MORNING starts in just three minutes.
A new era in Egypt. The military now in control saying it's babysitting the country until the people take over. Millions now hoping for a brighter future as the nation also looks for pieces of its past missing from the Cairo museum.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Also on Election Day in 2012, he'll be 77 years old. But many say he's actually the future of the Republican Party. We'll be talking to the winner of the straw poll at CPAC, Ron Paul.
CHETRY: Well, it's Valentine's Day and that is quite a rock. A 110- karat diamond. Literally priceless, so valuable that we are not even allowed to breathe near it. Five men will be guarding it with guns and they'll be here joining us on AMERICAN MORNING.
HOLMES: Also coming up this morning, Lady Gaga in an egg. Need we say more? We're coming up in just a moment on this AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Egypt after the revolution. Mubarak is out. The military is in temporarily, but will they turn over power when it's time for elections? We're live in Cairo with the latest.
HOLMES: Also, we are just a few hours away from getting President Obama's budget plan and it reportedly cuts 1.1 trillion from the budget. But, a lot of people already saying that is not enough.
CHETRY: Also, can he beat President Obama in 2012? Donald Trump doesn't think so, but he got booed when he said it. Congressman Ron Paul, he won this weekend's straw poll at a big conservative convention. Will he be able to make another run at the White House? We'll ask him when he joins us in 30 minutes.
Hello and welcome. It's the day that many love to hate.
HOLMES: Oh, everybody loves today. Valentine's Day, a great day. It is.
CHETRY: I love Valentine's Day personally. HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: But I know others cringe at the thought of measuring up, you know, with what's expected, the high expectations for the guys up there.
HOLMES: Those expectations should be there every day of the year. Today is the only day you are giving your woman roses, you've got a problem.
CHETRY: There you have it. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could be here with us. Let's start right now in Egypt.
Things are a lot different in Egypt today than they have been for the past three decades, but things are starting to get back to normal in Tahrir Square but this is a different kind of normal. The military is now taking care of Egypt. The caretaker government, if you will, with the military. And let me tell you what they've done already. They have dissolved parliament. They are suspending the constitution. They're also promising though to make good on some of the promises that some of the politicians made. Elections in six months will be held for a new president as well as a new parliament. So Egypt looks a lot different today.
Fionnuala Sweeney, excuse me, live for us in Cairo. Good morning to you. What does Cairo look like this morning?
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, speaking of expectations, they're very, very high here. And I think the task for the military authorities will be to strike a balance between managing the expectations of the people in all their various facets and demands, whether it be civil servants, whether it be pursuing corruption charges against the government, and the reality of just how much they can push through the entire past.
Tahrir Square looking very, very much back to normal today. Let's take a quick look and show you.
If you were looking at this scene just last week, any time up until perhaps yesterday, you would not have seen a car anywhere. This Tahrir Square is a major artery for the city. A lot runs through it. The military moving very fast to get people out of the square. Many were happy to go. And it does seem that all is returning to normal here, at least on the surface. The government, as you said, suspended the constitution but also moving very quickly to make sure that the curfew is a little bit more in force. They were asking questions of people last night and trying to clear the square.
First of all, I think their priority is stability and security. They were protests yesterday outside state banks. They are now closed by the authorities until Wednesday. It's a public holiday anyway here tomorrow. But the stock market as well will reopen on Wednesday. And I think we'll wait to see then exactly just how on the economic, financial side of things, stability is fairing out.
HOLMES: All right. Fionnuala Sweeney for us in Cairo. A much different looking Cairo this morning than we've seen in the past few weeks. Thank you so much.
Also to our viewers, 7:40 Eastern Time this morning, we'll be talking to the former Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, talking about Egypt's road to democracy. Now a tough road ahead.
CHETRY: And Egypt is not the only country to be dealing with this. It began in Tunisia as we know where weeks of protests overthrew the president there. Well, now there are protests taking place in Yemen and Algeria. In Yemen, protesters gathered over the weekend calling for political reform. There are reports that police beat back demonstrators with sticks and in some cases daggers. But there is also talk of at least some political reform and some concessions on the part of the Yemeni government.
Meantime in Tunisia, hundreds took the streets vowing to demonstrate every weekend until the government has changed. Today, Tunisia's foreign minister said the 19-year-old state of emergency will end within days.
HOLMES: Also, there are protests planned for Iran today. But the government there is warning the protesters not to go forward with it. Also the government has blacked out some media outlets. These protests are meant to be in support of the people of Egypt and also in Tunisia. At the same time, the U.S. State Department has launched a new Farsi language Twitter feed. The point here is to try to connect with some of those Internet users in Iran. The State Department is calling on the Iranian people or Iran to allow the people some of the same rights to demonstrate as the Egyptians had in Cairo.
CHETRY: Well, a man charged with a terrifying stabbing, carjacking and killing spree through New York City. His name, Maksim Gelman, accused of killing four people and injuring others during a 28-hour crime spree that banned three-city boroughs. But he told a crowd outside a Brooklyn police station that he was set up. By the time officials nabbed Gelman on the subway in Times Square on Saturday, four were dead, including Gelman's stepfather, an ex-girlfriend and her mother as well as a pedestrian. Several other people were stabbed but survived. Officials say an argument between Gelman and his mother sparked the rampage.
HOLMES: Also, 18 homes destroyed this weekend in a fire in Washington State. Take a look here. This is at the Yakama Indian Reservation, set 18 homes but this fire started on the roof of one home. They're dealing with some really high winds out there that allowed those flames to be thrown literally in some cases from rooftop to rooftop. Again, 18 homes destroyed. Two firefighters did suffer minor injuries fighting this fire.
Meanwhile, the residents, there were no injuries to them. The fire continues today at a nearby logging mill and that's expected to burn throughout the day. CHETRY: Also, some good news for screen legend Elizabeth Taylor. Her rep says that she is in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery. Taylor checked into Cedar Sinai Medical Center in L.A. last week after having symptoms of congestive heart failure. No word yet on when she'll be released. Taylor has a long list of medical problems and she underwent heart surgery back in 2009. She is 78- year-old old.
HOLMES: And Congressman Ron Paul is their choice for president, at least some conservative activists. This is at the CPAC event that happened at the end of last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference. He got 30 percent of the vote at the straw poll there. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, he was the runner-up with 23 percent. You may remember this event got a little -- always get some headlines because of all the headliners that do show up there. But Donald trump was one of them, who was a late add to speak there as well. You know, he's thinking about a run for president and he said that Paul who won the straw poll as you see there, Paul could not win in 2012. A lot of people started booing him when he made that comment. But you see some of the others who came in there in single digits, Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty, as well as Newt Gingrich among them. And Congressman Paul will be along joining us in just about 20, 25 minutes, 6:30 Eastern Time at the bottom of the hour.
CHETRY: And the president is releasing his budget plan this morning. It's not a matter of whether to cut, but rather how much to cut and which programs will get the ax. The White House says that their plan will cut deficits by $1.1 trillion over 10 years with a mix of cutting and some tax hikes. Even with the savings, the Congressional Budget Office predicts a $1.5 trillion deficit this year. That would be an all-time high. Also, one of the more controversial cuts heeding assistance for low-income families. Republicans are expected to reject the proposal for not going far enough.
And we're all over the budget proposal this morning. At 7:20, White House Budget Director Jacob Lew will be joining us live. And then we'll hear the Republicans' perspective with Senator Jeff Sessions, a key member on the budget committee, coming up at 8:10.
HOLMES: If it's not one thing, it's another when it comes to this weather. It seems now we're dealing with a high wind watch that's in effect for parts of Washington State this morning. We showed you video a short time ago of fires there that were spread because of some of these high winds. But yesterday also those winds knocked over trees, led to a number of power outages. Heavy rains also on the way in the area. The wind also expected to be a problem in a few other parts of the country. Rob Marciano, let's say good morning to you, kind sir.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Yes, listen, we've got some winds across parts of the northwest. A series of storms rolling into the West Coast and some winds to the northeast. It's going to be a blustery day today. Not quite as warm as it is across much of the central part of the country. Windy and on the brisk side. Even a couple of showers of the rain and snow variety across parts of the northeast today. Already this morning we're seeing winds gusting over 20 miles an hour in parts of upstate New York. Actually over 30 in Buffalo. So some of that energy is making its way off towards the east.
Winds right now in D.C., up through Boston right around 10 to 15 miles an hour with higher gusts. There's going to be some wind-related weather delays. Some of the larger airports including Boston, New York City metros, the usual spots, 30 to 60 minute delays. May be higher in some spots. And Chicago, Atlanta, also some wind. So some pieces of energy moving across the country today but for the most part with the exception of the West Coast, on the dry side and the central part of the country continues its drastic warm-up. Into the 40s yesterday across Chicago, the big melt is on after the big blizzard last week. 69 degrees in Dallas.
Seems like just a week ago we were talking about the snow and ice situation at the Super Bowl. Trying to get some of those warmer temperatures up into the northeast, slowly marching northward. And New York City today, 52 degrees. You will be a little bit warmer, I think, as we head towards Wednesday and Thursday. But until then, hold on to your hats across the Big Apple. Guys, back up to you.
CHETRY: Happy Valentine's Day, Rob.
MARCIANO: Thank you. Back to you.
CHETRY: I love the red tie.
HOLMES: Thanks, Rob.
CHETRY: Still to come in AMERICAN MORNING, the crushing cost of getting a higher education. We already know it costs a lot. Well, it could be getting worse. We're going to have new details on the spending showdown.
HOLMES: Also, when is a deal not really a deal? Well, maybe if you went to groupon.com and tried to get a deal on Valentine's Day flowers. We'll explain.
It's 10 minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifteen minutes past the hour right now. Time for a look at our top stories.
Lost and found in Egypt. The country's minister of antiquity is now saying that some of those ancient artifacts that went missing were actually found in other parts of the Cairo museum. A total of 17 pieces disappeared after vandals broke into the museum last month just after the anti-government protests began in Tahrir Square. It is still not known though for sure how many have been recovered and others that have been damaged, whether or not they've been able to be repaired.
HOLMES: Also, we've been showing you pictures of protests in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen. Now these protests taking place in Italy, but for different reasons. These protesters are upset about their prime minister's behavior Silvio Berlusconi, who is now facing allegations that he had sex with an underage prostitute. That would only be the latest in a number of sex scandals that he has had. Protesters say they are fed up with the way he treats women. Berlusconi, meanwhile, says he has never paid anyone for sex and calls these most recent accusations groundless.
Well, coming up just a few hours, the president is going to finally be releasing the much anticipated 2012 budget.
CHETRY: Yes, we've gotten a few sneak peeks. Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business" this morning with more. They say no one's going to like it when it comes to the cuts they have to make to programs.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and the president trying to cut and invest at the same time. That's difficult. So you've got to look at this humongous budget and figure out where you're doing some investment, where you do targeted spending, and where are you tweaking to make sure we can afford what we've already promised.
This really matters to you for you how you pay for school, how you pay for your kid's school and how you pay for your home. So let me start with school first. As you know, in health care reform, we reported to you many times that the Pell Grant limit went up to $5,500. But to pay for that, to keep it, they're only going to allow now, according to the president's budget as what he would like, only one Pell grant per year. As it stands now, some students can get two Pell Grants, one for the school year, one for summer. No, they're going to save billions of dollars by proposing that in fact you only get one Pell Grant a year. And that will allow them to preserve it at $5,500 per student.
Also, they want to cut loan subsidies for graduate and professional students. You might not know this, but for some students in grad school and getting professional degree, they don't pay interest until they graduate. The interest doesn't start to build until after they graduate on their student loans. Taxpayers pick up the tab. Taxpayers pay that interest. Well, to preserve the system, to make sure that there's adequate money out there for people to get loans, the president would like to make sure that that subsidy goes away.
In fact, the interest bill would start to pile even up while the kid is in school. So, some differences in the Pell Grants and in student debt, but overall, that helps preserve some of the things that were gained in the - in the health care reform in terms of student loans.
Now, another thing we talked about, low heating - low and competing assistance, that's also in here, a lot of other things. But also watch out for the mortgage interest deduction. We're still not clear how deep this could be, but could there be some changes to the mortgage interest deduction for higher income people, people who make $200,000 or more a year? We know that this administration has been changing how the government relates to the housing market. We talked about Fannie, Freddie, big changes to phasing out government intervention in the housing finance system.
Now, we'll be looking to see if there's maybe a pullback on the mortgage interest deduction for upper and middle class Americans. Hugely unpopular in the - in the, you know, the housing market, for people in the real estate industry. But it is $131 billion a year, you know, revenue loss to the government, because of giving money back to people for owning homes.
HOLMES: All right. Just a few hours, 10:30, Eastern Time, I believe is when it's officially out.
ROMANS: That's right.
HOLMES: We'll be talking about it throughout the morning and then we stop speculating at 10:30, Eastern Time, at least.
ROMANS: That's right.
HOLMES: Thank you, Christine. Talk to you again.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Also, loyal Groupon users saying that a Valentine's Day deal was really nothing more than a scam. Now the site is offering a refund for those who bought a Groupon that offered $20 off $40 worth of flowers. OK.
That coupon which more than 3,000 people bought directed buyers to a special FTD website. Well, that website, according to users, had prices higher than those on the regular FTD website, meaning people actually paid more money if they used the coupon. If you bought the coupon, you can contact Groupon for a credit or refund. Not cool.
HOLMES: Well, also, could a smaller, cheaper iPhone be on the way? At least according to the "Wall Street Journal," it is. It's a new device that would be half the size of the current iPhone 4.
CHETRY: Because that thing is so huge, you know, it's difficult.
HOLMES: I'm not sure how you make it. They say maybe this is an iPhone Nano, something similar to those smaller devices they have for the iPods. But also, it would be key to some people, half the price as well.
We don't know when this new line of phones might be introduced. But according to the "Wall Street Journal" at least those things are in the works.
CHETRY: Well, we didn't do this when we were kids, chug caffeine all day long. Did you guys do that?
HOLMES: Oh, no. We didn't have all these energy drinks.
CHETRY: Yes. Well, nowadays you can't go anywhere without seeing the kids - the kids these days with all these energy drinks. Well, there's a new study showing that they're really actually having some serious side effects with how much caffeine and other elements of these drinks kids are getting. And Elizabeth Cohen is going to be joining us with more on how to keep your eye out for signs of a caffeine overdose.
HOLMES: Also coming up this morning, did you see the Grammy's? Lady Gaga didn't just arrive, she hatched. And coming up, a live birth right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's about 22 minutes past the hour here on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And "A.M. House Call" for you now. Did you know you could actually overdose on an energy drink? New studies say, yes, in fact you can. They are focusing on the dangers of these drinks, in particular, the dangers they pose to children and teenagers. As you know, many of these drinks contain stimulants like caffeine and all kinds of other things in there actually and they are especially risky for young people.
Now, higher risks are out there for kids who are on medications, for other health issues, like maybe diabetes or ADHD. Now, some of the overdoses, signs that maybe someone is OD'ing on these drinks - nausea, dizziness, possible seizures. There have been a number of seizures reported every single year linked to these drinks. This study was reported in the Journal of Pediatrics.
And our Elizabeth Cohen is going to be along a little later to talk more about this, 7:30, Eastern Time.
CHETRY: Well, the music industry's biggest night, 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, full of some surprises. Let's take a look.
There's Christina Aguilera. The show opened with a musical "Get Well" card to Aretha Franklin. Five divas including Christina, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride singing a montage of Franklin's hits. The Queen of Soul also sent a video message of thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARETHA FRANKLIN, SINGER: I especially want to thank all of you who took the time to send me get well cards and flowers, beautiful flowers, and most importantly, your prayers during my time of hospitalization.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Aretha Franklin looks very good. There was a lot of concern about her health. And she looks - she looks great there.
One of the big surprises of the night, Justin Bieber not winning best new artist. But check out what happened during his performance with Usher. One of the dancers took a nasty fall. We'll put it in the spotlight there. Did we miss it already? Hold on. There we see it. And I guess he was trying to do a flip and actually flipped right off that upper little stage there on to the lower one, but I guess it looked like he got up, right?
HOLMES: It looks like he was holding - was he holding his back when he got up? Maybe he was supposed to land on his feet, but it looked like he was - he was grasping his back there as he was getting up. Hope he's all right. Yes, you see it right there. He kind of put his hand back, so hopefully he's OK. A lot is going on on that stage and flipping off a high level -
CHETRY: It actually looked like he was supposed to flip of the stage, but he didn't land properly.
HOLMES: Like he was supposed to. But hope he's doing all right this morning.
Meanwhile, Lady Gaga, she didn't win three Grammys, but that's probably not the thing everybody is talking about when it comes to her this morning. She actually showed up in an egg and she hatched on the stage during a performance over what else but "Born This Way." But you saw it as she was being carried in along the red carpet.
She did win for Best Pop Vocal Album for "The Fame Monster". But she never disappoints necessarily. Confuses sometimes -
CHETRY: Yes.
HOLMES: -- but never disappoints.
CHETRY: Well, she always has to kick it up a notch. You know, she wore a meat dress last year. Where do you go from there? You know?
HOLMES: Egg this year, maybe she will do another dish, something else delicious you can eat next year.
The big winners from the night though, the country trio, Lady Antebellum, five Grammys, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Country Album for "Need You Now".
Also, the pre-Grammy talk and one of the favorites was Eminem, but he didn't walk away with any of the major awards. Did get the Rap Album of the Year for "Recovery."
And no doubt, the surprise of the night and a big one, Arcade Fire, don't know if you're familiar with them, but a lot of people are not. They got the Album of the Year last night for "The Suburbs," beating out the likes of Lady Gaga and Eminem and a lot of big names you would, but rather unknown. I guess a lot of people are going to know them now. Arcade Fire, congratulations.
CHETRY: Well, you expect so much from poor Eminem, and it's like he won Best Rap Album of the Year, but that's not good enough. You know, we're expecting so much from him then. But he got another Grammy on his shelf.
HOLMES: But he got a lot of nominations.
CHETRY: Yes, he did.
Well, two weeks before Oscar night, "The King's Speech" scores a knockout on its home turf. The film winning seven BAFTAS. This is the British top film awards. "The King's Speech" named Best Picture. It swept all three acting categories for which it was nominated. You've heard a lot about Colin Firth as being one of the frontrunners for Best Actor. He won it at BAFTA. Geoffrey Rush for Best Supporting Actor and Helena Bonham Carter for Best Supporting Actress. Also, "The King's Speech" winning Best Original Screenplay.
HOLMES: Also coming up, he won the straw poll at CPAC over the weekend. So clearly somebody wants him to be president. But does Congressman Ron Paul even want to be president? He will let us know when he joins us live in just a few minutes on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, it's at the bottom of the hour here on this AMERICAN MORNING. Giving you a look at some of the stories we're keeping an eye on.
Egypt is ready to rebuild. Egypt looks a lot different than it has the past 30 years. Even the past three weeks. But right now the military is in command. What they've done so far is dissolved the parliament and suspend the constitution. They're also calling for parliamentary elections within the next six months after Hosni Mubarak finally stepped down over the weekend. Some protesters however still remain in Tahrir Square.
CHETRY: Well, the Palestinian Authorities cabinet has reportedly resigned. President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to accept the resignations and ask the prime minister to form a new government. A spokesman says Abbas has been considering a shake-up for several months following allegations of corruption and incompetence in some parts of the government. A spokesman for Abbas' Fatah party said that fear of an Egypt-like uprising had nothing to do with the decision.
HOLMES: Also, we're just a few hours from officially getting President Obama's budget. A budget that reportedly will cut $1.1 trillion from the deficit over the next 10 years might sound like a lot. But listen to this, the Congressional Budget Office predicting an all-time high of about $1.5 trillion to the deficit just this year alone.
CHETRY: Yes, shows you how much work is ahead.
Well, the race for the White House actually getting off to a relatively slow start this time around, if you can believe that. We say that because only a handful of Republicans have officially declared, and they aren't exactly household names.
Some of the big names spent the past few days at the Conservative Political Action Conference. It's an annual rite of passage for Republicans. And then it's capped off by a straw poll, who do the people there want to be their presidential nominee? Well, for the second year in a row, the man they want is Congressman Ron Paul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: Great to see everybody. Great to see you. I'm glad to see the revolution is continuing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And Congressman Paul joins us this morning from Clute, Texas.
Great to see you, Congressman.
PAUL: Thank you.
CHETRY: I love this -- CPAC is made up mostly of young men. They're very fiscally conservative. And this is the second year in a row that you've won. Why do you win it, why did you win it the past two years in a row?
What do you think?
PAUL: Well, there are some days I try to figure it out because I'm always pleasantly surprised that there's such enthusiasm. But then again, I think maybe it's because some young people like the message of freedom.
You know, I talk a different message, obviously, than other candidates. I talk about personal liberty, personal choices, which is something the others don't talk about. And the foreign policy's quite different. You know, I make sure they know that I never want to reinstitute the draft and they will have no draft registration. And I don't have want to go to war without declaration. And they see war and our foreign policy as a drain. I think that is a very, very strong message.
And everybody knows I'm a fiscal conservative, a long time before I was popular. And it comes together. And young people, I just think they have begun to realize that something has to change and the burden is falling on their shoulders. So I'm delighted that the young people are enthusiastic about this message.
CHETRY: I think it's interesting, as well, because if you do decide to run you will be 77 when you run. On top of that you're not a huge social conservative. This is one of the largest social conservative gatherings and you're a libertarian.
What do you think your appeal is among some of the young social conservatives?
PAUL: Well, I don't know where you got the idea that I'm not a social conservative.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Well, I mean it's not the -- well, when you gave your speech, you talked a lot about going to war and our foreign policy and making sure that we're not -- I mean, there wasn't a lot of talk about gay marriage and whether or not that's going to be a huge issue for you come 2012, gun rights, et cetera.
PAUL: Yes, you know, what I talk about freedom and let people make their own choices. And I make the point that in our social lives and our religious lives in the first amendment, you get to make your own choices and therefore we should be tolerant of others.
It's the same message I apply to economics, which is a challenge of the left, because I want everybody to make their own choice about how to spend their own money. And it makes a lot of sense and it comes together. But I'm strong right to life and I happen to have been married for 53 years, so you know, it's hard to say I'm not a social conservative.
CHETRY: You know, freedom to make your own decisions and right to life don't always go together though.
PAUL: Excuse me again?
CHETRY: I said, freedom to make your own decisions, as you talk about, giving people the ability to make their own decisions, and the right to life movement don't always go together.
PAUL: Well, I don't see a conflict at all. It's just how you get there. Compulsion is one thing. You know, fair and equal distribution of wealth is something I think people would sort of like to see everybody share in a large middle class.
Some people want to do it by compulsion and some people want to do it through the marketplace. I happen to believe that sound money and free markets distribute -- produce more wealth and distribute it more fairly. Now others will say you have to do it by compulsion. Now, if I have conservative values, I just happen accept the fact that you can't compel people to do it, you can't compel other nations to live the way we want, and you can't compel individuals.
I want people not to use drugs, but I think it's a responsibility of the parents and the community and the church. And no matter how much compulsion, you know, prohibition doesn't work.
CHETRY: Yes.
PAUL: You know, none of us like to see drunk drivers out on the roads. So prohibition wasn't achieved -- I mean, prohibition wasn't successful. So prohibition in personal lifestyles and prohibition in how we live, it just du doesn't work.
So the goals are one thing, the method of achieving that is the real issue. And I just take a different approach --
CHETRY: Right.
PAUL: -- as to volunteerism and persuasion. And this, to me, makes sense in a free country. Otherwise you have an authoritarian country and it doesn't work. I mean, look at the failure of our foreign policy today. That's -- we're trying to impose our goodness around the world by force. It doesn't work. So that's why I opt on the side of volunteerism.
CHETRY: I want to just play one of the moments of the conference that got a lot of attention, that was Donald Trump speaking at your chances of being elected president.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, ENTREPRENEUR: Frankly, I wish there was a candidate that I saw that would be fantastic because I love what I'm doing. In fact, I have a great club that's 15 minutes away. By the way, Ron Paul cannot get elected. I'm sorry to tell you. Sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: What did you think about what Trump said about you, that you can't get elected?
PAUL: I haven't thought much about it because when he said, I hadn't heard about it, people have asked me about it. But that makes me think about back in the times when I first ran, because everybody knows my positions have been exactly the same 30 years ago, when I first ran for office.
I run in a very conservative bible belt district and I challenge everything, George Bush did practically. And people say, you can't win with that. You're too much of a strict constitutional, you want such little government -- you actually want a to balance the budget. You can't win, they says, this won't work. So I've won 11 times.
I don't know whether he has earned the -- you know the right to criticize somebody for winning an election when I don't know how many elections he's won so far himself.
CHETRY: Do you think he can win if he puts himself forth and tries to get in the primary there?
PAUL: I have no idea. It's too early to say. I guess everybody has a chance. I mean, once you put your name out there, you always have that chance of winning.
CHETRY: Yes, speaking of your chances. I mean, you ran for president in 2008 and still have yet to decide whether you're going to do it in 2012. But you got less than two percent of the vote among Republicans in the primary.
What can change in 2012, to make you a more viable candidate?
PAUL: I don't know what poll you're quoting. I mean, that's generally the way they do it. You know, it's sort of like the poll we had at CPAC. Now, if somebody else had won it, it would have been a grand victory. But immediately, even before the poll they'd say, it doesn't have any meaning.
So people come along with the polls and say I have two percent of the vote. I think that's a distortion of what's reality of what's going on. But I wouldn't think that I have 40 percent or 50 percent. I'm not saying that.
CHETRY: Right.
PAUL: But you know, I think there's a lot of people very, very interested and some days I sort of think, well, maybe if it were less I could just go away and relax a bit. But seems like the enthusiasm of those number of people, which I know numbers up to more than two percent, you know, makes me keep thinking, you know, what should I do and when should I do it?
So it's not an easy decision for me. I am still thinking about it. But it's -- there's a large number of people who care about freedom. As a matter of fact, I keep thinking it's growing by leaps and bounds. If you asked me what my support was three or four years ago compared to now --
CHETRY: Right.
PAUL: -- I mean, just think of what they're talking about, just like how many people talking about the federal reserve now. How many people are talking about stopping foreign aid and seeing the fruition (ph) of our foreign policy.
I mean, people are getting serious about this. I mean, I think this week was a good reflection. The Republican leadership wants to tinker with the budget. And there's been more pressure put on, a little bit more. I'd like to put a lot more pressure on them because they're still not addressing the fact, you know, the true problems of how much needs to be done.
So, I would say the momentum of the freedom movement is gigantic. I mean, it's growing by leaps and bounds, which is very encouraging to me and puts more pressure on me just not to take a rest for a while, either.
CHETRY: Right. Well, you certainly do have an enthusiastic crowd of supporters. That's for sure. Congratulations on winning CPAC second year in a row.
Congressman Ron Paul, always great to talk to you. Thanks so much.
PAUL: Thank you. Bye-bye.
CHETRY: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
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CHETRY: Forty-two minutes past the hour now.
A merger between the New York Stock Exchange and the operator of Frankfurt's stock exchange could be announced this week. The deal would give Germany as much as 60 percent ownership of the New York Stock Exchange. New York Senator Charles Schumer said yesterday that while there's a number of things to like about the merger, if the name of the New York Stock Exchange is changed, it would be a deal breaker.
HOLMES: Well, China now the world's second largest economy. Our Zain Verjee has detail on that and a couple other big international stories.
Live for us in London, Zain, always good to see you. This is --
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You, too.
HOLMES: -- I guess, only a matter of time we saw this coming.
So now how long before they move up and move past the U.S. as the number one economy in the world?
VERJEE: Well, that's what a lot of people are talking about, T.J. They're saying that it could take China anywhere between 15 to 20 years to beat the U.S. and knock them off the number one position. Some economists are saying, actually, you know, it could be more like 10 to 15 years. But still, it is out there.
They are number two. They've knocked Japan off. And what's driving this, guys? Well, basically, it's a huge manufacturing boom, they're developing all of these big domestic industries and they've done a huge amount of infrastructure development. And that's why they managed to interrupt (ph) the two. It's going to take some time to see if they can hit one.
HOLMES: Japan took a bit of a hit. I maybe there could be back and forth for this number two spot for a while.
Let me turn to Tunisia now. We've seen protests in Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, you name it. But now we're seeing some of the fallout in a lot of places, including in Tunisia.
VERJEE: Yes, you know, what's happening is you've got thousands of people that are going over to Italy. They've hit this small island off the coast of Sicily, and they're basically fleeing the revolution in Tunisia. Italy's kind of upset because they say we don't want illegal immigrants here. And what they're saying is, is they want to send armed forces into Tunisia to stop illegal immigration. The Tunisians just a short while ago said no way, it's our sovereign country, you can't interfere.
T.J., happy Valentine's Day.
HOLMES: And, you know what? Happy Valentine's Day to you. I hope you got the flowers that I sent. Zain Verjee, always --
VERJEE: No, actually, I didn't. Anyone seen T.J.'s flowers.
HOLMES: Don't worry. They're coming. We're in different time zones. They're coming. Don't worry, Zain. To our viewers, if you would like to see more of Zain, or maybe send her flowers, you can check her out every morning, 5:00 a.m. on "WORLD ONE" right here on CNN.
See you, Zain.
CHETRY: I didn't get any flower, either. I got a little lollipop.
HOLMES: 6:45 a.m. Eastern Time. Be patient.
CHETRY: I got a lollipop from Erin (ph) in hair and makeup. But, nothing from Teej (ph).
CHETRY: Well, anyway, 45 minutes past the hour. Big weather changes on the way for much of the country, including some powerful winds. But before we get to that, it will be at least a little warmer for much of the northeast. We're going to take a look at the great spots in the country, coming up.
Forty-five minutes past the hour.
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HOLMES: Forty-seven minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Turn to our Rob Marciano keeping an eye on things for us. Rob, hello again. We've been dealing with snow, ice, rain, and might as well throw some wind in there.
MARCIANO: We are, and some folks are getting a little bit of a break, but yes, you got some wind, and it will be briefly warmer today across the northeast, and then you'll get into a little bit more in the way of cold air. Actually, fairly vigorous storm moving through the northeast, but it just doesn't have a lot of moisture to it. So, you will feel the energy in the form of some wind, you will feel in the form of drastic cool off tonight, and maybe some showers in between.
And on the west coast, we definitely have a storm -- a series of storms, actually, that will be pounding parts of the pacific northwest all the way down to Northern California. All right. Here's our storm. Again, not a whole lot of moisture to it, but certainly, some cold fronts and some wind energy, and that's going to really be the main thing that you feel. Today will be milder compared to what we have seen in the past couple of weeks.
Temperatures will get in the upper 40s and lower 50s in some spots, but wind gusts will also get into the upper 40s and potentially 50 miles an hour at times here all the way from parts of Northern New England down to the Carolinas. So, this is a fairly large system, and it will cause some travel delays because of the wind, especially at LaGuardia and potentially D.C. Over an hour, we expect there. Philly and Boston maybe to a lesser extent.
Chicago, you're chillier today after a brief warm-up yesterday and the rains and the winds move into Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco. One other thing, daytime high, there's our system out to the west. Daytime highs today in Dallas will get through 70 degrees. So, this is where most of your warm-up is happening. It will get a little bit closer to the northeast as we get towards Wednesday and Thursday, but until then, it's going to be on the blustery side. T.J. and Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: Yes. As long as those winds are blowing in some warm weather, warmer weather.
MARCIANO: Briefly, yes. We'll work on that for you.
CHETRY: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. Rob, thanks, buddy.
All right. Your top stories just a few minutes away. Also this morning, more evidence of just how dangerous these energy drinks are for young people. Our Elizabeth Cohen will be along live.
Also, check this out on this Valentine's Day. We like to show you some of the extreme things you could do. One would be to buy this 110 karat diamond. In fact, they're going to bring it here, but it's surrounded by armed guards. And if we come near it, let's just say, they have guns.
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CHETRY: Well, it's all about the catwalk couture. T.J. is asking, are they really calling this Asian invasion?
HOLMES: Well, I have to bring in Alina Cho here. I feel kind of odd.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Turning to you and saying there's an Asian invasion. Forgive me.
CHETRY: She's got offended.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. You know, it's in a manner of speaking, yes.
HOLMES: In a manner of speaking. All right. We're going to talking about, OK, fashion week. I swear there's one every couple of weeks here in New York.
CHO: It started on Thursday.
HOLMES: Thursday.
CHO: But the big first day of fashion week in New York is today.
HOLMES: OK.
CHO: And you know, more than 250 designers are showing on the runway. You know, back in the day, it used to be that French designers were all the rage. Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin. Then, the Americans burst onto the scene like Calvin Klein and Donna Karen. Now, some of the hottest designers are of Asian descent. So, what's going on? Is this a coincidence or is it something more?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Call it the Asian invasion. Jason Wu, Philip Lin, Alexander Wang, Lu Kun (ph), Richard Chi, today's darlings of the fashion world.
ANNA SUI, FASHION DESIGNER: I think that this is a phenomena. It's not something that anybody planned.
CHO: Prabal Gurung, one of the hottest right now is from Nepal.
PRABAL GURUNG, FASHION DESIGNER: Back in Nepal, arts, fashion design for a guy was unheard of.
CHO: That was then, this is now. Gurung's dresses now line the red carpet. They're on Oprah, and the first lady. Not bad for a designer who only launched his label two years ago.
GURUNG: It's the second generation Asians, you know. Their parents when they came here first, they either went to become a doctor or an engineer or in finance. They did so well that I think they allowed their children to do what they felt like doing.
CHO: And if you need more convincing, take a look at who the industry's most prestigious group, the CFDA, honored last year as its best new designers, all Asian-Americans.
ERIC WILSON, FASHION REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: It used to be that it was you had the idea of the fashion designers as kind of flamboyant white male working behind the scenes and dictating to women what they should wear. No woman is going to accept that image today.
CHO: Prabal Gurung's hope is that his success will inspire others.
GURUNG: There's one thing that I'm happy about is I'm not an exception to the rule.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (on-camera): And that's for sure. And if you think this is a fad, think again. Listen to this. At the top New York fashion schools like Parsons, for example, roughly 70 percent of its international students enrolled are from Asia. Over at the Fashion Institute of Technology or FIT, as it's called, nearly a quarter of the 1,200 international students over there are of Asian descent. And at the CFDA Awards last year, not only were the hottest new designers all of Asian descent, but the hottest student designers were all of Asian descent.
I was in the audience. It really was extraordinary, but you know, people who watch fashion say this is the most important cultural shift in a generation. If you think about it, the Asians used to work -- and, in fact, still do work in the back rooms at these designers. They're now moving into the front rooms in the same way that a generation ago, the people working in the back rooms were of Jewish heritage, and today, those designers' names are Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Donna Karen.
HOLMES: Not a coincidence at all. This is just a matter of time. This was going to take place.
CHO: I think so. I think so. What is extraordinary is it's not just one or two, it's nearly a dozen. And it's really great to see. You know, it shows that our world is truly global.
CHETRY: I love it. Congratulations to --
CHO: All of them, really.
CHETRY: For Prabal Gurung as well for getting the first lady to wear something.
CHO: Part of the, you know, your Nepalese brother --
CHETRY: Exactly.
CHO: Right?
CHETRY: Exactly. That's very healthy worn (ph). Thanks, Alina.
HOLMES: Thank you, Alina.
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. Your top stories coming up in two minutes.
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