Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

CBS Reporter Attacked in Egypt; "Inconceivable: A Medical Mistake"; Grapes of Cash; Borders Files for Bankruptcy

Aired February 16, 2011 - 07:59   ET

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


T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you all and welcome to this AMERICAN MORNING on this Wednesday, February the 16th.

I'm T.J. Holmes.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We have a lot to talk about this morning. We'll get right to it.

First, United's friendly skies may be little less so this morning. The airline temporarily grounding its entire fleet of Boeing 757s, a total of 96 planes, for emergency maintenance for the onboard computer systems. Maintenance checks that actually are long overdue. United says that it is now expecting minimal delays today and no cancellations.

HOLMES: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is facing an indictment and trial for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute. But, now, a woman who allegedly partied with the prime minister is speaking to CNN exclusively. You'll hear what she has to say about their affectionate relationship.

CHETRY: And Bernard Madoff opening up about his Ponzi scheme, telling "The New York Times" the banks essentially looked the other way. So, how do the banks react to this news today?

HOLMES: Also this morning, the U.S. is watching closely what's happening in Bahrain. It's a strategic U.S. ally. But protests have broken out there over the past several days. This is the home of the Navy's mighty 5th Fleet. So far, two demonstrators have been killed this week by security forces.

Bahrain's king came out in a rare nationally-televised address and said that he is promising now a government investigation into those deaths and also promising to deliver on some reforms in the country. Those involved, he says, are -- in those deaths are in custody.

CHETRY: And the latest now on a brutal attack against a CBS News correspondent in Cairo. Lara Logan is in a U.S. hospital this morning. The "60 Minutes" reporter was covering celebrations in Tahrir Square Friday, that was the day that President Mubarak resigned when she was surrounded by a mob, beaten and sexually attacked.

CBS News released a statement about Logan and also that picture that was taken in the moments before the attack. It says, "In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers."

We're going to talk more about the ramifications of that assault and the dangers for women reporting in a conflict zone with Judith Matloff. She joins us in a couple of minutes here. She's a professor at the Columbia graduate school of journalism, a former network correspondent. And she's also known Lara Logan for 20 years.

HOLMES: Well, United having to ground its entire fleet of Boeing 757s. That's about 96 planes. They had to do emergency maintenance checks that were needed on a computer system. This was to imply with federal regulations, but this was supposed to be done years ago.

There were some delays, but they are expecting minimal flight cancellations today, if any, after a few flight cancellations yesterday.

CHETRY: Well, a scheme at a New Jersey airport unravels. A TSA agent admits to stealing thousands of dollars from passengers' bags. Newark Airport screening supervisor Michael Arato says that he and a coworker targeted foreign women pulling aside for extra searches. The coworker then pocketed cash found in their carry-ons all the while Arato looked the other way.

Up to $30,000 was taken in the course of the year. The two were busted in October. He is now facing 15 years in prison.

HOLMES: To California now, where the governor there has put in place a hiring freeze. Governor Jerry Brown did this yesterday. This is expected to save some $360 million. You may know California has a huge budget deficit, $25 billion, that they are trying to make up out there. The governor's budget calls for $12.5 billion in spending cuts, but he also wants to extend tax increases that were scheduled to expire this year.

CHETRY: Well, President Obama says he's open to bipartisan talks when it comes to tackling America's fiscal future, but Republicans are proposing some cuts to some very popular programs among liberals. And all of this sets the stage for a budget showdown, a battle the president says he'd like to avoid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My hope is that what's different this time is we have an adult conversation where everybody says here's what -- here's what's important, and here's how we're going to pay for it.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Republicans will not punt. We will -- everything is on the table and we will put forward a budget that deals with the big challenges that face our country.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

CHETRY: Today, President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with Senate Democrats to discuss the budget proposal.

HOLMES: And so are Americans -- are you ready to make the tough choices when it comes to reducing the deficits? Well, here's a poll giving us some insights into what Americans are thinking. This comes to us from CBS News/"New York Times" new poll out. Forty-nine percent say it would be necessary to cut programs that actually benefit them; 41 percent, though, are saying no.

CHETRY: And he keeps denying it, but there's still a lot of buzz about a possible presidential run by New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie. He'll be in Washington today giving a big speech this afternoon at the American Enterprise Institute where he'd be talking about fiscal responsibility in government. It was interesting. He drew 6 percent of the vote in the straw poll that they took at the conservative CPAC gathering over the weekend, even though he was not there.

HOLMES: And it's a big first day on the job today, nothing like your first day. You remember it.

Well, Jay Carney has a heck of a first day on the job today. He's going to be meeting the press. He, of course, is taking over for Robert Gibbs at the podium in the White House briefing room. So, he is the new spokesperson and he is going to be holding his very first briefing today.

CHETRY: Lance -- good for him. We'll see what happens.

Lance Armstrong calling it quits. So, it's his last day on the job, I guess you could say. The seven-time winner of the Tour de France officially retiring from the professional cycling circuit. He says he wants to spend more time with his family and also dedicate himself even more to his cancer charity Live Strong.

HOLMES: Let's turn to Rob Marciano now, keeping an eye on the weather in the country.

Rob, it's been nice, quite frankly, the past couple of days in a lot of places.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It has and it's going to get even nicer for some folks. The reason being is that all the storminess has shifted out west. In the past couple of days, the West Coast really is getting peppered and that's continuing, stretching all the way down to the Mexican border.

So, a lot of strong energy here. Some cold air as well. Snow levels are lowering. Probably we'll see some snow at the valley locations from Seattle to Portland. San Francisco just socked in as far as the rain goes. It's now all the way down to Los Angeles and San Francisco -- San Diego. And the snow totals are going to be pretty remarkable and they've been pretty impressive so far.

And this is great. You know, California has been fairly dry for the past -- I don't know, month, month and a half. So, this rain and snow is a good thing.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, record high temperatures are occurring across the central and Northern Plains. Warm air continues to build and build towards the Northeast. You'll be warmer today in New York than you were yesterday by about 10, 15 degrees. Same deal in D.C. And then looking into tomorrow, you'll be another 10 to 15 degrees warmer than that.

But do not get used to it, my friends, because it is still February. And this weekend, another cool push of air comes in to remind you just that.

T.J., Kiran, back up to you.

CHETRY: All right. We'll take the warm-up while we can get it. Thanks, Rob.

HOLMES: Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

CHETRY: She didn't believe when she was told to stay off the tacos. That's a little harsh. She was -- you know, wanted to be a beauty queen. Miss San Antonio -- well, she's going to court now to keep her crown.

HOLMES: Also this morning, it is a sophisticated submarine. But this does not along to the U.S. Navy. This one was used to carry drugs. We'll tell you more about it this morning.

It's seven minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Ten minutes past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Somali pirate is going to be sentenced in New York today. He admitted to hijacking the Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean back in April of 2009. You remember this story and the dramatic rescue of the captain of the Maersk Alabama, Richard Phillips. Navy SEAL snipers killed three other pirates during that rescue.

Well, will Drew Peterson's wives speak from the grave? You may remember Drew Peterson. He's the former cop now who has been in jail since May of 2009. His murder trial is on hold now over hearsay evidence and wondering whether or not they will get statements from his former wives, some statements about him that his former wives made.

But he is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004. She was found dead in her bathtub. But he's also under investigation for the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacey, who was also missing and presumed dead.

Now to the battle for the crown. It's heading to go court. This is in Texas where 17-year-old Dominique Ramirez was stripped of her Miss San Antonio crown. She claims that the pageant board president told her to lose 13 pounds and said -- and I'm quoting here -- "Get off the tacos." Pageant officials say she broke several other rules, however, and was late to appearances. She could lose her chance to be Miss Texas and then possibly to be Miss America. She says she is still the same weight -- Kiran.

CHETRY: T.J., thanks.

Well, while thousands danced in Tahrir Square last Friday, the pictures beamed across the world of Egyptians celebrating the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, a barbaric attack was unfolding. CBS News correspondent Lara Logan was separated from her crew and security, ended up being surrounded by a mob. And this is the picture that was taken moments before she was attacked, suffering what the network describes as a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating.

That assault shows just how vulnerable particularly female reports can be in both hostile and friendly environments. Many attacks against them also do go unreported.

Joining us to talk more about this is Judith Matloff, a professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

You were a foreign correspondent for two decades as well, and now, you train people on how to deal with these situations. Thanks for joining us this morning.

JUDITH MATLOFF, PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: My pleasure.

CHETRY: I have to say, you also know Lara Logan. You guys have known each other for 20 years.

MATLOFF: Right.

CHETRY: This was shocking to hear yesterday that this happened, especially knowing that she had been at some of the most dangerous parts of the uprising, flew back and came back for that, quote, "celebration" in Tahrir Square when this assault on her happened.

MATLOFF: It was pretty appalling, and I think what was particularly shocking to me is somebody who knows Lara and who's been in the industry is that she's about as savvy as you can get. And it just goes to show that no matter how prepared you are, no matter how experienced you are, terrible things can happen.

CHETRY: And we watched the video of others attacked. There was a close call for one of our other reporters who almost got caught up a mob. We saw Anderson Cooper as well, and many others attacked and heckled, harassed. But in this situation in particular, to talk about a sustained sexual assault happening on a reporter who was there -- I mean, this is something that, unfortunately, you're much more vulnerable to as a female correspondent.

MATLOFF: Yes. I mean, it's an occupational hazard and I think if you will sit down with a bunch of female foreign correspondents who cover conflicts over the bar in the evening, most of them will probably tell you this is a woman's worst nightmare. I mean, I've had colleagues have gone so far to say they'd rather be killed than to have something like this happen.

But I -- you know, let's look at the positive of this. The one positive thing is that Lara is very, very brave in being open about what happened to her and I think it's going to blow the silence -- because this is not an isolated incident. This sort of thing actually happens far more frequently than editors realize, but usually, women don't talk about it.

CHETRY: And part of that is the fear, I mean, of not getting signed again -- of saying, listen, I shouldn't have sent a woman there anyway. I mean, this is dangerous stuff and then, if you're going to, you know, be subjected to, you know, potential -- I mean, there are also legal ramifications to this, right? I mean, companies want to protect themselves.

MATLOFF: Exactly.

CHETRY: So, they are fearful that they're not going to be sent out again to these stories.

MATLOFF: Exactly. And it's interesting because just about a month ago, I received a telephone call from a very frightened woman from a major American magazine who does not want to be revealed, and she had suffered nothing like this, but she had been sexually harassed quite uncomfortably and seriously in Haiti. And she called me for advice about how to deal with her editors, because her editor's attitude was, you know, you shouldn't go back into the field again, you're not prepared to.

So, in other words, they put the blame on the correspondent rather than just accepting that this is a problem that faces women. Women know what they're getting themselves into.

CHETRY: Do they? I mean --

MATLOFF: I think most women --

CHETRY: -- so much competition in this business, in this industry, and if you're a correspondent, if your job -- you're a foreign war correspondent, this is where you're going, and you're going into places that people are trying to flee. And so, you know, do you really have control of what you're getting yourself into?

MATLOFF: You don't have control, but I think you are aware that it could happen. I mean, just like, for instance, our colleague who we also knew from South Africa, Joao Silva, who lost his legs in a land mine, you know when you cover conflict that these are the risks. You hope to God it's never going to happen to you, but you know that it could happen. And there are precautions that one can take.

But certainly in this case with Lara, I don't -- I don't think there's anything she could have done when a mob erupts. You know, you're stuck in it.

CHETRY: And what, if anything? You said there may be a positive side to this in terms of, what, just transparency and also, what about the reaction? I mean, when she goes back to work, when others go back to work -- I mean, how is this best handled?

MATLOFF: I hope it's handled delicately. I must say I was fairly horrified by some comments by male colleagues, from not CBS, but from other organizations -- things that people had tweeted or had put in e-mails. There was some shockingly sexist things that some colleagues had said, including a fellow that's at New York University.

CHETRY: About what? About her?

MATLOFF: About her. You know, things like, well, she was a warmonger, she had it coming, or, you know, I'm not very sympathetic. I mean, pretty horrific comments.

I'm sure she has to field some of that. I'm sure it's going to be very awkward for her. When she goes back into the newsroom, people will be looking at her and imagining her in her situation of greatest shame. But --

CHETRY: And I just want to say to that because she talked. This is really -- it's eerie to see it now. This is what she said a couple of days before it happened, just talking about covering Cairo.

She said, "I feel a sense of failure" -- when she had to leave the story and come back to the United States -- "professionally. I feel like I fail because I didn't deliver. I take that responsibility very seriously. Fundamentally, it's in my blood to be there on the street listening to people doing the best reporting I can."

And then we hear about this.

MATLOFF: Yes. I mean, it -- you know, she's very courageous and very committed journalist and she is doing -- she is fulfilling her mission and I would suspect -- I mean, I am not her. I'm not in her position. Who knows what is going through her head at the moment?

But I would imagine, knowing Lara, she'll get back on the horse and ride again. You know, she's not going to let this stop her. It was not her fault that it happened in any way and I hope -- and I presume that the news executives see it at such. You know, this could have happened to anybody.

CHETRY: Well, she's certainly in everybody's thoughts and prayers.

Judith Matloff, professor at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, thanks for joining me this morning.

MATLOFF: Thank you.

CHETRY: T.J.?

HOLMES: Well, Kiran, coming up, the Ponzi schemer himself, Bernie Madoff, now breaking his silence in a jailhouse interview and he is saying others knew what he was up to but chose to look the other way. Christine Romans with the story in just a moment.

Also, the NFL is upping their offer in seat gates. Now, all of those who missed out on the Super Bowl have another option to consider.

It's 18 minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: That's right. The best -- the case of the underdog literally that came out on top. Westminster dog show as we know, best in show, a huge deal, the big top prize. Here's who got it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Best in show is the deerhound.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The deerhound!

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: That's right! The deerhound. They were all excited at the Westminster dog show because they made history, OK, the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.

Hickory, the Scottish deerhound crowned best in show was the first time a Scottish deerhound has gotten this prize. Big surprise. Five-year-old female, first of her rare breed to take that coveted title.

I love how she's still getting combed after the last second. You know, they're still brushing her even on while she's on the winner's stand.

Only the fifth winner also from the hound group, Hickory outshined more than 2,000 other dogs.

Congratulations.

HOLMES: We'll turn now to the showdown between man and machine on "Jeopardy." IBM computer Watson was going up against two of the best all-time "Jeopardy" champs. Well, yesterday was day two and Watson is way ahead of his challengers by nearly 25,000.

But in the final category, the final "Jeopardy" question, a little bit of a hiccup here for Watson. The question was about U.S. cities and it said, what city had its largest airport named for a World War II hero, and a second one named for a World War II battle? Watson, let's hear your answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the response was? What is Toronto? With a lot of question marks. Which means, of course, that Watson had many, many doubts.

And the wager, how much are you going to lose? Oh, you sneak! Nine hundred forty-seven dollars.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, a bit of a hiccup there, but still, the computer was smart enough not to wager a lot of money. The other two did get the answer right. Chicago. The final match airs tonight. But, again, they're trying to work out some kinks there possibly.

But, again, the category is U.S. cities and he picked Toronto.

CHETRY: Yes. But he still, what, $20,000 ahead of the other two. So, he's doing all right.

A New York City taxi driver says his fate helped him do the right thing after he found $100,000 worth of jewelry and cash, $100,000 in the back of his cab.

HOLMES: Wow.

CHETRY: Zubiru.Muhammad Jalloh had just dropped off John Lewis and was helping another passenger in his car when he found a bag filled with jewelry, cash and photos sitting in the back seat. A credit card receipt helped him reconnect with Lewis and return his valuables.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZUBIRU MUHAMMAD JALLOH, NYC TAXI DRIVER: He was so happy and he offered me a reward. And I told him, I don't want reward. It's my job to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Yes, he said he reluctantly did accept that $1,000 reward from Lewis. Lewis insisted that he take it because of his honesty.

But, can you imagine how happy you'd be to get that phone call?

HOLMES: To know it's coming back. It's a big deal.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Leaving $100,000 worth -- in a cab.

HOLMES: I need to get that cabbie's cell phone number! It's the only cab I want to take in New York the rest of the time --

CHETRY: I know, he's a great guy.

HOLMES: Yes.

Also here, Super Bowl seat-gate we keep calling it here. But the NFL starting to offer these Super Bowl fans a new option. You know the fans we're talking about, some 400 whose seats were not ready for the Super Bowl, so they couldn't get in. What they're getting now, the option of taking $5,000 cash or reimbursement for actual documented Super Bowl expenses, whichever is higher.

CHETRY: Keep waiting! Make you sweetening the pot, keep waiting.

HOLMES: Just hold on, don't take it yet, folks. But these 400 fans, they were offered two other options as you may know -- $2,400 plus a ticket to next year's Super Bowl, or a ticket to a future Super Bowl with round trip air fare and four-night hotel accommodations. So, they're sweetening the pot.

CHETRY: Yes. Which one would you pick so far? Just the cash?

HOLMES: Lawsuit. I'm going with the lawsuit.

CHETRY: You're still suing.

All right. Well, a man of his word. It's time for pitchers and catchers in Florida and -- OK, the Mets beat writer Andy Martino showed up. Here you go: he said he would do it in a Speedo. The Speedo we actually gave him -- hey, though, we told him he had to wear it on without the jeans. I know he get creative.

But we had him on a few months ago and he tweeted that he'd wear a Speedo to spring training if Cliff Lee signed with the Phillies. He didn't think Cliff Lee was going to sign with the Phillies. Well, he's in clear water with the Phillies and there he is, and he wore it. So, he made -- he's a man of his word.

Andy, good job. Looks nice on you.

HOLMES: I don't mind he did it over the jeans.

CHETRY: Right. That was easier on the eyes for most of the guys, right?

HOLMES: OK. Well, also coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING: Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, now facing charges for having sex with a prostitute. Well, now, one of his acquaintances, shall we say, is talking with us exclusively. You'll hear about their relationship, coming up.

It's 26 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, 28 minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Borders filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Christine Romans is "Minding our Business" this morning. We kind of saw this coming.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we saw it coming. It's official.

Look, this is a company, Borders, has not been able to compete with a completely changing book-selling business. You got all of these online book sellers. You got all of these new e-readers. You got a lot of things changing in this.

I mean, books have been sold essentially the same way for a couple of hundred years, right, and then, suddenly, over the past few years, things have changed very, very quickly.

So, Borders group announcing that it is filing for bankruptcy. As you know, Barnes & Noble also lost some money last year. Google has -- is downloading all kinds of older books to make them available online. Apple sells books. There are all of these different areas to sell books.

Borders is shutting roughly 200 underperforming stores, struggling to compete with the Internet-only retailers. And so, Borders now will operate under the protection of the court while it tries to restructure and come out the other end.

HOLMES: Do we know how many jobs we're talking about?

ROMANS: Don't know how many jobs we're talking about. But bankruptcy is very difficult and always means job losses.

HOLMES: All right.

CHETRY: You know, it's interesting that they couldn't pivot a little bit more -- I mean, with the ebooks and all of that. I mean, were there opportunities?

ROMANS: And others have. I mean, obviously, their opportunities have been lost and their failures. If you file for bankruptcy, that means you failed to grab the very changing -- a very changing macro-economic situation in the book business.

HOLMES: All right. Turn to the Ponzi schemer himself. Bernie Madoff --

ROMANS: Oh, Bernie.

HOLMES: -- speaking from jail now and just trying to tell the truth to us all.

ROMANS: How does anybody ever know Bernie Madoff is telling the truth? I mean, the guy is a schemer, maybe -- who knows? I mean, a narcissist, maybe a sociopath.

OK. So, Bernie Madoff -- I'm just saying. I mean, he robbed a lot of people for a very long time and even either deceived his family or -- I mean, disappointed for sure.

Bernie Madoff talking to "The New York Times," a reporter there who's writing a book called "Wizard of Lies." So, whether you want to believe what Bernie Madoff has to say now, be my guest. He talks about the banks are complicit, that they looked the other way or even worse, this is what he says. They had to know. The attitude was sort of if you're doing something wrong, we don't want to know. That is what he says about the banks and the big hedge funds and the legitimate people who invested with him.

But he also says that the banks and the funds were complicit. And J.P. Morgan-Chase, who has actually been targeted by Irving Picard, the trustee in charge of trying to get some of the money back, denies this of course, says J.P. Morgan did know about or in any way become a party to the fraud orchestrated by Bernard Madoff.

Bernie Madoff, according to the reporter who actually met him in the visitors' room I think last Tuesday, said he looked thinner, as you would imagine. But here's a guy who even in prison she said had a laser-like focus around the other people around him and how people must have known and all of that.

And the offices of Fred Wilpon, the owner of the Nets, also did not know, and that organization is going through some major upheaval because of this whole scandal.

CHETRY: All right, Christine Romans for us this morning, fascinating, thanks.

HOLMES: Well, United Airlines temporarily grounding its entire fleet of 757 jets. Why? For long overdue maintenance checks on its computer systems. So if you're flying United, you could expect some delays. There were some cancellations because of this yesterday, but the airline does not expect any cancellations today.

CHETRY: Columbia's military seizing a submarine capable of smuggling as much as eight tons of cocaine out of the country. The 100 foot long narco-sub is fully submersible. Authorities say it is able to travel from Colombia to the coast of Mexico without surfacing.

HOLMES: Lance Armstrong is calling it quits. Seven-time winner of the Tour de France has officially retired from the professional cycling circuit now. He wants to spend more time with his five children and dedicate himself more to his cancer with his Live Strong charity.

CHETRY: Brand new this morning, one of the women who partied with the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is speaking exclusively to CNN. Nicole Minetti paints a different picture of the parties she attended with Prime Minister Berlusconi. She is a former TV showgirl, a dental hygienist, and now an elected official in Italy.

HOLMES: She is also under investigation for providing girls to Silvio Berlusconi, a charge that she denies. Nicole Minetti sat down with our Dan Rivers on the day a judge ordered Berlusconi to stand trial for charges that he paid for sex with an underage girl. Dan Rivers is joining us live in Milan this morning. Good morning to you.

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Yes, Nicole Minetti, her first TV interview flatly denying she was, in any way pimping for Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister who has just been indicted for paying for sex with an underage prostitute, something that Berlusconi and Minetti say is completely untrue. She also put a different spin on the suggestion that the parties that the parties at Berlusconi's villa descended into lurid audiences. She said they were very straight-laced.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: So you would deny ever having received any money from Silvio Berlusconi?

NICOLE MINETTI, ITALIAN REGIONAL LAWMAKER: Well, he helped me in some situations. He doesn't have any problems helping people, even in an economic way.

RIVERS: How much money did he give you?

MINETTI: That's a detail which I wouldn't go into.

RIVERS: Thousands of euros?

MINETTI: It doesn't matter. That's not the matter.

RIVERS: Well, some people say it does matter because it would suggest that he was either paying for your services or paying to keep you quiet.

MINETTI: Or he was helping me just because he cared for me. It could be one thing or the other.

RIVERS: How would you describe your relationship with the prime minister?

MINETTI: I had an affectionate relationship, meaning as someone that you care for and cares for you.

RIVERS: But not an improper relationship, a sexual relationship?

MINETTI: I wouldn't go in those details. Those are private details.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: Many people here wondering if an affectionate relationship meant more than that. Minetti was not wanting to go into exactly her relationship with the prime minister. Silvio Berlusconi himself came out here this morning in Italy and this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SILVIO BERLUSCONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (via translator): I can say I'm not worried at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: He HAS basically come out flatly denying, you know, that he is concerned about this indictment. He, in the past, he has come out angrily denying he has paid any prostitutes for sex, that there were any sort of, you know, orgies at his house or some of the lurid newspaper headlines have suggested.

The thing going against him is the massive weight of amount of evidence presented by prosecutors including wiretap transcripts which paint a different picture, one in which Silvio Berlusconi surrounded himself with prostitutes at his house involving scantily clad women and suggestions of cash prizes to keep people quiet, all of which he denies. That is what the prosecutors are saying and it will go to court in April.

HOLMES: Dan, thank you so much.

CHETRY: Up next, a couple who triggered headlines and heartbreak after they revealed they received the wrong embryos at a fertility clinic. The advice was terminate this pregnancy, and they said they couldn't do. It wasn't fair to the child because the child was implanted in the wrong womb.

It's now two years to the day they found this out. They are joining us to talk about how they have gotten through this. They wrote a new book "Inconceivable." We will be joined by Carolyn and Sean Savage coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: It's 39 minutes past the hour. What happened is an unthinkable lab mix-up. A woman from Ohio wanted to have a baby after four miscarriages and implanted with the wrong embryo, an embryo that belonged to another couple.

Carolyn Savage and her husband Sean decided to carry the baby to term and handed over little Logan to his genetic parents. They have a book "Inconceivable." Carolyn and Sean Savage join me this morning. Welcome, and thanks for being with us.

CAROLYN SAVAGE, WRONG EMBRYO PLANTED DURING IVF TREATMENT: Thank you so much for having us with us.

SEAN SAVAGE, WRONG EMBRYO PLANTED DURING IVF TREATMENT: Thank you.

CHETRY: I had talked to you when you were 35 weeks pregnant, and you call it "Inconceivable." It's inconceivable it would happen but also the bravery it took for you guys to decide to do what you did. What has happened since we last connected?

CAROLYN SAVAGE: I think we talked to you on the 22nd, and I had him two days later. So, obviously, we welcomed him into the world and a very miraculous childbirth. And as we kind of navigated the aftermath of that, we decided that it was important to us to document our love for him. And so we decided to write this book. If nothing else, I just hope someday he picks this book up and reads it and realizes that he is a gift to us, a blessing to us, and that he knows that his life is extremely purposeful.

SEAN SAVAGE: We also learned so much about navigating a traumatic experience. And we had so many pitfalls and difficult challenges. It challenged our marriage.

CAROLYN SAVAGE: Yes.

SEAN SAVAGE: It challenged everything about our life.

CHETRY: Why did it challenge your marriage? When I was reading the book it sounded like you guys were very much on the same page. We were encouraged actually by fertility doctor right to terminate when they had called you and they find out early whether you're pregnant or not, and they thought this has to be too much for somebody to go through. But you both were really in lockstep about that decision.

SEAN SAVAGE: We didn't disagree on the big issues. We have a strong belief in life. We have a strong belief in delivering this child to the other family.

But when you're in a day-to-day trauma and challenge, it just creates a very difficult position day in and day out. And we believe that by sharing how we got through it -- we used therapy, we received wonderful lessons along the way through therapy -- that at the end of the day, I think a lot of folks can take something out of this to apply to their life on how to face challenges and get through it.

We live by faith. We live by love. And it triumphed at the end, but there were some ugly parts.

CHETRY: The beginning of that was the phone call you received saying there has been a terrible mix-up. First of all, it's one of the worst nightmares is dealing with this infertility issue and the heartbreak of miscarriages you suffered and the grueling process and to know that this embryo took and not to have it be yours. Just walk us through what that was like.

CAROLYN SAVAGE: It was not a grace-filled moment. You never really know how you're going to react when bad news comes your way until it comes your way. I will say the first 15 minutes or so, we were pretty hysterical, I guess.

And then the reality starts to sink in and we start to say, hey, we got to do something. What are we going to do? That's when I think when you're faced with those moments, I think that is when a person falls back on their central core beliefs. And for us that meant doing unto others as you would want them to undo to you. And if it had been our baby inside somebody else, we would have been on our knees -- please let this child live.

CHETRY: And how grateful were the genetic parents grateful to you?

CAROLYN SAVAGE: Incredibly grateful. And it was a gift to them. In the end, we're stronger for having gone through this. That call came two years ago today. Our lives will never be the same. But I think we are better people for it.

CHETRY: You have three other children.

CAROLYN SAVAGE: We do.

CHETRY: And how did they deal with all of this? Just the basics, like you're shopping in the grocery store and someone says congratulations on your baby. Every minute, I mean, your kids are living that as well.

SEAN SAVAGE: Yes. I think children handle very difficult situations based off of how the parents handle it so we try to create an environment where we weren't in the corner balled up crying and tried to continue their lives the way they should be and continue their events.

And I think that is another takeaway that people can learn in difficult situations. If parents can handle it in an even keeled manner as best they can, that children will feed off of that.

CHETRY: And lastly, you guys wanted to bring this up because this is a very big moral issue. You are upset by the response your local diocese issued by in-vitro, essentially saying it's not morally acceptable in the first place.

SEAN SAVAGE: It hurt. That article was posted the day that Logan came into the world, and it hurt because we tried to walk our faith through this entire process.

CAROLYN SAVAGE: Yes.

SEAN SAVAGE: We have a strong belief system and we tried to value life and, you know, we wish that that was also part of it.

But we understand where the church is on this and, you know, if there is dialogue in the future, we certainly would welcome it. But we believe in what we did. And our local parish was extremely supportive and very good and they wrapped their arms around us. So we were very grateful for that.

CHETRY: Well, I'm glad that you both came out stronger in the end. It's an unimaginable nightmare/journey for you. And thank goodness you are able to still keep in touch with Logan and with his --

CAROLYN SAVAGE: Yes.

CHETRY: -- and with his new family, or his family -- I guess you could say. "Inconceivable" is the book; Carolyn and Sean, thanks so much for joining us.

SEAN SAVAGE: Thank you.

C. SAVAGE: Thank you for having us.

S. SAVAGE: I appreciate it.

CHETRY: Forty-five minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to the Motor City this morning. Good folks of Detroit, Michigan, you're going to have a high of 43 degrees today.

CHETRY: That's a nice music, isn't it? A little mellow this morning.

We're in for a little bit of a warm-up in many parts of the country. Rob Marciano is keeping track of all of this for us. Hey, Rob are you jamming this morning down in Atlanta?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes that's good, David Greg kind of his -- you know morning spring time kind of feel to it. Yes, I -- I like that with the high of temperature of 43 in the Motor City.

All right, not so springy across parts of the West Coast that's where all the action is. Continued storms infiltrating the West Coast and now it's gone from the northwest all the way down to the Mexican border.

So this is a pretty strong system and it's got a decent amount of rain, wind and snow with it. The rain goes all the way down to San Diego and getting into Los Angeles and now San Francisco getting rain fall as well. And above 3,000 or 4,000 feet, boy it is turning into snow and some of this is going to be heavy at times. And this is going to continue, for the most part, through the weekend.

So -- and it's beneficial rain and snow. California has -- hasn't done a whole lot the last month as far as action goes so they'll take it as far as the water supply. As far as what they're going to see two to five feet potentially across the Sierras, in the higher country -- in the higher terrain one to two feet in the Wasatch. Blizzard warnings now posted for -- for parts of southern Colorado with this system. A lot of jet stream energy as well.

But you go east of the Continental Divide and it's pretty quiet. Warmth building across to the Central Plains. We had record high temperatures yesterday across the board: 70 in Garden City, Kansas; 67 in Rapid City; North Platte 67; and Boise, 64; even Billings, Montana, seeing a high temperature of 62 degrees.

And here we go, we start to build the warmth up towards the north: 75 in Dallas for a high temperature today; 56 in D.C. and 46 in New York. So a little bit warmer than you were yesterday, warmer still tomorrow, with a high temperature of 61 degrees. But don't get used to it because over the weekend you'll get another pulse of cold air for some of that seesaw pattern that you're in. And just to remind you that it's still winter. Check out this sweet shot during the -- in between periods at the Indiana Ice. Minor League hockey team in Indianapolis, all the way from the other net through a six-inch goal. You know, this is one of these guys they just pull of the -- they pull him out of the stands and say, go for it.

Now, he's supposed to win $50,000. But the insurance company that you know, pays -- that's going to pay the $50,000 reneged on it and say, that you know that he's not within their boundaries apparently. I don't know if he was over a line or he's too far away.

HOLMES: You're kidding?

MARCIANO: No.

CHETRY: That is -- that's appalling. You cannot renege on that. That's amazing.

MARCIANO: How lame is that?

CHETRY: Very lame.

MARCIANO: But -- but the Indiana Ice, the actual ball club itself said you know, what? We're going to give you the $50,000. And the fan says, well, I'm going to give it to charity. So how about doing the right thing right there?

HOLMES: I'm still upset with this insurance company.

MARCIANO: Well, on last break, you wanted to sue somebody for something, too.

(CROSS TALK)

HOLMES: Yes. I'm in that mood this morning. Yes.

CHETRY: But that does make the insurance company look bad. That the league is going to pony up and he's going to donate to charity and they are going to say he was over a line. Wow.

HOLMES: Ok, we've got to do something about this. Rob, we are -- we are not done with this one, all right? We appreciate you, buddy.

MARCIANO: All right, guys. See you in a bit.

HOLMES: Thanks so much, Rob.

Coming up, you're thinking about opening a winery? You're not probably thinking about doing it in the desert but we'll show you how one couple took a gamble and made it work.

It is 51 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: All right, it is 55 minutes past the hour.

First thing you think of when you hear Nevada is Vegas, the desert not the wine business necessarily, right?

HOLMES: Not hugely. But there's a couple --

(CROSS TALK)

CHETRY: They are drinking it but maybe you're not growing the grapes.

HOLMES: Yes. One couple though, they took a chance, they started growing grapes. Yes, about 60 miles from Death Valley. Helped put a town on the map and it's Tom Foreman's "Building up America" report today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A few years ago, there was little reason for anyone to visit the small winery in the town of Pahrump, Nevada. But then Bill Loken, a real estate agent, and his wife Gretchen, a teacher, and both from Arizona, showed up and took over. They'd never made wine before but after taking some courses in wine making --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This little thing is called the wine pit.

FOREMAN: -- they settled on a simple philosophy about how to build up business.

BILL LOKEN, PAHRUMP WINERY: We are hands-on on every aspect of the business every day top-to-bottom.

FOREMAN: That approach has resulted in strong growth. In 2005 they produced only 100 cases of wine from Nevada-grown grapes. This year, it will be closer to 2,000 cases.

B. LOKEN: It's a myth that a winery does not belong in the desert because when you really look at most of California, it is a desert.

FOREMAN: Along with the grapes they buy from outside the state, their total output is impressive; 8,000 to 10,000 cases a year, enough to employ 30 people even through bad times.

B. LOKEN: We were fortunate enough to tighten our belt, watch how we spent our money and we made it through without laying-off one person.

FOREMAN: They are still small in wine country terms.

B. LOKEN: I think California has approximately 2,500 wineries and the state of Nevada has three.

FORMMAN: But whether it is the novelty or the quality or the personal touch with which they tend to their place.

GRETCHEN LOKEN, PAHRUMP WINERY: Swirl that baby.

FOREMAN: Today, the Lokens proudly say business has never been better.

B. LOKEN: Business is up to levels that we haven't seen since before the recession hit and we're back growing again and -- and so we think the future is bright.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Pahrump, Nevada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: I'm so glad you joined us this morning on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll be back bright and early tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. I hope you'll join us then.

HOLMES: All right, Kyra Phillips takes over right now from the CNN NEWSROOM in Atlanta. Hey there Kyra.

CHETRY: Hi, Kyra.