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Violent Crackdown in Libya; School's Out; NASCAR Rookie Shocks Racing World; Educators Brace for Budget Cuts; Being Bilingual Delays Alzheimer's?

Aired February 21, 2011 - 08:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. 8:00 here in New York on this Monday. It is February 21st . It's Presidents Day.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

CHETRY: So a lot of people have off today.

HOLMES: Well, if you off and watching, we appreciate you spending time with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.

I do want to tell to you about what is happening right now in Libya. Libya. We've seen these demonstrations and the crackdown from the government just getting more and more violent and even deadly. These demonstrations now, which have been concentrated in Benghazi, that's Libya's second largest city, have now made their way over to the capital of Tripoli.

Now, right now -- let me give you the update -- protestors have reportedly set fire to two government buildings in Tripoli. We have reports of at least 233 people that have been killed in clashes with the government there. Those numbers coming to us from the Human Rights Watch.

CNN cannot independently confirm a lot of information because we're not on the ground. We're not allowed to be there. Libya not allowing a lot of international journalists in.

Also, Moammar Gadhafi's son, he is raising the warning of a possible civil war there if protests continue.

Meanwhile, France, Britain, considering getting some of their citizens out of that country and the U.S. is issuing travel warnings right now and saying that the U.S. is gravely concerned about the situation there.

Foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty is live for us in Washington.

Jill, good morning to you. Good to see you, as always.

There's so much talk about how much influence the U.S. had in Egypt. Well, we have less even influence it would seem on what's happening in Libya right now. JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. That's really true, T.J. You know, the United States relations with Libya have been very strained recently and actually for quite a long time.

And the other thing -- the other factor here is Moammar Gadhafi -- it's really a personal rule by him and his relatives, et cetera. And so, he's an important player and he kind of projects this image of an outlier where he really says, in essence, he doesn't care what anyone else, the United States or any other country, says about him. It's an image that actually has gotten him some political mileage.

So, that is what you're facing -- a regime that is very, very hard to influence. So, what is the United States doing? Well, essentially, it's saying: stop the violence. That is the most important thing.

The United States is watching, obviously, very closely. But it's unclear precisely how many people have been killed. You've been reporting that there's very little media coverage, human rights groups aren't allowed in there.

And there are three factors, I think, that you have to look at. One, this is the bloodiest uprising so far in all of these regional uprisings. It is -- there is very little information, and Libya is a major oil exporter.

So, as we watch these uprisings around the Mideast and North Africa, each country is different. And is very important for many things, and oil is one of them.

HOLMES: Jill Dougherty there with the latest -- Jill, we appreciate you, as always.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Anti-government protest is also spreading across other parts of the Arab world and many of them turning violent as we've just been talking about Libya. Also, Tunisia, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, Iraq and Iran. Protesters are taking to the streets, demanding change.

Well, now, for the first time, we're also seeing protests break out in Morocco. Thousands marched in cities across one of the largest countries in North Africa Sunday.

HOLMES: Also, the Joint Chiefs chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen, he is on a week-long trip to the Middle East. This trip was planned before we saw many of these uprisings in the region. He is not visiting countries that have seen widespread protest. But he does plan to discuss U.S. concerns about the unrest in the region. Admiral Mullen will visit military and civilian leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, as well as Kuwait.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: We're continuing to cover the fight between teachers union and Wisconsin's new Republican governor. And the kids are still caught in the middle for another day. There is no school in Madison, Wisconsin, today. The state's largest union did tell the teachers to go back to work, but they voted against showing up today. Many of them do have the day off because of Presidents Day. Thousands took over the state capitol over the weekend to protest the new Republican governor's plan to make them pay more for their benefit and weaken the union essentially. The governor says that the state is broke and has no choice.

Meantime, lawmakers in Washington are running out of time to try to keep the government running. Congress is off this week. So, it means that they have to hammer out a short-term spending resolution next week in order to prevent a shutdown. It's something that both Republicans and Democrats say they would like to work out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: We have said shut down is off the table. Speaker Boehner, Mitch McConnell, other Republican leaders, have not taken it off the table when asked. And there are lots of people on the hard right clamoring for a shutdown.

SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: It's good for political rhetoric to talk about a shutdown. But I don't know anybody that wants that to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentle lady from Connecticut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman, to ask what the time is both sides, Mr. Chairman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Gentle lady from Connecticut.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

CHETRY: Over the weekend, Republicans passed a budget which includes $61 billion in cuts and now heads to the Senate where it will meet from heavy opposition from Democrats there.

Coming up in a few minutes, we're going to be talking about states in crisis and also the possibility that the federal government could be paralyzed as well with Ed Rollins and Maria Cardona.

HOLMES: And, end of an era in Washington? Take a look here. We have a before and after picture. This was the national Christmas tree back in December. This is the national Christmas tree now.

Fifty-mile-an-hour wind gusts in D.C. toppled that tree. It had been in its current location for more than 32 years.

CHETRY: Wow.

Rob Marciano is in the weather center for us.

We were -- the wind was the big story over the weekend, at least. We're also talking about a jumpy castle that literally went up in the air and two kids that were in it were thrown as well. I mean, it was pretty brutal out there. ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, a lot of -- a lot of wind energy across the Northeast this weekend, that's for sure, and ushering in an colder air that's there now that's getting overtaken by some moisture.

Winter storms from Minnesota all the way to the Northeast right now and causing some havoc at some of the airports. O'Hare Airport right now in Chicago reporting over three-hour delays because of weather and wind there. Philadelphia seeing delays at 45 minutes, and LaGuardia 30 minutes. I think that's going to be on the increase. And Kalamazoo, by the way, is closed.

Here's the radar. Rain and snow stretching from New England back to the plains, kind of a double system that's going to take its time getting through. Heavy wet snow now moving through the tri-state area. That will begin to taper later on this afternoon, and shift a little bit farther to the south. But three to five inches of snow potentially here in the next couple of hours. Six to 10 a little bit farther to the west and the farther to the north.

As far as temperatures right now, 30 degrees in New York. So, certainly cold enough for snow. But look at Philly and D.C. Rapid rise in temperatures there. Current temperature of 49 degrees in Washington, D.C. and daytime highs there will be a lot warmer.

And still holding on to the warmth across parts of the Southeast, we saw record high temperatures in the 70s and lower 80s yesterday.

We're almost there. I know you guys are dealing with some winter weather. But three to five inches of snow, considering the season you've had, that's not a problem. Can of corn, baby.

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

HOLMES: All right. Rob, we appreciate you as always. Thanks so much.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

HOLMES: Also coming up this morning: U.S. warship is on the trail now of a hijacked yacht that has four Americans onboard.

CHETRY: Tempers flared at a town hall meeting with Senator John Kennedy. We've got -- John Kerry, rather. We've got the whole angry exchange that took place. It was caught on tape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Nine minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

A developing story we're keeping an eye on: A Navy warship and helicopter now are shadowing a seized American yacht. Somali pirates took control of this yacht on Friday. This was off the coast of Oman.

Four Americans are now being held hostage -- among them the yacht owners, Jean and Scott Adam. They are from California. They were distributing Bibles everywhere as they traveled. They have two other people onboard with them. They are now heading towards land, somewhere close to the Somali coast.

The yacht was part of a sailing group. It broke off from the group because they wanted to go a different route, and that's when pirates moved in.

Also, a disturbing story to tell you out of Mexico where the drug violence there seems to continue. Acapulco this time, 13 taxi drivers and passengers killed there over the weekend. Four people have detained in connection with this violence -- just hours before Mexican open tennis tournament was set to begin. Meanwhile, in Ciudad Juarez, 53 people died there since Friday.

CHETRY: Well, there's no school in Madison, Wisconsin, again today. The state's largest union told teachers to go back to work. They voted, however, to not show up again today.

Thousands took over the state capitol over the weekend, still in protest of the governor's plan to make them pay more for their benefits and to weaken the union. Wisconsin is one of many states in crisis. The federal government also in a little bit of trouble right now as both sides look -- try to pass a resolution to keep the federal government going.

So, here to help us break it all down this morning, two top political minds, Ed Rollins, CNN senior political analyst.

Welcome.

ED ROLLINS, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

CHETRY: As well as Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist. She joins us from Washington this morning.

Welcome to you, Maria.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Thank you, Kiran. Glad to be here.

CHETRY: So -- I want to ask, Ed, first of all, about Governor Walker. The president called it basically an assault on the unions by trying to take away their collective bargaining right on everything besides wages. This is more about union-busting or is it budget-busting?

ROLLINS: This is more about fiscal restraint. I mean, we are in a situation where we have many, many states that are bankrupt, on the verge of bankruptcy. And you got to balance the budget.

Elections have consequences. Republicans now have the governorship and the legislature and they are trying to make adjustments. And the adjustments are basically to make employees pay a little bit more for their pensions, a little bit more for their health care, which is enormous costs.

CHETRY: I want to ask you about this, Maria, because as he said, elections have consequences. And the governor didn't hide this. When Governor Walker campaigned, he campaigned on a pledge to take on the unions. He was elected and he seems to be doing just that.

So, why the surprise or outrage?

CARDONA: Because -- here's the problem, Kiran: the unions have said -- these public employees have side time and again that they would be willing to adhere to the concessions to Walker's own concession of pay cuts and of contributions to their own pensions. They have said they would do that.

What they do not want to do is to unilaterally give up their rights to collective bargaining. That is what Governor Walker wants to put on the table. And that is what these public employees are going up against because taking away collective bargaining rights adds absolutely -- does nothing to plug the budget hole.

What is the number here that Governor Walker thinks that taking away collective bargaining rights is going to add to the budget? Absolutely nothing. They have asked to meet with the governor more than 17 times. He has refused. It's a lack of respect --

CHETRY: And I want to ask, Ed, about that --

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: -- and they need to meet.

CHETRY: -- a lot about -- a lot of this. The fact that they have said, let's go back to the table -- they've said, in the media at least, that they would be willing to accept some of those financial concessions. Is he overstepping a bit here by insisting on the collective bargaining part?

ROLLINS: Well, they still get to have collective bargaining. They still get to have the unions. They get to do -- basically do about wages. They just don't get to basically decide what their health care or their work hours and all the rest of those kinds of things are.

A governor has to have flexibility. And, obviously, when you have short falls, as they do in this state and 48 other states, you've got to make some very, very tough choices. At the end of the day, this is a very liberal state and, over the years, the benefits have been very generous and I think to a certain extent, the voters decided and, obviously, the Republicans control the legislature and the governorship, that they're going to make some modifications to save 6,000 jobs.

CHETRY: And seems everybody squeezed, Maria, because at the end of the day, what Ed is saying is they want to save jobs. The alternative could be losing them like we're seeing, you know, being proposed here in New York. Also, according to a government study, these workers are making about 60 percent more when it comes to -- or collecting benefits worth about 60 percent more than people in the private sector, adding up to about $17,000 a year.

I mean, is it just a case of unfortunately everybody has to shell out more including the tax payers?

CARDONA: That is true, Kiran. And again, these public employees have said they are willing to share the pain. They are willing to have their pay cut and they're willing to contribute more to their pensions.

But again, they're not willing to unilaterally give up their collective bargaining. That does absolutely nothing to plug the budget short fall. What it does do is it actually is a huge attack on Wisconsin's middle class families. These workers who are committed -- you have teachers, you have nurses' aides, you have EMTs. The police and the firefighters who are exempt are standing shoulder to shoulder with these workers.

If this governor really wanted to be courageous, why doesn't he -- why doesn't he first meet with them and, secondly, share the pain fairly and across the board? Is he asking companies and his deep-pocketed CEO supporters to also give back the tax breaks that he has given them? Absolutely not.

CHETRY: And I want to get to a larger point because this is going on states, and this is not the only state going, but the federal government is also dealing with some painful things itself, and we're heading to March 4, I guess, that's when they have to seek a compromise before the fiscal year ends or the talk has been a government shutdown. Are we really talking about a government shut down?

ED ROLLINS, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Were talking about running out of money on March 4. We have to, basically, raise the debt ceiling. The irony of all of this is Democrats totally control the Congress until January. This is this year's budget. This was supposed to have been passed last year. Democrats chose not to have a budget last year.

Republicans have come in, obviously, have altered the budget considering the deep fiscal shortages that we have, and obviously, there's a lot of rhetoric on the part of the Democrats, but they didn't do their job last year, and now, basically, the Republicans have the opportunity to alter that.

CHETRY: I mean, when you talk about a shared government right now, wouldn't it affect -- I mean, if there was, indeed, a shut down, and we're hearing from the various Senator Schumer said that no Dems want that to happen, but that people on the, quote, "hard right," as he put it want a --

ROLLINS: The Republicans don't want that to happen. Innocent people who will basically be victimized by a shut down. They will make every effort not to shut the government down.

CHETRY: Do you think they're going to get to a compromise before then, Maria, with these cuts?

CARDONA: You know, I hope Ed is right and that Republicans will work to actually not shut the government down, but they are basically threatening to do so. Democrats want to take it off the table, so that they can come together and negotiate in good faith. Everybody knows that we need to share the pain fairly and across the board. Democrats have agreed to major, major cuts.

The president has agreed to major cuts even in programs that Democrats love. So, I think that that says that Democrats are willing to share the pain. They're willing to cut programs that they love because they understand that some drastic changes need to be done. They do not want the government to shut down. Republicans have left it on the table.

ROLLINS: Tell me one Republican leader in the Congress that, basically, is advocated a shut down.

CARDONA: John Boehner has said that a shutdown is on the table. And so, that, to me, says that they are willing to do this in order to get what they want.

CHETRY: Well, he said he's also -- they're going to do everything possible to come to some sort of compromising not shut the budget down.

CARDONA: And I hope that's absolutely the case for the sake of everybody.

CHETRY: All right. Well, it's great to talk with this morning, Maria Cardona and Ed Rollins.

ROLLINS: Thank you.

CARDONA: Thank you so much, Kiran.

ROLLINS: My pleasure. Thank you very much.

CHETRY: Have a good one.

HOLMES: Well, coming up, we are going to introduce you to a young man who had a heck of a weekend. He turned 20 on Saturday, and then on Sunday, he went ahead and won the Daytona 500, becoming the youngest winner ever. Ever. We'll introduce you to the kid.

Also, they are just running out of dunks to do these days. They have to bring in cars, it seems, to win the slam dunk contest. That's just one of the highlights from this weekend's NBA all-star weekend. It's 18 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. "Morning Talker Time." It was only a second career race in the Sprint Cup, and boy, did he come on the scene with a bang, huh? Twenty-year-old Trevor Bayne, he shocked the NASCAR World and himself by winning the Daytona 500 by just a tenth of second. He's the youngest driver ever to do it just the day after his 20th birthday.

We had a chance to talk to him on AMERICAN MORNING a little earlier. He talked about how he can't believe it and about needing directions to get to victory lane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREVOR BAYNE, YOUNGEST DRIVER TO WIN DAYTONA 500: Well, I knew how to walk to victory lane because I was planning on going over and see whoever won, but, you know, I didn't know how to drive there. So, I guess I better go and starting scout it out and figure it out from now on, but you know, this is just -- it's incredible. You know, what's the crazy part is there's guys, race car drivers, you know, Tony Stewart. So many drivers out there that haven't had the opportunity to win this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, It was only a second career race in the Sprint Cup, and boy, did he come on the scene with a bang, huh? Twenty-year-old Trevor Bayne, he shocked the NASCAR World and himself by winning the Daytona 500 by just a tenth of second. He's the youngest driver ever to do it just the day after his 20th birthday. And what did he say? How long has it been for that team? More than 30 years.

HOLMES: Thirty years, yes, as a legendary owners of a team. They didn't qualify for the Daytona like about three years ago. So, they've been at it for a long time to get this young kid. He takes (INAUDIBLE) victory lane. Great kid.

Also out to L.A. now where it was a pitched defensive battle in the NBA all-star game, and in the end, the West was able to hold the East to only 143 points to beat them by five. It was 148-143. This is how it worked, right? The Lakers' star, Kobe Bryant, even though you're seeing LeBron highlight. He had a heck of a night, too. He had a triple-double, but Kobe is playing in his home there in Los Angeles.

He took home the MVP award. It's his fourth. He ties the record for the most MVP awards for the all-star game. And again, I have to mention, LeBron had a triple-double in that game. Only Michael Jordan was the only other person to do that.

CHETRY: Then, why Kobe win the MVP award?

HOLMES: 37 points, 14 rebounds. He had a pretty good night.

CHETRY: All right. Every year, they try to top themselves, and I don't know what they're going to do next year to top this one. All kinds of crazy jams in the slam dunk contest on Saturday. They brought out an extra hoop for one. How about dunking three balls in one jump. That was pretty impressive. That didn't even win. Points for originality. Well, all right, let's check out this one. This is -- what is his name, Serge Ibaka, right? Of Oklahoma City Thunder?

HOLMES: No. That's not him. This is the three dunk.

CHETRY: Oh, that was a three-dunk. OK. This one. He rescues a child's toy.

HOLMES: Well, this is back to Blake Griffin now.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Let's stop with the darn highlights. Check it out. Awesome.

HOLMES: He ended up winning it, but you see, he gets his arms with -- it's all elbow and the rim there. This is far the entertainment here, young man, but this is a child's toy. This is the one you're talking about. He goes up and actually gets the child's toy with his teat off of the rim and then dunks the ball. So, yes. They are running out of dunks to do, clearly, but the one that won it was the car.

They brought out a car. Product placement. There is a Kia vehicle right there. Blake Griffin who is also an L.A. guy plays with the Clippers out there. This could have ended poorly, but he was the one that ended up and see what the deal form (ph). He takes home the slam dunk title.

CHETRY: He said he didn't even practice with the actually car there except they just, you know, he even how -- why the car was going to be and had to clear it and felt he get clear it, so, there you -- he had a gospel choir singing "I Believe I Can Fly." He's flying. Amazing stuff.

HOLMES: Flare for the dramatic.

CHETRY: Yes. Well, we'll see what happens next year.

HOLMES: Coming up, I have this video to show you of emotions flaring when a loud and angry crowd confronted Senator John Kerry in Massachusetts. You'll see this.

CHETRY: Also, the uncertainty in the Middle East having a very serious effect on gas prices. Christine Romans joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Do I have that right? Oscars on Sunday? All right. everybody is thinking about the Oscars. The box office this weekend. Give you a look at how things went. The thriller "Unknown" starring Liam Neeson debut, number one movie in the country based on $22 million and this sci-fi film, "I Am Number Four" took in $19.5 million in its opening weekend.

CHETRY: I said it looked like the same movie. Yes. They have that like weird blue hue to it, and everyone is fighting.

HOLMES: That's all it takes to make a hit.

CHETRY: Apparently. Well, there you go.

Well, the unrest in Libya having a direct impact on what we pay here for gas. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." You told you worried about this, and the numbers of oil up 4 percent?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's up about 4 percent this morning, and you got this fear of inflation in general and then you look at geopolitical risk and that's really all you need for investors. Speculators start getting oil prices higher, so you got Libya also a little different than some of these other countries we've talked about because Libya is an oil exporter, a major oil exporter, and also a member of OPEC, that cartel of oil exports.

And big oil companies are watching very closely to see if they're be halting production or at least starting to move people out of the country and effect will have some sort of an impact. Let me tell you how much the U.S. imported from here, 80,000 barrels a day. It is the largest proven oil reserves in Africa.

So, Libya is something will be continuing to watch and that will mean probably higher gas prices for you down the line. They've already been moving in that direction, but if you just take a look here. You can $3.17 gallon and gas hurts.

HOLMES: There we are. $2.64 last year. People certainly, this is the one place, you know, it's hard, sometimes, to get people in that mindset how this affects me or get people to understand, you know, this is so far away, and I don't really get what's happening. We get it when we see that.

ROMANS: That's right. And we've seen a lot of different commodities moving higher. Not just for gas where you're paying for food. That's also impeding (ph) into what's happening in this region. You know, I will say, I will give you one like good thing.

HOLMES: OK.

ROMANS: You get (ph) gas prices that are still well below $4.11 a gallon with a record wise in 2008.

CHETRY: That's when we were going crazy.

ROMANS: Right. So, it really hurt then, but they're moving sort of in the wrong direction. The whole story is about inflation. You're also seeing gold is up this morning, folks. You're seeing metals prices up this morning. That's also this flight into quality, as they say, a risk aversion by investors who are trying to put money into hard assets because they're worried about things that are going on in the world, at least for today. We all know that these things are always very fickle. The U.S. markets are closed for the holiday.

CHETRY: Maybe that's a good thing today.

Christine Romans, thanks so much.

HOLMES: Thank you.

CHETRY: Top stories coming up. Lawmakers have less than two weeks to hammer out a budget agreement if they want to avoid a government shutdown. Adding to their woes, Congress is off this week and over the weekend House Republicans passed a short-term resolution to cut spending by $61 billion. Democrats in the Senate say they have no chance of passing. HOLMES: Also schools in Madison, Wisconsin, off once again today. The teachers union telling the teachers, hey, it is time to go back to work. But the teachers voted otherwise and they are not showing up again today. Expect to see some more protests there at the capital. Doctors were even out in massive crowds handing out sick notes.

Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate left the state to stall a vote on the bill and to force state workers to pay more for their own benefits and surrender their right to bargain collectively.

CHETRY: And a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Minneapolis turned around just minutes after takeoff yesterday. Pilots were forced to make an emergency landing because of engine trouble. The jet had 125 people onboard and no one was hurt. Right now the FAA is investigating what happened.

HOLMES: Also, the anger and the anti-government demonstrations continue to grow in Libya. Reuters now reporting a police station in the suburb of Tripoli, the capital there, is on fire. Protesters believed to have set fire to two government buildings.

And Human Rights Watch now estimating that some 233 people have been killed in clashes there with the government. CNN not on the ground there in Libya, the government not allowing our journalists in, so it is very difficult to confirm a lot of this information.

But our Nic Robertson is in London for us this morning keeping an eye on things. Nic, hello, a lot of people talking about Muammar Gadhafi's son putting out really a scary warning it seems to his country.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He said the country is at a crossroads and therefore that people have a choice right now. They can either decide to side with the government and he promised reforms to bring more democracy to the country, or they can plunge their country into civil war and chaos.

And it is a very real warning. There could be weeks perhaps of chaos if this government is overthrown. They have been in power for so long, over 40 years, there isn't a democratic alternative readily available. And this is a very tribal society. We've hear the country's largest tribe siding with the anti-government protesters. The dynamic can turn bloody and take quite a while to resolve, T.J.

HOLMES: And, Nic, we talk about Muammar Gadhafi's son issuing these warnings, but Muammar Gadhafi has been the one who has been the visible leader of this country for so long. Where was he? Why was he not giving this speech?

ROBERTSON: Well, that's a really good question. I think perhaps there are two answers to that. One is he would not want to give away his location because he know that is the figure of hate at the moment for all these protestors. As much as they are attacking government building, they would far rather be tearing down the walls to the palace wherever he is at right now. His son, Saif, is seen by many people in Libya as being the kinder, softer face of the regime. That is a relative term. He is certainly seen internationally as being one of the better diplomatic faces for Libya, if you will. So it would seem logical a father would put his son, Saif al Gadhafi, to speak.

He has other songs too, and they've got some pretty different reputations. One is in charge of intelligence, and the other has other outstanding issues the people of Libya would know well about. So he would be seen as the kin kinder, softer face.

But the reaction is that this came off as a very unscripted speech, a speech that gave warnings that come across as a threat that the regime can change at a time when everyone is clamoring for the regime just to go, T.J.

HOLMES: Nic Robertson for us in London, we appreciate you this morning as always.

Some of these protests may be spreading beyond the Arab world, even try to have attempts at demonstrations in China. But those seem to have failed on Sunday. Organizers were planning for protests in a dozen major cities throughout the country against the communist government. A day before the demonstrations, though, police rounded up a lot of the would-be protesters. Organizers were communicating with one another on social networking sites like Twitter, of course, but those sites heavily monitored by the government and regularly blocked.

CHETRY: Well, Prime minister of Britain David Cameron has landed in Egypt this morning. He is visiting the country for a series of meetings with military leaders. Egypt's military took over the country after President Hosni Mubarak stepped down. There's no word whether the prime minister will meet with one of the large opposition groups, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Meantime in America, we worry about being on Facebook too much while in Egypt they are naming their kids after Facebook. A man named his first daughter Facebook. The proud father said he wanted to commemorate the website's role in the recent revolution. The social networking site was crucial to protests in Tahir Square. Demonstrators used the site to organize protests against the now former president Mubarak. There are five million Facebook users in Egypt, more than any other country in the Middle East.

HOLMES: Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts feeling the heat from some hecklers. They got loud and angry, this crowd in Northampton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(INAUDIBLE)

SEN. JOHN KERRY, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: I will get to the war in a moment, and it is a big, big deal.

(INAUDIBLE) KERRY: It's not the only issue I my friend. I told you we will get to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That was just a bit of the back and forth. The woman who is trying to shout him down ends up walking out saying he wasn't talking enough about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kerry apologized to another woman who said he called her a Neanderthal for not believing in global warming.

CHETRY: President Clinton and George H.W. Bush political rivals turned friends may be the honorary co-chairs of a new national institute for civil discourse. It opened today in Tucson, Arizona. It hopes to capture the spirit of civility that many saw on display in the days after Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot and others were killed in the massacre outside the grocery store.

HOLMES: How about this for teacher evaluation, put a camera in the classroom and not let the teacher know when it is going to be on and record it. Does our CNN education contributor Steve Perry think that is a good idea? You'll hear from him coming up next. It's 36 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, 40 minutes past the hour on this "American Morning." As you know state budgets are a mess all over this country. There are huge deficits, and these governors right now are trying to find a way to shrink deficits. Some are asking educators and state employees to brace for cuts and do more.

Also this morning, another story education related -- cameras in the classroom to evaluate teachers, is that a good idea? We will get to that in a moment.

I want to start with our CNN education contributor Steve Perry on what is happening in Wisconsin. Steve, good to see you. How about this, first of all. What are the students getting out of seeing this pitched battle and seeing their teachers getting out of the classroom and going to the state capital? Are kids learning a lesson of any kind?

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: I think the kids are learning a lesson, unfortunately, they are learning it from home. Unfortunately, the kids are not learning specifically from the teachers, but by what the teachers are doing. They are learning that we are still a democracy, and they, when they want to, can speak on their own behalf.

There is always more than one side, and it is not just the people screaming the loudest who have the right point of view.

HOLMES: Collectively bargaining, should they have that right. We'll stick with teachers. Should they have that right to collectively bargain? PERRY: It is a tough question, it is a bigger question. To be collectively bargained typically means there is a sole bargaining group that determines for all of the group. What that means is someone like me -- people think I run a charter school. I don't. I'm a public employee and therefore in Connecticut I have to be in a union. So I'm in a union, not because I want to be, but because of collective bargaining we have to pay dues to an organization we may or may not want to participate in.

The Wisconsin governor is saying I want to give everyone an opportunity to decide whether or not they want to be in that group. There is a bigger part to this.

In addition to that, he is saying that he wants to give individuals the opportunity to communicate with their bosses and be able to determine their own working conditions. That is another part of this.

When we look at collective bargaining, should they or shouldn't they, he says he is not taking away collective bargaining, but from I've read, he does appear to be, but there is more to it than whether or not teachers are being hurt by it, because they are not necessarily being hurt because there are legal protections to due process.

HOLMES: Some would say they are being hurt. If you have that man, at least 100,000 teachers in Wisconsin, they all don't feel they have the power to bargain on their own behalf and set their own conditions individually, and it serves a purpose to be a part of a larger group that has some power to fight for you.

PERRY: We are talking about white collar, college educated, in most cases Master's degree teacher who are saying they can't talk to their vice principal?

HOLMES: You can. But a large group standing and fighting is a lot different than one master degree teacher walking into the vice principal's office.

PERRY: No doubt it's different, but that's the problem. One of the challenges that we find ourselves in is that these conditions come out of one massive group constantly controlling the resources of an entire community that is not elected and is private. This is a private organization that controls the resources of our community.

What this governor is saying is not uncommon. Many states, such as Georgia, do not have teachers in teachers union. They have teachers associations and the schools still run. This is not doom and gloom.

We need to look at the facts of it. The facts that are not everybody who is in a union wants to be in a union, and they should not be forced. I'm forced to pay a percentage of my salary to an organization I may or may not believe in. No one should be forced. That is not American.

HOLMES: At the same time, you know there are a lot of other teachers in Wisconsin who don't mind being in those unions and absolutely want to be in the unions as well. I have to get to one other point. I certainly want to continue with Wisconsin, but I want to ask you, good idea or bad idea, what they're trying to do in Wyoming, put cameras in the classrooms to grade teachers. The teachers wouldn't know when the cameras are on. They would be graded by a parent, an instructor or principal would review them. Is that a good idea?

PERRY: That is not cool that they wouldn't know about it. I don't think that helps anybody. That is the "got you" approach that makes people feel they need to be collectively bargained.

There are many primary schools that do allow parents to watch their kids while they are in there on a live stream, but everyone knows that is going on. If that is something that everyone who is a part of it agrees to, yes, I think it's something that can be done.

I don't think it is fair to a teacher to have someone sort of coming in on them and they don't know about it. That is not professional. That's not productive. I understand the thought behind it but it's wrong. You -- you don't treat people like that.

HOLMES: Well, well, Steve as always, once again, I -- an enjoyable visit to the principal's office this morning. Good to see you as always buddy. Have to go.

PERRY: Take care.

HOLMES: All right, Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, right now, we have some wind, snow and ice moving through the Midwest heading northeast, actually the snow is here. Rob Marciano joins us next.

Forty-five minutes past the hour.

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CHETRY: A shot of Green Bay this morning. You have to look hard to see through the -- through the mix of snow and wind there. It's 21 degrees right now, a high of 23 later today.

According to our affiliate there, they got about ten to 15 inches of snow in parts this morning and schools are closed.

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HOLMES: Oh wow.

CHETRY: Even the ones where the teachers, where there is not all this trouble with the labor dispute.

HOLMES: Wow, Rob Marciano, let's check in with him. It's going to be a problem spot. There's Green Bay, they are used to a lot of that stuff. But to close schools then it must be pretty serious.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I mean, well, Green Bay, you know Chicago has had quite a year, and now Minneapolis was seeing over a foot of snow just yesterday. They keep it up they're going to be on track to break their record back in 1983.

So it's been quite a winter for -- for a lot of folks. And this storms for -- is affecting a lot of folks from the northeast all the way back to the Midwest. And we're seeing a couple of areas of concern.

A kind of a double barrel system, one low is driving now across parts of New York. That will move out to sea, a bit of a dry slot and the next one kind of drives a little bit farther to the south into the Delmarva, mostly rain and turning to snow as the cool air comes in into place.

The snow right now is definitely getting into the New York City area. But we're seeing some signs that it may begin to taper off. Temperatures have been right around the freezing mark. So not everywhere is it sticking and piling up to the roadways but certainly there has been enough accumulation to cause some headaches.

Three to five totals of what we think we'll see around the city; maybe a six to ten inch total just north and west. But we are seeing some delays because of this weather in New York. Right now, we've got a ground stop at LaGuardia; Chicago is seeing three hour and 40 minute delays right; now temperatures freezing, drizzle in spots there so they're having some issues.

And Minneapolis, still digging out with hour-delays there and Philadelphia seeing an hour and 30. And Kalamazoo is shut down at the moment. The warmth is held down to the south and that's where it's pretty much going to stay as this system makes its way up towards the north.

As far as daytime highs today look for a high temperature of about 70 in Atlanta, it will be 78 degrees in New Orleans and 35 degrees in Chicago; 55 in D.C. before that cold front comes through tonight and 38 degrees in New York City with the wet snow tapering off over the next couple of hours.

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

CHETRY: All right. Thanks Rob.

HOLMES: Thanks, Rob.

Well, learning another language, not just a good brain workout, it may protect you against Alzheimer's.

Ten minutes to top of the hour. Stay with us.

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CHETRY: So you speak more than one language. Do you?

HOLMES: Yes. I speak a little of another language.

CHETRY: A little, what? Spanish?

HOLMES: You've never -- the language is never heard of, it's the. Yes.

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CHETRY: All right, so Congolese is the --

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Yes, it's from the central region of Africa.

CHETRY: Nice, where your beautiful bride is from.

HOLMES: Yes.

CHETRY: Ok, I -- I -- I make my way through some Spanish.

HOLMES: Well, ok.

CHETRY: Researchers say that learning a second language can actually delay Alzheimer's disease. Their study focused on 450 Alzheimer's patients. Those who were bilingual were diagnosed 45 years later than those who spoke only one language. And they say it's not going to prevent the disease but it actually may delay onset of symptoms and you don't have to master the language to see the benefits. Just exercising your brain throughout life helps withstand the declines of aging.

HOLMES: Yes, well that could be it there --

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CHETRY: There you go.

HOLMES: Well, this is not some good news health wise here. The flu has reached epidemic levels. In the U.S. the CDC now saying the flu is circulating in all 50 states. Each year about 200,000 Americans end up hospitalized with the flu. Up to 40,000 died each year. The CDC is encouraging flu vaccinations for people over six months old. As always, you need to check with your doctor before getting that shot.

CHETRY: Yes, I mean, we all got, and a lot of people got them back in October, November, December.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Right.

CHETRY: But they say it's not too late and it takes about two weeks to kick in. So --

HOLMES: Never too late.

CHETRY: Yes. Well, if these retirees don't like the weather, they can just keep on moving. They don't even have to get a new house. Ed Lavendera shows us plans for a floating condo community, it's a virtual city on water and it may be coming to a port near you.

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ED LAVENDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When you think of retiring, isn't this what it should look and sound like?

DAVID NELSON, RIVER CITIES: We built this boat you are on now.

LAVANDERA: David Nelson and Bill Tout are banking on this modern day show boat to inspire a new generation of river boat lovers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will be a 600-foot long, 108-foot wide, five story tall.

LAVANDERA: The river city condo is a floating city with about 180 condominiums cruising the country's most famous rivers all year long. Why live in one city when you can see a different one every day?

BILL TOUT, RIVER CITIES: The general rules are, winter down here, summer up there. We never want to see snow and we never want to see hurricane season.

LAVANDERA: The ship is so large it splits in two to squeeze through tight river spots. A little 18-hole golf course on top, mail delivery, Internet, a medical clinic and helicopter pad for care flights.

(on camera): Do you need police officers or -- this place can get rowdy.

TOUT: No, no.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): David Nelson had lived on a riverboat in St. Paul Minnesota for 23 years.

(on camera): Do you think Mark Twain would like this?

NELSON: Yes. I think this is right up Mark Twain's alley.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): He is selling a new way of retiring, but will it catch on? So far about 24 units have sold. Construction is expected to begin this summer.

NELSON: All you have to do is sit in your living room window and watch the world go by and have fun every day just being at home.

LAVANDERA: And for now showgirls and music are not included.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Pima, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Well, as the guy said there: sit there and watch the world go by. I don't know about that.

CHETRY: Yes. It's good. I like the idea though that they're -- when it is nice weather here, they are here and vice versa. You don't see hurricanes and you don't see snow.

HOLMES: There are the highlights.

All right. Just a few minutes to the top of the hour. A quick break, we are right back.

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HOLMES: Well, we certainly appreciate you spending some of your time with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. If you have the day off, enjoy it; if not, still enjoy whatever you're going to be doing today.

CHETRY: Exactly.

And we'll be back here bright and early tomorrow morning. Meantime the news continues, "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now. Good morning Kyra.