Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Wisconsin Budget Battle; Military Mind Games?; Students Going Hungry; Ferry Leaves Libya With Americans; Eyewitness Claims Militia Firing at Crowds in Tripoli; The Road to Gold; Changing Attitudes
Aired February 25, 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. Glad you're with us. It's Friday, February 25th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
Yes, Wisconsin, the state assembly has voted to take all of the collective bargaining rights away from the unions. The governor, you may remember, warned that today was the day if there was no budget in place, 1,500 layoffs might come.
CHETRY: The battle is far from over. Ted Rowlands is live in Madison, Wisconsin. You said the last time we checked in with you he is backing away from that, but today is a big day as the assembly did vote to move ahead with this plan.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kiran, half of this is through basically.
Overnight in dramatic video, you see the assembly did push this through and the way they did it was dramatic in the end in that the Republicans called kind of a quick vote, caught the Democrats by surprise. They were still arguing this thing. They thought they were going to be able to stretch it out into this morning but the Republicans called a vote. And those folks in the t-shirts screaming, those are the Democrats.
So, there's not a lot of love in that House but it is through the House now. The only other component is the Senate but this, of course, is the stalemate that continues to drag on with all 14 of those Democratic senators in the state of Illinois. They say they will meet this morning and decide whether they'll come back here today. It doesn't look like that will happen.
Meanwhile, the governor also says he is not going to blink. So, the stalemate definitely continues and thousands of people continue to converge here on the capitol here in Madison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: As I've said time and time again, I've got two high school sons. I'm not going to allow this situation to pass on an even bigger burden to them. The days of passing the buck on from one budget to the next, from one generation to the next stop and they stop now.
PETER BARCA (D), MINORITY LEADER, WISCONSIN ASSEMBLY: We're willing to meet you more than halfway, but it's time to end the impasse. It's time to show some leadership. The people of Wisconsin expect their governors to solve their problems, and to unite them, not to divide them. We've been too divided for too long. We want to bring people back together in this state.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
ROWLANDS: And, of course, on the table here is this collective bargaining. The Democrats have said that they are willing and the unions say that they are willing to come aboard with the financial concessions that the governor is asking for, but they're not willing to give up their collective bargaining rights, and there you have the stalemate. We'll see if anybody today moves on this and blinks. But, at this point, both sides are saying they are in it for the long haul and they will not give up their side -- Kiran, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Ted Rowlands, we appreciate you in Madison this morning. Thanks so much. We're going to get reaction as well from the Democratic side, those who left the state and boycott. We're going to talk to Democratic State Senator Jon Erpenbach. He's joining us in about 30 minutes.
CHETRY: Meantime, severe weather has been raking the South. It's now moving East and North, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to parts of the Northeast. Snow in others. And we are seeing extreme weather from the Gulf Coast all the way up to Maine. A powerful storm turned deadly overnight in Graves County, Kentucky.
An Amish family's buggy was swept into a swollen creek. Three of the family's children have died. Police are still searching for the fourth child.
And as many as 10 tornadoes were reported in parts of Tennessee. But there was a lightning show in the sky above Memphis. Heavy rain and 80-mile-an-hour wind gusts brought down trees and power lines. There were no injuries reported in that state.
HOLMES: Let's turn to our Reynolds Wolf in Atlanta for us, keeping an eye on things. Reynolds, where is this headed now?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right now, it looks like the main core of it is moving into the parts of the Northeast. It's a combination of rain and sleet and snowfall and wind gusts that will top 55 miles an hour. And the combination of all that together could cause widespread delays throughout the Northeast corridor.
Let's go right to the maps. As we zoom in, you can see the snow. You obviously can see the rain. But you can't see, obviously, the wind. You're going to be feeling it, especially into the afternoon hours.
From Detroit to Cleveland to Buffalo, anywhere from three to seven inches of snowfall, but in upstate Vermont and New Hampshire, highest elevations could see up to a foot of snowfall. Speaking of a foot of snowfall, we got some heavy snowfall that has been developing out towards the west, in places like Blue Hill, Nebraska.
Here are the snowfall totals in the last 24 hours. A foot of snow there in Hoyt, Kansas, about nine inches of snow, over seven inches in North Kansas City, in Missouri, in Bedford and in Missouri, anywhere from six to seven inches of snowfall.
Now, another big story we have. The temperatures, the mild conditions will continue for parts of the Northeast, for Chicago, right to the freezing point. That will be the high for the day, 32, 12 in Minneapolis, 1 degree in Billings, 40 in Salt Lake City, 35 in Portland, 77 in Houston and 51 in New York.
That's a snapshot of your forecast. We got a whole lot more coming up and will be back for that. For now, let's send it to New York.
Guys, be ready for that wind this afternoon. Hold on to your hats. Again, we're talking tropical storm force winds, 55 and maybe a little bit higher, especially between these buildings along the Avenues of Americas.
HOLMES: Wow. All right. Reynolds, we appreciate that. Thanks so much.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
CHETRY: Just in time for the weekend, unfortunately.
Well, a college student in Texas goes to federal court today, accused of secretly planning terrorist attacks in the United States. The 20-year-old Saudi national was studying engineering at Texas Tech. Prosecutors say he brought explosive chemicals -- bought explosive chemicals online to make bombs. That's how the Justice Department was tipped off in the first place.
They also say that his e-mails and journal entries alluded to targets, including the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush. Prosecutors also say that he wanted to travel to New York City so that he could plant a car bomb to explode during rush hour.
HOLMES: Well, the government, the U.S. government had been scrambling, trying to get citizens out of Libya. Well, this morning, we can report to you that finally, a ferry that was chartered by the U.S. to evacuate U.S. citizens has finally left Tripoli. This was after two full days of delays because of weather, taking them from Tripoli, as you see there, taking an eight-hour trip over to Malta, the island there. Two hundred and seventy-five people are onboard and, officially, it left at around 6:37 Eastern Time today.
We spoke a short time ago with some other Americans who are just getting back to the U.S. from Libya but they took flights out, and they talked about the chaos at the airports and when they knew it was time to go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
CYRUS SANY, JUST RETURNED FROM LIBYA: It was like a tsunami hit the Tripoli. All of a sudden, Wednesday, Thursday, then the stores started shutting down and the people start coming to the street, that's when I sense that it's time to get out.
GEORGE SAYAR, JUST RETURNED FROM LIBYA: The airport, T.J., was a mess. I would say there was approximately 30,000 to 40,000 people, most of them without tickets, you know, trying to get into the three entrances into the terminal. It was utter chaos.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, he is blaming the revolution against his regime on al Qaeda, also dismissed the protesters as drugged-up kids. Meanwhile, his son, Saif, is telling our CNN sister network, CNN Turk, that his family has no plans to leave Libya and, in fact, listen to this, that their plan A and their plan B and their plan C right now is to, quote, "live and die in Libya."
CHETRY: War games and mind games. Up next: allegations that the U.S. Army illegally used psychological warfare techniques on senators in order to secure support for money for the war. We've got a live report from the Pentagon.
HOLMES: Also, you can probably guess the direction that gas prices are going. But just how high are they going and how high could they get? Our Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning. It's six minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Ten minutes past the hour right now.
You remember the basketball coach caught on tape pushing one of his players? Well, he is now quitting. John O'Connor of Holy Family University announced his resignation this morning. He will not face criminal charges over the incident. The video shows O'Connor knocking a student down during practice. The student, Matt Kravchuk, filed a police report. He said he had a bloody nose and bloody lip because of the coach.
The district attorney's office said it reviewed it and it does not -- says the incident does not constitute a prosecutable criminal offense, but again, the coach leaving his position at the school.
CBS forced to cancel "Two and a Half Men" for the season, after Charlie Sheen went off on the radio again. The show's star riled against a number of targets. He called Alcoholics Anonymous a cult. He called the show's creator, Chuck Lorre, a clown. He referred to Lorre mockingly by his Jewish birth name as well.
Here's a little bit of Charlie Sheen on the radio.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: I embarrassed him in front of his children and the world by healing at a pace that his unevolved mind cannot process. I've spent, I think, close to the last decade -- I don't know, effortlessly and magically converting your tin can into pure gold.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHETRY: Production is now shut down for the rest of the season. You may remember Charlie Sheen was hospitalized last month after reports of a wild bash with porn stars and a briefcase full of cocaine -- T.J.
HOLMES: Well, Kiran, a top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is now ordering an investigation into a scathing report in "Rolling Stone." And it claims that the Army illegally ordered soldiers who were trained in psychological operations to manipulate visiting lawmakers to approve more troops and money for the war in Afghanistan.
Our Chris Lawrence is getting reaction from the military.
Chris, good morning to you. This has been a shocking story for a lot of people.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, T.J. And just yesterday, a military official admitted there can be a gray area when it comes to preparing information for congressmen and preparing information on congressmen. Now, General David Petraeus has launched an investigation to get to the bottom of this. The secretary of defense is on board with that investigation.
But let's start with the who. This is members of the U.S. army psy-ops team in Afghanistan who are accusing a superior officer of giving them an illegal order to target American congressmen. They basically say that when defied that order, Lieutenant General William Caldwell and his staff reprimanded them and wrote them up on all kinds of violations.
Now, just to be clear: psy-ops is not public affairs. These people are specifically trained to play with people's minds, to manipulate the enemy to behaving a certain way. Millions of taxpayer dollars go to fund these teams and they are supposed to be used to target hostile foreign groups there in Afghanistan. One of the psy- ops officers, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Holmes, kind of described to us what he says he was ordered to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL HOLMES, FMR. CTIVE DUTY NATIONAL GUARD LT. COL.: With the senators and the congressmen, it was simply how had these people voted in the past, what were their positions coming in, and what could the generals actually say to them that would get them to do what we wanted them to do, provide more money, provide more troops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Yes, another one of their psy-ops officers told us it's the first thing they are taught, never target any Americans, period. Senator John McCain, Carl Levin, Jack Reed, Joe Lieberman, these are some of the names mentioned as possible targets of these psy-ops profiles.
HOLMES: But, Chris, some of the names you just mentioned -- aren't they big backers of the military and the effort in Afghanistan?
LAWRENCE: Yes, great point, you know, which makes this a little strange in that Senator Carl Levin had to put out a statement saying, basically, look, nobody had to convince me to try to fund Afghan training or to send more trainers. I was out there to trying to convince other people to do that.
And, you know, and Senator Jack Reed told us yesterday, you know, he expects the military to do a little bit of spin doctoring on some of these trips.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JACK REED (D), RHODE ISLAND: My first reaction was, you know, trying to think back over the course of the multiple trips I've made to Afghanistan and nothing stuck out unusually. I mean, most of these are very straightforward briefings. You understand that the briefer, or the officer in charge, has a point of view he -- or she is an advocate for a position. You go in there with the notion of, you got to be somewhat skeptical.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Now, a spokesman says Lieutenant General Caldwell denies these accusations, and a U.S. official tells CNN that Caldwell basically thinks these accusations are not true and he is not going to step down. It was just a week ago when Defense Secretary Robert Gates was on Capitol Hill praising General Caldwell, describing how, a year ago, you know, only a third of the new Afghan forces, the recruits could shoot straight and now thanks to Caldwell's team, they are 90 percent or qualifying as marksmen.
So, a lot going on here and General Petraeus is launching this investigation.
HOLMES: All right. Chris Lawrence for us this morning -- Chris, good to see you as always. Thanks so much.
LAWRENCE: Yes.
HOLMES: Kiran?
CHETRY: Shocking thought that kids are just too hungry to learn in schools. Not in other parts of the world but right here in the U.S., many, many students going hungry. We are going to be speaking with the founder of an organization trying to end this and some teachers who describe what it's like in their classrooms -- some solutions, hopefully, next.
Also, will "The King's Speech" take it all? The Oscars are this weekend. We have some prediction and some picks coming up a little later this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Eighteen minutes past of the hour right now.
It's hard to learn when you're biggest concern is an empty stomach. Startling new study, 86 percent of teachers say that many of their kids are coming to school hungry. 65 percent say that most kids rely on school meals as their primary source of nutrition.
Joining me now is Bill Shore. He's the founder and executive director of Share Our Strength. It's a national nonprofit dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America. Stacey Frakes is a former teacher, now an instructional coach at Greenville Elementary School in Madison, Florida. Thanks to both of you for being with us this morning.
BILL SHORE, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SHARE OUR STRENGTH: Thank you.
STACEY FRAKES, INSTRUCTIONAL TEACHER AT GREENVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN MADISON, FLORID: Good morning.
CHETRY: Bill, the stats that I listed of just a moment ago were part of a study that your group conducted, and you found that the problem is actually getting worse when it comes to hunger in schools. Why is that?
SHORE: That's right. Well, probably not surprising, given the recession and the level of unemployment that we have in this country, but one of the things that I think the survey illustrates is that hunger is not only a child health problem and a poverty problem. It's an education issue.
We're asking our teachers to do an awful lot with our kids, and our teachers telling us that one of the issues interfering with their ability to educate kids in the classroom is hunger, and they see a very strong link between kids who have breakfast and their academic performance.
CHETRY: And Stacy, you say that at times, you would actually keep food in the classroom to give to the kids. How often did you find when you were teaching day in and day out that you had to feed your children?
FRAKES: At least once a week. Sometimes, twice a week. Students would come in and they would tell me they were hungry or they would be upset and when you would inquire what was going on, they were hungry.
CHETRY: He also said in the study, Stacey, which is shocking that teachers were spending, even though, their own money, sometimes, $25 a week as their budgets are shrinking as well trying to bring in food to be able to feed their students.
FRAKES: Not only do we bring -- spend our own money to bring in food, but we also -- teachers all over the country are putting money into kids' lunch accounts so that they can have their two good meals a day, their breakfast and their lunch.
CHETRY: You know, Bill, when you took a look at the survey, teachers ranked the biggest problems that they face in the classroom, discipline was number one, but behind discipline was the student hunger as well as a need for school supplies. I mean, how big of an impact does this have on students' performance when there is not adequate supplies and there's not adequate food for the kids?
SHORE: Well, teachers will tell you that there's a huge impact on academic performance and behavior in the classroom, but they will also tell you one of the things that we found in this survey is that this is a problem with the solution. We have answers to this problem. We have programs like school lunch, like school breakfast, but, in many cases, kids are not accessing those programs.
They're not enrolled to the degree that they're eligible, and that's something that we can change. I'm here in New Mexico this morning where we're launching a no kid hungry campaign, because in New Mexico, only 60 percent of the kids who get school lunch actually get school breakfast. That's true of many, many states around the country.
So, if we improve those percentages and governors around the country are rushing to do this, Governor O'Malley in Maryland and Governor Beebe in Arkansas, Governor McDonald in Virginia, bipartisan support for this idea of getting more kids enrolled in the programs that we know work and that have a great track record of producing healthy kids and good academic performance.
CHETRY: The United States government spent $13 billion in 2009 on both of those programs, the largest going to school lunch, but then, the school breakfast as well. How do you then get? I mean, if the money is there and you say there's bipartisan support for it, why are not more families trying to get their kids signed up?
SHORE: Well, it's a great question because as we -- as you say, we spent $13 billion, but we've also left $1 billion that's been allocated authorizing and appropriated unspent. So, how do we access those funds? One of the things that share our strength has been trying to do is promote innovative approaches, in store this (ph) around the country to get more kids involved, particularly, in breakfast.
So, instead of having breakfast in the classroom where children have to get to school early and that might be a logistical problem or there might be a stigma attached to it, we then supporting programs that provide breakfast in the classroom in the first ten minutes of the classroom or grab and go breakfasts so that kids on their way into school can grab something healthy for themselves.
So, there's a lot of innovated strategies that school districts and governors are embracing, and what we're seeing is when they do that, they literally add tens of thousands of children to these programs, and they bring these dollars into their communities so it's a win/win for everybody. That's what share our strength has been trying to do with no kid hungry.
CHETRY: Well, we hope that it works out. We know that it's a big problem. Bill Shore as well as Stacey Frakes, thanks so much to share your insights with us this morning. We appreciate hearing from both of you.
FRAKES: Thank you for having me.
SHORE: Thanks so much.
CHETRY: T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Kiran, gas prices heading to $4 a gallon possibly? Or even higher. We're checking in with our Christine Romans coming up next.
Also, Wisconsin Republicans pass a controversial bill overnight curbing union rights. Democrats crying "shame!" Well, coming up, we're talking to one of those Democratic senators who's on the run right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty-six minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
It's very important that Christine right now is not "Minding Your Business." She is watching your money! It's an important distinction to make right now.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm watching you reach into your pocket and take out your money and fill it up at the gas tank.
HOLMES: Yes.
ROMANS: And my advice to you, my professional advice today, is top it off today, because, folks, gas prices are up 6 cents overnight, and one analyst that I follow says 30 cents over the next week, it could go up. Yesterday price is $3.22. While you woke up this morning, nationwide, 3.28. Of course, it's higher in some states and lower in others.
That's the nationwide average, but a lot of folks talking about what this is going to mean to the economic recovery to your economy. Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover says that every penny increase at the pump, takes $4 million every day out of your pocket. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER BEUTEL, OIL ANALYST: A ten-cent increase is $40 million a day as long as that 10-cent increase is in place. The 30-cent increase that I expect we will see between next week and this week, there, you're talking about $120 million each and every day that it remains in place out of American consumers' pockets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Out of your pockets. So, you're feeling this. You've been telling us you've been feeling this, and, you know, you're watching the headlines out of Libya and the like, but it's not just the Middle East is a big part of the story, but, don't forget, commodity prices have been going up. Investors have been shoveling money into all kinds of commodities because interest rates are so low in this country.
So, yes, investors, that means speculators, too, and you also have growing demand from the big countries like China, Brazil, Russia and India, some of these big run middle classes. So, a lot of different things coming together here, and gas prices continuing to move higher.
Meantime, I want to tell you about something else moving higher and that are the fees for your bank accounts. A new survey from bankrate.com, brand-new this morning, shows you that have you a good option over at the credit unions, because about a two-thirds of the credit unions are not charging for checking. They are offering free checking. This is what you need to put your two feet together and walk and find a place where you're not paying to use your own money.
Bankrate.com says even more offer free checking if you have direct deposit or you get e-statements, you don't get the paper statements. So, do a little homework and try to get the free checking. It's still one of those things. You're going to find -- I don't know -- I find it in my own bank account. You're finding more and more fees charged with using your own money. This is going to continue. Bankrate.com with a fascinating study saying that (INAUDIBLE) and you can find some places where it's still free.
HOLMES: It's one of those things. We don't pay close enough attention sometime. We might be getting hit with this. I might be and don't even know it right now.
ROMANS: And it literally is money out of your pocket.
HOLMES: All right. Christine Romans watching your money this morning.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
HOLMES: Thank you so much.
Bottom of the hour here, some of the stories making headlines. Ferry carrying Americans finally leaving Libya. 275 people on board in trying to leave for the past couple of days but weather calls problems for taking them from Tripoli over to Malta. This was supposed to be about an eight-hour trip over for them. As you know, protesters have been closing in on the Libyan dictator, Moammar Gadhafi. His son is going on, and what you're seeing there is a picture of the ferry that's taking the Americans over to Malta. But again, Saif was the son of Moammar Gadhafi, went on air on short time ago, and he is saying that their plan is to live and die in Libya.
CHETRY: A college student in Texas now heading to federal court this morning, accused of buying explosive chemicals online to make bombs. Prosecutors say the Saudi national was in the U.S. on a student visa. The Justice Department says he researched possible targets including New York City and former President George W. Bush's home in Dallas, Texas.
HOLMES: Also, there is some dangerous weather out there in the forecast from the Gulf Coast all the way up to Maine. Heavy rain and tropical storm force winds. Wind is a big issue with this storm. In the northeast, snow in some places and likely cause some travel problems today.
CHETRY: And the Wisconsin assembly voted to strip state workers of their collective bargaining rights but the state -- the bill still has 20 pass through the state Senate. As you know, 14 Democratic senators remain absent. They left the state in an attempt to block the vote.
Governor Scott Walker even sent state troops to the lawmakers homes to try and see if they were there and get them to show up. The governor proposed a budget plan in the face of a $137 million budget shortfall.
HOLMES: One of those senators who has been out of the state now for a good week or so is Jon Erpenbach, a state senator who joins us on the line. Sir, we appreciate you joining us once again. You know what the assembly did there in Wisconsin. Does this change the Senate Democrats' strategy at all about when you're possibly going back to the state?
JON ERPENBACH, (D) WISCONSIN STATE SENATOR: No, it doesn't. We kind of figured this would happen. The assembly Democrats offered up a number of amendments, and the Republicans, obviously, refused to move on this and try to make what we consider to be a very bad bill better.
No, he we kind of figured this would happen. We were surprised about I think they were in session for 50 straight hours which I don't think has happened in the state before. We still remain in our position we were in yesterday in the fact the governor has a proposal that balances the budget which is what he was mostly concerned about, or that was his number one priority. Again, we're wondering why he won't take this and allow us to come back and debate the rest of the proposal.
CHETRY: Doesn't it just seem like at this point both positions have dug into their position so much. You guys were absent last week. He seems like he can't back down without looking very weak as the leader of the state. Where does this end? ERPENBACH: Well, I know he can't necessarily back down but the Senate Republicans can. I know they are certainly upset painted with the same brush as that prank phone call that the governor participated in the other day as far as possibly bringing in troublemakers to protest and so on. I know they are not happy about that at all.
And we also know that there is about six Senate Republicans who don't like the idea of removing the collective bargaining and taking away workers' rights.
But again, it does give you a very complete understanding how philosophically we are opposed on this legislation. If it passes as is, Wisconsin as we know it will change. We don't think it's going to be a change for the better. So obviously what the governor wanted all along is a balanced budget. He has it. And we're wondering why he refuses to remove the language in that goes after workers' rights.
HOLMES: Well, senator, we appreciate you giving us some time again. I know you're hunkered down there in Illinois. Tough for a lot of folks including y'all who are out of the state. You miss your family but folks in the state are suffering. We hope a resolution comes. Thank you for giving us a few minutes this morning.
ERPENBACH: All right, guys. Talk to you soon.
CHETRY: Good luck, everyone. They need it in Wisconsin. Another day again of fighting and debate on this issue.
In the meantime, Oscar time. How many movies -- I saw two of the movies.
HOLMES: I saw "True Grit" and "The King's Speech," only two. They have ten nominated. I hope you're up on your Oscar movies better than we are. But we are going to be talking Oscars this morning. That is coming up on Sunday. We will tell you everything you need to know coming up on this "American Morning." It's 33 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We do have some breaking news right now, very disturbing news from an eyewitness in Tripoli who said that he, himself, saw forces in Libya open fire with automatic weapons and artillery rounds on a crowd of people that had spontaneously gathered to rally after Friday prayers.
We are not identifying this person obviously, for his own safety as well, but he joins us on the phone right now. Thanks for being with us. What did you see today in Tripoli?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ANONYMOUS EYEWITNESS: Hi. After the Friday prayers, we went to the street and as soon as we got to the street, we were about 400 or 500 people. We were planning to walk all the way to the center of Tripoli, which is the green square, and we were about seven miles away from the center of Tripoli. We were on the west part of Tripoli. So the plan was to go straight to the center of Green Square.
We got -- as soon as we got to the main street that takes us to Tripoli. The militias were carrying weapons, and they started shooting at us randomly. We throw some rocks at them. They ran away for like a few yards back, then start shooting from far away for about 10 or 15 minutes.
After about 10, 15 minutes, the police came in -- actually more than 10 minutes, about 15 or 20 minutes. The police came in and started shooting tear gas so the crowd dispersed. And some people run away, hiding in houses next to the area where the shooting started. And some people now just went back to the mosque area.
And these people was shooting at us walking in the street trying to shoot at other people who were still in the street right now.
HOLMES: Sir, it sounds like you said there were militias and then there was also police? But they were both firing on the crowd. You said about 400 or 500 of the protesters. How many of these militias were out there? Could you even notice how many police as well? And did you notice a lot of people, maybe some of your fellow protesters, who were getting hit with some of this gunfire?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were about eight people carrying the machine guns. And the police were about -- I'm not sure exactly. About two big cars carrying a lot of police in them, so I'm guessing there are about 10 or 15.
When we tried to look out of the house, and I saw about eight people walking around with machine guns in the street. About the protests, unfortunately, on the first line, people throwing rocks at these guys and nobody --
CHETRY: Thanks so much for filling us in on this situation. I know that getting information out is difficult. I know that as you witnessed yourself being out trying to rally is proving to be dangerous and even deadly in some cases in Tripoli right now. Hopefully, you can get yourself to a safer area. Thanks so much for filling us in on that situation. We will take a quick break. We'll be right back. It's 41 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 44 minutes. They are going all night on Sunday. Oscar buzz is building for the 83rd annual Academy Awards. We have picks for you. Joining us is David Edelstein, chief film critic at "New York" magazine, welcome. And also Jessica Cohen, she is the editor in chief of Jezebel.com. You are going to be looking at not only the films but the outfits on the red carpet. Great to see both of you this morning.
And of course we have T.J. over here who is teeing up every category and letting us know on the big screen, on the magic wall.
HOLMES: Let's start with best actor here. I don't know how many of these movies. Is there an obvious winner? Should we even be talking about this? Colin Firth is going to win this and move on and save some time on TV right now.
JESSICA COHEN, JEZEBEL.COM: No question.
CHETRY: So it is his to lose. Colin Firth for "The King's Speech," a lot of people loved his performance and thought it was a once in a lifetime performance.
DAVID EDELSTEIN, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: He has already won everything. Anybody who can stop in midsentence and that look of existential terror, everybody in showbiz can relate to that. And they love him. He's a lock. He's a lock.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: So if he's to lose --
JESSICA COHEN, EDITOR IN CHIEF, JESSIBEL.COM: Yes.
CHETRY: Colin Firth for "The King Speech". A lot of people loved his performance and thought it was a once in a lifetime performance.
DAVID EDELSTEIN, CHIEF FILM CRITIC, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: He's already won, he's won everything. Look, I mean, anybody who can stem in mid-sentence, stop in mid-sentence and that look of existential terror, everybody in showbiz can relate to that. And they love him. And he's going to --
COHEN: Yes.
(CROSS TALK)
EDELSTEIN: He's a lock. He's a lock.
CHETRY: So where does that leave poor Jessie Eisenberg, where does that leave Jeff Bridges?
COHEN: Jessie Eisenberg I think is the most troubling or confusing nominee of them all. I just -- I think he is very wooden and I suppose in a way he's portraying Mark Zuckerberg very accurately but I think that's the character he is always playing anyhow.
EDELSTEIN: He's been great in other movies --
(CROSS TALK)
CHETRY: Thank you for saying that. Because I -- I don't get "The Social Network". And everybody -- I know it's a nice movie but --
COHEN: Right.
EDELSTEIN: Me neither, I like the fun but game-changer, and assessment of the decade like no other?
COHEN: Yes.
CHETRY: Maybe we're just old. All right --
EDELSTEIN: That's right and that's the key. We'll talk about that later.
CHETRY: All right, let's get to the best actress category T.J.
T.J. Holmes, cnn anchor: Ok, we continue with these no-brainers for whatever reason here. But clearly, right? This is -- this Natalie Portman's.
COHEN: Absolutely. Hollywood loves it when you lose weight.
CHETRY: They do. They talk about Christian Bale in a second as well.
COHEN: It was a physical transformation.
EDELSTEIN: Well, it's my least favorite of the five nominated performances but you can always see the cost to the actress in taking the role and the academy loves it when you can see the acting. When you can see the acting, you get an award, you know how she suffered, you know how she trained, you know how she starved.
You know, that's acting. It's not really acting. A writer I know calls it morphing but -- but for our purposes today, especially when we get to Christian Bale, it's acting.
COHEN: Yes, it's the same thing. But personally, I would love to see Annette Bening win.
(CROSS TALK)
EDELSTEIN: Me too.
COHEN: I think she's overdue and it's such a good performance. Hollywood tends not to reward these comedic roles. But I think she was a standout and I think in a way she was better than Natalie Portman.
EDELSTEIN: She's great in everything.
CHETRY: All right.
EDELSTEIN: Please win, please.
COHEN: She -- that would be a career honor.
EDELSTEIN: Yes.
CHETRY: Great. Well, let's get to best supporting --
(CROSS TALK) HOLMES: What is that over there? Please? What was that please --
(CROSS TALK)
CHETRY: Best supporting actor. I know.
HOLMES: What was that please about over there?
CHETRY: They -- they just -- they are really in favor of Bening but they don't think she is going to get it.
All right, we're talking about Christian Bale in "The Fighter" T.J., again, he lost a lot of weight for the role.
COHEN: He did.
HOLMES: Well, again, we are all talking about his transformation but here at CNN AMERICAN MORNING we are -- we're kind of partial to Mark Ruffalo. He's a friend of the show here. So that's where we're going with.
EDELSTEIN: I love him. I love him.
CHETRY: He is.
COHEN: Charming, very charming.
EDELSTEIN: He is so charming. He's delightful and he's back on the map again. I love John Hawks, on "Winter's Bone", "Not a Prayer" but to get the award. But again, in Christian Bale, you can see the acting --
(CROSS TALK)
COHEN: Right.
EDELSTEIN: -- you can see the starvation. The accent, he pulls off a -- a Massachusetts accent which is normally the quicksand of acting.
CHETRY: It's very difficult.
EDELSTEIN: And I think it's a lock.
(CROSS TALK)
COHEN: He's uncomfortable to watch.
CHETRY: I know and also --
COHEN: And that means it's good.
CHETRY: And also when you are able to imitate somebody so perfectly --
COHEN: Yes.
CHETRY: I mean, he's playing a real character --
(CROSS TALK)
COHEN: Right.
CHETRY: -- and when you saw the guy at the end of the film --
COHEN: At the end.
CHETRY: -- he seems, I mean, he hit it.
COHEN: Spot on. Yes.
CHETRY: All right, let's go to best supporting actress. What are we -- what are we looking at in this category T.J.
HOLMES: And -- and did you say the quicksand of accents? What does that mean?
EDELSTEIN: That means that when you start to park the car you know, you sound like an idiot just like I did.
HOLMES: No, you sounded great. That was perfect. But the best actress category. Is this the one that's up in the air, the -- the young lady from "True Grit" she was fantastic. This is one of the few movies -- movies I did see, quite frankly. But she was outstanding, does she have a chance?
EDELSTEIN: No.
COHEN: I think no.
And honestly, she was a lead actress and I don't think anyone disagrees on that and this is her nod to give her supporting. Too young to be nominated for a lead but she's also too young to win.
CHETRY: Who else do you like?
EDELSTEIN: Melissa Leo do you think?
COHEN: Melissa Leo. Absolutely.
EDELSTEIN: You know, Melissa Leo again, you can see the acting. Oh you skank, you know, the big beach blond hair and the great accent --
COHEN: Unrecognizable.
EDELSTEIN: But yes, you know, I mean, she's like -- and everybody loves her. She's great singer too. She's great, she's been around. Yes.
HOLMES: Is she the one that's caused a little stir because she took out her own ads or something? COHEN: Yes she did. She did.
(CROSS TALK)
HOLMES: Ok, yes. Explain to people how this works. People don't understand. You have to campaign.
CHETRY: There's a big campaign, right.
COHEN: Well, normally the campaign is conducted by the studio. And the studio oversees them, the producers oversee that but Melissa Leo said she was having a hard time booking shows and magazine covers because there's an ageism issue in the media and Hollywood so she took her own money and took out these ads, these (INAUDIBLE) ads and they just said consider.
And --
EDELSTEIN: Good for her.
COHEN: Yes, I --
EDELSTEIN: Good for her.
COHEN: I say yes, absolutely.
EDELSTEIN: Absolutely.
CHETRY: That's amazing. Well, let's get to best picture here so we don't lose it here.
HOLMES: Not a bad idea though. You go through Times Square and see T.J.'s face up there and a billboard I'm going to pay for myself.
Best picture. Only saw two of these. Now, is there a clear front-runner here?
EDELSTEIN: I think it's -- I think it's the "The King's Speech". I think it's a lock. Here's why. I think Harvey Weinstein, the executive behind it is working the old (INAUDIBLE). He's trying to stir up the anti-Internets -- the dang Internets thing, you know. This movie about unpleasant people and this young hung billionaire. You know, you have to vote for this good old-fashioned inspirational movie about someone, about an uptight, inattentive wasp (ph) who gets therapy and saves his country.
COHEN: And it could be a comeback story, really, for the Weinstein company which has not done well in recent years and in 2009 --
EDELSTEIN: Well, nobody wants to see that. That's the reason why people would vote against it.
CHETRY: Everybody loved "Toy Story 3"; I mean --
EDELSTEIN: Me, too. CHETRY: But why did they put it in this category? Because you know the academy's never going to vote for a cartoon for best picture.
EDELSTEIN: It's their opinion.
COHEN: You know, this time you have to -- they are reaching, honestly.
(CROSSTALK)
EDELSTEIN: They are trying to appeal to as many constituencies as possible, even though, the bottom five have no prayer.
CHETRY: All right. So if not "The King's Speech", is it then "The Social Network"?
(CROSSTALK)
EDELSTEIN: I hear "The Fighter" oddly, oddly, oddly. Maybe, maybe a comeback? I don't know. "Social Network" might be a little cold for the academy although they did honor "No Country for Old Men".
COHEN: Well, it is zeitgeisty.
EDELSTEIN: It is zeitgeisty. It is.
COHEN: I think that goes a long way.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Who are these people? One is too tough? One is too funny. Who are the people that they are picking these movies? How does this work?
EDELSTEIN: I love "Winter's Bone" and I'm so darned happy that it was nominated and I'm happy for everybody involved in, you know, that justifies the ten for me.
CHETRY: Well, see what happens. I heard it was a tough movie to watch. It was sad.
(CROSSTALK)
EDELSTEIN: Very uplifting. Happiest movie about meth addicts you've ever seen. Now, it's actually much, much more uplifting than that once you get to the end. It's a long haul.
COHEN: Very painful.
CHETRY: Well, thanks to both of you for joining us and we'll see you back here on Monday, Jessica Cohen and David Edelstein.
EDELSTEIN: Sure. Where do you like your James Franco and Anne Hathaway.
CHETRY: Yes, I can't wait. I can't wait to see how many -- we're going to remember what you picked.
EDELSTEIN: Thank you.
CHETRY: By the way, Dave will be live-blogging during the Oscars telecast at vulture.com. Jessica's going to have up to the minute info on Oscar fashions and the results at jessibel.com. So we will be checking out your Web sites as well.
51 minutes past the hour. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back to CNN AMERICAN MORNING. you're looking at a live shot of Chicago right along Michigan Avenue. The sun is shining brightly. You see the river there. The temperatures along that river in downtown Chicago, going to 32 degrees by this afternoon.
Now, in Chicago the snow is moving to the east; it's going to keep on heading out towards parts of the northeast where in Buffalo to Cleveland, back into Burlington, Vermont and Boston all with a possibility of snowfall.
In New York, though, the story is going to be mainly rainfall but then coupled with some strong wind gusts and winds possibly topping 55 miles per hour. These winds will also be experienced in places like Philadelphia, Washington and perhaps as far south as Virginia Beach.
Out to the west the situation is going to be swell for the most part. (INAUDIBLE) in the southeast mainly rain from Macon over to Savannah. Savannah, no rain for you just yet but that is on the way. But out in the west again rain for the San Joaquin Valley and possibly a little bit of that freezing precipitation on San Francisco; first time it's happened in decades. And also some snow up to a foot possible into the Sierra Nevada.
That's a quick snapshot on your forecast. We've got more coming up. You're watching CNN AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A church leader once believed AIDS was a punishment from God until she became HIV positive.
CHETRY: And what she did next is why she is this week's CNN Hero.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICIA SAWO, CHURCH LEADER: Back in 1990s I believed that AIDS was a punishment from God. When I personally tested HIV positive, it was like, oh, my God, how could this happen to me?
I fasted and prayed for years hoping that I would be healed. When I went public, I lost my job. My husband lost his job. The landlord wanted us out of his house. The stigma was terrible -- I realized that I had been wrong.
My name is Patricia Sawo. My mission is to change people's attitude about HIV.
All that you need is accurate, correct information.
As church leaders we need to shape out the people; HIV, is not a moral issue, it is a viral. I do a lot of counseling. When I'm helping somebody else, who is HIV positive, I want them to know that you can rise above this.
The 48 children at the center, most of them saw their parents dying of AIDS. My HIV state brings some kind of a bond.
To provide that motherly love and all of their basic needs. HIV is making me a better person. We want to be there for people so if we have it, we share it out. It's what I want to do, because it's what I'm meant to do. God has his own ways of healing, so for me, I'm healed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. And that's going to do it for us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We appreciate you being with us this week. And hope you have a good weekend.
CHETRY: In the meantime, the news continues. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now. Hi, Kyra.
