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CNN Sunday Morning

Wisconsin Budget Battle; Escape from Libya

Aired February 27, 2011 - 08:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

It is a stalemate in Madison. About 70,000 protesters hit the streets in the Wisconsin capitol. Their anger aimed at efforts to strip state workers of collective bargaining rights.

And so far, about 100,000 foreigners have fled Libya as the United Nations takes action against Colonel Moammar Gadhafi.

Plus, 11 hours and counting, the curtain goes up, the stars shine bright and Oscars' golden statues take center stage. We have a sneak peek at Hollywood's big night.

From CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Randi Kaye. Glad you're with us.

We start in Wisconsin this morning where the clock is ticking on the state's budget battle. Democratic state senators are staying away, delaying a vote on a drastic set of cuts pushed ahead by Governor Scott Walker. Walker says a deal has to be done by Tuesday to avoid mass layoffs of public employees.

The two-week old battle has brought out a steady stream of protesters, union members and supporters of organized labor have been out in force to voice their opposition to Walker's bill.

CNN's Ted Rowlands has more now from Madison.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, the impasse continues here in Madison. People continue to come down to the state capitol here. On Saturday, the Madison Police Department estimated that 70,000-plus people came to the capitol despite the snow and the cold weather.

Meanwhile, Governor Walker continues his firm stance that he will not budge in terms of negotiating with those 14 Democratic senators who continue to hide out in Illinois.

The protests on Saturday were mainly made up of union backers from the state of Wisconsin, but we did meet some people from out of state as well, some folks from Los Angeles and this group of nurses from Minnesota.

JEAN ROSS, PROTESTER: What they're doing here is trying to kill unions, period. There is no reason for what's going on to be going on. They created a fiscal crisis and then blamed the victims. Well, we're all victims here.

LAURIE BAHR, NURSE FROM MINNESOTA: We have to stick together. We all work hard every single day for what we do for the people that we care for and the jobs that we do. And what Walker is doing is very unjust and wrong.

ROWLANDS: One of three things can happen here: either one or more of those 14 Democratic senators can come back here and establish a quorum. The governor could negotiate and give in, if you will, a little bit on the collective bargaining part of his bill or three senators -- Republican senators could switch sides. Democrats say that is their strategy as this game of political chicken continues -- Randi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Ted Rowlands for us in Madison, Wisconsin.

Across the country, people came out to show support for those workers in Wisconsin.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

KAYE: This is what it looked and sounded like in Denver. Rallies were organized in all 50 states to support public employees and others in Wisconsin who could be affected by the governor's cost- cutting budget proposal.

In Olympia, Washington, a couple thousand people came out to support workers. But there was also a separate demonstration there where others chanted in favor of Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker.

And this was the scene in Boston -- union members and pro-union supporters filled the statehouse.

The events across the country were billed as a national day of action. Coming up in just a few minutes, I'll be joined by the head of one of the largest teachers' unions to talk about proposed cuts around the country.

Now, to Libya and that mass exodus. Just this morning, the United Nations high commissioner on refugees said that around 100,000 people fled Libya on foot and that's just in the past week. We've also seen several countries ferrying citizens out of Libya on boats and planes.

And as you see from these pictures from Tripoli, there are many more people camped out around the airport, waiting for their chance to flee.

The United Nations approved sweeping new sanctions aimed right at Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The resolution includes a travel ban on Gadhafi and his four sons, as well as several top government ministers t. The assets of Gadhafi and his sons were also frozen. The streets of Tripoli are relatively quiet this morning, but that's not the case everywhere. A short time ago, I talked to our Nic Robertson who is in the coastal city of Zawiya, that's around 35 miles west of Tripoli.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Once we got into the center of town of Zawiya, there was a large demonstration, a large anti-Gadhafi demonstration, people saying Gadhafi is a bloodsucker, he should leave. They are flying the old flag of Libya which we have seen in the east of the country.

So, this is the opposition apparently taking control of the center of Zawiya. They have taken over army tanks, army anti-aircraft guns. There are people on rooftops with weapons, people on the crowd with weapons.

We talked to soldiers who said they have changed sides. They're now on the anti-government side. They say that they are fearful of a government crackdown.

What is slightly strange about this scenario is that government officials brought us into this city. They didn't come into the demonstration, but the government officials who have been driving us around while we've been here have brought us these anti-government demonstrations. And it does seem to be a very genuine anti-government demonstration, very real sentiment expressed and people demanding that they get more weapons to defend themselves.

KAYE: So, you don't see clashes now. I mean, we have seen for days now -- we have heard the reports and you have been there and actually see the video of the protesters that have been fired on. But that's not happening at this hour.

ROBERTSON: No. I would best describe what we are seeing as an uneasy stand-off. There's a traffic intersection with just got barricades across it, barricades barricading the route we came from out of town and there are men on that roundabout, on that intersection. And when we crossed over, they greeted us.

And as we walked down the street, another 200 or 300 yards, we came upon the large anti-government demonstration.

So, there is a front line of sorts, if you will. I talked to a former Libyan special forces soldier who told me he'd left and gone over to the anti-government side -- left the government forces and gone to anti-government side. And he said, yes, this is sort of a front line, if you will. It's the area that they feel safe that they feel that they control at the moment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And we should point out that the U.S. State Department has said just yesterday, in fact, that they don't believe there are large pockets of Americans still in Libya trying to flee. Meanwhile, we are just hours away from Hollywood's biggest night of the year. They are rolling out the red carpet for tonight's Academy Awards and the Oscars telecast is said to be getting a makeover.

Plus, if you like fireworks, well, you're going to like this -- a historic public housing project in Atlanta goes boom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

We want you to take a look at this. We've been watching and waiting for this implosion all morning and there we have it. That building used to be the Roosevelt House near downtown Atlanta. Oh, there she goes.

The building was a former public housing project, one of the last in Atlanta to come down. There are apparently 150 pounds of explosives inside the building. It came just down about a half hour or so ago.

There is even a Facebook page. They wanted big crowds out there. I guess, they got about 1,000 people to try and to witness this implosion.

And we witnessed it and we want to bring it to you. We even have a shot of what it looks like there now that it's completely on the ground. It's a pretty cool stuff. We like to watch implosions here on CNN for some reason. I don't know, we'll get a kick out of them.

Meanwhile, it is nine minutes past the hour. We also get a kick out of Reynolds Wolf who's also here this morning.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: My gosh, that was a great sight to see.

You know, there are few better ways to start a morning than a cup of coffee, coffee and a nice bagel and a sweet implosion. At some point, I like the smells the implosion this morning.

KAYE: Serve it up.

WOLF: It smells like implosion and that's what we had.

This morning, what we're smelling -- you know, some people say they can smell rain. We're certainly smelling that in parts of the four corners. Take a look of what we've got, a combination of rain in parts of the valleys.

Meanwhile, in some places, you're even going to see a little bit of snow in the highest elevations, especially right near Dragoon Pass along I-10. It's coming down, that snowfall, what we're going to see is the area of low pressure that's going to be over parts of the four corners, pulling its way to the east. As it does so, it's going to make a bit of a transformation, the type of weather phenomenon we're going to be seeing, going from a snow and rain-maker to a potentially a severe weather maker.

That area of low pressure pulling its way a bit more to the east and as it interacts with that moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, the combine with your daytime heating, it's going to make for a very unstable air mass over parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, into Kentucky, even parts of Tennessee and even into southern Illinois. Paducah, be prepared. It's going to be kid rough there possibly into the late afternoon, evening and into tomorrow morning. Little Rock in the epicenter of that possibility of severe weather. So, just keep that in mind.

Also, along the Eastern Seaboard, we're seeing some snowfall in parts of the Northeast. However, when you get back down to places like Virginia, it is fairly nice day for you.

And speaking of Virginia, let's talk a little bit about something different. Mainly in Blacksburg, Virginia, we're going to talk a little bit about round ball, some hoops. Let's get right to it and show you the video of an incredible game that took place last night between Virginia Tech Hokies and the Duke Blue Devils. It was an amazing game.

Hokies defeated the Blue Duke Devils -- Duke Blue Devils, easy for me to say. Goodness gracious. The Hokies sure can play, 15-4 run in four and a half minutes. Believe it or not, Virginia Tech was down by six at one point. They fought back to win.

And this has been a trend over the last couple of weeks. You've had three number one teams that have actually dropped. We're talking about Duke, Ohio State and there's some team from Kansas. I think the Jayhawks. I think our producer Eddie Williams tends to know about that team a little bit. I think they're pretty good.

But an amazing run. And what they're hoping, Randi, is that this one will actually catapult them into the big dance. They have been a bubble team in the last couple of years and they hope this is going to get them into the tournament and it might. But what a scene.

Another scene that something that didn't play take place during the night, but actually during the mid-morning hours, then overnight and then the next day. We're talking about Milwaukee where these Brewer fans went out and braved just the awful conditions. They really showed their love for the team by braving these freezing conditions.

And you know what? They are trying to get tickets for the new season coming up. I know it's wintertime, but these guys were all thinking about the boys of summer.

Do you know what's amazing about that? The Brewers, although a pretty good team, they're not the Yankees, they're not the Red Sox, they're not the Dodgers.

KAYE: No.

WOLF: They don't have the huge following that you would think like even the Cubs, but still, the dedication of fans that came out was really amazing -- thousands of them, in fact.

KAYE: You would sleep outside in the freezing cold for something, maybe not a Brewers ticket.

WOLF: Absolutely. Maybe not that, but there are certainly some things, sure.

KAYE: Rock concert, NASCAR.

WOLF: "Sesame Street" on ice. Yes, I'm there. I'll do all that stuff.

KAYE: Been there, done that.

WOLF: You bet you.

KAYE: All right, Reynolds, thanks.

WOLF: You bet.

KAYE: Teachers are taking sides in a budget battle. The fight is in Wisconsin but it's having an impact around the country. We'll have a closer look at the history as the head of one national teachers union joins us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Tensions are running high in Wisconsin as workers' rights take center stage in a budget battle that's getting a lot of attention across the nation.

Governor Scott Walker says the state just can't afford union bargaining rights for public employees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: Collective bargaining has a cost. It has a cost not only in terms of health care and pension contributions. It has a cost overall in terms of how our governments operate at the local level. And we've got to change that relationship so that we can preserve jobs and ultimately, most importantly, so that the corrections we make for this budget aren't one-time fixes or short-term fixes but the sort of long-term commitment we make to the future so that our children don't face the same dire consequences we are facing today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: That fight is bringing out strong opinions on the street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To think that a governor in seven weeks could inspire this kind of turnout against him is really incredible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reality is there is a middle ground nobody's hearing about -- the middle ground being that there can be changes to the collective bargaining laws without stripping all the rights away from the unions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: We wanted to take a closer look at the moving parts in the story, so we decided to bring in someone who deals with this issue all the time.

Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers, and she joins us on the phone from Long Island, New York.

Good morning, Randi.

RANDI WEINGARTEN, PRES., AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS (via telephone): Good morning, Randi.

KAYE: Let me ask you about this: you have fought for teachers to be treated with respect and dignity. And looking at what's happening now around the country as you watch all this, especially the layoffs of all the teachers in the Providence, Rhode Island School District, which has, what, a $40 million deficit -- what concerns you most for teachers?

WEINGARTEN: Well, let me -- let me say, what concerns me most for teachers is also what concerns me most for kids. Two things: I actually lived through -- I grew up in Rockland County, so I was not in the school district at that time, but I lived through the fiscal crisis in New York City and watched a generation of kids really lose out hugely and the school system really need about 20 years to come back after the '70s fiscal crisis.

So, this is the time. And you see -- parents say this as well -- that we have to maintain investment in schools, even given the deficit situations around the country.

KAYE: Do you feel like teachers are being targeted?

WEINGARTEN: Teachers are totally being targeted. And look what's happening in terms of Scott Walker. I mean, look, the two years -- and it doesn't get a lot of credit -- but two years of the stimulus package from the federal government actually held this stuff off at bay. And, really, we could really focus on teaching and learning classes.

But take what Scott Walker say as opposed to some of the other governors who have had to deal with this for the last couple of years. Walker is saying it's a budget crisis when it isn't a budget crisis. The workers have already said publicly, because he refuses to meet with them, that they would take the cuts to take-home pay that he has asked for here. So, this is a ruse to shift power to his friends because at the same time, what he said was that he wanted to give tax breaks to the friends who put him in power.

KAYE: Well, he's also saying that the layoffs could happen as early as Tuesday this week because they don't have a deal yet. Those Democratic senators have not come back. So, what would you like to say to the governor -- Governor Walker -- if you had a chance to talk to him?

WEINGARTEN: Because he doesn't want to talk, Randi. He doesn't want to talk.

KAYE: Well, he's asking for the Democratic senators to come home.

WEINGARTEN: Except that this is the kind of talk that he has to do with the workers because it's their contract relationship. So, ultimately, he doesn't want to do the things that Wisconsin needs to put Wisconsin back on track. And you can see that by the thousands of people who are out in the streets.

So, he has tried to shift the agenda to be a power agenda rather than said we understand what's going on in Wisconsin, even though you made the budget crisis worse by creating tax breaks, we understand and we will do our fair share. Instead what he's doing is he's saying, I'm just taking away your voice at work -- which, in the long term, is ridiculous because collective bargaining is the way you increase quality.

So, if I had to say something to the governor, I'd say, why not focus on creating jobs in Wisconsin and let us focus with you on the quality of the schools in Wisconsin?

KAYE: Well, I'm sure he would -- he would have a lot to say to that, probably that he's trying to save jobs and focus on jobs as well. But we do appreciate your time.

Randi Weingarten --

WEINGARTEN: Thanks.

KAYE: -- joining us this morning.

It's an incredible story from the earthquake in New Zealand. Find out how a text message helped a groom find his bride-to-be trapped in a collapsed building.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

Love is in the air in today's "Morning Passport" with Nadia Bilchik.

Life goes on even in New Zealand after that disaster there. It's such an amazing story.

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN PRODUCER: This is a beautiful story. Emma Howard and Chris Greenslade got married on Friday. But just 72 hours before that, she was trapped in the rubble. Her building had collapsed. She text-messaged her fiance saying, believe it or not, I'm all right. I am trapped. KAYE: I have chills just listening to you telling this.

BILCHIK: He eventually gets to the site. He comes there. The entire building is collapsed. He says this is the worst thing I have ever seen. I kept texting her and saying, don't worry, I'm here with your parents. We are trying to search for you.

He found other people on the way. She was trapped between two buildings, but he actually describes the metal, and the glass and the horrific scene when he gets there. He finally finds her. She says that she thought, I'm supposed to get married in three days but I'm not going to because -- she wasn't sure she would survive.

KAYE: It's amazing that he was able to even just find her in all that rubble in that building -- I mean, to actually pinpoint where she was.

BILCHIK: The glory of text messaging and modern technology. But a very happy day, but bittersweet, Randi, because they got married just meters literally from the school hall that collapsed where over 200 people are missing. And they say 113 people are dead, 238 missing. So, it's really a bittersweet day but glorious for them that they managed to find each other in a wonderful moment.

Now, we are going to Tunisia where the French ambassador to Tunisia has been found on a social website. Now, the name of the social website is wonderful. It's called Buddies from Before. In French, that is Copains d'avant.

You know, Facebook, they talk about Facebook being a site for married people to date because you hook up with people from your past.

KAYE: Right.

BILCHIK: Well, he has been seeing this wonderful French ambassador to Tunisia, Boris Boillon, on the Web site but he's in his underwear with his magnificent torso being bared and it's getting a lot of criticism.

KAYE: That's Facebook for you.

BILCHIK: Facebook for you. But he must spend hours in the gym, Boris Boillon, the Tunisian ambassador to France --

KAYE: Oh, boy.

BILCHIK: -- French ambassador to Tunisia.

KAYE: To Tunisia. Yes.

I like the first story better, the bride and groom in New Zealand. All right. Nadia, thank you. Good to see you.

A high school wrestler refuses to wrestle a girl. His decision cost him a tournament and it has students around the country grappling with the issue. We'll tell you what they're saying. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Twenty-six minutes past the hour.

A high school boy refuses to compete against a girl at a recent wrestling tournament in Iowa. The decision -- his alone. But the story has people around the country wrestling with the potential consequences.

CNN's Student News anchor Carl Azuz goes farther on the story.

And I guess this decision really costs him the tournament in fact.

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: It could have. What Joel Northrup did was rather wrestle Cassy Herkelman, he defaulted to her. And that meant that she won that match and that the highest place he could have gotten at this tournament was third. Both of them were later eliminated from the match.

But if you listen to what Joel had to say about his decision, you'll hear it wasn't out of cowardice that he decided not to wrestle Cassy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL NORTHRUP, DEFENDS DECISION NOT TO WRESTLE GIRL: Well, wrestling is a combat sport and at times it gets violent. And you get put in moves and holds that are compromising. And I just don't believe it's right that a boy and a girl should, in this manner, wrestle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: He was elaborating in terms of his religious beliefs that he said prevented him from wanting to face off against Cassy. If you listen to what Cassy had to say, though, it's clear she was disappointed in his decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASSY HERKELMAN, WANTS EQUALITY ON THE WRESTLING MAT: I feel like just because I'm a girl wrestler, I don't -- I feel like people should treat me the same way like the fact that I'm doing the same sport as them. I'm doing the same thing as them. I kind of, you know, don't feel there should be much difference there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: So, they pretty much have sort of this debate, this back and forth between the two of them. A lot of students saying Cassy did work hard to get to this level.

KAYE: What are other students saying about it?

AZUZ: If you look, we asked our audience at CNNStudentNews.com, do you agree with his decision? And 67 percent of them said, yes, they did agree that he made the right decision based on his religious beliefs.

There was contingent that said, you enter a wrestling tournament to wrestle. So, whether male or female, he should have faced off against Cassy.

But I want to leave you with this comment from Richard who said he thinks Joel did the right thing. He thinks that it takes a real man not to hit a girl and to back down from the chance to hit a girl despite the fact that he might get mocked and ridiculed and he certainly was getting some of that, Randi.

KAYE: All right. Carl Azuz with the story, thank you very much.

AZUZ: Thanks very much. I appreciate it.

KAYE: The Oscars are getting a facelift. No, the statue is not changing, but the show is. We'll tell you how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. I'm glad you're spending part of your morning with us. I'm Randi Kaye and it's just about half past the hour.

Checking "Top Stories" now: Protests continue in Wisconsin in that state's budget battle. At issue, collective bargaining rights for public employees. The controversy has impacted the whole country, inspiring reaction from across the nation.

People in Chile gathered this morning to honor the victims of the country's deadly earthquake one year ago today; 521 people died in that quake. Thousands of others were left homeless. Dozens are still considered missing. Rebuilding efforts are apparently more than halfway completed.

About 100,000 people have fled Libya in just one week, according to the United Nations. Late last night the U.N. Security Council approved sweeping sanctions and an International Criminal Court Investigation aimed at Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi. That follows the freezing of Gadhafi and his son's assets and a statement from President Obama that it's time for Gadhafi to step down.

Well, it is Oscar night tonight and CNN's Brooke Anderson has a look at what we can expect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, HLN'S CO-HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": It is the 83rd annual academy awards so it has been around a long time. But Oscar producers are working feverishly trying to make this year's show look young and fresh.

And to do that they have hired really youthful hosts: 28-year-old Anne Hathaway and 32-year-old James Franco. They are promising a lot of singing, dancing, tons of comedy but they have said if you're looking for mean-spirited jokes a la Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes they have said they are not your hosts.

Ok, another effort to mix things up and make things look fresh is that it's going to be a virtual set. The stage is going to utilize a lot of projection screens come Sunday night.

And also, no more long movie montages. Short film clips, yes; no more long movie montages. They want to give the show a brisker, livelier pace.

Ok, let's talk about some of the nominees who probably should be preparing acceptance speeches right about now. Colin Firth seems to be a lock to win best actor for his stand-out role in "The King's Speech". Look for "King's Speech" to probably win best picture as well. "The Social Network" could sneak in and take that one away. A lot of prognosticators think that is unlikely, though.

Though, Geoffrey Rush had a tremendous performance in "The King's Speech" as well but in his category supporting actor it seems to be a no-brainer for Christian Bale. He really embraced that drug-addled fighter that he played in "The Fighter". He played a boxer and he really embraced that role.

It was a physical transformation which Oscar voters love. He dropped a lot of weight for that role. Same could be said for his co- star Melissa Leo, who played his mother, she's up for best supporting actress. She was unrecognizable, so she's a front-runner in her category.

Natalie Portman, another transformative role for her, really standout performance in the "Black Swan". She lost a lot of weight to play that competitive ballerina. Look for her to win best actress.

Lots of star power not only among the nominees but the presenters as well. I'm talking Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock and Halle Berry will be here. They don't call it Hollywood's biggest night for nothing.

Reporting from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California, the home of the academy awards, I'm Brooke Anderson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And you can join "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" Brooke Anderson and A.J. Hammer for live red carpet access at the Oscar's "ROAD TO GOLD" airs tonight at 7:00 Eastern on CNN.

And then, at 11:00 Eastern if you just haven't had enough, yet the most compelling moments from the academy awards show on our sister network HLN.

Hollywood's best films aren't the only ones being recognized this weekend. The Razzie Awards are taking note of the year's worst films. Golden Raspberries were handed out last night. Here's the quick look at the winners or maybe we should call them, losers. Worst actor, Ashton Kutcher for both "Killers" and "Valentine's Day"; worst actress, all four of the ladies from "Sex and the City" -- wow; the worst movie of 2010 went to "The Last Airbender." It also picked up worst director, worst screenplay, worst supporting actor and a new category worst eye gouging misuse of 3D. You might want to skip that one if you haven't seen it already.

Serious road kill closed California's Interstate 5 yesterday. And whether the guy you're about to see, you know that guy right there, whether he realizes it or not. He is one lucky goat. Some 30 to 40 other members of his herd weren't so lucky when they ran onto the freeway and they were hit.

Police report a lot of the vehicles involved and then shut down both directions of traffic because of all of those accidents. That guy's a lucky one.

Ahead -- a country in turmoil. After weeks of protest, Libya is divided, facing U.N. sanctions and the possibility of civil war as well. So what happens next? We're going to get some answers for you coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Time now to check in with CNN chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley also host of "STATE OF THE UNION" to see what she has in store for us at the top of the hour.

Candy, we're all watching Libya's fight for democracy but we also have that other battle raging closer to home under the capitol dome, the federal budget and a possible shut down, any word on a compromise?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, They're -- they are closer to it, look, the bottom line is there seem to be very few people who are pushing for a government shutdown. Republicans are skittish because the last time this happened and they got blamed they lost big in the elections. Democrats are you know, saying, look, it's really going to hurt the economy. So there is a commonality of purpose here and that is not to shut down the government.

That generally comes up with some sort of compromise which looks as though, it will be another temporary spending bill to keep the government in operation for two weeks while they try to figure out the budget which they've been trying to figure out since last October but there you go.

So we're going to talk to Senator Kent Conrad and try to get some answers, he's chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. So we'll be talking to him but as you mentioned, Libya, even Egypt at this point has been cracking down on protests there by the new ruling military.

And Senator Joe Lieberman and Senator John McCain have been touring the region. So we checked in with them to get their take on what's going on in Libya, in Egypt and Israel and elsewhere. And we also are going to have two governors. As you know, there's been a very big budget fight in Wisconsin. But there are plenty of other states, 45 of them, that are looking at red ink in their budgets.

And so we are having Senator -- Governor Rick Scott of Florida and Governor Dan Malloy of Connecticut, both of whom are facing budget deficits. One wants to raise taxes and one wants to lower them.

(CROSS TALK)

KAYE: Right.

CROWLEY: So I'll let you guess which one. So --

(CROSS TALK)

KAYE: Well we --

CROWLEY: -- it'll be a jam packed hour.

KAYE: -- and we know that Governor Walker wasn't in D.C., for -- from Wisconsin --

CROWLEY: Right.

KAYE: -- he wasn't in D.C., for this National Governors Association meeting. So -- but I'm sure they are trying to come up with a plan to stop whatever is happening in Wisconsin from -- from spreading to their states.

CROWLEY: Yes. And -- and -- they -- they again, they both face the same problems and that is they do have state workers and each are asking their state workers in varying degrees. Some are telling and some are asking that they contribute more to pension funds, for instance. So -- but they have very different takes, one is a Democrat and one is a Republican. And they are going at their red ink in very different ways.

KAYE: And before we let you go, any -- well, just one quick headline. I know you mentioned that you spoke with John McCain and Joe Lieberman, but just a quick piece for us, a headline possibly?

CROWLEY: Yes. I -- I found it interesting that both seem to believe that the President has been a little reticent in coming out against Moammar Gadhafi and both suggested that they favor trying to arm the rebels that are trying to overthrow Gadhafi.

KAYE: That's very interesting. I will watch that. Keep it here for "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. Candy thanks so much. It starts in just about 15 minutes. That's 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 a.m. Pacific.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: There is a mass exodus under way from Libya right now. Several countries have been ferrying their citizens out of Libya on boats and planes and that includes hundreds of American citizens. We are also hearing about thousands of people heading into neighboring countries.

This is the scene at the Tunisian border. Just this morning the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees said around 100,000 people have fled Libya on foot.

American Catherine Pandur and her two sons arrived in Philadelphia Friday, three days after first flying out of Libya. They had been living in Tripoli for three years. That's the capital, but decided to leave after the city erupted in gunfire. They were allowed one suitcase on the plane to Germany and they had just enough clothes to make it home. Before the flight she heard that her husband had also gotten out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE PANDUR, EVACUATED FROM LIBYA: I just got the phone call before I left that he's out now. He's out now. The feeling of trying to get out and you can't do it. I'm sorry. I was --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: As the Gadhafi regime digs in its heels and people flee the capital and the country by the thousands we're all asking what's next?

Benjamin Barber is a Professor at Rutgers University and author of numerous books including "Jihad Versus McWorld." He joins me this morning from New York.

Professor, you've had some experience with the Gadhafi family working with a charitable foundation headed by Saif Gadhafi until recently. What can you tell us about the family's possible state of mind?

BENJAMIN BARBER, PROFESSOR, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: Good morning, Randi.

I think we can say, first of all, that the Gadhafis are underestimated by so many foreigners, partly because of media reports that Gadhafi senior is a buffoon and a fool and a lunatic and out of his mind. One might ask how he ruled for 42 years in Libya if that was the case and how he's held on today.

I mean the fact is we want to start by understanding that in Libya today you still have a tribal or clan society not so different from Somalia. One in which up until 1969 when Gadhafi made his revolution the clans and tribes were extremely powerful under the old monarchy, the monarch ruled by allowing the clan to pre- reign so that they could argue with one another while he ruled the country --

(CROSS TALK)

KAYE: So you don't think he's -- you don't think he's going away then, any time soon?

BARBER: I don't think he is. There's always the chance of assassination, there's always the chance of an assassin's bullet but reports that people are marching on Tripoli are simply not true like so many reports coming out that the one force that might have been moving that way had to go to Sirt which is Gadhafi's birthplace. And they've been stopped there.

The fact is, Gadhafi is in control of the capital which has two million people in it. His sons are with him and Saif Gadhafi, the more liberal, outgoing, English-speaking son has now taken charge of media. And as you know has invited reporters in and there are a number of reporters now in the capital. And while things are tense there is no violence in the streets.

KAYE: Well, last night the U.N. Security Council voted to impose sanctions on the Gadhafi regime calling for an international war crimes investigation. In your opinion, do these sanctions have any teeth? Will they change anything?

BARBER: I think they will have no teeth at all for weeks and weeks. And when they do have teeth, as always happens with sanctions, the first victims will be the general population because Gadhafi and his clan certainly have reserves of ammunitions, of food and so on. So they won't be hurt by this.

So this is really a -- I think an empty gesture to try to now a point from abroad that we don't approve. But I don't think it's going to have much good -- do much good in trying to actually take Gadhafi down.

KAYE: As you look at what happened in Egypt and you think about what might happen in Libya, I mean they are trying to move toward democracy, with any luck, toward democracy in Egypt. Can you envision a democracy in Libya at all?

BARBER: You can envision democracy anywhere but frankly it is hard for me even to foresee it happening in Cairo despite the goodwill and pacifism of the protesters. As we know the military government is still in command. Field Marshall Tantawi and Prime Minister Shafiq, both appointees of Mubarak have moved to repress recent protests again. So I'm not even sure we're going to see it in Cairo.

But Tripoli is not Cairo. Libya is not Egypt. You can't talk about a Libyan people united. Libya remains a clan society. The seat of the uprising in the east up until 1931 was a separate country called Cyrenaica and united only in the '40s and '50s under the monarchy with the rest of Libya.

What you're seeing there is really the re-emergence of tribal warfare, armed groups in Benghazi seizing power there. And I don't think Gadhafi's going to be able to do anything about it. But I don't think the folks in Benghazi in the east are going to do much about Gadhafi.

What we are seeing is the possibility of clan war, civil war, the breakdown of order and chaos unfortunately. And that's a long way to democracy.

KAYE: That sure sounds like it.

Thank you, Benjamin Barber. Always a pleasure to see you.

BARBER: It's so nice to talk to you, Randi.

KAYE: Thank you.

Prices for hotel rooms are soaring in London at the end of April. The reason: the event some are calling the wedding of the century between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Find out what people are paying to get close to royalty. Maybe you can afford it. We'll see. When we come back

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: In the U.K., Prince William and his bride-to-be Kate Middleton have gone back to where it all began. The couple visited St. Andrews University in Scotland on Friday. That's where the couple met while studying art history back in 2001. It is their second official engagement together and the first in Scotland; they returned to the university for a fund-raising event.

As you might expect hotel rooms in London are going pretty fast for the week of the royal wedding in April. Some places are jacking up prices as rooms are filled up. But as Jim Boulden reports, there is an alternative.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BOULDEN, CORRESPONDENT, CNN INTERNATIONAL (voice-over): London is full of millions of tourists year-round whether it's to hear Big Ben, or experience all the royal pomp and circumstance. There is so much to see if you can find your way around or, come the last week in April, find a hotel room.

Searches on hotel.com spiked by a third when the date for the royal wedding was announced.

NIGEL POCKLINGTON, HOTELS.COM: What you can now see is that availability for the royal wedding weekend and week is pretty scarce. Because of that, hotel rates are really moving up. So some hotels are up to 200 percent more expensive.

BOULDEN: Being close to the church or just the processional route will be key for guests and gawkers alike.

(on camera): This five-star boutique hotel is one of the closest to the route.

(voice-over): The penthouse here at St. James's goes for more than $3,000 a night.

(on camera): What will be the nationality of the normal week in the spring here and what do you expect the nationality to be during the royal wedding

HENRIK MUEHLE, ST. JAMES'S HOTEL: Normally it's about 30 percent U.S. and 30 percent is U.K. We have a large part from Europe of course, France, Germany and Italy. It looks like it will be exactly the same.

BOULEN: For those lucky enough to stay at this hotel they can always use the celebrity exit for a quick walk to Buckingham Palace.

Here we are at the gate at Buckingham Palace in about five minutes.

(voice-over): Not that everyone wants to stay during wedding week. Hotels.com says searches from within the U.K. for holidays far from London have also spiked. Though many Londoners will stay and welcome visitors, some are renting a pull-out couch or spare bed on crashpadders.com (ph). This north London loft, complete with drums and table tennis is going for around $75 a night.

IAN FORSHEW, CRASHPADDER HOST: It's an opportunity for us to have a bit of fun and have people come and stay here and show them what the royal wedding is about. How British people are going to react to it.

BOULDEN: Once your room is booked, you only have to worry about ash clouds and the threatened transport strikes.

Jim Boulden, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Events in Libya are blamed for rising oil prices. Ahead, how that's translating into what you pay at the pump.

Plus, why the cost of coffee might give you a rude awakening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Unrest in the Middle East causing uncertainty in oil markets and pain at the pump. Gas prices jumped 17 cents a gallon over the past week; that, as oil prices surged more than 9 percent. The national for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline right now: $3.33. Analysts expect prices to continue rising.

Fuel prices of another kind going up, too. I'm talking about coffee. CNN's Stephanie Elam has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This might give you a jolt, coffee lovers. The cost of that cup of Joe is about to go up some more.

JOSE SETTE, EXEC. DIR., INTERNATIONAL COFFEE ORGANIZATION: Prices have been rising steadily over the last four or five years. But these price rises have accelerated since May of last year. ELAM: And roasters are passing some of the coast on to you. Last fall, Starbucks said it was raising the price of large and labor intensive drinks to offset the cost of coffee beans while the price of packaged Dunkin Donuts and Folgers coffee products sold in retail outlets rose by 10 percent this month.

And with coffee prices hitting a 14-year-high and rising more than 100 percent in the last 12 months, more hikes could be on the horizon. So what's behind the boost?

SETTE: Coffee prices are high primarily because we have had three disappointing harvests in Colombia in a row. And Colombia is the biggest producer of fine quality coffee.

ELAM: But while prices are high this isn't the worst we have seen.

SETTE: If we talk about adjusting for inflation then prices are not as high as we have seen in the past. But in nominal terms we are at the highest level since 1977.

ELAM: It's hard to pinpoint when prices will go up at the store but consumers should get ready.

HECTOR GALVAN, SENIOR TRADING ADVISER, RJO FUTURES: The sticker shock they may think is bad now, it will be nothing compared to what they will have in the next six to eight months.

ELAM: So will the price hikes stop folks from hitting up the local barista?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it really gets that high then I'm definitely not going to like get coffee every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to stomp my feet and stop buying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, not at all. Coffee's important.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, we can't.

ELAM: Stephanie Elam, CNN, New York.

KAYE: "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley is coming up at the top of the hour but first a quick check of this morning's headlines.

Wisconsin's ongoing state budget battle is now going national with similar labor rallies slated across the country in support of Wisconsin state workers. They are battling the governor's attempts to strip their collective bargaining rights. This was one display of solidarity from Denver yesterday.

And in Libya, Moammar Gadhafi is still in power in the capital of Tripoli, but his grip on the rest of the nation such as the city of Benghazi, seen here, is far less certain. Thousands of refugees are flooding into neighboring countries while the U.N. hits the regime with new economic sanctions.

Our Nic Robertson reports that some security forces have joined anti-government protesters in the western Libyan city of Zawiya.

Tonight is Oscar night, the big awards night for Hollywood. Last night it was the Razzies -- a spoof award ceremony naming the worst in films and acting. "The Last Airbender" -- yes, have you seen it -- well, it earned worst movie of the year. So if you haven't seen it, make a point maybe not to see it. Maybe stick to the ones that are going to be winning the Oscars.

That's going to do it for me this morning. I'm Randi Kaye. Glad you're with us and glad you are watching.

"STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley starts right now.

Have a great day.