Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Bernie Madoff Attempting to Change Image; Labor Standoff in Indiana; Sheen's Violent Hatred; 100,000 Flee From Libya; Wisconsin Protests Continue; Government Shutdown Deadline; Your Child's Fever and Medication

Aired February 28, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Gas prices up 17 cents in just a week, and this could mean higher prices for food, for clothing, and for just about everything else.

Also, the jailhouse interview with convicted Ponzi schemer, Bernard Madoff, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us. It's Monday, February 28th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Ali Velshi.

We have new tornado warnings in Kentucky. Let's go straight to our severe weather center. Rob Marciano is in Atlanta with the latest -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys. Central Kentucky now, we showed you this line of storms earlier. Now, we've got a couple of tornado warnings. One out for an area just south of Lexington and Garrett and Lincoln Counties, and that's until 7:15 a.m. and that a little bit farther to the west in central time zone until 6:30 local time for several counties there.

This is a larger warning out for Barron and Greene County. That's this one east of bowling green, and another one south of Lexington, all part of this intense line of thunderstorms that did produce damage yesterday afternoon and last night in places like Indiana, Illinois, and getting into parts of western Tennessee.

These are rocketing to the east at 55 miles an hour, so dangerously fast moving storms. The watches remain in effect. And another one popping up that includes parts of Pittsburgh and eastern parts of Kentucky, so a very set-up atmosphere for more severe weather today. We had six reports of tornadoes yesterday with damage and a number of other reports of damage just from straight-line winds.

And I think that's going to be the bigger story, as well, all the way from Pennsylvania, down into the deep south, Dixie Alley, parts of northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia later on today will be under the gun for severe weather.

The other side of this storm is the cold air that's in place across parts of northern New England. You get north of the major cities, including Boston. You'll probably get a little bit of sleet and freezing rain, an icy commute with this system on the northeastern fringe of it. And we'll keep an eye on this severe weather.

VELSHI: We'll keep on top of that with you, Rob, thanks very much.

OK. Bernard Madoff is speaking out, the convicted conman talking about how he feels about his victims and the toll that his massive Ponzi scheme took on him. Christine Romans author of "Smart is the New Rich" joining us live. A little bit of a role reversal. You're in Atlanta, I'm here.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ali.

VELSHI: What a remarkable story, an audio interview with Bernard Madoff. He never ceases to amaze with the things he says.

ROMANS: One thing I couldn't believe is he's in therapy in prison, Ali, trying to understand more about himself in the wake of this big swindle that, well, he swindled the fortunes from hundreds of people to the tune of, I guess, $65 billion.

He said he wasn't trying to justify what he did, but went on to sort of justify what he did. He said that a lot of the folks if they thought they weren't -- they were getting high returns for no reason. Well, he said, that's not really -- that's not really reasonable. He said his victims cannot plead poverty.

He says this has been a nightmare for him adding "Even the regulators felt sorry for me asking how did you live with this? Not being able to tell anybody?" He goes on to blame many of his clients for not knowing his business was bust. He said how do you think you could make 15 percent to 18 percent all that time and nothing was going on? He said they definitely had to have had doubts.

He also said, Ali, that in terms of regulations now to make sure these sorts of things don't happen again, he said the whole new regulatory reform is a joke. The whole government is a Ponzi scheme.

So Bernie Madoff, Ali, speaking out about how his family had nothing to do with this, how after 1987 he started borrowing from some clients' accounts to pay other accounts and the thing kept going from there. And even tried to give the money back toward the end of the scam and people wouldn't take it.

VELSHI: And on the heels of that interview, he gave the "New York Times" a few weeks ago even saying the banks should've known. Everybody should've known he was up to something and stopped him, except Bernie Madoff.

Christine, let's talk about the other big story, oil prices. Oil's about $98 a barrel right now, pulled back from the $100 last week, but gas prices continuing to head up.

ROMANS: Yes. And leading economists told the national governor's association, frankly, that, guess what, high oil prices, high gas prices are the number one threat to the United States right now. So that's how important this is. Gas prices keep moving higher.

Ali, we talk about the things you can control in the economy and the things you can't control, and that's why I wrote the book "Smart is the New Rich." And you can't control gas prices to a big degree. You can't control crude oil.

But you can control what you're putting in your tank and how often you're doing that. And there is some technology you can use to go to websites --- gasbuddy.com, fuelmeup.com. And then technology, another thing that's helping folks out. AAA Trip Tip is an app, Cheap Gas is another one. Folks, if you're listening to us right now talking about cheap ways to find gas, you can also always tell us new tricks you're finding.

VELSHI: We'll spread them around. Great to see you, Christine. We'll see you in a little while, again.

CHETRY: Royalty reigned last night in Hollywood. It was "The King's Speech" that beat out "Social Network" and eight other movies to become the winner for best picture. It was about King George's quest to overcome a speech impediment and won four Oscars last night, won best actor as well as best original screenplay as well as the best picture nomination.

VELSHI: Colin firth won for best actor for his portrayal of the stammering King George, quite remarkable. All of the actors up for the top award really acted well, whether it was "Black Swan" with Natalie Portman or Colin firth. Firth joked after receiving his first Oscar that he felt his career had just peaked.

CHETRY: Well, the queen of last night's Oscars is Natalie Portman. Her torment as a ballerina on the screen turned into triumph. It took home best actress for her role, Portman's first Oscar win.

VELSHI: And the other big winner of the night was the sci-fi thriller "Inception." It won four Oscars with victories in the two sound categories as well as visual effects and cinematography. It's very complicated. You've got to be fresh of mind to see and follow what's going on.

CHETRY: Kareen Wynters live for us in L.A. this morning. And we want to start with the host, Anne Hathaway and James Franco, their first time hosting it. They wanted to bring in a younger audience, I guess. But many critics this morning have not been kind.

KAREEN WYNTERS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: No way, Ali and Kiran. I don't know about you, but I'm kind of cringing as we await those ratings, the big numbers to come out, because there was so much hype going into the big show that, yes, they're going to deliver. They're hot, they're spunky. Not so much.

In an attempt to appeal to a younger audience, they tapped 28-year-old Anne Hathaway and 32-year-old James Franco to host the big show this year. And despite a few laughs here and there, there is early bust this morning panning the duo's performance. "The New York Daily News" says James Franco sometimes looked as if reading the cue cards was the only thing keeping him awake while Hathaway spent way too much time changing her dresses and, quote, "trying to convert nervous energy into endearing folksiness."

To sum up the big night also the "New York Post" had harsh words saying "the youngest, hippest broadcast ever turned into one of the most staid broadcast ever." I remember watching this last night with my colleagues and thinking, oh, this is kind off to a bad start, and it seems like it never got better.

CHETRY: The other tough thing, there wasn't that many upsets. Everything that was said to happen happened. We did get a little spiciness when Melissa Leo getting her award for best supporting actress --

VELSHI: In "The Fighter."

CHETRY: She played the mother in "The Fighter," and she dropped the "f" bomb, oops.

WYNTERS: She did, a big, big oops.

Christian Bale took home the best supporting actor for his role as Dicky Ekland in "The Fighter." During his speech he thanked the real Dicky who was in the audience. But look at the lady of the night, the most buzzed about acceptance speech was from Melissa Leo, she won best supporting actress and listen to what she had to say on stage in front of everyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA LEO, ACTOR: When I watched Kate two years ago, it looked so --

(LAUGHTER)

WYNTERS: Melissa, come on, what were you thinking? We don't hear that word very often on the Oscar stage. Leo later said backstage she apologized for dropping the "f" bomb and sorry if she offended anyone. What I was offended by was how boring her speech was. She had to have thought that she would take home Oscar gold. Think of something in advance. It was a horrible speech.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: That's funny. I just got some tweets from some folks in Canada to say it wasn't bleeped out for them. Here in you were watching the broadcast, it was bleeped out because it was on a delay. But I heard some people heard it in the full raw fashion.

CHETRY: Kareen, thanks for getting up early. I know it's been a long night.

The glitz and glam of the Oscars may be over, but it's definitely one for the record books. We'll bring you some of the most memorable moments coming up in the next half hour. Also, Charlie Sheen is back on the air. His sitcom, of course, is canceled for the season, but he's still talking, giving a lot of interviews to radio stations and talking about his drug use.

VELSHI: And the interviews are not getting any less interesting.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: We'll hear part of his latest round coming up.

VELSHI: And the labor protest spreading to all 50 states this weekend, why this could be a make or break week for the labor movement just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Welcome become back to "American Morning."

Wisconsin is not the only state that's become a budget battleground. A standoff in the Indiana legislature enters its second week today. Members of the minority Democratic caucus have fled Indiana to boycott what they consider a predatory Republican agenda. Enough of them are out of the state to stall a vote allowing their leader to join us this morning.

He's one of two people, two Democrats left behind to hold up the Republican agenda. Live from Indianapolis this morning, Indiana's assistant House minority leader Democrat Scott Pelath. Scott, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate you coming to tell us what's going on in Indiana.

While so much of the spotlight's been on Wisconsin where there's a debate about whether the governor there is trying to take away collective bargaining rights for state public service employees, in Indiana, they don't have those collective bargaining rights in the first place. What is this debate about in Indiana?

SCOTT PELATH, (D) INDIANA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, I tell you what. I've never seen such a more committed group of people that believe it's so necessary to stop what they see as a very radical agenda that's transpiring here in Indianapolis.

It's really much more expansive than what's happening in Wisconsin. Not only are they trying to dismantle public schools, they're also trying to do away with collective bargaining not in the public sector but also in the private sector.

We understand that the people sent the Republicans down there to govern, but we also understand it's our very important responsibility to deny them the ability to move forward with the very most radical parts of what it is that they want to accomplish.

VELSHI: What are those -- what are the things that you and your caucus are most objecting to? PELATH: Well, let's talk about education first. Simply they just don't want to improve the system of public schools, they want to dismantle our public schools.

VELSHI: For our audience that doesn't know what we're talking about, that kind of generalization doesn't really help. What specifically?

PELATH: Fair enough. It's voucher schemes. And they want to gamble tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on sending public school kids to private schools. But they want to do so by taking dollars away from many of our struggling public schools and undermining the constitutional requirement we've had here in this state to make sure that every kid has an education free of charge in a system of common schools. And it's not just that they want to reform it. It's that they want to shift every last dollar they can think of a way from providing an equal opportunity to every child here in Indiana.

VELSHI: Let's talk about how the situation is different from Wisconsin. You're actually in Indianapolis.

PELATH: Sure.

VELSHI: How does that work? How are you doing the business of the Democrats without having to be out of the state? Many of your colleagues are in Illinois. In fact, I just want to listen to something that the governor said. Mitch Daniels has said he will not negotiate until your caucus comes back. Here's his perspective. Let's just listen in for a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MITCH DANIELS (R), INDIANA: They ran off to Illinois ostensibly over the right to work bill. But as soon as they got what they wanted there, they issued an ultimatum from a hot tub over there with about 10 more items.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: All right. What does that mean?

PELATH: OK. Well, again, that's the governor throwing down the gauntlet. And frankly, it's not very helpful. He knows the reason why we broke forum which, by the way, is not running away, it's fighting back, was to ensure that we stopped a number of different measures in their entirety were intended to approximate an effort to do away with all labor unions in Indiana. If Democrats don't believe in the right of people to come together to improve on each other's lives, we don't believe in much of anything. And the governor is just going to have to give in on a few more things other than the head fake he did with one piece of legislation trying to claim that's what our efforts to break quorum were about when frankly they weren't. And he knows they weren't. There were about several different measures that were intended really to drive down wages for the middle class here in this state and really as part of an effort that's happening across the nation to attack the middle class. VELSHI: Let me ask you this real quickly, Scott, what -- you're walking a fine line here. You and other legislators in states across the country who are doing similar things. You're walking a fine line because you're not in the majority in the House. So the others will claim they've got a mandate. You've got some public support, but at the same time, all of your voters, whether they're Democrats or Republicans would like government to get into the business of governing. They want compromises. They want solutions. At what point does your goodwill run out and you guys are going to have to go back and pass a budget, or at least see a budget passed that you don't like?

PELATH: Well, clearly, this ultimately depends on the public. And that's part of the reason that we had to slow things down and give a breather to the radical agenda here in Indianapolis because the public does have a chance to weigh in. They do need a chance to understand the impact of all these various measures. Not just on union laborers, but on all laborers. Because we do know that the ability to organize forces all employers in all states to treat their workers fairly and to make sure that, again, we have a quality of opportunity for everyone. That it's not just about big business, it's also about people having paychecks they can go spend at those businesses. And we believe that's the right thing to do and we believe slowing down extreme things is part of our job and we take it very seriously.

VELSHI: Scott Pelath is an Indiana State representative, remaining in Indianapolis to fight the fight on behalf of the Democratic legislators who have left the state.

Scott, thanks very much for joining us and giving us your side of the story.

PELATH: Thank you, Ali.

VELSHI: All right.

Still to come more this morning, Kiran, should we be getting ready for a shutdown of the federal government?

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, a lot of big questions going on. We have the latest as lawmakers are trying to hammer out a budget deal at the federal level before Friday's deadline. Our Jim Acosta is tracking that story for us from Washington.

And also, we're trying to help you take care of your kids this morning. You get really nervous when your young child has a high fever. So what is the best treatment? What is the correct dosage? We're going to get some answers from our Elizabeth Cohen coming up.

Nineteen minutes past the hour. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. A rampage at a rodeo in Williamston, North Carolina over the weekend. A 2,000 pound bull jumped into the stands. Check out this dramatic video.

Oh, there it goes. Crashing closer and closer then leaping over a five-foot fence right into a terrified crowd. An elderly couple suffered foot and leg injuries. That's lucky for a 2,000-pound bull. Ann Conner shot this amazing video. I can't stop watching this. Here's how she described it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF: ANN CONNER, VIDEOTAPED BULL LEAPING INTO RODEO STANDS: As I was videotaping, I just had my eye on the bull, and I thought, he's going to get close to the railing and we'll get a really good shot of him kicking and then he went airborne. And no, I didn't see the couple get hurt because we were fleeing, but as I turned around, that's when I saw that the bull had jumped back in miraculously to the arena and they were both on the floor injured.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Officials at the venue, by the way, offered to pay the couple's medical bills, which I think is nice, and they gave them unlimited tickets to future events.

CHETRY: Maybe they'll want to change their seats.

VELSHI: Change their seat, yes. A little higher.

CHETRY: Well, Charlie Sheen making headlines. The embattled actor certainly not backing down and also not shying away from giving interviews. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All these radio rants have people thinking Charlie Sheen is -- has got to be on drugs again.

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: Sure, yes. I am on a drug, it's called Charlie Sheen. It's not available because if you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body. Too much. So it's -- yes, no, it's just -- I, again I woke up and decided, you know, I've been kicked around, I've been criticized, I've been the ah shucks guy with this bitching rock star life and I'm just finally going to completely embrace it, wrap both arms around it, and love it violently and defend it violently through violent hatred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Have you ever tried that drug? Charlie Sheen?

CHETRY: No, I have not. Apparently --

VELSHI: I would have never covered the story again except that every time he says something, you've got to talk about it because it's so crazy. CHETRY: It is. And also, there's a lot of other people's, you know, lives at stake here because the show "Two and a Half Men," a hugely popular show.

VELSHI: Yes, yes.

CHETRY: Canceled for the season.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: And now questions about its future in general. Sheen says despite the fact that his contract ends next year, he is willing to consider an additional season of "Two and a Half Men" if he gets a big raise. He says part of that would cover the cost of the show's crew who lost pay when the season was canceled.

VELSHI: How sweet.

All right. Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosting the biggest night in tinsel town. I like them. But were they a hit or a miss? People have very different opinions on this?

CHETRY: And it looks like Congress is going to try to avoid a government shutdown for two more weeks. Will the short-term budget fix actually lead to any long-term solutions when neither side appears to be willing to give on any part of it? Jim Acosta reports from Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Libya may be edging closer to a civil war this morning. They are bracing for a potentially violent slowdown in Zawiya, which is about 30 miles from the capital city of Tripoli. Right now, armed anti-government forces are surrounded by troops which remain loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.

CHETRY: Well, tough new sanctions are in place against Libya in an effort to try to make a difference in this nation. A unanimous vote by the U.N. Security Council happened over the weekend. These sanctions will include an embargo on the sale of arms to Libya, the freezing of all foreign assets of Moammar Gadhafi and his top aides. And also a ban on international travel for the Libyan dictator.

VELSHI: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling on Gadhafi to step down. She's in Switzerland this morning for a meeting of the U.N.'s Human Rights Council. They'll be discussing life after Gadhafi. Mrs. Clinton says America is reaching out to help opposition groups in Libya that are trying to topple the Libyan leader. And that's a big issue because the opposition is not particularly organized in Libya. So there are fears that once Gadhafi's out, it may create a problem.

CHETRY: Right now, there is a humanitarian crisis that's unfolding along Libya's border with Tunisia. Thousands of refugees are trying to get out of Libya. They're trying to get anywhere and Tunisia's there. U.N. says right now there are about 100,000 of them gathered at the border. Many of them have no food, no water, and no place to go.

CNN's Ivan Watson is on the Tunisian side of the border with Libya right now. Ivan, I know it's been difficult to you get around as well. When you talk about that situation, that potential humanitarian crisis unfolding, are there any plans in the works to help those people?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm standing in front of a transit right now, just a few miles from the border where the Tunisian military have set up tents. They're feeding some of these people streaming across the border, about 10,000 a day. Some of them haven't eaten in days. They've been sleeping out on the ground basically and giving them some medical care if they're sick and moving them on to other transit centers, high schools, stadiums. But since most of these people are Egyptians, there's also Bangladeshis and Chinese nationals, the big challenge is how to get them home. And if you recall, Egypt has had its own revolution just a few weeks ago. Its own dictator toppled. It's not in a very good position right now politically stable at all to start to deal with a crisis of trying to transition and move tens of thousands of its own citizens back home from another country. Though, there are some Egyptian naval vessels that are said to be on the way here needed to help evacuate people right now -- Kiran.

CHETRY: What about any other international assistance of at least being able to bring food or other supplies to them as they wait in limbo right now?

WATSON: Well, the United Nations has arrived today. They say they're flying in high-energy biscuits to help feed some of the hungry people that are coming across the border. We do also know that there are crowds perhaps hundreds of thousands of people according to one Tunisian doctor just on the other side of the Tunisian-Libyan border and their camped out in the open without the tents that you may see over my shoulder right now, waiting to be processes and brought in.

And one of the fears here, Kiran, is that this is a destabilizing factor, this humanitarian crisis for Tunisia itself. Another one of Libya's neighbors, also experienced a revolution, had its own dictator overthrown within the last six to eight weeks. It is not particularly politically stable.

The last thing it needs to deal with is a major flood of refugees coming across its border. According to the Egyptian government, there are more than a million Egyptian contract laborers estimated in Libya right now. So we can expect more people coming as the crisis gets worse inside Libya. And we're not even talking yet about Libyans who may start fleeing the bloodshed in their own country, Kiran.

CHETRY: Big problem you certainly highlighted the difficulties and challenges ahead for all of those countries.

Ivan Watson for us. Thanks so much.

VELSHI: Top stories now. Convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff is trying to change his public image. You judge how successful it's been in a series of phone interviews with "New York" magazine. Madoff says his investors are not victims, he is. He says keeping the scam a secret from his family was a nightmare. We'll have more on that in about half an hour when those tapes get released.

CHETRY: And "The King's Speech" took the king's ransom at the Academy Awards last night including four Oscars including the big ones, best picture, best actor. The story of a king overcoming his speech impediment won the best prize for best picture and Colin Firth took home the nod for best actor, and it also won the Oscars for best director and best original screen play.

VELSHI: Hundreds of protesters spent another night in Wisconsin's capitol building. The union workers and activists were told to leave the building so it could be cleaned, but police wound up letting them stay. Some of them have been there for nearly two weeks. They're demonstrating against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's call to curb collective bargaining rights for public service unions.

And it looks like the countdown to a government shutdown may be on hold for two weeks. Right now, it looks like Republicans and Democrats are close to agreeing to what's called a continuing resolution on the budget. Jim Acosta is in D.C. this morning. Jim, the continuing resolution basically allows them to keep funding the government -

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

VELSHI: - for two weeks at a time. First of all, is that even going to happen and how does this solve the on-going budget crisis?

ACOSTA: Well, Ali, it is only Monday and this is Washington. So members of Congress and the White House still have time to mess this up. But both sides appear to be saying they have a deal that will keep things running in Washington for another two weeks past Friday. Now, that is the deadline for reaching this agreement. And a key Democrat over the weekend signaled he will support a plan crafted by House Republican leaders to cut some $4 billion in spending in the short-term.

House Speaker John Boehner characterized the nation's mounting deficit as a moral issue. In a speech last night throwing some red meat to the Tea Party out there, he used the word moral more than a dozen times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE SPEAKER: We have a moral responsibility to address the problems that we face. And that means working together to cut spending and to rein in government, not shutting it down.

SEN. KENT CONRAD (D), NORTH DAKOTA: It is acceptable to me to have $4 billion in savings in a two-week package, sure? The make-up for that is, you know, up for discussion and negotiation. That negotiation is on-going and I'm confident we'll achieve a conclusion on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: Now, this deal if it passes will give both sides some more time to hammer out a longer extending budget agreement that will keep the government running through September. But with so many House Republican freshmen demanding massive cuts in spending, Ali, there is still no sign Democrats and Republicans can make that happen over the long-term. Chris Van Hollen, who comes on this show a lot, Maryland Democrat, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, said they could very well be in the same position three weeks from now arguing about these cuts and just how far and deep those cuts should go, Ali.

VELSHI: I suspect, we'll be talking about this for days and weeks to come.

ACOSTA: I think so.

VELSHI: Thanks for that, Jim. Appreciate it.

ACOSTA: You bet.

CHETRY: So still to come this morning, the right and wrong way to treat your child when they have a fever. Elizabeth Cohen joins us with some of the dos and don'ts. Some of them will surprise you, often times we get the dosage wrong.

VELSHI: It is 34 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: The Oscars, Hollywood's most glamorous night from the gorgeous gowns to the embarrassing slip-ups. And who nabbed the big awards? We've got lots to talk about.

CHETRY: We're going to break down the evening's most memorable events. Joining us is David Edelstein, chief film critic at "New York Magazine," welcome.

DAVID EDELSTEIN, CHIEF FILM CRITIC, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": Good morning.

CHETRY: And Jessica Coen, editor in chief of Jezebel.com. Thanks for being here both of you.

JESSICA COEN, EDITOR IN CHIEF, JEZEBEL.COM: Good morning.

CHETRY: I know you had a late night and an early morning. So welcome. First of all, your predictions were pretty spot on, because there weren't many surprises, were there?

EDELSTEIN: It really seemed to have happened a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, didn't it? It seemed like I'd seen this before.

CHETRY: Yes, we have them up on the screen and you guys both said, this would happen. Colin Firth, best actor, Natalie Portman for best actress. Best supporting is Melissa Leo for her role in the fighter and Christian Bale for his role in "The Fighter." COEN: Nothing was up in the air this year, and everything played out according to plan according to script and it kind of made for an unexciting broadcast.

VELSHI: Except, of course, that given that this was the plan, given that these winners were the likely winners, Melissa Leo in "The Fighter" probably thought she thought had a pretty good chance of winning, and yet seemed completely floored when she got up there and did her acceptance speech. Do we have that? Can we play that for our viewers?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA LEO, WINNER, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: When I watched Cate two years ago, it looked so (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EDELSTEIN: My goodness me.

I'm sorry, that was the least convincing slip I think I've ever seen.

CHETRY: You think she did it on purpose?

EDELSTEIN: I don't know. Actresses, I don't know - I think it's a combination of nerves and exhibitionism and just a desire to say you like me but not say you like me. So instead you say -

COEN: Well, it's important that she shows gratitude and emotion. And what better way to show your emotion than to be completely wildly inappropriate.

CHETRY: There were a lot of panning of the hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco. Let me just show you a small clip of their banter so you know what we're talking about. I want to ask you guys what you thought.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES FRANCO, HOST, OSCARS: Anne, I must say you look so beautiful and so hip.

ANNE HATHAWAY, HOST, OSCARS: Oh, thank you, James. You look very appealing to a younger demographic, as well.

FRANCO: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And Ali's laughing, but it actually kind of made me cringe a little bit. Because it was so overt, they know that the reason they wanted younger people was to attract a younger audience and did the experiment work?

VELSHI: It didn't feel as terrible to me. I guess the ratings will tell. What do you think? COEN: I thought it was kind of awkward. Their energies are completely different. And ostensibly, they're there to balance one another out. But I don't think it worked at all. She was too far on the other end of the spectrum. He was on (INAUDIBLE) or something.

VELSHI: He seemed a little bit relaxed.

COEN: He seemed like he didn't want to be there.

CHETRY: And then Billy Crystal comes out and gets a standing ovation. Did it make you long for the days of Billy Crystal?

EDELSTEIN: Well, it did actually. And Bob Hope and Johnny Carson, I mean, there was just a natural way in which they held the stage and also you could rely on them to improvise. Even if they didn't say something funny, you were laughing because you thought maybe something would be funny that they said whereas Anne Hathaway and James Franco were on script the whole time. I mean, they seemed very, very controlled. It was this sort of fear of pulling a Ricky Gervais. You know, nobody - they went as far to the other end -

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Let's look at Ricky Gervais on this side -

CHETRY: The Golden Globes.

VELSHI: - and James Franco at the Golden Globes, which he was criticized for that. And then these guys on this side, where should we be?

COEN: Frankly as a viewer, I'd rather be much on the Ricky Gervais side of things. But the Academy doesn't have that sense of humor. The Academy takes themselves very seriously. So they're going to prefer a Hathaway-Franco situation where everything is safe to the point of being boring.

CHETRY: Do you think they're going to go back next year to maybe more of the showman type -

EDELSTEIN: I think they're going back to people who are funny, who can actually hold the stage. I mean, and bring some of their own sensibility to what's going on. I thought Anne Hathaway was very sweet and very charming and, god knows, seven costume changes. You know, watch one more eye popping than the next, great. But -

CHETRY: As a guy -

EDELSTEIN: She was a trooper. She was like - she was so like, "OK, let's do this." She had that sort of junior high school musical quality whereas he was the high school senior who just smoked a little bit too much dope in the bathroom.

CHETRY: I love how you accused him of being a drug addict. This poor guy already today -

VELSHI: There's no allegations - just to be clear, there's no allegation that anybody smoked anything.

EDELSTEIN: Stoner personality. There are different types of stoners. There are the stoners who get out there and then who jabber like crazy and who are hilarious.

VELSHI: Right.

EDELSTEIN: And then there are the ones who sort of are playing a movie in their own heads. And that's what he was. Those are not the best kind of hosts.

VELSHI: All right. So you said one outfit more - what do you say? Something than the next. You were commenting on the clothes. This is a conversation that Kiran and I were having before the show, which is one of the few conversations in life that we're not both participating in. Because I -

CHETRY: I know. I'm speechless at this point.

VELSHI: I didn't have a lot to say about the clothes.

CHETRY: There were some odd choices of clothing. Yes, you agree? The dinner plate type outfit that Cate Blanchett had on.

COEN: Yes, Cate Blanchett wore a Givenchy couture and it was architectural and it had interesting detailings embellishments. And depending on how you feel about more adventurous red carpet fashion, it was certainly there. I thought it looked very good, but it wasn't necessarily -

CHETRY: Did you like Scarlet Johansson's grape-colored lace that highlighted her rear end?

COEN: Well, I understand that Scarlet Johansson is a very attractive young woman, so the dress did a lot for that. That said, besides what it did in the back, I thought it was kind of a little old for her.

VELSHI: Did you notice, David, all the red that was going on? There were a number of red dresses.

EDELSTEIN: I noticed the dresses (INAUDIBLE).

CHETRY: There were dresses.

VELSHI: Wasn't that well-handled?

EDELSTEIN: I noticed the sculpting of the stuff.

CHETRY: Yes, that's very in now, the structure.

EDELSTEIN: I wanted Mila Kunis to laugh a lot more. You know what? Sorry.

CHETRY: Well, one thing you know, one person did get sort of snubbed. You guys did not pick this person. Let's show a clip very quickly, please.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The rumor is he was shorting (INAUDIBLE) stock before he ended up acquiring it. How did he do that? This is the rock star of Wall Street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear about (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Best supporting nod Ali Velshi "Wall Street Money Never Sleeps." Totally skipped.

VELSHI: And I had my speech ready. I wasn't going to swear. No swearing in my script. You know, hopefully I'll get invited back for another role. That was my first movie.

COEN: You were robbed, though.

VELSHI: I was -

COEN: Hollywood loves an (INAUDIBLE)

VELSHI: Another time. Good to see you both.

EDELSTEIN: Thank you so much.

CHETRY: David Edelstein, a film critic with "New York Magazine," Jessica Coen from Jezebel.com. Thanks so much for being with us.

EDELSTEIN: And I just want to apologize to all the other bad Oscar shows I've said bad things about. Now they look so much better now.

CHETRY: Wow. All right. There's nowhere to go but up for next year.

EDELSTEIN: Yes.

CHETRY: We'll see what happens. Thanks.

EDELSTEIN: Thank you.

CHETRY: Still to come this morning, a stormy start to the workweek along the East Coast. Rob is going to be along with the travel forecast right after the break. 44 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Forty-eight minutes past the hour right now. We were talking about some tornado warnings that were up around the Ohio Valley and Tennessee.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: It is 10 minutes to the top of the hour. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Fifty-three minutes past the hour. A lot of parents worry about their child when they have a fever. They reach for a pain reliever, of course, to try to bring the fever down. There's a new report, though, from America's leading group of pediatricians saying that fever phobia, as they're calling it, may be getting in the way of properly treating your child.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to help break down some of the myths and facts about kids and fevers. She's in Atlanta, this morning.

Good to see you, this morning, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

CHETRY: All right. So the first question, this is interesting, do you have to bring a child's fever down? You think automatically, of course, you got to bring a kid -- if they have the fever, you have to get rid of it.

Is that true or is that a myth?

COHEN: It's not true. This is actually a myth. And, I think, Kiran, this is so surprising to many parents. But fever in and of itself is not dangerous and the only reason doctors say give them Advil or Tylenol, is to just make them feel more comfortable. But fever is a normal response to an illness. It's actually in many ways a good thing.

CHETRY: All right. So, a lot of parents do still want to bring a kid's fever down. When, I guess, do you not bring a kid's fever down? If it's a slight fever versus a 103-degree temperature?

COHEN: You know what? If it's a slight fever and your child's not too uncomfortable, you can just let them go. I mean, you don't have to treat them. If it's higher and the child is uncomfortable, then you should treat them.

And that brings us to our second one, which is Tylenol is just as good as Advil in treating fever. And this one is a fact. One is just as good as another according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. And, in fact, many doctors recommend alternating. Giving Advil and then waiting a certain amount of time, Tylenol, and alternating that way.

But one thing you don't want to do is it's dangerous to give what are called combination products. Some products have both Advil and Tylenol and you don't want to be giving that in a double dose. You want to be very careful. If you're going to give both, make sure it's pure Advil or pure Tylenol, or the official names, ibuprofen, Acetaminophen.

CHETRY: I got you. All right.

And then finally, parents are always concerned about the proper dosage of these medications. So, is it a myth or a fact? Use the dose on the age chart on the box?

COHEN: That is a myth. What you want to use is the weight chart. And I actually have an example from a real box that actually shows what it looks like. And you want to pay attention to that weight column. That's what matters. The reason why, it doesn't really matter how old your child is, it matters how many pounds they weight. There are two-year-olds who way as much four-year-olds and vice versa. So go by that weight.

CHETRY: That's smart. I mean, you think the opposite way, as well, that you have a six to eight-year-old who may be a little -- weigh a lot less than some of their peers and you don't want to overmedicate them.

COHEN: Exactly.

CHETRY: Can you overmedicate with either Tylenol or Advil?

COHEN: Oh, you certainly can. You certainly can overmedicate and that's why you want to be really careful. You want to use the measuring device that comes with the product. You want to follow that chart or follow what your doctor says. You absolutely can overmedicate. And you can undermedicate, too. So you want to make sure you follow the guidelines really closely.

CHETRY: And what's the big takeaway, I guess, about fever that pediatricians want us to know as parents?

COHEN: What they want us to know as parents, Kiran, is that fever is not really the issue. They want parents to not get so stuck on the number and they want parents to look at other symptoms.

Kiran, I'm sure you've had your pediatrician ask you, how's your child behaving? Are they behaving normally? Are they behaving just kind of sick or is there something off about them? Do they have a rash? That's another thing you should look for.

Other symptoms that you should look for, if you go to CNN.com/thechart, my colleague Leslie Wade (ph) has written a blog that includes all the things that you want to look for that would tell you that your child is in trouble, you know, more than just a virus, maybe there's something more serious. But fever is not really what parents should be fixated on.

CHETRY: I got you. All right. Some good advice this morning.

Elizabeth Cohen, great to see you, as always. Thanks.

COHEN: Thanks.

CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. Your top stories coming your way in just two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)