Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Pump Prices Put Squeeze on Drivers; Oscar Winners and Wrap-Up; Farewell To The Duke Of Flatbush; Mudslides In Bolivia; Teaching Cuts; Sheen's 'Violent Hatred'; Oscar Fashions
Aired February 28, 2011 - 07:59 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. Thanks for being with us. It is Monday, February 28th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Ali Velshi. We've got lots to talk about this morning. Let's get right to it.
One of the biggest issues you're facing this morning, pump prices on the rise. Up for the sixth consecutive day. This could all translate into higher energy prices, higher prices for clothing, for food, for everything that's shipped around this country. This morning, we are going to break it down for you to show you how you can save the next time you fill up.
CHETRY: Also, Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is still clinging to power this morning. He claims that his country is calm and that people support him. Meanwhile, the U.N. says 100,000 people have fled the country, many of them now gathering on the border with Tunisia with no food or water and no place to go. There are some reports that Libya's security forces have turned on Gadhafi and are now siding with anti-government protesters.
VELSHI: And "The King's Speech" reigned at this year's Oscars, raking in four top honors: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
But last night wasn't all about the coveted trophies. We'll bring you some of the evening's unforgettable moments later in the hour.
CHETRY: Meantime, it is the news that really hits home -- surging gas and oil prices could cause serious damage to the economy and, of course, to your on personal economy as well. This morning, the price for a gallon of regular gas is now $3.37 a gallon.
Our Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
So, we saw this big jump.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
CHETRY: I mean, you know, 13 cents, 16 cents in some places. Some states are already paying $3.70 or higher.
ROMANS: All of this, Kiran, is like a tax. It's money right out of your pocket. You know, one analyst told me that every cent increase in the gallon of gas is $4 million every day right out of our pockets. That's money not spent somewhere else.
And that's why you've got some people concerned about what it means for both our economy and the overall economy in the U.S. So, you got oil prices moving higher. Once they moved above $100 a barrel, Kiran, you saw the gas prices just really scooted up there.
So, oil hit $100, gas prices guzzling higher as well, $3.37, up you know, 17 cents or 18 cents in just a couple of days -- and they could keep moving up a little bit. I mean, the moral of the story here is if you're passing buy a gas station this morning and you see a decent price, topper off, fill it up because you could see gas prices moving up here. Because we have demand issues coming up as we get later on the spring, the spring and summer driving season just right around the corner.
One thing you can do, there are some apps and Web sites, some places you can go to try to find the cheapest gas, although I want to caution you, AAA says don't drive out of your way for a few pennies cheaper because then you're wasting gas to get cheaper gas. So, you know, be smart about this, guys.
But Gasbuddy.com, Fuelmeup.com, Automotive.com. And there's AAA TripTik, that's an app for a smartphone, Cheap Gas is another one. If you know of any more, let's share them, guys. Tell me on Facebook, tell me on Twitter if it works. If you think it's a good one.
But a lot of people are just trying to save a penny here or there because, again, Kiran, it's money right out of your pocket. And the leading economists, too, we follow, told the National Governors Association this weekend, look, high oil prices, oil prices above $100 a barrel for crude, are the number one threat to the U.S. economy here. It's one of those things, unpredictable gas and oil prices are some thing that are just real hard on business budgets and our budget. And, Kiran, that's why people are so concerned.
CHETRY: That's right. Today, oil holding steady at $98 a barrel so far. But we have seen it ticked up into the $100 range over the past few weeks because of this unrest in the Middle East.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: Christine, good to see you. Thanks.
ROMANS: You, too.
VELSHI: Well, the world, and now, some of his trusted security forces are turning on Moammar Gadhafi this morning.
Right now, there is a showdown in Zawiya, it's a town 30 miles from the capital city of Tripoli, you can see it just to the left of Tripoli on the map there. Anti-government protesters there are heavily armed and surrounded by military troops who are still loyal to Gadhafi. "Reuters" reports the demonstrators have shut down a Libyan military plane.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling on Gadhafi to step aside. She's in Switzerland for a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council. She says America is ready to help any opposition forces who are trying to topple Gadhafi.
CHETRY: No one's budging in the labor standoff in Wisconsin. Protesters, though, are claiming a symbolic victory this morning. They've been ordered by officials to vacate the capital building -- this was yesterday -- so that it could be cleaned.
But a lot of the demonstrators refuse to leave and again, police backed off. They were able to spend the night there eventually.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES TUBBS, WISCONSIN CAPITOL POLICE CHIEF: We have decided tonight that there will be an opportunity for the remaining people to remain in the building tonight. There will be no arrests as we said before. There'd be no use of force. We want to people to continue to cooperate and work within the guidelines and laws of the state of Wisconsin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Meanwhile, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says that if his budget is not passed soon, 1,500 layoff notices will go out and the state workers will begin losing their jobs.
VELSHI: And it looks like the budget battle in D.C. is not going to lead to a government shutdown for now. Party leaders are considering a two-week continuing resolution that would include $4 billion in cuts. The Republican-led House already passed a spending measure that cut $61 billion from current levels for the rest of the fiscal year. Senate Democrats consider those cuts too severe and won't pass them.
The continuing resolution will keep the country running for another two weeks.
CHETRY: Well, the last known living American veteran of World War I died this morning. Frank Woodward Buckles, he was 110 years old. He drove an ambulance in France and rose through the ranks through corporal status. His family says that he died from natural causes at his home in West Virginia.
VELSHI: And with the Earth as their backdrop, shuttle Discovery's astronauts are preparing for their first space stroll. It's happening at the International Space Station later this morning. The walk is the first of two planned for this week. The astronauts will be fixing a broken ammonia pump and attaching an extension cable. The veteran spacecraft is on its final voyage.
CHETRY: Another earthquake in Arkansas and this 4.7 magnitude tremor shook the central part of the state last night. It was centered approximately 36 miles north of Little Rock, but people felt it as far as Memphis, Tennessee. There are no reports of any injuries or damage at this point.
And Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center for us this morning.
So, we're talking about earthquakes. Also, the threat of tornados out there this morning.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, tornados. There's been reports of flooding and now, some icing moving across port parts of New England.
So, a large, large storm system that had some damage yesterday across the midsection of the country, including tornados and damaging winds. And now, we're seeing this all press off to the east slowly but surely. But in some cases, these thunderstorms are moving fairly rapidly and they're pretty strong across, especially the Ohio and Tennessee valleys.
We do want to zoom in on this one spot that has an existing tornado warning that's posted for Hickman, Lewis and Perry counties right in central Tennessee. Lot of action this morning, especially in south and west of Nashville. These are heading to the east at about 50 miles an hour. So, moving fairly rapidly, it will probably miss Nashville.
But there are a slew of severe thunderstorm warnings all -- stretching all the way from northern Alabama and Mississippi, and up into parts of western Pennsylvania. So, a large storm system, also tornado watches that are in effect until this afternoon.
These watch boxes as this line moves in to a pretty juiced up atmosphere. Temperatures are very warm, lot of humidity now. We're getting in a time of year where the Gulf of Mexico starts to feed things.
Humidity moving to the Northeast, some warm moisture moving to the top of some colder air. Temperatures right around the freezing mark in Boston. So, northern New England especially seeing an icy start to your Monday. Eventually, warm air from the South will take over, but at least for the next few hours, it's going to be a slick go across much of New England and upstate New York.
Behind this system certainly is cool. It's windy yesterday with some fires breaking out across parts of Texas. Fifty-eight homes burned to the ground because of that. And the temperatures that are cold enough for snow behind this will probably not arrive until most of the moisture is gone.
If you are traveling today, there's already an hour and 20 minute delays across parts of the New York City area: LaGuardia and Philly having pretty hefty delays thus far and it will continue likely through the afternoon.
Guys, back up to you.
VELSHI: All right, Rob, thanks very much. We'll keep on checking with you.
Hey, King George conquered the Oscars. The movie about the stammering king's quest to find his voice took home the top prize during last night's Academy Awards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The King's Speech." Ian Canning, Emile Sherman, and Gareth Unwin, producers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Kareen Wynter is live in L.A. this morning.
No surprise in the big categories, Kareen. It seems the big headlines were the hosts falling a little flat, at least for the critic's case.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
CHETRY: And the actress who dropped the F-bomb on her acceptance speech.
WYNTER: And, you know, Kiran, thank goodness for a little bit of controversy because the reviews are in, and they don't look good at all for the hosts, Anne and James. They say the show completely, completely went flat, fell flat. And so, maybe that F-bomb may have helped out a little bit, because that's what we're talking about this morning.
Well, let's get to those leading categories. You know, again, no surprises here which made the show lackluster. We knew that Colin Firth would win, lead actor for his performance in "The King's Speech." And Natalie Portman, how adorable was she last night? She actually also took home the Best Actress statue.
All right, so, let's get to Ms. Melissa Leo. Her costar, Christian Bale, he took home Best Supporting Actor. And he even referenced the fact that, you know what, I've done it -- been there, done that, I've dropped the F-bomb before. Give her a break.
But listen to what Melissa Leo said during her acceptance speech that caused jaws to drop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELISSA LEO, WINNER, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: When I watched Kate two years ago, it looked so (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WYNTER: There you have it. Melissa Leo and that's going to be her Oscar moment. Everyone's not talking about the hideous dress that she wore, but the fact she dropped the F-bomb.
What do you guys think about that? You know, it's like we've heard it before with award shows. But it's like, what are you thinking lady --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: They work harder than we work in our business because they have to memorize their lines.
CHETRY: Yes, we have a teleprompter and --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: So, she -- but she had to know there was a good chance it was going to win. There weren't major upsets.
WYNTER: Of course, she did.
VELSHI: I'm a little puzzled by the whole thing. I have to tell you. I'm a little puzzled that that would come out of her mouth. I mean, she must have been going through something she would have said when she wins.
CHERY: Also, Kareen --
WYNTER: It was really uncomfortable to watch.
CHETRY: -- David Edelstein, one of our film critics who just joined us, he said he thought it was a little contrive. He said that was the biggest accidental F-bomb.
WYNTER: I watched it and I think your guest were right on it. When I watched last night, I thought that looked a little bit deliberate. Come on. At least, you know, you're on actress, you get paid big bucks to do this. Be a little more convincing.
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: OK. Did we beat up on her enough? Poor thing.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: She's a good actress. I mean, bottom line, she did win a big award.
CHETRY: Yes, good for her.
WYNTER: She's good, guys. I saw the dress in person, though, so take it from me.
VELSHI: I wasn't all that -- I wasn't all that bothered by the hosting. But, you know, I also eat a lot of fried food and sodium. So, I may not be best for this.
CHETRY: Yes, and you don't get out much. So --
VELSHI: I don't get out much. So, yes, what do I know?
WYNTER: Ali, come on, you weren't bothered by the fact that Anne seemed nervous and over-caffeinated, and James just seemed over it --
VELSHI: I thought she was sweet.
WYNTER: -- like he wanted to go home and have a beer.
VELSHI: I thought it was sweet. But what do I know?
As you know, Kareen, as we said earlier, I was just disappointed that I didn't get anything for my first movie role.
CHETRY: For his turn in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps."
VELSHI: My four-second role in "Money Never Sleeps."
WYNTER: But at least your performance was memorable. Last night, there wasn't a memorable line from the hosts, and it was so overhyped that people are really beyond disappointed.
CHETRY: Yes, we'll see what the ratings -- yes, we'll see what the ratings show and we'll see what direction they go next year.
Kareen Wynter, great to have you with us. Thanks.
WYNTER: Thanks, guys.
CHETRY: Revelations from Senator Scott Brown -- he has a new book out, "Against All Odds."
VELSHI: Fascinating stuff.
CHETRY: Yes, I couldn't put it down, actually. He really is candid about how difficult his childhood was. Moving 17 times in 12 years, not knowing where his next meal was going to come from, but how he was able to turn that around --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- thanks to some good coaches and love from his grandparents and basketball.
VELSH: We're going to be talking to him shortly.
Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff is blaming some of the very same people that he duped out of millions of dollars. You didn't hear that wrong. Details in a brand new interview this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fourteen minutes past the hour right now.
Senator Scott Brown joins us to talk about his new book. And in it, he opens up about his personal story, at times very painful, to reveal how he ultimately became the person he is today. It's called "Against All Odds: My Life of Hardships, Fast Breaks and Second Chances."
Thanks so much for joining us this morning, Senator Brown.
SEN. SCOTT BROWN (R), MASSACHUSETTS: Well, I'm happy to be on.
CHETRY: I just want to give people just a few tidbits from the book. You talked about -- I mean, you had a very difficult time. You had -- your parents split when you were a baby.
And your mother struggled to make ends meet. She married several different times and at times bringing several abusive men into your home. At times, you guys didn't even know if you have a roof over your head.
What was it like growing up in that type of circumstance?
SCOTT BROWN: Well, it was certainly challenging. It was a lot of unpredictability. You never knew what was really going to happen next, but the one thing throughout that whole situation was my mom was battling. She was trying to put a roof over our heads. She was working two and three jobs. So, I think she actually gave not only me, but my sister, that determination to never give up.
CHETRY: I want to ask you about the timing of the book. I know you're up for re-election next year and some people are say that the timing of the book sort of coincides with that. Why did you decide to write it?
BROWN: Well, I wrote it because they came to me and asked me. I had quite a few publishing houses asking to do a book. I have no control over the timing of it, but my election isn't almost for two years, so I'm not quite sure when I was supposed to do it. I wanted to get it out as soon as possible so I could move on and continue to, you know, do my work as a U.S. senator.
CHETRY: And you sort of had a call to make. I mean, you could write, you know, a very uplifting, sort of glossed over version of what happened or you could really get into some of the most painful parts of your life. How were you comfortable doing that and sharing with so many people some of the very, very difficult things that you went through but also revealing some of the, you know, personality flaws of other people in your life and your relatives?
BROWN: Well, certainly, it was difficult to do. I wrestled with a lot of it, but I wanted to have a good book. A book that actually, you know, didn't end up in the dollar bins, but actually would help people and open up the doors so they could actually take circumstances that happened in their lives and talk about it. It's creating an opening not only for me, but for others who had very similar circumstances.
Basically, the message is if you're having difficulties, and I know there are a lot of folks that have way more tough times than I do, if you have good people around you, you can usually make difference and break out of that cycle.
CHETRY: One of the things that you did when you talk about opening up is you revealed that you were sexually abused by a camp counselor. You run through how painful that was, and how he threatened to kill you if you told anybody, and here's what you wrote at the end of that.
You said, "There were, I knew now, no safe havens, no one I could truly trust, just my legs beneath me, running riding as far as they could carry me, and the slow motion of my lips, offering up a silent prayer."
You know, you really sort of recount your desolation at that time and how scared you were. Why didn't you feel like you could tell anybody?
BROWN: Well, that's the whole thing. Back then, I was a perfect victim. I was from a broken family, and my parents very rarely visited me, if at all, at the camp. In reflection, I called my mom, and we're talking about what happened now, and she said, was that the summer that you actually were calling all the time, wanting to come home. I said, yes, mom. That was the summer.
She says, oh, my goodness, I'm so sorry. I wish I would have known, but I was the perfect guy, you know, to be a victim, and I did fight back. In retrospect, sure, I would have loved to have told somebody, but who do you tell? I mean, that's the whole thing that's a perpetrator has over somebody like me is that you're scared to death. You're embarrassed.
You don't know where to go, what to do, and not only do they question you know, you then, there's also questions throughout your whole life. You never know when the right time is to bring it forward.
CHETRY: You know, and it is amazing because you certainly have gone through things that would break most people. I mean, you talk about the sexual assault and how difficult that was. You also, you know, had a very difficult time because you seem to write about in the book how there are very times when you necessarily didn't feel love. I mean, that you got dropped, I remember, to live with your aunt and uncle for awhile, and you were count how there was seconds for everybody else at the table except for you.
And that you're sitting there starving, and there were these delicious hamburgers in front of you and everybody got two, and you got one. I mean, how do you learn to love? I mean, how do you pass on, A, a successful marriage you have, and B, the love to your children when you didn't feel it growing up?
BROWN: Well, I think, I remember growing up and saying, I'm going to do that, but I'm not going to doing that. I'm definitely not doing that. I'm never going to be like my mom or dad when it comes to that. And I basically have just learned and have a wonderful wife and two great kids. I guess, I'm making up for that lost time. I don't miss games.
I try to check in with the kids every day. And I'm learning and growing each and every day, and we, like many other families, are a work in progress, but everything from this book has been positive and that we've been able to talk about, not only those situations, but many, many more. And I would encourage other families to do just that because it's a good feeling.
CHETRY: I want to ask you about politics for a second.
BROWN: Sure. What's that?
CHETRY: I know that you guys are returning to Congress this week. There's this looming threat of the shutdown. The only thing that anybody can seem to agree on at this point is that you guys are going to keep the government and the country running for two more weeks. What are the biggest roadblocks to getting a budget that was supposed to be passed last fall passed?
BROWN: Well, listen, there's no one in the minority party, i.e. in the Senate, the Republicans, who are talking about shutting down the government. What we are seeing is that this is a perfect opportunity to tackle the very real fiscal and financial problems that we're having in this country. And when I went down, came into the Senate, $11.95 trillion national debt.
It's over 14 trillion in counting. So, we need to make very serious efforts to get our fiscal House in order, and I'm encouraging everybody like they've done to get this two-week extension and keep working and looking at what we can do to stream-like, consolidate, and save the American people money.
CHETRY: Well, if they're going forward with the $4 billion in cuts, would that be OK with you guys in the senate? Do you think that would make it through your House?
BROWN: Well, you'd have to check with the house. I know that in the Senate, everything's on the table. I know that not only me, but all of my colleague, we're ready to sit down and hammer it out so we can keep the country funded and then move on and tackle the other financial and fiscal issues that we have.
CHETRY: All right. Well, it's great to talk to you this morning. I wish you, guys, luck. I know you have a lot in your plate. Sen. Scott Brown, thanks for joining us this morning.
BROWN: Thank you. Glad to be on.
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. It's 21 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: The Duke of Flatbush has died. Hall of Famer, Duke Snider, helped the Brooklyn Dodgers win their only World Series crown in 1955. Before they broke a lot of heart then headed for L.A., the duke hit 407 career homers, but he never got the attention that rival New York Center Fielders, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays received. Still, Dodger fans adored him and the rest of the Dem bums. Sorry.
(CROSSTALK) He (ph) was 84. His family says he died of natural causes. I tried to say causes.
CHETRY: Yes. Good try there.
VELSHI: That one, natural causes.
CHETRY: There you go. The Duke of Flatbush. Should have stopped there.
VELSHI: I probably -- I shouldn't stop while I was ahead.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, we have some video to show you of heavy rains in La Paz, Bolivia causing some major problems, landslides. Hilltop actually collapsed Sunday. Mud, water cascaded toward a nearby neighborhood. Four hundred homes were destroyed. People's furniture and personal items were swept away. They had to evacuate 5,000 people.
VELSHI: This story is pretty incredible. A visit to grandma's office turned pretty scary last week at a Georgia bank. A 14-month- old girl got locked inside a time-release vault. Now, the toddler and her mom were visiting the child's grandmother at the bank. The little girl wandered up. First responders rushed to the scene. Pumped fresh air into the vault. It was a time-release vault so they couldn't open it. A lock smith finally did open the door a few hours later. What part of that whole picture is wrong, Kiran?
CHETRY: A lot of it.
BON SNIVLEY, SAFE CRACKER: She was scared because of the drilling noise and all that. You know, once I heard her crying, and I knew everything was OK. It's just a matter of time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one of those things that you're -- this is a happy ending. It's just nice to have one of these.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Unbelievable, though. The little girl was fine. She needed a diaper change. I'm sure it was pretty terrifying to be in there for two hours not knowing anything, not knowing what's going on.
VELSHI: It just freaks me out even thinking about it.
CHETRY: I know.
VELSHI: To this day, I'm one of these guys, if I get locked into some -- I'm a little claustrophobic.
CHETRY: Yes. And the thought of, you know, I always check twice. you Don't lock your kids in the car accidentally. You're in and they're -- mine's 5 now. At least, she can unlock the doors, but --
VELSHI: Hopefully, this kid doesn't end up scared. She ends up thinking, ah, she had made it through being locked in the bank vault.
CHETRY: Exactly.
VELSHI: And nothing else is that much of a problem.
CHETRY: Hopefully, she doesn't remember it.
Well, a herd of goats, you know, we heard this very often, shut down a Minnesota highway over the weekend after a series of collisions. OK, and there is one. Witnesses say that 100 goats ran on to Interstate 5 Saturday night, and some drivers could not dodge the animals. Therefore, dozens were killed.
VELSHI: Oh.
CHETRY: Yes. And one driver was also hurt. Both directions of the highway were temporarily shut down.
VELSHI: Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING, Bernie Madoff speaks out again. This time, revealing how his Ponzi scheme got started, and why the whole thing was a nightmare for him, believe or not.
CHETRY: And in Libya, dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, losing control of power and could be facing a make or break showdown with anti- government protesters today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Half past the hour right now. Time for a look at our top stories.
A 4.7 magnitude quake in Arkansas last night. It was centered about 36 miles north of Little Rock, felt as far away as Memphis, but no reports of damage or injuries at this point.
VELSHI: Gas prices rising overnight. The national average is now $3.37 a gallon. That's according to AAA. Right now, California, Alaska, and Hawaii all have gas prices averaging above $3.70 a gallon.
CHETRY: Also, "The King's Speech" reigned supreme at the Oscars, but who was king and queen of the evening? Colin Firth crowned for best actor, and Natalie Portman nabbed best actress. She shined in her role as the troubled ballerina in "Black Swan."
VELSHI: Bernie Madoff is speaking out. You have heard he gave an interview to "The New York Times" a few weeks ago. But now the convicted con man is talking about how he feels about his victims in a new and different interview, and, get this, the toll his massive Ponzi scheme took on him. Wow.
Christine Romans joins us now with the story. It really is kind of amazing the stuff coming out of his mouth, none of it really pointing the finger at himself.
ROMANS: No. He's got a lot of time on his hands. He's been thinking a lot about his big, massive Ponzi scheme. He's sitting in a federal prison in North Carolina for 150 years, the rest of his life.
He goes to therapy and he was talking to a New York magazine, called a New York magazine writer collect and did a series of interviews about just what happened. And he's basically talking about the willful denial of his victims, saying that none of them is pleading poverty, which I will say is not true. I have talked to some of these victims, and some are pleading poverty and he says that they made a lot of money for an awful long time. He doesn't think any of their principal is going to be at risk.
He says, quote, "It was a nightmare for me. Even the regulators felt sorry for me." He talked about the new system of regulatory reform. You wonder why he would be an expert because he skirted under oversight altogether. He was just making up statements, making up statements every month. "The whole new regulatory reform is a joke. The whole government is a Ponzi scheme."
Ali, pretty interesting set of commentary from him. He also said something that really struck me. He said, "Look, you never hear about all the awards I won, all of the value I created before the business turned in the wrong detection. You never hear about all the wonderful things me and my family did. You never read about that." Of course you don't, Bernie, because there was a $65 billion Ponzi, scheme, the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.
VELSHI: And he was only able to do that because he won people's trust and they said this is a guy who's held office. He's been the chairman of the national association of security dealers. He must be an honest guy.
ROMANS: The whole thing was fake and he used those things -- he said in 1987, he started dipping into some client's accounts to cover their losses, which is what many had suspected. The market turned against him.
He also says he tried to turn some of the money back towards the end of the scheme and people wouldn't take it back. He said you know, people are getting 16 to 18 percent. Come on. If you think they didn't think twice, you're wrong. They did. They were getting eight to 10 percent pretty consistently, which is not really that far out of the realm of possibility.
VELSHI: It would you and me suspicious. It may not make everybody suspicious. But bottom line, blaming the victim is a little ridiculous.
ROMANS: He says he goes to therapy. And there's a great anecdote, I just had to bring this up. He said "Am I a good person? Do I have a fatal character flaw?" He said, "Am I a good person? I mean, am I really a sociopath? They're saying on TV I'm a sociopath." And he determined after therapy that no, he is not a sociopath.
VELSHI: Glad he getting something out of it. Christine, great to see you as always.
ROMANS: You're welcome. VELSHI: And we'll see you today on the show I'm normally on at 1:00 eastern.
CHETRY: Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his family have been banned from leaving Egypt and their assets frozen. Egyptian State run media reports that Mubarak has hundreds of millions of dollars stashed away in secret accounts in Libya as well as billions in properties outside of Libya. Egypt's attorney general requested the actions against Mubarak after three decades in power.
VELSHI: There's a showdown looming 30 miles from the Libyan capital of Tripoli this morning. Antigovernment protesters heavily armed are surrounded by the Libyan military. It could be Moammar Gadhafi's last stand after four decades in power. Nic Robertson joins us on the phone now. This is the stronghold of Gadhafi's supporter. What's it looking like?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's digging in and holding on where he can. When you look at Tripoli, he seems he has a grip on the city. There are more shops are open. People come up and tell you here they're just too afraid to go out and protest, too afraid of bloody crackdowns and they feel they're losing their momentum.
But in the town just outside of Tripoli, you have a lot of heavily armed antigovernment protesters in the center of the city there. But they are surrounded by Gadhafi's army. And it's not clear if they have -- to break out and expand their area of control.
What we seem to be getting into here is a situation of a stalemate. If Gadhafi's army was to go in there and try to take on those demonstrators, it would be essentially a bloodbath, and if they were to try to fight their way out, again, there would be a similar sort of situation, a lot of people killed.
So both sides are standing off at the moment and the city here, the capital firmly under his grip right now.
CHETRY: Just quickly, they've been talking to some of the U.N. sanctions, the no fly zone, trying to enforce that, trying ban him from leaving. Will that have an impact on actually going on inside the country right now?
ROBERTSON: It's not having a direct impact on what's inside the country, but it's having an impact. One of the reasons Gadhafi and his family have invited in they say over 100 journalists is to show what they say is their side of the story, which they say is they're misunderstood, that thousands haven't been killed.
So they are desperately trying to show they are firmly in control, that they're willing in part not to use maximum force all the time. They're trying show that they are willing to negotiate the control of the country again. They say they would change some elements of the government, change the constitution.
But this all comes in the face of these very bloody crackdowns that everyone says seems to be coming a step too late. They're behind international opinion, but of course, that international pressure is forcing them now on to the back foot to try and change their very bloody image they've got now.
VELSHI: Nic, thanks very much, on the phone from just outside of Tripoli.
Teachers, jobs, their benefits, their salaries, all of this is being discussed across the country
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: -- take away teachers' unions the right to collective bargaining. In many other places it's about teacher compensation in general. What's your view of how teachers are paid in this country? Are they paid fairly and adequately?
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the first part about this is that the very reason why the unions want to maintain collective bargaining because they can keep control of the way in which wages are paid is the exact reason why elected officials want to do away with it, because they feel the public needs to have more say in the way in which teachers are paid.
The question of whether or not they're paid fairly is a difficult one to answer. How much can you possibly pay a great teacher and how much should a poor teacher be paid?
VELSHI: So the issue then Steve may have more to do with letting the market dictate with what good and bad teachers can command. A lot of the issue has been around tenure or just security, seniority, the inability to keep good teachers because they may have less experience and get rid of bad teachers who may have more experience.
PERRY: That is exactly the problem. Because of the way in which the current contracts operate, it takes at least one year to get rid of a teacher. That means if your child was taking Spanish I, the teach you are was ineffective, in Spanish II, they're not going to have the opportunity to reconcile that. That means the child loses.
We so often focus on adults. I focus on children. What is the impact of a bad teach on hundreds? That's where the focus needs to lie. Not job security. You'll get that when you're good at your job. It's just that simple.
VELSHI: Why has collective bargaining become so central to this issue? What if you said you eliminate the tenure in first out, the seniority idea, but allow them to collectively bargain on other issues because they're a large group of employees?
PERRY: I think the reason why such an issue is for the same reason for both parties, meaning that the collectively bargained contracts give the unions an oligarchy. They have complete control of all labor, period. They're a private organization that controls quite a bit of public resources and services. On the same token, the elected officials are saying, hey, folks, when you do that, we've had to push so to get you to listen, we've had to do everything from fire everybody in the city to take things away to get you to come to the table and be reasonable.
VELSHI: You're convinced that's happening in Rhode Island, in providence, they want to fire all the teachers, 2100. And the union is saying hold on don't do that. Are we not dealing with two extremes here?
PERRY: We are. I think the circumstances have created that. These are not the best of times. As they say, pressure bursts pipes. Right now where we are is we have the worst economic times of at least my life, and we have the set of circumstances in which children still need to be educated. So we have to look at solutions. I don't know if we've gotten to that point yet.
Right now this is the month when testing occurs, the often talked about state testing throughout the country. This is about the time. We're having these discussions right in the middle of this --
VELSHI: Yes.
PERRY: -- well, this week actually. Tomorrow, we start our state exams. Not just here in Connecticut, but throughout the rest of the country.
VELSHI: Yes.
PERRY: We need to start looking at better solutions. In order for us to have this discussion around reducing class size for instance, we need to open up the idea and this is where the unions need to open up the idea. They need to open up the idea of allowing students to take online courses. Not because the teachers that are on the online courses are members of their unit but because it's best for kids --
VELSHI: Yes.
PERRY: -- and it's best for the community.
On the same token, we need to open up the idea that in order to reduce class size, we have to look at something like vouchers, where some kids are going to have to choose to go to private schools and that's going to decrease the number of students in your public school class.
VELSHI: All right.
PERRY: When we really put kids first this is how we get there.
VELSHI: Steve good to see you as always. Steve Perry, CNN education contributor and the founder of the Capital Prep Magnet School in Connecticut. Thank you Steve.
PERRY: Thank you for having me. VELSHI: We'll be right back. It is 45 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right, you are looking at Raleigh, North Carolina or at least a highway getting you there; 67 degrees now, going up to 83 later on. But in case you're jealous of them, they're going to have thunderstorms.
CHETRY: That's right. It's going to be warm but they are still dealing down with some pretty crazy weather. A tornado watch is over after a pretty wild weekend in parts of the middle of the country.
We have some video though from Oklahoma to show you where you can see some --
(CROSS TALK)
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: -- funnel clouds forming. Look at those. Also, some serious hail coming down. Forecasters say that the system is, as it is most of the time, moving east.
VELSHI: Rob Marciano is in our severe weather center with that. Rob, what do got on the -- on the radar for us?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The system that's moving east. There you go. And it's going to spawn potentially more severe weather this afternoon. Already we've seen a number of tornado warnings. Nothing verified yet this morning but nonetheless from Canada all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico, very large system and the cell, the individual cells are moving fairly rapidly to the east; anywhere between 40 and 55 miles an hour.
Tornado watches are posted for parts of Alabama, Mississippi and through parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. All the way up towards western Pennsylvania through this afternoon. And they'll probably issue a little bit more in the way of tornado watches through northern parts of Georgia later on this afternoon.
And the winds have been gusty with some of those and the rain has been very heavy especially across parts of western PA and northeastern Ohio. Some flooding going on those areas and that rain is heading into New York City where temperatures are pretty mild, right around 50 degrees.
But just north of New York City across New England upstate, the temperatures right around the freezing mark. So at least for the next couple of hours before this warm air really takes control, it's a bit of an icy start to your Monday. Massachusetts and northward (ph) especially.
The wind and rain causing delays at the airports. New York, LaGuardia already two hour and 20 minutes delays; and Philadelphia, you're seeing 25 minute delays. The front side of the system saw a good deal of wind just yesterday, especially across parts of Texas. That fan the flames to these wild fires breaking out across the western parts -- it's actually across the -- near the panhandle in midland.
Over 80,000 acres burned; 58 homes torched to the ground with this bad wildfire that just raged yesterday with those winds gusting 40 to 50 miles an hour at times.
On the flipside, the backside of this, unusually cold air across parts of the desert southwest and Los Angeles yesterday. This is in Tucson, Arizona where they were playing the Accenture World Match Play Championships and the two players Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer who -- who were supposed play and woke up to snow. And a little bit more of snow on the fourth hole.
They were able to start on time and complete the round. But nonetheless, that sun you don't see every day, even some snow -- Luke Donald by the way won that; he moves to third in the world. Martin Kaymer now number one.
There was even some snow across some of the higher terrain of Los Angeles. And not too high, I mean, in places just -- just west of Burbank seeing some snow yesterday as well; 62 degrees is the high temperature in L.A.
VELSHI: Did you say -- what did you say? Snow west of Burbank?
MARCIANO: Yes, just some of the -- you know, just -- just a little bit higher up, you know, in the hills there. There are a little -- a little bit of snow.
(CROSS TALK)
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: That's California for you. It can -- it can be the coldest place in the country and the warmest at the same time, right?
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Death Valley and where's that place that always gets very cold? You know it.
VELSHI: The cold place in --
MARCIANO: Yes, the cold place in -- in the Sierras --
CHETRY: Truckie (ph).
VELSHI: That's it.
CHETRY: I want to say truckie.
MARCIANO: Oh truckie, yes. Blue Canyon? Truckie tile, they're getting more snow by the way later on tonight.
VELSHI: Rob thanks a million and great to see you.
MARCIANO: All right, you two now.
VELSHI: All right, the Oscars, all about the kudos and the couture. But James Franco put on quite a fashion show with his pink frock. Who was he poking funny -- fun at when he did it? We'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Five minutes to the top of the hour now right now.
Charlie Sheen is not backing down. The "New York Post" is reporting this morning that the embattled actor is actually putting together a $320 million lawsuit against CBS and Warner Brothers and he also just keeps on giving interviews.
(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. Yes, I'm -- I -- I am on a drug. It's called Charlie Sheen. It's -- 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 -- it's just I -- I again, I woke up and decided, you know, I've been kicked around, criticized, I've been like an oh, shucks, guy with like this bitching rock star life, 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. 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 shows crew who lost pay when the season was canceled. He's the gift that keeps on giving.
CHETRY: Yes, he is. Unfortunately for him and --
VELSHI: Yes and for the workers.
CHETRY: -- for those whose livelihood depends on him right now.
We're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to show you some of the Oscar fashions. Who hit it out of the park --
VELSHI: And who didn't.
CHETRY: Yes. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Well, the Oscars, of course, Hollywood's big night and more important the talents sometimes -- listen, the Red Carpet is the fashion. So we're going to show you a couple of outfits. You like Mila Kunis, huh?
VELSHI: Yes, I'm going to have-- you're really going to take the lead on this one, I'll just chime with, you know, what I said. But Mila Kunis, I noticed what she was wearing.
CHETRY: Right. Lace and lilac; a really pretty, soft romantic look. It was a chiffon gown from Elie Saab, the haute couture spring collection. So you like -- we can't see -- move your head, buddy. There she is.
VELSHI: Move your head, buddy.
CHETRY: That's pretty, right?
VELSHI: It's interesting, yes.
CHETRY: All right. So, what if your date showed up in this, Ali? Cate Blanchette, a gorgeous woman, of course. This was the dress; it was a little -- you can't see the part that's --
VELSHI: This is what they're carrying on about this. You said it was some kind of --
CHETRY: Well, you can't see from this shot but the front is basically a big -- it's almost like a dinner plate on her chest. Like the way that they structured it -- it's just a big circle in the front. You can't see it from that shot.
VELSHI: You didn't like that that much.
CHETRY: No, I mean I'm not one to criticize other people's fashion, but I would say that it probably wouldn't be like the number one gown I'd choose.
VELSHI: Who were you talking about? I heard you talking about the red one that you liked.
CHETRY: Oh, I can't want remember now. Sandra Bullock. She looked great. She had a beautiful red outfit on as well. Just have to picture that in your head.
But thanks so much for being with us.
VELSHI: I'm here to show my support for this discussion.
CHETRY: Thanks so much for joining us this morning. We'll be back here bright and early, 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. Hope you'll join us.
VELSHI: Carol Costello is up next with "NEWSROOM."
