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American Morning
Opposition Holds Key Libyan City; Gas Up 4 Cents Overnight; Mixed Signals About Job Market; Pension Crush in the Steel City; Gadhafi Fighter Jets Strike
Aired March 03, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: On this AMERICAN MORNING, the latest with Libya. A bloody battle for control of the country as the dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, continues bombing his people, dropping bombs on one of his own cities. Anti-government forces are fighting back and trying to take back control, all while a battle unfolds here in Washington over just how much help America can be giving to Libya's rebel forces.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And a scare for tennis star Serena Williams. She had an operation this week to remove a clot from her lungs. She hopes to be back on the court this summer. Dr. Sanjay Gupta on her surgery and her chances.
CHETRY: Ibuprofen known as Advil is one of the most widely used painkillers in the country. Now researchers say it may have the power to ward off a much more serious disease.
VELSHI: And how this dancing cockatoo named snowball could help doctors find a cure for Parkinson's disease. All ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: New developments this morning out of Libya. Reports that Moammar Gadhafi once again bombing rebel-held cities as he tries to crush the uprising that's threatening his hold on power.
CHETRY: And the clock is ticking to save NFL football. Can players and owners reach a deal before the end of the day or is a lockout inevitable?
VELSHI: And a surprise appearance by CEO Steve Jobs as Apple unveils the iPad 2. Will it make you want to run out and get one? We'll run down some of the features on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning, I'm Ali Velshi.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. Great to have you here on this March 3rd. So we're going to run down some of the features of the new iPad, huh?
VELSHI: You're going to handle that, I'm sure. You love this thing.
CHETRY: We'll see if it's really worth it, I mean, to run out and buy a new one just about a year after it first came out.
VELSHI: It is pretty impressive. We'll talk about that. We've got a lot to talk about this morning, including new developments in Libya.
CHETRY: Yes. We are following that. It's beginning to look like an all-out civil war right now.
For the second day in a row, the dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, has been dropping bombs on his own cities. This morning, there are new reports of an attack on the eastern city of Brega. And what you're looking at is video from our crew on the front lines there after a fierce day- long gun battle and scores of casualties on both sides. But the opposition held and ended up driving the government forces out.
Meantime, U.S. warships are moving closer to Libya as we speak. And this morning, calls for a no-fly zone are getting louder. It's something the U.S. military would likely take the lead in enforcing. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says, though, that setting up a no-fly zone would basically mean war since the U.S. would have to strike Libya to take out its air defenses.
VELSHI: Gadhafi's fighter jets pounded two Libyan cities yesterday. Take a look at the map. Ajdabiya and Brega. Why is Brega so important to Gadhafi? Well, it's close to the home base for the rebels, which is Benghazi. It has an airstrip capable of landing a Boeing 727 and the big one, it's home to one of Libya's largest oil refinery.
Ben Wedeman was in the middle of it all. He's on the phone now from Benghazi, Libya.
Ben, when we spoke to you 24 hours ago, you'd come very close to one of those bombs that have been dropped. In fact, it was about 40 yards from you. What has happened since then?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, what we're hearing from the account of Brega is there have been more air raids. There was one attack on (INAUDIBLE) bombshells very close to the main gate of that refinery. Also, the air raid on Ajdabiya starting yet again, this ammunition stock that has been providing a lot of the weaponry and the ammunition for the rebels who yesterday weren't able to push pro-Gadhafi forces out of the town after as you mentioned that day long gun battle.
Now, I just got off the phone with somebody who lives in Brega. He said the anti-Gadhafi forces are gathering in that town, too, he says, start to push back -- push towards the Libyan forces, armed forces, in the town of Nalut (ph) where there are -- there's another large refinery. And so that does appear that they're trying to take the fight to the enemy now, trying to push forward in the direction of Tripoli. However, it's well over 400 miles between Brega and the Libyan capital.
VELSHI: Let me ask you this, Ben. What is likely to happen now? We know that there's this discussion about the U.S. military, anti- Gadhafi forces asking the U.S. military to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. That's obviously under some debate here in Washington. We're going to talk about that in a few minutes. But what are their options, those forces fighting Gadhafi and the government?
WEDEMAN: Well, their options are fairly limited. What we're seeing is, of course, they're trying to counterattack. But my sources are telling me that one of the main problems is there is no command structure. This is really just guys jumping into their cars, their pickups, and heading towards the front without any further logistical support, without any sort of air cover, which is the real problem, because the Libyan air force has still controlled the skies. So anytime a group of people gather, it comes from above, and then starts dropping bombs on them. So in the absence of a no-fly zone, any sort of military action is going to be (INAUDIBLE) at any moment (INAUDIBLE) in the air.
CHETRY: All right. We're losing him a little bit, understandably, because of his location. But Ben Wedeman for us, right in the midst of all of what's going on in Libya. We'll check in with him throughout the morning.
Meantime, anti-Gadhafi forces are asking the U.S. military for help. They want us to declare Libya a no-fly zone. But the White House is not ready to intervene at this point.
Right now, there are two amphibious assault ships, the USS Ponce and the USS Kearsarge. They passed through the Suez Canal and are moving closer to Libya's shores. The Obama administration wants them there to provide humanitarian help only. But Senator John Kerry says that we need to be ready to answer the call for military assistance as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: A no-fly zone is not a long-term proposition, assuming the outcome is what all desire. And I believe we ought to be ready to implement it as necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, that's easier said than done, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. He told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday that a no-fly zone operation would essentially mean more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: But the reality is, and people, there's a lot of, frankly, loose talk about some of these military options. And let's just call a spade a spade. A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that the U.S. is a long way from making a decision about participating in a no-fly zone operation.
VELSHI: And it seems that Moammar Gadhafi has a large appetite and a substantial budget for big time entertainment. This is video of Beyonce performing for the Gadhafi family in St. Barts in 2009. We told you yesterday about this. Beyonce has been getting some bad press, along with Nelly Furtado, Usher, Mariah Carey for collecting seven-figure checks from Gadhafi to perform for him or his family. Beyonce's people have now issued a statement saying, quote, "All monies paid to Beyonce for her performance at a private party at Nikki's Beach St. Bart's on New Year's Eve 2009 were donated to the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti over a year ago." They continue to say, "Once it became known that the third party promoter was linked to the Gadhafi family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause."
CHETRY: And Nelly Furtado has also said that they will be donating that money to charity as well.
Well, leaders of a controversial church in Kansas are promising to quadruple their protest at military funerals now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that those demonstrations are protected under the First Amendment. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church have picketed outside of many military funerals, holding anti-gay signs with anti- gay slurs, cheering yesterday's 8-1 Supreme Court vote. That angered Albert Snyder. His son was killed. His son Matthew killed in Iraq in 2006. He was the one who sued the church after they demonstrated at Matthews' funeral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERT SNYDER, FATHER OF FALLEN MARINE: This court has no problem with the government sending our children over to these wars, send them back in a body bag and not even have enough respect for that dead soldier to be buried peacefully.
MARGIE PHELPS, WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH: We are trying to warn you to flee the wrath of God. Flee eternal destruction. What could be more kind than that? Don't keep killing your children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The Westboro Baptist Church believes that military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are God's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality.
VELSHI: We'll have a chat with Jeff Toobin later on. He's an expert on the Supreme Court and he's going to break down exactly what the Supreme Court said. Why they held up the protection of the Westboro Baptist Church to protest outside of these funerals.
Extreme weather now. More wildfires popping up in Texas. Three new fires on top of the more than 70 already this week. Thousands of firefighters are battling the flames. They say some of the biggest fires are nearly contained. Seventy-eight homes have been burned down since Sunday and the flames at one point were burning through the length of a football field every minute.
And in Florida, firefighters have reopened a busy stretch of I-95. It was shut down for the second time in as many days yesterday because of smoke. Two major wildfires have now burned 18,000 acres along Florida's east coast. The flames are only 25 percent contained. At least one home was destroyed. Fire officials say no other homes appear to be in immediate danger.
CHETRY: Well, nine minutes past the hour. Let's check in with Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center. What are we looking at today as they continue to battle this blaze in Florida?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Pretty much the same time as yesterday, which is east-northeasterly winds. It will be gusty at times in the afternoon and I think that's the main reason they weren't able to contain more of this thing yesterday. But it's blowing down to the west and southwest. So similar conditions today and yesterday.
A little further inland, conditions are a little bit more ripe and there's a red flag warning posted. And as we've been talking about the state, the entire state of Florida is an extreme drought for the most part. One of the driest winters that they've seen in decades.
All right. One of the colder winters that we've seen across the northeast. And guess what, a little reminder this morning that it's just that, winter.
Twenty-one degrees in New York. It's 11 right now in Boston. Twenty- six in D.C. and 11 in Pittsburgh. A far cry from the spring-like temperatures yesterday. All the warm air is down across the south in Texas. That certainly doesn't help the wildfires there. The western storms are moving inland and the Pacific Northwest seeing another storm line out there.
Here are your high temperatures for today. With temps only getting into about the freezing mark in New York City. Hope you guy didn't put away your winter coats just yet. We're not done.
VELSHI: And as I walked in this morning, it definitely had a winter chill to it. Rob, good to see you. We'll check in with you a little later on.
MARCIANO: Sounds good.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Wisconsin State Republicans want Democrats to pay now a fine for every day that they're away from the state. But how much and will this really bring them back to vote on that controversial union issue?
VELSHI: And, by the way, later on we will explain to you about that union issue, what is actually at stake and why it matters in places other than Wisconsin.
Plus, the wait is over for Kiran. Apple unveiled the new iPad. But that may not have actually been their biggest surprise. We'll tell you about that when we come back.
CHETRY: And the most famous locks on the planet. How much is Justin Bieber's hair worth? You may remember he cut it.
VELSHI: It's worth a lot for me not to see every kid wearing that hairstyle.
CHETRY: Yes. Well, you know what? I think the cat is out of the bag.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: We'll be right back. Eleven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: This happened after we ended our show yesterday but it became very big during the course of the day.
President Obama now saying he's saddened and outraged by a deadly attack on two U.S. Air force airmen in Germany. They were gunned down on a military shuttle bus at Frankfurt airport. Two other servicemen were injured. Authorities say the alleged shooter is a 21-year-old from Kosovo, a devout Muslim, who worked at the airport. He's now in custody. There are reports that the suspect argued with the airmen before the shooting.
CHETRY: Wow. Well, a major health scare for tennis star Serena Williams. She is recovering from emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from her lungs. The 29-year-old Williams has been out of action since winning Wimbledon last July. She says she hopes to be back on the court by early summer. We're going to check in with Dr. Sanjay Gupta in the 7:00 hour for more on what the surgery is like and how long it takes to recover from it.
VELSHI: And we are less than 18 hours away from pigskin Armageddon -- a possible NFL work stoppage. League and its players union will take one last stab at mediation talks this before the current collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight. We're talking about collective bargaining at two separate levels today, this one about sports.
The owners may lock the players out before the deadline, and that's a move that could put the upcoming season in jeopardy.
CHETRY: Oh, you remember the drama after the Super Bowl -
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- where these fans have bought tickets and were told they couldn't sit in their seats. Well, it appears the NFL is now backing off the promise they made to those 2,000 plus fans in the Super Bowl seating debacle. They were told that their seats weren't safe, they were moved elsewhere.
Well, now, they say the league has downgraded their previous offer, giving them a choice of cash or face value of their ticket or a ticket to a future Super Bowl. Now, you may remember, at one point, they were talking about flying them out and - VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: -- giving them a cash, they could take a cash option of $5,000.
VELSHI: Yes. And the tickets were transferable. I don't know if they still maintain that. But, anyway, if you're one of those 2,000 people, they're changing the offer.
The federal government is going to continue to function for at least two more weeks.
CHETRY: You know, that President Obama has signed a stop gap spending bill the resolution passed in the Senate yesterday cutting $4 billion on spending on agriculture and education and problems that the president had already targeted.
Well, it's up to the House and Senate, though, to agree on a budget bill for the rest of the fiscal year. And the president has tapped his number two, Vice President Joe Biden to try to help get that done. Biden will be on Capitol Hill today, meeting with Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle, to try to hammer out an agreement.
VELSHI: And FOX News has suspended the contract of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Now that both contributors are considering a bid for the White House in 2012, suspensions remain in effect for 60 days and the contracts will be canceled on May 1st if either these two guys are running.
A FOX News spokesperson says the same policy will apply to Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee if either of them decides to form an exploratory committee to seek the presidency.
CHETRY: Well, sorry, I got excited.
VELSHI: I know - I - you understand that this is what I'm supposed to read, right? But I know - I know -
CHETRY: No, you go.
VELSHI: It's - it doesn't seem fair for me to tell the story.
CHETRY: The iPad 2, they unveiled it. Now, we talked about it yesterday.
VELSHI: We have certainly did.
CHETRY: We have more details on - on why it's so much better, right? And the other surprise was that Steve Jobs actually appeared there.
VELSHI: Yes. And there was a number of people - he hasn't been seen a lot in public and there were a number of people who were surprised by that. He walked out and he got a standing ovation. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE JOBS, APPLE CEO: We've been working on this product for a while, and I just didn't want to miss today. So thank you for having me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Now, the new iPad is thinner, it's faster, it's lighter than the original iPad. And that's -
CHETRY: Well, it's 0.2 ounces lighter. Is that really that crazy? It weighs -
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: OK. All right. Yes. I mean, it's technically lighter.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: But that doesn't really -
CHETRY: But it's - that's more, you know, you have gum in your pocket that will be heavier than that.
VELSHI: But - but it's got something you like. It's got front and rear-facing cameras. Explain to me again why you need front and rear- facing cams -
CHETRY: You need the front-facing camera for face time.
VELSHI: So you could -
CHETRY: For Skype -
VELSHI: Skype or whatever you're doing.
CHETRY: Yes, anything. For video conferencing.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: And then the other camera is just to take pictures.
VELSHI: Got it. OK.
CHETRY: The other thing, it's supposedly 33 percent thinner. So that's kind of cool. And they also claim that the operating system because it's a dual-core processor is quite as fast.
VELSHI: You can do two things at the same time.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: Because right now, it's been - until now it was sort of a glorified iPhone. CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: Now, it feels more like a computer -
CHETRY: You have to shut down one app -
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: -- to be able to pull up another.
VELSHI: It starts a $499. It ships next Friday. Or if you're Kiran, I think you're off next Friday, right? You're going to be at the Apple Store -
CHETRY: Yes, right.
VELSHI: -- waiting for it to - to come out.
CHETRY: I can hold off - I can hold off to my birthday.
VELSHI: All right. Fair enough. When's your birthday?
CHETRY: August.
VELSHI: I don't think you're (INAUDIBLE).
Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING, the state of your job, two different reports offering two different perspectives of the job market. We'll bring you details after this.
CHETRY: Also, in Pennsylvanian and other great American towns, they could be facing some major financial problems. We're going to have more on what the solutions may be for some states in crisis.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. You know, sometimes you're driving by the gas station, and you see the sign and whatever, you - you see it every day. You might be doing some double takes today. It is remarkable.
According to the AAA, the price of a gallon of regular is up four cents from the last time we told you about this 24 hours ago. It is now $3.43. That's the national average for a gallon of unleaded, self-serve gasoline.
We already know that those of you in California are paying $4. Drivers in Hawaii continue to pay the highest price in the nation. The average is $3.82, but there's a lot of gas that's higher than that, again, as we said in - in California, while the average is lower. We - we've had our crews out there, shooting gas stations where the price is $4. A number of you constantly tweet me to tell me that.
And, by the way, all of our Canadian viewers tweet to say we're paying $5 a gallon of - they have been -
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Richard Quest of CNN says we pay by the liter, so we're not worried about you guys -
VELSHI: Yes. That's right. Yes, Richard - in the U.K. So, bottom line is - but we are getting back up there. Christine, good to see you again this morning.
ROMANS: Nice to see you too.
VELSHI: Christine is "Minding Our Business."
ROMANS: I'm going to talk to you about jobs a little bit, and - and, you know, the gas prices and the oil prices feed into this because this is something that -
VELSHI: Into the recovery, right?
ROMANS: Right. Absolutely. It's something that Ben Bernanke has been asked about on Capitol Hill this week. He's also been asked about Republican plans for spending cuts and what that would mean for jobs, and he says the impact mean the loss of jobs because of two big spending cuts would not be trivial.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: They would reduce growth, but we think it's - given the size, it's more, you know, a couple of one- to two-tenths in the first year, another tenth in the next year, something in that order of magnitude, and that would translate into a couple of hundred thousand jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That would translate into a couple of hundred thousand jobs. So you've heard from some other economists like Mark Zandi from Moody's and many others that we've talked to who are - who are here on the air who've said that cutting - cutting now in the budget has to be done very, very carefully with a long-term eye to - to deficit reduction, but also not to hurting what has been a - kind of a shaky recovery.
Now, we're going to know more about the state of the jobs market on Friday with the big jobs report. Of course, we'll be here to break that for you live. But we've got a - a private sector of the automatic data processing report, private sector payroll showing that we added maybe 217,000 jobs in February.
A poll of economists by CNNMoney.com found an average of about 190,000 jobs, maybe a 9.2 percent unemployment rate -
VELSHI: But - but remember that these estimates have, more often than not in these last few months, been wrong.
ROMANS: They have been wild. They've been wild. And that shows you how difficult this recovery has been, that we just can't get a grasp on which direction the jobs market is going. CHETRY: And the other interesting thing is you hear Ben Bernanke saying one- to two-tenths, averaging to a couple hundred thousand jobs -
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- or as - I thought Mark Zandi said half a million or more, right?
VELSHI: Yes, 600,000.
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: But let's just clear this up for one second.
ROMANS: Well (INAUDIBLE) been wrong for a - several years -
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I think there's a really important message to get out here, and that is that we need economic growth to create more jobs. If you do anything at this delicate time - delicate time in our economy to reduce growth at all, on any front, it will cost you jobs. Less jobs - fewer jobs mean fewer people paying taxes -
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: -- which ultimately goes to reduce the deficit.
So, please, for everybody out there who's so nuts about cutting the deficit, that always goes along with the caveat that there are sometimes you shouldn't do it, and we may still be in that time. And I think we just have to be very cautious.
ROMANS: Now, let me bring in oil here, because when you're looking at oil about $102, you know, yesterday. And you've got some CEOs who are now saying, well, we had hiring plans. We thought we were going to be ramping up hiring, but we had to see what our - our costs are going to look like because of energy costs that come out of this.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: So, all of it feeds into these two things.
VELSHI: It all affects jobs.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: It's never a good day to cut the deficit, as we know. And it's never a good day to be -
VELSHI: Right. But there are - but there are times when the economy's booming, it's doing a little better, we're growing at four, four and a half, five percent, then do it.
ROMANS: We need strong economic growth. That would make all of these tough choices a little easier.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: And that's what - you know, that's the bottom line. How do you get that?
CHETRY: All right. Well, Christine, thanks so much for joining us.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: We'll see you in a couple.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: Meantime, coming up next, we're still debating this issue of budgets and trying to cut, and - and what it will affect. And in Wisconsin, of course, we've seen it firsthand. Democrats there could be forking over some money if they don't return to work. But will it - will it really bring them back to the state to vote?
VELSHI: And it's one of the most popular over-the-counter medications in America. Now, a study suggests ibuprofen may be able to prevent a lot more than just pain. We'll tell you on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Wow. Look at that sunrise.
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: Beautiful this morning over New York City. It's only 21 degrees, so enjoy it from inside right now.
VELSHI: And the sun's going to warm things up -
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: -- to a balmy 31 degrees.
CHETRY: Yes. Pack your gloves, pack your scarf. We're still in winter, at least on the East Coast today.
And welcome. It's 30 minutes past the hour.
Top stories, we're following the latest with Libya, and again, this morning, new air strikes falling - bombs falling in two Eastern Libyan towns that the opposition held onto yesterday after a fierce battle with Gadhafi loyalists. One of the towns is home to a critical oil refinery.
VELSHI: The Ohio state senate passes a controversial bill that limits collective bargaining for state workers. Among other things, the measure eliminates the workers' ability to strike and prevents them from negotiating health care.
Democrats described the bill as union-busting. Republicans say it's needed to cut costs. It now heads to the Republican-controlled House.
CHETRY: And in Wisconsin, state Senate Republicans turning up pressure on their Democratic colleagues who left town weeks ago to prevent a vote on the proposed "budget repair bill" as it's called, that includes slashing collective bargaining rights of some unions. They voted to impose a $100 per day fine on any senator absent who is without leave for two or more days.
The missing legislators' checks are already being withheld from direct deposits. Democrats say the threats, though, will not sway them.
VELSHI: In Pittsburgh, the Steel City, they are proud of a football team that uses discipline and efficiency to achieve Super Bowl success. But Pittsburgh is going to need one heck of a Hail Mary pass to win an even bigger battle as we continue to deal with these budget battles across the country. It's got a very broken city budget.
Jim Acosta joins us live from Pittsburgh. It's a city that's getting blitzed by its own employee pension plan.
Jim, what's the story in Pittsburgh?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, I was trying my best to avoid all Steeler analogies in the story, so you beat me to it. Thanks very much.
You know, Ali, as you know, a lot of mayors and governors are watching what is happening in Wisconsin. They know what it happening there could sweep across the country. And they know that all too well right here in Pittsburgh where the pension problems -- yes, the pension problems could crush the Steel City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): The fiscal house is on fire in Pittsburgh. Unless the city can get a handle on its out-of-control pension costs for its firefighters and other public workers, local leaders have said they are facing financial Armageddon.
(on camera): Is that overstating it?
MAYOR LUKE RAVENSTAHL (D), PITTSBURGH: Well, I think we're headed that way. The reality is --
ACOSTA: You're heading towards Armageddon?
RAVENSTAHL: We'll, we're heading towards very difficult scenarios.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Pittsburgh cannot meet its obligations to its pension system to the tune of $700 million. This in the city that already spends 50 cents of every dollar on pension, health care cost and debt. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, a Democrat who grew up in a union family, blames his city's labor agreements.
RAVENSTAHL: Things have to change. ACOSTA: The city's firefighters and police can retire at age 50, after 20 years of service, landing a pension equal the half of their take home pay. Firefighters can even boost their pensions by working more overtime in the last three years on duty. A practice called pension spiking.
(on camera): Is that fair?
RAVENSTAHL: It's not. And we've brought it up to the fire union. They're aware of it. Of course, they push back.
ACOSTA: Usually, pension spiking does not go on?
ROBERT COX, BATTALION CHIEF: Not in this bureau. I'm not sure how it does in other cities. But in this way, our overtime is distributed. It's an even rotating list.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Firefighters deny their engaging in pension spiking. They blame city hall.
WILLIAM GILCHREST, PITTSBURGH FIREFIGHTER ENGINE 17: Because of fiscal mismanagement of the cities, the governments and things, the working man shouldn't have to suffer for that.
ACOSTA: Ralph Sicuro, with the local firefighters union, is open to raising the retirement age but says this no job for senior citizens.
RALPH SICURO, INTERNATIONAL FIREFIGHTERS UNION REP.: So, what am I supposed to do with somebody that reaches the age of 65 and they want you now to work until your 70. What do I tell them? They can't -- they can't get up on the rig anymore.
ACOSTA: The mayor warns the pension system needs more than tweaks.
RAVENSTAHL: If I had my way, we would be able to offer 401(k) plans to city officials and government officials.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Now, that is a nonstarter to the unions in the city. Keep in mind: many of them do not qualify for Social Security benefits. They rely on these pensions. But unless Pittsburgh gets ahold of these problems, the state could actually take over its system and force the city into some painful choices. And, Ali, that means either raising taxes or possibly massive layoffs in the city.
VELSHI: So, one of the things you wanted to be clear on here. So, you pointed out some of the examples in which perhaps people take advantage of the system, like the pension spiking and things like that. But one of the things that unionized workers like to point out to me whenever we talk about collective bargaining or union or budget troubles is that pensions were all designed to meet the needs of people who were subscribing to them.
ACOSTA: Exactly. VELSHI: And there are a lot of people who argue that it was the pension managers, it was the fund managers, it was the cities and states that mismanaged those pensions.
ACOSTA: Right.
VELSHI: They assumed a higher rate of return. And now, it's getting piled back on to the workers because these pensions don't have enough money. So, there's an interesting debate here. Whose fault is it that these pensions don't have enough money?
ACOSTA: Yes, and the unions and -- the unions and the mayor both agree on that issue. They say that this fund was mismanaged many years ago. What the mayor says is that, you know, that is all sort of a side show to the reality that is happening here in Pittsburgh. And that is if they don't get this budget under control, their hand is going to be forced.
VELSHI: Right.
ACOSTA: The state has guidelines as to how to manage this pension fund. And if it isn't managed to those guidelines and the state comes in and takes over and forces Pittsburgh's hands, it makes them do some pretty painful things, which they don't want to do, Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Jim, thanks very much. Good to see you.
CHETRY: Well, it's time to look at other states in crisis because Pennsylvania is not alone. Wisconsin is not alone. Ohio is not alone.
In Providence, Rhode Island, hundreds of people rallied in support of the city's teachers union. They called on Providence Mayor Angel Taveras to rescind the pink slips that were handed out to all of the district's 2,000 teachers and staffers last week. Union leaders say that he demoralized and disrespected educators by doing that. The actual number of teacher layoffs will not be known until the mayor and city council try to balance the budget.
Meantime, in Portland, Maine, state workers are making their voices heard, kicking up three days of demonstrations against the governor's proposed budget cuts. They include changes to the state's pension system. State workers claim they are being targeted for the state's financial missteps.
And in Albany, New York, angry demonstrators converged on the state's capital building, 17 people were arrested. The protesters angry about the budget process and Governor Cuomo's proposed cuts which slash programs for the poor -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Kiran, with all of the talk of protests, government shutdowns and employee rights, one term we keep on hearing is "collective bargaining" or negotiations between an employer and a group of employees to determine the conditions of their employment.
So, I want to give you both sides of the collective bargaining argument.
Let's start with the pros. One of the things that's important in collective bargaining is the ability to raise wages. Collective bargaining gives unions the power to negotiate wages, and unions often succeed in getting higher wages for their members than those members would get if they weren't unionized.
Another pro is employee protection. Collective bargaining helps protect workers from abuses of power, things like arbitrary firing or making workers work longer hours without overtime or under unsafe conditions. The idea behind collective bargaining is that the relationship between an employer and a worker is unequal. The worker really needs the job more than the employer really needs the worker. So, by combining the workers into a group, it helps even the playing field.
So, really, the big advantage is power in numbers. Unions say that collective bargaining is a safe guard to ensure that everyone's interests are considered. Now, workers speak together as a body so they assert their rights using their strength in numbers.
OK. Those are some of the pros. Let's talk about some of the cons of collective bargaining. Some of the reasons why the state governments want to eliminate it.
Well, those higher wages that we talk about -- well, what's good for the worker isn't always good for the company. Higher pay per hour means less output or less work performed per dollar paid. That means a company with a unionized workforce that uses collective bargaining to get their members a higher wage -- well, they may not be able to sell their product as inexpensively as a company that doesn't have collective bargaining. Ultimately, that could mean that the higher wage unionized company might lose business and it may have to lay off its higher paid workers. That's something we've seen in the airline and the auto industries. The higher wage could mean a layoff.
Another con is rewarding the bad collectively bargaining. Well, what it can do is it can award people, teachers, other workers with tenure, a contractual right that's based on seniority. In many cases, it prevents a worker from being fired, unless they've done something really bad.
But critics say that tenure and seniority rules are disincentive to doing really well on the job because all you have to do to keep your job is not break any rules.
So, all of this is what's coming into play. It's why these states, Kiran, keep on saying that they can save money if they eliminate collective bargaining -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Good break down, Ali. Thanks so much.
Also, the world famous designer out of job is now in danger of actually going to jail. We're going to have more on the latest legal trouble for John Galliano over an alleged anti-Semitic rant. And we'll introduce you to the Internet dancing sensation that is snowball. A cockatoo that can keep a beat but also may be able to help people battling Parkinson's disease.
Thirty-nine minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Forty-one minutes past the hour.
New this morning: a judge delaying the trial of a man accused of killing Michael Jackson. The postponement came after the prosecution accused Dr. Conrad Murray's defense team of not sharing information. The trial is now set to start May 9th. Murray is accused of giving Jackson a fatal dose of the anesthetic Propofol before he died -- powerful anesthetic that is used mostly in hospitals. It's to put surgical patients to sleep.
VELSHI: The world famous fashion designer John Galliano will stand trial in France over an alleged racist rant. He could go to prison for up to six months. This one came after -- came before anti-Semitic tirade that was caught on tape and cost him his job at Christian Dior. The designer apologized for his behavior but insisted he is not anti- Semitic, which is hard to come by after you hear what he said on the tape. Dior says it will go ahead with his Paris fashion show starting tomorrow.
CHETRY: Well, Justin Bieber's hair does more than make tweens scream. It also saves farm animals now. The online casino GoldenPalace.com bought Bieber locks -- remember when he got a haircut, he changed the Bieber and now, he has that -- for over $40,000.
VELSHI: Oh, come on.
CHETRY: Yes, $40,000 for those bangs. Biebs gave the bangs to Ellen DeGeneres after hi new haircut and then she auctioned them off to a charity. And, again, the proceeds go to Gentle Barn. It is a nonprofit organization that helps abused farm animals.
VELSHI: It's going to a good cause.
CHETRY: It's come full circle.
VELSHI: I will never be able to donate my locks to a good cause.
CHETRY: That's why -- no -- that's why you have no hair because you donate on a weekly basis.
VELSHI: Right. And I'm nice to farm animals anyway.
CHETRY: Good for you.
VELSHI: All right. The popular pain reliever ibuprofen sold under brand names like Advil and Motrin may lower your risk of Parkinson's disease. Here's your A.M. house call. CHETRY: The Harvard School of Public Health studied more than 130,000 healthy men and women and found that those who took ibuprofen at least twice a week over a six-year period lowered their risk of developing Parkinson's by 38 percent, compared to those taking different pain killers. Researchers say that study suggests that ibuprofen could be a potential neuroprotective agent. They also warned though that there are still important safety questions that need to be answered about the long-term regular used of ibuprofen.
VELSHI: And -- I love this story -- meet Snowball, he might help -- I can't even concentrate. He might be able to help ward off Parkinson's. We're doing this in the studio because it's really kind of --
CHETRY: Addictive.
VELSHI: It is addictive. Right now, he's being -- he's content being an Internet sensation. Researchers claim at that dancing cockatoo from Indiana is the first animal ever to synchronize to a musical beat. Now, why is this important? Researchers from the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego have been analyzing the video of the bird for years or maybe they've just been staring at it and say that he is giving them fresh insight into the power of music and movement to treat human disorders like Parkinson's disease.
CHETRY: You still haven't sold me. I think it's an excuse to run that video.
VELSHI: You're going to have the Science Channel to figure out the rest of it.
CHETRY: I need some specifics. So, he bobs up and down, and somehow that's helping them better understand how to treat Parkinson's, OK?
VELSHI: Is Sanjay coming on the show? Maybe we can ask him about that.
CHETRY: Yes, I might mail that question. What he'd say to me.
Still to come this morning, it's colder for the Northeast and another storm taking aim at the West Coast. Rob's going to be back and have this morning's travel forecast right after the break. It's --
VELSHI: Forty-five minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: Forty-seven minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines.
CHETRY: Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center for us this morning. Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: You may want to put, you know, a hat or a toque, as you say, in Canada.
VELSHI: Thank you for saying that.
CHETRY: What do you call it?
VELSHI: It's a toque. A Canadian sort of -- I don't even know what you're calling. If you don't call it a toque, what do you call it, Rob? It's just like --
MARCIANO: Hat. Yes, it's good question, you know? If you want some, you know, neat little terms that make short cuts out of English, you know, go to our friends up north.
VELSHI: That's right.
MARCIANO: Anyway, good day for a toque. Check out these temperatures. Twenty-two degrees in New York City right now, but right around 10 in Boston. Twenty-five degrees in D.C., 12 in Pittsburgh. These are temperatures that are definitely colder than what we saw yesterday, in most cases, and a lot of cases, about 10 to 20 degrees below average. So, that's going to be the call today as far as what kind of temperatures we're looking at.
Also, flooding. This is going to be ongoing issue. All the rain that we saw the past week and all the snow pack that we've had the past winter, that's all trying to get down into the river systems, and we've got flood warnings out for several states, including the Mississippi River which probably won't crest until Friday or Saturday. And then, we'll probably see this happen several times throughout the springtime.
A little snow going across parts of the upper Midwest and the Western Great Lakes. This isn't a big deal. It's going to go up into Canada where they're very too friendly, and then, back toward the west we're looking at also the system that came through California slammed them yesterday, moving inland. Higher elevation snow is quite a bit of it.
Sierra Nevada is getting it, as well, and another storm ling up out there in the Pacific Northwest. As far as travel delays today, probably some delays in New York, but shouldn't be that big of a deal. Boston and Minneapolis seeing some delays as well. San Francisco and Los Angeles, 30 to 60-minute delays. As far as the fire weather is concerned, there are some issues across parts of Western Texas where they're still battling that fire.
Conditions not really helping today. Very dry, very warm, and at times, it will be breezy. Also dry and warm and breezy across parts of Florida. The chill continues to today as this slides down from our friends in Canada where they've given us cold air and things to take care of it, but good looking toque.
VELSHI: It's definitely toque weather.
CHETRY: He just showed me. It's just a hat. It's a knit-cap.
VELSHI: Right, but we don't know of its anything else. In Canada, the weather guy will say on TV, oh, it's going to be a cold one. You better put your toque on today. CHETRY: OK. I'll call you with something else. It's a hat.
VELSHI: It's just a hat?
CHETRY: Yes.
MARCIANO: Not to be confused with toque. Of course, two different things.
VELSHI: Thank you for -- thank you. Good shout out to our Canadian friends.
MARCIANO: Lot of Canadian friends. I love our folks.
VELSHI: I mean, it's incumbent upon you to say nice things about Canadians, but you are constantly blaming Canadians, right?
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: It makes up for all the times he refers to the Alberta Clippers.
VELSHI: That's exactly right.
CHETRY: All right. Well, thanks so much, Rob. We'll see you in a few.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
VELSHI: Top stories just minutes away. Also, they protest soldiers' funerals and they say some vile, hateful things, but they've got the right to say them. We'll break down a Supreme Court decision that has an anti-gay church celebrating this morning.
CHETRY: Also, the clock is winding down. No time-outs left. Will there be football next season? The latest on deadline day. The NFL labor talks coming up.
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VELSHI: Well, one is an actor and the other is a dictator. Charlie Sheen and Moammar Gadhafi have had both -- they both have plenty of rant about lately.
CHETRY: Yes, but you might need Watson, the computer, to figure out exactly what it is they're saying. Jeanne Moos took to the streets for an informal poll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It had to happen, Moammar Gadhafi and Charlie Sheen seen simultaneously live on morning television.
MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER: Wait, wait, wait.
MOOS: Gadhafi using words that stumped even the translator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A colloquial term used by the Gadhafi which I did not understand.
MOOS: But some of Sheen's quotes are little hard to fathom. There's even something called "live the Sheen dream" that generates some of his pithier quotes when you click on his head. Women's guardian newspaper put a quiz on their website called "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
MOOS (on-camera): Gadhafi or Sheen? Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it's Gadhafi.
MOOS: Charlie Sheen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlie Sheen again.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body. Too much.
MOOS (voice-over): Nah, not too much. He was only joking about the effects of the drug he's on.
CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: I am on a drug. It's called Charlie Sheen.
MOOS: Meanwhile, Gadhafi is always blaming hallucinogenic pills for the actions of protesters.
MOOS (on-camera): "I have defeated this earthworm with my words. Imagine, what I would have done with my fire-breathing fists?"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gadhafi, I don't know.
MOOS: Sheen. I am like the queen of England?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gadhafi.
MOOS: Yes.
MOOS (voice-over): both men surround themselves with women. Gadhafi has his female bodyguards. Sheen has --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The goddesses now live with Charlie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your two girlfriends, the goddesses.
SHEEN: Yes.
MOOS (on-camera): But you sure you can't say Sheen and Gadhafi dress alike.
MOOS (voice-over): Gadhafi and his falling-off the shoulder robes that requiring constant rearrangement while Sheen shows up in a New York City T-shirt made famous by John Lennon, "Let It Be."
MOOS (on-camera): But they did make some surprisingly similar gestures.
MOOS (voice-over): Gadhafi to his chanting followers. Sheen to his kids.
SHEEN: You're right here.
MOOS (on-camera): Seriously, though, sorry, Charlie, we know the comparisons between you and Gadhafi are ridiculous.
MOOS (voice-over): But we in the press just can't resist. At least, Sheen has some defenders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's crazy. I've seen worse.
PIERS MORGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I believe fundamentally in man's right to party if he wants to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: Gadhafi and Sheen may be seen saying call me, bro, just not to each other.
Jeanne Moos, CNN.
These resentments, they are the rocket fuel that lives in the tip of my saber?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saber, that's Gadhafi.
MOOS: That's Sheen.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. Your top stories coming up in just a moment.
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