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Heavy Gunfire, Tanks in the Streets of Libya; East Coast Rapist Suspect Arrested; Violence Amid Protests in Ivory Coast over Presidential Election; 58-Year-Old Woman Trains For New York City Triathlon; NFL Players, Owners Continue Negotiations; Cutting Government Programs

Aired March 05, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

TOM FOREMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Delay of game. The suits and the players work to avoid a strike in the NFL.

At 3:00 p.m. Eastern, a star athlete dead at 16 years old. Why? How? Is your teen at risk, too?

Then at 4:00 Eastern, where is Mexico's youngest ever police chief? She has not been seen for days and there is ample cause for concern.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news unfolds live on this Saturday, February (sic) 5th. I'm Tom Foreman sitting in for Fredricka Whitfield.

Here's what's happening right now. Libya, heavy gun fire, tanks in the streets and lots of casualties. The internal struggle for power is rages hardest on all sides of the capital Tripoli. These are the newest images of rebels celebrating in Zawiya west of Tripoli.

A CNN reporter saw an attack helicopter open fire on a rebel position today. Officials from all over the world are weighing options to end the violence and removing Moammar Gadhafi from power. While this plays out CNN's Ben Wedeman is east of Tripoli.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: According to medical sources, the battle here left ten people dead. Dozens of people wounded. We have seen that, however, the Libyan air force is still flying over the town just a little while ago we heard but did not see a jet drop what sounded like a very large bomb somewhere in the city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Not terribly far away, Saudi Arabia, officials there are warning protesters to get off of the streets or face a crackdown.

(VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: You can see people in several cities march Thursday and yesterday demanding the release of Shiite prisoner who is they feel are held without cause. Protest marches and demonstrations of any kind are against the law in Saudi Arabia.

Back in this country, authorities call him the "east coast rapist" and blame him for at least 17 sexual assaults in four states, and now they have got him. Today, a suspect in the crimes is in police custody, arrested yesterday in New Haven, Connecticut. Investigators give credit to their crime solvers program and one anonymous tip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FIRST SGT. KIM CHINN, PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY MARYLAND POLICE: In the last few days, the task force received an anonymous tip from a Crime Solver's caller, as well as they were able to put information together themselves, and both of these things coincided at the same time and they came up with the name of a suspect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Our Susan Candiotti is on the scene and will join us with the newest information.

Police in south Florida say the bodies of two children found this week in a canal may be connected to the body of a woman found months ago in a landfill. The woman is believed to be the children's mother. She was found last August in West Palm Beach. The two children were found dead inside pieces of luggage Wednesday in Delray Beach. A suspect, the mother's former boyfriend, is in custody.

A U.S. service member says he is being discharged without basis. The Navy says the 21-year-old petty officer Steven Jones behaved unprofessional when he and another male sailor found sleeping in the same bed. Jones says the Navy is trying to get around the now repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

A convicted sex offender is suing the mother of one of his alleged victims saying she published negative things about him on her blog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIELLE SCHNEIDER, BLOGGER: The audacity that the person that abused my child and changed the course of our family and our life is suing us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: That's Danielle Schneider. The convicted sex offender pleaded guilty four years ago to contact with a child for immoral purposes. The man's lawyer refused to stop the suit. CNN did reach out to the attorney but so far no comment.

A federal grand jury in Arizona has expanded the list of charges against Jared Lee Loughner to 49. They include murder and attempted murder. He's the man officials believe to have killed six people and wounded 13 others in attempt to assassinate Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And on the subject of Congresswoman Giffords, take a look. This picture was released yesterday. It's one of the last images taken of the congresswoman before she was shot in the head January 8th. You can't really see it right there but the just to the left was also shot twice. He was not killed but he was hurt in that rampage.

There is still hope for a deal between the NFL and its players. The two sides agreed yesterday to extend the deadline for a new labor agreement until March 11th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEMAURICE SMITH, NFL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: There's a commitment from both sides to engage in another round of negotiations at the request of the mediation service. We look forward to a deal coming out of that.

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: This is going to get resolved through negotiations, not through litigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: The two sides are trying to hash out how to divvy up roughly $9 billion in revenue. If no deal is reached the league is expected to lock out the players. Stay with us. Coming in half an hour, I'll sit down with someone who's been at the NFL negotiating table before for some unique insights on what might be happening there.

Let's go back to the arrest of that so-called east coast rapist we mentioned earlier. He's suspected in at least 17 sexual assaults in four states. Police say an anonymous tip helped lead to that arrest. CNN's Susan Candiotti is in Connecticut outside the suspect's home.

Susan, what do police have that they believe links the guy to these crimes?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we found out that it's a cigarette butt. That's right, Tom. A law enforcement source involved in the investigation tells CNN that it was a discarded or dropped, thrown away cigarette butt that led them to make the DNA match.

They were able to pick up that cigarette butt, run some tests on it and now police have officially said that they're able to link the suspect in this case, 39-year-old Aaron Thomas, who lives here in New Haven, to at least 12 of the rapes that he is going to be accused of. He's charged in three so far, but they believe he could be linked to as many as 17 in all in four different states, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, and Virginia over the span of 13 years from 1997 through 2009.

And another interesting little thing about the cigarette butt, local newspaper here reports that it was picked up after he made a court appearance. Our source tells us that he did make an appearance in court on Thursday of this week in an old, unrelated larceny case. Is that a coincidence? Well, as one source told me nothing is coincidence in this case. But of course as you know that anonymous tip that came from police our source tells us in Virginia led authorities to Connecticut where they arrested the suspect yesterday, Tom.

FOREMAN: Susan, you are in the neighborhood where the fellow lives r. Are the neighbors talking at all? What are they saying?

CANDIOTTI: They are. They're not the only ones. As a matter of fact, when we were here this morning we saw a number of people come out of the house where he lives as investigators are going in and out of there, about to retrieve evidence. They took photographs earlier.

And a woman who told us that he fared one of her children told us that he showed no signs of any violence with her but she also added this. But she said, look, I don't know what happened but just because he wasn't violent with me doesn't necessarily mean something else could not have happened.

Now, in terms of neighbors, they say this is a guy who they described as somewhat odd because he'd ride his bike at odd times of the day and night. Other than that, he worked out in the gym a lot. He was a truck driver that lost his job a few years ago -- Tom.

FOREMAN: Susan Candiotti, good job up there in Connecticut.

Speaking of jobs, think back a little. When you got out of school and started a first job, do you remember what you were making? Here's a little tidbit to consider. 2010 grads if they were lucky enough to find a job at all earned less than the graduates of the year before. So how's the new crop of grads doing? Starting salaries for 2011, we'll have the breakdown next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: Take a look at this. College students graduating this year are expecting starting salaries of around $50,000. That's a lot better than the $14,000 I started out with. If you want to know more about starting salaries for college grads, go to CNNMoney.com.

We're seeing encouraging signs in the jobs numbers this year. The labor department says the jobless number for February dipped to 8.9 percent, down from nine percent in January. It's the lowest unemployment rate in nearly two years. Here's the other encouraging number. The U.S. added 192,000 jobs in February. There is still a lot of ground to make up, have no doubt about that, but these are good signs.

So where did the lucky 192,000 find those jobs? Well, you know, a few months ago the answer would have been easy. The rare new jobs out there were largely in the public sector working for the government. Max Stier is the president and CEO of Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group that helps find the right people for the right government jobs. Mr. Stier, the job gains we saw last month were in the private sector, but state and city governments cut about 30,000 jobs, mostly in education. When you look at that, are you seeing a turnaround in the very thing your group promotes, people working for government or government jobs drying up right now?

MAX STIER, PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE: Not exactly. On the state and local level you are seeing a cutback in the number of jobs. But it's always been the case that the private sector's been the primary engine of employment in the country. So most folks work in the private sector, not the public sector. And there still are, though, great opportunities for people to make a difference to work in the public sector.

FOREMAN: Talk to me about that. I was reading about your group, an interesting mandate you have out there to say you want to encourage people toward more government jobs and increase the quality of performance in those jobs.

STIER: Absolutely. Look, we pay our taxes, oftentimes it feels like way too many taxes to support a government to deal with the most critical problems. We need a government, whether you believe in big or small government, whatever you want it to do, we need it to do it in the best way possible and need a real return on our money.

That's going to mean we need the right people in government who are being managed well so that they can produce in a way that deals with those critical challenges that we face. So -- yes?

FOREMAN: Can I ask you how hard of a sell in this? Many people thought of government jobs as safe jobs. This wasn't a job to excel at. It was just a job with good benefits and safe. What you're talking about is something different.

STIER: It is different because, in fact, we don't want the folks that are looking for the safe haven. We want the people going to actually be innovative, excel, and push the envelope, particularly in today's world where the challenges are so large and in many cases very new.

So, it is a heavy lift. Lots of folks even when they think of public service don't think about government. The hiring process is usually broken, and oftentimes people are not managed in the ways they need to be.

But all this means that we need to work harder to fix government so that we actually get what we need at the end of the day.

FOREMAN: For people who want to work for the government is this for somebody in the 20s or is it for some of these older workers or maybe never worked for government?

STIER: That's a terrific, terrific question. The answer is it's all of the above. It's a great way to start your career and not necessarily spend your full career. But certainly for someone who wants to do something interesting, make a difference, learn a lot and develop, spend three, four, five years, that's great.

As you just described, people that exceed the norm in the private sector, done real well, those are the kinds of skills that government needs more than anything, people who are terrific business managers, project managers, IT professionals, finance, engineering, you name it. Government, the federal government is a knowledge-based organization. You get the biggest problems on the biggest stage possible so you need the very best people.

FOREMAN: How do I get started on this, very quickly? If I think for the first time maybe the public sector is for me, how do you go about this?

STIER: First off, I would take a look at the website MakingtheDifference.org because it would give you the starter kit, where you find more information, what the terms mean. Look, the process is overly challenging, but the end result is well worth the wait. And so persistence is necessary, but at the end of the day you get a job that can't be beat.

So 00 but I would start at MakingtheDifference.org. And the website the federal government runs usajobs.gov that has a lot of job listings that are quite helpful. But you need a little guidepost that I think provided by MakingtheDifference.org.

FOREMAN: It will be interesting to see what your group does as the years go by because I think the idea of value for the dollar people might cotton to that. Thank you for your time. Appreciate you coming in.

STIER: Thank you.

FOREMAN: It doesn't get much scarier than this. Take a look. There's a scaffolding that collapsed leaving two men dangling by a harness a lucky 13 floors up. We'll tell you what happened next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

It's time to go cross country and check stories affiliates are covering today. First stop, Yonkers, New York. Two workmen had to cling to their harnesses for life when their scaffolding collapsed underneath them. They dangled like that between the 13th and 14th floors of an apartment building for an hour until firemen rescued them.

People in Florida can't ignore this church sign. It reads "Scumbags welcome." Not surprisingly, the church is getting complaints, but the pastor says it's all about reaching out to sinners and he won't take it down.

Finally, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina -- if you believe the man's best friend is a dog, you might say in this case it's a goose named Abe. Look at this. See this trio taking regular walks in the park, something they started two years ago. Go figure. People are always up to strange things. We'll take a regular walk this week as part of "Building up America" series. All last year, this year, as well, we're going across the country finding stories of people succeeding despite the economic hard times and one that we found in a recent trip is an online retail company doing a booming business by focusing on the customer.

I visited Zappos as part of CNN's ongoing series "Building up America" and discovered another one of their secrets to their success.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: Twenty-four/seven, two by two, Zappos.com is moving shoes. More than $1 billion annually in Internet sales, fueled by a wide selection, free shipping, and money-back guarantees.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for calling Zappos.com.

FOREMAN: Not bad for a company that started a dozen years ago with a radical concept -- success is about service --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. No problem.

FOREMAN: -- not selling. CEO Tony Hsieh.

TONY HSIEH, CEO, ZAPPOS: And for us, culture is just important, it's actually the number one priority of the company.

FOREMAN: The culture is raucous, infectious, and everywhere. Employees decorate as they choose, enjoying an unbelievable array of company services, including free lunch, ice cream, massages.

We asked our guide, Ray Andre (ph), about the business environment.

FOREMAN (on camera): This is a business meeting?

RAY ANDRE, ZAPPOS: This is a business meeting.

FOREMAN: There's a lot of giggling go on in there.

ANDRE: There is.

FOREMAN: Getting in is not easy. Zappos takes months to screen applicants, and even in training, new hires are offered $4,000 to quit just to weed out those who might not really want to be here.

ANDRE: So we figure we could train most people to do their jobs, but we can't train somebody to fit into our culture.

FOREMAN (on camera): What is your key philosophy about running this business?

HSIEH: Internally, we have a saying that we're a service company that just happens to sell shoes.

FOREMAN: You realize nobody in America who sees this is going to want to go to work tomorrow?

FOREMAN (voice-over): So they can laugh at comments like that because everyone here seems eager to come to work every day, building up this runaway success.

FOREMAN (on camera): You realize nobody in America sees this will want to go to work tomorrow?

(LAUGHTER)

FOREMAN (voice-over): So they can laugh at comments like that because everyone here seems eager to come to work every day, building up this runaway success.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

All of this happening in Nevada, one of the hardest hits states out there. You can catch the entire "Building up America" special from Nevada coming on today at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, just a little more than an hour from now, a fascinating show about what they have done there that might work where you are, too. So make sure you take a look.

This week "Fortune" magazine released the list of the world's most admired companies, coming in at number five, Procter & Gamble, number four, Southwest Airlines, number three, Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet's big company. And top two, we'll have those when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: Before the break we were talking about the world east most admired companies. The top two according to "Fortune" magazine, Google is number two, and, you got it, Apple is number one. The new iPad 2 out right now getting everybody excited about that.

Now a look at our top stories. Rescuers in northern Nevada have halted attempts to reach a 28-year-old man that fell down an abandoned mine on Wednesday. A camera sent down in the mine showed images of the man breathing and moving his hands, but a spokesman says the rescue efforts are far too dangerous. They just can't continue.

Police in south Florida say the bodies of two children found this week in a canal may be connected to a body of a woman found months ago in a landfill. The woman is believed to be the children's mother and found last August in West Palm Beach. The two children found dead inside pieces of luggage Wednesday. A suspect, the mother's former boyfriend is in custody. The kid's grandmother is beside herself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA FLINT, GRANDMOTHER: They were just sitting on my sofa, asking them where the children? Tell me where's my grandchildren and he known all the time he murdered them, two little innocent children. He could have brought them to me! I would have taken my grandchildren. (END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Terrible story.

A federal grand jury in Arizona expanded the list of charges against Jared Lee Loughner to 49, he's accused of killing six people and 13 wounding 13 others to assassinate Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Marisol Garcia is unaccounted for. She made the news last year when at 20 years she was police chief in one of the most violent towns on the U.S.-Mexico border. Now she's not been seen for several days.

A Mexican newspaper reported yesterday she fled to the U.S. for safety. We don't know that. The mayor of the town denies that saying she is on personal leave. Police officers and mayors in her region are frequently abducted and killed. We will keep on top of that story and let you know about the latest developments.

In Michigan, what should be a day of celebration turned into a day of mourning as 16-year-old Wes Leonard suddenly collapsed as his high school basketball team was celebrating a big win. The shocked crowd went silent. Just moments before the star athlete had made the game-winning shot capping off a perfect 20-game winning season. Doctors tried to revive Leonard for nearly an hour and a half before he was pronounced dead of a heart attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're shocked. Our granddaughter knew him since the sixth grade. The whole school is in turmoil over there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had to get up this morning and tell my 10- year-old that his hero passed away and that -- that was very hard to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Coming up at the top of the hour, I'll talk to a sports doctor of what tests young athletes should get through before they go on to the court or the field, information you might be able to use.

Look at this, the newest images of Libya, rebels celebrating in Zawiya after forcing back troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. We seem to get this every day, back and forth. Rebels also claim to have shot down an air force plane that crashed into the desert. Officials from all over the world are weighing options aimed at ending the violence and removing Moammar Gadhafi from power, of course.

Many countries such as India and China put in place well organized evacuations for the citizens in Libya, but others have been left to fend for themselves. U.S. military cargo planes have landed to help evacuate some Egyptians. Meanwhile two Italian military planes arrived in neighboring Tunisia loaded with U.S. aid packages. The U.N. warns of a looming crisis in Tunisia where many Libyans have fled. Back here at home, you go to Costco and there are bulk rolls of toilet paper and gallons of ketchup, and now wedding dresses. There you go. Brides can snap up one of six exclusive wedding gowns by bridal designer Kirstie Kelley. The price tag is not exactly cheap, just cheaper. The dresses range from $700 to $1,400, half of the normal retail price.

Britain's royal mint did it for Will and Kate's engagement. Now Prince William and Kate Middleton have another commemorative coin, this time to mark their big day in April. The royal wedding coin features the couple's profiles and will be worth five British pounds but it costs ten pounds to buy.

By the way, yes, the prince and the queen and the government all approved the coin. Well, I guess you make it for five and sell it for ten, I'd approve it, too. Anyway, that's some news out of the royal wedding, and getting more into the next year.

Here's something else to look at. This is a very disturbing story, disturbing video out of Ivory Coast where the opposition continues to fight with the government of Laurent Gbagbo over a disputed election.

We saw this today and we were all really shocked by it. It starts out as a peaceful demonstration by women in a suburb, and then suddenly a blast of gun fire, screams of horror. We want to warn you, of course, this is not something for your kids to see. You may not want to see it yourself. This is graphic, maybe disturbing. Just take a look at what happened here.

(VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Joining me on the phone now is journalist Eric Agnero in Ivory Coast. Eric, tell me about this. What is behind the violence? It really seems so sudden in the midst of a very peaceful march.

ERIC AGNERO, JOURNALIST (via telephone): Tom, it looks like when you look at that video it looks like it was peaceful demonstration by women in that neighborhood, you know. And suddenly you see police coming and shooting at the people. But the people that are behind Laurent Gbagbo, the leader, think if he is not real, real massacre that is what officials. It's because they used to so much violence or they used to long history by politicians to use this miscommunication, these information to push for the agenda.

So half of the country, the people behind Gbagbo, saying it is not true and I talked to some people in the military, of course, loyal said we cannot come and randomly shooting at demonstrating and they want the show that the regime to show is violent regime. We are in -- you know, some people saying that it's not true. It is the -- showing that five minutes into the video you see the young woman trying to wake up and then being, again, pushed on the ground to lay down as someone dead.

FOREMAN: I'm not sure if I understand what you're saying. You are suggesting that the video may not be real?

AGNERO: That's what, you know, the opponents say. We need more, more investigation into that because we are seeing sometimes videos showing people that are killed and then later on see the people that were laying down there waking up. But so far we are not saying -- we need -- and that's what people are asking for, real investigation.

But we should not -- we should not forget that they are real, real people that are dying and these women might have been really killed. So it's important that the international community and everybody not only focus on what could be so spectacular to bring attention but really look at the country that is sinking into a civil war. In the west of the country they're combat between troops loyal and troops loyal elsewhere and many, many men and women are dying over there.

FOREMAN: OK, Eric Agnero, a journalist there in the Ivory Coast, thank you for joining us. We appreciate your thoughts.

He is right, of course. A thing to know is more behind all of the videos, the real story behind everything, although it certainly looks authentic at this moment and certainly looks quite terrible to see. We'll find out more as the weekend goes on, no doubt.

Speaking of things that are evolving a piece at a time, there are so many things going on this weekend. One of the things here at home has nothing to do with serious matters but playful matters. NFL fans and teams could lose with a walkout. Here's a list of the most valuable teams that we're looking at as we go through this weekend when this is all on the table.

Rounding out the top five, the Houston Texans worth $1.2 billion. Coming in at number four, also at $1.2 billion the New York Giants. Number three, there they are, the New England Patriots with value of $1.4 billion. So you're probably wondering the top two. I'll have that right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: We keep talking about a possible NFL lockout. Who stands to lose the most if the season is canceled other than all of us fans, of course. Well, the most valuable teams.

I have the top two now. Taking the number two spot valued at $1.6 billion, the Washington Redskins, although you wouldn't know it from the way they played this year. Just saying. And number one most valuable NFL player worth $1.8 billion, the Dallas Cowboys.

The NFL still open for business at least for now. The players' union and the league will meet with a mediator in Washington again Monday to try to iron out a labor agreement before March 11th. At stake is the revenue. The players are expected to be locked out causing a first stoppage since 1987.

Joining me on the phone from Miami is David Cornwell, the president of DNK Cornwell which represents professional players. David, you were also the NFL's in-house counsel in the dispute in 1987, so you have had a front-row seat in these kinds of proceedings. Maybe we can start with how do you think this time is different or is it the same as 1987?

DAVID CORNWELL, SPORTS ATTORNEY, (via telephone): Well, good afternoon, Tom. It's great to be with you.

The primary difference is what the dispute is over. In 1987, it was a much more serious dispute in terms of structure because the players were fighting for free agency. Now the players and the owners are, as you, say fighting over a $9 billion pie.

And the current issue is up until this point the owners have been unable to take a $1 billion off the top before accounting for revenues and distributing them to players through the salary cap. The owners now want to take an additional $1 billion off the top, and the players resisted that for a number of reasons, not the least of which they haven't seen any financial records or data indicating that, as the owners say the business, is not as viable as it once was.

FOREMAN: David, let me ask you about that. I was reading about that the other day and I thought business interesting, that from the players' standpoint that's one of the chief complaints. You're saying you have all the records, you're not showing any proof that you're suffering in any way out of the current deal. Until you show that, how can we even have this discussion? Is that a fair comment?

CORNWELL: Absolutely. That's exactly what their position is?

FOREMAN: And is it fair for them to pursue in it that way? Obviously, anything's fair in a dispute but does that seem like a reasonable request as part of negotiations?

CORNWELL: Certainly going forward, one of the issues is that the current or the expiring collective bargaining agreement requires that the NFL provide certain financial information to players to demonstrate and account for the salary cap.

DeMaurice Smith is fight the good fight over the books and the disclosure now and then say as to year one I'll give you some type of accommodation on the revenues and going forward after that I need full financial disclosure. Whether or not I'm entitled to it today doesn't matter. I want it going forward. And that could be a breakthrough point in the discussions, too.

FOREMAN: As a loyal fan and a big loyal Saint's fan, one of the things I always like to see before a game is the breakdown, what to watch for to see the key to this working out. What are the five things to watch for in the coming week as they talk if you're hoping that the season can be salvaged?

CORNWELL: The first thing is keep talking because we have got the momentum. The arbitrator did a great job to get the parties started, started to talk about the interesting as opposed to clinging to their positions. The next thing we have to do is get an agreement on how the revenues are going to be split. And probably there is also discussion also about as you put up the most valuable teams, teams like the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, that claim they have problem meeting the salary cap requirements.

Then the next three issues are financial transparency, 18-game season, whether or not the union will agree to that, and a rookie weight scale so that money is shifted from the rookies coming in to veterans and retired players.

FOREMAN: I kind of think that the last two may be really hot, the 18-game season and the rookie scale. What do you think?

CORNWELL: Not only are those hot issues, but the key to both of those issues it's a chance not only to create new revenue, 18 games, but shift more revenue to veteran players. So once you get an agreement on the breakdown of the pie sort to speak, the $9 billion pie, then the two additional issues can kind of ease the pain for players who -- at least veteran players in the league for a while.

FOREMAN: All right, we really appreciate your expertise on this, David. We'll keep hoping for the best and see what works out there, David Cornwell.

CORNWELL: Thank you.

FOREMAN: We'll see if we have a football season this coming year. I certainly hope so.

And 58 years old and training for her first triathlon. Look at her here. If she can do it, so can you. Stick around. We'll talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: The New York City triathlon is heading our way. And it's the goal for six people lucky enough to be training for it with our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta. We call him the CNN six pack, and they're viewers just like you. This week in "Fit Nation" Dr. Gupta catches up with Nina Lovell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reach, reach, reach, like you're really going somewhere.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: She is the oldest member of the 2011 six pack, but don't let that fool you. Nina Lovell has the energy of a woman decades younger.

GUPTA (on camera): You're on the record as saying 58 -- 28 is the 58, or --

NINA LOVEL, MEMBER OF 2011 SIX-PACK: That 58 is the new 28.

GUPTA: People always say 60 is the new 30 or 40. You really feel that way?

LOVEL: Absolutely.

GUPTA: You embrace that.

LOVEL: Absolutely.

GUPTA: What does that mean?

LOVEL: It means that I want to feel better and better the older I get.

GUPTA: It's been less than a month since the 2011 Fit Nation triathlon challenge began but Nina is already envisioning the finish line in New York City.

LOVEL: I'm so excited. You can tell my by license plate frame how excited I am about this triathlon.

GUPTA: Her sedentary daily routine has already become a thing of the past. Now when she leaves work, it's for a spin class, a run outside, or a swim lesson.

PAUL FLINCHBAUGH, SWIMMING AND DIVING COACH, BERRY COLLEGE: What I want you to focus on is stronger press on the chest to pick your hips up and get your heels closer to the surface of the water. I want your heel come up and just break the surface.

GUPTA: Coach Paul Flinchbaugh has Nina swim different lessons in the drill. She works on keeping her head in the water and her breathing regular. With more than 150 days left until race day, Nina says with more training she's going to be just fine.

LOVEL: I'm convinced I can do it, but I'm a long way from being able to do it. I know I have my work cut out for me to complete it. But I think I can. But it's not in the bag. Not in the bag yet.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: If you want to get in shape like Nina, and you should, just logon to CNN.com/FitNation and find everything you need to get started. It's a very good idea.

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FOREMAN: It is time for a "CNN Equals Politics" update.

We're keeping an eye on all the latest headlines at the CNNpolitics.com desk up in D.C. Here's what's crossing right now. Potential presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is targeted by tricksters. This week the Georgia Republican launched a new exploratory website, Newtexplore2012.com.

But if visitors inadvertently type exploreNewt2012.com instead, they will be redirected to BuddyRoemor.com, the exploratory website of former Louisiana Governor Budd Roemer.

House Speaker John Boehner is taking action to protect the federal law barring recognition of same-sex marriage and asking a bipartisan advisory group -- this gets complex here. He's asking them to direct House lawyers to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court. Boehner's move follows the Obama administration's decision not to defend the law against legal challenges. So it keeps twisting around and that's where they are at the moment.

And Big Bird is under attack on Capitol Hill. Senate Republicans introduced a Bill to strip all federal money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting which fund PBS and Public Radio. The cut would save a little over $400 million. So we'll see how that plays out.

And for the latest political news, of course, you know where to go, CNNpolitics.com.

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FOREMAN: We're talking so much about budget problems all over the country these days. In states, federal government, and in many places the result is that education programs are going on the chopping block. We wanted to take a moment this week to look specifically at one program federally funded. It helped an immigrant from Honduras build a better life in America. That's what it was for and now it is on the block. We want to talk about that story with CNN's Sandra Endo.

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SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carolina Espina enjoys school lunchtime with her two kids. She's part of a language program called Even Start geared toward low income immigrants who want to learn English but can't afford to pay for classes. While she's in class her daughter gets to play in day care. When Espina first moved here from Honduras six years ago, she didn't speak a word of English.

ENDO (on camera): If this program wasn't available, what would you do? Do you feel like you would be this far along in your English and being able to spend time with your kids?

CAROLINA ESPINA, MOTHER: This program is great because you can stay, learn English at the same time. We don't have -- I don't have worry about my daughter because my daughter is in play.

ENDO (voice-over): But maybe not for much longer. While the program helped Espina, federal funding for Even Start just got cut in the recent two-week extension of the budget after officials deemed the program ineffective.

Other programs included in the $4 billion spending reduction include election assistance grants, the LEAP educational program which helped states give need-based student aid, and highway funding. The cuts also included earmarks for Homeland Security, education, and housing. And the budget ax is about to fall again as lawmakers wrestle over more cuts as part of a longer term spending plan for the rest of the fiscal year.

RYAN ALEXANDER, PRESIDENT, TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: There may be very deep cuts where there's going to be some immediate pain felt on the ground in communities, and it may be that they look at their own communities and try to protect what's in their own communities.

ENDO: For Even Start, they'll have to find other ways to stay alive.

JENNY LINDENHAUER, EVEN START: We'll work hard to make sure the program continue to exist.

ENDO: Sandra Endo, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.

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FOREMAN: We're keeping up with the situation in Libya all weekend long. And Moammar Gadhafi is now under new fire for something that happened not last week but nearly 25 years ago. We'll tell you about it.

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