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American Morning
Radioactive Water Spilling into Ocean; Libyan Woman's Rape Claim; Missing Poisonous Cobra!; NCAA's "Improbable" Four; "Superbug" Hits U.S. Hospitals
Aired March 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: In Japan, one reactor overheating and the radioactive iodine spilling into the sea.
I'm Kiran Chetry.
As attempts to remove radioactive water continue at the Fukushima plant, the crisis there is being felt 6,500 miles away, here at home.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi. Air strikes clearing a path for the rebels in Libya. They're now back in control of some very important oil ports as Gadhafi's forces get blasted back toward Tripoli.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. A deadly bacteria is popping up in hospitals and nursing homes in southern California. Antibiotics are no match for this superbug and there's no cure. Now cases are being reported in other states, too, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome. Glad you're with us on this Monday. It is March 28th. We're right in the heart of March Madness now. I mean, the weather -- the weather, all the stuff going on internationally, but also basketball.
VELSHI: And it feels like a Monday but it's good to be here with you guys.
CHETRY: Great to see both of you.
VELSHI: Still a brisk, cold morning in New York. We'll get the nation's weather very shortly.
But, first, I want to show -- speaking of weather and nature.
We have some new footage surfacing on YouTube of the sheer destructive force of that tsunami that hit Japan. Take a look at this. Look at all of those cars -- some of the most graphic video yet.
Look at the pictures. They were taken on March 11th, that was the day of the tsunami, in the city of Kesennuma in Japan.
(VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Kesennuma isn't there anymore. The entire city was washed away by the tsunami's waves in 10 minutes.
Right now, the temperature is rising inside reactor number one at the Daiichi power station. Engineers will attempt to cool it and stop further radiation from being released by increasing the flow of fresh water being pumped into the reactor core. That is all being planned for tomorrow when officials hope to switch over to a permanent power generator for the unit's cooling system.
CHETRY: And at first, they denied it, but now nuclear safety officials in Japan admit radioactive water is spilling from the Daiichi power plant directly into the ocean. Radiation levels also in the water are measuring as high as 1,800 times above normal.
Our Martin Savidge is live in Tokyo this morning.
So, in addition, to those readings, we're also hearing the contamination in the sea is spreading. Help us put this into perspective. How big of a concern is this right now?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a very big concern, Kiran, no doubt about it. Because it means that the radioactive water that is on the site is somehow getting off the site. The real mystery right now for officials at TEPCO, those are the operators of that nuclear facility, they say they don't know what the source of it is.
Let me back up a little bit. They found levels of radiation in water pooling in one aspect of one area of the basement, really, of reactor number two. Levels of radiation of that water, 100,000 times what they should be in that area.
OK. That's inside the building. Now, today, they decided to check some water levels outside the building, specifically tunnels that are used to run electric cable. They opened those tunnels. They were shocked to find how much water was in there. When they tested the level of radiation, they found the water there to be extremely radioactive.
Is it possible then that the water has been pouring out of the plant, going into the ocean through those electric cable tunnels? They are about the size that a person could crawl through. The company says they really don't think so because there's no evidence that it overflowed from those tunnels.
But the truth is Kiran, the water is getting into the ocean somehow, some way. The mystery is they just can't seem to know how.
CHETRY: And, you know -- I mean, and you're right. It's a frightening mystery, as they -- obviously, things continue to change on a daily basis there. But the highly contaminated water is causing big problems at the damaged nuclear plant as well. Update us on that situation.
SAVIDGE: Well, here's the problem -- because of the fact that they are now cope with this latest crisis, all the water, what to do with it, they want to pump it out of the places it's not supposed to be. But they don't have anyplace to put the water. They had two large vessels on site that they thought they could pump out the excess water and put it into these tanks. When they opened those tanks, they found out those tanks are almost full.
So, they have a lot of radioactive water. They want to pump it out of basements. They want to pump it out of tunnels. But right now, they have no place on the facility in which to put it. And it's not like you can just directly pour it into a barge and sail it away. You have to keep it on site -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Exactly. All right. Martin Savidge for us this morning from Tokyo -- thanks so much.
Meantime, it is 6,500 miles from Fukushima, Japan, to Massachusetts. But that's how far radioactive fallout from the Daiichi plant has traveled. They are quick to point out it's very low levels of iodine 131, but it's been detected in the rain water in Massachusetts. State health officials are insisting there's no cause for concern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN AUERBACH, COMMISSIONER, MASSACHUSETTS DEPT. OF PUBLIC HEALTH: We want to make clear that there is no health impact. None of the cities and towns rely on rainwater as their primary source of water. So, that is why we are so comfortable in saying that the drinking water supplies throughout the state are completely safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, repeated tests on the state's drinking water are planned over the next several days as a precaution.
ROMANS: To the war in Libya where the rebels are making a comeback -- thanks to sheer coalition firepower. The relentless bombing campaign led by the U.S. has turned the tide for the opposition. This weekend, they pushed west, retaking the critical oil terminals in Ras Lanuf and in the city of Brega. And for the first time, airstrikes have repeatedly targeted Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte.
In a few minutes, Nic Robertson will join us live from Tripoli.
With NATO taking over and with the rebels closing in on a Gadhafi stronghold, what is the next move in this war?
VELSHI: Libya is not the only hot spot this morning. Syria is bracing for more violent protests after a bloody weekend. Witnesses say security forces opened fire on a crowd, wounding several people in the city of Latakia over the weekend. This after 24 people were reportedly killed during protests in the country. Syria's President, Bashar al-Assad is expected to address the nation within the next couple of days.
Protesters in Yemen are pelting a big screen with their shoes as it was showing President Ali Abdullah Saleh. That's the ultimate insult in the Arab world. Saleh says he's ready to step down. But now, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula may be seeing an opportunity. Officials said seven Yemeni soldiers and three al Qaeda members were killed in an attack at a military checkpoint.
CHETRY: Well, skiers triggered an avalanche this weekend in Utah. And officials warn the danger is not over yet. This one happened at Horseshoe Mountain on Saturday morning where officials say that three of the skiers triggered the avalanche accidentally, of course, after digging around in the snow to test for an avalanche.
So, that cascading snow trapped the group. One was completely buried. Search and rescue teams were able to pull all of them to safety and they are expected to be just fine. But we've seen it end in far more tragic ways. They got lucky.
ROMANS: Right. It must have been terrifying. They probably know the risks. They knew what they were doing trying to test for it. Wow.
VELSHI: And the one guy got completely buried. And you got -- I mean, they are trained. They knew that this could happen but that feeling, you know?
ROMANS: All right. Reynolds Wolf is in the extreme weather center.
Hey, Reynolds. How are you?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Doing great, guys. You know, you guys just left off with the story about the heavy snowfall or the avalanches out west. More snow in store for today. Some places up to a foot possible before the day is out.
And also, heavy rain in parts of the Southeast, which is going to trigger some flood warnings. Not only that, but also severe thunderstorm watch now in effect for parts of south central Florida. In fact, as we zoom a bit, you can see it extends all the way from about Cape Coral over to West Palm Beach and points north right along parts of 75 and even 95, expect the heavy rain to continue through at least midday.
The reason why we're seeing it there, plain and simple -- we got area of low pressure that is still just along parts of the Florida panhandle. The storms are going to continue for a good part of the day. Also into the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, perhaps even some light snowfall back in parts of, say, I'd say definitely into the Appalachians. The highest elevations especially, and into the Ohio Valley, Northern Plains going to get in on the snow action. But into the Central Plains, we might see some strong storms there also later on into the afternoon.
Something else, these high temperatures will greet you by afternoon -- 68 degrees in Dallas, 38 degrees in Chicago, 56 in Denver, 60 in San Francisco, 48 in Washington, D.C.
All right, guys. You're up-to-speed. Let's pitch it right back to you in New York City.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: OK, guys.
ROMANS: Forty-eight in D.C., I mean, cherry blossom time, right around the corner. Pretty soon, they're going to pop. All right.
VELSHI: Former -- speaking of Washington -- former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs back on the market. That job market, we're talking about. "The New York Times" reports that Facebook wants Gibbs to manage its communications department. They're still in early talks and no formal offer has been made. But Facebook officials say they are prepared to pay top dollar for Gibbs.
The social empire is valued at about $60 billion. Gibbs, as you know, left the White House in February after two years on the job.
ROMANS: And he only has to know how to answer one question. What are you doing about America's privacy concerns? What are you doing about America's private concerns? What are you doing about America's private concerns?
VELSHI: If that company goes public, of course, it will become a little more complicated.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: Good choice. He seems to do well under fire.
CHETRY: Yes, pretty cool. Well, a Cinderella story again this year.
VELSHI: Oh, wait a second. You're going to talk about basketball, right?
CHETRY: Yes. Why? Are you going to go to sleep now?
VELSHI: No, you tell the story very well.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: I know it's always exciting when the tournament is not predictable and hasn't been for a while. But, yes, the Virginia Commonwealth University crashing the Final Four this year, I guess you could say. Not a single number one seed survived the weekend.
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: So, we're breaking down the Final Four, still ahead.
ROMANS: And a little later, states in crisis. Budget cuts at elementary school could have a deep impact once kids hit college. We'll tell you about budget cuts at that level as well.
It's eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Rebels are getting closer to Moammar Gadhafi's doorstep this morning, gaining ground as new coalition air strikes beat back Gadhafi's forces. NATO now says it will take over the entire military mission there, not just the no-fly zone. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. will begin taking a smaller role in this war.
So far, the U.S. has supplied nearly all the firepower. According to Pentagon figures, the U.S. military has launched all but seven of the Tomahawk cruise missiles fired in the mission. Only two have been launched in the past 24 hours. The U.S. has flown more than half of the strike mission over Libya. Eighty-eight bombing runs were made in the past 24 hours.
VELSHI: Well, it's clear now that coalition air strikes have shifted the momentum in Libya. The opposition is reversing some losses and retaking two key oil ports in a matter of 20 hours. Before the first bombs were dropped, the rebels were brutally forced back to their home base of Benghazi.
This weekend, they pushed west, retaking the critical oil terminals in Ras Lanuf. A lot of the pipelines in south Libya work through Ras Lanuf. For the first time, airstrikes have reportedly targeted Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, the next major city on the highway towards the capital, which is Tripoli.
Nic Robertson is live for us in Tripoli.
What's the situation on the ground there, Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in Tripoli there's long lines for gas. People -- tailbacks of traffic for half a mile or so for people trying to fill up with fuel at the pumps. There is concern that food supplies in the city may run out, although there's no evidence of that. The government here is blaming that on the embargo at this time.
But definitely seeing the pressure of the rebel advance mount, psychological if nothing else. On the streets yesterday, the atmosphere, we've been taken to see these green flag-waving rallies before. We didn't get any of that when we went out yesterday. The government officials with us didn't show us that.
And it wasn't in evidence -- a much more sort of muted atmosphere on the streets here, although people are not seeing what's happening in the east of the country on their televisions here because the government won't show them on state TV. They only pick it up on international channels like CNN and there's plenty of people here are watching stations, just like us, to find out what's really happening, Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Nic, tell us about this remarkable story that developed over the last few days with a woman claiming to have been raped by Moammar Gadhafi's forces, making her way into the hotel where most foreign journalists are staying. Pick up the story here and tell us what happened.
ROBERTSON: This is an incredibly brave woman who came to the only place that she knew she could get people to listen to her story of brutality at the hands of the regime. And you know what? Even though she was surrounded by international journalists trying to hear her story, government officials could not stop themselves. Even hotel staff calling her a traitor, brandishing knives, pistols. She was dragged away.
Our camera, CNN's camera, Khalil Abdullah (ph), the cameraman, bravely trying to hold on, get some pictures, but his camera taken away, smashed.
That's what the government was trying to do, close down and shut her up. And they are trying to discredit her since, calling her a prostitute. Her family absolutely deny that. She's a law student here.
The government saying she's been released from custody because she was taken away kicking and screaming from the hotel. No one can prove that. The government here has shown blatantly how they try to cover up anyone as brave as this woman who wants to speak out against the regime. And this just gives you an idea of what happens when our cameras aren't there, Ali.
VELSHI: And you specifically asked a government official about it, and he specifically said, Nic, in order to -- this is a very conservative society, in order to protect her identity and her reputation, he didn't want to answer you.
ROBERTSON: This is the duplicity of the way the government deals with us, the journalists and the international -- the world, in general. This government spokesman had been on the record several times in the day calling her, Iman al Obeidi, a prostitute. Given that we'd heard from her family, I challenged him on that. I said her family says she's a law student, denies what you are saying, says she is single without child.
The government says she has a child, besmirching her character, trying to denigrate her publicly. And here's a government spokesman who refuses on the one hand to say again what is said but won't back away from it. These are terrible accusations in any community, in any country in the world, but in the Arab culture here, this is terrible for a government official to stand up and publicly accuse somebody of being a prostitute.
It can be in some places, essentially, a death sentence from the family. It doesn't appear to be the case here in any way, but the government really duplicitous message is the best way one can describe this, Ali. Just to try and reduce the impact of what she had bravely tried to do here -- Ali.
VELSHI: Great reporting there. Stay safe. Thanks very much. Nic Robertson fir us in Tripoli.
And President Obama will explain his Libya strategy tonight in a national address. He's scheduled to speak at 7:30 eastern. CNN's live coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern. It is 17 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Look at that. New York City. Sun rising.
ROMANS: Twenty-seven degrees.
CHETRY: Yes, it looks much prettier from inside.
VELSHI: Going to be a balmy 44 later on today. There'll be sun out, and this is particularly important today because you're going to need that sun if you're walking around New York, and I think everybody is going to be walking around New York like this today.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Because there's a cobra on the loose. It's an animal that can kill a person in 15 minutes. Zookeepers don't know where it is. The search for a poisonous Egyptian cobra is on at the famous Bronx Zoo in New York. The reptile house there has been shut down. Zookeepers say it never got out of the house, so there's really nothing to worry about. They just don't quite know exactly where it is. Visitors, however, to the zoo did not seem altogether too panicked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's kind of crazy. We just got here. I just found out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As long as they keep looking for it, and you know, keep people safe, have some kind of response team in case it shows up somewhere else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: That's kind of crazy. I'm not sure that would have been my response. OK. Legend has it. There it is. That's the Egyptian cobra. Legend has it that Cleopatra committed suicide by using the toxins of said Egyptian cobra. Scholars have disputed that, however.
ROMANS: And Kiran, (INAUDIBLE) to find out they really like to go after little rats and small mammals. It's not likely going to go after --
VELSHI: Small children.
CHETRY: It's so cold. Twenty-seven degrees. I don't know if it would make it outside. I don't know how throng would live outside anyway at 27 degrees.
ROMANS: All right. Someone is waking up as a brand new multimillionaire today. It's not us. It's not the crew even though, guys -- VELSHI: We all bought tickets.
CHETRY: We gave it the old college try.
ROMANS: We sure did, and a bunch of office workers who did the same, they won. One wining mega ticket, mega-million ticket sold at this store in Albany, New York. 319 million bucks reportedly will be split between seven New York I.T. workers. The store owner says he was hoping for something like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE HUTCHINS, STORE OWNER: It's great that somebody that comes in to this -- and hopefully it's a regular customer, and maybe even a group of people from, you know, an office around here. That would be nice, too, that it could be shared amongst a number of people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The winners could claim their prize today. It's the sixth largest mega-millions jackpot ever.
CHETRY: And it's been reported that, I think, he gets ten grand for selling the winning ticket.
VELSHI: That's right.
CHETRY: So, good for him.
VELSHI: We're going to keep you up to date on who the winners are and where that cobra is.
CHETRY: Which one of you more eager to find out?
VELSHI: The cobra.
ROMANS: Yes, exactly.
Well, Cinderella going to the final four. Virginia Commonwealth University scored the tournament's biggest upset in years beating top seed Kansas, 71-61, earning a trip to Houston. VCU's big win was, of course, huge news on the campus in Richmond, Virginia. Students were celebrating. Students were dancing in the streets. So, the final four matchups. Let's take a look. VCU versus Butler.
That's going to be a fun one. And also, Kentucky against UConn. The winners meet next week. One week from tonight. So, next Monday night in Houston for the national championship.
VELSHI: So, why is it so hard to get a hotel room on Saturday night in Houston?
CHETRY: They probably bought that awhile ago. They knew that it was going to be there.
VELSHI: Who do you is going to prevail there? CHETRY: I'm thinking -- I would love it to be one of the lower seeded teams, either VCU or Butler, but I think UConn has been great.
VELSHI: The reason I'm asking is I'm going to be in Richmond later this week, and should I be getting you some sort of paraphernalia or some sort of VCU --
CHETRY: No, that's all right.
VELSHI: OK. You?
ROMANS: No. I just vicariously live through Kiran's knowledge of basketball.
VELSHI: She's really good at this, by the way. She's really felt like I'm listening to a sportscaster.
ROMANS: I know. I know. And she knows the rhythm and lingo, and she's got it all down.
VELSHI: I have to read that next hour.
CHETRY: The next hour, that's --
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: OK. Teen pop stars, Justin Bieber's "Baby" featuring Ludacris is the number one most popular video on YouTube.
ROMANS: That allows me to be well informed for the rest of the day.
VELSHI: He's a YouTube babe. The video is expected to surpass 500 million views on YouTube.
CHETRY: It already did. I just checked it.
VELSHI: Oh, really?
CHETRY: It passed 500 million, but not only that, the funniest part is that you know how you like or dislike something?
VELSHI: Yes, yes, yes.
CHETRY: There are 1.2 million dislikes and only 500,000 likes of the video. So, just as many people who can't stand Bieber are --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Well, that makes it the first video ever to get to that many views that quickly. It's currently being Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" by 140 million views, but the haters, as Kiran just said, may be boosting the numbers as much as the fans are. As of right now "Baby" is also the number one most disliked video on the site.
ROMANS: OK. Up next -- CHETRY: They're just jealous because he's got --
VELSHI: I think so. I think that's exactly.
CHETRY: Because he's got his hair.
ROMANS: And the money. All that money.
Up next, paying at the cash register with a wave of your cell phone. Is it safe? Who would be tracking your purchases? What about this whole idea of an electric wallet?
VELSHI: I like it.
ROMANS: "Minding Your Business" next.
CHETRY: Yes. It's like we don't have any privacy anymore, anyway.
VELSHI: So, why not make my life easy?
CHETRY: Yes, exactly.
Also a little later, a deadly drug resistant bacteria hitting nursing homes and hospitals throughout the country. Is there a cure for the superbug? We're going to be joined by our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. She's been looking into this straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Using your cell phone as an electronic wallet.
VELSHI: I love it. I love the idea.
ROMANS: Just a wave of the phone, suddenly, the money comes out of your account.
VELSHI: I never have enough cash out of me.
ROMANS: I like to balance it. I like to take the numbers.
VELSHI: This is why you and I are different people. I'm like, yes, good, done. Thanks.
CHETRY: It's not real money --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: It's the other side of it that I do. I'm just so worried. It's a concept that's been around for years in Europe. It's coming now to the U.S. Carmen Wong Ulrich is "Minding Your Business."
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: We'll talk about how this is done. You know, you can take your iPhone and we can just bump it? VELSHI: Right.
ULRICH: Just bump, and we can trade indo. Well, it's called near field technology communication, and NFC Technology, that's ready to help you forget paying with your plastic, instead, as you discussed, paying with your phone. Well, Google is poised to get into this potentially trillion-dollar market now. They've teamed up with Mastercard and CitiGroup to let you tap or wave your android phone at the register to pay.
Now, what's in it for Google? Well, it allows them to offer more personalized ad service to local retailers. You know, that's a huge market that fuels group-on and living social. So, they can target ads based on your local shopping habits. Now, earlier this year, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile teamed up with discover to offer and develop these services, and research in motion says that future Blackberrys will have NFC Technology as well.
PayPal looking to do the same. Of course, there are theft fears, but the technology is very tight. Trust me. It's much easier to grab your information from a magnetic strip. When you go to a restaurant, you hand that card over, much more dangerous. Now, of course, Europe has been using this to great success already, but then, with the other fear, privacy, of course. Do you want your every purchase tracked so closely --
CHETRY: Isn't it already?
ULRICH: It is to a point but not just your purchases. Your phone tracks you everywhere, but it combines that with what are you buying.
VELSHI: Yes. The bottom line is, if in five years we've evolved to a world where my tastes and my location and my buying habits are so streamlined into informing me, what it is I might want to buy next and how I might get a better deal on that, then I see this working toward on the useful. I'm fine being tracked if I'm getting a benefit out of it.
ULRICH: It boxes you in. And what I fear is is that for a lot of folks, they have all your info wrong.
CHETRY: Right.
ULRICH: You know, and if your info is wrong, then you get stuff you don't really want.
ROMANS: It's bombarding you with, I mean, what if -- they're just bombarding you with things, tempting you with -- I mean, it's perfect for targeted advertising.
VELSHI: It works for me, Christine.
ROMANS: It doesn't work for me. What would work for me is if we could bump our phones and you could loan me 25 bucks for lunch.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: That's PayPal's technology. When you go to a restaurant with your friends, they are developing you can all bump your phones and each put in for the receipt the amount you owe which is pretty cool.
CHETRY: That is neat.
VELSHI: Very neat. I think -- you're right. If it evolves to a point where they are not pitching stuff to you that you don't need. We're still --
ULRICH: Exactly. Be careful. There are always some things you should pay with cash. Just keep that in mind.
VELSHI: That sound like a topic.
ULRICH: Just keep that in mind.
CHETRY: Thanks, Carmen.
ROMANS: Spicing it up at 8:30 in the morning.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: We're crossing the half hour. Water contaminated with radioactive iodine now spilling into the ocean from the crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. In some parts of the sea it's registering more than 1,800 times the normal levels.
Also very low levels of radio iodine 131 have been detected in rainwater in Massachusetts, 6,500 miles from the Daiichi facility. But they say that plant is the likely source. Massachusetts health officials insist there is no cause for concern. They found similar levels of radioactivity in rainwater samples in California, Washington State, and Pennsylvania.
And new airstrikes creating an opening for rebels in Libya now moving fast and retaking two key oil cities, Ras Lanuf and El Brega. And for the first time bombs have reportedly targeted Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte.
VELSHI: President Obama will lay out his case for going to war in Libya tonight in primetime tonight as critics from both sides demand answer. Dan Lothian is live at the White House with a preview. What's on the line for the president tonight, Dan?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think one big thing is to clear up some of the confusion that might be out there. A lot of Americans and certainly lawmakers up on the Hill have concerns about why the U.S. went into Libya in the first place.
We heard over the weekend Secretary Gates saying that it was not in the vital interest of the U.S. to be there, even though he supports the mission. And then the president in his weekend address saying that how it was in the national interest of the U.S. to get involved when innocent lives were at stake.
So we expect the president to really lay out that same theme, pointing out that there were people whose lives -- innocent people in Libya whose lives were at stake here in the United States and prevented a massacre.
VELSHI: Dan, let's just talk about what the president has to face tonight. He's got critics on the Republican side saying he didn't inform congress, and why didn't he do that? He's got critics on the Democratic side saying he's taking his eye off the ball.
And he has to deal with the fact that he's got critics from within his own upper echelon of people who didn't think there was a U.S. interest in going into Libya militarily. Do you think he's tackling those things in his speech?
LOTHIAN: He certainly will tackle all of those things. And in addition to that, we expect that the president will have to deal with the issue about what happens to Gadhafi. As you know, this mission with the U.S. and coalition partners was to establish this no-fly zone and then to protect the people of Libya who were being threatened by Gadhafi.
But in addition to that the president has said time and time again that Gadhafi must go. So how will that happen if, in fact, this mission with the coalition partners does not address that? Well, what the U.S. hopes is that pressure will be applied from within. Those around Gadhafi will apply the pressure, will essentially isolate him, and that in conjunction with economic pressures and other pressures will force him out of office.
VELSHI: Dan, thanks very much. Don't forget, CNN's live coverage begins at 7:00 eastern. President Obama scheduled to speak at 7:30 eastern.
CHETRY: All right, and former president Jimmy Carter arriving in Havana, Cuba, overnight for a three-day visit. The last time he was there was back in 2002. Carter was greeted by then Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Carter has returned at the invitation of current president Raul Castro. They are expected to discuss ways to improve relations between the U.S. and Cuba.
ROMANS: So we've been talking about budget cuts at elementary school, they could have a very deep impact on children. But also budget cuts at the college level, what this means for America's workforce getting you prepared and your affordability to go to college. Steve Perry is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: We always like a lot of sunshine in Washington, don't we? Good morning, D.C. The Senate is back in business today. They've got two weeks to get to work to try to avert another government shutdown. So work beginning again in Washington, D.C.
All right, speaking of work, it's every parent's dream to see their children get a college degree, to compete in the globalized society, to get a good job. But recent cuts to state budgets are killing those dreams for a lot of families.
CNN education contributor Steve Perry joins us from the principal's office at Capital Prep Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut with another installment of "Perry's Principles." Welcome to the program.
We've been talking a lot about budget cuts for K through 12. When you look at a map of the states affected by budget cuts for K through 12 education you can see it's pretty significant, 43 -- 34 states have touched K through 12 education, but 43 states have made cuts to higher ed, either cutting the education or raising tuition to offset that.
So it shows you on the state level these universities we're counting on for a more efficient and less expensive way to go to college are really getting hit. You think this is really dangerous?
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: It is very dangerous. One thing when you make cuts to K to 12, the students are still going to school. While we hear much ballyhoo around what kids are losing, what they may be losing are some teachers or some programs but they are still going to get to go to school.
When you make a cut to colleges or to access to colleges, that means kids are not going. For the first time ever, since we've been sending kids to college, we're actually looking at safety schools with regards to their abilities to pay, not whether they can get in. That's a whole different scenario than we've ever had.
ROMANS: I've heard this from kids. It's as much the financial aid package as what major, what I'm going to learn in the next four years, how it's going to prepare me for the future. It's how to get the money to get to school. What are your kid at your school, the seniors who are college bound, what -- are they getting shut out of some of these schools where the tuition is going up?
PERRY: Absolutely. It's not the time that it used to be. There was a time not long ago, maybe two or three years ago, when this is a very exciting time of the year. We knew we had solid kids, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. They were going to get to college and in come up with a financial aid package that was going to make college possible.
It's not that way now. What's happening now is kids are getting in and when they get in we're honestly deciding which school we're going to send them to. In most cases in some cases, as many as 50 percent of kids we want to send the kids to, we don't get a chance to send them to those schools.
ROMANS: Here's my beef, universities are talking about state budget cuts as the reason they are raising tuition. But tuition is up 400 percent since the 1980s. They were raising tuition even when we were in an economic boom. So what else is there in the world? Maybe health care costs have gone up as much. But why is tuition going up so much, and especially when we're told that we need to have a quality college education for this country to compete, and it just gets harder and harder?
PERRY: You sound like me yelling at some financial aid officer at one of the colleges that my kids are being thrown out of. I don't know.
I think one of the reasons -- first of all, every time you go to visit a college, they are building, they're always building. Colleges seem always -- it's like nonstop construction project. They always say they need it but I'm not sure if that's the case.
The second is labor. You have to pay people to teach on campus. The costs are going up. It's either physical plant or the labor. Those are the only two things that could cost more because our kids are losing. We get kids who get in their freshman year, have a decent financial aid package, and by their junior year they are sent home because they can't afford by their junior year.
In some cases just their sophomore year are being sent home because the increase can be as much as $3,000 to $5,000 over the course of a year, over the course of a year.
ROMANS: You can't get through to junior, senior year because they don't have enough money and it's a difference $36,000 to $5,000. Then they're out of school without a degree and a bunch of student debt. They have to pay back the financial aid. Then you are really in a very, very tough situation. In some cases there aren't jobs on the other end.
Tuition at state schools in Nevada up 75 percent. Michigan state schools 80 percent increase over the past nine years. What do you tell your seniors? I mean, community colleges, we know that the -- we know that the health care law had some more funding for community colleges and the like. It had some income-based repayment changes for kids who end up going into public service. Where is the relief here?
PERRY: Well, I don't understand why you can run a community college at the cost that you do but in the same state that it costs twice as much to send them to the state college. I don't understand what the difference is. If they are both college courses, English 101 at the community college and English 101 at the university, don't tell me about the physical plant. Why are children paying so much more?
What I have to say to my seniors, I have to have an honest sit- down conversation. Here's the worst part about it, too many of our families have not saved any money. So we're sitting there and it's a very uncomfortable conversation because you have a very strong student who has done all she can. She's been guts out her whole life and now we're staring at her getting into a couple of schools, and I have to break it to her. She's not going.
ROMANS: There's going to be a real realization for a lot of universities, though, Steve, and that is this, that people took money out of their houses for ten years to put their kid through college. There's no more money in the house. So there's not the money to pay for the higher tuition.
Budget cuts thrown on top of that will make it a very interesting math for universities and for parents. Steve Perry, we have to leave it there. Go ahead. Finish up.
PERRY: This is something that affects every -- right. This will affect all of us. If a parent out there dears dream of their child going to college, you have to get into this fight. This is a fight that cannot go away. This is the one that specifically and directly impacts the kid, not the employees of the organization, but the children themselves. They are being done wrong because all they are trying to do is live the American dream.
ROMANS: Steve Perry, "Perry's Principles." Thanks, Steve.
PERRY: My pleasure.
VELSHI: Christine, starting off the week with more rain, severe storms and snow, Reynolds Wolf is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Beautiful shot of Atlanta this morning where right now it is 43 degrees, some light rain there. You see the CNN center. You see it backwards, here you see NNC.
VELSHI: Did you see that NNC.
CHETRY: Yes, a little bit later, thunderstorms. But they are looking at 59 degrees. That's where Reynolds Wolf is right now. And he's chilling right now.
VELSHI: Or less chilling than we are.
CHETRY: Yes, we're -- we're -- we are really chilling, actually, at 27 degrees right now.
(CROSS TALK)
ROMANS: All right, sorry. I thought we were --
(CROSS TALK)
VELSHI: There he is. I was going to say --
ROMANS: I was like, what, where's Reynolds?
(CROSS TALK)
CHETRY: Ask and you shall receive.
(CROSS TALK)
VELSHI: I was actually there and Kiran jumped the gun and go to Reynolds (INAUDIBLE) and we were supposed to fool around.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, it's all good. I -- I could feel you in spirit. But yes, you guys are really chilling both literally and figuratively. Here in Atlanta it has been just kind of swampy (ph) to tell you truth. Had plenty of rain the last couple of days, today no exception. It looks like it might continue through a good part of the week.
We've got an area of low pressure just right over the Florida panhandle. That's the big culprit giving us the heavy rainfall and even some of that moisture in higher elevations of -- of the Appalachians coming in the form of snow. Just light dust anywhere from one to two inches of snow.
But heavy rainfall expected in south parts of Florida where we currently have a severe thunderstorm watch. You could see a little bit of flooding on parts of 75 and even 95 before the day is out, perhaps some heavy rainfall as far south as Alligator Alley.
We've been talking about this area of low pressure in the southeast out towards the west, we have a chance of more storms into the afternoon especially right along parts of the Texas/Oklahoma border by late afternoon. More snowfall for the Rockies -- hard to believe -- but possibly up to a foot of snow in the central Rockies; 5he Wasatch Range before all is said and done today. And more rain for parts of the Pacific Northwest.
Now, in terms of your temperatures, a mild day in Texas, Dallas going to 68 degrees; 80 in Houston; 73 in Albuquerque; 38 degrees in Billings for a high; San Francisco with 60; Chicago 38; Washington, D.C., with 48; mid-40s in New York; Boston with 43.
Now, in terms of your delays, we're seeing those slowly begin to stack up. No shocker. It might have plenty in parts of the northeast due to all the wind. But the ones we have for the time being, Baltimore, departure delay about 30 minutes, that's starting to go up a bit. Same deal over at Reagan National in Washington, a 30-minute wait for you.
More weather updates coming up ahead. It could be a busy day especially by late afternoon. Back to you.
VELSHI: All right, Reynolds. Thank you very much for that.
WOLF: Thanks.
VELSHI: Reynolds Wolf in our -- in -- in the Severe Weather Center in Atlanta.
ROMANS: Ok. A shout-out this morning to fans of the Tennessee Williams Classic "A Street Car Named Desire." Each year the clothing event at a New Orleans festival celebrating this playwright is a contest in which people compete to imitate the Stanley Kowalski's (ph) classic shout of "Stella" from Street Car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stella. Stella.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stella.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The first guy was too tall. I think he was too tall.
CHETRY: Ripping his shirt off? Come on.
ROMANS: Yes, the -- the shout was immortalized by Marlon Brando in the movie version.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stella. Stella.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That guy was pretty good.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stella.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: She's good, too.
All right. This was the 25th year, I think, that they've done this. You know, Marlon Brando did it best, of course. This is the 25th year the Tennessee Williams Festival has done this in the New Orleans French quarter.
CHETRY: Pretty cool, all right, we're talking about -- Elizabeth Cohen is going to be joining us as well about this superbug. You hear about it a lot. But this time it's -- it's getting a little scary, in -- in nursing homes and in -- in hospitals, especially in California. What exactly is it and why is it so dangerous?
She's going to join us coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Its 52 minutes past the hour right now.
Health officials are calling it a superbug. It's a deadly strain of bacteria resistant to almost all antibiotics. And cases are popping up in hospitals and nursing homes across southern California and beyond.
Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us from the CNN Center in Atlanta. Hi there.
So this one has a name. We've heard of MRSA before. But this is CRKP. What exactly is this bug? ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, that -- Kiran that stands for Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella Pneumonia which is a very fancy name for a very deadly bug. And as you mentioned, there's this new study out in southern California where they thought, oh, this an East Coast problem. It's probably rare here.
Well, it turns out that it's not rare in southern California. In just seven months last year they counted about 356 cases. And the CDC thinks that this bug is in nursing homes and in hospitals all over the country.
CHETRY: So in all of those cases, it -- how -- how often did it prove to be deadly?
COHEN: You know, they haven't keeping (ph) a really good count. And that's sort of a problem because they need to do a better job of keeping tracking of it. But there are some studies that show that in some outbreaks it's the death rate is really high. There was one really big outbreak in Israel. That had a 44 percent death rate in nursing homes and hospitals. And I mean that's incredibly high to kill almost half the people who get it.
CHETRY: It is. And it's also scary because these are people who are already dealing -- I mean that's probably why they are most likely, they are more susceptible because they are usually people who are -- either going through a long convalescence or their immune- compromised in some way.
COHEN: Exactly. They're immune-compromised. They're often elderly and so they don't have sort of the resources to fight it the way you or I would. Most of the people in this study it was average age of about 73.
And also something else they had in common, Kiran is they had something foreign in their bodies usually. They had a catheter, they had a respirator, something from the outside was being inserted into their bodies and that is unfortunately, a really great way to get an infection. If that thing is in there over time, eventually bacteria often find their way in.
CHETRY: Right and that's why, I mean, you talked about this before as a patient advocate. You really have to speak up, especially if you have a loved one that's in a hospital or a nursing home. What can you do to minimize the chances of somebody getting this?
COHEN: You absolutely do, you have to be an empowered patient to keep this and other kinds of hospital-acquired infections away. Because as you said in the beginning this isn't the only one. There's MRSA, there's many of them.
So here are my empowered patient tips for how to keep you or a loved one safe in a nursing home or in a hospital. First of all, these sounds so stupid, Kiran, but ask doctors and nurses to wash their hands. I know, I've been in the hospital for extended times with people I love and I've had to ask nearly every single person walking in that room to wash their hands. They just don't it as much as they should.
Also if someone has a catheter or respirator, ask, say -- can I -- can this person have it for the shortest possible time? Let's not let this go on and on. And also here's one that sounds funny but eat yogurt. There have actually been studies that find that eating yogurt gets the good bacteria going and can fight off some of these bad bacteria we've been hearing so much about.
CHETRY: And the bottom line, are these, you know, these superbugs created by us as a society just taking too many antibiotics or is it these infections that are just finding their ways in hospitals that they aren't getting rid of? What's the big underlying cause of all of this?
COHEN: right. Part of the problem is that you said that we all take too many antibiotics and the bacteria gets smart and they learn how to outwit them because the big problem is that most antibiotics do not work against this superbug. There's only one that works and it doesn't even work all that well. So that's one of the problems.
The other problem is that frankly hospitals have not been doing everything they should to fight these bugs. So critics say, look. You have to get your doctors and nurses to wash their hands. You have to get those catheters out at the first opportunity. And hospitals have really come under fire for not doing as good a job of this as they should be.
CHETRY: Certainly is scary. Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
CHETRY: We're taking a quick break. 57 minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: This story irritates me.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Let me tell our viewers what we're talking about here.
Age is just a number. We all know that. But a new study discovered the different ages at which men and women begin to feel over the hill. I get a sense as I'm about to tell you these numbers why my fantastic co-hosts here are annoyed because apparently for men they start feeling old at age 58, which I think would annoy a lot of men to start with because they don't feel old at 58.
For women, the study says 29 is the point at which you start being old.
CHETRY: I think it has to do with the whole biological time clock.
VELSHI: Even that doesn't -- even 29 doesn't seem all that relevant.
ROMANS: I didn't feel old when I was 29 last year.
CHETRY: I didn't either.
ROMANS: I didn't feel that way at all.
VELSHI: A quarter of women say they feel past their prime when they spot the first dreaded gray hair which again some people get way earlier than that. For men it's much more simple; two-thirds say they feel old when they can no longer -- you know what I'm saying.
It's a morning show.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Yes but thanks to pharmaceuticals that's gone way, way, way higher. It's 89 or 90 even 100.
The other ironic thing is women start to feel older at 29 but we also live five years longer than men. So a lot of years --
VELSHI: So you have longer to feel old for.
CHETRY: -- to feel old.
VELSHI: All right. Give us your thoughts on that. Go to our -- tweet it to us actually. Go to our blog or go to -- tweet us @CNNam. That's it for us.
CHETRY: Yes, we'll see you back here bright and early tomorrow. Meanwhile, we hand it over to the "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. It starts right now.
