Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Protests Return to Cairo; U.S. Role in Libya; Fasting To Protest Budget Cuts; Blind Faith; Journalists Bound and Beaten in Libya
Aired April 01, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Brand-new developments out of Libya. Tanks, rocket propelled grenades and mortars on the street of Misrata right now. I'm Ali Velshi. Breaking news. Rebel fighters are under siege from pro-Gadhafi forces.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. Radiation contamination now showing up in the beef in Japan and thousands of people who have already been evacuated are not going home for months.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Four thousand Americans are fasting right now. They want to protest planned cuts to food programs for the poor and one big-named food writer has joined the fast. He is here to explain why on AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
VELSHI: Good morning! It is Friday, April the 1st.
Everything we're going to tell you this morning is true, even the weather reports. We have got breaking news, though, out of Libya. We're following that very closely and bring you that in a couple of minutes.
ROMANS: That's right. Thousands of protesters are returning to Cairo's Tahrir Square. They are calling it the Friday to save the revolution. Even though President Hosni Mubarak is gone, they say they are still not being heard.
Ivan Watson is live for us in Cairo.
Ivan, what are they saying on the streets?
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, Friday is protest day in the Arab world and Cairo is no exception. The now famous Tahrir Square, you got thousands of people have gathered there. And they are trying to revitalize that liberal secular protest movement that helped overthrow Hosni Mubarak on February 11th.
Many of these activists arguing that they have been sidelined in the months since that historic moment, especially by much better organized Islamist political groups, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. They faced a couple of setbacks politically here and these activists are gathering together trying to fire up their movement again ahead of parliamentary elections which is supposed to place in September. And they're also calling for a number of Hosni Mubarak allies to be prosecuted and pulled out of office in top positions in state television and in newspapers.
And they are protesting against a proposed law which would make protests like this a criminal offense. That is something that worries here and why they are arguing that their revolution is being (INAUDIBLE).
And a personal note, Christine, I was overjoyed to see Paul De Bendern and Linsey Addario on your show a little while ago, dear friends. We are so worried about her. So glad to see them together again.
And, Paul, I hope you can get her pregnant soon so she can take a break from risking her life, even though she does great work -- Christine.
ROMANS: Ivan Watson, with a personal note, after your report from Cairo. Thanks.
And, you're right, they were really stunning interview and very happy to be back together again. But interesting what she was saying about how she's not sure she won't go out there and do it again. Thanks so much.
CHETRY: In the meantime, we are following breaking news out of Libya this morning. A rebel spokesman is now saying that pro-Gadhafi forces are launching new attacks on the opposition in Misrata with tanks, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Libya's third largest city has been under siege for weeks now.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen had exclusive access to the opposition fighters on the front line as they battled Gadhafi troops in the streets of Misrata. The city, after weeks of intense fighting, appears to be just a shell of what it was -- as Fred described it, a city of fear, uncertainty and human suffering.
We have our Nic Robertson with us. He is live in Tripoli right now with the latest on all of this that is taking place in Libya.
Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning.
And, certainly, it is a changing dynamic here at the moment. The battle with the rebels in Misrata and the rebels in the civilian casualties, as Fred was reporting, in a terrible situation. Yet, the government seems to want to push ahead to take control of the city at whatever cost. And we are seeing similar things in the eastern of the country as well. They still continue.
CHETRY: All right. Nic Robertson for us this morning in Tripoli -- thanks so much.
VELSHI: Defense Secretary Robert Gates appearing before Congress and reassuring lawmakers that no U.S. troops will be used on the ground in Libya. As for arming the opposition, Gates said that that is putting the cart before the horse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: What the opposition needs, as much as anything right now, is some training, some command and control, and some organization. It's a pretty -- it's pretty much a pickup ball game at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Well, just what role could the U.S. play in Libya's future?
Joining us now from Washington is CNN's chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley. She also hosts CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."
Candy, tell us, how much pressure is the U.S. government putting on other governments to step up in Libya? It's one thing for Defense Secretary Gates to say they should. Is there something in the works where they would?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's certainly something that they are, you know, obviously, now saying publicly, but they have said privately. And if you go back and look at what the president says, secretary of state, secretary of defense -- they have always said we're just in here for the beginning. We're going to do what is -- what uniquely we can do with the specific kind of playing and then pull back and we're going to play a support position.
So, this is not news to those who are in this coalition and, certainly, it is something that from the get-go, the Obama administration has said here's what we're going to do. Now, whether they can stick to that, given the situation on the ground, is a whole different question.
CHETRY: Some are also asking why we know about this CIA operation, this covert operation on the ground to gather intelligence. Is it because they want us to know? A trial balloon of sorts to see if there is support for this or are these military operations that are sensitive and should be happening behind closed doors?
CROWLEY: You know, I'm not sure anybody in Washington or, for that matter, in Tripoli, found it surprising that CIA operatives were in and around Libya. We were certain they were there when this all started. They put more in there as we understand it after the uprising began, but the fact that there are CIA operatives in there particularly when the U.S. is bombing -- I mean, particularly when it is part of an operation where eyes on the ground would help.
This tank envoy is coming this way. This is where the anti- aircraft missile equipment is. I mean, that kind of thing, as well as try to figure out who in the world are these people that are the rebels? If we are going to help them, if, indeed, they are still considering that some nation give them weaponry, give them training, you have to figure out who to give the weapons to.
So, I don't think it was a surprise. It's always a surprise when you hear -- oh, CIA operatives are in Libya, except for, I think, most people kind of assumed that to be the case.
ROMANS: You know, interesting. We just heard from Ivan Watson in Cairo. And it reminds me that there's revolution and then there's the hard work of nation-building and how to put together a country or a democracy after that. And we're in various stages of that across the Middle East.
It must pose huge -- huge issues and quandaries for U.S. policymakers both on the military side and on the diplomatic side.
CROWLEY: It totally does, because, obviously, the U.S. can't be seen in either faction, militarily or politically, as trying to force something into happening. And you look at Egypt -- I talked to a lot of people watching very carefully saying we're worried Egypt is going too fast. We're worried they have scheduled elections too quickly. It takes a lot to lay the foundation just for elections but imagine, you know, setting up democratic institutions. Look how long it's taken this country to do it.
CHETRY: Right.
CROWLEY: So, yes, it's very hard and diplomatically a lot of work going on because the military is going on in other places, we don't pay as much attention to. But it is a huge line they have to walk because the U.S. would like to make sure that the Middle East that rises out of all of this is a Middle East that is friendly to U.S. concerns and to U.S. security.
VELSHI: Candy, good to see you. Thanks for your analysis on this.
"STATE OF THE UNION," you see Candy this Sunday morning, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
ROMANS: The situation in Japan is so dire now. Tens of thousands of people who have evacuated 12-mile zone surrounding the Daiichi nuclear power plant are now being told it won't be days or weeks, but months before they can return to their homes. Radiation levels in the soil and the seawater surrounding the plant have spiked now to their highest levels yet. And the contamination is spreading far beyond the government's mandatory evacuation zone.
More than 40 miles from the plant, dangerous contamination levels have now been detected in beef. Sales have been halted. The contaminated beef contained unhealthy levels of cesium 134 and 137.
The U.S. is sending in the Marines to help with Japan's recovery efforts. A 155-member response force could arrive today. Now, they are specially trained to operate in chemical, biological and nuclear environments. The Defense Department says the unit is bringing equipment for agent detection and identification, rescue and personnel decontamination and emergency medical care, and stabilization of contaminated personnel.
CHETRY: Well, it's April Fools' Day but the storm is dumping up to a foot of snow in parts of the Northeast, certainly no joke especially if you're living through it right now. This is the same system that spawned tornadoes across central Florida yesterday. And, in fact, these are pictures.
One is touching down at an air show in Lakeland, Florida. And you see the aftermath there with those planes. The powerful winds actually tossed some of these small planes around like they were toys.
VELSHI: Rob Marciano is here in our studio in New York this morning -- Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
You know, early in my career on April 1st, I thought it would be cute if I showed a big hurricane heading towards Louisiana which is where I was working. That wasn't a funny joke. I learned my lesson. I'll show that now.
So, the pictures we're showing you now, they are real. For two days in a row, Florida just got peppered with heavy rain and wind -- obviously, damaging winds. Six reports of tornadoes yesterday.
They do need the rain. It's been an unusually dry winter for them, so they'll take. The rain and wind now are going to be pushing off to sea finally as this front moves to the east. But what's north of the front and what it's tied to is this storm that's dumping snow across parts of the northeast.
All right. Let's show you some of the action. White from Portland, Maine back to Scranton, Pennsylvania, they start to pile up. We've already seen upwards of about a half of foot of snow in spots of New England and we'll see more than as the day rolls along. Those cold air is filtering in behind this.
Temperatures hovering just above the freezing mark from Philly back to New York and to Boston. But, look, Philly is already below or getting closer to freezing than New York is. So, there is some of that colder air. We will see some of this rain turn over to snow and some of the bigger cities. It probably won't pile up to a hole up and then the last -- it's April 1st and the thought of it on the ground in some major metropolitan areas is scary enough.
All right. Storm number one pulls out to sea. This one, don't worry. It's not that big of a deal. It's going to scoot down to the South and it just kind of brings some cloudiness and maybe a spritz or a sprinkle and that is about it.
Daytime highs are going to be obviously below average across the northern tier. Forty-seven degrees expected in New York City. So, you know, whatever it does, it's not going to stick around too long.
Forty-six degrees in Chicago, that's still below average. Cubs opening day today. Cleveland, they had to shovel snow yesterday just to -- just to get the field ready for today. Philadelphia may see some snow flurries. Baseball is a long season.
So, they started early when it's cold and they end it late when it's cold as well.
VELSHI: You'll have nice days to watch baseball.
ROMANS: And that's no joke.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
VELSHI: All right. Remember those RadioShack store offering a free gun to customers who signed up for satellite TV? Well, the company now is asking him to stop the promotion. The store owner says, no way. So, what happened to his sales? We will talk about that when we come back.
CHETRY: And there's a new movement. Thousands of people fasting in order to call attention to what they say are cuts in the budget that will affect people who are going hungry. "The New York Times" food writer Mark Bittman is one of them. We're going to speak to him live, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. A RadioShack owner in Montana -- we've been talking about this -- doesn't care what the corporate office says. He's going to continue giving away free guns to consumers who sign up for satellite TV. Steve Strand has been offering gift cards for a $125 pistol or $115 shotgun, along with a free background check to customers who buy two-year Dish Network packages. Sales of the packages have tripled.
ROMANS: So, it worked?
VELSHI: It apparently worked.
Officials from RadioShack called him on Tuesday and ordered him to stop the promotion and Strand refused and says he's now looking for a lawyer.
ROMANS: Well, now, it's going to be his right to do it --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- versus the franchise owner's right.
VELSHI: Anybody who didn't know about the offer is going to his place to get a dish.
ROMANS: That's right.
All right. The bacteria that killed nine people and sickened 10 others in six Alabama hospitals has been trace to do a pharmacy in Birmingham. The name of that pharmacy is I.V. Meds. They prepare the I.V. solutions that were given to all the affected patients. The same bacteria found in the victim's blood was discovered at a faucet at the pharmacy and in an I.V. bag. This is according to investigators for the state health officials who've been taking a look into this. Health officials say there's a possibility that this rules out the possibility that the I.V. solutions became contaminated after they left that pharmacy.
CHETRY: Facing a shutdown over a budget crisis. And nearly a month ago, protesters launched a hunger strike over proposals to cut spending for programs that help feed the poor and hungry. Four thousand Americans stopped eating to take part in that protest, and Mark Bittman is one of them. He's a food and opinion writer for "The New York Times."
Eating, of course, part of his job, but this week, he joined that fast, and Mark Bittman joins us now. Good morning. Thanks for being with us.
MARK BITTMAN, FOOD AND OPINION WRITER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: So, you broke the fast late last night. You hadn't eaten since Monday.
BITTMAN: Sunday, actually. Four full days.
CHETRY: What was that like?
BITTMAN: Well, the second and -- first day was kind of a joke. The second and third day were less of a joke, and yesterday was really, really hard. I was weak. I was distracted. I had trouble concentrating. I was grumpy, et cetera. So, it's nice to eat last night. Nice to have the choice, you know.
CHETRY: Absolutely. But, for the 4,000 people, what was the point of doing it?
BITTMAN: This is really to call attention to the fact that HR1, the budget legislation introduced by the house, cuts aid to the poor and hungry in the United States and abroad, rather than scrapping, say, defense program or increasing taxes on the rich or any other number of ways we could be raising money and maintaining programs for poor and hungry women and children in the United States, people who need malaria drugs abroad, farmers who are providing subsistence for their neighbors abroad.
There are all kinds of programs that we do that don't cost a lot of money that are up for cuts in the budget bill.
CHETRY: It's a tough spot, though. I mean, basically, you have a Republican-controlled House. They are looking for ways to cut a bigger chunk than the administration put forth. And they don't want to do it raising taxes, obviously. They were voted under the -- you know, understanding that they would not do that. And so, you start to look around, you have these untouchables.
You have, you know, the three entitlement programs and the interest on our debt. Everything else, I mean, you're basically taking a scalpel to some of these things. I mean, how do you sort of feet all the constituents, so to speak?
BITTMAN: Well, I don't think much as -- I actually don't think much -- politics is not my bid (ph), right? So, I don't think much is going to happen this session. I think, in the future, we need to say, look, the Bush tax cuts for the rich amount to $42 billion a year, which is more than what the cuts are going to wind up being compromised or wind up compromising it $30 billion in cuts, right?
The Bush tax cuts on the rich cost us $42 billion a year. Those tax cuts would not affect 99 percent. Rolling back those tax cuts would not affect 99 percent of the people in the United States.
CHETRY: But that is a political argument because the opposite end of that argument is we shouldn't say it costs us. This is people's money, that they give to the government in the form of taxes.
BITTMAN: Right. It's wealthy people's money --
CHETRY: Right.
BITTMAN: Who have, you know, who have hundreds of times as much money as most people in the United States, and this is not how it's been traditionally. And taxes were much higher until the Reagan years.
CHETRY: Well, I want to show you some numbers because, I mean, it is important. We're talking about more people than ever needing public assistance when it comes to being able to feed themselves. We've talked about, you know, the difficulties because food prices have been on the rise. Commodity prices have been on the rise. Right now, you take a look at the SNAP, the food program, the stamp program.
You have $68 billion being spent right now in 2010. Forty million people need this or get the benefit at an average of $133 per person. I mean, these are stark numbers. This is pretty startling about, you know, a country as wealthy as ours and how many people rely on the government to eat.
BITTMAN: I think it's worse than that, actually. There's a piece in the "TIMES" today about how the new jobs that are being created or in retail and health care and other services, and they don't really pay enough for people to support their families. It is a question of priorities. I mean, obviously, these people are Americans, too. How do you want to order your priorities?
CHETRY: And the question is in terms of trying to draw attention to this, what has been the response from people? You know, you're a food critic. You eat food (ph). I mean, you do opinion pieces, as well, but, I mean, you know, "New York Times" food critic saying I'm not going to eat for four days.
BITTMAN: Well, most people naturally are curious and want to have conversations like this. And of course, we all are friends with the people who agree with us, politically, so I'm getting a lot of support. but, you know, the fast itself is a very curious thing because it puts you in the position, and obviously, voluntarily, but it puts you in the position of someone who's genuinely hungry.
Not hungry like I want a Snickers bar, but hungry like I'm getting weak. And when you think about what that kind of hunger is like and what it's like to think about looking for a job or doing some work when you're actually physically deprived of energy, it's a very tough situation to be in. I think, you know, it does come down to priorities, which is what politics is about, and it's a question of whether you see yourself as an individual or a part of society. I see myself as a part of society. I think most of Americans do also.
CHETRY: So --
BITTMAN: Sorry. There's a poll that says, are you in favor of cutting international aid, and everybody says, oh, yes. And then when you say, well, international aid is less than 1 percent of our budget, they say, oh, no, I'm not in favor of cutting international aid. I think that may have been a CNN Poll, but, yes.
CHETRY: Yes, I know. I mean, that's why it's difficult. We just -- yes, you're absolutely right. We just did do a poll, and everybody makes an extremely passionate argument for why they believe what their priorities shouldn't be cut from the budget and that's why we're here at this stalemate, you know? And, I mean, this is one of them, and this is a passionate argument taking place, and I totally get it.
BITTMAN: Well, I believe we're here at the stalemate because we refuse to tax corporations the way they should be tax, and we refuse to tax billionaires the way they should be taxed. That would make a huge difference.
CHETRY: Well, it's great to have you with us this morning, Mark Bittman. Thanks so much for joining us.
BITTMAN: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Spend 60 seconds with Jane Lang (ph), and it's clear. This devoted Yankees fan has never let her blindness impair how she sees and views the world. Rob has her truly inspiring story as she makes the long trip from her home in New Jersey to Yankees Stadium's home opener. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A whole lot of boys on AMERICAN MORNING. Hey, by the way, you know, we've complaining to Rob Marciano about the weather in New York all week. We finally brought him up here to experience it himself. Thirty-six degrees and cloudy right now.
ROMANS: And he's like the guy in the Peanuts who walks around with a cloud over his head. I'm beginning to think that you're the reason.
VELSHI: You're the weather --
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I was in L.A. a couple of weekends ago, and it rained in Los Angeles like I've never seen rain anywhere.
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: Yes, you know, it is the curse of the weatherman. All of my colleagues experience the same thing. Obviously, it's not that bad up here. You, guys, are just -- Ali, you're getting a little soft now.
VELSHI: I know. The Atlanta thing has been doing that to me. Now, of course, we were saying the boys are back in town. We weren't actually talking about Rob and me, we were talking about the Yankees. We're talking about the boys of summer. The Yankees fans braved some harsh weather on opening day, but they were rewarded with a victory.
It was a special day for one extraordinary Yankee fan. Jane Lang has been a fan since birth. She's also has been blind since birth, but Jane is a regular at Yankees Stadium. She makes it from her home in New Jersey to the Bronx with her guide dog, and Rob went along with her. Tell us about the story.
MARCIANO: It really is. You know, a remarkable human being, this woman. It impressed me from the second I met her to when I sadly left her. It was my honor to be with her. As mentioned, blind from birth. There's a lot of fanatically Yankee fans out there.
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: But this woman takes it to another level, and the way she gets to the stadium when she goes 30, 40 times a year, well, to use the Frank Sinatra song that they sing at the end of Yankee games, she does it her way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (voice-over): She's made the trip alone more than 200 times. Nearly three hours by foot, train, and subway, Jane Lang is a hard-core Yankees fan.
JANE LANG, YANKEE FAN: I really enjoy the games. I have made so many friends. I love it. In the winter, I'm miserable. I miss it.
MARCIANO: Blind since birth, she loves baseball for different reasons than most.
LANG: You know, it's not many places in this world that I really feel 100 percent safe, but when I walk into Yankees Stadium, it's like I don't have to worry. I feel like I'm home.
Good boy.
I love the trip. I love the trip because I know what's at the end, and I know that I'm lucky to be able to do it by myself. It means the world to me.
MARCIANO: Even with her seeing-eye dog Clipper leading her, it's no easy trick.
Things change every day in the city.
LANG: Oh, yes.
MARCIANO: Scaffolding that throws you off, what goes through your mind?
LANG: Where the hell am I?
MARCIANO: Still, she always finds her way to the subway.
What was it like when you took this route for the first time?
LANG: I was scared. And when I got to the Yankees Stadium, I was so happy. I sat there sobbing like a baby.
MARCIANO: She has a little trick to get off at the right subway stop. One lifesaver in her right pocket gets move to her left at every stop. When she empties her right, it's time to get off. 161st street.
I think Clipper is more excited to get to the game than we are.
LANG: Yes. He loves it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to see you!
LANG: How are you? As soon as I walked in, you saw how happy I was.
MARCIANO: I saw how happy everybody else was to see you.
LANG: Yes, Derek!
MARCIANO: It's definitely her happy place.
LANG: Woo!
MARCIANO: Any other place you'd rather be?
LANG: No. Absolutely not!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (on-camera): She is going back on Saturday. I think she goes 30, 40 times a year. It's a long trip. I should also mention that she was born near the Boston area. So, you know, technically, she is a Boston fan that's been converted. Married, three kids, and married for over 40 years.
She goes to day games mostly because the one time she went to a night game, she missed the train coming home, and her husband never let her go in the night again.
CHETRY: He's not a huge Yankee fan? He doesn't go with her?
MARCIANO: He goes, but it's kind of her thing. She enjoys the independence. You walk into that place, and I've never seen a woman greeted with such love and affection, and she gives it right back. I mean, they treat her like an absolute queen. If I was treated that way, I'd go there every day, too.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Great story, Rob.
MARCIANO: Thank you. You bet.
CHETRY: Well, coming up, two baseball nuts won a contest to spend the entire season, basically, one lazy boys, watching every single inning of every single game all season long, and they're doing in a lap of luxury, Major League Baseball's new fan cave, and we're going to be talking to them live.
ROMANS: Plus, we're just minutes away from the monthly jobs report. What are the most closely watched economic indicators on Wall Street, but, what does it mean for you, your family, and everyone you know whose going off to work this morning? Twenty-eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Crossing the half hour right now. Breaking news this hour. Thousands of protesters returning to Cairo's Tahrir square saying the revolution is not over. A youth group there saying they are trying to make sure the revolution is not stolen away. They helped drive President Hosni Mubarak from power after three decades of rule, but now they fear the military is getting too powerful.
Also breaking news from Libya this morning where pro-Gadhafi forces launching a new offensive against rebels in Misrata. This morning we had an exclusive look at the fighting in the streets of Misrata this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNFIRE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: CNN's Frederik Pleitgen was granted access to the opposition's front lines as they battled Gadhafi troops in Misrata, and that is where we are getting this video. We are also hearing reports of 5.9 magnitude earthquake hitting northeast Japan centered about 250 miles northeast of Tokyo. Japanese officials are telling thousands of people who evacuated their homes within 12 miles of the Daiichi power plant that they will not be allowed back in for months because of dangerous levels of radiation also showing up in beef, more than 40 miles away. Radiation testing is now under way on pork and poultry products as well.
VELSHI: Unemployment rate for March is now in. We have breaking news on that. Christine?
ROMANS: I was just listening to the call. It's 8.8 percent for the unemployment rate. That's down just a little bit and the best since March, 2009. The economy added 216,000 jobs in the month. We have been talking about this. The private sector jobs, how much do the private sector business create? It was 230,000 jobs.
Of course, local governments lost jobs. We have been talking about these budget cuts at different levels. Temporary jobs were created. Health care jobs over the past year, there have been some 283,000 jobs created in health care, so we have seen some gains there as well.
Again, overall, the unemployment rate dropping just a bit. In fact, Labor Department says unchanged because it was such a small move, but 8.8 percent jobs gain of 216,000 in the month.
VELSHI: Which is better than most of the expectations were?
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: Carmen Wong Ulrich joins us now. The legs on the economic stool this is the one that concerns the greatest number of people?
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: This is tremendously important and this is encouraging numbers and happy to see this. CNNmoney.com did a poll of economists, and they were expecting around 200,000 jobs to be created. So this s a great number and big number.
Most of the jobs, as they have been over the past several months created in the health sector. Leisure and tech is up as well. We like to see the growth. We need a growth of 250,000 every month in order to significantly change the employment numbers. But with 200,000 we are doing good. We need at least 150,000 new jobs every month just to keep up with population numbers.
CHETRY: A couple of things I look at in here that are deep in these tables. How long people are unemployed. People have been out of work six months or longer have not felt much relief. You've seen the action most recently is people recently out of work having easier time to find a job. The 99ers continue to tell us you're talking about things looking better. We're still looking for a job. So look to see how long people have been unemployed. VELSHI: They have been employed out of two years and run out of their benefits and they are still finding it hard to get in the workplace because employers get disinterested in people out of work.
ULRICH: The longer you're out of work the harder to get a job, looking at states to cut back tremendously in record ways in terms of your unemployment checks. You've seen new things in Missouri and Florida. Unemployment checks only 20 weeks compared to 99 weeks we have seen before and fall in line with unemployment numbers.
If unemployment goes down the weeks continue to drop to as low as 12. So folks who are getting laid off at this point have a much different outlook than folks who were laid off a couple of years ago.
CHETRY: Carmen, last month, we said 218,000 for March. What was February, a big jump?
ULRICH: It is up. It has revised up to a different number. Since October, we have been on an uptick. So this is really good news, but it's even better because projected, we're looking at a 180,000 to 200,000 new jobs. This is a really great number.
VELSHI: Very good. Carmen, thank you very much.
ULRICH: Thank you.
ROMANS: Two of baseball's biggest fans will watch every major league baseball game this year regular and postseason then blog about it. And they are living inside glass walled fan cave in New York City while they do it. Up next, we will go inside the cave and talk to Mike O'Hara. What are the perks and how does he plan to stay sane? That's a lot of baseball.
CHETRY: That is a lot of baseball.
VELSHI: I'd stay sane just fine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: For millions of baseball fans across America, life has meaning again. It was opening day yesterday. Umpires were calling balls and strikes. Employees everywhere were calling out sick, but not our next guest.
He actually has a new job that requires him to watch every single game of the 2011 baseball season. That's more than 2,400 ballgames. I can barely get through one and my husband will attest to that. He won a contest and now living in the MLB fan cave in New York City and he'll be there the entire season. Are you married, Mike?
MIKE O'HARA, MLB CONTEST WINNER: I am not married yet.
ROMANS: You're not going to find anyone this year, I'm going to guarantee you on that. You can think about the woman of your dreams while watching hours and hours of baseball. How are you ever going to get through it all, sir? O'HARA: I'm just -- I'm a giant baseball fan. I have ADD, so that is good. I can bounce from TV to TV and it will help me for once. It's going to be great and so much stuff going on here in the cave I won't be at a loss for things to look at and see and watch and experience.
CHETRY: It's cool. You're the envy of many guys out there, including Rob. How did you win? I understand that they had thousands of entries. What do you do to convince them you would be the west at this gig?
O'HARA: You know, I sent in a writing sample you know, both on baseball and then I sent one in on punk rock not being dead and just to show I'm kind of well-rounded.
(LAUGHTER)
And I sent in a video, you know, and I was up for "Saturday Night Live," so I sent one a couple of years ago so I sent one similar with impressions and things like that. I guess it popped, which is good. Plus a little Irish luck, I think.
MARCIANO: Whatever it takes. Describe the setup for us. How many TVs or monitors do you have and do you have DVR? Can you scoot through the commercials? Baseball can be a long game.
O'HARA: No. You got to watch all of the commercials and everything. We have the 16 screens behind me and three big ones in the middle for the featured games and then ones around it and, yes, I'll be, you know, staying aware of everything that is on each and every one of those.
ROMANS: Who is your team? Who is your team? I mean, I can't even get through a whole season of the Cubs and you have to get through a whole season of everybody. Are you rooting for anybody in particular?
O'HARA: I was born in Yonkers, New York and grew up here on the east coast. I'm a Yankee fan. I know everybody outside of the tri- state area will not be happy but I love baseball.
VELSHI: What is life like? When do you get to leave and go out and how do you eat? What happens?
O'HARA: Everybody here at MLB has been great and they make sure that I can eat. I'm not like a caged lion at the zoo. At the end of the day when the last out is recorded, you know, I get to go home to an apartment right here in the area and get up the next day, come back in, and read about what is going on in baseball, what is going on in pop culture and kind of hybrid the two.
CHETRY: For six months, this is happening. I know you can be a baseball fan but are you worried it's fun for the first couple of weeks and then three months into it you turn into poor Jack Nicholson from "The Shining"? O'HARA: A bored Mike is no fun. No. There will be so much stuff that we're planning. Ballplayers will be dropping by to watch with me, celebrities, bands, so it will be kind of a carnival down here on top of getting to watch baseball, which is great.
ROMANS: Watching that much tape, maybe somebody could hire you for coaching.
VELSHI: Is there a place to stretch out? You got a little ball field in the corner you can, you know, do your own thing on?
O'HARA: Yes. There's a pitching machine down here. I'll be able to throw around. I can go for runs in the morning. I'm going to try to stay as active as I can so I'll have energy to sit and watch, you know, every game, every inning.
ROMANS: A bowl of chips and a bowl of popcorn and chicken wings for that many games is not good.
O'HARA: You need to train like an athlete.
CHETRY: I like you won't have time to do what you're doing and play Miss Pacman as well.
(LAUGHTER)
We'll come visit and watch a game.
O'HARA: I need as many guests as I can, so definitely come by and hang out with me for sure.
VELSHI: Whoever is in your area after we say good-bye to you will give you all of our e-mails. Mike, thanks so.
O'HARA: Absolutely. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.
CHETRY: We are talking a hundred degrees in Phoenix and other parts of Arizona and snow in the northeast. This morning's commute may be a mess and Rob will be tracking it all for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Hey it's beautiful. Look at that. That is beautiful videotape of February 1st in Boston. Right?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It took you two hours to come around and see the optimism, see the glory of a white April 1st.
VELSHI: That's not. This is April 1st. This is live video from our affiliate WCVB Boston, Massachusetts. Rob, what's going on? It's April 1st, what's happening?
ROMANS: Explain yourself, young man.
MARCIANO: Explain. Well, it's -- it's what keeps me having a job. So it's job security. I'm happy to have it for sure. A little snow across the northeast as you saw and cold air in spots but warm air. You know, this is the transitional time of the year --
(CROSS TALK)
ROMANS: Yes.
MARCIANO: -- when Mother Nature is trying to get from winter to summer. And you know the road in between can be a little bit windy and --
CHETRY: But it was March that was supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: What's going on in April?
MARCIANO: You know and who is that rodent, Phil -- Punxsutawney Phil.
VELSHI: Yes. He's just lying.
MARCIANO: He said we were going to have an early spring. He is awful. He's an embarrassment to all prognosticators.
CHETRY: We definitely believe you more than the groundhog.
MARCIANO: I appreciate that.
CHETRY: Does that make you feel better?
MARCIANO: We did. I embraced it as a kid and I got rid of the buck teeth.
CHETRY: You shaved all your fur off and here you are.
MARCIANO: Exactly.
ROMANS: That's funny.
MARCIANO: Got some fresh video. I got some relatives with fur that you wouldn't -- you know? No need for a sweater.
But listen. Polar bears unite. This kind of weather across parts of Connecticut. This is what is happening this morning. Accumulating snow, especially north of I-95 in through parts of Hartford, Litchfield. We've seen several inches of snow so far and that's going to keep going.
All right, let's get to the map, the next map and show you the radar. This storm is kind of starting to crank up just a little bit. So it's pulling in colder air behind it. If it wasn't cold yesterday where you lived it will be colder today across the northeast. There is the white from Boston back to New York. Temperatures really haven't climbed at all as a matter of fact they've dipped a couple of degrees the past few hours. Just above the freezing mark from Philly to New York. So we will see some snow at the back end of this thing. But by the time that happens there's not going to be a lot of moisture so it shouldn't be piling up like it is.
Upstate New York, parts of northern New England, I think by the time this is all done we'll probably see a foot or more in some spots.
Here's a look at what the forecast reads. We'll start to accelerate the storm as we go through time and that will kick it out to sea. Behind it certainly will be some cooler air; 46 in Chicago. By the way, Cubs open up today. Maybe a sprinkle.
Cleveland saw some stuff snow. Boy, they were shoveling snow off -- off the tarp in Cleveland yesterday to prepare for today's game. They should be ok. Maybe a couple of snow flurries. And Philly may see some snow flurries as well on the backside of this.
But if you know, you're tired of the cold already, 99 degrees in Phoenix -- that may be a record high. You've got to check the record books but I sense that that even that is --
VELSHI: Even for Phoenix --
MARCIANO: Even for Phoenix we're talking about the other end of the spectrum.
VELSHI: Ok.
MARCIANO: That's what makes this time of the year so fun.
VELSHI: Here's some news I got about a story that we were all involved in. We've just had this news we received in the news at CNN. We have won a Peabody Award for our coverage --
(CROSS TALK)
CHETRY: That's right.
VELSHI: -- of the Gulf oil spill. Kiran, Rob they were extensive part of this network's live coverage along the Gulf Coast as the worst oil spill in history unfolded -- in U.S. history unfolded. April 20th last year was when it started. It went on for three straight months.
CNN had teams of reporters on the ground in the Gulf reporting on the damaged wildlife, the coast, the -- the -- the incomes of so many of the people. Of course, that tragic explosion is what started it off -- it started off and killed 11 workers in the Gulf of Mexico. And that just seemed like a story that wasn't going to go away.
CHETRY: No. And I mean there were so many facets of it. I mean Rob you did a lot of the environmental impact but the economic impact as you talked about as well. And just the fact that we were really, I mean, we watched sort of what is going on in Japan right now. We just kept making it up as we went along as a nation how do you get the oil to stop.
VELSHI: Right, right.
CHETRY: I mean, when -- when every failsafe in place doesn't work.
VELSHI: Right.
What is the impact on an entire community?
VELSHI: Yes and the impact remains.
MARCIANO: Yes but long -- long term, we still don't know and we're coming up on the year anniversary and we'll be putting out a report card and show you where we've come.
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: It's been a long year, that's for sure. But you know, we've -- we've made some progress and that's the good news.
ROMANS: But congratulations for that. It's nice to get the recognition from you know -- it's a prestigious award, the Peabody. So that's nice to get the recognition for that, the hard work, right.
MARCIANO: As the network has worked on that.
VELSHI: All right. Those four "The New York Times" reporters who were kidnapped in Libya are speaking out about their ordeal.
Up next the lone woman in the group, war photographer Lynsey Addario says she was sexually abused while held captive. Her harrowing story plus, why she thinks they were all spared.
It's 51 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We all followed their story and their first-person account of what it was like to be stuck where they were. Four journalists held captive from "The New York Times" held captive and beaten by Moammar Gadhafi's troops in Libya. They actually said they never expected to survive this ordeal. Photographer Lynsey Addario says that she was punched, she was sexually assaulted by her captors.
VELSHI: Now earlier on AMERICAN MORNING I asked Lynsey and her husband Paul de Bendern who has spoken to us while she was being held captive about the harrowing experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNSEY ADDARIO, "NEW YORK TIMES": I think the hardest part is knowing that your family doesn't know and Paul didn't know whether I was alive. You know, there were three days when there was no information about our whereabouts. And for us, you know, we were in survival mode and all of us were really just trying to maintain our composure.
The hardest part was just knowing that there had been no information given to them.
PAUL DE BENDERN, LYNSEY ADDARIO'S HUSBAND: I always had a feeling that she was fine and she has been through a lot and she is very smart. She knows to handle difficult situations. But, of course, as time went by, not knowing anything, you know, there was a moment when I kept calling her and her phone was ringing but there was no answer.
VELSHI: Yes.
DE BENDERN: And then at one point, the phone was somebody was hanging up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: He was saying a particularly chilling moment was when one of the soldiers started stroking her hair and saying in Arabic which you got translated "you're going to die tonight". Both of them very brave and both experienced journalists. Paul is the Reuters bureau chief in Delhi. You remember when we talked to him last time, he was so upbeat and so confident. He was really believing that he was going to see her again.
Great to see here --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Well, it's interesting because he said he knew that she was tough and that she could handle really kind of challenging situations but she said the four of them, "The New York Times" reporters all thought they were going to die.
VELSHI: Yes. But they kept each other going. There were all sort of supporting each other. Great ending to what was going to be a horrible tragedy.
ROMANS: It's down 55 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROSANNA MEANS, CNN HERO: You ok?
Every week, I talk to women who are sleeping outside.
It's only 17 degrees out, so I didn't want you to get frozen.
So much pain and suffering right on the fringes of our perspective.
Do you need some help, hon?
In Boston, despite all the medical resources for the homeless population, I was seeing very few of the women using the services.
For women who are poor, homeless, or battered, to deal with a system of health care becomes overwhelming. They don't have an address, they don't have a phone, there are lots of emotional issues and psychiatric issues. I didn't like the idea they were falling through the cracks.
I'm Dr. Rosanna Means. I bring high quality care to the women and children in the shelters of Boston.
Good morning. The women come into the shelter to get warm and safe and we're there.
Come on in, Ellen.
There is no registration. We're not charging anything. If they want to come see us, we will use that moment to try to build a relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my safety net right here.
MEANS: The women learn to trust us as ambassadors of the health care system.
All right, hon. God bless.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
MEANS: Over time, we can teach them how to use the system as it was intended and, eventually, they do move forward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I knew she really cared, I started wanting to take care of myself.
MEANS: I love these women, no matter what. You're doing a great job. That starts to get taken inside that if I matter to somebody else, maybe I matter to myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right.
CHETRY: Nominate a hero at CNN.com/heroes.
Meantime that's going to do it for us this week. So glad you joined us. We'll be back here bright and early on Monday morning.
ROMANS: That's right. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello starts right now. Hi Carol.
