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What's Pumping Up Gas Prices; Blade Runner On Defense; Fender Bender Tax; Mom's Birthday Strippers

Aired February 20, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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

WHITFIELD: All right, have you filled up your car lately? Wow, those gas prices are way up. The climb has been so fast and furious, as you can see in the chart from gas buddy here. So what is behind this sudden hike?

Alison Kosik is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to explain all this for us. Being there in New York, you don't have to worry about the gas prices, but the rest of us do.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No, we worry about the gas prices here too. They're spiking as well. No wonder feeling like we're seeing sticker shock at the gas pump. Because actually gas praises are up the most this month than they've been in 3 1/2 years.

Now part of the reason for this is because refineries are sort of going on this trend lately where they're switching over to the cleaner, but more expensive summer blend of gasoline. In order to switch over, they have to shut down some of their refineries.

That squeezes supply and causes the prices to go higher. Plus you add on the fact that oil prices are up about 10 percent over the past two months, that creates more pain at the pump. You know what the timing, Fredricka, it couldn't be worse.

Because you remember the payroll tax holiday that expires so Americans are taking home less in their paychecks -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And so any hope on the horizon that gas prices may be making their way down sometime soon?

KOSIK: Not sometime soon because AAA is saying that they expect actually gas prices to sort of peak or reach a ceiling in the spring, so you are going to see them go a little higher. But this is really what the pattern has been where you're seeing this happen earlier and earlier in the year.

Look what's happened. Gas reached its highest price of the year in about mid May of 2011 and then again in March, even earlier, March 2012. So it could be even earlier this year.

I have a bit of good news to leave you with, though. The highest price that gas will go this year won't be as high as last year. I'm talking about the national average. The national average was $3.94 last year. AAA is not expecting it to go any higher this year -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, still painful at the pump. Thanks so much, Alison Kosik. Appreciate it.

All right, coming up next, our daily hot topics debate including the rise and fall of Olympic star Oscar Pistorius. Even if he's acquitted of murder charges, can his reputation ever recover?

Plus, a mom hires strippers for her son's 16th birthday party. Should she face legal charges?

And no letup to the war of words between legendary record exec Clive Davis and singer Kelly Clarkson. We'll find out who started that feud. Our panelists will be revealed next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Brooke Baldwin. For the next 20 minutes, we're going to discuss the hot stories that you'll be talking about at the dinner table tonight.

First, the biggest story in the world right now, a beautiful model shot dead by an Olympian. "Blade Runner," Oscar Pistorius admits he killed Reeva Steenkamp, but says it was an accident. He says he thought she was intruder hiding out in the bathroom.

The trial hasn't even begun, but there's already a whole lot to talk about. Let's bring my hot topics panel today, Loni Love, psychologist expert, datingadvice.com, good to see you. Tom O'Neill, editor at goldderby.com.

Chris Frates, national correspondent for "The National Journal." Good to see you as well and Wendy Walsh, psychologist expert at datingadvice.com. Good to see all of you.

All right, this is an incredible case. I mean, it really is riveting. I think everyone is at the edge of their seats no matter where you are or what corner of the world. I know it's very early, but what's plausible about this story, gang, of fear, self-defense, and mistaken identity? Chris, you first.

CHRIS FRATES, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, "NATIONAL JOURNAL": Well, you know, Fredricka, what really strikes me about the story is the hero worship that we have with our athletes and this idea that he was such a good story, the script of the man who could run with no legs.

You know, none of the stories about the gun obsession, with the violent outbreaks, the speedboat crashes, the violent behavior came out before this terrible incident and we've knocked, you know, this hero off his pedestal and it's about as American of a media story as you get, you know, big-time star, whether it's Barry Bonds or Lance Armstrong.

We see it over and over again. And it's about time, I think, we as the media start to lack at these guys and try to give you better portraits. Because they're great on the field doesn't mean they're great off the field.

WHITFIELD: So Loni, maybe you're nodding there, but Wendy, I'm wondering, you know, is that what this is about? Is this kind of, you know, put the microscope on athletes overall or people that are considered heroes or symbols or role models that perhaps we don't expect that they can make mistakes, that they are infallible. I mean, is that what this story helps reveal?

WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: And this is a lot bigger than just a mistake. It does help reveal we put these athletes, actors, musicians, politicians even on such pedestals and because of technology, of course, it becomes an even taller pedestal where the entire globe looks.

And then for them what they have to do to try to stay on top of that pedestal, there are rumors now that there were testosterone and needles and steroid use in his home. I also would look at what are the personality types of the kind of people who seek this kind of fame.

WHITFIELD: What do you mean?

WALSH: Seek to win medals. Seek to win politicians. Are they narcissists who need to have the world looking at them? We want to look at are these the people we want to have as role models.

WHITFIELD: Really? So, Loni, if we're talking about a case that's about murder, but now we're also talking about whether an athlete or someone of greatness such as Oscar Pistorius has, I guess, some expectation that the world should worship him or her. I mean, is that fair or even that an athlete would have -- would be predisposed to aggression or anything like this. It doesn't seem right.

LONI LOVE, HOST, "CAFE MOCHA": Well, I mean, the thing is that we know that he's guilty. We're just trying to figure out how guilty is he. I mean, was it truly an accident or was it premeditated? The thing is what intruder robs and then runs to the bathroom? It does not sound right.

I mean, we want to be on his side, but this story is not adding up, and we need to figure out all the facts. I'm getting emotional about this because a woman has died and supposedly from what we're hearing, you know, they were arguing before and then there were shots.

We need to find out the true story. Forget about all the -- he was handicapped and he was this great champion. We're trying to find out what really happened in this situation.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and I think everybody wants to know the details of the story. We only have dribbles and drabs of the facts, Tom. But that is the way a murder investigation goes. I mean, it's only been a week.

But we talk about the layout of perhaps the house, what we hear is there's a bathroom involved. He was in the bed. He didn't have his prosthetics on, but then suddenly he did. A gun is fired. He thinks there was an intruder, you know, let's talk about naturally what someone might suspect would happen. If you think there's an intruder, you might call out for that loved one who might be in the house. I mean, this whole story of fear and intruder, mistaken identity, do you buy all this?

LOVE: Well, the thing is --

TOM O'NEIL, EDITOR AT GOLD DERBY: Absolutely not. And what makes this so preposterous is that the latest information that came out during the hearing this week is that if we buy his story, let's just follow it through.

That he is startled by this intruder who then runs in the bathroom and he gets his gun and fearing for the life of his girlfriend there, you know, points his rage at the door of the bathroom to protect her, we just found out that the gun was under the bed on her side of the bed.

So, in other words, he was -- he had to go around, if this is true, get the gun there, and he clearly saw that she wasn't there. So there's only one place she could be and that's in the bathroom.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right, there's so much more to ask about this. We're going to be talking about it for days. We'll be talking about some other discussions later on with our panel.

Coming up next, a 16th birthday party quickly turning from celebration into a club scene when strippers arrive. What? Now the mother who hired the entertainers faces legal problems of her own. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Getting in a fender-bender is never cheap. In one town they're especially costly. Missouri City, Texas, a Houston suburb with a budget problem has decided to start charging a so-called crash tax next month.

So if you get into a crash drivers would pay up to $2,000 for road service depending on how bad the wreck is. If you don't call for help, you will still get charged. The city is expected to gain an extra $50,000 a year thanks to this crash tax.

Let's bring back our panel, OK, and then let's divulge on this a little bit. Fair, Tom?

O'NEIL: Fair? Could you imagine if the government is not going to charge us for emergency services, what's going to happen when your house is burning and you're dialing 911 and then they say, well, we'll send out a truck but are you going to put this on Mastercard or Visa? This is crazy.

LOVE: Insane.

WHITFIELD: Wendy, perhaps this is a sign of the times. There are a lot of cities that are cash strapped and are trying to get creative about how do we raise some revenue and this is one measure. What's wrong with that?

WALSH: And lots of cities are getting crazy creative. Here in Los Angeles, they are selling pot on every block and taxing the heck out of it. No, this is a problem and I'll tell you why. It's encouraging people it to break the law. If there is a crash --

WHITFIELD: It is?

WALSH: Where there is personal injury, you are supposed to call and report it. It's telling people, don't report crimes, don't report if there's personal injury. The law says that you have to report any car crash where there's personal injury.

So you and the dude could meet each other and go, just a little broken arm, let me pay your doctor. We're good, let's leave. And then years later you could be the subject of major lawsuits and there's no police report to protect you.

WHITFIELD: So Loni, do you see Missouri City as kind of on to something that perhaps other cities might be inspired by this and say, well, we're going to give it a whirl, too?

LOVE: Well, it's a sign of the times. Cities need money. What they need to do is have a dui tax, all these drunk people, especially at L.A. they would make a whole bunch of money that kind of way. If you're going to do tax, do it for things like that. People crash all the time. If I crash, I am pushing my car all the way to my house. I'm not calling nobody. No, I'm not doing that.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about something else, which really is going to inspire lots of discussion. So one mom is in a whole lot of trouble after being arrested for hiring strippers for her son's 16th birthday party.

Judy is charged with five counts of child endangerment after allegedly hiring two strippers to attend her son's party with five of his friends and the party, by the way, took place at a bowling alley where, according to the parents of five of the children the dancers actually performed there.

So there were actually pictures that were made there, too, and the party was displayed on line by way of those pictures. That's when some of the parents complained to police saying she endangered their children's welfare. And reports of what happened actually stunned some of the bowling alley patrons as well. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB CARPENTER, BOWLING ALLEY PATRON: You don't think you send your kid to a birthday party and they come home telling you there was a stripper there, that's for sure.

ROY ELDRIDGE, BOWLING ALLEY PATRON: I can't understand it. You know, it's mind-boggling. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: It is mind-boggling. So, Chris, you know, who is more culpable here, the parents or the bowling alley or both?

FRATES: Well, you know, I don't know if there's a 16-year-old boy in America who wouldn't love that for a birthday present, but if you're a parent, you have to know that, like, that's just not OK.

You know, one, it's a public place. Two, they're minors here. You know better. You can't serve minors alcohol. You also can't serve minors strippers. It's just common sense, and I think, you know, I don't know what the bowling alley knew or didn't know that was going on in a back room.

But this just seems like a lapse of common sense and, you know, the problem of trying to be that cool mom just really backfired on her.

WHITFIELD: But Tom, wouldn't the bowling alley -- how could they not know? I mean, why is just the mom in trouble?

O'NEIL: I know. We're all letting everybody else off the hook and I can't decide if this mom is the greatest mom in the world or the worst mom.

WHITFIELD: Come on.

LOVE: You guys, stop! Let a mom talk. That is terrible! You know what, Fredricka, I have to jump in. Tom --

WHITFIELD: All right, quick. Go, Loni.

LOVE: I feel sorry for the strippers. OK, to have to strip for 16-year-old boys, I feel sorry for them. That's -- how bad is the economy that you've got to take a job like that? The 16-year-old boys are the worst customers in the world. They're laughing. They're throwing quarters at them. They don't appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: So Wendy, we're laughing. It sounds funny. You know, do you see this as kind of a serious big no-no, too?

WALSH: I'm making two because there are two points I need to make right now. One is that this mom is obviously doing as she once did because she's 33 years old and has a 16-year-old, which means she was pregnant at 16. OK, first thing. Enough said.

And the second thing is because our culture has become so highly sexualized and we're using sexy bodies to sell these kids pretty much any product and half of them are naked on Facebook, nobody polices that, she sort of lost sight about where the laws are in our culture.

And I think Facebook should get on and taking the six packs and eight packs of 12-year-old boys off Facebook and the little girls with the cleavage when they're 13 and the duck face, they have to go.

WHITFIELD: Words of wisdom by Wendy there. All right, Tom, Chris, Loni, Wendy, all of you, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

All right, the verbal jabs continue to fly between legendary record exec Clive Davis and singer Kelly Clarkson. So what started that feud? We're going to tackle that topic as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, singer Kelly Clarkson is in a war of words with legendary record exec Clive Davis after he published some scathing comments about her in his new memoir. Now the pop star is speaking out and says she will not be bullied.

Clarkson accuses Davis of lying about her in a post on her Twitter page. She denies getting hysterical, quote/unquote, "hysterical," in a fight over her hit "Since You've Been Gone." But says, she did cry in his office after he called her a horrible songwriter.

Well, Davis responded today and sort of walked his comments back saying, in part, quote, "I think Kelly Clarkson is a tremendous vocal talent. I am truly sorry that she has decided to take issue with what I know to be an accurate depiction of our time together. I stand by the chapter as written in my book," end quote.

Back with our panel, Tom, you first. Clarkson says she just had to respond. You have to give her props for standing her ground but, at the same time, ways to take on Clive Davis?

O'NEIL: This fight has been going on for years all over the fact she wanted to write her own songs. She won that fight. "Because of You" was her song. It's got on there. Now they're fighting about the song "Since You've Been Gone."

The bottom line is this, Clive finally got his version out there with his book but, Clive, you don't -- I'm talking to you, Clive, right now. You don't get the last word anymore because you're not the emperor of music in this world of social media and divas. You are up against a diva and divas win today.

WHITFIELD: OK, Loni, is that true, no matter what? The song is a hit. She's a hit and so she probably is getting a whole lot of support for speaking her mind.

LOVE: This is what we call, Fredricka, going in on somebody. Kelly Clarkson went in on Clive Davis.

WHITFIELD: She struck.

LOVE: She did it respectfully. She did it respectfully. That's the way you do it and Clive is probably getting his stories mixed up. He's probably talking about Judy Garland. Who knows?

WHITFIELD: So, Wendy, do you see this as kind of, you know, I don't know, a publicity stunt to help spur some book sales?

WALSH: Were you reading my mind, Fredricka? WHITFIELD: I don't know.

WALSH: They're both winning here. She is reaffirming her status with her fans and he's selling some books, but I don't like that word hysterical. It still bugs me. A little sexist, don't you think?

WHITFIELD: Chris, how do you see this?

FRATES: I think Kelly Clarkson is winning here. She took on an 80-year-old man. He's a hall of fame in the rock of roll. Nobody knows who he is. The kids don't know who he is today.

WHITFIELD: Come on, yes, they do.

FRATES: I don't know.

WHITFIELD: Clive Davis?

FRATES: They look at you like, I don't know, but I've heard of Kelly Clarkson.

WHITFIELD: Alicia Keys.

FRATES: I think we do. I'm not sure the kids do.

WHITFIELD: Interesting.

LOVE: He sounds like one of my uncles, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right, well, good talking to all of you all. Loni Love, Wendy Walsh, Tom O'Neil, Chris Frates, thanks so much. Good to see you, guys.

All right, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founder Sergey Brin are teaming up to help change the lives of 11 people today. They're set to announce a new foundation that rewards research aimed at curing certain diseases and extending human life. The first 11 recipients will each receive $3 million. Ali Velshi talks with Zuckerberg and Brin about the foundation and the award. You can see all of this at the top of the hour.

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