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Queen Elizabeth Hospitalized; Remembering Bloody Sunday; Pre- Conclave Meeting Starting; Spending Cuts Talks Stalled; Underemployment Impacts Lives; Pro Drag Racer Eyes NASCAR

Aired March 03, 2013 - 16:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, a look at our top stories now here in the "Newsroom."

When it comes to Queen Elizabeth's health, Buckingham Palace isn't taking any chances. For the first time in 10 years, the 86-year- old monarch is in the hospital in what is being called a precautionary measure. Royal correspondent Max Foster joining us now from outside the hospital in London. So, Max what is the latest?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is that she is in the hospital behind me and it is the first time she has been in hospital, Fredricka, for a decade. She takes her public appearances very, very seriously and she has canceled all her public appearances this week. She has got a stomach bug, pretty severe one it seems and she is in her mid-80s. So, there is a concern, I would have thought, in this situation, medical experts are saying, at least about dehydration. So she will be getting rehydrated.

We were told about this illness on Friday and it's Sunday now. She has a couple of days of this illness. She has clearly been getting worse and she is in the hospital. But as you say, the palace playing this down to some extent, saying she is in good health, actually and in good spirits and she is here as a precautionary measure.

WHITFIELD: And what about at that hospital? You know, there are a lot of people who have gathered who are trying to inquire about the queen's situation there?

FOSTER: Well, mainly media, not the public, as we said, but the media concern and international media as well, people from all over the world, because this is the head of state in 16 countries and the medical team, they don't want to take any chances, they want her here and the palace wants her here. They are concerned about her. They would be, to have her here. But it is very interesting to see that she today actually had an engagement, a private engagement at Windsor Castle where she was staying.

She must have been in real pain to have gone through that because after that, she had to come to hospital, but really epitomizes how she takes these appearances very, very seriously and how canceling them is a very big deal for her, which gives this whole hospitalization a sense of seriousness as well.

WHITFIELD: Max Foster, thanks so much. Keep us posted there from London.

All right, now to the latest on that sinkhole near Tampa, Florida. Searchers now say they may never recover the body of Jeff Bush. He disappeared into a sinkhole while sleeping in his bed in the middle of the night Thursday.

Demolition crews moved parts of the house onto the street to help the family recover some of their belongings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MERRILL, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY ADMINISTRATION: It was a variety of things, pictures as well as a purse. Sorry? Family bible as well. The flag was real important to them. Apparently, there was quite a bit of military awards and decoration and so we were able to recover a lot of that. Really at this point, I understand it, the family is very close knit. Many of the family actually lived in this house over the years, belonged to the grandmother. And so they all have a very close, personal connection. And so it was just being able to touch and feel and have that experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The demolition is expected to be done by tomorrow.

In Selma, Alabama, today, thousands are reenacting a historic march. Vice president Joe Biden is helping mark a civil rights milestone. It was 48 years ago this month when Alabama state troopers and others attacked a peaceful group of marchers. They were marching from Selma to Montgomery in support of what would become the Voting Rights Act. We will have a live report from Selma coming up in just a few minutes.

Right now U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is in Saudi Arabia for talks. Earlier today, he was in Egypt meeting with President Mohammad Morsi. Kerry announced the U.S. is starting a fund providing direct support for democratic reform in Egypt. The first installment is $60 million. But Kerry says the pledge will rise to $300 million in the years ahead.

Back in the U.S. now, a horrifying car accident has rocked a Hassidic-Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York, an Orthodox Jewish couple expecting their first baby died when their cab was hit by another car. Susan Candiotti joining us live now from New York.

So Susan, the couple's baby, a little boy, survived. What do you know about his condition and the search for the two people who fled the accident scene?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, this is just so sad, isn't it? A young couple, 21-year-old parents-to-be were on their way to a hospital at about midnight last night because the expectant mother wasn't feeling well. Police say a hit and run driver crashed into the side of their cab, killing Razi and Nathan Globber. The cab was totaled. Thanks to quick action by doctors, a premature baby boy was delivered by C-section after his mother died. He was the couple's first child. Police say the infant boy is in critical condition and relatives are standing watch.

Now, investigators, meantime, are trying to track down the drive of a light-colored BMW which fled the scene and the drivers and occupant fled the scene on foot. Police will only say they have spoken to the registered owner of that car but not much more. We don't know yet whether the car was stolen. At this hour the Hassidic Jewish community in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn is rallying around the surviving family, sharing their grief at a funeral and burial, which according to custom is already taking place for the young couple. There is a lot of emotion as everyone is trying to come to grips with what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISAAC ABRAHAM, NEIGHBOR OF VICTIM'S FAMILY: They have all the resources there to deal with it. All the psychological help they need. The impact of it as we are all learned as children go to the grave of the parents, parents don't go to funerals of children. And here we are going to have two sets of parents going.

BARRY SEKETE, COUSIN OF ONE OF THE VICTIMS: It's terrible. Terrible. One year, not even married a year. You know, going in for the happiest time to have a baby and that's what happens. Terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now the driver of the cab survived and is in stable condition. Relatives tell us the couple had been married less than a year. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And so, Susan, were there eyewitnesses? Will investigators be able to rely on those accounts to try find out the identity of these two people?

CANDIOTTI: Well, that's good question. We have been trying to find that out, Fred, but so far, no additional information on whether there were witnesses but certainly, that's something that investigators are trying to track down as well as more information about who was behind the wheel, who was the passenger in the car? Have they found them? If they have, they are simply not telling us just yet.

WHITFIELD: Heartbreaking. All right. Thank you so much, Susan Candiotti in New York.

At the Vatican today, it is not business as usual for the first time since Pope Benedict XVI's resignation there is no pope to say the Angelus prayer over St. Peter's Square. Cardinals are still arriving in Rome for the conclave and tomorrow, they will attend preconclave meetings to discuss the future of the church.

But it's one cardinal's past that's back in the headlines now today. Cardinal Keith O'Brien of Scotland is apologizing for improper sexual conduct. An apparent response to allegations that he behaved inappropriately to four priests in 1980s. In a statement, Cardinal O'Brien said "there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal. To those I have offended, I apologize and ask forgiveness. To the Catholic Church and people of Scotland, I also apologize."

I talked to CNN's senior Vatican analyst John Allen about the scandal and the upcoming conclave and I started out by asking john if O'Brien's admission would have an impact on the cardinals' vote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: What it is likely to do is reinforce a conviction that was already very strong among the 115 cardinals who are going to be voting in this election. First of all that the next pope has to profile as a reformer on the child sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic church. That is he has to strike the world as part of the solution rather than part of the problem. And the other thing is if nothing else, he has to have clean hands himself on this crisis. That is he can't carry any baggage into office. As I say the cardinals were already thinking along those line but certainly, this news about Cardinal O'Brien will set that into cement.

WHITFIELD: And then there's a report in the Sunday "London Times" saying the cardinals will ask the new pope once that person is selected, to actually pledge to serve until death. What do you know about that?

ALLEN: Well, this is a report that first broke in the Italian papers a couple of days ago. And you know, I have lived in Italy a long time. I will say this you know, god love them, but the Italians have never seen a conspiracy theory they are not prepared to believe. I would take this report with a grain of salt. I think there are some cardinals who think it was a bad idea for Benedict to resign. They think it has destabilized the church and maybe compromised the majesty of the Papal office.

There are other cardinals who don't buy that but the one thing they all agree on is that the Pope is the supreme authority in the church and no one can tell him to what to do and no one can force him to commit before his election to a particular course of action. So, they will all have their ideas about whether the next pope ought to resign or not but I don't think anybody is going to try to tie his hands.

WHITFIELD: And then we got the situation where there are posters of Ghana's cardinal kind of plastered throughout Rome and that many would find that kind of campaigning to be very unusual and if anything, might even potentially backfire. Is it clear whether he is up to this, Cardinal Peter Turkson, of Ghana or whether someone else might and how that might impact his chances?

ALLEN: Fredricka, I think it is still unclear who exactly is behind this. The one thing I think you can take to the bank is that it is not Cardinal Turkson. In fact, privately, you know, he has put out feelers to various people in the press corps to make it very clear that his finger prints are not on this. And you are quite right. I mean, the rules of this gentleman's club, that is what the 115 members of the College of Cardinals who are going to vote in this election, it really is a gentleman's club and the rules are nobody campaigns for this job. And the perception that you're campaigning for it is sort of a kiss of death. What most cardinals will tell you is that if somebody actually wants this job, they don't have the first idea what it's all about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Vatican analyst John Allen. So even though the cardinals are meeting tomorrow, the Vatican has said that it is not sure whether a date for the conclave will be set then.

AT the height of the civil rights movement, activists campaigning for voting rights beaten as they tried to cross an Alabama bridge. Well today, the vice president joins in to help mark the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma. We go there live.

Then, Mitt Romney has some advice for the president about how to lead the country. Find out what he is saying, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Vice president Joe Biden joined a gathering today in Selma, Alabama. They are commemorating the day known as Bloody Sunday. It was 48 years ago this month when Alabama state troopers and others attacked a peaceful march. The group was marching from Selma to Montgomery in support of what would become the Voting Rights Act.

Victor Blackwell is live for us now in Selma. So Victor, what is happening right now?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the last few people who are crossing the (INAUDIBLE) bridge are doing that now and the vice president, Joe Biden, was at the front, locked arms on one side with Congressman John Lewis who was beaten nearly to death when he tried to cross this bridge in 1965.

On the other side with Congresswoman Terry Sewell, the first black woman elected to Congress from Alabama. His visit is timely because of the challenge to the Voting Rights Act of '65 before the Supreme Court right now. Here's what he told people before crossing the bridge earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We still have a lot of work to do, but I think it's going to be easier, a lot easier than it was 48 years ago for one overwhelming reason. Because what you all did here 48 years ago changed the hearts and the minds of the vast majority of the American people. That's why I'm absolutely convinced we will prevail in the new fight with regard to voter access and voter rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: Now that came in the last two minutes about a speech that lasted roughly 20 minutes. Mostly the time he talked about the people who tried to cross the bridge in 1965 and he said they literally, if you listen to Joe Biden's speech, he uses that word often, literally inspired a nation. Here's what they did.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL (voice-over): It was supposed to be a non-violent march for voting rights but it became one of the most violent days of the civil rights movement, March 7, 1965, Alabama. 600 demonstrators set off to march 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery to bring attention to the need for voting rights protections in the south. They were led by civil rights activists Jose Williams and now congressman, John Lewis.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: as we cross the bridge are we were met by state troopers who shot us with tear gas. Beat us with night sticks and trampled us with horses. I was hit on the head and suffered a concussion on the bridge.

BLACKWELL: Lewis and 16 others were taken to hospitals and the day was known thereafter as Bloody Sunday. Since then, Selma has hosted a bridge crossing jubilee on the first Sunday in March, year after year, thousands return to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge. Civil rights activist and leaders and members of Congress have re-enacted the march. In the final months of his administration, President Clinton crossed the bridge in 2000. He returned in 2007 with then- Senator Hillary Clinton, alongside Senator Barack Obama at the start of the 2008 presidential campaign.

More than a photo opportunity for politicians, activists march to honor the original Bloody Sunday demonstrators and to show that the struggle for voter protections continues.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Now, I spoke with (INAUDIBLE), he is one of the attorneys arguing to support the reauthorization that happened in 2006 for the Voting Rights Act. He, vice president Joe Biden, and Congressman John Lewis all agree, they believe when the majority opinion comes in from the Supreme Court that it will be to uphold that reauthorization from 2006 through 2031. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Victor Blackwell, thanks so much for bringing that to us from Selma.

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney is back on the attack. He has almost entirely stayed out of the spotlight since he lost in November, but now, Romney's blasting President Obama over the forced spending cuts. He says the president should work with Republicans, not hold rallies around the country knocking them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president has the opportunity to lead the nation and to bring Republicans and Democrats together it is a job he has got to do and the job only the president can do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Most federal agencies in the Defense Department will begin implementing the $85 billion in cuts starting tomorrow.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is lashing out at a left-wing group for what he is calling a racial slur against his wife. The group, Progress Kentucky, ignited controversy when it drew a connection between former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and the practice of outsourcing to Asia. Chao was born in Taiwan. McConnell defended his wife and said his re-election campaign has already begun, saying, "Elaine Chao is just as much an American as any of the rest of them." In fact, she had to go through a lot more to become an American, it went on to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: The race will take care of itself in 2014 but I must stay it has started early, there's a left wing group down here in Kentucky that has already issued racial slurs against my wife and already questioned my own patriotism, so the left is fully engaged down here in Kentucky. They would love to take out the Republican leader of the Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: McConnell says it's not the first time this type of thing has happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You on your way home?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, you're not going to be here in town when these cuts kick in?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they call me back, I'll be back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But what do you think about the idea of Congress, you-all won't be here when the Congress kicks in?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to go to the airport.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: you got to go to the airport? OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Congressman caught on the run and not too keen to explain why they were leaving Washington without resolving those forced spending cuts. So with us now are two House members, both representing California. Republican John Campbell, back in Washington now, and Democrat Karen Bass in Los Angeles. Good to see both of you. All right.

So, this week, you know, what efforts will be made on Capitol Hill to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month? Congresswoman Bass, do you see these forced spending cuts as kind of a prelude to a government shutdown?

REP. KAREN BASS (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, I certainly hope that that's not the case but I have to tell that you the impact is already being felt. I met with my constituents here over the weekend there major concerns. I am concerned about unemployment insurance, the people who have been on long-term unemployment and the fact that they are going to experience a reduction in their checks. And so, I am very concerned about what has already taken place, let alone what the potential is over the next few weeks.

WHITFIELD: And when you see the tape of our - Dana Bash chasing after members of Congress on Friday who were saying they are leaving and, you know, they will come back if called, is that an embarrassment for all lawmakers that there was business that was unfinished, yet they would move on and leave Washington as opposed to staying in the city and getting some work done? Congresswoman Bass, you first?

BASS: Well, frankly, I would have been happy to stay, but the fact of the matter is that if Congress adjourns, then there's not much that can take place. However, I do think though that the leadership in both Houses, you know, works regardless of whether or not the entire House is in session. But I do think we should be there. I'm going back in the next couple of hours and I will hold out hope that we will be able to get some work done.

WHITFIELD: And Congressman Campbell, do you think this is an embarrassing moment for all lawmakers that perhaps that exit symbolizes a feeling of, you know, we just really don't care?

REP. JOHN CAMPBELL (R), CALIFORNIA: Well, I don't think that is the case at all. I think everybody cares regardless of which side of this issue you are on. I think everybody cares about it and we will be in session tomorrow and we will be dealing with the government shutdown issue that you discussed. I mean the sequester is not the great, huge disaster and Armageddon that the president and some people seem to make it out to be. It still means the non-defense part of government will have increased by more than inflation over the last four years. So there's still spending more money, total spending in the government, after the sequester, will still be more this year than last. What I think will happen now -

WHITFIELD: So you think the sequester is OK? People are overreacting if they think that this is a real blight?

CAMPBELL: What is not OK is if we don't deal with our debt and our deficit. That is where the real Armageddon is going to be when people won't (INAUDIBLE) our debt anymore. This is two percent of the federal budget. It is the least we can do at this point and we frankly need to do quite a bit more to get spending and the deficits under control. I believe that we, in the House, will pass this week a bill that will extend funding for the rest of the fiscal year at the sequester level but that will include a lot of things relative to defense so that the president has some flexibility and so that the priorities of the Congress are taken into account with the sequester, but I will pass that and send that over to the Senate this week and then we will see what the Senate does with it before the potential shutdown on March 27th.

WHITFIELD: And are we at this juncture because overall, Republicans don't want taxes raised? The White House does. And that's why these two sides really couldn't come together by last Friday, congressman?

CAMPBELL: We had a big tax increase on January 1st. And there was no spending cuts in that. Zero. There were actually spending increases in that January 1st. So the president got his tax increases. And so now, what we need do is get some spend cuts, get some reductions and entitlement reforms to bring this deficit under control. What I'm afraid is that the president doesn't seem to care about the deficit. He seem to want to actually increase spending rather than reducing it and if we continue these trillion dollar deficits forever, eventually, we will. It is not speculation, we'll be like Greece or Spain, people won't buy our debt and then we will have a real collapse. Then we have to put cut spending by 25 percent overnight.

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) - I wonder congresswoman if this simply says that over the next four years, no matter what there will be no compromise, there will be no meeting of the minds, it won't matter whether there is a meeting on Capitol Hill or a meeting at the White House but things just will not get done in any other fashion except what we have just seen?

BASS: Well, first of all, I don't think that that should be the case and I think that there's an example. We passed the Violence Against Women's Act just a couple of days ago and we did that because the Republicans broke with the policy that every single Republican has to vote on the bill in order for to go through. Both Democrats and Republicans came together and passed the Violence Against Women's Act and I believe that if we could continue forward in that manner, we will be able to get something done. I do have to beg to differ with my good friend though, because in terms of the sequester, I do think the damage is going to be significant. The most important issue in our country right now is jobs and the potential of losing 750,000 jobs is devastating.

In my district alone, when I met with constituents the other day, there was a program that provides meals to seniors that is going to have to cut back. There was a woman that had already received a furlough notice who works at the air force base. We had a meeting in the clinic where they were going to have to reduce coverage to 3,000 people and they weren't going to be able to provide service for them anymore. And so I don't think that we have to have the gridlock. I do think that the Republicans should come to the table with a balanced approach. And in terms of spending cuts, that's all we have done over the last couple of years. We have had 1.5 trillion dollars in spending cuts, cuts to education, cuts to health care.

WHITFIELD: All right. So congressman real quick, in about 10 seconds or less, do you have a response to any of that?

CAMPBELL: In 10 seconds, just to say spending is more in the federal government, according to CBO, this year than last year. So, if we had cuts, why is spending more? We haven't cut anything significant. It's time to start.

WHITFIELD: All right. Congressman John Campbell -

BASS: Oh, people who get those cuts feel it's significant.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much to both of you.

BASS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it. Hopefully some work gets done this week. A lot of people are counting on it.

All right. The palace says that Queen Elizabeth II is in good spirits, but doctors are still keeping a close watch on the 86-year- old monarch. Up next, an intimate look at the monarch, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is in the hospital that the hour, where doctors are treating her for flu-like symptoms. Buckingham Palace calls it a precautionary measure and says the Queen is in good spirits. The 86-year-old monarch is known for her good health.

A royal biographer, Mark Saunders, joining us now from London. And Mark, you know, the Queen apparently doesn't like a whole lot of fuss made over her but this clearly was a case where it was felt she needed hospitalization for this so-called, you know, stomach flu. Is there a feeling that there's more to it?

MARK SAUNDERS, ROYAL BIOGRAPHER: Well, yes, I think there's always this concern when they use these words, precautionary measure.

WHITFIELD: Yes?

SAUNDERS: Because the medical facilities at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, Balmoral, (INAUDIBLE), any of the queen's major estate, the medical facilities are excellent. Now, what I was told from sources at Windsor Castle is that the Queen has been badly dehydrated. Now dehydration, I'm not a doctor, but it's quite common with this sort of stomach bout to feel dehydration. The problem is at 86, and remember, she is 87 next month, and she would need to replace all the liquids that she's losing very quickly, so one assumes that she would be on some form of IV drip at the King Edward VII Hospital.

But, as I say, yes, there is cause for concern because the Queen just doesn't go to hospital. She was in her 50s before she went to hospital for the very first time. That was back in 1982. And she knows, as you have said, there's always a circus involved, there's always concern amongst her subjects but the people I've spoken to at the castle, yes, they are -- they are worried about this one.

WHITFIELD: Yes, she seeming is a very fit, near 87-year-old. But, you know, she's had a very busy schedule during her jubilee year. Her engagements had been canceled or postponed for this week.

What do you know about her schedule this year in comparison to last year? Is it an issue of, you know, exhaustion, just doing too much potentially, being exposed to too much?

SAUNDERS: Well, yes, and I understand what you're saying, but we pretty much have this every year. When the list of royal engagements is published as it is, it's always the Queen and the Duke way out in front. I mean, the current -- currently, Charles and Camilla are taking on far, far more work than they used to. And it's fairly obvious that the Queen is slowing down a little bit and indeed, behind Charles and Camilla, we now have William and Katherine, as senior members of the royal family.

But I was -- I mean, I was expecting to go Rome this week. There was an official visit by the Queen.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SAUNDERS: A very high-profile visit actually. And I was told as early as Friday night, I wouldn't -- you won't be in Rome next week. And so I think we have to face facts, the Queen is now in the winter of her rein.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SAUNDERS: And she simply can't carry on the schedule that she has been doing, especially this year. We had the Olympics. We had the diamond celebration --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: There's been so much.

SAUNDERS: Well, yes, but it was all such great fun. She enjoyed herself so much that she said, I don't want to give this up.

WHITFIELD: Well, fantastic. Royal biographer Mark Saunders, thanks so much for helping us understand the fitness of the Queen and her very busy schedule. Appreciate it.

All right. In the fight against AIDS, this is what people have been waiting for -- waiting to hear for years. A medical breakthrough that could change everything. Details coming up on that.

Plus, they are used to working closely together but some "Modern Family" cast members found themselves in a really tight spot. We'll have more later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in the NEWSROOM.

A look at the top stories that we're following for you. A major medical breakthrough to report today. Researchers say a 2-year-old girl has become the first child to be functionally cured of HIV. And there is hope that it can be done for other people. The little girl was born to an HIV-positive mother. She was given treatment almost immediately after birth.

And our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen will be joining us live next hour with more on this very important development.

All right. Here is what is trending online right now. It could have been a scene right off "Modern Family." Unfortunately for the cast it wasn't. Three of the show's stars actually got stuck in a crowded hotel elevator in Kansas City, Missouri. They were stuck for 50 minutes but kept their sense of humor while waiting to get out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIE BOWEN, ACTRESS: Get us out.

ERIC STONESTREET, ACTOR: Get us out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whole room.

JESSE TYLER FERGUSON, ACTOR: Get us out.

GROUP: Get us out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Great sense of humor. And they got out.

And the battle over the budget. No one in Washington seems willing to budge an inch these days. Could we be facing a government shutdown soon?

Our Candy Crowley has some answers. I'll be talking with her next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK, when members of Congress return to Capitol Hill Monday, their agenda will start with trying to resolve those forced spending cuts, but that's not all.

CNN "STATE OF THE UNION" anchor Candy Crowley says they also have to avoid a complete government shutdown later in the month.

CANDY CROWLEY, ANCHOR, CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION": All eyes now are on the end of the month when the so-called continuing resolution, which really is what when Congress doesn't have a budget they have to find a way too keep the government running so they passed what's called a continuing resolution which basically just extends the budget for another two months or three months or however long they think they need.

Well, the CR is about to run out and without an agreement, the government would shutdown. The good news here is this does not look like something -- and I say this with a little bit of caution, but it does not look like something that's going to go until the final moments. The president has said he has no reason to want to see the government shut down. We've seen the speaker say he doesn't want to see the government shut down, as well as Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, who said he doesn't.

So they're all of a mind that shutting down the government might not look great out there outside the beltway, so it looks as though they will come to something, but I imagine it's going to be a fairly hard fight, as all these budget things are.

WHITFIELD: And you spoke with Mitch McConnell this morning, we will talk about that in a moment. But, you know, first, the president did kind of work the phones yesterday. He didn't speak to the leaders on the Hill. So let's play a clip from your show when you asked the president's senior economic adviser about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENE SPERLING, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ECONOMIC ADVISER: But I think what's most important is that we're not trying to make those calls to read out the name -- names. He's making those calls to see where there might be a coalition of the willing, a caucus for common sense and trying to build trust. So he's going to be having a lot more conversations like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK, so, folks need to talk to one another, they aren't necessarily -- the president was pretty firm on Friday, you know, digging in his heels on closing loopholes, but from your talk with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell this morning, they are not necessarily seeing eye to eye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: So far, I haven't heard a single Senate Republican say they'd be willing to raise a dime in taxes to turn off the sequester. The president is free to call whoever he chooses to. He doesn't have to go through the speaker and myself to talk to our members. And I fully expect him to do that. But so far I haven't heard a single Senate Republican say they're willing to raise one dime in taxes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So it's all about the taxes?

CROWLEY: Well, certainly it is for Republicans who say we did tax hikes when we did the fiscal cliff deal. The sequestration is about cutting the budget. It is not about raising taxes. That has been their position for some time now. It has been the president's position. No, let's replace these budget cuts with a mix of closing loopholes, which of course means somebody's taxes get raise ready and -- including corporate loopholes.

So this -- this is -- I thought really when I saw them do this that maybe mid-March, they'd find some way to figure out how to get around this, when, you know, it really looked as though the budget cuts were about to set in. But I don't think that anymore. I think -- I think that they are willing, both sides, to let these budget cuts play out and while they may give the president authority or take authority on Capitol Hill, which they have clearly already, and say, well, here's where we want to make the cuts, let's leave this program alone, but let's, you know, take money out of this program.

There may be some more specificity as opposed to these across- the-board cuts. But that bottom line -- or top line, whichever, is not going to change.

WHITFIELD: All right. Candy Crowley, host of "STATE OF THE UNION." Thanks so much.

CROWLEY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Finding a job can be hard enough in these tough economic times. Finding one that pays the bills, well, that can be even harder.

Coming up next, find out what some folks are doing to make ends meet.

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WHITFIELD: Lots of college graduates can't find work that matches their level of education. Other skilled employees have lost high-paying jobs and have been forced to find work paying much less.

Tom Foreman shows us how underemployment is making our "American Journey," rather, much harder.

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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every day on the busy streets of New York, Kellock Irvin is hunting. When he received his college degree last year, he moved here from the West Coast and thought finding a job in marketing was the next logical step.

KELLOCK IRVIN, UNEMPLOYED GRADUATE: Not necessarily that would be an easy task but it wouldn't be something that almost eight months out of -- since graduating, I'm still struggling with.

FOREMAN: He is not alone.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our economy is adding jobs but too many people still can't find full time employment. FOREMAN: When President Obama took office, 134 million Americans were working in non-farm jobs. Today, after massive losses and a slow recovery, we are only 1.2 million jobs better off and many pay less than those that were lost. A recent study by the Center for College Affordability found almost half of college graduates are now in jobs that do not require four-year degrees, things like janitorial services, taxi driving and retail sales.

Professor Richard Vedder at Ohio University helped author that study.

RICHARD VEDDER, OHIO UNIVERSITY: Let's say each one of them were making $20,000 a year more in income, which is quite plausible, we're talking about $400 billion a year in lost wages.

FOREMAN (on camera): Numbers like that have made some economic analysts argue that underemployment may be every bit as damaging to the economy as unemployment.

And Kellock Irvin is caught in the middle of it all. For now, he's taking freelance jobs as a photographer and part-time work with moving companies, but --

IRVIN: They can only support me for so long before I might need to head home.

FOREMAN: Might you can the next one moving back home.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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WHITFIELD: All right. So Danica Patrick made history when she became the first woman to win the pole position at the Daytona 500. Start at pole position. So Nicole Lyons, well, she wants to make similar strides on the track. She's pro racer shifting into high gear and on a mission to do more.

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WHITFIELD (voice-over): Nicole Lyons was born to race. She's already made a name for herself in professional drag racing with the National Hot Rod Association, or NHRA. She is now gaining traction in her effort to become a household name in NASCAR. When she starts racial, she'll be one of the few women in the sport.

NICOLE LYONS, RACE CAR DRIVER: I think I've done so well in NHRA and I've committed so much time to my craft there, I think now is the time for me to do that transition and showcase myself in NASCAR.

WHITFIELD: Lyon's love for cars started at a young age when she was influenced by her late father, Jack Davis, an avid street racer.

LYONS: I was an old only child, so daddy's little girl. I was in the shop 24/7. And by the time I was 4 years old, I could name every muscle car, the options that came with it, all of those good things.

WHITFIELD: She recently tested for NASCAR. The challenges, she says, are different.

LYONS: In drag racing, you want to go straight. You don't want to make a left turn to save your life. In terms of NASCAR racing, it's completely different. You ride the wall. You make left turns, you know, you have a braking system that's completely different. In drag racing, the brake is not our friend. The wall is not our friend. We don't want to get near it.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Not only is Lyons racing cars, but she's an award- winning engine builder and owns a muscle car restoration shop in Los Angeles where she employs female mechanics. When she makes the transition, many will identify Lyons primarily as one of the first African-American females to race in NASCAR. But to her, winning is what's most important.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And Nicole Lyons with me now here. She decided to put the brakes on and, you know, stop and have this little sit-down with me.

(LAUGHTER)

You're an engine builder, a real entrepreneur. Race car driver. All of that. So what is it about racing cars? Is it the adrenaline rush? Is it the love for cars? The love for speed?

LYONS: You know, it's all of those things you just described.

WHITFIELD: Yes?

LYONS: It's the passion behind it. I have a need for speed.

(LAUGHTER)

So, that tackles, you know, that whole aspect of it. But you know, I love what I do and it's amazing to get up every day and be able to say that I love what I do.

WHITFIELD: Incredible. So here you are, 28 years old now, and you're trying to chain lanes so to speak from drag racing into the NASCAR circuit. You've been in a car for a very long time at high speeds, since the age of 2 when your dad kind of, you know, introduced you to what it was to be in a race car.

Did you know fairly early on that this was a path that you wanted to take?

LYONS: You know, I think my dad was like this is the path that you're going to take.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: He made the decision for you.

LYONS: Yes. You know, but I did know very early on at -- you know, at 7 years old, I had my own little pit crew, you know, my girlfriends were, you know, part of my team and I was going to be the next, you know, Shirley Mulldowney. So, you know, I knew quite early.

WHITFIELD: So there are a lot of folks that you admire, Mulldowney for one. Jimmie Johnson another?

LYONS: Yes. I love Jimmie Johnson. I just think that he's so humble and just the way he comes off on the track and how he basically devours the track politely is --

(LAUGHTER)

Is, you know, pretty unique.

WHITFIELD: And Dale Earnhardt, Jr.?

LYONS: Of course. And Senior, of course.

WHITFIELD: And what is it about their driving techniques that perhaps you, you know, want to learn from or that you watch or you hope one day to be driving alongside them if not leaving them in the dust?

LYONS: I think their consistency on the track is key. And why they've been around as long as they have really shows improved -- their driving capabilities.

WHITFIELD: What does it mean for you as a driver and one who has aspirations to do even more with your driving abilities, what did it mean that Danica Patrick, you know, was at pole position at Daytona 500?

LYONS: I think that's big for women racers, period. For her to, you know, capture pole just is another, you know, stance in the fact that women drivers could be great drivers and beyond that, you know, great marketing partners as well.

WHITFIELD: So what's next for you? You were recently to test NASCAR but it was rained out so now midmonth you'll be doing that. Give me an idea of what's ahead for you.

LYONS: Well, we've been testing out at Anderson and now we are actually headed to Hickory and our first race will be in Hickory March 16th. So really excited about that and our Pacific racing team and Ashley Burton and David Roberts, I mean, it's incredible to be working with these individuals.

WHITFIELD: It takes a lot of money to be in the NASCAR circuit, along with talent and sponsorship. Do you feel like you have that backing to go as far as you want to go? LYONS: You know, I think I have it personally. We are always looking for, you know, financially, as any other driver will be screaming out there.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

LYONS: But, you know, I say in due time, you know, show improvement on the track is what I need to do and I know in due time we'll have all that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nicole Lyons, all the best. Good luck to you.

LYONS: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: We will be watching.

(LAUGHTER)

All right, meantime, we've got to share with you a medical breakthrough that could change everything in the fight against AIDS. This is a brand-new development. All the details just minutes away.

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