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CNN Sunday Morning
Tensions Soar Before North Korean Holiday; Spring Snow on the Way; Final Day at the Masters; International Manhunt for Gangster; Giffords Heads to Washington
Aired April 14, 2013 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. This is EARLY START WEEKEND.
Armed, dangerous and on the run. One of the world's most notorious criminals breaks out of prison and now there's a warrant for his arrest in 26 countries. We'll tell you how he made his stunning escape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABBY GIFFORDS, FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN: Stronger. Stronger, better, tougher.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: That's how Gabby Giffords describes herself two years after being shot in the head. Her recovery continues, but a new battle is just beginning. CNN's exclusive interviews with the former congresswoman.
It's the rant that rattled the sports world. What Kobe Bryant said on FaceBook about the injury he fears could end his career.
It's Sunday, April 14th. Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik.
And we begin this morning just hours away from North Korea's most important holiday of the year. April 15th is the birthday of the country's founder Kim Il-sung. He died 18 years ago. Now his grandson, Kim Jong-un has Southeast Asia and the world on edge with threats of nuclear weapons and missile strikes. Many are wondering if he'll use his grandfather's birthday, known as the day of the sun, to make good on the explosive rhetoric.
I'm joined now from Seoul, South Korea, by CNN's Jim Clancy.
Jim, is there any evidence at this point that the holiday could be the day North Korea puts its military might on display?
JIM CLANCY, ANCHOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL: No, there's no indication of that whatsoever. The rhetoric has been toned down. You know, in fact, the news of the hour is that as we have been waiting for a response to the call from dialogue coming from South Korea, there indeed was a response. It came from the Committee for Peaceful Reunification on the peninsula in North Korea. And the group, while they did attack, if you will, their counterpart in the South, while they did call the offer of dialogue a cunning ploy, they didn't reject it outright. And that is seen as progress here.
Now, Kim Jong-un has not been seen in some two weeks. The rhetoric has been toned down. South Korean officials on Saturday indicated that there was no evidence that any of the mobile missile launchers were being moved around. That has calmed some fears that there might be a test launch, as you described there at the top.
However, the situation does remain tense. We talked to some people on the streets today. Some of them told us that they weren't any more worried. They felt that John Kerry's visit to the region had underscored the deterrence offered by the U.S. and South Korean forces against North Korea and they also said that they felt that the situation here was began to calm. Still others, weary of that 15th birthday, that date coming up, said that they were a little apprehensive because they know there's a tendency for actions to be taken.
Meantime, in the North of the country, there were massive gatherings, there were accolades and tributes paid to Kim Il-sung, the founder and leader of North Korea, who for so many years ruled it with an iron fist. We have to wait and see. A lot of people are saying right now, Alison, that they don't expect the North to go from that bellicose rhetoric that we've been hearing for weeks, all the way back to embracing dialogue in one fell swoop. They think, instead, what's going to happen is with Kim Il-sung's birthday, they're going to attempt to just change the subject for a little while.
Alison.
KOSIK: Jim, you did mention that tendency for action to take place on a day like April 15th. You know, because you look at last year, North Korea used the birthday of Kim Il-sung to test launch a carrier rocket. We know that's happened before.
CLANCY: Well, it has happened in the past, and not with good effect. If you remember last year, they had a missile launch and it failed. So there's a lot of people that wonder, if not -- if the North Korea regime will just steer away from that kind of an action that could prove just as embarrassing, you know, if it's not successful, as it would, you know, prove their military might if it was. So, you know, it's a situation, a dilemma for the North. They have to solve that problem.
But we've got to say, the view from Seoul right now is that things - the temperature has been turned down. We've stepped back a little bit. That doesn't mean we're embracing the negotiations that were offered by John Kerry and others, but it means, at least, things are calming down.
Alison.
KOSIK: OK, Jim Clancy, thanks. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Tokyo this morning. It's his final stop on an Asian tour aimed at defusing tensions over North Korea. In China, Kerry pressed leaders to quit funneling money to the North and to pressure Pyongyang to stop developing nuclear weapons. Before that, he went to Seoul to reassure South Koreans that the U.S. has their back.
Some of Kim Jong-un's most passionate supporters are young people. That's because they're taught at a young age to pay homage to their leader, to hate America. Brian Todd met one man who went through it as a child.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A captivating sight in Pyongyang Friday. A rally staged by the Korean Children's Union. They pledge allegiance to the state and get their red scarves. At another similar event, a young lady could barely get her words out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My heart is pounding. It's my first time seeing the venerated leader, Kim Jong-un, and I am deeply touched by his love and care.
TODD (on camera): Is that familiar to you?
DANIEL CHOI, NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR: Yes. It is what I did all the time when I was in North Korea.
TODD (voice-over): Daniel Choi grew up in North Korea's world of child indoctrination. Choi, now 24, says from as early as he can remember, he had to sing songs at school paying homage to Kim Jong-il and his father, the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung. He often had to visit monuments in their honor and bow before them. Marching military style was routine. Kids who failed to tow the line, he says, saw this happen to their families.
CHOI: They sent to farm or a very cold place.
TODD: An official with Amnesty International tells us, North Korean children are taught to monitor each other. Daniel Choi says even math class involved propaganda.
CHOI: There is five Americans, American soldier, invade South - invade North Korea and brave North Koreans kill them all, kill them all the Americans. Then how many lived? Like that.
TODD: In school, Choi says, stones were used to simulate hand grenades.
CHOI: They practice or throw how far - how far or how little.
TODD (on camera): And that's for gym class?
CHOI: Gym class. And there's targets. They made targets for American soldier. TODD (voice-over): Analysts say North Korean children are, in effect, brain washed from the time they're first cognizant. There are youth cells for the army, experts say, as well as for factories, government agencies, farms. Analyst Gordon Flake visited a place called The Children's Model Farm in 1996.
GORDON FLAKE, MANSFIELD FOUNDATION: They brought all the kids out to greet us. And they came out, again, with that kind of well- rehearsed, kind of glassy eyed stare saying, "hello, hello, hello" in Korean or "good-bye, good-bye, good-bye." But, again, in a remarkable way, that there was a degree of indoctrination.
TODD: Getting the red scarf means you're in the young pioneer corp. The parallels to previous dictatorships, Flake says, are stark.
FLAKE: I don't need to make the comparison. It's obvious, right? This is clearly a highly indoctrinated, totalitarian state where the children are tools of the state, just like it was in Hitler, just like it was in Stalin's -- in the Soviet Union.
TODD: Designed to get children to follow their leaders to the very end. Choi was lucky. He was smuggled out at age 14.
CHOI: Until I escaped from North Korea, I could die for them.
TODD: What does Choi think of Kim Il-sung and his family now? He says, quote, "nothing special, ordinary man."
TODD (on camera): Gordon Flake says North Koreans have been so heavily indoctrinated from their youth, that many who escape have a tough time functioning in modern democracies with high levels of unemployment and alcoholism. Among some, he says, there's even a desire to go back to North Korea.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: To the Middle East, where the Palestinian prime minister has resigned. Salaam Fayyad quit after months of tension with President Mahmoud Abbas. His departure means more turmoil for the Palestinian Authority, just as the U.S. is trying to revive peace talks with Israel. Fayyad played a big role in setting up the building blocks for an independent West Bank.
Another Republican has come out in support of the background check bill that's before the Senate. Senator Susan Collins of Maine told NBC News, she thinks the bill is a responsible compromise. She says she supports it because it would not require background checks for sales made to relatives and by individuals. If passed, the bill would expand federal background checks to sales at gun shows and online.
An update now on Saturday's plane crash in Bali. Investigators are trying to determine how and why the plane overshot the runway and landed in the ocean. A spokesman for Lion Air says the plane was new. It had only been flying since March. Amazingly, only one person was injured when that plane went into the ocean. Eighteen others were taken to the hospital as a precaution. More than 100 passengers and crew members were onboard.
For the first time in months, disgraced former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. has made his first public appearance. He appeared alongside his father at a Rainbow PUSH gathering in Chicago yesterday. The Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke about his son's upcoming sentencing for misusing campaign funds, his health and he offered his support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JESSE JACKSON, PRESIDENT, RAINBOW PUSH COALITION: We've kept a very low problem -- profile, not much of a comment, because we have not wanted to interfere any way with the legal process. Needless to say, our family loves Jesse Jr. very much. We stand with him. We love him very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Jackson Jr. didn't address the crowd, but his attorney did ask everyone to call the judge in his case and plead for leniency before he's sentenced in June.
In Washington, rescue crews are searching for a 60-year-old snowshoer whose still missing after a pair of avalanches hit the mountain east of Seattle. Three others were injured. The sheriff's office tell CNN affiliate KING that one group was carried 1,000 feet down the mountain by the snow. One of those rescued says the group was holding on to trees to survive.
Washington state won't be the only area seeing snow this week. Spring snow is also headed to the northern plains. Oh, my goodness. And meteorologist Karen Maginnis is in the CNN Weather Center to tell us all about it.
Karen, where exactly is this snow going to hit?
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, for the weather weary folks across the Dakotas, yes, it's a big spring snow storm where they could see in excess of a foot of snow. Right now it covered right along that Interstate 94 region. But to the south of this, this is where we're seeing some pretty good thunderstorms erupt this morning from Omaha all the way over towards Des Moines. This is the atmosphere really trying to adjust itself to a spring-time pattern. Not doing a very good job of it. Bismarck six to 12 inches. Some computer models are saying maybe more than 15. In Fargo, six to 10 inches expected there.
Also, moving over towards Minneapolis, you may start out with a rain/snow mix. And then going into Monday, we could see it change to all snowfall. But, yes, that Interstate 94, very dangerous driving conditions. Conditions are going to be very treacherous all along the warm sector of this system in through the central U.S. Places like Kansas City, also St. Louis could see strong to severe thunderstorms erupt. And in Texas, it's the wind. Alison, we could see the wind gusts there between 40 and 50 miles an hour, which risk a very high fire danger because it's been so dry.
Back to you.
KOSIK: Oh, bring spring here already, at least in the northeast.
MAGINNIS: Sometime.
KOSIK: Thanks, Karen Maginnis.
Coming up, an Achilles injury sidelines Kobe Bryant for the rest of the season. But it's what the Laker superstar vented on FaceBook that's getting all the attention.
And Tiger Woods is slapped with a penalty at the Masters. And it all began with a television viewer paying very close attention.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Good morning, Atlanta. A beautiful start to the day. Very quit and kind of cool out this morning and the pollen's certainly out. I'm sneezing and blowing my nose. And the Masters right close by at Augusta, Georgia.
It's the final day at the Masters, one of golf's biggest tournaments. And although there are some unfamiliar names at the top of the leaderboard, Tiger Woods is still in the mix after being penalized in his quest for his fifth green jacket. CNN Sports anchor Patrick Snell is live in Augusta, Georgia.
So, Patrick, tell me, what is the latest?
PATRICK SNELL, ANCHOR, CNN SPORTS: Alison, welcome to Augusta, where the sun isn't even up yet, but upon which golfer will it be shining later on Sunday. That remains to be seen. We're expecting an really exciting finish to the season's first major. The 77th Masters.
Let me whisk you straight to the top of the leaderboard to check the state of play and it makes rather nice reading for Brandt Snedeker of the USA. He's sitting pretty at the top at seven under par. And then we've got a former champion, Angel Cabrera of Argentina. He also at seven under par. Adam Scott, whose come so close to winning this, he's at six under par. And he also very close to winning the British Open last July in northwest England as well.
Marc Leishman at five under and Jason Day, another Australian player, at five under. Could this be the year that finally an Australian gets to win the Masters? As for Tiger Woods, he has work to do. He's four shots back currently at three under par.
Let me talk to you a little bit about Brandt Snedeker, the young American player. He's been around the block a bit. He was a U.S. Ryder Cup rookie last season. He has four PGA tour victories for his -- to his name. And, in 2008, at this very event, at the Masters, he was tied for third place. So he's certainly very emotional, Brandt Snedeker, on that occasion. He certainly wants to come back and try and put that right. But real kudos to him because, during Saturday's third round, it was his first bogey free round ever at the Masters in 21 attempts. So congrats to him on that.
A quick word on Angel Cabera, the Argentine. He's a 43-year-old from Cordoba, Argentina. He knows exactly what he's doing out here at Augusta. He's won here before in 2009. This is a guy whose won as many majors as he has PGA tour victories here in the U.S. he won the '07 United States Golf Open as well and he won and he won here, as I say, in 2009. He is a tough competitor. He is vastly experienced. And it would be extremely naive to write him off. He's one talented player.
Alison.
KOSIK: Let's go back and talk about Tiger Woods' drop gate. What's going on with Tiger Woods? How did he play after losing those two strokes for him hitting from the wrong spot?
SNELL: He played rather well. You know, he came out all guns blazing. He immediately birdied the first hole on Saturday. That was a real statement of intent, if you like. But, I have to say it, there were one or two inconsistencies coming back and just crucial moments and he did gather some momentum. But what I like about it, fighting spirit is there. And on hole number 15 on Saturday, which is the hole where he had all that controversy on Friday where he incurred the two- shot penalty, he played that absolutely beautifully as if to say, hey, this is not going to get me down.
He's got himself to three under par. Just think, though, Alison, had he not had that two-shot penalty, he would be at five under par. And within two shots of the leaders, ready to pounce. He's still very much in the mix, but he is four shots back. And there are an awful lot of very good players in front of him who are playing very good golf at the moment. So it is going to be very, very difficult for Tiger Woods to go on, I believe, and win a 15th major title.
Alison.
KOSIK: OK, Patrick Snell from Augusta thanks very much.
Jumping to the NBA now. Kobe Bryant is healing from the most serious injury of a 17-year NBA career and it's not clear if or when the Lakers superstar will play again. But here is what we know. The 34-year-old tore his Achilles' tendon Friday. And despite undergoing successful surgery to fix the tendon, it could take him six to nine months to heal. Meaning the mamba could ride the bench for most of the 2014 season. But only time will tell. Bryant reacted with disappointment, though, on social media after the injury.
I want you to look at this rant he posted on FaceBook saying, "this is such BS. All the training and sacrifice just flew out the window with one step that I've done millions of times. The frustration is unbearable. The anger is rage. Why the hell did this happen? Makes no damn sense. Now I'm supposed to come back from this and be the same player or better at 35? How in the world am I supposed to do that? I have no clue. Do I have the consistent will to overcome this thing? Maybe I should break out the rocking chair and reminisce on the career that" - and then he goes on and on, on his FaceBook page. Certainly everybody's talking about it. It's even being talked about on Twitter.
Turning overseas. A brazen prison escape leads to an international manhunt. We're going to tell you about the gangster who held guards hostage and blasted his way through five prison doors. Now he's on the loose, armed and dangerous.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: This morning, police across Europe are on an international manhunt after a brazen prison escape. French authorities say Redoine Faid held four guards hostage at gunpoint, then used explosives to blast his way through five prison doors. Now, helicopters are in the air searching for him and an arrest warrant has been issued in 26 countries with his name on it. With us now from London is CNN's Fred Pleitgen.
Fred, where do you - where do police think he's gone at this point and how did he get these explosives in the first place, and the guns, to break out?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a very good question. Because one of the things we have to keep in mind, Alison, is that prison doors are pretty thick and heavy. So he must have had a substantial amount of explosives.
Now, right now, things are focusing on a female visitor that he apparently received yesterday. Some believe it's his wife or ex-wife. It really isn't clear at this point in time. But one of the things that the authorities are saying is that this prison is absolutely inadequate to hold someone like that. Everybody knew this guy was a criminal mastermind. Everybody knew that he was dangerous.
And one of the things that's really interesting, and I've been reading up on, is that apparently French prison guards are not allowed to always search prison inmates. They have random searches every once in a while, but not all the time. And so, therefore, it appears as though it was possible for this guy to get substantial amounts of explosives into this prison and then blast his way out through five prison doors, as you've just said. They're looking for him right now, but certainly there are some very tough questions being asked in France right now as to how this was possible, Alison.
KOSIK: OK, we know he was in prison for armed robberies. What really has made him so notorious? I mean I think he wrote an autobiography about his crimes, didn't he?
PLEITGEN: Yes, he was - he was really the sort of Al Capone type criminal who loved to court the media as well. He wrote a book, as you said, from sort of his path, from being a little petty thief, to becoming this criminal mastermind. He's someone who was really a very classic criminal, if you will. He wasn't someone who engages in things like cybercrime or anything. He armed money - he robbed money transports. The last time, apparently, he was the mastermind behind one in 2010. He spent a total of about 10 years in prison, came out, said that he had changed, but then they said he was behind another armed robbery as well. So he is someone who seems to have a very brilliant, almost, if you will, criminal mind. Someone who is behind very elaborate plots to get these armed robberies done. So certainly someone who was very much in the media, almost a celebrity, but with a very criminal mind, Alison.
KOSIK: OK. All right, Fred Pleitgen, thank you.
Ahead, a candid interview with former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Her road to recovery since being shot in the head and surprising insight on how she feels about guns. It's a CNN exclusive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Look, look, mortgage rates took a tumble again this past week. Here they are.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Welcome back. And thanks for beginning your morning with us. I'm Alison Kosik. It's half past the hour. Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords plans to go to Washington this week, just as the Senate will be immersed in debate over new gun legislation. CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash sat down with Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, for an exclusive interview. They talked about why they still own guns, their campaign for universal background checks and Giffords' remarkable recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's most shocking about Gabby Giffords now is how much she looks like her old self - her golden locks are back, the sparkle in her eyes, her broad smile. The Gabby Giffords we knew before she was shot. Gone is the short hair and thin frame we saw at the beginning of her recovery. But she knows she will never be the same.
(on camera): In your recovery process, do you want to find and discover the old Gabby Giffords or do you want to sort of rediscover another new Gabby Giffords?
GABBY GIFFORDS: Stronger. Stronger, better. Tougher. Stronger, better, tougher.
BASH (voice over): Being with Giffords it's immediately clear she understands virtually everything going on around her. She follows conversations, reacts, offers unsolicited ideas, but it is still a huge struggle to turn her ideas and thoughts into words. Like when trying to explain how she spends her days.
GIFFORDS: Occupation therapy, yogurt ...
MARK KELLY: Yoga.
GIFFORDS: Yoga. Yoga.
BASH: The right-handed Giffords still has no use of her right hand. That arm is paralyzed. So is her right leg. She wears a brace and literally drags it with her good left leg to walk. She also doesn't see very well.
(on camera): How is your vision?
GIFFORDS: Not really.
BASH: Not great.
GIFFORDS: Not great at all.
KELLY: So, Gabby's blind to the right side. Right, in both eyes.
GIFFORDS: Both eyes.
KELLY: So she has no peripheral vision to the right at all. So, she's looking at you, she can't see anything to the right ...
BASH: Nothing over there.
KELLY: Yeah.
BASH (voice over): But you can easily see how she and her husband, Mark Kelly, keep up her spirit. Humor.
KELLY: Which is good for me. Like, if I want to sneak up on her ...
(LAUGHTER)
BASH (on camera): You wouldn't do that, though, would you?
KELLY: Oh, yeah, all the time - I come from that direction.
(LAUGHTER)
KELLY: You wouldn't want to come from this direction.
BASH (voice over): For Giffords and Kelly, a retired astronaut and space shuttle commander, this is the new normal.
KELLY: It's different in good ways, too. In a lot of good ways.
BASH: Like living and working together now. Before she was shot., they had a commuter marriage. She jetted between her congressional district in Tucson, Arizona and work in Washington, DC. He lived in Houston, Texas, where he worked at the space center. This is the first home they bought and live in together. Another plus, before Giffords was shot, she had a rocky relationship with Kelly's two teenage daughters from a previous marriage.
(on camera): But the sort of tense relationship that you had with your daughters, that's changed.
GIFFORDS: Yes, it's changed.
BASH: So, that's a positive that has come out of this tragedy. KELLY: Yeah, a lot better.
GIFFORDS: A lot better.
KELLY: Yeah. They've - well, they've also grown up a little bit, too. And, you know, as a family, we have evolved because of certainly, you know, because of what happened. But it's - so, it's brought us all closer together.
BASH (voice over): Giffords now fully understands that six people died and 13 were injured because a deranged young man, Jared Loughner, set out to assassinate her. In fact, she brought him up unsolicited.
GIFFORDS: Loughner.
BASH: Kelly spoke at his sentencing as Giffords sat stoically staring Loughner down.
(on camera): To sit in the courtroom and look at the man who shot you through the head. What was that like?
GIFFORDS: Beady eyes.
KELLY: Well, yeah, he had some interesting expressions on his face.
GIFFORDS: Yes.
KELLY: And she did not look away. And she stared him ...
GIFFORDS: Beady eyes.
BASH: Did he look back at you when you stared him down?
KELLY: Yes.
GIFFORDS: Oh, yes, yes, yes.
BASH: Did you get a sense that there was any kind of remorse? Any kind of understanding of what he put you through and what he did to the six people who didn't survive?
GIFFORDS: I'm so sad. Mentally ill.
BASH (voice over): Newly released court documents reveal that Loughner's parents new something was wrong, that he heard voices and exhibited other alarming behavior, and they did not get him help.
(on camera): I'm curious, have you ever heard from his parents?
GIFFORDS: No.
KELLY: No.
BASH: Would you want to? GIFFORDS: Not really.
KELLY: You know, as a parent, you know, you are certainly on one level, you can empathize with somebody who went through that, where the kid just did a horrific thing. At the same time, you know, there were indications of his mental illness. The school knew about it, his parents knew about it and he didn't have, didn't seem to have a lot of options for good treatment.
BASH (voice over): Giffords suffered yet another tragedy a few months ago. Her father Spencer, with whom she had a special bond, died suddenly. He taught her a lot about humor, strength and responsibility. Handing her the keys to his tire business when she was just 26 years old.
GLORIA GIFFORDS: You know it would make a difference.
GIFFORDS: Yes.
BASH: Giffords' grit and determination also comes from her mother, Gloria, a force of nature. An artist whose home is in the middle of the desert, miles from civilization. You have to go off road to get there. So many desert rocks that on the way home Kelly got a flat tire.
UM: You should lower the tire.
BASH: We took this cell phone video of Giffords, daughter of a tire salesman and expert tire changer in her own right out in the dark helping.
GLORIA GIFFORDS: I'm kind of concerned about the (inaudible) one.
BASH: Her bond with her mother is tighter than ever. Gloria Giffords sat by her daughter's hospital bed for countless hours and plays a central role in Giffords' recovery. And there maybe a sliver of hope for Giffords, now age 42, to have a child of her own. When she was shot she was trying to get pregnant with fertility treatment.
BASH (on camera): You were in the middle of IVF, hoping to have a baby.
KELLY: Yes.
BASH: Obviously, the challenges are quite different now.
KELLY: Yes.
BASH (voice over): They still have two frozen embryos, but given Giffords' injuries, they likely have to use a surrogate.
GIFFORDS: I don't know.
KELLY: You know, we talked about it. We talked about it. Haven't made a decision. BASH: Sure, Giffords has her moments of frustration and anger, but that does not define her.
(on camera): Resentful?
GIFFORDS: No. No.
BASH: How is that possible?
GIFFORDS: Move ahead. Move ahead. Move happy.
BASH: You are happy. Where does it come from? How do you - how do you keep this kind of optimism given what you've been through and what you're still going through?
GIFFORDS: I want to make the world a better place. I want to make the world a better place.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: And these days for Giffords trying to make the world a better place means lobbying her former colleagues to pass new laws aimed at curbing gun violence. When we come back, Giffords and Kelly talk about their efforts and they invite Dana Bash to watch Kelly do something that could surprise you. Target practice with Giffords looking on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was almost killed more than two years ago by a man with a gun. Today her brain injuries make speaking difficult, but she's becoming active spokeswoman for new restrictions on guns. CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash visited Giffords for a rare interview at her home in Arizona. She saw firsthand that Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly are still deeply immersed in gun culture.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Gabby Giffords will never be the same after being shot through the head. Yet one thing hasn't changed. Ironically, her appreciation for guns. In fact, target practice is still a form of entertainment at her mother's house, deep in the Arizona desert.
GLORIA GIFFORDS: Watch this - he's aiming for my pot. Wow!
BASH: Mark Kelly using planting pots and water bottles as targets while Giffords watches from the patio with her mother cheering him on.
GLORIA GIFFORDS: Excellent, excellent, excellent.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Excellent!
BASH: And Kelly isn't shooting with just any kind of gun. KELLY: This is the same kind of gun Gabby was shot with. A glock. A 9 millimeter glock. But in that case, it had a magazine that held 33 rounds, this when it's full holds 17. He shot 33 rounds, every round hit somebody, we think.
BASH (on camera): How long have you had this gun?
KELLY: Well, I gave this to Gabby as a gift.
BASH: When?
KELLY: A number of years ago. She's a gun owner. You know, she's from the West.
BASH (voice over): Still, we asked the question a lot of incredulous people seeing this scene would ask.
(on camera): Really? This guy sort of still has - gets his kicks or recreation for his is shooting a gun after his wife was shot through the head?
KELLY: Well, Gabby used to like shooting a gun, too, occasionally.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Yes. Yes.
KELLY: Not all the time. And, you know, Gabby owns the same type of gun she was shot with. She didn't want to get rid of it.
So, now there's a round in the chamber.
BASH (voice over): To be sure, this is meant to serve a very political purpose. To show Giffords and Kelly are legitimate gun owners and credible messengers for their new cause - tightening gun restrictions. In fact, Kelly also showed us a gun he recently bought and videotaped for the sole purpose of demonstrating how easy it is to get a background check and why he and Giffords want them expanded to private sales like gun shows.
KELLY: And when we timed it, it's five minutes and 36 seconds. Not a lot of time. You could do the same thing at the gun show, where people are currently not subject to a background check, in most states.
BASH: Giffords and Kelly formed their organization, Americans for Responsible Solutions in January, the second anniversary of the tragic shooting that left Giffords partially paralyzed and robbed the once articulate politician of her gift of speech.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Optimistic.
KELLY: You're optimistic.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Optimistic. KELLY: Well, and I am, too, I'm - especially when we're talking about universal background check. BASH: The Sandy Hook shooting spurred them to take a stand.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Sandy Brook.
KELLY: It was Sandy Hook.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Hook.
BASH: Brain damage from Giffords' own gunshot wound makes it difficult for her to find words. Even Sandy Hook.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Sandy Brook.
KELLY: It was Sandy Hook.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Hook. Handy Brook.
KELLY: Sandy Hook.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Hook.
KELLY: Sandy Hook Elementary. You know, it's something we just can't -- you know, 20 first graders.
GABBY GIFFORDS: First graders died.
KELLY: Yeah, in their classrooms. It's just sort of ...
GABBY GIFFORDS: Awful.
BASH: The couple originally called for a ban on assault weapons and limits to high-capacity magazines. Giffords made a dramatic plea to senators.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Be bold. Be courageous. Americans are counting on you.
But they now admit there are limits on what is politically realistic.
BASH (on camera): If you were to name the number one thing that Congress could do to prevent the kind of violence that you were the victim of, what would it be?
GIFFORDS: Background checks.
KELLY: Yeah, certainly. Without a doubt.
BASH (voice over): Giffords has learned to navigate an iPad for email with her left hand, because her right hand is paralyzed. But most of her communicating with former colleagues pressing them for new gun laws goes through Kelly, mostly on the phone. Though she doesn't have to say much to make her point, especially in person.
KELLY: When Gabby sits in their office and tells them how important universal background check bill is, they hear that. You know, she's a former colleague, she was doing her job, you know, like they do every single day when she was nearly killed.
BASH: When Giffords was in Congress, she represented this red Arizona district on the Mexican border filled with voters who expected her to defend their gun rights. She pushed to overturn a gun ban in the District of Columbia and voted to allow guns in national parks. A conservative Democrat herself, she knows first hand how politically hard it is for her former colleagues to support gun restrictions.
KELLY: It's tough.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Yes, it's is tough.
KELLY: It could be a tough issue. That's because of the influence.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Yes.
KELLY: Of the NRA. You know, and the gun lobby.
BASH (on camera): And what do you think about the NRA's argument that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun?
GABBY GIFFORDS: It doesn't work! It doesn't work.
BASH (voice over): But realistically, had she not been shot would the pro-gun congresswoman have been open to voting for stricter gun laws?
(on camera): Candidly, would you have said yes?
GABBY GIFFORDS: Yes. Yes.
KELLY: I think it depends on what those measures were.
GABBY GIFFORDS: Yes.
KELLY: Gabby, Gabby was middle of the road ...
GABBY GIFFORDS: Middle of the road.
KELLY: She was, you know --
GABBY GIFFORDS: Straight in the middle.
BASH (voice over): There was no question the gun culture is deeply ingrained in Giffords. It has to be to still expose herself to guns, even after her near fatal shooting.
(on camera): What is it like to sit and hear the gunshot go off? Does it startle you?
GABBY GIFFORDS: No. No.
KELLY: Well, I think it's because Gabby doesn't remember the gunshot going off the day she was injured. Right, you don't remember that?
GABBY GIFFORDS: No.
BASH: If you could, would you shoot a gun today?
GABBY GIFFORDS: Yes.
KELLY: We've talked about it. Gabby's actually held it. Hasn't shot one since she's been injured. But a few days ago she was actually trying to aim with it with her left hand.
BASH: Is your hope to be able to shoot a gun again?
GABBY GIFFORDS: No, I don't know.
BASH: Not a big priority in your life right now?
GABBY GIFFORDS: It's not really.
KELLY: Yes. Not at the top of the list.
(LAUGHTER)
BASH (voice over): Still, what's so devastatingly altered her life now infuses her life with purpose.
(on camera): I've seen it written that there's irony that you are such a good spokesperson for new laws to curb gun violence because you can't speak very well.
KELLY: Yeah, I guess it's kind of maybe, maybe it's bad irony. I don't know. It's something that ...
GABBY GIFFORDS: Stinks.
KELLY: It stinks. It stinks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Giffords and Kelly say they're heartened by a new bipartisan compromise deal to expand background checks, but, no, that is just the first step. They plan to be in Washington next week. Just as the Senate begins the gun debate in earnest. Back to you.
KOSIK: Dana Bash, thank you.
From guns to immigration. Congress may be close to reaching a deal, but the so-called path to citizenship could come with an expiration date.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Good morning. Time to get you ready for the week ahead. Check this out. Monday is Jackie Robinson day. It's the celebration of the day in 1947. Robinson became the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball. All players are going to be wearing Robinson's number 42 in his honor.
Also on Monday, Kim Il sung marked the 101 anniversary of Kim Il sung's birthday, the country's founder and grandfather of Kim Jong-un. There are some who could fear it could be the day North Korea performs one of their missiles ...
And on Wednesday, it's Margaret Thatcher's funeral. Demonstrators are expected to protest former conservative - the former conservative prime minister, there's even a bizarre campaign to get the Wizard of Oz song, "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead," to hit the top of the U.K. music charts. Thursday, Rock 'n' Roll's hall of fame is in focus. Inductees are going to be honored in Los Angeles. Rush, Heart, Donna Summer are among the inductees. That's pretty interesting to watch.
Saturday, Saturday is going to be interesting because it's International Cannabis Day, of all things. Oh, come on, (inaudible) there's patch out, there we go. So, it's International Cannabis Day for some people in Colorado where adults can now privately smoke weed. It is expected to host the country's biggest pot rally.
The bipartisan gang of eight senators have reached a consensus on an immigration deal and agreed to set a cutoff date for citizenship. The eight senators, four Republicans and four Democrats will announce the details Tuesday. Under the deal, any undocumented immigrant who entered the country after December 31st, 2011, will not be eligible for citizenship. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold their first public hearing on the legislation on Wednesday. It could eventually head to the full Senate by June. You're going to hear a lot more on the immigration deal this morning on "State of the Union" when Senator Marco Rubio joins Candy Crowley at 9:00 o'clock.
Pablo Picasso paintings can fetch millions of dollars at auction. So, what would be that's one man to give away 33 of them for free? We'll tell you who had them and who's getting them and why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: OK. Now to some video you've got to see, but before you do, this is the kind of story where you don't want to blink or you can miss the action. We're going to go to the video. The video was taken in a fisherman's kayak right off the Hawaii. Watch the left side of your screen now. He's taken - he's trying to reel in a tuna when, boom, jaws shoots out of the water. The chart missed the tuna the first time, then it came back, bumped the kayak and took it. An expert think it was a ten-foot tiger shark. The fisherman, if you're wondering, he kept fishing. Caught a nice mahi mahi in that same exact spot.
Speaking of spot, this next guy just happened to be standing in the right one, I suppose. Maybe he's just lucky because that's where a stray bullet hit his belt and his belt really repelled it. Police say it's from the street shooting that happened near the Philadelphia grocery store where the man worked. The employee said he didn't even realize he had been shot until another employee saw the hole in his shirt. Thanks for beginning your morning with us. We've got much more ahead on "CNN Sunday Morning," which starts right now.
Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. It's 7:00 on the East Coast, 4:00 on the West. Thanks for beginning your morning with us.
We begin this morning just hours away from North Korea's most important holiday of the year. April 15th is the birthday of the country's founder Kim Il-sung. He died 18 years ago. Now his grandson, Kim Jong-un, has South East Asia and the world on edge with threats of nuclear weapons and missile strikes. Many are wondering if he'll use his grandfather's birthday, known as the Day of the Sung, to make good on the rhetoric.
Meantime, Secretary of State John Kerry is in Tokyo for the final stop of a mission aimed at tamping down tensions in the region. Here's what he said just a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Hopefully, North Korea will hear our words and recognize that for the future of its people and for the future stability in the region, as well as on the peninsula itself, there is a clear course of action that they're invited to take and they will find in us ready partners to negotiate in good faith to resolve this issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: In China, Kerry pressed leaders to quit funneling money to the North and pressure Pyongyang to stop developing nuclear weapons. Before that, he went to Seoul to reassure South Koreans that the U.S. has their back.
Our Anna Coren is in Seoul this morning. Anna, what's the latest on North Korean threats and efforts at diplomacy?
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the big news out of Seoul here or the Korean peninsula, I should say, Alison, is that North Korea issued a statement to South Korea basically saying at the moment their offer of dialogue is basically an empty shell. They need to change their attitude before Pyongyang considers entering into talks with its neighbors. So, that really is the big news coming out of this region today.
But, you mentioned the missile launch that many of us have predicted. The intelligence community has predicted that it hasn't happened and you mention tomorrow being the anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, the grandfather of Kim Jong Un.
And, Alison, it's highly unlikely that there will be missile launches tomorrow because of the room for error, also being that its' such an important day, probably the most important day on the North Korean calendar, all the attention on the celebrations. Highly unlikely that we'll see the missile launches happen. So, perhaps it's not going to happen.
That is what analysts are now saying. Perhaps the missile launches are not going to happen. But perhaps the only predictable thing about North Korea is that it is unpredictable.
KOSIK: Good point. The South Koreans have gotten a break from all the missile talk, thanks to their country's biggest pop star, by the way, changing subjects. What is the news on Psy?
COREN: Yes, I had the pleasure of attending Psy's concert last night here in Seoul and 50,000 South Koreans joined us as we went to, listened to the launch of his new single "Gentlemen." Obviously, he's a big act to follow. He released "Gangnam Style." And that got something like 1.5 million hits on YouTube, absolute phenomenon.
I mean, this is a guy, 35 years old, who is a pop sensation, known throughout the world. You know, Alison, I spoke to some people at the concert and asked them if they are concerned about what is happening to the North, considering we are only 50 kilometers from the DMZ, the most militarized border in the world.
And I also just say, you know, we don't think the threats are serious. We don't think anything is going to happen. We don't think that North Korea is going to strike the South. The reason being is that it would be suicide for that nation. It would be suicide for the country and also for the regime.
So, people pretty much going about their business and, obviously, enjoying Psy's music.
KOSIK: And more --
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COREN (voice-over): Without doubt, one of the most famous Koreans in the world.
Thanks to this song and (INAUDIBLE).
Pop sensation Psy taking to the stage in Seoul tens of thousands of South Korean fans who are almost oblivious to what's taking place north of the border.
For more than a month, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and his regime have been threatening thermonuclear war on its neighbor and the United States. But these are the only pyrotechnics on display this night.
"The threat is not serious," says this man. "No one is worried."
Kim Jong-un must be jealous of Psy, because everyone is focusing on his new song, not North Korea.
His widely anticipated new song "Gentlemen" released a few days ago, but this is the first time he's showing the music video. His catchy tune has a lot to live up to, following his worldwide hit "Gangnam Style", which received a record 1.5 billion hits on YouTube.
As far as these fans are concerned, he is on to another win. The 35-year-old father of two is known for his antics and humor on stage and doesn't disappoint, paying homage to Beyonce in a rather revealing leotard.
And while the crisis on the Korean peninsula may be dominating news headlines around the world, South Koreans have been living in this climate for the past 60 years since the end of the Korean War don't know what all the fuss is about.
(on camera): (INAUDIBLE) the most militarized border in the world, also within striking distance of North Korea. But as you can tell here, the prospect of war is the last thing in these people's minds.
(voice-over): They're here to party, the words of wisdom to their angry northern neighbor.
"If North Korea had someone with Psy with a good personality and who has lots of funs, there wouldn't be war, only peace," says this woman. "Kim Jong Un needs to take a leaf out of Psy's book and lighten up."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: The South Koreans more interested in partying than they are in war, as you could say from that concert.
KOSIK: Yes. As usual, what a dichotomy between the South and the North.
Anna Coren in Seoul, thank you.
Turning to politics, another Republican, has come out in support of the background check bill. That's before the Senate. Senator Susan Collins of Maine told NBC News she thinks the bill is a responsible compromise. She says she supports it because it would not require background checks for sales made to relatives and by individuals. If passed, the bill would expand, federal background checks to sales at gun shows and online.
And this weekend, NASCAR found itself in the middle of a gun debate, that's because the NRA sponsored yesterday's race at the Texas Motor Speedway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL MALONE, FORMER NBA PLAYER: NRA 500, drivers, start your engines!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He'll be able to go the distance
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Despite the controversial sponsorship, the race went on as normal for many fans.
Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti was right there -- Susan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alison, is the NRA 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway about politics or pure sport? For some, the answer is up for grabs.
(voice-over): It's race day and the action is heating up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Party in the race.
CANDIOTTI: Along with a cookout grills -- as fans get revved up for the big event, the NRA 500. But the race and the National Rifle Association sponsorship of it have Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy worked up.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D), CONNECTICUT: NASCAR and FOX should have been a little more sensitive to the families in the community of Newtown and stayed out of this debate.
CANDIOTTI: He's upset that NASCAR signed off on the NRA sponsorship negotiated by the Texas Motor Speedway, especially now when gun control legislation is about to be debated.
MURPHY: They could have found another sponsor for this race. They could have waited until after the debate to have the NRA sponsor a race. It's just really poor timing.
CANDIOTTI: NASCAR says the NRA began brokering the deal with the speedway before the Newtown shootings. After 26 children and teachers were killed, NASCAR donated money to Newtown. And at the Daytona 500 in February, race car driver Michael Waltrip won praise for painting his number 26 car in tribute to victims.
Last month, the NRA 500 airing on FOX was announced.
MURPHY: It gives the impression that FOX and NASCAR are endorsing the NRA's position.
CANDIOTTI: NASCAR flatly denies taking sides. But Senator Murphy says that's not how most will say it.
FOX isn't commenting. A source says the network is obligated by contract to air the race.
A track president isn't hiding his feelings about Senator Murphy.
EDDIE GOSSAGE, PRESIDENT, TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: The American public is not engaged in this, but the senator keeps trying to stir it up. And I can appreciate that. But he's in Connecticut and we're in Texas. And his values don't fly here.
CANDIOTTI: Race officials point out the NRA isn't handing out flyers but a lot of people are posing for photos at its booth. Fans are mainly focused on the race, not politics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The NRA has every right to sponsor a race or sponsor an event in any state that they see fit.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Do you think this race is about sports or politics? How would you describe this race?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sports. I believe it's all about sports.
CANDIOTTI: The speedway may be downplaying the controversy, but with the NRA branding a race in this political climate, NASCAR says it is listening and will rethink its sponsorship approval process going forward -- Alison.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: Susan Candiotti, thank you.
Coming up, Kobe Bryant questioning whether he could come back from rupturing his Achilles' tendon. Is the Lakers' super star saying, time to retire?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: It looks like this weekend's Master has been set up for a drama-filled final round. Tiger Woods still in the hunt despite being penalized two strokes for breaking the rules. But it wasn't an official who caught the infraction, it was actually a TV viewer.
Patrick Snell is live with us from Augusta with that and much more in today's bleacher report.
Hi.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Thanks, Alison.
Yes, controversy abounding on Saturday. Tiger Woods is still in the tournament, though, and will tee it off a later Sunday. But it really was a huge talking point for millions of golf fans worldwide. In a nutshell, as you say, Tiger assessed a two shot penalty for that rule infraction which he fully admitted to during Friday's second round. Of course, that led to him signing an incorrect scorecard.
But the change for the rules of golf in 2011, allowing the ruling committee at Augusta to use their digression and not disqualify him from the tournament, though, some feel he really should have disqualified himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, 4-TIME MASTERS CHAMPION: None, because under the rules of golf, I can play. So, you know, that's -- I was able to play and they say, go ahead. I don't go on the Internet during tournaments like this. There is a lot of stuff said. I stay away from the media.
And I was surprised what transpired. I made a mistake and incurred a two-shot penalty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: He did. But Tiger is, as a result of that penalty, four shots behind the leaders. Who are they? Well, one of his competitors, Brandt Snedeker at 7-under-par. Snedeker is tied for third in 2008 at this tournament. And he is celebrating a first bogey-free round in 21 attempts here at the Masters. So, congratulations to Brandt Snedeker for that.
Also atop the leaderboard, Argentina's former Masters champion Angel Cabrera. He won the '09 Masters. He's a two-time major winner.
In fact, he's also one of the '07 U.S. open. Cabrera known as "El Pato" or "The Duck" cannot be ruled out. He is one tough competitor. He is going to be a thrilling final round here later Sunday at the Masters.
Well, less than 24 hours after suffering a season ending ruptured Achilles' tendon, Kobe Bryant had successful surgery to repair the tendon. The injury occurred during Friday night's game against the Golden State Warriors. All indications are the Lakers star could be out for anywhere from six to nine months.
That's your bleacher report. Alison, back to you.
KOSIK: All right, Patrick Snell, thank you.
So, if sports aren't quite your thing, maybe this is. Works by Picasso and Leger are finding a new home in New York at the Met, Metropolitan Museum. I want to show you why this billion dollar collection didn't cost a thing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: I want you to look at something. Look at this. The book is the first book ever printed in what is now the United States. It's a Bay Psalm Book from the congressional puritan. And it was first published in 1640. Only 11 of them exist and none have been sold for more than 60 years. The rare piece will be up for auction this November and could fetch as much as $30 million.
Well, no, no, bidding on this one. The heir to the Estee Lauder fortune has donated $1 billion worth of Cubism art to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The gift includes 78 works by artist, including Picasso, Braque, Gris and Leger. It's been called the four most collection of Cubism art in the world.
And joining me now to talk about this is Sheena Wagstaff. Sheena is the chairman of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art for the Met.
Good morning to you, Sheena.
SHEENA WAGSTAFF, CONTEMPORARY CURATOR, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: Good morning, Alison. KOSIK: So, tell me, what does this donation mean to the Met?
WAGSTAFF: Well, I cannot overemphasize how thrilling it is for us to be able to contemplate having this collection within the Met's encyclopedic collection. It really does transform. This is a word that has been used many times and it's completely true.
It's not rhetoric. It really transforms our collection and particularly focuses on the modern and contemporary aspect of the collection. And, of course, you know, we live in an age where we have many artists living now and it is a great gift for them, too, to be able to look back a whole century, really, to the moment that modern art began.
KOSIK: But, how unusual is a donation of this size?
WAGSTAFF: It's exceedingly unusual. And, in fact, a philanthropic gift of this kind is really rare nowadays. Lauder joins the great tradition of early American philanthropists like Rockefeller or Annenberg, which we've also been the recipients of at the Met. It is a gift of amazing largess really.
The four great giants of Cubism, as you mentioned, Picasso, Leger, Gris and Braque. They really did mark the beginning of the 20th century, with a radical turnover of art as we know it, really from the Renaissance at the time when, for instance, Einstein was rethinking the idea of relatively. Here with Picasso and Braque particularly rethinking and revolutionizing art.
And so, this is a very big gift for us because it really does transform the way that we understand the history of art.
KOSIK: OK. So, for those who don't know, let's go ahead and talk about Cubism. What makes a work of Cubist?
WAGSTAFF: Cubism was a way of rethinking the way that we see the world. What Picasso and Braque did particularly was they dismantled the picture. They fractured it into plains of color. They changed and introduced multiple points of perspective as opposed to one point of perspective.
They fractured the image completely so it was almost unrecognizable. It also kind of almost bordered on abstraction. And what you see now on the screen are extraordinary examples of the way that they created, for instance, a figure. Picasso did a wonderful portrait of his mistress at the time, which was entitled, "Woman in an Arm Chair", where he really eroticizes an image but through symbols.
And it isn't until you actually look very deeply into the picture that you see exactly how he has created that sexuality. It is an extraordinary painting. It is one that we just restored at the Met and I was at the museum yesterday and there were crowds of people around it, discussing, debating the nature of the work and that's exactly what we do at the Met. We stimulate that debate.
KOSIK: Could the Met have mapped a collection of this size without this donation?
WAGSTAFF: I'm sorry, I didn't hear you?
KOSIK: Could the Met have this kind of display without this kind of donation?
WAGSTAFF: No. It wouldn't have at all. I mean, this kind of art is extraordinarily unique. No museum would ever be able to amass this quality of collection. I mean, these are masterpieces. Every one of these works is a masterpiece.
KOSIK: OK.
WAGSTAFF: They're not available any longer.
KOSIK: They're at the met now or going to be displayed when?
WAGSTAFF: Well, as I said, there's one absolutely unique, exquisite work on now. There will be an exhibition in the fall of 2014 that exhibits this entire collection.
KOSIK: OK. Sheena Wagstaff, thanks so much.
WAGSTAFF: Thank you.
KOSIK: We are hours away from North Korea's most significant holiday, the birthday of its founder. The celebration comes as the rest of the region stands guard, concerned that the reclusive regime would use this day to show off with a missile.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: "Saturday Night Live" is taking on the gun debate with its own tongue in cheek style. Last night, "SNL" mocked Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia who introduced the bipartisan background check bill to the Senate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If our bill passes, no individual can purchase a handgun from private dealer without being asked, are you a good person? We have agreed to limit the number of guns you could shoot at once to two. Shooting three or more guns at the same time, we prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, the punishment is we give you a fourth gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, as it might go without saying, but none of these restrictions would apply to Florida. We don't know why.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, look, is this bill what we wanted? No. No. Is it what the NRA wanted? No. But does it at least help in some small way?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, probably not. It doesn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Only "SNL" could pull that off. The Senate debate, by the way, on the bill is expected to begin Tuesday.
Now for some weather, Karen Maginnis in the weather center. I hear there are some snow coming to the Northern Plains.
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, springtime snowstorms are not rare, but one of this magnitude is certainly unusual. We take a look at the northern tier states and places like Bismarck, also into Aberdeen and Fargo. Significant snow is on the way to the tune of 12, 15 inches going to be blown around by some breezy winter conditions, especially along Interstate 94. Well, temperatures right now only in the 20s where this time of year, those temperatures should be around 50 degrees or so. Over the next several days, look at this for Kansas City, today 70 degrees. That's a little bit above normal, actually.
But you go through Monday and Tuesday and we drop those temperatures into the 50s and into 40s and some pretty big thunderstorms will rock the Central Plains from St. Louis, all the way to Kansas City and into northwestern Arkansas. So, watch out a little bumpy.
And these temperatures are forecast this afternoon. Wichita 87. But watch out, high wind, low humidity could create a great fire danger -- Alison.
KOSIK: All right. Karen Maginnis, thanks.
And I'm going to see you back here at the top of the hour.
"SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." starts right now.
