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McCain Gets Scott Brown's Help; New Trouble for the Vatican; Pre-Election Violence in Iraq

Aired March 06, 2010 - 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: Still ahead, we'll look at the Arizona Senate race and how Senator John McCain is reacting to a challenge from the right.

First, these headlines. This youtube video from 2006 appears to show the man accused of shooting two police officers outside the Pentagon. His name is John Patrick Bedell, a man identified as J.P. Bedell talks about an invention he calls information currency.

And a lawyer for an Italian official is denying charges that his client used a Vatican choir singer to arrange gay liaisons. The lawyer calls the allegations shameful.

And heading for the airport? Well, it's getting more likely that you'll have to go through a full body scan. Government officials say 11 more airports will have the imaging machines by the end of the summer, bringing it to the total of 30.

All right. A U.S. Senate veteran is getting help today from the chamber's newest member. John McCain has been a senator since 1986, but he faces a Republican primary opponent who has been questioning McCain's credentials as a conservative. McCain is campaigning this weekend with Scott Brown, who was elected to the Senate just a few weeks ago in Massachusetts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SCOTT BROWN (R), MASSACHUSETTS: If you told me five months ago that I'd be standing here in front of you, I'd say you're full of it. I would never in my wildest dreams believe that I would be here with you all and really standing and helping somebody that I personally, long before politics, have always thought is an American hero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Scott Brown became a GOP star in January when he beat a democrat to take over Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat. Is Brown's popularity enough to help McCain in Arizona? Andy Barr is a reporter with politico.com. He joins us now from Washington. Good to see you, Andy.

ANDY BARR, POLITICO.COM: Thanks very much.

WHITFIELD: OK. So what's the answer, is this smart politics or is it a sign of desperation on McCain's part, that he would reach toward a freshman?

BARR: I think it's a sign that he's not taking anything for granted. I mean, John McCain has gone around and lock up every endorsement you can find in Arizona. He's got every member of the delegation, a lot of them more conservative than him, and he's doing two things with this.

One is he's saying, look, I'm the more serious candidate, I've got the establishment behind me. And two, he's saying to J.D. Hayworth, who's running as the conservative, who is running on his right, he says "OK, J.D., you've got this talk show radio audience in Arizona, but I've got Scott Brown, who's an icon in the conservative movement and I've got Sarah Palin, who's the deity of the conservative movement. So who do you have?" And really, he doesn't have much.

WHITFIELD: And this was McCain - this was kind of the old McCain we all know, the one that earned him, I guess, the label maverick. Just take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: As Scott mentioned, I've not been voted Miss Congeniality in the United States Senate every year because I did go to the floor day after day and said this is pork barrel spending. This is evil and it leads to corruption.

There are former members of Congress residing in federal prison today because the earmarking pork barrel spending that went out and the out- of-control spending. And now we are on a spending spree in our nation's capitol, my friends, that are spending money like a drunken sailor and the bar is still open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Andy, this is the McCain that people have known for a long time. He says he's not changing his strategy and he's certainly not demonstrating that he's in any way changing his strategy in what's turning out to be a pretty desperate race.

BARR: Right. He hasn't changed much at all. The one thing, though, is he's been a national figure, really, since he ran for president in 2000, and folks in Arizona, you know, have seen him as a national figure. The one place where McCain is really in danger here. And you know, keep in mind, he's way up in the polls, way up in the money race, way up in the endorsement race, but the one area of trouble is, you know, conservatives in the state don't really like him. He hasn't really done much for the state party. He hasn't really been that focused on Arizona.

So now he's kind of refocusing, retrenching. And if he's able to, you know, prevent those people who don't really like Hayworth - I mean, you got to remember, Hayworth lost to a Democrat and the reason he's out of Congress anyway is because he was tied to the Jack Abramoff scandal. So they're not wild about Hayworth. But if McCain can just keep those people from going to Hayworth just as a protest against him, he should be fine. WHITFIELD: But Hayworth is challenging his conservatism, McCain's, that is. He is saying he is no longer the conservative that you have, you know, loved and adored for all these years. Does he have a point?

BARR: I mean, he has a point. McCain, though, has a pretty good record, at least on spending. He's certainly moderate on a lot of things. The one thing that got him in trouble with a lot of folks in Arizona was his push for immigration reform. He lined up with President Bush and a lot of moderates tried to push that through. That obviously failed a few years ago. So that was one point.

That was actually the low point for John McCain in Arizona, where his polls dipped into the 40s. But on spending and other issues, McCain actually has a better record than Hayworth.

WHITFIELD: What's different in this case where you had Democrats across the country who were essentially fighting for their jobs, particularly those incumbents, and you've got this Republican who is essentially fighting for his job? What's happened here?

BARR: Well, what's happening is it's not an anti-Democrat sentiment, it's an anti-incumbent sentiment. Now, Democrats as a party actually poll higher than Republicans, if you were to ask people who they want in, but you know, what they want is they want to throw the bums out. They want everyone gone.

There's a sense that Washington is broken, that nobody here is capable of getting anything done. So, McCain faces the same kind of pressure that Democrats across the country are facing.

WHITFIELD: Andy Barr, politico.com, thanks so much. Good to see you.

BARR: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Both Senator McCain and Senator Brown have criticized Obama administration stimulus spending, which made us wonder whether any stimulus money has actually gone to Arizona, and if so, what is to come of it?

Josh Levs has been looking into that.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Fred, while we talked about this, it is really good to stop and look at the stimulus money, because this applies to all the states in the country. No matter where you live right now, if you look at the battle that's going on in Arizona, this is the exact same battle that's going on in your state over that giant pile of federal money and whether or not it's helping you.

So, let me show you the example of Arizona here and something very similar that is happening right there in your state, chances are. Let's go to these graphics. The first one we're going to see is the overall totals for how much money Arizona got out of that stimulus pile. They got $3.37 billion in stimulus funds, and the total amount they've received already, $1.08 billion. So, that's a ton of money that's gone into the Arizona system there, and look how many jobs they report funding with that stimulus money, more than 6,000 jobs. So, they're saying look, we got $1 billion already. We're funding more than 6,000 jobs with it.

Now, the last thing I'm going to show you is this next screen, which is what's happened with unemployment in Arizona. Same thing in so many states around the country. January 2009, it's at eight percent. January 2010, it's at 9.2 percent. So, here's what's happening. People who are against the stimulus, they wait a second. If those billions and billions of dollars all over the country were doing their jobs right, unemployment wouldn't have grown during this time.

On the flip side, you have the people who support it, who say wait a second, it would be worse without the stimulus money, and they also say that the rate of job losses has decreased, and that is true in Arizona. So, that kind of battle that we see there, Fred, is the same battle that's happening in states all over the country.

You are seeing in many cases unemployment higher a year after the stimulus, but you have the people who support it saying it would still be a lot worse if they had never done that in the first place.

WHITFIELD: Oh, all right. Fascinating stuff. Thanks so much, Josh. Appreciate that.

LEVS: You got it. No problem.

WHITFIELD: For being at the stimulus desk and helping to bring that info to us.

LEVS: You got it.

WHITFIELD: All right. President Obama says he will start over on health care. The president used his weekly media address to call for action on his health care proposal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Despite all the progress and improvements we've made, Republicans in Congress insisted the only acceptable course on health care is to start over. But you know what? The insurance companies aren't starting over. I just met with some of them on Thursday and they couldn't give me a straight answer as to why they keep arbitrarily and massively racing premiums by as much as 60 percent in states like Illinois.

If we don't act, they will continue to do this. They'll continue to drop people's coverage when they need it. They'll continue to refuse coverage based on pre-existing conditions. These practices will continue. And that's why we have to act now. That's why the United States Congress owes the American people an up-or-down vote on health insurance reform.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: In the Republican response, Representative Parker Griffith of Alabama argued that the president's health care plan must be stopped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PARKER GRIFFITH (R), ALABAMA: In the next 10 days, Democrats in Washington will try and jam through a massive government takeover of health care. It would raise taxes, slash Medicare benefits and destroy American jobs. It would put federal bureaucrats in charge of medical decisions that should be made by patients and doctors, and it must be stopped.

The American people have said loudly and clearly that they do not want this job-killing government takeover of care. They want us to start over with a clean sheet of paper and a step-by-step approach focused on lowering costs for families and small businesses.

But President Obama and Speaker Pelosi and Senate majority leader Harry Reid refuse to listen to the American people. For them, health care reform has become less about the best reforms and more about "what best fits Washington knows best" mentality, less about helping patients and more about scoring political points.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Griffith is a retired physician and a former Democrat. He switched parties last December.

A Youtube video from the man accused of opening fire at the Pentagon this week. What he said and his troubled past, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Millions of air travelers will soon see a major change at airport security checkpoints. The Homeland Security Department is installing full body scanning machines at 11 more airports. Here's a list. They go on-line at Boston Logan on Monday, Chicago O'Hare the following week and the rest will be deployed in the coming month. The machines are already being used at 19 other airports. Government officials say they'll boost air security, but others say they'll also boost the chances your privacy will be invaded.

Police say the man accused of opening fire at the Pentagon Thursday had a history of mental illness. CNN's Dan Simon has more on John Patrick Bedell's troubled background.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN PATRICK BEDELL, ACCUSED PENTAGON SHOOTER: In the next few minutes, I'll talk to you about what information currency is.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You don't have to watch John Patrick Bedell's Youtube video for very long to realize this was a man with serious issues. This video, titled "Information Currency" is the rambling of a troubled 36-year-old man instructing people how to use information to make money.

BEDELL: I hope you'll visit my web site and download the software that I've released.

SIMON: Bedell may have been disturbed, but he was clearly intelligent. His on-line resume shows he graduated with a degree in physics in 1994. This professor remembers him as a thoughtful student.

PROF. DAVID PARENT, SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY: I thought I knew him pretty well. I had him in a class where he was a pleasure to have him there. He would ask really good questions that would spark the class into having good questions. I would have characterized him as a gentle man.

SIMON: Years later in 2004, a link to the Pentagon. Bedell, who also studied biochemistry, proposed the Pentagon fund his research on smart weapons. CNN obtained this 28-page proposal, though it's not clear if he ever submitted it to the Defense Department.

At this point in Bedell's life, no apparent red flags, but that changes in 2006. A search of criminal records shows his first real trouble with the law, arrested for growing marijuana. Authorities say Bedell later obtained a medical marijuana card and the local sheriff says his mother was concerned about his frequent use and told police about it.

SHERIFF CURTIS HILL, SAN BENITO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: She feels that he's delusional, agitated. He got upset with her because she's asking questions about what he's been doing.

SIMON: Bedell lived in this gated Northern California community with his parents, described as well known and respected. In recent months, they became more and more worried about their son's erratic behavior. Like in January, they got a call from a Texas deputy who had just pulled Bedell over for speeding. The deputy sensed something was wrong.

(on camera): And so, he got Bedell's cell phone and called his parents.

HILL: That's correct. And what he articulates to the mother is that, "I'm calling you to ask a few questions about your son because the inside of his vehicle appears to be in disarray and what can you tell me about him."

SIMON (voice-over): Bedell went on his way. The family later filed a missing person's report, then dropped it when Bedell came home a week later, but Bedell soon left again, when according to the sheriff, his mother questioned him about a $600 charge at a shooting club. It's not clear if the money was for a weapon. Then on February 1st, more trouble with police. Bedell, now with a beard and appearing gaunt, was pulled over in Reno and determined to be high on marijuana.

Authorities say he had 75 grams of pot in his possession. He was charged with several crimes but didn't show up for his court appearance. A month later, after driving across the country, Bedell shows up at that Pentagon metro station dressed in a suit, and according to police, opens fire.

(on camera): Bedell had a documented case of mental illness, bipolar disorder. The sheriff here in his hometown says Bedell had been committed to a mental institution three to four times. Bedell's parents put out a statement saying his son's actions were caused by an illness, not a defective character.

Dan Simon, CNN, Hollister, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The Vatican now linked to gay sex allegations. We have details on an alleged male prostitution ring allegedly involving a former papal usher and a former member of the Vatican choir.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Take a look at our top stories right now. The White House may be considering a stunning change of course on a very public pledge. A senior administration official tells CNN that advisers are now deciding whether to try the alleged 9/11 mastermind in a military court. In November, attorney general Eric Holder announced that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed would face a criminal court in New York. No decision has yet been made.

And scientists say Chile will experience aftershocks from last weekend's 8.8-magnitude earthquake for years to come. And so far, there has been no let-up. This is the latest one right here, these images that you're seeing. You can see the power lines swaying as the earth moves when two aftershocks hit yesterday, one of them a 6.6.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAYCEE DUGARD: Hi, I'm Jaycee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: She was held captive for nearly two decades. Now, kidnapped victim Jaycee Dugard is speaking out in a new home video. In the video released to ABC News, Jaycee is seen cooking with her sister and her mother and says she is doing well. Convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido is accused of fathering two children with Jaycee and holding her captive in his backyard home for 18 years.

It's the last thing the Vatican needs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Now it's the last thing the Vatican needs, a former papal usher is accused of using a singer in the Vatican choir to arrange gay liaisons for him. The choir member has been dismissed, the usher, also a high Italian government official, is in jail on other charges.

CNN's Randi Kaye has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (voice-over): A Vatican choir singer now at the center of a scandal, accused of running a gay sex network, providing male prostitutes to one of Pope Benedict's ushers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): My god, nothing surprises me anymore the way things are today.

KAYE: This is the man who allegedly paid for sex, Angelo Balducci, one of Pope Benedict's elite ushers, a gentleman of his holiness, one of a group of ceremonial ushers who bring dignitaries to meet the Pope.

(on camera): Balducci, who is married, is a member of the Italian government and a high-ranking public works official. He was jailed last month during a corruption probe, accused of accepting favors, such as sex or money, for construction projects. The alleged gay prostitution ring came to light through wiretapping related to that corruption investigation.

(voice-over): Documents obtained by CNN don't include any details about money exchanged but do have excerpts from nearly two years of wiretaps. April 22nd, 2008. Thomas Ghinedu Ehiem, the choir singer - "if you are free, three or four situations that can be good, very, very good, two black Cuban men, really tall, tall, tall. So, if you are free, we can try to organize right away. I saw both of them, Angelo. They could be two excellent options."

And on August 21st, 2008, Balducci -- "which are the better ones?" and then the choir singer - "the better ones are the ones I just told you about, one from Bologna and the other one from Rome." Balducci - "All right. Then let's do it for 3:30."

Ehiem, who has been dismissed from his choir duties by the Vatican told the Italian magazine "Panorama" that he provided Balducci with men from Italy and abroad, including rugby players, actors, models, even seminarians. He said Balducci never met the men on Vatican grounds. The Vatican isn't commenting.

(on camera): The choir singer told the magazine that Balducci had asked him for sex, too, but he refused. He arranged for the other men, he said, because he needed money and Balducci paid him for his help. Balducci, he said, told him he was married and it had to be a secret and that sometimes Balducci requested two men a day.

(voice-over): Earlier this week, even before details of the wiretaps were released, Balducci's lawyer told reporters, "it is shameful that things unrelated to the corruption investigation have been published." He refused to answer questions about personal matters.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: All right, Iraq faces a key test to democracy. Will threats and intimidation by insurgents keep voters away from the polls?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's already Sunday in Iraq, and the hours are ticking down until voters head to the polls. Security forces are bracing for what could be a violent day. Insurgents have threatened to disrupt the parliamentary elections, and today a car bomb in the holy city of Najaf killed three people. Our Arwa Damon is in Baghdad with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The car bomb exploded only a short distance away from one of Shia Islam's holiest shrines, a heavily guarded area in the southern city of Najaf. This on the day before Iraqis are heading towards a vote so critical, many are calling it the most decisive moment in Iraq since 2003.

There are great concerns about election violence, not only coming from the Iraqis themselves, but also from the security forces. They were targeted a few days ago by suicide bombers in Baghdad when they were assembling before casting their votes themselves.

Now, the Islamic state of Iraq, the umbrella organization that is headed by Al Qaeda, has vowed to derail these elections and has now gone so far as to issue a curfew from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on election day, telling people they needed to stay inside or else face the consequences.

Now, these elections will determine which path Iraq is going to take in the future, whether it stays on this path of democracy, if that's what we want to call it, or if it moves towards being a more religious and conservative state. The race here is proving to be a lot closer than anyone had anticipated, and the stakes are very high. Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And one day after defending the decisions that he made following his country's role in the invasion of Iraq, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Afghanistan. Mr. Brown visited Helmand Province and thanked around 4,000 British soldiers involved in last month's assault on Taliban strongholds. He also stopped by an Afghan police training center and a forward operating base. The prime minister faces a tough re-election battle in June.

And it's been one week since Chile was rocked by an 8.8 earthquake, and the aftershocks just keep coming. At least half a dozen aftershocks shook the country today, and this video captured one of the two major aftershocks yesterday. Both were greater than 6 magnitude. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon visited the hard-hit city of Concepcion today, and he says the country will get field hospitals, temporary bridges and other international aid. Scientists say Chile has been rattled by more than 200 aftershocks in the past week, and they say Chile will experience aftershocks for years to come. Let's find out why from Jacqui Jeras in the weather center-Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Fredricka. It's been a very active weather in the past week and the whole seismic zone in and of itself continues to be active, and we expect these earthquakes to last for a while yet, and it really could continue for years.

Why is that? You know, I was trying to think of something that could kind of, you know, be a good analogy. I was thinking, you know, if you took two objects and put them together -- let's say you were balancing two cards, for example, and they weren't perfectly pressured against each other, so the card slips a little bit and then it feels comfortable here, and the pressure lasts for a while, and then it slips a little bit more, and then it slips a little bit more.

So, you know, until you get the equal pressures and things are a little bit more stable, you continue to see that type of slipping, which happens with these plates. So, they're going to continue to see these aftershocks. Hopefully, they'll be a little bit smaller; 6.6, that's really intense, unfortunately. That was a really strong one for those folks.

Now, back here at home today, we're dealing with, for the most part, really not a bad weekend. One of the worst locations in the nation is California, and there you can see that big spin out here in the Pacific Ocean. That's our latest storm.

And you can see the first band just offshore. We've been getting some occasional showers on and off throughout the day today. None of them have been so heavy that we're worried about flooding, but of course, it's certainly going to be impacting your weekend. If you're thinking about heading to the beach, doing anything outdoors, or maybe going to the Oscars, where it's been raining on the red carpet. The latest shower has already passed on through there, but we will continue to see some occasional sprinkles. And yeah, there's going to be a chance of a shower later on tonight with that threat continuing. So, unfortunately, not so good with the humidity hair. That's going to continue.

As for the middle of the country, we have an area of low pressure out here across the nation's midsection, and that's bringing in really, really light rain. A little bit of freezing rain north of I-94, and that's going to be slick on the roadways, for sure.

Want to show you what we're expecting as these systems continue to progress across the country, weak into the Ohio Valley with that Midwest storm. But the one in the West will be the one to watch, as we'll be watching a southerly track with this one yet again. So, this is going to be impacting the southern tier of the U.S. in the week ahead. And we'll end it with the high pressure across the East. And give you a beautiful shot of Atlanta, where temperatures reaching the 60s this weekend.

WHITFIELD: Ooh, la la!

JERAS: The East Coast looking at temperatures near normal to about five degrees above average, and boy, it feels great after storm after storm after storm.

WHITFIELD: I know. That is so nice. All right, Jacqui, thank you.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right, their votes put him in the White House, but now some of the same young voters who cast ballots for the president are abandoning him. Find out why and what it could mean for the Democrats.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Some anger on campus all across the country this week. Students protested over proposed budget cuts at colleges and universities. It was called a Day of Action, and our iReporters covered it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today we are united! We're united at 13 other campuses today all throughout Colorado, with a clear and coherent message -- higher ed is dying and it's too valuable to lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: IReporter Chris Colton shot this video of a student rally at Colorado State University in Colorado Springs on Thursday.

And Devon Anderson sent pictures of hundreds of students rallying at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He says students went to the administration building with a list of demands, and there were protests at middle schools as well. About 200 students and teachers staged a peaceful protest before classes began in Millbrae, California. This video is from iReporter Joe Gibbs.

Once huge fans of President Obama and the Democrats, the under 30 crowd is taking a step back. According to a new study, the group known as Millennial voters say so far, the president hasn't delivered on his message of change. Listen to what some of them told our Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Candidate Obama was the darling of the so-called Millennial voters.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A new generation is saying it's our time.

CANDIOTTI: Yet, Millennials, voters between 18 and 30, say they're still waiting for results. MEGHAN CROSS, MILLENIAL VOTER: I'm disappointed that we haven't seen the kind of change that I think a lot of people my age were looking for.

CANDIOTTI: Meghan Cross is 23 and landed a PR job after graduating college two years ago. Dan Nainan is a 29-year-old comedian and actor. Both identify themselves as independents who voted for Obama. Nainan went to his inauguration, and even performed at some of the events.

(On camera): Are you still as big a fan?

DAN NAINAN, MILLENIAL VOTER: I have to say I'm a little disappointed. I don't know if I can say this, but I feel like, you know when you go home with someone and you wake up the next morning and they're not quite what you thought they were, you know? Not as attractive?

CANDIOTTI: A new Pew voter research study of Millennials shows their support of Democrats is slipping. Their support for Republicans growing. In 2008, Millennials favored Dems 62 percent of the time, Republicans only 30 percent. In 2009, Millennials still favored Democrats, but that support slipped to 54 percent and rose to 40 percent for GOP candidates.

PROF. LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: It makes perfect sense because the electorate as a whole has become less enamored of President Obama and the Democrats since the high point of the election in 2008.

CANDIOTTI: Studies show that love lost among Millennials is largely because their tech-savvy president is seen as not having been able to do much about the sagging economy.

(On camera): Do you think he has spent too much of his political capital on health care compared to the economy?

NAINAN: I think he's doing so at tremendous risk to himself, because he's going to look really bad.

CANDIOTTI: That unease might translate into backlash come midterm elections.

CROSS: I definitely think that right now I'm leaning more Republican than I had been.

MORLEY WINOGRAD, CO-AUTHOR, "MILLENIAL MAKEOVER": Millennials are much more interested in bottom-line results, and that's what they're still waiting for.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): What do you think the Obama administration has to do to keep Millennial voters like you in their camp?

NAINAN: Get something done, accomplish something, finish.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And Susan now joins us from New York.

All right, well, the Obama administration has to be paying attention since these are the young people that helped put him in the White House.

CANDIOTTI: That's right. And their biggest fear, analysts say, is what happens if these Millennial voters lose interest. Now, they told us it's not that they dislike the president, or they don't support him anymore. But if they, for example, just stopped showing up at the polls, then certainly, the Obama administration has to be worried about what will happen next. Will Republican and independent candidates take up that slack?

WHITFIELD: And what's the thinking on how Republicans can take advantage of this?

CANDIOTTI: Well, time and again, the Millennial voters tell us that it's not that they don't think that health care isn't an important issue. They're big on social issues. But for them, and for Republican voters, certainly for everyone, the biggest concern is the economy, creating jobs, jobs, jobs.

And so, if the Republicans are able to come up with a way to create more jobs, to improve the economy, more so than the Democrats can, than the Obama administration can, then certainly, the Republicans stand to gain. Plus, a lot of analysts say, if the GOP can do much better on social networking, using Facebook, the Internet, Twitter, then they might also gain ground with the Millennial voters.

Certainly, the Democrats did very well in that regard and those voters really helped the Obama administration, or helped create and elect Obama, back in 2008 by using those networks.

WHITFIELD: All right. Susan Candiotti in New York. Thank you.

All right, now a look at the top stories. Another congressman says he's stepping down. New York Democratic Representative Eric Massa had been the target of a harassment complaint by a male staff member. Without going into details, Massa told a newspaper columnist in his home district that he's guilty and he's going to resign.

The Transportation Security Administration will be installing full- body image scanners at 11 more airports this summer, bringing the total to 30. Supporters say the machines will make it easier to spot terrorists, but critics say they're an invasion of privacy.

And if you're one of those folks who can't wait to try the latest technology, you have less than a month to wait. Apple says its new iPad tablet computer will go on sale April 3rd.

The gold rush for Oscar is on. Take a look at this live shot of the red carpet in Los Angeles, where the stars will be lined up tomorrow. But one question won't be answered with the opening of an envelope -- who will win the battle of the hosts?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right, Hollywood's leading man tomorrow night has a rock-hard body covered in gold, but Oscar is not the only one in the spotlight. Two guys in tuxedos will be getting a lot of attention, even though they're not nominees. Our Brooke Anderson looks at the dueling hosts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: I can't believe I'm saying this to the great Gavin Velour, but this woman is too good for you.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: They battled on television.

BALDWIN: Give me the brush.

STEVE MARTIN, ACTOR: You stay back! I swear, I will paint you.

ANDERSON: Tangled in theaters.

MARTIN: Oh, pretty tense, big fella.

ANDERSON: Now their fracas moves to Hollywood's biggest stage-

MARTIN: Who's going to win?

ANDERSON: -the Academy Awards; Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, co- hosts and comedic rivals.

MARTIN: Gee, you're so strong.

ANDERSON: And Hollywood's elite is eager to catch the confrontation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really excited that this show will be hosted by Jack Donaghy (ph) and The Jerk. It's going to be awesome.

MARTIN: See that? "Be somebody!"

ANDERSON: Martin's two previous hosting stints give him the upper hand, and he's putting the rookie in his place.

MARTIN: Co-host is really a misnomer. Host, this person --

BALDWIN: Associate host.

MARTIN: Associate host. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen-Alec would you get me some coffee? You know, when I first started --

ANDERSON: Kidding aside, the pair will take the job seriously.

BALDWIN: As I said to Steve, I'd rather it be more to err on the side of it being more dignified than funny, because you realize this evening is very important to the people who are there.

ANDERSON: But they're still expected to provide a few laughs.

MARTIN: Thank you, Academy, for nothing. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Brooke joins us now from Los Angeles. This is going to be really interesting to see, if they end up playing off one another or if, indeed, this is just going to be so dignified.

ANDERSON: I hope they play off one another. And Fredricka, they kind of set the tone when they made the announcement initially that they would be co-hosting, with Steve Martin saying that he was very excited to be hosting with his worst enemy. And then Alec Baldwin saying, well, I don't play the banjo, but I'm excited to be there. And that was a lighthearted dig at Martin, because Steve Martin plays in a bluegrass band.

So, they've kind of set the tone that they're going to have fun with each other, play off one another. And Academy organizers have been very tight-lipped about what the specific plans are, but they say be sure to tune in at the top of the show. So, maybe there's some real cute song and dance number with Alec and Steve.

WHITFIELD: Of course, an opening salvo.

OK, what about the most anticipated celebrities on the red carpet? Of course, a lot of the nominees, but who else?

ANDERSON: Of course, and the big nominees like Jeff Bridges, like George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock. And then you've got presenters, and they really run the gamut. For the young crowd, you've got Zack Ephron, you've got Miley Cyrus. Some other people -- you've got Chris Pine, Queen Latifah, Keanu Reeves, Ryan Reynolds. So, the list is just growing and growing. We did not receive a list of presenters ahead of time last year. They kept it under wraps, but this year they're kind of leaking a little bit more of those details and it's an exciting group.

WHITFIELD: How interesting. That's part of the allure, not just the, I guess, nominees. But you want to tune in, perhaps, to see what presenters have said yes to the invitation. Of course, who says no?

ANDERSON: Exactly, exactly. That's right. Well, there was word that Sacha Baron Cohen would be here with a comedic skit that was kind of a little risque, then we got word that, no, that fell through, it just wasn't funny. But that there are no hard feelings, it happens all the time. So, there will be changes up to the minute of the telecast, I'm sure.

WHITFIELD: OK. It is indeed a live show, so anything could happen. Brooke Anderson --

ANDERSON: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

All right, well, "Showbiz Tonight" will be live with two very special Oscar shows tomorrow night. Coverage begins live from the red carpet, 7:00 p.m., Eastern right here on CNN. And it continues live on HLN at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. Plus, you can go to CNN.com to rank your favorite celebrity styles. Another reason why people tune in.

A Titanic film heavyweight and his ex are getting ready to go head-to- head for Oscar gold. Who will take home the coveted award for best director? Well, ask our film expert Ben Mankiewicz.

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WHITFIELD: It's the kind of recognition that can send an actor or director's career into overdrive. Hollywood is gearing up for the Academy Awards tomorrow night. And earlier, I spoke with film critic and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz about who's likely to take home some Oscar gold.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (On camera): Let's talk about director, best director, because there's already a lot of buzz about who might clinch that statuette.

BEN MANKIEWICZ, HOST, TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES: Yeah. Well, you know, guys like me, who live in Los Angeles, and we, you know, we go to Starbucks and we talk to other people. And all of a sudden, we think we understand what's going on. And really, we're just making stuff up.

But what's interesting is I think the people who do know what's going on is actually the people in Las Vegas. And what has happened lately is that Kathryn Bigelow has become a rather prohibitive favorite to win this award.

WHITFIELD: She's the director of "The Hurt Locker."

MANKIEWICZ: She's the director of "The Hurt Locker" and she's become a big favorite over James Cameron to win this award.

WHITFIELD: There are other categories that are apparently locked, in your view, or -

MANKIEWICZ: In just about everybody's.

WHITFIELD: In everyone's view. What are they? Who are they?

MANKIEWICZ: Well, three of the big four acting categories, I think you can count on best actor, Jeff Bridges. Everybody wants him to win. And I think that he is going to win.

WHITFIELD: And he already got a nod in a previous award, too.

MANKIEWICZ: He has won just about everything he can win, every single major award up through the Oscars, he has won. He's going to win for "Crazy Hearts," you can count on it. Mo'nique for best supporting actress. If there ever has been a lock, Mo'nique is going to win. I don't think there's any doubt about it, for "Precious".

And by the way, I think both of those people deserve to win. There's nothing at all we should take away in those performances. She's going to win. And the other one you can certainly take to the bank is Christoph Waltz for "Inglorious Bastards". He is going to win. I think Christoph Waltz's performance and Mo'nique's performance are the two best performances of the year.

WHITFIELD: So, best actress, then, is there-I mean, we're talking Meryl Streep, we're talking Sandra Bullock. And this would be huge for her, you know.

MANKIEWICZ: It's amazing --

WHITFIELD: Meryl Streep been there, done that.

MANKIEWICZ: Again, if you put any stock in what Vegas says, and I think regardless of what you think of these guys, they don't lose money. The guys in Vegas know what they're talking about. She's a slight favorite over Meryl Streep. I think it could go either way, but again, she is the odds on favorite and if I had to guess, I would say that Sandra Bullock beats Meryl Streep.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And we're talking Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia", even though she was in -- oh, darn -- "It's So Complicated" --

MANKIEWICZ: "It's Complicated".

WHITFIELD: Yeah, but it's "Julie & Julia" that she is nominated for?

MANKIEWICZ: She's nominated for "Julie & Julia" with Amy Adams. But she was in "It's Complicated" with Alec Baldwin.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now we talk about best picture category. Again, talking about odd pairing, "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker", very different tone. You know, how does one have an advantage over the other?

MANKIEWICZ: Well, you know, there's -- first of all, there are 10 nominees this year. That's the first time since the early '40s that we've had 10 nominees. Again, in Las Vegas -- I don't mean to keep harping on that, but "Avatar" is the favorite. My sense is the further we get away from "Avatar", the less people who are decision- makers are in love with "Avatar".

WHITFIELD: It's that fantasy.

MANKIEWICZ: I, for example --

WHITFIELD: I remember you saying that.

MANKIEWICZ: I like it less and less the further we get away from it. And I sense movies like "Inglorious Bastards" building momentum. I don't think "Avatar" is going to win. That's my best guest. I think "The Hurt Locker" is probably going to win. The biggest voting bloc, 21 percent of the people who vote for the Oscars, are actors. And they're younger, but again, I don't see them voting for "Avatar" because it's not an actor's movie at all.

WHITFIELD: Fantasy. MANKIEWICZ: The big to-do about "Avatar" is fantasy and special effects.

WHITFIELD: Overall, do you think this was a good year in movies?

MANKIEWICZ: I think it was a pretty good year for movies. When you have a film like "Avatar" which changes the way people talk about movies, and gets people so excited about movies, regardless of what you think about it. I would call it a good year for movies and then there are sort of these movies that, again, get people excited about movies and good real actors films, like "Hurt Locker" and "Inglorious Bastards," which I really loved, and cared about. And one of the best animated movies of all time, "Up".

WHITFIELD: Ben Mankiewicz, good to see you.

MANKIEWICZ: Good to be here.

WHITFIELD: Happy travels.

MANKIEWICZ: Thank you very much.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

They say charity begins at home, so why are the Catholic Charities dropping health care benefits for workers' spouses? Don Lemon will have the answer in the next hour of the NEWSROOM. And he'll tell you why people living in a major U.S. city may have to pay extra for soft drinks. The next hour of the NEWSROOM is straight ahead.

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