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Poland Mourns Death of President and Government Leaders; Spirit Airlines Introduces New Carry-On Baggage Fees; Volcanic Ash Strands Passengers

Aired April 17, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everybody from the CNN Center. This is CNN Saturday morning, 10:00 a.m. where we sit here in Atlanta, Georgia, 7:00 a.m. for you folks out in Seattle. Thanks for being here. I'm T.J. Holmes.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks for starting your day with us. It's been a good day.

But if you're planning to travel internationally today, you may want to think twice.

HOLMES: It could be a bit of a problem. This is why. Airports are clogged right now with planes and people trying to go somewhere. You're seeing pictures of four of the international airports that are just jam-packed right now. Thousands of people stranded all across the globe.

Why? The strangest thing -- volcanic ash. You don't get that every day, but that volcano in Iceland has been spewing ash into the air several days now. Some of the latest video we're getting in this morning. The thing is not done erupting just yet. So even as this first huge cloud goes away, we could have another one coming right behind. More details in a just moment.

BOLDUAN: Plus, 45 years ago several African-American teens defied Florida segregation laws by jumping into a motel pool. The motel pool owner was so upset he poured acid into the pool. Coming up this hour, we talk to one of the teenagers who's all grown up and now swimming with the sharks.

HOLMES: We'll get to all that stuff it a moment. But a look at some of the stuff making headlines this morning.

First, over in Poland, they're honoring the president and 95 others killed in that plane crash a week ago today in Russia. Tomorrow they will have the funeral for the president and his wife. It will be held in Krakow, about a million and a half people expected to be there.

BOLDUAN: And you remember the ten missionaries who were detained in Haiti on child kidnapping charges. Even through nine of them are back in the U.S., Haiti's top prosecutor says charges have not been dropped against them. The group's leader is still being held in Haiti. HOLMES: Goldman Sachs is accused of selling mortgage backed securities essentially set up to lose money. Allegedly the deals were put together by a hedge fund tycoon betting against them. The feds say investors who bought them lost $1 billion. Goldman Sachs says the charge is unfounded.

BOLDUAN: Poland is in mourning. A people's memorial service and a mass today to honor President Lech Kaczynski and the other 95 victims of last week's deadly plane crash in Russia. Fred Pleitgen has been live for us in Warsaw all morning. Fred, you were at the service. Tell us what was included. There was a lot of beautiful music, but very somber faces.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN BERLIN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, absolutely somber and solemn ceremony here, Kate, in central Warsaw, Poland. Of course, the square, so important to the Poles, we saw a lot of music and sermons read here.

Of course, Poland is a deeply Catholic country, probably one of the reasons why this public service, authorities believe some 500,000 people showed up to pay respects, pay their final respects not only the president killed in that tragic air crash a week ago, but also to the 95 others killed. Of course, some of them top-levels government officials here in this country, also some top-level military official.

There were moments of silence, sirens wailing throughout this entire city and many other cities. In Poland at exactly 9:00 a.m. local time, it was around the time that the crash happened exactly one week ago, of course, there in western Russia, where the president's plane went down.

So certainly it was really a very moving ceremony, and you can see that people had come in from all over Poland. People just absolutely unified at this point of time in their sorrow and mourning, not just for their president but for so many of their political leaders.

And certainly you get a sense of people have a massive, massive loss this country is trying to cope with, Kate.

BOLDUAN: That's absolutely understanding when you consider how many high-level people of the Polish government they lost.

I see the people kind of around you, clearly dissipating. There was a huge crowd here this morning. What's next, Fred? This is the, honoring this president and the first lady and all the other victims. It's not over today.

PLEITGEN: It certainly isn't over. The mourning here, of course, it's still going on, the official mourning. And there are other events happening today. People are dissipating from this place in Warsaw, going to a church service taking place at a church also in central Warsaw with the coffins of the president and his wife will be on public display.

They are of course, lying in state here in the presidential palace in Warsaw where people have been paying respects, tens of thousands coming throughout this week. They were going to have the coffin lie in state only one day, but the amount of people who came here was simply so great it became a whole week and the stream of people has not let up and still, of course, is going on.

After that church service, what's going to happen after that, the president and his wife's body will be flown to Krakow, a special flight that is allowed to take off. You were talking about travel lockdowns. That flight is allowed to take off and land, and tomorrow there is going to be that major burial that leaders from around the world will attend.

BOLDUAN: So much devastation in just a moment, in just an instant. Thanks Fred so much for your coverage all day today. It was really helpful.

HOLMES: And we just heard Fred mentioned that tomorrow so many world leaders are expected there for the funeral service, but we don't know exactly if many of them will be able to get in because of that volcanic ash cloud that's' causing problems for flights, again, not just for those flying commercial, for world leaders even as well.

This is the problem here. You see this volcano still erupting. But 16,000 flights expected to be canceled today in Europe. France, Germany, Austria, just three of a number of countries that are having problems with flights. Some 23 countries are prohibiting flights, 23 European countries right now are prohibiting flights.

Some have closed airspace altogether. In Russia, their international airports are experiencing flight delay. British Airways canceled all flights to and from London for today. And several flights from North America scheduled to arrive at British destinations Friday night they had to go to Scottish airports.

Hotels near London's Heathrow Airport, as you can imagine, are filled with people who can't get out of Britain. CNN Jim Boulden is one who actually can't get out himself. He's at Heathrow now. What are the chances you or anything else trying to get out soon, Jim?

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: T.J., I figured since I can't go on holiday, I might as well work. I called British Airways, took 40 minutes on the phone, they ask you to do. I have a seat Tuesday, that's the best they could do.

That's what people are facing here in London. If you're waiting for someone to come back to the U.S. from London, unless they got a flight seat last night, and until the airline says they can get their flights going, they're not leaving here for days.

In fact you have people like American Airlines handing out leaflets in terminals saying don't come to the terminal. The U.K. is shut today. it will be shut at least until tomorrow morning at 7:00 London time, and you cannot change your reservation at the counter. You have to do it on the phone. That's the advice they're giving passengers. So it's a really tough situation for people. And we have seen that there are people now sleeping in terminals. They don't know where else to go.

HOLMES: That is an absolute mess. Even world leaders aren't immune to this. A report was one world leader got stuck in New York and couldn't fly back over. This is affecting everybody, including our Jim Boulden. Jim, we appreciate it. Talk to you soon, buddy.

BOLDUAN: What better thing to do but work when you're stuck in an airport?

HOLMES: Wouldn't have been my first option, but Jim's a better guy than I.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Now for a better idea how expansive this ash cloud covers, let's check in with Bonnie Schneider, meteorologist. Bonnie, it's huge.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, Kate and T.J. We're monitoring this. You can see where the ash plume is right now. There's Iceland, of course, working its way across the North Sea and spreading about.

Volcanoes erupt all the time all over the world, but a lot of times it happens in remote places so we don't talk much about it. In this case the location is really what's causing the problem. With the upper level winds steering the ash in this direction, that's why so much of Europe is affected as far south as southern France, even, and further off to the east, as you heard with Russian flights canceled as well.

The forecast does call for some changes and some improvements, but not for everybody, because the ash can't completely dissipate. The way it shapes up now, you see the plume working its way across much of Europe spreading out in this direction.

As we go towards the middle and even end of the week, we will see a shift in the upper level winds. They'll be lifting a little further to the north.

Now, this means we may see some improvements for parts of central and Western Europe. However, this is not good news for Scandinavia, because now the ash will arrive further northward and affect areas into Finland, Norway and Sweden by Thursday.

So it's not completely dissipating. Just moving around a little bit, which may give an improved forecast for those trying to get out in certain countries affected right now. Back to you.

BOLDUAN: So we have to wait. Wait on the wind at this point, I guess. Thanks, Bonnie.

HOLMES: Thank you, Bonnie. BOLDUAN: And if you fly, you know airlines are finding new ways to charge for almost everything these days, whether it's food, drinks, check-in luggage, and even carry-on baggage.

HOLMES: It's come to that now as we discovered this morning. You may have heard this, but will all the fees end up hurting the airlines themselves in the long run? We're asking one airline expert coming up with us next. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: This week, the emotional baggage boiled over when an airline announced yet another new fee.

HOLMES: Yes. A lot of people couldn't believe this one. This is a Florida-based, Spirit airlines, now wants to charge up to $45 for a carry-on in an overhead compartment. And that really start add public outcry.

BOLDUAN: Even lawmakers jumped in. Two bills are now pending in Congress to either to ban the fee or tax any airline that implements it.

HOLMES: So what does the Spirit Airlines CEO have to say about this now? We asked him a little earlier, had a good little conversation about it last hour. Here's part of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN BALDANZA, PRESIDENT AND CEO, SPIRIT AIRLINES: So if half the people don't check bags, everyone would have to pay a higher ticket price for those who do, and we think it's fundamentally unfair to charge someone for services they don't use. So the check bag fee fixed that problem as it charged those who check bags but doesn't charge those who don't, and our new carry-on fee does the same thing.

We've lowered the fares for everyone, so if you carry on a bag you pay. You don't, you save money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: It's been about five years since the airlines start the packing on baggage fees. At the time fuel prices doubled. But look how quickly just the baggage fees add up. You probably actually don't want to hear this, but if your bag weighs more than 50 pounds, that's an extra $50 to $125 one way, a bigger fee for oversize bag, $175 one way.

Multiple bags, it might be cheaper to buy new things once you arrive. For a complete list of fees check out faircompare.com, click the lick to the left. That's actually really helpful.

HOLMES: We could use all the help we can get.

Mergers, bankruptcy, layoffs, all this stuff -- airlines have been going through a lot. We're hearing many will likely post another quarterly loss Tuesday. But in the long run, can all these fees backfire and cost them business?

Dan Reed knows the business. He's been reporting on the airline industry some 28 years. Dan, we appreciate you being here. I got to get your reaction at least to this carry-on fee fiasco now. Do you buy what they're shoveling, if you will, and essentially saying this is going to work out in the long run for our customers, cost them less if we charge them for a carry-on bag.

DAN REED, AIRLINE CORRESPONDENT, USA TODAY: Yes. It won't cost the person who carries on a bag less. They're arguing it won't cost them anymore than it currently does. For those who don't, it will actually cost you less because you're going to get a fare break.

HOLMES: It's a weird way to ...

REED: It sounds good. They probably didn't do a really good job of presenting it, because instead of focusing on the lower fare, all attention on the bag fee, which would probably only -- carry-on bag fee -- which will only probably affect one-third, 25 percent or maybe less of their passengers.

HOLMES: Is there only so much a passenger, a consumer, will tolerate? Can this be the last straw and consumers will speak with their wallets and say, OK, this is it. I'm not paying for a carry-on bag?

REED: That could be. I mean, I don't know what the last straw is. I think we're closer to the last straw than we are to the first straw in terms of all the different fees that are out there. But I don't know what the limit is. I mean, how high is up?

HOLMES: All right, give us an idea. You've covered this, like we said, for quite some time, the airline industry. Where are they now? Because every time they speak it seems like they're in dire straits and it's worse now than it's ever been. You give us kind of a state the airline industry, if you will.

REED: Well, it's not worse right now than it's ever been. That was last year. It is significantly better right now than it was last year.

However, as we reported in "USA Today" this week, when the airlines begin reporting their first quarter result on Tuesday and then carrying on for about ten days, they're going to be reporting mostly losses and the industry as whole will still be in the red this quarter.

So while it's a lot better than last year relative to, you know, profitability, which would be the goal of any company, they're not there yet.

HOLMES: Does it do them good -- I'm sorry, Dan. Go ahead.

REED: No. That's OK.

HOLMES: I was going to ask -- is the bad shape they're in, does it do them good, does it do the customers any good, all of these mergers and airlines getting together? Does that serve them and serve us?

REED: The answer depends on where you sit and where you stand. Airlines will argue, and their supporters argue, that a merger, the consolidation is a good idea in that you will get healthier companies that can provide better airplanes, you know, better maintenance, you know, a higher level of service than would you get from carriers that are in financial distress perpetually.

And you can depend on them and they're going to be there because they're actually returning a profit, which is what they need to stay in business. So that part of it is true.

How much customers are going to be willing to put up with the -- the fee structure, there's probably a limit to our tolerance level.

However, they facing a problem in that most of history, airlines charged one price. In the late '70s they began charging lower prices if you were willing to jump through some hoops -- buy a fare early, no refundability if you had to change, those kinds of things. We've kind of gotten used to that.

But most products in this country are not sold at one price. You buy a car, you buy a Ford F-150, the national car, you can get one for under $17,000. But if you want a nice paint job, four doors, long bed, four-wheel drive, all the gear on it, that can run up to $45,000. That's where airlines are taking the pricing model. It's just a shocking switch it from the historical model.

HOLMES: We adjusted to everything else, and we might end up adjusting to all this as well. The F-150, the state truck of Texas, that's a good one there. Dan, good to see you this morning. We appreciate it, as always. I know we'll talk to you later, because this story will not go away. Thanks so much. You enjoy your weekend.

REED: OK, sure.

BOLDUAN: Are you looking for a way to stay young? Exercise is always a good option. Yes, it is. For one woman, yoga seems to work pretty well. Josh is here with her amazing story. I think I'm really going to like this.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are going to like this. This is a woman who's over 90, a yoga instructor, and now she is a dancing viral video sensation. Who she is and how she inspires people all over the country, that's coming up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: She dances. She exercises. We have to tell you about this 90-year-old woman who is helping you get motivated. This is pretty motivating, I will tell you. Josh Levs is here to tell us how she's inspiring people across the country in today's "Levs on the Lookout." Hey, Josh. LEVS: Hey guys. There it is. Come over to me. I mentioned this once during the past week and I have had so many Facebook messages about this woman, more than any real news story, hard news story with bring you.

Here she is from CNN Money, overnight, 91 years old, a yoga instructor. What we can show you now, some videos on YouTube taking off online. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: She's 91 years old and actually started doing yoga after the age of 50. But she said age has always been a number, never thought about her age. She's exercised throughout her entire life. And she feels very healthy. She says she never even thinks about her age, doesn't even occur to her.

Everyone who has seen this, no matter what age they are, write me they can't do any of this now even if they're in their mid-20s. It is a reminder how inspirational some people can be. They take care of themselves, and it makes me want to pay a lot more attention to Dr. Sanjay Gupta and what he says every weekday morning.

Check it all out all the video at Facebook.com/joshlevsCNN. And let us know what you think. Kate, T.J., what do you guys think? Will we ever be able to do anything like to?

BOLDUAN: That is so fabulous. I can't even tell you. I love that. I wish I could meet that lady. And, no, I can't do any of that, by the way.

HOLMES: Can you do it later?

BOLDUAN: Nope. Not even close.

LEVS: Thanks, guys.

HOLMES: Josh, thank you.

Well, there's somebody we think you should know about. This person has over 20,000 Facebook friends, and there she is. And she has one wish right now. She wants to meet Hannah Montana. Well, we're working on making that wish happen.

But this is three-year-old Adriana Bartol. She has cancer. The young lady is diagnosed with something called neuroblastoma that is a rare tumor. We're told the prognosis is pretty good. Some treatments seem to be working. That's the good news.

But she went through the make-a-wish foundation to try to make her wish of meeting Hannah Montana come true. That couldn't happen. The problem is, she can meet Miley Cyrus, the young woman who plays Hannah Montana, because the show is ending, she's not allowed to make appearances as the character of Hannah Montana.

If that was a little confusing to you, can you imagine trying to explain that to a three-year-old cancer patient who just has a wish of meeting her hero? So we're hoping that maybe three-year-old Adriana Bartol (ph) can possibly meet Hannah Montana one day. That's her, Adriana Bartol (ph), just somebody we thought you should meet.

BOLDUAN: What a sweet face.

These days, we take a lot of things for granted. That story, that proves it right there -- like the simple act of going to a swimming pool -- going swimming in a hotel pool.

HOLMES: This is a story a lot of people will remember. In this video you will remember as well. What you're seeing, some 45 years ago, the manager, a white manager of a hotel attempting to hurt black kids by throwing acid, trying to throw some kind of chemical on them when they went into a pool that was meant for white-only.

The reaction from the hotel owner, you see what he did. The man who led the protest, talked about the impact had on him, his life, and the entire civil rights movement. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A look at some of the stories making headlines this hour. Poland honoring its late president and 95 others killed in that plane crash last weekend in Russia, happened a week ago today. You're seeing pictures of the memorial service.

They will actually have a funeral for the president and his wife taking place tomorrow. World leaders are expected there along with another 1.5 million people.

BOLDUAN: Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs is accused of selling mortgage backed securities that were essentially set up to lose money. Allegedly the deals put in place by a hedge fund tycoon betting against them. The fed say investors who bought them lost $1 billion. Goldman says the charge is unfounded.

HOLMES: Turning to Haiti now where a prosecutor there says kidnapping charges have not been dropped against nine American missionaries. That's contrary to other reports we are hearing. These nine along with one other accused of trying to take Haitian kids out of the country after the earthquake without proper documentation.

A U.S. senator's office actually put out a release saying charges had been dropped. The nine in question here are back in the United States. The group leader, though, Laura Silsby, she's still in jail in Haiti.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Some of the nation's African-American leaders are measuring the movement. Prominent leaders in civil rights, religion, politics, education, all discussing affecting the communities of color. Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network is hosting the event in Harlem, today, and that where CNN's Susan Candiotti joins us live.

I think they're just getting underway. Good morning, Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J.. Yes, the national action network has been meeting since Wednesday here in New York City. A huge crowd is pouring in right now for this morning's session. It is the final day of this meeting that's been taking place for several days now.

And the theme this year is that those groups and individuals are supposed to put together an action plan, something that they can accomplish over the next year, and then they will check back during the year to make sure people are trying to adhere to that goal.

Some of the key issues here that affect African-Americans, really every American, include unemployment, education, the job problem, and also health issues among many, many others.

Our CNN contributor Roland Martin is the moderator of this event, and joining us now is one of the guests who hasn't appeared on one of the panels this week. She is Nicole Baker Fulgham. You are a vice president of Teach for America, which everyone knows is a volunteer effort of teachers that has been around for 20 years now.

You have accomplished quite a bit in your career as an educator, although you didn't start off as a teacher. Born in Detroit, you work for community faith-based relations now and have taught and trained over 4,500 teachers during the course of your work with Volunteer for America, Teach for America.

You weren't always a teacher, but early on you knew that education was very important. Tell us about that growing up in Detroit.

NICOLE BAKER FULGHAM, V.P. TEACH FOR AMERICA: Sure. Growing up in Detroit I had a chance to see early on educational inequity. I went to an amazing school with very high expectations for us. All of us went to college. This was not like other schools, and I thought there was a big disparity growing up in Detroit.

CANDIOTTI: Before we get to your goal, I want to ask, clearly there are terrible issues facing particularly teachers in this country. About 20,000 cuts estimated for New York, in state of New York, 20,000 teacher jobs predicted to be lost in California, among many other communities as well.

How do you keep up the morale? What can you done about this?

FULGHAM: I think it's really about focusing on the children. We know there's a massive problem. Kids aren't getting the education they deserve. And they need it more so in these tough economic time. We're so focused on ensuring every child has a quality teacher in the classroom.

CANDIOTTI: What kind of goal do you think you can set for yourself or for the group that you work with over the coming year?

FULGHAM: Particularly for faith-based communities and civil rights communities, we think there is such a need to be a moral side standing on what's best and right for kids and becoming more vocal and advocating more for the students to ensure they get the quality student in every classroom.

CANDIOTTI: What do you think about the notion ever checking back as the year goes on to see whether, for example, how your group, educational group, is ensuring and add to that goal?

FULGHAM: Right now we have about 7,500 teachers teaching around the country to ensure kids get the quality education they deserve. From our perspective, we want to see more of those teachers making more significant gains with their students.

CANDIOTTI: Thank you very much, Nicole, for joining us. T.J., we'll check back with you at CNN throughout the course of the day with more guests to talk about what their goals will be. Again, the key here, according to Roland Martin, meet, mobilize, and act. Back to you, T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Susan Candiotti for us there. We'll be checking back in with you certainly. Thank you so much.

BOLDUAN: She's helping young victims survive unthinkable circumstances. We'll introduce you to our CNN hero, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: April is national child abuse prevention month. This week's CNN crew is drawing on her own horrific experiences to save other victims.

Wynonna Ward is a trucker turned lawyer who is helping battered women and children in rural Vermont. Wynonna Ward has helped nearly 10,000 victims of domestic violence and she drives nearly 30,000 miles a year doing it. To see the inspiring story of women she's helped or nominate someone you think is changing the world, go to CNN.com/heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WYNONNA WARD, CNN HERO: When I was growing up on back road, family violence was an accepted way of life. My mother, I'm the baby here and my brother Richard and sister Pauline. My father would commonly abuse all of us. He raped me and beat my mother and my other siblings. When the neighbors heard screaming coming from our home, they just turned their heads.

For domestic violence victims in rural areas it can be very devastating. They're out there on these back roads with no access to any town services. Many of them do not have telephones. Some of them do not have driver's licenses or an automobile. So we go to them.

My name is Wynonna Ward. The turning point for me was when a child in my family revealed that she had been abused by her father, and my brother. I just said, this has to stop. When I graduated from law school, I was 48 years old.

Good morning, my dear.

I go people's homes. Get them in home consultation, provide them with free legal services and transportation to and from courtrooms. I don't want children to have to go through what I did as a child. I want to see my clients become empowered. I can understand them and they know that I will be there to protect them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Let me take you back 45 years ago, St. Augustine Florida. Several African-American teenagers defied law by jumping into a pool at a segregated motel. The motel owner then to retaliate tried to pour acid into the water in an attempt to hurt the young men in the pool.

Nobody was hurt but news of the video circulated all around the world and some credit the publicity with drawing new attention to the civil rights movement, inspiring Congress to pass a Civil Rights Act of 1965.

J.T. Johnson was one of the leaders of that group of young men who swam in the pool in St. Augustine, and was arrested at the tile. This week, he took another plunge, although not necessarily historic, but pretty daring at the same time.

You see him there. Johnson was joined by fellow civil rights activist Andrew Young and the current mayor of St. Augustine for a swim with the sharks at the Georgia Aquarium. They did it, they said, to help today's generation understand what happened that day nearly a half century ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

J.T. JOHNSON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: It was our story, so we have to tell it so that our young people can understand exactly what happened. I couldn't go on a bus. At that time, the owner hears this and that's exactly what happened.

So I knew the acid wouldn't do anything to us. He poured and poured. It didn't bother me. I said that to everyone in the pool, don't worry about that. I'd go up under the aware, come back up. Started to realize, maybe it ain't that bad.

So two cops dove into the pool, clothes on and all, to drag us out. You know, we thought we would go in the pool, swim a while, put us in jail. When this guy got the acid, nobody on the earth wanted to see that. I spent eight days in a bathing suit, eating baby food. That was a trip for me. You know. I've never been so hungry in all my life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I seen the movie of the, the acid being poured into the pool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frantic with rage, began dumping in acid, a cleaning agent into the water.

MAYOR JOE BOLES, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA: African-American visitors were in there, and that was embarrassing enough to the southern senators, I understand, that it broke the filibuster that allowed the civil rights act of '64 to get signed.

JOHNSON: And I think it intensified the passage of the Civil Rights bill. So that was probably the key, one of the key things that happened out there, that really got the Civil Rights bill through.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Another part of civil rights history there. Johnson says the hotel owner refused to apologize, never did and went to his grave without apologizing. But his daughter has since reached out to Johnson and expressed remorse for her father's actions.

BOLDUAN: Good story.

Credit card profiling -- that's a bit of a turn.

HOLMES: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Apologies. Credit card profiling, the credit companies tracking your buying habits to see if you're a high risk. More after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: You probably never heard of behavior analysis, but you probably should learn of it because you could have a lower credit score because of it.

This is a loose definition at best, but it's like credit card profiling. Companies look at your spending habits and decide if you're at risk of defaulting. You charge a tank of gas, having money problems? Can't pay cash?

Kevin Johnson not only knows the definition quite well, he lived through this briefly, but you know what this is personally. This happened back in fall of 2008. Tell me what happened.

KEVIN JOHNSON, FOUNDER, NEWCREDITRULES.COM: In fall of 2008, my wife and I returned from our honeymoon. I opened the map and in was a letter from American Express informing me it was reducing my credit line because, according to American Express, the establishments where I shopped were high risk.

BOLDUAN: Did they give you, like, what these establishments were? What are high-risk establishments?

JOHNSON: Well, it's sort of a moving target. I mean, that's been the name the game as it were with these credit card companies. So they didn't actually list the companies that they consider high risk.

BOLDUAN: You had a good credit score?

JOHNSON: Sure.

BOLDUAN: What was that?

JOHNSON: It was 764.

BOLDUAN: Over 740 is excellent, isn't it?

JOHNSON: That's what I heard and learned over the years to make sure I do what -- everything possible to protect that score and maintain my credit.

BOLDUAN: So as a result, they lowered your credit limit. Correct?

JOHNSON: Correct.

BOLDUAN: So did you ever -- obviously you wanted to find out why is this happening? What did you hear from American express?

JOHNSON: I called them immediately, got the run-around. I bumped my request up to the CEO's office. I didn't get a response. Didn't get -- well, I got a response, but it wasn't anything specific.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

JOHNSON: And so I went on this journey. I used the power that I have with my company to launch a brand campaign that would inform consumers about what happened to me.

BOLDUAN: First I want to go over, because I think we have a statement received from American Express in the letter. It says, "Other customer whose have used their card at establishments where you recently shopped have a poor repayment history with American Express."

JOHNSON: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: And then to the "New York Times," an American Express spokeswoman said, both the letters, like the letter you received, were wrong to imply we are looking at specific merchants.

What did you think when you heard this, the people that shop have poor repayment issues?

JOHNSON: I was shocked, to be frank. That statement really didn't get to the specificity of the issue. And it's sort of a semantical issue here. We're trying to read between the lines, and that is actually one of the quotations in a series of quotations that you find in the "New York Times" and other media that don't match up.

And so we actually through the campaign eventually got them to come out and make a statement that, in fact, that they were looking at establishments, but the representative said these establishments changed.

BOLDUAN: It is a moving target. You're taking, getting national attention for this, and we also, American Express a company you had trouble with. I'm gathering it doesn't seem it's the only company that's dealing with this. I want to bring in Robert Manning, he's our expert. He's the author of "Credit Card Nation." How are you, Robert?

ROBERT MANNING, AUTHOR, "CREDIT CARD NATION": Pleasure to be joining you today.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much for joining us. Sum this up for me. It can be confusing. Credit scores, behavioral scoring -- what is all of this?

MANNING: You know, the real issue here is just because you can doesn't mean you should. With this period of deregulation, the question is, who's minding the shop? The real point here is that technology has improved and a lot of this is a by-product of Vice President Cheney's 9/11 data managing and mining project was to really put together all of this information and see if he could slag somebody's behavior, more commonly called now behavioral profiling.

As a result of this, the banks were not prepared for the economic recession. They didn't have management tool, brought in consultants, went try crudely looking at data. And any change in somebody's behavior, whether it was going to a dollar store to save some money or maybe even charging rent to get those credit card reward points, those became flags.

And the question is, what assumptions were brought to bear to interpret that change in terms of the behavioral change, and who is held accountable when they're wrong? And Kevin has been such a great advocate on this issue.

BOLDUAN: Robert, we have very little time left. What should people look out for? People watching this, what should people watch out for when -- to ensure this doesn't happen to them?

MANNING: The key issue is, be prepared if there's a change in what you charge, and be prepared to contest it. Be vigilant. And like Kevin, don't take no for an answer. Demand that they explain to you why they've made assumptions that don't bear on your credit worthiness.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Thank you so much. I wish we had more time. Thank you so much Robert and Kevin for coming in. Good warning sign for everyone. Thank you so much.

MANNING: You're welcome.

HOLMES: All right, we're going to turn to Tiger Woods here in a moment. We know he is back on the course working on his golf game, but some are questioning whether or not he's working on his marriage. There are new reports out saying reconciliation between those two is not an option. We're talking live with one of the reporters who's on top of this breaking story. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, this week Tiger Woods announced he is going to play his next golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte on April 29th. One person likely not to be there to cheer him on, his wife Elin. Reports now that reconciling their marriage is not an option.

"Entertainment Tonight" anchor Kevin Frazier is live with the latest. He's been breaking developments on this story. Kevin, good to see you this morning. You tell us, is reconciliation now, was it ever an option?

KEVIN FRAZIER, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT" ANCHOR: Well, according to my sources, for quite some time they've been living separate lives, and Elin and Tiger are really just finishing all the arrangements as far as the divorce agreement go and they have moved on with their lives.

HOLMES: What's the point of drawing it out? What's the point, in some ways a lot of people in their minds think they're trying to work things out?

FRAZIER: They're not. It's just a matter of -- there's a lot of money at stake and a lot of issues to take care of, where Elin will live, what they'll do with the kids, on how Tiger will see the kids. So there are a lot of issues there is to finish and work out before they will then file an have the divorce decree made public.

HOLMES: Early on, was reconciliation an option? There were reports possibly, have you fixed your marriage yet? Should you really be out here playing in a match?

FRAZIER: Here's the thing. Tiger's playing golf. Elin, while he was playing golf, was in the air headed west for a little private time, and that was the last indication there was no hope. She didn't want to be around anywhere to actually see him playing that final round in the Masters. She was on a plane while it happened. She was in no way there to support him.

HOLMES: People -- you say he's back playing golf. People want to see him play golf, certainly the golf fans out there. Let's say another shoe drops in the story, and that's going to be the divorce, and those reports come out. Is there any more backlash that could happen against this guy now?

FRAZIER: Well I think if tiger plays tournaments other than the Masters. Remember, the masters have security like no other tournament. Now as he go out into the public, he'll hear things from people and have to deal with his character being questioned for the rest of his career.

But I don't think as far as the other shoe dropping as far as anything really major and bad, because once he starts to win again, and he will win again, people will love him again. The only thing he has to deal with is the women out there. Everywhere he goes now, Joslyn James, one of his alleged mistresses ends up in that town dancing. She announced she'll be in Charlotte to dance a local strip club while he's playing at Quail Hollow. That's the kind of thing Tiger has to deal with the rest of his life.

HOLMES: All right. And like you say, that is going to follow him around. We need to talk about it as well. We know there is a divide between men and women over Tiger Woods and how they react to them. Kevin, good to see you, as always. Appreciate you coming in on your vacation.

FRAZIER: No problem.

HOLMES: Good to see you, as always.

FRAZIER: All right, T.J., take care.

BOLDUAN: A suspected school bully claims he's the one being bullied now. Coming up in our 11:00 hour, the middle school taking heat for asking students to point out the biggest bullies, the worst offenders.

And at noon eastern, celebrity and scandals. Did NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, did his fame health or hinder him as he faces sex charges? Our legal guys weigh in.

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