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Promising Development for Early State Breast Cancer; Controlling 'Bath Salts'; Talk Back Question; CNN Challenge; Egypt's Deserted Pyramids
Aired February 09, 2011 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a quick reminder about your chance to "Choose the News." You vote by texting 22360. Vote 1 for the Chilean miners hero from Pennsylvania; vote 2 for the donations- only clinic in Iowa; and vote 3 for Egypt's deserted pyramids. Now, the winning story is going to air in the next hour, so text and vote.
Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Let's get you up to speed.
Another ugly snowstorm is rolling out of the Plains today and headed for places like Little Rock, Memphis, Birmingham, and Atlanta. The storm left a fresh blanket of deep snow in the Plains. It's so bad, that drivers deserted roads in Oklahoma City this morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MALVEAUX: Well, this is the scene outside Egypt's parliament in Cairo today. Democracy supporters have opened a second front in their campaign to bring down the government. Tahrir Square is packed today, even though organizers did not call for a formal demonstration. Angry protesters say they are not going home until President Hosni Mubarak goes away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZZA AL-MAHI, PROTESTER: It's over. There's no America. There's no Hezbollah. It's his fault!
What we are in is his fault! It's not due to the Americans! It's not due to Hezbollah! It's due to him!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Also from Cairo, this CNN exclusive. Correspondent Ivan Watson has wrapped up an interview with Wael Ghonim. He is the Google executive and protest figure who was secretly jailed for 12 days. Now, Ghonim tells CNN there is a lot of blood that's been spilled, and he is ready to die for democracy.
We're going to show you the tape as soon as our satellite feed from Cairo is in.
And talks between the two Koreas, well, collapsed today. The meeting in the Demilitarized Zone was the first between the two countries since the North shelled a South Korean island in November. Now, the talks were designed to lead to high-level discussions between the two militaries.
Well, critics are questioning the government's report on runaway Toyotas. NASA engineers found no evidence an electronic glitch caused Toyotas to speed out of control. Rather, misplaced floor mats or driver error caused sudden acceleration. Now, critics say NASA only reviewed nine Toyota vehicles, not enough to reach such a broad conclusion.
Wake Forest's head baseball coach and one of his players are doing well today following a kidney transplant. Coach Tom Walter donated an organ after Kevin Jordan's kidneys began to fail. Well, two days out of surgery, both men join Ali Velshi live in the CNN NEWSROOM. That's happening today at 2:30 Eastern..
And for women with early stage breast cancer, there is a promising development. There is new research that shows in some cases, they may not need to have lymph nodes removed from the armpit.
Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, she is following the story.
Elizabeth, very nice to see you here.
Tell us, what is the significance of this? What does this mean?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this might be a real game-changer in the way that doctors treat women with breast cancer, because the way that it works now, Suzanne, is that a woman has, let's say, a tumor in her breast. And so what's right next to the breast, but, of course, the armpit, where there are all these lymph nodes.
So, doctors go in and they take away that tumor, and then they want to look at the node that is the most likely to get the cancer from that tumor, and they take it out. And if it's cancerous, now doctors go in and take, like, another dozen lymph nodes, and they may not really need to, but they sort of want a margin of error.
But they go in and they take all of those. And this newest study shows they don't really need to do that. Even if that first one is cancerous, take it out, but they say you don't need to take out the other 12. It doesn't increase the woman's chances of surviving that breast cancer, so they so why do it?
MALVEAUX: So why not take them all out just to be safe?
COHEN: Because taking them out can cause problems. Taking them out can cause nerve damage, taking them out can cause swelling. And this study said why would you want to cause problems if it doesn't really help the woman, it doesn't increase your chances of surviving that breast cancer?
MALVEAUX: And so if a woman has breast cancer, what kind of questions should she be asking her doctor? COHEN: You know, these days, with all these changing studies, you really have to be an empowered patient. And before you go in, you have to say, look, if you find that I have got one cancerous lymph node, what are you going to do and why are you going to do it?
And have a discussion with the doctor about what he or she thinks is best, and question it. You might want to say, are you sure you want to take all those lymph nodes? And if you feel like you're not getting a rock-solid answer, you can go and get a second opinion.
MALVEAUX: OK.
Elizabeth Cohen.
Thanks, Elizabeth. Appreciate it.
COHEN: Thanks.
MALVEAUX: Here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day.
A high school basketball player will head to a Florida court today, and he's arguing that he and his team should be able to compete in the playoffs. Right? His team was forced to forfeit their wins because of his immigration status.
There are a lot of folks that are talking about this today, and Carol Costello, she's joining us from D.C. to talk about the feelings.
I mean, obviously, there is a lot of passion around this story, huh, Carol?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, lots of passion, because it seems so patently unfair. Here's the story, Suzanne.
High school senior Bryan Delancy is not a U.S. citizen. He's from the Bahamas, but he is here legally on a student visa.
Delancy is also a star basketball player at Krop High School in Miami. In fact, because of him, the team is going to the playoffs. At least, it was, until the Florida High School Athletic Association found out the basketball coach had not filed paperwork about Delancy's immigration status, as is required in Florida.
Bad move, Coach.
The FHSAA not only qualified Delancy from playing basketball, it ruled Krop's team must forfeit the 19 games it won with him. In other words, kiss the playoffs goodbye, boys. Delancy is crushed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRYAN DELANCY, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: All I want to do is go to school and play ball. And I love doing that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Oh, but he can't. In Florida, every kid has a constitutional right to an education whether he's here legally or not, no questions asked, no paperwork filed. But playing after-school sports is a privilege, not a constitutional right. Hence the paperwork rule.
Delancy's lawyer says immigration status should have nothing to do with athletic eligibility. That's why they're in court.
So the "Talk Back" today: Should immigration status affect high school sports? Facebook.com/CarolCNN. Send those comments to me -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carol.
Well, here's a look at what is ahead "On the Rundown."
They're sold as bath salts, but they're really drugs. And Congress wants them off store shelves.
Also, politics, a sex scandal, Italian style. The latest on the case against President Silvio Berlusconi.
And an Alabama town wants to ban workers from posting negative comments on Facebook. Details about that in our "Law and Order" segment. That coming up.
And finally, it's your turn, your chance to "Choose the News." That's our favorite segment. A recap of three stories that you get to pick from, right up ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: All right. Not much time left to "Choose the News." You've got a text message here for the story that you want to see in detail this hour.
So these are the choices: the Chilean miners hero from Pennsylvania, how a small business owner helped save lives and he also changed his own. Also, a retired doctor reopens his Iowa clinic free of charge. And finally, Egypt's famous pyramids, now fenced off.
So, vote by texting 22360. You've got 1 for Chilean miners hero; 2 for donations-only clinic; or 3 for Egypt's deserted pyramids. And we're going to air which one you choose later this hour.
(NEWSBREAK)
MALVEAUX: And they are known as bath salts, but they're really -- it's a drug that's similar to cocaine. And you can buy them legally now at convenience stores across the country. Now, there's a rush on now to take them off the shelves. Even Congress is getting involved.
Here's our own CNN's Alina Cho.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Suzanne.
The name sounds innocent enough, "bath salts." But don't let the name deceive you. Drug experts say they're just a synthetic version of cocaine or ecstasy, and experts say their effect can be as powerful as using those drugs -- psychotic episodes, hallucinations, even suicidal thoughts. And in most states you can buy these so-called "bath salts" legally.
Florida, Louisiana and North Dakota, we should note, have taken action. They've actually banned the drugs. And Congress is hoping to do the same.
In fact, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York recently proposed a bill that would put these bath salts on a list of federally-controlled substances.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The so-called "bath salts" are nothing more than deadly narcotics. And they're being sold cheaply to all comers, no questions asked, at store counters around the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: The drugs are available in convenience stores, smoke shops and online. And again, perfectly legal in most states.
They come in Kool-Aid-type packets with names like "Red Dawn" and "Purple Wave," and they typically sell for about $20 to $80 a packet, relatively cheap. And that makes them particularly appealing to teenagers. The salts can then be smoked, snorted or ingested for a quick high.
The White House drug czar recently out a warning about these bath salts, and poison control centers say they have seen a sharp rise in calls about the drugs. More than 250 calls, Suzanne, so far this year -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Thank you, Alina.
Well, Michael Holmes is going to be joining us in a moment for our "Globe Trekking" segment. We're going to be talking about politicians plagued by, yes, not surprising, sex scandals. It is not just here in the U.S.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Time now to go "Globe Trekking" for the stories lighting up on the international radar.
Italian prosecutors want to put the trial of Prime Minister Berlusconi on the fast track.
Our Michael Holmes is here with the story. Michael, I covered the Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal. Everybody was riveted. It doesn't just happen here, though. Italy is, like, blowing up over this.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I know. I mean, this guy is always in trouble. I mean, he's always doing funny things.
MALVEAUX: It's all the talk.
HOLMES: Yes. I mean, there's always sort of the sex in politics thing, but few times are you going to get as much drama, tackiness, or, let's face it, frequency as when Silvio Berlusconi's name is in the mix.
Now, in this case, prosecutors investigating claims that the Italian prime minister paid for sex with a 17-year-old nightclub dancer, Karima El Mahroug. Her nickname, by the way, is "Ruby," or even "Ruby the Heart Stealer," if you want to widen it out.
The Ruby affair getting plenty of traction in both the domestic and international press all around the world, really. Now, Berlusconi, for his part, he calls it a smear campaign. This is just like deja vu, because there's been so many scandals with this guy and you hear the same lines. In this case, he's threatening to sue the judges for "slinging mud against Italy."
MALVEAUX: Now, they have evidence, though. They've got a lot of evidence against him?
HOLMES: Oh, yes. Absolutely. They have got plenty of it. They think they've got enough evidence to fast-track this trial.
What happened was that it all broke back in December after Berlusconi -- and this is what tripped up the thing -- he made a call to the local cops in a town in Italy, urging them to release Ruby from jail because she had been picked up on charges of theft. Now, she's now 18, by the way. She says she never had sex with the prime minister.
But here's the twist -- Berlusconi did give her 7,000 euros -- that's about, I don't know, $9,300 -- last Valentine's Day because a friend told him she needed help.
MALVEAUX: All right. That's quite a Valentine's Day gift. What was the thinking behind it? What does Berlusconi have to say about this?
HOLMES: Well, file this one under "Small World." Berlusconi's party is saying the prime minister made the gift because he thought or he had been told that Ruby was President -- wait for it -- Hosni Mubarak's niece. And they say that that phone call to the police station on her behalf was made to avoid a diplomatic crisis.
MALVEAUX: Oh my goodness.
HOLMES: By the way, her roommate says that she confided in her that they actually did have some funny business going on.
MALVEAUX: Maybe so.
How fast could this go? I mean, is he looking at something that is going to be fast-tracked?
HOLMES: Right. Well, this is what the prosecution wants. They say they have got the evidence to fast-track it.
The judge now has to make a decision on whether to do that, and whether this fast track will be approved. Whether you see him in court or not, at the end of the day, the thing that's going to be most damaging to him politically is not actually the sex charge, but the abuse of power charge. That's the big one politically.
MALVEAUX: And do we think, do we have any idea that he would step down?
HOLMES: This is interesting. The last two polls I read -- there were two separate polls -- and more than half of the Italians think he should step down. But here's the great Italian way. More than half also said, yes, he won won't.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Who cares?
HOLMES: They think he should, but, eh, he won't.
MALVEAUX: He won't. He won't.
All right, Michael. Thank you so much.
HOLMES: Good to see you.
MALVEAUX: Good to see you.
Well, chances are if you're not sitting in one, looking at one, or about to be in one, you will be soon. That's right, it is the great American cubicle. Wow.
But, you know, not so spacious. I guess there is a reason to feel a little claustrophobic. They are shrinking. That's right.
And get ready for some nostalgia. We're going to stroll through the expansive cubicles years gone by. You're going to be surprised at how much a difference 20 years makes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Employees first started working in cubicles in the late '60s. It was a quick way to put up an office without doing a lot of heavy construction. But over time, they shrunk.
And now we want to show you -- this is one of our favorite white- collar angst movies from "Office Space." Check out the cubicle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "OFFICE SPACE")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up, G.?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to go to Chachi's (ph) and get some coffee?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a little early.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got to get out of here. I think I'm going to lose it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh-oh. It sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays.
(END VIDEO CLIP, "OFFICE SPACE")
MALVEAUX: According to a design firm that renovates the majority of Fortune 500 companies, these cubicles, they were 8 feet by 10 feet. That was back in 1990. That was enough room to stretch out a little bit, perhaps relax.
But now the average cubicle is only 5 x 5. That's a 65 percent shrinkage.
This is not necessarily a bad thing -- that, according to some managers -- because they say computers are shrinking and we're using more laptops. And they say that workers aren't tethered to the desk anymore. But I say we still need a little bit more space.
OK. Well, here's a look at what's ahead "On the Rundown."
Discouraging news now about home values in the United States. There is a new report on the number of people who owe more than their home is worth.
Also, an Alabama town wants to ban workers from posting negative comments on Facebook. We've got details in our "Law and Order" segment.
And a Grammy tribute to the "Queen of Soul." Aretha Franklin tells our "SHOWBIZ" team that she is looking forward to watching it.
Toyota shares shot up today. Sales expected to rise. And the Japanese auto giant is feeling vindicated after an extensive government investigation rules out faulty electronics as the cause of the acceleration problems that reached the crisis point in 2009.
Our CNN's Samantha Hayes has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a 10-month investigation, the federal government says it knows what did not cause unintended acceleration of some Toyota vehicles.
At a news conference Tuesday, NASA's scientists who performed extensive tests vouched for the findings.
MICHAEL KIRSCH, NASA PRINCIPAL ENGINEER: NASA analysis and testing did not find evidence that malfunctions in the electronic throttle control caused large, unintended accelerations as described by "Consumer Reports."
HAYES: The likely problem, according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood --
RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: First, some Toyota floor mats entrapped drivers' gas pedals while their vehicles were in motion. Second, so-called sticky pedals made some Toyota acceleration too slow to release.
HAYES: Toyota recalled nearly eight million vehicles in the U.S. after numerous reports from drivers and a fatal crash in San Diego back in August, 2009. Toyota installed a brake override system to prevent accidental acceleration. And in a statement Tuesday, welcomed the government's findings, saying they should put to rest concerns about the design and testing of its electronic throttle control system.
The automaker has paid nearly $50 million in fines to the U.S. government. Toyota can now count on one very important customer.
LAHOOD: I told my daughter that she should buy the Toyota Sienna. We feel that Toyota vehicles are safe to drive.
HAYES: Samantha Hayes, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Time is running out for you to "Choose the News." We want you to cast your vote by texting 22360.
Vote 1 for the Chilean miners, the U.S. hero; vote 3 for donations-only clinic in Iowa; vote 3 for Egypt's deserted pyramids. Now, the winning story will air in the next half hour.
New numbers on underwater mortgages. In one big city, almost three-quarters of homes aren't worth what's owed. The CNN Money team is standing by for that story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: So, if you have an underwater mortgage, you owe more than it's worth, you're not alone. Far from it. A new report says that almost 30 percent now of homeowners with mortgages owe more than their homes are actually worth.
Well, our CNN's Christina Romans, she's joining us from New York.
Christina, its' very good to see you. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
MALVEAUX: But, you know, this is not good news I guess for homeowners. It seems as if this crisis is far from over.
ROMANS: It's far from over, and in some cases it's accelerating, quite frankly, Suzanne. Right?
This is data from Zillow. They looked at the last quarter of the year, and they found that home prices, the home price decline, it accelerated. Down 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter, now down 27 percent since the 2006 peak. That's for home values.
As those home values fall, that means the mortgage you have in many cases is still based on what you paid for the house, the loan you took out for the house when it was worth far, far more. And that means a lot of people, 27 percent of homeowners, are underwater on their loans. To varying degrees, but really, when you owe much, much more than the house is even worth, it's fueling this continued problem with foreclosures. Especially, Suzanne, as people lose their job, they've got a house that's worth far more than they think they're ever going to be able to pay for it or that it will be worth in the near term. So it becomes this vicious circle of people who can't pay their bills, prices go down, prices go down, prices go down, people are more underwater and we keep going.
One thing that Zillow pointed out, though, it's very painful in the near term, Suzanne. But they think that maybe this is clearing things out, that we're closer to a bottom, but we're not there yet.
MALVEAUX: So, which areas do you think are more affected?
ROMANS: Well, you look at some of those hot spots we've been talking about for some time. We kind of try to show you across the country here. Overall, it's 27 percent underwater. In New York, in this area, it's about 15 percent of loans underwater. In Chicago, about 39 percent. Over in Denver, 41 percent. Look at Phoenix, 70 percent. Also in Nevada - I mean, you've got parts of Nevada that are 60, 70 percent of the loans that are underwater. Even up in Seattle, 34 percent of those loans are underwater.
I mean, all real estate is local. You hear that all the time. But when you look at these numbers, I mean, the pain is pretty spread throughout on people who -- their mortgage bill right now is much higher in many cases than the value the price can support -- the price of the home, rather. The value of the home can support, rather. That's still a problem here.
But home affordability, Suzanne, is at the best we've seen in many, many years. That means if you can afford to buy a home and you can get a loan, you're in good shape. You just might see more home value losses to come.
MALUVEAX: All right, Christine, thank you very much.
ROMANS: Sure. A CNN exclusive now from Egypt. Google executive Wael Ghonim, he the man widely credited with helping spark these massive protests that we've been watching. Now, he's an icon essentially of this revolt. He tells CNN he is ready to die for change.
And he spoke exclusion civil to our Ivan Watson just a short time ago. Ivan joins us live from Cairo. Ivan, give us a sense. What did he tell you?
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a 30- year-old man who was administrator of a Facebook page that helped organize the initial January 25th protest that helped kick off all of the tumultuous events we've seen over the past more than two weeks now. He was thrown into prison, detained for more than a week-and-a- half. Picked up off the streets, he says, by four secret police on the 28th. Nobody knew where he was until he was suddenly released on Monday afternoon.
In his interview with us, he said that the time for negotiation, Suzanne, with this government is over. Take a listen.
I'm sorry, I'm afraid we don't have the sound of him talking in the system. Basically, while Ghonim telling us that too many people have been killed since that first initial peaceful protest that was organized on January 25, more than 300 people killed, Suzanne, according to Human Rights Watch in a report it issued yesterday. He said when they first came out on the streets on January 25th here in Cairo, in Tahrir Square behind me, they were going to try to negotiate with the police. And then he said that the Egyptian government responded that night with rubber bullets, with tear gas and with truncheons. And at that point, he said the time for negotiation was over. There is too much blood, he said, on the hands of the Egyptian government right now. And now that this movement has spread, has grown as large as it has, there is no time to negotiate right now.
Now, he had a couple other important messages. He said this movement had been started by a bunch of young people plugged into the Internet. He called this the Internet revolution, or Revolution 2.0. He said there was no link whatsoever in organizing the first protests on January 25th with the Muslim Brotherhood, though he said that group is a part of Egypt. He says they are good people. He does not agree with their political ideology, but they are welcome to join in with the protests that continue to go on in the square over my shoulder day after day after day. Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: And I understand we actually are getting that sound in now. So, let's go ahead and play that for our viewers.
I understand we're going to have it in a little bit, but let me ask you this. This is an exclusive, right? This is an exclusive. Tell us, give us a sense of what he was like.
WATSON: Well, this was a very intense young man. He's 30 years old, born and raised in Cairo, went to university here. He has an MBA. He speaks American-accented English. He is married to an American woman from California that he met through the Internet. Has two children and says he has a job with the best company in the world, Google. That's his words exactly. And lives in Dubai.
But at this point, after what's taken place here, he says he is ready to die to help change and improve Egypt. And as proof, he pulled out a notarized power of attorney that he just has signed this morning which gives his wife control of all of his assets, Suzanne. And he says that he is ready to die, his wife will get all of his assets, and that is proof, he says, that he is committed very much to this cause.
I understand we finally now have the sound of this man speaking. Let's take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAEL GHONIM, GOOGLE EXECUTIVE: I just posted it on Twitter yesterday. This is no longer the time to negotiate, unfortunately. We went on the street on the 25th and we wanted to negotiate. We wanted to talk to our government. We were knocking the door.
They decided to negotiate with us at night with rubber bullets, with police sticks, with, you know, water hoses, with teargas. Thanks. And with arresting about 500 people of us. Thanks. We got the message. Now when we escalated this, and it became really big, they started listening to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Suzanne, part of why it's so important to talk to this young man is we're starting to hear how this unprecedented uprising began. And he said that intentionally the organizers, the activists, tried to keep this nameless, tried to keep this faceless. And now he has been pushed into the limelight, really, as a result of being detained, and after an Internet campaign to free him.
Yesterday he appeared -- made a first appearance after his release in Tahrir Square where he was greeted by hundreds of thousands of cheering people. We saw remarkable scenes of this man as he was walking through his neighborhood carrying a laptop, a Macintosh laptop in his hand. People were literally stopping in traffic when they recognized him, running up to him to embrace him and kiss him, yelling, "Wael, Wael." One man even asked him to talk to his daughter on his cell phone. He has become effectively a hero of the Egyptian revolution. Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Ivan Watson, thank you so much for that exclusive report. A real inside look at one man who has really led the revolt in Egypt there. That exclusive interview.
And we'll have much more after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: It's a royal "Random Moment of the Day." A London art gallery is displaying a life-size Prince William. The heir to the British thrown holds a knock-off of Kate Middleton's sapphire-and- diamond engagement ring. But where is the bride to be? Well, here's what you can do. Slip on the ring, slip through the arm of Prince William, and you're the princess bride for a fleeting moment! At least for this "Random Moment."
More trouble for Lindsay Lohan. The actress is back in court today facing grand theft charges for allegedly taking a necklace from a store without forking over the money. Our "Showbiz Tonight" host Brooke Anderson is here. Brooke, tell us about this.
BROOKE ANDERSON, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Hi there, Suzanne, yes, Lindsay Lohan could be facing hard time behind bars. She is scheduled to be in a familiar spot this afternoon: an L.A. Courtroom.
The actor, like you say, is accused of walking out of a jewelry store back in January with a one-of-a-kind $2500 necklace. The store owner informed police about the alleged incident, and when authorities started investigating, Lindsay had an a assistant return the necklace, not to the store, but reportedly to the police. Now, Lindsay's attorney has vehemently denied the allegations, promised to fight them in court.
We can't forget Lindsay is on probation from her 2007 drunk driving conviction, so again, this is a charge of felony grand theft while on probation. Suzanne, the whole thing is just so bizarre to me. Either Lindsay Lohan is a thief who maybe has a sense of entitlement -- when she sees something she wants, she just takes it. Or it's a big misunderstanding. She thought she was loaned the necklace.
MALVEAUX: We'll see how that all kind of sorts itself out.
ANDERSON: Right.
MALVEAUX: We've been talking about Christina Aguilera for quite some time. Obviously, a lot of people say she botched up the national anthem during the Super Bowl. But I guess a lot of people are starting to feel for her, like, yes, you know, maybe she deserves a second chance.
ANDERSON: Yes, maybe so. She's getting some offers to sing it again, Suzanne, but not at next year's Super Bowl, which I think could be the ultimate redemption, but yes, she does have other options. A minor league baseball team in Aguilera's native New York and a minor league hockey league in Syracuse have asked her to sing the anthem before one of their games. It definitely would not be the largest television audience in television history like the Super Bowl. But Suzanne, I guess it's a start because her Super Bowl flub is probably going to haunt her forever, unfortunately.
MALVEAUX: Aww. Maybe she can make up for it. Tell us about her appearance this Sunday. Maybe she'll make up for it this Sunday at the Grammys.
ANDERSON: Maybe so. She'll be part of a big tribute for Aretha Franklin. And Suzanne, Aretha herself just told my co-host A.J. Hammer that she is really looking forward to watching that tribute from the comfort of her own couch on Sunday. When A.J. spoke to the queen of soul, she told him that despite having to cancel a whole bunch of shows due to an illness, she is feeling much better now. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ARETHA FRANKLIN, SINGER: I'm feeling super, absolutely super, and doing very, very well. And I cannot wait to get back on the bus and get out there.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The tribute will also feature performances by Yolanda Adams, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride, Florence Welch. It's going to be great. And Suzanne, I can't wait for that, nor can I wait to see what Lady Gaga will be wearing.
MALVEAUX: Oh, yes. Maybe some sort of meat assortment or maybe it's veggies this time. I don't know.
But Aretha is great! I saw her this summer. I love the queen of soul. Thank you so much
Well, "Showbiz Tonight" is following Lindsay Lohan's new court drama. Will she go to prison this time? "Showbiz Tonight" will be at the courthouse with all the breaking developments live at 5:00 Eastern and again at 11:00 on HLN.
We're getting a lot of responses to today's Talk Back question. Here is the story. A Florida basketball team had to forfeit its wins because of a player's immigration status. Now, the basketball coach, he hadn't filed the correct paperwork as is required in the state of Florida. So, we asked if immigration status should affect high school sports.
Here's one of your responses. "If the kid meets the requirements to attend the school, there is no reason why he can't participate in school activities."
We've got more responses. Your responses coming up next.
And, of course, get ready for the news quiz. This is our first question. Why are there no penguins at the North Pole? Is it because the temperatures vary too much, their home is in the southern hemisphere, there's not enough food for them to survive or there are too many natural predators?
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MALVEAUX: We're back with the "CNN Challenge." Our question, why are there no penguins at the North Pole? The answer? Their home is in the southern hemisphere. Stick around because we're going to test your news IQ along with our own Ed Lavandera.
And here's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. A high school basketball player will head to a Florida court today. He is arguing that he and his team should be able to compete in the playoffs. His team was forced to forfeit their wins because of his immigration status. A lot of people are talking about this one today. Our own Carol Costello has some of your responses.
Carol, what are they saying?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, lots of different opinions on this one, Suzanne. But mostly in favor of the poor (ph) basketball player and the basketball team. Bryan Delancy is the basketball player that I'm talking about. He and his attorney will be in court today arguing a child's immigration status should have nothing whatsoever to do with whether he's able to play high school sports. Fodder for "Talk Back" today. Should immigration status affect high school sports?
Well, Jason says, "of course it should affect eligibility. Otherwise high schools with money that want to win championships can start importing star players from anywhere in the world to bring a championship to their high school."
This from Rick. He says, "for God's sake, he's here legally on a student visa. Play ball!"
And this from Deborah. "Sounds like maybe someone drew attention to the paperwork because of the winning. Who would have complained if they were losing?"
Most people talking back said, for goodness sake, let the poor kid play. We'd like to keep the conversation going. Facebook.com/carolcnn.
MALVEAUX: All right, Carol, thank you so much.
Well, it is now quiz time. We've brought you back to the "CNN Challenge." We want you to play along. Our CNN's Ed Lavandera, he is braving the snow in Oklahoma City. We thought we would test his weather IQ.
Are you ready, Ed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. And if I lay an egg on this, I'm just going to blame it on the cold weather. That's it.
MALVEAUX: OK. All right, let's get started.
LAVANDERA: That's my excuse right now.
MALVEAUX: Let's get started. Our first question here, here we go, which city has the coldest temperature on record in the U.S.?
LAVANDERA: Today?
MALVEAUX: Which city? You've got a, Wooster, Ohio, b, Albany, New York, or, c, Prospect Creek, Alaska. Not today, just any day. Coldest temperature on record, Ed.
LAVANDERA: Oh, let's go with -- MALVEAUX: Quick. Quick.
LAVANDERA: Albany.
MALVEAUX: A? All right. Oh, Ed, Prospect Creek, Alaska.
Let's try the next one for you, OK?
LAVANDERA: Oh, I should have --
MALVEAUX: It's the cold weather.
LAVANDERA: It seemed too obvious. It seemed too obvious.
MALVEAUX: Yes. Well, it was kind of a stumper there.
LAVANDERA: All right.
MALVEAUX: All right. What was the coldest kickoff temperature in Super Bowl history? Are you ready? We have three choices. A, 39 degrees, b, 59 degrees, or, c, 60 degrees.
LAVANDERA: Thirty-nine degrees. And I believe the Dallas Cowboys won that Super Bowl. That one I know.
MALVEAUX: OK, let's try that one. Oh, you did pretty good there. You got it. Thirty-nine degrees.
LAVANDERA: There you go. There you go.
MALVEAUX: Hey, there you go. OK. That's right, Dallas beat Miami.
All right, next question, final question. When was the Coney Island Polar Bear Club formed? All right, three choices here. A, 1903, b, 1947, c, 1971.
LAVANDERA: Oh, let's go with 1903.
MALVEAUX: 1903, OK. Hey, 1903. Ed, you did pretty well here. You know, Joe Johns was here yesterday --
LAVANDERA: Excellent.
MALVEAUX: And we were a little tough on him. You know, we decided to be a little bit more user friendly today. You did pretty well here, huh?
LAVANDERA: All right, $10,000 each for each right answer, right?
MALVEAUX: You know, maybe dinner or a cocktail or something. I don't know. Do you ever think about joining that Polar Bear Club? What do you think? Would you ever take the plunge?
LAVANDERA: No, no, no, no, no. My family lives below I'd say like -- anything like south of the Mason-Dixon line. We like warm temperatures. MALVEAUX: OK. All right, Ed, thanks for playing along with us. Obviously it's a lot of fun.
If you want to take the "CNN Challenge," go to cnn.com/challenge and you can play on your own. Ed's a good sport. Joe Johns was a great sport too. They all are.
Our producers are now tallying up the votes for the story that you actually wanted to hear this hour. That's the "Choose The News" winner. That is coming up just ahead.
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MALVEAUX: And you're looking at pictures there. That is Air Force II, it's called, when the first lady is on that plane. And she's arriving here in Atlanta. She's talking about healthy eating and good living, especially for children, and fighting obesity. So the first lady arriving here in Atlanta for a very special event.
Also we are getting new sound in. This is that wonderful story we told you about before. A baseball player who was recruited by his coach faced a life-threatening disease and his coach donated a kidney to help him out. The two holding a news conference just within the last hour or so. I want to hear actually from the player who spoke earlier. Let's take a listen.
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KEVIN JORDAN, KIDNEY RECIPIENT: Basically, I tried complaining a lot less because going through all this, you see a lot of people in way worse situation than I am and don't have donors and don't have a way to find donors or anybody to ask because I didn't -- hey, I didn't have to ask anybody. People -- well, the three people that volunteered to get tested, they volunteered for me. So I was lucky.
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MALVEAUX: That is Kevin Jordan. He is the baseball player who received that kidney from his coach, Coach Walter. Both of them will be guests in the CNN NEWSROOM at 2:30 Eastern today.
Well, you voted for it, now we're going to air it. "Choose The News" winner. This is Egypt's famous pyramids fenced off now and deserted. Our CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports on the toll that it has taken on tourism after the deadly protests in Cairo.
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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Moses the camel has no trouble lifting me up. He's well rested. I'm one of the first foreigners on his back since Egypt's uprising began two weeks ago and most tourists left the country.
PLEITGEN (on camera): What we're seeing here is a lot of camels, a lot of horses and a lot of guides who have had no work, they say, for several days. And, right now, a lot of them are not very optimistic that the situation here will get better any time soon.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Normally the area around the Giza Pyramids would be bustling with visitors. Now, it's deserted. One businessman says times are getting tough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the camels, we have the horses. And here people in this area, you know, in (INAUDIBLE) area working day by day, you know? And right now it's no business.
PLEITGEN: Some blame the anti-Mubarak protestors. Several dozen men on camel and horseback attacked the anti-government demonstration in downtown Cairo last week. Some of the people here say tour guides for this area may have played a role.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It got boring from no work, no business, you know. He go, you know, to like we are, please, like we are tired. We need the business. We need the work. Like, enough. That's enough.
PLEITGEN: As Moses hauls me up the sand dunes, the pyramids are barely visible in the distance.
PLEITGEN (on camera): We've made it to a point where we can now see the pyramids in the backdrop. But you'll see, there's still a fence there because the actual pyramids themselves are still cordoned off. The military is preventing anyone from getting there. So no tourists can actually go inside the pyramids and visit that area.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Images like these of tanks at the entrance to the pyramids are keeping potential visitors away. The Egyptian government estimates more than a million have left the country since the beginning of the anti-Mubarak protests. The financial losses for the country are immense says Sharif El Akhdar of Beltone Private Equity, which has hundreds of millions of dollars invested in the Egyptian tourism industry.
SHARIF EL AKHDAR, BELTONE PRIVATE EQUITY: There's about five or so percent of the GDP. So you can imagine the size of that in terms of billions of dollars. And I'm sure that's going to be affected.
PLEITGEN: As our trek heads back from the pyramids, our guide tries to display confidence. But he and others here make no secret of their anxiety, how to feed themselves and Moses the camel as they wait for tourists to return.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Giza, Egypt.
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MALVEAUX: (INAUDIBLE) in Egypt there.
Well, now, CNN NEWSROOM continues with Don Lemon, in for Ali Velshi.
Hey, Don.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That was a good choice for news you can choose.
MALVEAUX: I thought they were going to choose that one, actually.
LEMON: All right. Good to see you, Suzanne. Thank you very much.
