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President Obama Proposes Budget Cuts; South Carolina Wants Own Currency; Night at the Grammys
Aired February 14, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Martin Savidge. It's 2:00 p.m. here in Atlanta, 11:00 a.m. in Los Angeles. Breaking news right now. Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro -- it is under a lockdown after a shooting at the Basic and Applied Science building. School officials say that one student was shot. His condition is not yet known. The suspect is still on the loose, and SWAT teams have been called in. We will keep you updated on the situation throughout this hour.
Only in Washington can something so huge, so important, so painstakingly crafted potentially amount to so little. I'm talking about, of course, President Obama's proposed federal budget for fiscal 2012, which begins October 1st. And the first thing to keep in mind as you see these books being delivered today on Capitol Hill is that last year's plan went nowhere. Congress never passed a single spending bill for fiscal 2011, which is already a third of the way over.
Still, budgets are a presidential duty, and this one, says the White House, was painful. It targets more than 200 programs for cuts or outright elimination in the hopes of taming a record deficit. Proposed cuts include home heating aid for low-income families, college grants, even defense spending, $78 billion over five years. And the plan also would cap itemized tax deductions for high earners.
It would cut the deficit from $1.6 trillion this year to just over $600 billion in 2015, a level, believe it or not, economists consider sustainable. After that, the red ink would creep up again, largely because of interest on the debt. And how much debt is there, you may ask? Well, as of February 10th, the U.S. Treasury calculates that I owe, and you do, as well, $14,083,344,766,082.15.
For (ph) two (ph) at the top, CNN's Christine Romans shows us just how some of these proposed cuts might hit home -- Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And that $14 trillion -- these budgets are just trying to stabilize and not make that keep growing and growing and growing. I mean, when you're talking about deficits as far as the eye can see, then that big number only gets bigger. So Let's look at some of the things the president is proposing.
Pell grants -- right now, you can get up to $5,500 per Pell grant. Well, to preserve that program and to preserve that $5,500 line, the president would like to allow only one Pell grant per year. As it is now, you can get a Pell grant for summer school. In this budget, there would no more Pell grants for summer school.
And there would be a graduation cap, if you will -- the pun is intended -- a cap on the interest. Right now, if you are in grad school or getting a professional degree, your interest doesn't start accruing until you graduate. Taxpayers pay that. They pay your interest bill until you start to graduate. Well, this would mean taxpayers wouldn't do that anymore. You would start to accrue interest during college, during your grad school years, and then you wouldn't start paying until after you graduate.
Let's talk about the mortgage tax break. For high-interest earners -- or high-income earners, there would be a limit on how much mortgage interest you can deduct from your tax return. Also, a limit on your charitable donations. The mortgage interest deduction, any kind of paring back of that, of course, not popular with the real estate industry. They say even though it's for rich people, this is the sort of thing that trickles down, that it's incredible important for a very fragile housing market.
And you mentioned -- Martin, you mentioned that low-income heating program. Some folks say this proves that the president is serious. This is a program to help people who don't have a lot of money pay their heating bills during the winter. Not popular with some of the people in his own party, not popular with people in the Northeast. But this would be paring back that program to what it was in 2008, cutting a couple of billion dollars out of that program, showing, as the White House keeps saying, that all of these choices are very, very difficult, also showing, I think, Marty, that the things that this country has to do to stop all that red ink and stop that $14 trillion number from getting bigger are things that all of us are going to feel in one way, shape or form -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: But the areas where he didn't venture are the three biggest areas. We're talking about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: -- all of us will feel. That's right. Those are still very, very politically challenging. Those are still the big drivers of the debt. You're absolutely right. And that's why some critics say he did not go far enough, and he certainly should have started to put out his proposals for how to fix those three things. You know, and then, of course, there are progressives who say, No, those are untouchable. You don't touch those things. Those are things that are a contract with the American people and you don't start -- you don't start messing around with those. But those are the big drivers of our debt.
SAVIDGE: All right, Christine Romans, thanks very much for the insight always. We appreciate it.
ROMANS: Welcome.
SAVIDGE: Well, last hour, we asked you for your input on the budget cuts. We wanted to know what government spending you would cut first, whether with a scalpel or an axe -- energy, education, health care, military or unemployment. Well, the results were overwhelming. The majority of viewer comments came in support of military cuts. Many of you didn't like any of those choices and suggested the first cut should be in Congress. To weigh in on the debate, head to Ali's blog, CNN.com/ali, to leave your comments. You can also post them on Ali's FaceBook and Twitter accounts.
All right, let's check in with some of the other big stories now. What a difference a few days makes, Cairo's Tahrir Square looking very different than it did during last week's anti-Mubarak protests. The huge crowds have dispersed and traffic is moving again today, a day after the new military-led government dissolved Egypt's parliament and suspended the constitution. Still, though, lots of uncertainty, though, with members of the opposition calling for more details of the military's plans. And still some pockets (INAUDIBLE) including current and former police demanding better pay and benefits.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is making tons of progress in rehab. That according to her husband, Mark Kelly. Just after a month after she was shot through the brain in an assassination attempt, she is able to chat and even answer direct questions. Kelly spoke to NBC about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK KELLY, HUSBAND OF CONGRESSMAN GIFFORDS: The communication is getting better every single day. She -- you know, it was reported just a few days ago, you know, that she said, you know, a single word and what the word was. But you know, since then, you know, this has really accelerated. So you can have, you know, I guess what would be relatively a normal conversation with her on some level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Yesterday, Giffords personally updated her astronaut brother-in-law, who's aboard the International Space Station. Handed the phone, she told him, quote, "Hi. I'm good."
Well, quick thinking and good hands helped save a baby boy from a fast-moving fire. It happened outside of Portland, Oregon, over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF BRYANT, NEIGHBOR: There was smoke coming out, and I saw a lady hanging her child out the window. So I immediately dropped what I had in my hands, ran over beneath her and was, like, Hey, drop your baby to me. She shouted out, Are you sure you're going to catch him? I said, Of course I'll catch him, at that point. And she dropped him, I caught him, wrapped him up in my jacket and we went away from the burning building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Pure luck that he was even in that area to respond. His boss had called him in to work early. Meantime, the baby's mother is in the hospital in what doctors are calling stable/critical condition. Tragically, her other two little boys did not survive.
Don't forget what today is -- besides Valentine's Day, I mean. The IRS is finally accepting itemized tax returns. Usually, you can go ahead and file them much earlier, but the agency postponed that date after Congress's last-minute tax deal. So they had to update their software. Itemized deductions include mortgage interest, charitable donations, medical expenses and college tuition, and that is just naming a few.
And our sound effect today is a heroic end to what New York police are calling a horrendous and a bizarre series of attacks. Between 5:00 AM Friday and 9:00 AM Saturday, a man named Maksim Gelman is accused of stabbing three people to death, killing a man with a car, slashing at least five other people, and then carjacking two vehicles. He was stopped while allegedly trying to break into the driver's compartment of a subway car. A subway rider named Joseph Lozito, helped stop him, and he spoke to "Good Morning America."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH LOZITO, HELPED CAPTURE STABBING SUSPECT: I was just sitting there. And you know, like I said, I kept an eye on him and it looked like everyone else was watching him, too. I'm sure some of the people that are from New York probably had seen his picture in the paper, so they probably knew, you know, what he was about. I had no idea.
And basically, he was about two or three feet away from me, and he took out a, you know, giant knife and just looked at me and said, You're going to die, you're going to die, and then he lunged at me.
When we got him down, and the police officer was right there, and he told me, I got him, I got him, you can get up. And I sat on another seat, and when I sat up, that's when I noticed all the blood pouring down on me. And I've never seen anything like that in my life.
And another person on the train -- and I didn't see him at all, I wish I did -- you know, he had napkins. He came up behind me and he just, basically, the whole time just pressed on this wound, which I think ended up being the deepest wound back here. And he just, you know, stayed there the whole time with me. He didn't blink. He just did it. And to me, he's my hero. I'm not the hero.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: A public defender was appointed today for the suspect, who told reporters after his arrest that, This was a setup, man.
Breaking news. Middle Tennessee State University -- getting back to a story we've been following here -- we're hearing now that the lockdown there is over. The good news, the suspect has been arrested or apprehended. A weapon has been confiscated. The university is advising people to proceed, though with caution, with normal activities today. The situation concluded perhaps maybe 15, 20 minutes ago. Right now, we know that one student was wounded. We do not know the extent. They were transported to a medical facility. But again, the lockdown there has ended.
If the Federal Reserve ever went bust, could gold and silver save the states? One lawmaker thinks so. Wait until you hear his plan. It's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: A South Carolina lawmaker says the Federal Reserve is headed for an ugly breakdown. How he knows that, I'm not sure, but he wants his state to being prepared when it sinks. Just how prepared? Well, he suggests that South Carolina take matters and money into its own hands quite literally. Republican state senator Lee Bright says that South Carolinians need to create their own currency as a backup in case people lose faith in the dollar. In the new legislation pushing the idea, Bright claims, quote, "Many widely recognized experts predict the inevitable destruction of the Federal Reserve system's currency through hyperinflation in the foreseeable future," unquote.
So is individual state currency a real back-up plan? Critics -- well, they aren't so convinced. Phil Bailey, director of the South Carolina senate Democratic caucus says, quote, "Not anything in that bill is going to create a job or improve education. It is a waste of time. It's a waste of resources," unquote.
Just a short time ago, I spoke to South Carolina state senator David Thomas, who supports that legislation.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DAVID THOMAS (R), SOUTH CAROLINA STATE SENATOR (via telephone): Sounds awfully draconian and may sound odd when you first think about it, but when I think we look at it -- and I asked the South Carolina Sound Money folks -- it's an organization here in the state -- just to come and make a presentation. We opened the doors and allowed the house members and senators to sit in on their presentation.
And of course, part of the presentation was the belief that there could be hyperinflation. And we've seen, of course, historic examples in the past even 50 years. But the most credible example, of course, is -- or the most telling would have been Germany after World War I. And with all the money that has been pumped into the American economy, the issue has become, Are we going to see inflation not just single, double digit, but just perhaps out-of-control inflation?
This has nothing to do with secession. This is not radical in that sense. What this is is merely a backup concept for (ph) using the gold-silver standard. And that's what this country used to have. And all it is is saying, if we get out of control, we should have something that would be a quick fallback that's already being used. And so that's what this concept is about.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: The legislation calls for a subcommittee to study the proposal and submit a report to the state's general assembly by November 1st.
Well, Americans -- they love to spend money, but that now might change with people being in the mood to cut back. I'll show you where after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: You know, one reason it's so hard to cut government spending is that somebody, presumably, benefits from every program or project, and then, of course, complains when the money runs out. Still, Americans seem to be in a belt-tightening mood these days, or at least more of a belt-tightening mood than they were at the height of the recession.
The Pew Research Center did some polling on attitudes toward various budget priorities. And take a look. On health care, 61 percent of Americans favored increased spending in 2009, now only 41 percent do. Only 10 percent wanted to cut health care spending two years ago. Now almost a quarter do.
Carroll Doherty is the associate editorial director of the Pew Center. He joins me now from Washington with more on these findings and what they might mean. Thanks very much for being with us. I want to do a little sort of show-and-tell here and talk about some of the results we have here.
First, let's take a look at education, what people were saying about education, if we can. There it is. OK. You can see that in 2009, 67 percent wanted an increase, now it's down to 62 percent. And you can see the level of decrease there. Then we move on to the issue of Medicare. How did people rate that? Increase, 53 percent in favor of doing that in 2009, 40 percent only in favor of doing that now.
And then defense -- take a look at where Americans stood on that issue, 40 percent wanted to make increase in 2009, 31 percent -- yes, so we're seeing this trend of going down. And then finally, unemployment aid. Let's take a look at that. There you see increase -- they were in favor of it 44 percent in 2009, only -- look at that -- only 27 percent in favor of it in 2011.
So Mr. Doherty, what do you think of all those figures?
CARROLL DOHERTY, PEW RESEARCH CENTER: Well, I think there is a change in the public's views of federal spending. There's no doubt about that -- since 2009, quite a significant change. But most of the change is in less support for spending increases. Only in a few cases do we see a real significant rise in the percentage saying they would cut spending.
SAVIDGE: Right.
DOHERTY: So we're seeing some changes. SAVIDGE: And this is the real issue here. I mean, of course, people are saying, All right, we can't spend -- we can't continue to spend. But the government is also saying, Well, look, it's going to take more than just not spending. We have to start talking about cutting here. And has that reality really set in with many Americans?
DOHERTY: Not quite yet. I think you do see it in the area of defense, as you pointed out, as many want to increase as decrease spending right now. That's a big shift. Twice as many wanted to increase in 2009. In other areas, not so much. And in the area of Social Security and Medicare, little appetite for cuts.
SAVIDGE: Yes, these are the really big ones that need to be cut. But even so, people seem to be in a frame of mind to listen and to think about this. So does that make things easier for the politicians?
DOHERTY: Well, it's hard to say. I mean, we're at the very beginning stages of this debate. The public really hasn't been too attentive. There's been the situation in Egypt and other major issues. So we'll see. This is really the first week it's occupied center stage.
SAVIDGE: And if I see this right, in most areas, large percentages still favor increasing spending. Is that right?
DOHERTY: Right. In 15 out of 18 areas we tested, there's still more support for increasing than decreasing spending. So there's a long way to go before you get to austerity.
SAVIDGE: Is there any way to know how Americans would feel about those issues that directly impact themselves? I'm talking about, you know, the deduction for your home mortgage and things like that. When we start talk about things that really affect you, do their attitudes change?
DOHERTY: Well, we've taken a more micro look at some of those proposals. Not too much interest there, either, not too much support for those specific proposals, at least in the past. We'll see how it goes as these become more of the focal point in the current debate.
SAVIDGE: All right, well, it's clear that we want to cut costs but just don't touch the thing that benefits me. All right, Carroll Doherty -- he is associate editorial director of the Pew Center. Thank you very much for joining us.
DOHERTY: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: Time to check the developing stories we're watching right now. A shooting suspect has been caught at Middle Tennessee State University. The school was on lockdown after one student was shot. The victim was shot in the hand. A spokesman for the school says it probably started as a fight between two men. The students are being told to go back to their normal activities on campus.
The Egyptian military is dispersing protesters from Tahrir Square today. They're also calling on people to return to work. A ruling military council says that they'll appoint a committee to propose changes to the constitution they suspended yesterday, but they reserve the right to impose new laws in the meantime.
Anti-government protesters in Iran were attacked by security forces in the capital city. This is video supposedly from that demonstration that was posted on YouTube. Witnesses say that some of the security officers were dressed in plain clothes. Thousands marched along Revolution Avenue calling for the resignation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
And the man keeping an eye on TARP is leaving at the end of March. Neil Barofsky was named inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program by President Bush. He also has been the chief prosecutor of fraud related to the $700 billion fund. He says that he wants to pursue other opportunities.
Wet and windy on the West Coast. Jacqui Jeras has the forecast coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: What would Valentine's Day be if it weren't wet and windy on the West Coast and if there weren't airport delays somewhere in the East? Jacqui Jeras...
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right. You know, you've got to have an excuse sometimes to get a little closer with your loved one.
SAVIDGE: Oh, that's very...
JERAS: Right? From time to time?
SAVIDGE: Good recovery there!
JERAS: Not bad! Yes. You know, it's yucky outside, so you stay in and you snuggle. And it's windy in the East, so you can kind of, you know, Oh, hold on to my arm, honey. I don't want you to...
SAVIDGE: Look out. Hallmark's going to -- going to recruit you.
JERAS: I know. That's what I'm telling people. And you can just be happy and hold hands in the sunshine, for everybody else because it's pretty nice. Let's talk about the West. Oh, my gosh! It is going to be a lousy week. I hate to say it, but it's not just a today thing.
SAVIDGE: (INAUDIBLE) build it up.
JERAS: Yes, it's an all-week thing. So I just want to warn you, just want you to be prepared, right? You know, you have to be ready for it. The I-5 corridor is really a rough go of it at this hour. We've got heavy rain into the valleys. We've got heavy snow in the higher elevations. The Cascades, as well as Sierras could literally see one to two feet of snow in the next couple of days as we've got a series of storms which have really just been just lined up in the Pacific.
We had the first one move through earlier in the weekend. That brought incredible winds for you. The second one moving through right now, and we've got another one moving through, we think, for tomorrow and into Wednesday. And probably another one as we head towards the end of the week, as well, Marty.
SAVIDGE: Maybe you summarized it very well. What's going on on the East Coast?
JERAS: Well, the East is dealing with those winds, and that's really the big deal. It's not necessarily so much, you know, the rain that's coming down. And we've got a little bit of light rain and snow, but those wind speeds -- you know, they're -- look at this. They're sustained in the 20-mile-per-hour range. And so that's the three-minute average, not to mention some of the gusts that we've been seeing around 40, 45 miles per hour.
I'm going to just put in a little word of caution here, Martin, everybody else, when we take this next picture because you need a little Dramamine. I'm only going to hold it up for just a second. But that's the Statue of Liberty...
SAVIDGE: Wow.
JERAS: -- if you can't tell, putting it into perspective of just how windy it is. It's 57 in New York City, so at least it's a warm wind, right? We can (INAUDIBLE) warm. But those winds could be damaging. They could bring down some power lines perhaps, and also causing a lot of delays at the airports. LaGuardia's got arrival delays around an hour right now, and most of the Northeastern airports are going to continue to have problems throughout the day.
SAVIDGE: Must be a rough approach...
(CROSSTALK)
JERAS: Well, it is, right? You know, it depends on which direction that runway goes. And sometimes you have to shut one of them down and everybody has to land another way because you've got to watch out for that. But the warmth has been great. We had a number of record highs yesterday -- look at these -- 40s to 70-degree temperatures for this time of the year. How awesome is that? One record today. That was Montpelier, Vermont, and they had a record high about 47 degrees, which isn't too shabby...
SAVIDGE: Oh, good for them.
JERAS: -- for this time of the year, right?
SAVIDGE: Yes, bathing suit weather. I'm sure they were all out there, right?
JERAS: Sure.
SAVIDGE: Jacqui, thanks very much. We deserve the warm temperatures, actually...
JERAS: We do.
SAVIDGE: -- after the winter we've been through.
Well, Prince William -- he's breaking with tradition. We'll tell you what he's decided about his upcoming wedding to Kate Middleton and how his brother is going to help, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: All right. Catching you up on some of the bigger stories you might have missed this hour.
President Obama revealed his $3.7 trillion budget today for fiscal 2012. The plan includes cuts to college grads, home heating aid, and defense spending. Programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will remain untouched. Obama's budget would reduce the deficit by $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Republicans say more cuts are needed.
And we are waiting to hear the Republican response on the proposed budget cuts. Should happen any moment now.
Officials from Middle State Tennessee University say the suspect in a shooting that happened a short time ago has been apprehended. The school in Murfreesboro was on lockdown after that shooting in a science building, but students are now being told to proceed with caution. There is one victim who was shot on the hand. A spokesman for the school says it probably started as a fight between the two men.
The Egyptian military is calling for protestors to leave Tahrir Square. Troops are encouraging Egyptians to go back to work and return to their regular lives. The ruling military council, which took control of the country last Friday, says it will remain in charge until elections can be held in about six months.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' husband says that she is making tons of progress in rehab. She is now able to lip-synch songs to help her regain her speech patterns. She was even able to talk briefly with her brother-in-law, who's aboard the international space station. Giffords was shot in the head just over a month ago in an assassination attempt at a grocery store - outside of a grocery store in Arizona.
New royal wedding details today. Prince William's decided on his best man rther than the traditional supporter. And the best man honor is going to his brother, Harry. Kate Middleton's sister, Pippa, will be the maid of honor. The wedding party will also include six bridesmaids and two page boys, all under the age of 10. The big day, mark your calendars, look for the invitation in the mail. April 29, sorry.
Well, do you believe in soul mates? The idea of one true love? Well, you might be surprised at one poll has found. Don't go away. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: You might remember that we mentioned the Republicans were going to have a response to President Obama's budget. And that is going on right now. Paul Ryan speaking. He's the House Budget Committee chair. Let's listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: A lot of tax increases in the last two years, about $700 billion. He's looking for more tax increases on the American people, on the American economy, on small businesses, on families, on entrepreneurs.
People like to talk about spending, and we're hearing the word freeze being thrown around. Spending goes up every year. $8.7 trillion in new spending. $13 trillion in new borrowing over this budget.
Now, smoke and mirrors have been done by Republicans and by Democrats in the past. And so, we've seen budget gimmicks from both political parties, from White Houses in the past. This year contains a pretty good doozy. It basically assumes that we're going to be at Afghanistan and Iraq levels for the next ten years like we are today. We're going to have a ten-year Afghanistan surge. We'll be at the current levels for ten years.
Everybody knows that's not true. The president has already preannounced his withdrawal dates from these excursions. And he's basically saying, so if we're not there for ten years, we're going to actually ramp down spending with withdrawals, and that will save us $1.1 trillion. When you pull aside the curtain and look at all the smoke and the mirrors, it looks like to me that this thing has about $8 of tax increases for $1 of spending cuts, not $2 of spending cuts for $1 of tax increases.
So, we've looked at these numbers, and these numbers are very, very clear. You really cannot borrow and spend and tax your way to prosperity. But unfortunately that is exactly what this budget does.
Let me simply close by saying this. I served on the president's fiscal commission that he created this last year. It was a pleasure to do so. All I have problems with some of the fiscal's commissions reports and findings. I along with others, like Alice Riddlin (ph), put out alternative plans out there. But the president in suggesting the fiscal commission gave people like me the idea that we were going to move the ball in the right direction, that that was a constructive step in the right direction.
This is a punt. This doesn't even include any of the significant recommendations from the fiscal commission. In fact, discretionary spending's $353 billion above the levels recommended in the fiscal commission.
So, the fiscal commission gave us hope that we were going to finally have that adult conversation in Washington about how we preempt our debt and deficit crisis. Unfortunately, this budget does none of it. This budget ignores the problems. This budget does more spending, more taxing, more borrowing. And at the end of the day if we don't turn this around, that's going to cost us jobs, it's going to cost us prosperity and it's going to cost our country its credibility. And with that, I'd like to turn it over to Senator Sessions.
SAVIDGE: And that is part of the Republican response to President Obama's budget, which he put forward today for 2012. You were just listening to Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chair giving that response.
All right. Moving on. Time for "Globe Trekking" now. With so many other now inspired by Egypt's revolution, protests are growing across the Middle East today. We've seen that. There have been protests in Iran, Yemen, Bahrain and Algeria.
CNN International anchor, correspondent and good friend Michael Holmes joins me now with a look. Let's start with Egypt. What's the latest with the ouster, of course, of the president?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. What a busy few days it's been, couple of weeks.
SAVIDGE: It was remarkable!
HOLMES: It was incredible. Good to see you, too, Marty.
Now, again, let's talk a little bit about Egypt. Now, one thing we're trying to push as we're anchoring this last week, this is chapter one. It's early days yet. This thing could still go bad.
So, what is happening today, the army is sort of taking more firm control, stepping in there. They put out another announcement. They've said, you've got to get back to work. They put out a list of things that people shouldn't be doing, including that, being out there in Tahrir Square. They moved protestors out of there.
What we're also seeing, though, are some strikes going on as well. People have found their voices through all of this, and they started to complain about all sorts of other stuff. Better standards of living, wages. And the media is getting a bit of a hard time, too. A lot of crews being pushed around.
SAVIDGE: And we're starting to see, of course, this begin to spread to other regions of the Middle East. This has talked about, but we're actually physically seeing it. Places like Bahrain, a big ally of the U.S.
HOLMES: Interesting. Interesting, too, the mix. It's very broad as you say. Iranian authorities, they backed the events in Cairo as an Islamic awakening similar to the '79 revolution, which of course, is ridiculous. Ironically, though, they're not allowing protests in their neck of woods. Iranian police firing tear gas at opposition demonstrators in central Tehran, who were out there in support of the Egyptian protests. Some people are calling these clashes pretty severe. And opposition leaders have been rounded up. You know, we'll just rip through the others. Yemen, important country in the U.S. war on terror. You've got about 2,000 police clashing -- 2,000 people -- clashing with police in the capital there, which is the third day of anti-government protests. Now, the leader there, Mr. Saleh, he's been in power since '78, pledged to step down in 2013. Hey, he's said that before, by the way.
You mentioned Bahrain. Yes, and you wouldn't think Bahrain would have this sort of issue. Facebook at the forefront again there. Very unusual to see protests in this island emirate. Riot police using tear gas, rubber bullets, flash bangs against a lot of protestors out in the streets. They're not calling for the collapse of the Sunni monarchy. It is a majority Shia population. They want a new constitution. They are against corruption, torture. And they say that the Shiite majority ought to have more of a say.
SAVIDGE: Also home of the U.S. fifth fleet.
All right. Let's move on, talk about China. Big milestone here as it eclipses Japan.
HOLMES: It does. Now, this is interesting. We've been hearing for years about China's growing economic clout. And this is a good example of it. Japan's gross domestic product grew 3.9 percent to 5.47 trillion - I'm going to Ali Velshi in a minute -- but China saw its GDP go up by 10 percent to 5.88 trillion.
The numbers are important because it's still small compared to the U.S. GDP, 14 trillion in 2009. Some people are saying in a decade, China's economy could be as large as the U.S. In 25 years, maybe even bigger.
It's important to remember, though, let's take the Japanese as an example. China's got more people to spread that wealth through.
SAVIDGE: Yes! They've got over a billion people! Yes.
HOLMES: Yes. Exactly. Japan doesn't. They have ten times better salaries than China.
SAVIDGE: So, sometimes it's a bit of an apples and oranges to compare the two.
HOLMES: Yes. It's not that easy to just go, oh, there's 1, 2, and 3. There's other factors.
SAVIDGE: Being number 3 isn't that bad.
HOLMES: It's not!
(LAUGHTER)
SAVIDGE: Michael Holmes, good to see you.
HOLMES: Good to see you. SAVIDGE: Thanks very much.
Well, whether you're in love with love or think that Valentine's Day is just one huge crock of whatever, you'll want to stay tuned for our Big Breakdown. We've got the stats on soul mates, and how many folks believe in them.
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SAVIDGE: All right. Today's Big Breakdown is a nod to Valentine's Day and the folks who kind of think it's nonsense. The Pew Research Center did a big study on the decline of marriage and the rise in new families. It looked at different trends in how we live and love. Most of the data was pretty black and white, but one question jumped out at us. Is there only one true love for each person? Such a romantic notion.
Too romantic, it seems for most of us. Only 28 percent of Pew's respondents agreed. Maybe that surprises you. Maybe it doesn't. But here is where things really get interesting. More men than women are in love with the idea of a soul mate. Thirty-one percent of guys versus 26 percent of the ladies. Maybe that cynicism comes from meeting a lot of frogs and not so many princes.
Another interesting breakdown, African-Americans and especially Hispanics way more likely to believe in one true love than Caucasians. In fact, when you look at all the different ways that Pew crunched these numbers -- by race, by income, education, politics, et cetera -- Hispanics embrace the concept far more than anybody else. Probably because they speak a romantic language.
Anyway, in any case, if you found your one true love, congratulations. And to everybody out there, happy Valentine's Day and to all you folks who aren't finding it -- well, I guess it's just happy Monday.
Well, every day here on the show, we have a segment that is called "You Choose." We give you three headlines and you vote on which ones you want to see. The first option: Tiger Woods facing a fine for spitting. Say it ain't so! Your second option: real ways to fight bad breath. And finally, an outbreak at the Playboy mansion.
Head to Ali's blog, CNN.com/Ali, to vote. We'll bring you the winning story in about 10 minutes. Once again, that's CNN.com/Ali.
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SAVIDGE: Well, if you were watching, you know that things got loud last night in Los Angeles at the Grammys. The music industry handed out its annual awards to a pretty diverse list of stars. Some you've heard of, some you may not have.
The bigger winners were Lady Antebellum, Arcade Fire, rather. And they took the top three honors, which are Best Album, Best Record and Best Song.
Here are some of the other highlights: Esperanza Spalding won for the Best New Artist. Who's that you may ask? Shame on you. She's s bright new star in the jazz world. She also beat out the moneymaking machine Justin Bieber for the award.
Mick Jagger took the Grammy stage for the first time as a performer. And he did it without the rest of the Rolling Stones. He was doing a tribute to the late soul star Solomon Burke.
Why is right. Well, one of the oddest sights was Cee Lo Green, Gwyneth Paltrow and the host of the "Muppets" singing his hit, "F You." We're not sure how all parts really fit together, but, you know, it was one colorful show.
And then, of course, there's Lady Gaga's egg. Yes, that's her red carpet arrival. Maybe it's a pot. We're used to crazy things from the meat-dressed diva so this really wasn't that shocking. Instead it made us think back to the days of robin Williams as Mork from Ork. Yes, that's good.
Well, let's bring in the "Stream Team" right now. Every day, we like t invite a wonderfully opinionated group of different backgrounds and specialties to weigh in on the topic today. It is, of course, as we just mentioned, it's the Grammys.
And, right now, joining us -- taking -- well, we're trying to bring in Eugene Ramirez there. We also have Pete Dominick and Hal Sparks. And I'm a little concerned about Eugene right now.
Let's start with Eugene -- if you can -- if you can weigh in, what exactly caught your eye from -- you know what? I guess we've lost him from our stream.
So, Pete, let me ask you --
EUGENE RAMIREZ, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Hey, Martin, you guys there?
SAVIDGE: Sorry, Eugene. I didn't mean to cut you short. Go ahead. What did you find interesting last night?
RAMIREZ: You know, I'll tell you what -- I think the Grammys need a new category. That's going to Best Performance. The winner last night for that kind of award if it did exist would definitely be Cee Lo Green.
It's not easy to steal the spotlight from Lady Gaga. And Cee Lo Green did that with his "Muppets," with Gwyneth Paltrow, who looked beautiful on there. And, of course, that peacock outfit, it actually looked like he laid the egg that gave birth to Lady Gaga (INAUDIBLE).
MARTIN: Yes, you know, Pete, they would say that there was something for everybody in that show last night. And some might say there was too much for everybody else. What did you think?
PETE DOMINICK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's a good point. Can someone please explain to me why Mick Jagger is considered sexy? Watching him move, it looks like a praying mantis with a compound fracture.
And I'll tell you, the big winners last night, Marty, obviously Arcade Fire. The big losers? Arcade Fire's fans who are no longer cult followers of their alternative indie band. Now, they're mainstream Arcade Fire. So, losers and winners there.
SAVIDGE: And what did you think about Esperanza winning? I mean, there's all this buzz saying that, you know, Justin Bieber, he deserved it. He should have got it. And then it goes to this person many people didn't know.
DOMINICK: Yes, I still don't know who she is unfortunately. Maybe -- and who's this Justin Bieber? I have a 6-year-old daughter who still doesn't know, we're trying to keep that going.
SAVIDGE: Well, if you don't know who he is, then I guess maybe you ought to go back to the rock that you were hanging under.
DOMINICK: Hey, tell me what it (ph) looks like.
SAVIDGE: Hal Parks, what would you think about some might say is a sleight to Justin Bieber? And I'm sure you're crushed by it.
HAL SPARKS, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: Yes, I'm brutalized by it. You know, technically speaking, I don't want to nitpick, but he should have won just because, technically, he was the newest of the artists, being the youngest one there. I think that's his only qualification in that situation.
You know, honestly, I think this was one of the Grammy throwback votes where the people -- I think the only people still listening to the recording industry for their music choices are our sort of obscure jazz fans. So, a lot of times, they'll just check people off for who they're not when they get their little voting thing around, like I've never heard of this person. They must be better than that idiot I can't get off of my television.
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SAVIDGE: Eugene, if you're still with us, I know we can't see you, but we were listening to you. We had quite a diverse age group that was represented on stage there.
RAMIREZ: Yes, absolutely. You know, I was trying to figure out what Will Smith's son was doing on stage, because I know his daughter Willow Smith is a performing artist, but what was up again on that stage. But, you know, like you said just a little bit ago, definitely something for audiences of all ages on there.
And to go back to that comment about the Best New Artist -- yes, I mean, Justin Bieber possibly the best or the most popular new artist, but if there's one thing we've learned this year in the Grammys, is that the most popular person doesn't win. According to the Grammy judges, it's the most qualified. In this case, it was Esperanza.
And I have to agree with them. I think she's a great artist. And I think people now, if they don't know who she is already, are definitely going to look into Esperanza.
SAVIDGE: Yes, I agree with you. I think that -- you know, one thing should be pointed out that the Grammys are not the MTV Awards. And sometimes, it seems that the judges pride themselves to sort of going away from maybe one of the big moneymakers or the standard public fare.
Pete, would you agree with that?
DOMINICK: Yes. I mean, there's obviously a huge difference. The Grammys are maybe -- I've worked at the MTV Music Awards a couple of times. The Grammys are definitely a little more classy, if I could say so. You're not going to see Kanye West or any other artist come up and interrupt an acceptance speech perhaps, although there can always be problems.
But I think that's a fair assessment, Marty.
SAVIDGE: Yes. Hal, what would you do different? What would you want to sort of maybe spark more interest?
SPARKS: Well, I think I'd set some sort of law that you actually have to purchase the album that you're actually voting on.
SAVIDGE: Yes.
SPARKS: So, I think that would drastically change the entire front. And, quite frankly, in so far as that would be concerned, Mick Jagger would be the only person legitimately performing on the stage because everybody there owns a Rolling Stones record.
SAVIDGE: And, Hal, before I let you go, anybody surprise you as far as the winners? I mean, anything shocked you?
SPARKS: No. You know what shocks me every year about the Grammys -- is people continually being shocked by the Grammys. This idea -- did you see what so and so was wearing?
How else are you supposed to stand out? I don't get it. I mean, Lady Gaga, awesome as she is, was dressed like Tina Turner in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," but kind of pastel version, and shows up in an egg. And we're literally shrugging at this point.
SAVIDGE: All right. We got to end --
SPARKS: Well, you kind of have to.
SAVIDGE: I got to end it here, Hal.
SPARKS: I showed up in an egg to dinner last night. No one cared.
SAVIDGE: All right.
DOMINICK: No wardrobe malfunction! No wardrobe malfunction!
SAVIDGE: All right, gang, we got to leave it there. Thanks so much. We want to say thanks to Hal, Pete and Eugene, who didn't see a lot of, but he's certainly weighed in with a good voice. So, thanks very much to all three of you.
Well, time now for a one-minute political update. CNN political producer Shannon Travis joins me now from Washington. Hard act to follow there -- go ahead.
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Hey there, Martin. I'll try.
Let's start with Republican governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour. You know, he's a potential presidential candidate. Well, there's a group, the NAACP of Mississippi, wants the governor of Mississippi to denounce an effort to honor a KKK, a Ku Klux Klan leader.
There's a group called the Sons of Confederate Veterans and they want to honor a Confederate general whose name is Nathan Bedford Forrest, putting his name basically on a specialty license plate, a specialty license plate. The NAACP in Mississippi says that that would be offensive. Haley Barbour, the governor, has yet to weigh in.
Moving in to another story that we've been following, Shirley Sherrod. You remember her, she was the former Department of Agriculture employee who was featured in a heavily edited video suggesting that she didn't do everything she could to help a white farmer. Well, she is now suing that person who posted that video, Andrew Breitbart. She actually served -- he was served papers over the weekend at CPAC. Shirley Sherrod alleges defamation and emotional stress in this lawsuit.
And other story, Martin, take a look at this. I noticed this earlier today, First Lady Michelle Obama and the president being depicted in a cartoon actually on another one of Breitbart's Web site BigGovernment.com. She is shown eating, looking fat, looking plump, eating a plateful of hamburgers. This kind of weighs in with Michelle Obama's initiative to help reduce childhood obesity. A lot of people accuse them of eating hamburgers and trying to tell conservatives say that Michelle Obama wants to tell America's children what to eat.
SAVIDGE: Shannon Travis, all right, thanks very much.
By the way, we are still taking your votes on the "You Choose" story of the day. Head to CNN's blog at CNN.com/Ali to vote. And you can choose from Tiger Woods fined for spitting, tips for bad breath, and then the possible outbreak at the Playboy mansion.
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SAVIDGE: All right. Now, back to our "You Choose" segment where we ask you to vote on the news. Here's the winner. There is reportedly an outbreak at the Playboy mansion and it's probably not what you're thinking. According to "The L.A. Times," dozens of people attending an event at the mansion got sick earlier this month. The complained of respiratory issues, flu symptoms and pneumonia. Some of those who got sick suspected a fog machine.
A rep for "Playboy" told "The New York Post" that, quote, "There is no truth to the rumor that anyone caught anything at the Playboy mansion. They are cooperating fully with the Health Department.
We will post the stories with about Tiger Woods and bad breath tips on Ali's blog, CNN.com/Ali.
Meanwhile, CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kaye.
