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Grading the Airlines; Deadly Protests in Bahrain

Aired February 16, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Almost 7:00 a.m. out west and 10:00 a.m. in the east.

Happening right now on Capitol Hill, the Senate getting ready to hear about the latest threats to worldwide security. CIA director Leon Panetta talking about that with the Senate intelligence committee. Also the Senate finance committee holding a hearing on the budget.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner also talking about that.

OK. Also developing right now. United Airlines says its flight schedule should be back to normal today. You see, the company grounded its fleet of Boeing 757s to do maintenance on air data computers. 15 flights were already cancelled yesterday because of this but United says it doesn't expect any today, only short delays. Now those computers measure things like temperature and air pressure, and the company issued this statement.

"Further operational checks were necessary following a modification to the 757 air data computers. All systems have been fully functional." Well, the FAA says that United's action is voluntary. Now here's something else the FAA is saying that the skies are going to get a lot more crowded. Check it out, by 2021, 10 years from now, the government predicts that there will be one billion airline passengers.

That's a lot of boarding passes. It could also mean a lot of delays, complaints, and, yes, lost bags. But by then, you'll probably have more rights in the air, we can only hope, and on the tarmac, too. The air passenger bill of rights should be law at that point. It was officially unveiled this week, and it will make airlines give water, food, working toilets, fresh air and the option to get off the plane if there are big delays.

We are talking about three hours or more. Kate Hanni will be glad to see that bill become law because she is the founder of Flyersrights.org and has been grading the airlines performances. So Kate, let's start with the report card and the worst thing that we learned?

KATE HANNI, FOUNDER, FLYERSRIGHTS.ORG: The worst thing we learned last year was that U.S. Airways mistreated their customers and we received those complaints on our hotline and they also had the most tarmac delays of two or three or more hours. So they won our most horrifying award which is called when you're on the ground, they treat you like dirt.

PHILLIPS: What did they do specifically? Is there a certain story that stands out?

HANNI: Yes. It was a 78-year-old gentleman who did not speak English who was asked to move from his seat so that they could put a child next to their parent but he didn't understand the flight attendant, and so she had him arrested and he spent the night in jail, 78 years old.

PHILLIPS: You know, you wonder where is the common sense here, Kate?

HANNI: Exactly. I mean, it used to be that flight attendants spoke multiple languages and they would inquire what was going on with someone. They now have a trigger response to arresting people when they think somebody is violating their instructions. So I think airline passengers have been pretty miserable for about 10 years but things did improve this last year. We had four air carriers that had zero tarmac delays. Continental -

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes, I was going to say let's talk about the airlines that did the best, that got the best grade and why.

HANNI: Well, Continental Airlines, Express Jet, Hawaiian, and Alaskan were the four air carriers that had zero tarmac delays this last year. So we gave them all A+. Southwest Airlines won our heavenly skies award because they have the most flights of any air carrier in the U.S. and they had the least number of tarmac delays for an air carrier of its size and they include everything in the fare. So you don't have to wonder what your baggage fees are or if you're going have to buy a biscuit or an aisle seat or a window seat. It's all in. It's easy.

PHILLIPS: I remember too that Hawaiian and Alaskan, they have pretty darn good food. All right.

HANNI: They do.

PHILLIPS: Yes, they do.

HANNI: They do.

PHILLIPS: I'm not going to lie.

HANNI: No.

PHILLIPS: Between your efforts and also the new passenger bill of rights that's floating out there, what do you think are the two things that you really want to see change? Maybe the two things that you really want to see changed, and, more than likely will be very soon.

HANNI: Well, more than likely, we will have another increase in the bumping compensation, and a lot of airlines are overselling flights, so people are arriving every day for their flights and told they are not going to travel and the bumping compensation has not kept up with inflation, so I anticipate by April, we're going to have a new rule through the DOT that is going to increase the bumping compensation up to $650 and $1,300 depending on the length of time that you're delayed.

The second item that I believe we're going to get in April through the Department of Transportation would a refund your baggage fees if your bags are lost, damaged or don't arrive on time. And that's a really big deal for airline passengers. That's one of the hot button issues that people complain about all of the time, that their bags didn't arrive and the airlines didn't tell them that they could get compensated for things they needed to buy and they have the baggage fees that haven't been refunded to them. So we believe that's going to get rectified sometime in April.

PHILLIPS: We can hope because that drives all nuts. You are the advocate to make it all happen. Kate.

HANNI: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Kate Hanni, founder of flyersrights.org, it is always good to catch up with you. You keep fighting for us, Kate.

HANNI: I promise.

PHILLIPS: OK. Well, happening right now, a volatile mix of anger, optimism and even death in Bahrain. Today it's one of at least a half dozen Arab nations dealing with anti-government protests. It's also a critical U.S. ally in the region. The pro-democracy protest had been peaceful earlier this week until the government launched a brutal crackdown.

At least two protesters have been killed and today a nervous government is vowing justice. CNN's Zain Verjee does is in London with a closer look for us.

Zain, first off, you know, what exactly do these protesters want? When we think of Bahrain, it's very much like an American city. It's very different from, like, say, a Cairo?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. That's correct. Well, the protesters that you're seeing out on the streets want is jobs. They want housing. They want political reform. They want an elected cabinet and they want to get rid of the prime minister whose been there for ages.

Now, when you look at the pictures of the demonstrators, it's important to understand that the majority out on the streets are Shia Muslims. Bahrain is a majority Shia country but it is ruled by a minority Sunni Muslim royal family. So there have been a lot of tensions in the past where the Shias feel really oppressed by the Sunnis in that country.

The important thing also, Kyra, to note, is that the people out in the streets, although they are the majority Shias, they are also supported by Sunni elite. So it's not just about religion here, it's about nationalism and a real sense that they're all Bahraini fighting for the same thing.

PHILLIPS: Well, Bahrain is very important to the U.S.. I mean, that's where our U.S. Navy has its fifth fleet. I mean, it's massive.

VERJEE: Right. And that is absolutely critical for the United States because this is the heart, Bahrain, of a region, that is really strategically important to the United States, militarily and with the naval forces as you point out but also because the U.S. sees Bahrain as a bulwark to Shia Iran, and the U.S. is really worried that because Bahrain is a majority Shia country and Iran is Shia, Iran may try to influence the situation and shift the balance there in a way that could be volatile for the region and not favorable to the U.S..

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk more about Iran and what it's looking to do.

VERJEE: Yes. Well, you know, the biggest concerns in the west today and in much of the region around Iran is that it wants a nuclear weapons program and is actively pursuing that, and for the United States, the Iranian regime is anti-American. So while Iran tries to reach out and gain more influence in that region - I just got off the phone with someone who is actually at the protests in Bahrain, and he said that the majority political party which is Shia group say that they reject a religious regime. They reject Iran's clerical system.

So there are a lot of things that play the Sunni-Shia element and the U.S. is watching this very carefully to see what Iran does and what the Saudis do because they are Bahrain's neighbor and a strong ally to the U.S. and Sunni.

PHILLIPS: Zain Verjee, appreciate it. Thanks for weighing in for us.

Now we are talking about corruption, fraud, sex parties, under aged prostitutes. All are allegations facing the Italian playboy prime minister. And a judge has ordered Silvio Berlusconi now to stand trial in April on charges that he paid for sex and under aged prostitute and try to cover it up. The liaison allegedly happened last spring during parties at his villa.

Now one of the women who attended Berlusconi's parties is speaking out in an exclusive interview with Dan Rivers. Her name is Nicole Minetti, and she is being investigated for procuring prostitutes for the prime minister. She describes some of the parties.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICOLE MINETTI, LOMBARDY REGIONAL COUNCILOR: It was not how the evenings used to finish, I mean, in any way, absolutely not. There is a music room, let's call it, in which there can be some soft music rather than more modern music, but I would not absolutely describe it as a night club in any way.

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some of the evidence suggests that you were topless at some of these parties, that you were dressed up in some sort of uniform. Is that true? Have you ever been topless in the presence of the prime minister?

MINETTI: No, I haven't.

RIVERS: You're laughing.

MINETTI: I'm laughing because it seems - it's very much laughable. That's all I can say.

RIVERS: So you completely deny that you procured any women?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, the women or the women rather that the prime minister is accused of paying to have sex with is this dancer here nicknamed Ruby, the heart stealer. Both she and the prime minister deny ever having sex.

The West Coast getting a taste of everything on the weather front, wind, rain, snow. What else, Rob Marciano?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Wind, rain, snow, yes.

PHILLIPS: Sleet?

MARCIANO: Probably a little bit of that too. Those are the three big ones.

PHILLIPS: Hail.

MARCIANO: Those are the big three.

PHILLIPS: OK.

MARCIANO: And now everybody is getting into the act because yesterday, and the day before, it was more so the northwest, and now it's kind of getting into northern California. But now you can see on the radar, we got rain or some sort of precip all of the way from the Canadian border down to the Mexican border as well and some of that precip is in the form of snow. Snow levels pretty low here. And it is coming down (INAUDIBLE). Winter storm warnings are posted for the Sierra Nevadas, with all of these energy moving in, because we are going to be measuring snow, not just in the inches but in the feet.

As far as the rainfall goes, it's good news because it's been pretty dry actually the past month or so in parts of California. This strong jet stream will actually keep this pattern going probably for the next few days, and that's going to, well, moisten things up for sure. I think we have a live shot of San Francisco, do we? Pop it up. Give a look. Oh, yes. There you go. That's what we call a forecast verification. KGO affiliate out there and there's rain on the lens, and we expect to see more rain throughout the day today.

If you are traveling, there are delays in Chicago and Kansas City. Kansas City in the central part of the country because of fog, the snows and moisture left over from last week's blizzard and now they got temperatures that are bouncing back into the 60s and 70s and that's going to be the other big weather story, this warm area that continues to build off towards the north and east which folks in the northeast are waiting for. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, Rob.

Well, check out this surveillance tape, quite the scene in Texas when a parking garage went down in a heap. We'll tell you what happened.

And Bell City funds allegedly ransacked like a piggy bank. A former official sends an explosive e-mail that says she and her colleagues will "get the fat together."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, in the Nevada desert, it's a gamble that would have made odd makers laugh in nearby Las Vegas. A man with a dream, a lot of courage, planted a vineyard and is now growing his dream. His bold success is also "Building up America." Tom Foreman has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A few years ago, there was little reason for anyone to visit the small winery in the small town of Pahrump, Nevada, but then Bill Loken, a real estate agent and his wife, Gretchen, a teacher and both from Arizona showed up and took over. They never made wine before but after taking some courses in wine making --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This little thing is called the wine (INAUDIBLE)

FOREMAN: They settled on a simple philosophy about how to build up business.

BILL LOKEN, PAHRUMP WINNER: We are hands-on on every aspect of the business every day top to bottom.

FOREMAN: That approach has resulted in strong growth. In 2005, they produced only 100 cases of wine from Nevada-grown grapes. This year it will be closer to 2,000 cases.

BILL LOKEN: It's a myth that a winery doesn't belong in the desert because when you really look at most of California is a desert.

FOREMAN: Along with the grapes they buy from outside the state, their total output is impressive 8,000 to 10,000 cases a year, enough to employ 30 people even through bad times.

BILL LOKEN: We were fortunate enough to tighten our belt, watch how we spent our money and we made it through without laying off one person.

FOREMAN: They are still small in wine country terms.

BILL LOKEN: I think California has approximately 2,500 wineries, the state of Nevada has three.

FOREMAN: But whether it is the novelty or the quality or the personal touch with which they tend to their place.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Throw that baby.

FOREMAN: Today the Lokens proudly say business has never been better.

BILL LOKEN: Business is up to levels that we haven't seen since before the recession hit and we are back growing again and so we think the future is bright.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Pahrump, Nevada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, brutal rape, sexual assaults and abuse, all against women and men serving in our U.S. military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody wants to say that there's been a rape in their command. It just looks bad on paper.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Whose responsible? The accusers say they're being attacked by their own comrades and the Pentagon just isn't doing enough to stop it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Verbal abuse, sexual assault, even rape, by the very soldiers who are sworn to watch your back in combat. It is not just women coming forward, but men, too, and the accusers say their commanders, even the Pentagon, knew about these attacks but just didn't do enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MYLA HAIDER, PLAINTIFF: The people who commit these offenses are sexual predators who are very good at selecting their victims and tend to offend again and again, and that is a fact that is not recognized within the D.O.D. system.

SARAH ALBERTSON, PLAINTIFF: Nobody wants to say that there's been a rape within their command. It just looks bad on paper. I know, for my case, even not getting into specifics, people who did believe me and who had my back and were supportive of me, were still telling me, "don't tell anybody about this, don't go public."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So now these women are part of a class action lawsuit filed by more than a dozen members of the U.S. military claiming the U.S. Defense Department mishandled their claims and they want change. The lawsuit even names defense secretaries Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld as defendants.

Now listen to these numbers. Last year more than 2,400 military women openly reported sexual assault. That doesn't include the 900 assaults filed confidentially by women, so traumatized that they were just afraid to come forward.

Well, the Pentagon won't comment on the lawsuit but press Secretary Geoff Morrell says that the Pentagon is doing all it can, and while "this is now a command priority, there is clearly still more work to do."

Anu Bhagwati is consulting on the lawsuit. She is the executive director for the Service Women's Action Network and she joins us live in Washington.

So (INAUDIBLE), this makes me think of the military suicides and how that was ignored for so long and the number just grew. Now we're talking about rape, and the same type of scenario of just turning a blind eye. Why?

ANU BHAGWATI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SERVICE WOMEN'S ACTION NETWORK: Right. The military has a hard time dealing with systemic institutional failures. In this case, with military rape and sexual assault, we are talking about a systemic failure to protect service members from a hostile workplace environment. As you indicated, this is a problem that affects men and women. We have two plaintiffs that are men, but men actually are under even more stress in reporting than women in the sense that it's harder to report if you're a man because there is so much gender stigma in the military.

PHILLIPS: Interesting, harder for a man to come forward. Well, I mean, and how effective can a command be when you don't trust that individual standing next to you?

BHAGWATI: Right. Unfortunately, command discretion is what works in the military. It's a complete failure, though. What you have is commanders adjudicating cases in there are own unit between a victim and alleged perpetrator. I mean this is ridiculous and in the corporate world a boss would never be adjudicated in a criminal case between two employees. But that's what we have in the military. What we need is a third party system to adjudicate all sexual assault and harassment cases.

I mean, in these cases that you'll read, in this complaints, there are egregious cases in which victims were both sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, fiscally brutalized and psychologically tortured by their perpetrators, the commanders knew about this and often times ignored the case altogether and forced the victim to work alongside her or his perpetrator, to live with, to be under the supervision of their perpetrators. I mean, these are really egregious cases, and I hope the American public is outraged when they found out about this.

PHILLIPS: Well, I think that outrage has already come to the surface and that's why we are talking about it on a national level. Now that it is out there and you're hearing from these women and you're also seeing that the Pentagon won't comment on the lawsuit, that's really frustrating, too. Are you confident that we will see change now that it's being talked about more on the national level?

BHAGWATI: Absolutely. If we keep the pressure on policy makers and on the Department of Defense, they can't get away with this climate anymore. I mean, we've spent millions of dollars. We've had task forces, we've had studies. We already know that this problem has reached a crisis point. What we need is policy change and we need Congress members to step up and acknowledge that the DOD cannot handle this crisis in-house. It's time to take it outside the DOT.

PHILLIPS: Anu Bhagwati, appreciate your time again today, Anu.

BHAGWATI: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: It's an easy high and it's even easier to get your hands on. Cocaine, like drugs marketed as bath salts and people can buy it without ever leaving their homes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's go cross country for a little basketball and senior night in Old (INAUDIBLE) High School in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. A lot of applause and tears filled the school gymnasium when Kyle Ijen walked actually for the first time in five years after injuring his spine in a football game. Ijen says that he always knew he would defy the odds and walk again.

New York City, a cab driver being hailed as a hero there. He returned $100,000 in jewelry, cash and other valuables, to left by a rider who actually left it in the taxi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN JAMES, LEFT VALUABLES IN NYC CAB: I realized that the picks were in the tote bag with the jewelry, with the money, with the trust checks. It just became a living nightmare.

ZUBIRU MOHAMMED JALLOH, NEW YORK CAB DRIVER: He was so happy, and he offered me a reward and I told him I don't want a reward. It's my job to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, a credit card receipt helped the cabbie track down the rider and earned him a $1,000 reward.

All right. We wrapped it up in Austin, Texas, watch the surveillance tape as a seven-story parking garage in that construction at University Hospital, just collapses. Two workers were injured. That (INAUDIBLE) actually caved in when a pair of support columns gave way.

A board game classic is getting an upgrade. Monopoly going high tech. No more stack of pink, blue and orange bills, no more dice.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Poisonous powder often compared to meth and cocaine is perfectly legal, easily available and just about anyone can get their hands on it. It's marketed as bath salts, sometimes plant food or insect repellent. And it's a popular trend among our teens.

Now states are racing to make the drug illegal. Louisiana, North Dakota and Florida have all issued emergency bans while lawmakers in several other states have introduced bills to do the same. And you don't even have to leave home to get it.

Deb Feyerick live in New York. So, Deb it is pretty easy to get your hands on this stuff.

DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. As a matter of fact, Kyra, this is it. We ordered it. If I were in Florida -- not New York, this would actually be a felony. The container itself is about two ounces, and it looks like a light talcum powder. Poison control centers around the country are reporting an uptick in calls about these bath salts. Authorities saying that people are winding up in emergency rooms, psychiatric wards, and this is a dangerous game really of Russian roulette.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: This one's called Bliss. It's 500 milligrams. People have taken as little as 10 milligrams and had really bad reactions to it - hallucinations, suicidal impulses. Basically it took us less than two minutes to order this fake cocaine.

FEYERICK (voice-over): But demand is so high, the seller calls to say it's sold out. Instead we'll get something twice as potent called Serenity Now.

FEYERICK (on camera): On a scale of one to 10, I mean, how scary is this, would you say?

GARY BOGGS, DEA SPECIAL AGENT: I'd say - I'd say 15.

FEYERICK (voice-over): After it arrives, we open one of the small vials in front of DEA Special Agent Gary Boggs.

FEYERICK (on camera): It looks like cocaine.

BOGGS: I don't know anyone that buys bath salts in a quarter gram or half gram and they spend $40 or $50 for that.

FEYERICK (voice-over): And it's done in total anonymity.

BOGGS: With drugs like these, there's no back street, you know, alleyways where you're meeting your drug dealer or whatever. You just Google it.

FEYERICK (on camera): Right.

BOGGS: You know, you Google your drug dealer and you've got it delivered to your own home with a credit card.

FEYERICK (voice-over): The package doesn't say what's in it or how much to take.

BOGGS: How it affects you may not be the same way it affects me or someone else. You could take it one day and be fine, take it another day and have a completely different response.

FEYERICK: Triggering in some cases severe psychotic episodes.

FEYERICK (on camera): How big is the threat, the danger?

BOGGS: You just don't know what you're buying. You don't know what you're putting in your body. The long-term effects of these drugs can be very dangerous.

FEYERICK: So technically I'm holding a jar of poison and somebody could very well ingest this?

BOGGS: That's - that's exactly right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now, tests show this chemical is MDDP or methadrone. We searched it on YouTube. One man who was reportedly on these bath salts appeared almost possessed. He just simply could not stop moving. Another talked about how addictive and overpowering the craving for it had become.

But this is a really big concern to the Drug Enforcement Administration. They're trying to get the word out. Florida banned it, Kyra, because they were concerned that with spring break coming up, some people will try this and really be hurt by it, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, Deb, where does it come from?

FEYERICK: Well, it comes from places like Pakistan, China, India. It's completely unregulated, and nobody knows exactly what's in it. And there's really no sort of legitimate use for this. You can't put it in a bath. It's going to do nothing except dissolve and smell really bad. As a matter of fact, it does. There is a very sharp smell to this.

So, there is no legitimate use for it. The fact that someone would either ingest it or snort it somehow really defies the public imagination when it comes to law enforcement officials who say how can they be putting this in? They have no idea what's in this little container.

PHILLIPS: Deb, we'll definitely follow the story with you, find out what happens with the substance and if anything is done to stop it. Deb Feyerick, thank you.

Well, it's half past the hour right now. Let's check on our stories today. Bahrain, thousands of people attend the funeral procession of a pro-democracy protester. He and another protester were killed in a government crackdown. The kingdom now says it has arrested the people responsible and is promising new reform.

Two agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, driving near Mexico City forced off the road and surrounded by possible drug thugs. One of the agent is killed; the other wounded. We are told they were just doing routine work and driving an armored vehicle with diplomatic tags.

And on Capitol Hill, some of the president's top men trying to sell his proposed budget to skeptical lawmakers. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is testifying, along with Admiral Mike Mullen, joint chiefs chairman. They have a tough sell, though. It's come under fire from both the left and the right.

Stock market opening bell rang just about an hour ago. Taking a look at the numbers. Dow Industrials up almost 68 points.

No dice, no money. Monopoly is going high tech. Stephanie Elam is following this. It's not like what we grew up with! It's not the same if you don't have that paper money, Steph!

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The paper money is what it was all about. Seriously! And all the little homes and hotels, and I always had to be the horse. My sister was always the thimble. These were very important things for people who played Monopoly.

But it's not going away - OK, it's not going away, because you can still buy the old version. But there is a new Monopoly coming along called Monopoly Live. The whole thing you see there is -- that speaker thing in the middle, it's a computer. And it tells you what to do. There is no rule book anymore. They found out that kids don't really want that and they want kids playing Monopoly again. They're having a hard time competing against video games these days.

So, now there is also a racetrack. See that little yellow car? It's a racetrack because every now and again, you have to actually bet on races. And the computer regulates everything. It knows how fast the game is going. And if it is getting kind of sluggish, it will just throw in random things and says hey, we're going to have an auction right now, and little things it has to do.

So, some people are looking at this and saying, hey, sure. We know a lot of people cheat on Monopoly. I think we can all think of one person who cheated at Monopoly at least all the time. I can think of one or two.

PHILLIPS: Snag a bill here and there, absolutely!

ELAM: Right! Hide it underneath here. "No, no, you landed on my property, count again." Not that I have three older brothers or anything like that.

But this has become something that people say you are taking away all of the fun because actually some of those bending of the rules or each house has a rule, you know -- every family plays their own way, is creative and useful. And some saying that this is taking away the social interaction because you are sitting back and letting the computer tell you what to do.

Others are saying you know, that the company says, Hasbro says, this is actually increasing social interaction.

So, it will be 50 bucks. And it's not just going to be Monopoly. Battleship is also going to get the live treatment later on. And maybe we are showing our age by talking about the fact that it seems weird that a computer tells you what to do. But the longest game ever in history, 70 -- 70 straight days of Monopoly.

PHILLIPS: Whoa. Wow, I don't think I ever made it that long.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Fun, but not that fun.

ELAM: I know I didn't.

PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. All right, Steph. Thanks.

Have you heard about Bernie's bombshell? Bernie Madoff, that is. The man among con men giving his first published interview since he was arrested two years ago. "The New York Times" actually talked to him in the North Carolina prison where he is serving 150 years. Madoff told the paper there's no way banks and hedge funds were clueless about his monster pyramid scheme. You know, the $85 billion fraud that ruined so many peoples lives. He tells The Times, quote, "They had to know but the attitude was sort of, 'If you're doing something wrong, we don't want to know.'" Until now, Madoff said he acted alone. Madoff still says his family had no idea what he was up to.

And the story about Bell, California, just keep getting juicier, like bacon cooking on the skillet. Remember Bell, that tiny, poor town that put government corruption on the map? A city manager making about $800,000. Other officials making huge salaries for doing hardly no work, sometimes no work at all.

And when the people found out their leaders might be bleeding them dry, they hit the streets in protest. Ran a lot of those folks out of office, and out of town.

Eight people now face corruption charges. Robert Rizzo, how can you forget this guy? The former city manager accused of being the ringleader. Prosecutors now showing e-mails from 2009 that say that Rizzo and his assistant, Angela Spaccia, plundered the town's bank accounts and tried to hide their actions.

Take a look at this. This one is between Spaccia and the now former police chief, Randy Adams. Randy Adams actually writes, quote, "I'm looking forward to seeing you and taking all of Bell's money." Spaccia responds and "LOL. Well, you can take your share of that pie, just like us. We will all get fat together. Bob" -- talking about Rizzo - "has an expression he likes to use on occasion. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. So long as we're not hogs, all is well." There's that juicy bacon we were talking about.

E-mail never dies, folks. Adams was making about 450 grand per year. He was never indicted because there was no proof that he took the money illegally.

All right. Love and marriage go together. You know the song. But what about love and living together? Apparently it's the new popular routine. Just ditch the altar, get a great pad, shack up. We're talking about living in sin, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Okay, step one. You meet Mr. Or Mrs. Right. Step two, you get the bling, you tie the knot. Step three, move in together, buy the perfect pad.

Now, that's been the relationship protocol for generations. But you know what? It's changing. More couples are nixing the second step and just shacking up without the wedding, the rings, and all of the rice in the hair.

Just over half of American adults were married in 2009, according to the Population Reference Bureau. That's the lowest percentage since the census began taking marriage data a century ago. But the number of couples living together is through the roof. The most recent census says eight million couples are living together outside of marriage. That's up one million from just a year ago.

So, why are so many people choosing to forego marriage and just live in sin? Christine Eads and Molly Dedham know what I'm talking about. If you ever listen to their show "Broad Minded" on Sirius XM, you will hear for yourself how these sassy broads know all about men, sex and sin.

CHRISTINE EADS, SIRIUS XM RADIO HOST: Oh, yes.

(LAUGHTER)

MOLLY DEDHAM, SIRIUS XM RADIO HOST: Kyra, you couldn't have picked two better people to talk about this.

PHILLIPS: Oh, I know! And I wish our viewers could have seen you during the break. That's a whole other story!

EADS: You want the dance? You want the little dance?

PHILLIPS: Oh, Lord.

All right, ladies. You always have frank sex talks on your show, that's for sure. They happen all the time. And they used to say no one wants to buy the cow if you can get the milk for free. So, do you think co-habitating hurts a couple's chances of making it long term?

EADS: Well, I just think it's a little bit different now. First of all, women are thinking a whole different thing. That whole princess walking down the aisle when you are young, kind of that dream is different. We are now working and doing a whole lot of different things.

And quite frankly, I'd rather just kind of be able to go home and like you said, have him in the sack than have to deal with all of the responsibility that goes with it.

(LAUGHTER)

EADS: So, why would you? What's the point.

DEDHAM: Yes. Kyra, what's happening here is people are getting better in bed, OK? Because of this, and this is what people aren't talking about.

PHILLIPS: Really?

DEDHAM: Yes!

PHILLIPS: You really think it comes down to that?

EADS: Yes, because --

PHILLIPS: Greater sexual freedom?

DEDHAM: Yes, absolutely, because as soon as you get married, you look at the person different. Obviously, we haven't been married, but we have experience with men, and I think really, the co-habitation before marriage leads to better sex.

(LAUGHTER)

EADS: We only do co-habitation, by the way. That's all we ever do. It's really --

PHILLIPS: I'm going to get flooded with e-mails from all these people, probably men and women, that are going to be very anxious to meet you.

What about -- but, if you do look at the woman nowadays, I mean, more women are graduating from college. They're more financially independent, and there's also this greater social acceptance of being unmarried and living together.

EADS: Right.

DEDHAM: Well, I think this is what's happening with couples. Now -- women aren't identifying themselves with the man --

EADS: Through a man, yes.

DEDHAM: In other words, they can be in a relationship and still figure out who they are. So, therefore, their needs are different. They don't necessarily need the financial aspect. They're not lonely. They just enjoy being with that person.

So, I think women are more independent of their identity. It's not like, oh, my God, I have to be with a guy. I have to be married. I think this is the good thing that comes out of this.

EADS: Although, I'll take the married guy and the money without the piece of paper. Because I mean, even though I'm working, if he's got money, I'll take it. And don't need a piece of paper. No preup necessary here! We'll take it just the way it is.

DEDHAM: I mean, bottom line is, my dream, Kyra, is to be a stay- at-home wife without the kids.

EADS: Folding underwear!

DEDHAM: I just haven't found that guy yet. But I'm looking forward to it.

EADS: Who needs to work?

PHILLIPS: I can tell -- you guys love to work.

EADS: We do!

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you this, too, because you guys talk about a lot of celebrities and celeb marriages and all of that. Do you think Hollywood is sort of making an impact on this? Because so many of them get married, they have these multimillion-dollar weddings, they have these 10-carat rings and it's flushed down the toilet in just a couple of months.

EADS: I mean, yes.

DEDHAM: Kelsey Grammar.

EADS: Kelsey Grammer. Charlie Sheen, for example. What, he's had, three or four marriages under his belt in five years.

But look at the people that didn't get married, like Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, lasts forever and they didn't walk down the aisle. Something works when you don't do it.

DEDHAM: And celebrities are superstitious, too. I mean, I think if you take Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Maybe there's a you know, karmic reason they are not getting married because they're afraid -

EADS: It's going to ruin everything.

DEDHAM: It's going to ruin everything. I mean, you hear about couples that date for years, ten years. They're engaged. They get married, and it's over in a month. I think there's superstitions with actors.

EADS: Definitely. And times have changed. You don't need it anymore. It's not necessarily something you have to have.

Would it be nice if you found the right person and you felt like you could make that commitment and that piece of paper wouldn't make a difference? But I think people are thinking twice before doing it and making sure now that it is absolutely right.

But then again, there are people like my parents that have been married happily for 47 years.

PHILLIPS: And look how fabulous you turned out.

EADS: I can't keep a relationship. I have these great parents as role models, and I don't know what the heck I'm doing.

PHILLIPS: You're a modern woman. Christine Eads and Molly Dedham, my guess is now there will be a lot more people tuning into your show because they can see now, not just hear how dynamic and fun you guys are.

The show is "Broad Minded." It's on Sirius XM. I've been lucky enough to have some fun with these sassy broads. Catch them every day in the morning. They're a blast.

Thanks, guys! You got to come back.

EADS: You're great! We'll be back.

DEDHAM: Oh, we'll be back. Yes, we'll be back.

PHILLIPS: Let me know how your latest dates go.

EADS: Oh, I'm doing Match! I've got plenty of them for you. C'mon, Kyra!

DEDHAM: It's been a while, the two of us. It's been a long time, if you know what I mean.

EADS: It's a nightmare.

DEDHAM: Wink, wink.

PHILLIPS: We'll be back after this!

(LAUGHTER)

DEDHAM: Toodles!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it looks like the Democratic National Committee chair has his eye on a new job. Mark Preston has that for us in D.C. Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Kyra, how are you?

Yes, Tim Kaine, a former Virginia governor as well. And he is seriously considering running for the Senate seat that is being vacated by Jim Webb, a Democrat who has decided to retire at the end of 2012.

Now, Tim Kaine is the head of the DNC, as you said, and he is going to speak to President Obama in the next couple of days, according to "The Richmond-Times Dispatch" about whether he should run.

Now, several other Democrats are considering it, a couple former congressman, and as well on the Republican side, former senator George Allen as well as a Tea Party activist. So, we have to find out in the next couple days what Tim Kaine decides.

One person who is deciding to run for election is Charlie Rangel. He is 81 years old and as our viewers remember, he was censured by the House last year for some tax problems. Charlie Rangel, who first took his seat in 1971, has filed papers with the Federal Election Commission. He is going to try for a 22nd term. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Mark Preston, appreciate it. We're going to have your next political update in just about an hour. And a reminder, you can always go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.

All right. The widow of actor Patrick Swayze will be in Washington to push for increased funding for pancreatic research. You'll remember, Swayze died of the disease in September of 2009. So, Lisa Swayze is going to join lawmakers today to announce the reintroduction of the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act.

Also, some promising news regarding prostate cancer. A new study's out. Animal testing may not be necessary for some men. Dutch researchers found that men whose first prostate or PSA blood test comes back under 3.0 may not need yearly testing. And those whose levels are 2.0 can likely go eight years without before being retested. But those men with PSA levels 3 and higher should have prostate biopsies, which is a more aggressive standard than current regulations.

And the recipe for Coca-Cola under lock and key. One of corporate America's best-kept secrets. But an old newspaper article is causing a stir, claiming to actually spill the formula. Is it the real thing?

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The recipe for Coca-Cola. Your chances of seeing it are as good as your chances of finding a Pepsi machine in the Coke museum. But has the recipe been revealed? Martin Savidge investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT(on camera): So this article that was written by Charles Salter basically talks how the author had an encounter with a gentleman, a pharmacist, who had a ledger, and in that ledger, supposedly, was the recipe for Coca-Cola.

And here is a photograph, if I move it over. And it may not show up too well on camera, but listed here are all the ingredients, supposedly, for Coca-Cola.

(voice-over): But could that really be the recipe? That led me to my next stop.

(on camera): Since Atlanta is home to the world headquarters of Coca-Cola, we thought, "Well, what better place to come to start looking for answers?"

(on camera): Bill, how long have you been a historian with Coca- Cola?

PAUL MOONEY, COCA-COLA ARCHIVIST: I've been here 33 years.

(voice-over): In a courtyard I meet a man who knows a lot about Coke's past.

SAVIDGE (on camera): Is the secret of Coca-Cola, the recipe, is it here?

MOONEY: Well, it's actually not in our headquarters building. It's actually in a vault in the SunTrust Bank.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): That's in downtown Atlanta. And Phil says only a handful of executives actually know the recipe. He's very familiar with the 1979 Atlanta Journal article.

(on camera) Is that the formula for Coca-Cola?

MOONEY: No, it's not. I mean, the formula for Coca-Cola is probably the most closely-guarded secret in the history of American commerce.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Phil says every couple of years somebody claims to have an old document, believing it's the recipe for the original Coke, only it's not. He says what they are, are early attempts from the 1900s when others tried to replicate the recipe. In other words, they are cola recipes, but they are not the real thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, Conan O'Brien reports this rather about the big Coke recipe mystery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": Last Friday, this is strange, NCR's "This American Life," reported they may have stumbled upon the secret formula to Coca-Cola. The surprising thing the secret ingredient is Pepsi.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: No one saw that coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That does it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Suzanne Malveaux who likes Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, what do you like?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I'm a Coke gal. I loved that. That was so funny, that joke. You're a Pepsi gal?

PHILLIPS: No, I'm Coke. I'm with you, the real thing.

MALVEAUX: All right, good. There you go. Thanks, Kyra.