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The Emotional Wounds Of War; Libya Protests Equals More Money For Oil; Condemning Violence In Libya; U.S. State Department Urges All Non-Essential U.S. Embassy Members to Leave Libya; Remembering Our Favorite Presidents on President's Day; Protests Continue in Wisconsin; Bahrain F1 Grand Prix Cancelled

Aired February 21, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is now 1:00 on the East Coast, it is 10:00 a.m. on the West Coast. I'm Martin Savidge. Thanks for joining us. Let's get started.

The people say we want freedom, we want democracy. The government says, that's treason and warns of a fierce civil war. While those comments could come from any number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa, they are, indeed, coming from Libya, and neither side is showing any sign of backing down.

Let me bring you up to speed on the very latest developments. The U.S. state department is now telling nonessential personnel and family of embassy employees to leave Libya, now.

For his part, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is warning the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to stop attacking pro-democracy protesters and respect basic freedoms. The two spoke, today, by phone, and Amid reports that Libyan security forces were raiding so-called nests of destruction and warning citizens to cooperate.

Now, we also have word from Malta, just north of Libya, in the Mediterranean Sea, that two Libyan fighter jets and two civilian helicopters landed there, unexpectedly. We don't know why. We don't know who. But we'll keep trying to find out.

(VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: As in Iran, it's near impossible to do any independent reporting in the land that Gadhafi has ruled, single handedly, since 1969. This is amateur video of violent protests yesterday in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.

Ben ghazi Libya's second largest city has apparently fallen to anti- government protesters. One of Gadhafi's sons went on state TV yesterday to offer, quote, "Radical Democratic reforms." But only if the uprising ends. Otherwise, he warned of a civil war a thousand times worse, that's a quote, than in Libya's neighbors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAIF AL-ISLAM GADHAFI, SON OF PRESIDENT MOAMMAR GADHAFI (translator): We're not Egypt. We're not Tunisia. We will have weapons. Everyone has access to weapons. Instead of crying over 84 killed people, we'll be crying over thousands. Blood will flow. Rivers of blood. In all the cities of Libya.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Apparently undeterred, protesters went after state run TV last night and knocked it off the air for several hours. We've also had reports that Libya's security headquarters has been set on fire.

Pro-government demonstrators are on the streets, as well, voluntarily or otherwise, but there also has been some high ranking defections from the regime.

Libya's ambassador, the Arab League, stepped down over the weekend. The justice minister reportedly quit, today, and Libya's deputy ambassador to the U.N. is publicly accusing Gadhafi of genocide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IBRAHIM DABBASHI, LIBYAN DEPUTY AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: There are more than 60 people killed, according to the information we get, but I am sure that the number is much higher than this. We are expecting real genocide in Tripoli. The (INAUDIBLE) are still bringing the messengers (ph) to the airports.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The U.S. is, of course, watching this whole situation very closely. Jill Dougherty joins me now from Washington. And, Jill, unlike Egypt, the U.S. really doesn't have a lot of leverage with the Libyan government, does it?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That is true, Martin. They definitely don't. One of the reasons is that relations, between the United States and Libya, have been strained. And also the leadership of Libya, itself, Moammar Gadhafi, the colonel, has really burnished his reputation as a revolutionary and as a person who, essentially, does not care what the outside world says. And, so, this is creating real problems.

At many levels, both to senior and any other level that the united States can find, at this point, they are trying to drive home that message that the violence really does have to stop, that Libyans are entitled to demonstrate on the street and express their opinions as everyone else, and that they are urging the government, as much as they can, of course, to stop that violence, and anyone who is responsible for it should be held to account.

SAVIDGE: I understand, Jill, that the state department has issued a warning to American travelers over there in Libya. Just who would be traveling over there? What Americans go there and why?

DOUGHERTY: Well, you know, there are some businesses, certainly. The biggest countries, of course, are Italy and the U.K., in terms of business, but there are business people there. And then, also, it concerns staff at the U.S. embassy. That could be families or nonessential personnel, and they are being ordered out because there is grave concern that you're seeing these demonstrations in many different parts of the country, now. It's spreading, at least now, to the capitol. And it's very unclear because of the lack of media and lack of nongovernmental organizations, human rights groups, to, really, report on what's happening. So, it could be very dangerous for people to go.

(CROSSTALK)

SAVIDGE: Well, while you are here, I want to ask you about Pakistan, because it's been pushed to the side with all of these developments.

DOUGHERTY: Right.

SAVIDGE: I want to find out -- there was an American that is being detained for a shooting in that country, and what do we know today about that?

DOUGHERTY: Well, you know, just two seconds ago, I was on a briefing to get some background on this. This is a case of Raymond Davis. He was with the consulate in Lahore, and a U.S. official has confirmed he was an independent contractor to the CIA, providing security services, and that he was scouting locations. They are claiming, very vociferously, that he was not a type of case officer or, let's say, a paramilitary officer. Davis was driving down in some traffic. He was stopped and two men, he says, tried to rob him. He shot them and he killed them.

So, now, he is in custody and a big diplomatic flap has emerged. The U.S., just a few minutes ago, again, confirming that international law is very clear. They argue that Raymond Davis has diplomatic immunity. The Pakistanis, apparently, are arguing differently but it is very murky exactly what is the case by the Pakistani government.

In the meantime, a lot is being put on hold. A very important meeting with Pakistan was put on hold. And although, at this point, the U.S. is saying, they are not going to -- not contemplating stopping economic aid to Pakistan, it has really had an impact on relations -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: It certainly does. Jill Dougherty at the state department. Thanks very much.

And coming up in ten minutes on "your money" we'll talk to Christine Romans about how the Libyan protests are affecting U.S. gasoline prices.

All right. Now, let's go to Madison, Wisconsin, where schools are closed for a fourth day and Presidents' Day has nothing to do with it. Teachers, other public workers, and lots of their supporters are still protesting the governor's attempt to help close a budget shortfall and take away union bargaining rights in the process. And 14 Senate Democrats are still watching all of this from afar. Not so our Casey Wian. He is in the middle of the nation's most visible political standoff. And, Casey, nowadays, that is really saying something. CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Martin. We can see that the protesters starting to gain a little steam, today. You can see, across the street from me, we've got protesters marching around the state capitol, showing their opposition to this proposed legislation that would severely restrict the collective bargaining rights of teachers and other public sector unions in this state.

But the real action, Martin, is inside the state capitol building. Throughout the week, we've had people spending the night -- hundreds of people spending the night and, today, partially, because of the bad weather. It's snowing a little bit out here. People have gathered, by the thousands, inside, again. Raucous crowds chanting their slogans opposing this legislation proposed by the governor and supported by members of the Tea Party and others -- conservatives throughout the state this week. We have seen no evidence of any of those folks here, today, but there have been a lot of teachers and other people opposing this bill. Let's hear what one of them had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIELLE HASSMAN, TEACHER: I can pay some insurance. I can do that. I can do it. But I -- things need to be fair. I want public and private workers to be paid equally and, right now, we're even a little bit under paid with our benefits. Let's keep it equal but I am willing to give up some.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: A couple developments that teachers met, yesterday afternoon, and decided to go back to work later this week. Today is a holiday for many schools. Some are actually in school, today, here, in Wisconsin. But we're expect most of the teachers to go back to work, perhaps, tomorrow.

We don't know about the state legislature. They're expected to be in session, tomorrow, but, so far, we're hearing that the state Democratic senators remain outside of the state so they don't have the quorum to move this legislation forward. There is some talk of a potential compromise bill put forward by some moderate Republicans. We don't know if the governor is going to even listen to that idea, but we know that the governor has scheduled a news conference for 5:00, local time, this afternoon, perhaps, he'll have something new to say about this issue. Up until now, he has, basically, said no compromise until those Democrats return to the state -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: All right. Casey Wian is in the thick of things in Madison, Wisconsin. Thanks very much. We appreciate that.

Checking some of our other "Top Stories" this hour. A California TV news crew got a little too close for comfort, Sunday, as they attempted to cover a memorial service outside an i-Hop for a man that was shot and killed there, overnight. When the reporter and the photographer moved in, the agitated mourners turned into an angry mob.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you don't --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What you going to do? What you going to do? Let me go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The female photographer was knocked on the ground, as you saw. She wasn't seriously injured. Neither was the reporter. No arrests have been made but police say they are taking a look at the tapes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Message.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My kid is not here anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My kid is not here. He's dead because of him! He ruined my [bleep] life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: A mother's rage caught on camera. That's Sandy Fonzo, lashed out at a former Pennsylvania judge, Mark Ciavarella, Friday, after the verdict in his corruption trial in Scranton. Prosecutors say the judge took kickbacks from the developer of a privately owned detention facility for a minor drug offense, in 2003. Fonzo says, her son, only 17-years-old, at the time, never got over the ordeal. Last June, he committed suicide.

A U.S. Navy war ship and some Navy helicopters were on the trail of a hijacked yacht sailing the Indian Ocean with four Americans aboard. The yacht is the S/V Quest. It's owned by Jean and Scott Adam of California, seen here. The other two Americans onboard are identified as Fillies McKay and Bob Wriggle. Now, it's believed Somali pirates seized the yacht, Friday, off the coast of Yemen. The vessel is now reportedly somewhere between Yemen and Somalia.

Well, they are veterans of America's wars and they're homeless mothers. How they got that way and how they're being helped, coming up next.

And today is Presidents Day, and we want to know who is your favorite U.S. president and why? Head to CNN.com/ali and leave your comments. You can also leave your comments on Ali's Facebook and Twitter pages.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: They served their country in the U.S. military, some even in wars like Afghanistan and Iraq. Back home, they continue to battle their own issues, and they're still raging as they battle demons so overwhelming they are now homeless. These vets are women not men. CNN's Barbara Starr has their story.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Imagine, a female homeless veteran with children. Where does she turn for help?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice over): If she walks up to this table and sat down, you would not know what these women have been through. There's laughter and gentle smiles but there is, also, a certain wariness. These women have slept in alleys, lived in their cars, gone hungry for days.

DRUSCILLA, HOMELESS VETERAN (on-camera): I am so blessed that he came here.

STARR (voice-over): All of these women are military veterans, some recently back from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, all are homeless. They are, now, at this southern California program run by the nonprofit U.S. vets initiative. Many offer only a first name. Druscilla was in the Army.

DRISCULLA: We go through a lot of financial problems. We go through emotional problems. We go through physical problems -- health problems. And it just pushes a lot of us over the edge to the point where sometimes we wind up having a lot of psychological problems. And it makes it difficult for us to focus and for us to make it out here in society.

STARR: There are struggles to remain clean and sober. Addiction remains a constant threat. Stephen Peck, president of U.S. Vets, says it's more than just the trauma of war.

STARR (on camera): What are they coming back with? How do they wind up in these circumstances?

STEPHEN PECK, PRESIDENT, U.S. VETS: There is a kind of shocking amount of sexual harassment and actual sexual assault going on. So a significant portion of them are coming back with sexual trauma. And if that is layered on top of that PTSD, then that is a very complex case and that woman cannot start her life until she addresses that.

STARR (voice-over): Peck points out an area that is about to become a very special place. Homeless women will be able to live here with their children.

STARR (on camera): You're now taking this to the next step and including children in the process.

PECK: We'll be able to take nine women with their children and provide all the requisite services for the women. Their children will be able to go into child care here on site.

STARR (voice-over): Vernita, a homeless Iraq veteran, knows the pain of not being with her children.

VERNITA, HOMELESS VETERAN: The children are expecting mommy to be mommy. Mommy's not that same person anymore basically. The husband is expecting their wife to be the same wife that she was supposed to be when she left. It's not going to be the same anymore basically and --

STARR (on camera): Do you have kids?

VERNITA: I have kids. Yes, I do. They're not with me.

STARR: And that is part of the price that women are paying, isn't it, right now? Does everybody feel that way?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

VERNITA: Yes. And that's kind of sort of what happened to me. You know, stressful relationships.

STARR: Even now there are new worries that some federal funding for women's counseling programs may be cut. Stephen Peck is again swinging into action to try and make sure that doesn't happen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: That report from our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

Libya and your wallet and mine. How the country's crisis is costing us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: In an address last night on Libyan TV, Moammar Gadhafi's son warned the country about the prospect of civil war over its oil resources.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAIF EL-ISLAM GADHAFI, SON OF LIBYAN PRES. MOAMMAR GADHAFI (through translator): Blood will flow. Rivers of blood in all the cities of Libya. And you will immigrate from Libya because petro will stop. And tomorrow all foreign companies, all foreigners will leave tomorrow. All petro companies will leave. Petro will stop. And from tomorrow there won't be any petro. There won't be any money. You won't even find a piece of bread.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Well, if you've filled your tank up in the past week, you already know that prices are going up. Christine Romans is here to explain more about the connection between protests and the price at the pump.

Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE": Between petro, between money, and bread, right? Look --

SAVIDGE: That is a stretch (ph). ROMANS: You've got a situation in Libya where this is actually an oil exporter. A member of OPEC, the big oil producing cartel. It is the largest proven reserves of oil, Marty, in Africa, just ahead of Nigeria. So this is an oil producer. And when you have the son of the leader saying that the petro will stop, even if it is a threat, even if it is rhetoric, it is something that international investors take very close notice of.

And you've got crude oil prices up about 6 percent here today. And the United States imports about 80,000 barrels a day from Libya. Libya exports an awful lot of oil to Europe as well. So this is something that people are taking notice to.

We've already had gasoline prices rise. This is just another reason why many analysts are saying, Martin, that gasoline prices will continue to rise. Gas here in this country is about $3.17 a gallon. A year ago it was $2.64.

If you want some good news, I guess, it's still 22 percent below where it was in the bad old days of the summer of 2008 when it was $4.11. But when you have a major oil producing country like Libya with the largest proven reserves in Africa, when you have that kind of tension and concern, it's certainly something that affects markets. And we're seeing that here.

Also we're seeing gold prices up, up pretty substantially. They were about $1,406 to the ounce right now. There is just this sort of flight to safety, as they say. The inflation trade is still alive and well. Investors and speculators, Martin, are putting their money into some of these things that they know are valuable, they know the world needs, like gas, oil, and some of these precious metals.

Martin.

SAVIDGE: And the oil situation, this is not as a result of some sort of shortage. This is, what, speculation driving up the price?

ROMANS: Yes. I mean when you look at demand, the demand scenario, you've got high demand for heating oil in the northeast in this country and heating oil futures have been up, too. But you have -- any time there's uncertainty in something that is stretched so thin as this balance between supply and demand in the world for crude oil, it drives the prices higher.

You've also got a lot of different commodities that have been moving higher on the speculation that even as the world economy is growing, huge demand from China, Russia, India, Brazil. There's just a lot of reasons, fundamental reasons, why people are putting money into oil. And then when you hear something like this, you see what's happening in Libya, investors just say, well, all the more reason to buy more.

SAVIDGE: Sure.

ROMANS: So that's where we sit right now. On about two and a half year highs overall for energy prices.

SAVIDGE: All right, Christine Romans. We'll rely on you to keep us posted. Thank you very much.

And be sure to tune in to "Your Bottom Line." That's each Saturday morning at 9:30 Eastern. "Your Money" airs Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3:00.

All right, now a look at our top stories.

Gunfire continues to ring out in parts of Libya. Libyan helicopter gunships are firing into crowds of protesters. This according to the National Front For The Salvation Of Libya. That's an opposition group. CNN was unable to confirm the report independently. Anti- government demonstrations demanding an end to the 42-year rule of Moammar Gadhafi have reached now day seven. Human Rights Watch says that it's estimated the death toll has also reached 233. Reports claim that the Libyan justice minister has resigned in protest of the, quote, "bloody situation and the use of excessive force," unquote, against protesters. Gadhafi's son has warned of a possible civil war if protesters do not back down.

In this country, crowds continue to gather in Madison, Wisconsin, over that budget proposed by Republican Governor Scott Walker. Walker says that the bill is designed to address the state's deficit but many state workers claim it's an attempt to bust their union. Democratic state senators continue their boycott aimed at preventing a vote. Governor Walker will hold a press conference at 6:00 p.m., that's Eastern time, today.

Well, the flu is now circulating in all 50 states. According to the Center for Disease Control, January and February are the peak flu months. Each year, about 200,000 Americans are hospitalized with that virus. Thirty-seven thousand will die. The CDC encourages flu vaccinations for people over six months old. Health experts say talk to your doctor before getting the shot.

Well, it may be a federal holiday, but it's no day off for the president. Coming up, our Ed Henry will fill us in. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: President Obama is condemning the brutal crackdown by Libya's leaders and says that he wants them to punish anyone involved. It is a situation that is worsening by the moment. CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry joins us at this time every day for our "Stakeout."

And, Ed, is the president in contact with the Libyan leader?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he has not spoken directly to him, Marty. But you know what's fascinating about this is, as you say, he's monitoring it. Here we are on Presidents' Day. He's been getting briefings over the last couple of days from his senior staff.

And think about it. It was less than a month ago that the president had that big State of the Union address where, what did we talk about? We talked all about jobs, jobs, jobs. He said the U.S. was going to out innovate, out compete other countries and that basically it was all about the economy and jobs. And instead, since that point in late January, it's really actually been just about all about foreign policy.

I was talking to one of the president's senior aides about this yesterday and he said, look, it's basically been a seven-day around- the-clock sprint each week over the last month or so in terms of reacting to all of these potential crises and Libya is just the latest. And so you had Gadhafi's son, one of his sons out there last night giving this kind of rambling speech. U.S. officials say they're trying to take a closer look at that and go back and watch the tape to see if there were any clues as to whether there will be meaningful reform there. It seems unlikely they'll find those clues.

And, secondly, they say that they're weighing every possible consequence, every possible response. But as you were talking to Jill Dougherty earlier, there's very little leverage the U.S. has at this point. So it's a lot of just kind of monitoring and waiting to see what happens next, just like the rest of us.

SAVIDGE: The situation, the difference between Libya and Egypt. Egypt, of course, the U.S. had a very close relationship. Libya, as you just pointed out, we don't seem to have much of one at all.

HENRY: Yes. We only reopened diplomatic relations, the U.S. did, back in the second Bush administration, just a couple of years ago, when Gadhafi came forward with some of his weapons programs. The U.S. at the time, the Bush administration, really hailed that as a big foreign policy achievement and said that basically the tough stance that then President Bush was taking against Iran and others over their nuclear ambitions really kind of forced Gadhafi to step forward and reveal more than he wanted to.

But obviously since that point in the last couple of years, it hasn't really gotten us very far in terms of diplomatic relations. So you're right. I mean, Egypt had been a key ally for decades. That is a key difference here. But I think the president is going to try even as he monitors this to keep the focus back on jobs in the economy like I mentioned. He's going to Cleveland tomorrow for yet another tour.

He's basically since the State of the Union, every single week gone out somewhere in the heartland. And let's not forget that Ohio is another one of those places where we're starting to see some of these protests pop up, not quite as large as Wisconsin, but labor unions upset about some of the cutbacks they're hearing from the new Republican Governor John Kasich talks about limiting collective bargaining rights like we've heard in Wisconsin.

So some of these big domestic political issues are still going to play out for the president day in and day out. But it's very clear these national security issues are really dominating right now, Marty.

SAVIDGE: Ed Henry on this President's Day standing outside the president's house, as he always talks to us on the Stakeout.

Thanks, Ed. HENRY: Great to see you.

SAVIDGE: Want to be a more effective leader? You can simply by learning a few lessons from some great men in this country's history. I'll explain in a couple of minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Happening now. Protesters appear to be ignoring warnings from the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. He went on state television to warn that rivers of blood will flow unless the protests stop. Despite that threat, we're getting eyewitness reports of continued rioting. Reports say the protesters set fire to a government building and ransacked state TV headquarters. An opposition group claims helicopter gunships fired into crowds of protesters. Over the weekend the central government apparently lost control of Benghazi, Libya's second largest city.

Meanwhile here in the United States, protests continue for a seventh day at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Over the weekend the head of the Wisconsin Education Association called on teachers to go back to work. Some protesters say they're not going anywhere. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has scheduled a news conference for later today.

Elsewhere, the University of Arizona has announced that it will create a National Institute for Civil Discourse. Officials say that it was inspired by last month's Tucson shootings.

Well, it's President's Day. And while this day is widely known for its deals on cars and mattresses, it's also a good opportunity to take a step back and think about the leadership of our country. In the last half century according to a CNN/Opinion Research Poll you see here, President John F. Kennedy ranks first with an 85 percent approval rating. Bill Clinton is second followed by Ronald Reagan with 68 percent. Only two former presidents received ratings under 50 percent -- Richard Nixon and George W. Bush.

So I want to bring in Nick Ragone, now from New York. Nick's new book "Presidential Leadership: 15 decisions that Changed the Nations" goes on sale today, President's Day.

Nick, let's get back to that poll and public opinion about the presidents and how those opinions may change over time. I'm wondering if they get a bit like wine. We tend to think that we get little better ideas of the president over the separation of time.

What do you think?

NICK RAGONE, AUTHOR, "PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP": That is certainly the case. There is no doubt about it. If you look at Harry Truman, he left the presidency with some of the lowest poll ratings ever and, you know, 40 years later we look back and he's considered either near- great or great.

Even Eisenhower, too. He left office and people thought he was kind of an amiable, grandfatherly figure. Now we look back and he was much more in control. I think the same is happening now with Reagan. We celebrated his centennial two weeks ago and I think people are starting to now starting to appreciate all that he got done in his eight years. So I think that's most definitely the case.

SAVIDGE: Not everybody, though. I mean, Richard Nixon, we saw by the poll is still down. And, of course George W. Bush, I suppose because he's so recently left the White House.

RAGONE: Yes. I mean, with Richard Nixon, it's a unique circumstance. Watergate, you know, after he died in '94 there was a little bit of revisionism and people are starting to warm up to him. But with the release of the Watergate tapes, that just absolutely hurt his image and he can't seem to get away from that.

I think with George H.W. Bush you're right. It's only been a couple years now. It'll take at least 20 years before we start to look at some of the memoirs and confidential papers and other remembrances to see if there is something different than we remembered.

SAVIDGE: And I want to talk about the current president, President Obama. And of course he has a lot on his plate, the economy, then you've got events happening overseas, you've got two wars.

And is there any other president in recent time that has faced this kind of turmoil both overseas and at home?

RAGONE: Well, certainly Franklin Roosevelt had the economy as well as a two-front war. I mean, that was, you know, a big situation. But I think Ronald Reagan would be an interesting comparison. He had the recession of '81 and '82. He also had the Cold War. It was at its coldest in the early '80s, and he was -- he took on soviet communism. I write about it in my book the Evil Empire speech.

So I think, you know, if you look at Obama right now, with the economy, and as Ed Henry mentioned before, he's being distracted by all these situations overseas, it reminds me a little bit of Reagan during the '81, '82, '83 years.

SAVIDGE: And your book, I mean, it isn't just to remind us of the tough decisions that these presidents had to make. There's actually examples here that we can sort of apply, whether it's to our own personal lives at home or whether it's in our business, right?

RAGONE: Yes. I mean, there's great leadership principles. We think about leadership from a business perspective or sports, but we should think about the presidents, as well. It's a great institution to study. It's transparent, it's stressful, and we score it every four years.

Some of the behaviors in this book that I track, being decisive, Harry Truman was decisive in firing McArthur. Even Gerald Ford was decisive in pardoning Nixon. Evolving your thought over time. Abraham Lincoln evolved into the Emancipation Proclamation. He was flexible in his thinking. And ultimately staying on message.

Again, Ed henry mentioned the White House is frustrated with being unable to stay on message. But a lot of the great presidents, Woodrow Wilson, FDR and Lend-Lease, they had a message and they told it over and over and over again. I think those are good leadership principles for all of us to remember in our daily lives.

SAVIDGE: You know, we tend to think that the president has all of these people telling or giving advice. But in the end the president makes the decision and in many cases by himself, right?

RAGONE: Yes, absolutely. I mean, if you look at Truman's decision to drop the bomb. He had people around him but it was ultimately a gut instinct that he had about it. Ronald Reagan and the Evil Empire speech. Those around him didn't think he should say it. They thought it was impolitic and unpresidential and he thought outside. He said, you know what, I want to call them for what they are and he went ahead and did it.

A lot of times some of the momentous decisions in this country were closely held decisions. It wasn't a lot of focus grouping and testing, but rather what do my instincts tell me about it and I'm going to go ahead and do it.

SAVIDGE: All right. We got to get out of here because of time constraints. But, I want you to tell me, who's your favorite president real quick?

RAGONE: Abe Lincoln. I have a newfound respect for Harry Truman, though. was really impressed at his leadership.

SAVIDGE: OK. The name of the book, "Presidential Leadership: 15 Decisions that Changed the Nation" goes on sale today.

Nick, thanks very much.

RAGONE: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Switching gears. Total chaos in Libya. At least that's the way it seems. Can Gadhafi survive the growing protests? We'll talk about it coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The crisis in Libya appears to be deteriorating by the hour. In Washington, the State Department today ordered U.S. embassy family members and nonemergency personnel to leave the country -- I think that should be nonessential.

And an opposition group claims that the Libyan helicopter gunships have now been firing on protesters. Foreign reporters are barred from Libya and CNN is unable to independently confirm the report.

The key question can the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi survive this most serious threat to his power since he seized control in a military coup in 1969? His son warns of civil war if the protests continue. State television reports security forces have raided what it calls nests of destruction and horror. This coming after protesters reportedly set fire to government buildings in the capital, that's Tripoli, and that occurred yesterday.

And then the government has apparently lost control of the country's second biggest city of Benghazi, after days of violent demonstrations have effectively opened up the eastern part of (INAUDIBLE).

Anti-government protests are also continuing in the Gulf State of Bahrain. And today the government canceled a Formula One Grand Prix race that was scheduled next month. Protesters had threatened to disrupt the event.

CNN's Arwa Damon is following all these developments in Bahrain's capital of Manama, and she now joins us.

Arwa, what is the situation tonight there?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, tonight it is fairly quiet. The anti-government demonstration continuing down at Pearl roundabout where it has taken up something of a permanent appearance with people setting up tents, some even furniture in front of them. Families are camped out, all of them insisting they are not going to back down at this stage.

We also saw pro-government rallies fairly sizable. And it is the first time that anyone here can remember that the pro-government rallies have taken place in response to the anti-government ones.

When it comes to the Formula One race, that is no longer going to see its opening race held in Bahrain. That was a decision taken by the Bahraini government, something that was quite difficult for them especially for the Crown Prince, who considers this to be his own pet project.

But this is something of a victory for the demonstrators who view these types of event as being an example of elitist extravagance. They point to the hundreds of millions of dollars that the Bahraini government spent building that lavish track and that it spends just trying to draw in people to this event as being an example of how the government is willing to spend money on these types of events but it fails to spend money when it comes to dealing with its own people.

But it is still a very tricky and sensitive situation here, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Arwa, any updates on those protesters that were shot a number of days ago?

DAMON: Yes, Martin. The shooting you are referring to happening on Friday, when we saw protesters trying to take back Pearl Roundabout, marching towards the military and police with their hands in the air chanting "Peaceful, peaceful." And then the military opened fire.

There was one young man, 20 years old, who took a bullet to the head, dramatic video of that on YouTube. And we did just learn today that he did pass away, a funeral to be held for him tomorrow, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Arwa Damon in Bahrain -- thank you.

Forty-six minutes past the hour, an update now on our top stories.

The American being held in Pakistan on charges of killing two Pakistanis worked for the CIA. A U.S. official says that Raymond Davis was an independent contractor for the CIA at the time of the shooting last month. Davis says the men were trying to rob him. The shootings have increased tensions between the U.S. and the Pakistani government.

The high stakes protests over Wisconsin's state budget continue with no end in sight. Republican Governor Scott Walker says that he is sticking to his plan to reduce collective bargaining rights for teachers and most other public employees. Union leaders say if that's the case, their protests will go on. And those Senate Democrats who fled the state last week to delay the plan vow not to return to allow it to pass.

You're looking at the youngest driver to ever win the Daytona 500, Trevor Bayne. Not is the younger driver to win, but he is the first rookie to do it. And he turned 20 years old the day before yesterday's race. His reaction -- quote, "I never thought in a million years we were going to win our first one." Good for him.

Every day on the show, we do what we like to call "The Big I" segment. And it's all about the big ideas and big new ideas. Well, how about a bomb-sniffing rat? We'll explain how it works.

Actually, it's mice. Mice have the incredible ability to be afraid of certain smells so mice are trained to be afraid of this smell of explosives. Get it. Those trained mice are then placed in concealed cartridges that are then placed in a detection system similar to a metal detector. Now, when mice smell explosives on people who walk through -- well, the mice run away from the scent into a chamber where an alarm goes off.

Here to explain the accuracy of the technology is Eran Lumbroso. And he is the founder of BioExplorers. And he joins us live from Israel.

Thank you very much for being with us.

This really is pretty fascinating stuff. How accurate are these bomb- sniffing mice? And how do you avoid false positives?

ERAN LUMBROSO, FOUNDER, BIOEXPLORERS: Thank you.

They are very accurate because we have a very sensitive sense of smell and combined with the very high specificity of the laboratory mice. And on top of that, we have multiple sensors which means we consider a system alarm, only a few of them are reacting or doing the action of moving to the outer compartment. So, it is very, very accurate.

At the last field test in Azriely, which is a very famous shopping center here in Israel, more than a thousand people passed through the gate. All of them simulating suicide bombers were detected and just one false alarm out of all of those more than a hundred -- more than a thousand people.

SAVIDGE: Wow. That's an amazing result there. How quickly can these mice be trained to do this kind of work?

LUMBROSO: It depends on how many scents you want to train them to and how low a threshold you want to go down to. But it is completely automatic system; it doesn't depend on skilled trainers. It's completely controlled and everything is collected on a data base, all the parameters are controlled and collected by the computer.

SAVIDGE: And I presume, I'm sorry, but I presume the benefits here -- before we run out of time -- are: one, this is relatively inexpensive; and, two, you could pretty much use it anywhere. I mean, you don't necessarily have to have electricity in order to see how the mice react, right?

LUMBROSO: No. It's actually a machine, so you have to -- it's a -- the laboratory mice are actually integrated into a machine system. If we want to move them -- to them -- we need some kind of electricity and connected to a computer and then controlling the system and collecting the data from the reporting sensors. So, it's a machine combined with the sensitivity of bi-sensors.

SAVIDGE: OK. Well, we thank you so much.

That's Eran Lumbroso talking about mice being used to find explosives. It's a fascinating concept in "The Big I" today. Thank you very much.

And if you want to check out that BioExplorers' Web site, you can head to Ali's blog, that's CNN.com/Ali.

Bombshells are being lobbed at Sarah Palin -- all part of the new tell-all book by a former member of her inner circle. That's ahead on our CNN political update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Time now for a CNN political update and an admission from one Republican presidential hopeful.

CNN national political correspondent Jessica Yellin joins me now from Washington -- Jessica.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Marty.

The admission is from Mike Huckabee, the one-time pastor and a FOX News commentator who, may or may not be running for president on 2012. On "Good Morning America" today, he said, "Don't underestimate President Obama." He said he thinks he will be, quote, "tough to beat eye."

And when asked why he hasn't announced if he plans to run or not, Huckabee gave one of those priceless Huckabee quotes, he said, "It's not always smart to be the first guy out of the corral and out there in the arena riding around on your pony by yourself. In fact, Marty, one Republican consultant said to me this year, the game among Republicans is who can be the last to get into the race.

Switching gears, this is a story you teased a little bit earlier. A former staffer to then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin says that she frequently hated her job when she was governor. This comes out in a tell-all book that was leaked to the press prematurely. The author worked for Governor Palin beginning in 2006 when she was running for office, through the end. And he said she was often incredibly frustrated with the investigations against her and the -- her political opponents, as we well know, but he says that she said she often said I, quote, "hate this damn job." Sarah PAC, which represents Sarah Palin or her political action committee, wouldn't comment on the story.

SAVIDGE: Real quick, Jessica. Tomorrow is Election Day in Chicago. How do things look for Rahm Emanuel in the mayoral race tomorrow?

YELLIN: Looking pretty good for him, very good for him. But he has to clear 50 percent if he hopes to avoid a runoff. And that could be pretty touch and go with this many candidates in the race. But we will be there to cover it. If he does have to face a runoff, that would be in April. I'll be there in Chicago tomorrow, Martin, and no doubt talking to you from much colder situations.

SAVIDGE: All right. Well, I'll look forward to that. I don't know about you. Thanks very much.

YELLIN: All right.

SAVIDGE: Your next update from "The Best Political Team on Television" is just one hour away.

Well, a petty thief takes dumb to a whole new level. Up next, the brainless bandit behind bars after a house call from mom.

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SAVIDGE: Topping our "Odds and Ends" today: utter foolishness and a phone call from a mom lands one brainless burglar in the slammer. A Massachusetts family was shocked when they arrived home to find it ransacked -- items strewn on the floor, doors broken, glass all over the place. And then amidst the chaos, a strange sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard like the phone ringing and the ring sounded really like -- it didn't sound like any of our phones. I went to my mom's room. There was a number calling.

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SAVIDGE: That number calling? Well, that was mom, the burglar's mom, that's right. Suspect Sean Conlon left his cell phone in the house that he just robbed. Police called Conlon back, and informed her what had gone down, and then the son, well, he went down straight to jail. Police say he admitted to breaking into half a dozen homes in the neighborhood.

All right. Now, to a phone call from a man who probably wanted his mom after being chased by a furry four-legged -- well, just listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your phone is breaking there. What's got you hemmed up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A llama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A llama?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, he was all over me and that car, both.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Don't you know it. A North Carolina man called 911 after he says a llama, this llama, by the way, tried to attack him. Ronnie Griffin says the llama named Henry, chased him down a road and forced him to jump into his car for cover. Henry's owner says the llama just likes to smell new people and that he's really cute and cuddly.

All right.