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Terror Arrest in Texas; Wisconsin Assembly Set to Vote Today; Gadhafi's Iron Fist Slipping; The Dangers of Concussions in Contact Sports

Aired February 24, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live in Studio 7, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Want to get you up to speed for Thursday, February 24th.

(SINGING)

MALVEAUX: That's the songs of joy in eastern Libya. Gadhafi opponents expanding their area of control, edging closer and closer to the capital.

The opposition holds cities across the Mediterranean coast. That is the area in red. The Libyan leader has a grip on Tripoli and the west.

And Libyan state TV today showed video of government opponents in custody. Witnesses describe a bunker-like mentality in the capital. The streets are deserted. Anyone outside risks being shot on site. Gadhafi loyalists are said to be going house to house arresting protesters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will tell you one thing I know. Two people were kidnapped at 7:00 p.m. today because they were trying to leak information and leak videos to the media outside. They're trying to send footage and spend pictures to media. It's becoming a very dangerous game.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": Why do you continue to report?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I'd rather die reporting than see him staying and give up about this war happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: A ferry filled with as many as 600 Americans remains stuck in port in Libya. Officials say it will head to Malta tomorrow if the bad weather lifts. Libya won't let the U.S. land charter flights to evacuate Americans.

And now to breaking news. A Saudi man has been arrested in Texas for allegedly buying bomb-making materials and researching U.S. targets. I want to get straight to our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, who has details about this story.

What do we know, Jeanne, about the suspect and his alleged targets?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, his name is Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari. He is 20 years old, a native of Saudi Arabia who was in the U.S. on a student visa. He was arrested late yesterday in Lubbock, Texas, where he had been living.

Now, according to the affidavit filed in this case, he was trying to obtain chemicals and create explosives to be used in improvised explosive devices. The affidavit says that he had done research on targets, including the home addresses of three Americans who had formerly served at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

He also had researched the names of 12 reservoirs and dams in the states of Colorado and California. He also mentioned, according to this affidavit, that nuclear power plants would make a good target, and also included an address for what was listed in e-mail as the tyrant's house, and listed the address for former President George W. Bush's home in Dallas. Also, according to this affidavit, he had done a lot of Internet searches on dolls and how to modify them to contain explosives and had done research into the possibility of targeting a night club in the Dallas area.

How far was he along in this plot? According to the affidavit, he had obtained some materials to make a bomb. He was seeking a third, and the company from which he was trying to buy it became suspicious and tipped off the FBI and an investigation ensued.

When they searched hits apartment, according to the affidavit, they found concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Those were two of the ingredients he needed to make TNP (ph). He also had lab equipment, clocks, and there was also a handwritten notebook in which he allegedly talked about 9/11 being his inspiration and that he was now ready to commit jihad.

Back to you.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jeanne Meserve. Breaking news out of Washington there.

Thank you, Jean.

A horrific scene in Greece. Protesters threw a gas bomb at a police officer, sparking a ring of fire, as you can see, around his neck. Colleagues quickly rescued him. Strikers are furious over the Greek government's belt-tightening measures.

And police in New Zealand say the number of dead in Tuesday's earthquake is closing in on 100. Twice that many people are still missing under the crumbled buildings of Christchurch. No one has been found alive in 24 hours now, but families are not giving up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have been trying to text my daughter's phone since I had reception just because I thought the rescuers might hear of the ring and dig down and find her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(CHANTING)

MALVEAUX: Organizers in Wisconsin are calling protesters to the streets beyond Madison today. Now, they say it will be Wisconsin's largest demonstration in history.

Teachers and other state workers, they are battling the governor's plan to restrict collective bargaining agreement. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is defending what he calls his budget repair bill. Walker says 10,000 to 12,000 state workers will be laid off soon if the plan does not pass. Now, the state assembly plans to vote on this today, but the bill is stalled in the Wisconsin Senate because all 14 Democrats left the state.

Hawaii is now the seventh state to allow civil unions. The governor signed the bill yesterday, and the new law applies to heterosexual and same-sex couples. It gives them essentially the same rights and benefits married couples enjoy starting next year.

And Space Shuttle Discovery is set to launch in just under six hours. We're watching that. It is the 39th and final flight for Discovery. Astronauts will deliver the last pieces to the International Space Station. You can go to CNN.com and watch all 132 shuttle launches in 132 seconds.

Well, here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. As the unrest in the Middle East is spreading, there are worries about gas prices, and they are urgent.

Our own Carol Costello, she is there in Washington with today's "Talk Back" question.

And, Carol, it costs me $50 to fill my tank now. It's a dramatic increase. A lot of people are wondering, how is this related to what we're seeing taking place in the Middle East?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it is related. And as one oil industry expert told me, Suzanne, let the "petronoia" begin.

Word is if the turmoil spreads in the Middle East, America's gas prices will head north, way north. It could rise to five bucks a gallon. Already, there are calls for President Obama to get ready to open up U.S. oil reserves just in case.

Haven't we been down this road before, like in 2008? Remember, gas prices hit $4.11 a gallon. Americans actually reacted. We drove less, we got rid of our SUVs. We used mass transit.

And a new campaign slogan was born -- "Drill, baby, drill." Today, the U.S. is not drilling more. We're driving just as much. Consumers are once again clamoring for SUVs and pickup trucks.

As for fuel efficiency, according to Trucar.com, hybrid cars account for just three percent of the market. The bottom line, as oil expert Tom Kolosso (ph) put it, "We like our guns, and we like our gas."

"Talk Back" today. What will it take to get serious about actually reducing our dependence on foreign oil?

Talk to me on Facebook, Facebook.com/CarolCNN And I'll read some of your comments later this hour -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Carol, it's an excellent question. You know? I mean, we drive into work. What would it take for us to take the bus or take the metro? Everybody's got to ask that question.

COSTELLO: Yes, exactly. You paid 50 bucks to fill up your gas tank, when maybe you could have taken the bus. But you didn't. I didn't either, by the way. I didn't take mass transit this morning, and I could have.

MALVEAUX: Yes, we could have. It will be interesting to see what people say, if they're willing to sacrifice anything here. Tough choices.

Thank you, Carol.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Wisconsin state workers are calling for the largest day of demonstrations in the state's history today. In just a few hours, the state assembly plans to vote on the governor's budget bill.

Jim Hoffa, the president of the Teamsters Union, got a hero's welcome Wednesday when he arrived to show his solidarity with workers fighting that bill. It would severely limit public workers' collective bargaining rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM HOFFA, TEAMSTERS GENERAL PRESIDENT: Let's face it, this is a conspiracy. Right to Work has been introduced in 13 states simultaneously. Does anybody think that's a coincidence? This is the most blatant attack on workers' rights that's ever happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Governor Scott Walker says the bill is necessary to close the state's $137 million shortfall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: What we're doing right now is not about union-busting. Not at all. It's about balancing our budget.

There's a lot of distortions out there. There's a lot of misfacts and misstatements. The more union bosses come in from Washington, the greater the lies and the deceptions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: There's a lot of people paying attention to this. Demonstrations, they have been held in at least nine other states where similar union restriction bills are being considered now.

Our CNN's Kate Bolduan, she's joining us from Madison.

And Kate, a lot of people focusing on Wisconsin because they want to know, what does this vote really mean?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that's a very good question. And yes, they absolutely are.

This is a vote in the state assembly, and they're voting on amendments right now. And it's been a very fluid process. They have actually had marathon debate for days on this budget repair bill from the governor.

We're told -- the best guidance we've got is they could get a vote, get to a final vote, as early as this afternoon, they're definitely moving toward a vote. And what this means, Suzanne, is it really depends on who you talk to.

This bill still needs to be voted on in the Senate, and that's the key vote, that's where everybody's eyes are, because that's where things are really at a standstill at the moment with the 14 Democrats, as they left the state, effectively boycotting it for this very reason. They did not want it to come to a vote because they say they want the governor to compromise.

The unions wants the governor to compromise. Everyone wants to come to the table, which as we have seen for the past two weeks, Suzanne, that no one is really ready to compromise at this moment.

So, while Republicans will likely say this vote in the assembly, if it comes today, is one step closer to getting this done and helping their constituents, as they'll say, Democrats -- I've talked to a couple of the Democrats who are out of state and they say this means nothing. This is not unexpected. It is likely to pass whenever it is voted on.

And they say it's not unexpected and that they're not budging. If anything, it's kind of fuel to their fire to stand strong on what they believe because the key vote is still in the Senate. It's very unclear, obviously, when and if that will happen.

MALVEAUX: And how is this playing out throughout the state? Because I understand these protests are growing beyond Madison.

BOLDUAN: Throughout Madison. The state workers and union members are calling this is the largest day of protests yet around the state outside of Madison, and they're calling -- they are calling -- they have protests and rallies in more than a dozen cities, really throughout the day, starting this morning, through this afternoon.

And you can see that state workers and unions are really trying to keep the energy up here. But when it comes down to what is happening, they're still at a stalemate, Suzanne. The governor, as you heard in the sound that you rolled, he is not budging. Union and state workers and their supporters, they're not budging either. So in terms of conversations that are going on and any compromise, there is no signal of any side giving in quite yet -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Kate Bolduan, thank you so much.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(NEWSBREAK)

MALVEAUX: And a political blogger's prank phone -- that's right, a prank phone call -- lands him a 20-minute chat with the governor of Wisconsin, as he battles to curb and cut the powers of unions. Can you name our "Most Intriguing Person of the Day"?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A blogger whose prank phone call landed a 20-minute conversation with the governor of Wisconsin is our "Most Intriguing Person of the Day."

He is Ian Murphy, a political writer for the BuffaloBeast.com. Murphy was able to reach and record the governor by claiming to be billionaire David Koch, a major funder of conservative causes. The conversation is posted at buffalobeast.com.

Moammar Gadhafi's son spoke to the people of Libya yesterday, saying everything is normal in Tripoli.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEIF GADHAFI, MOAMMAR GADHAFI'S SON: Today, Tripoli is quiet. Yesterday, Tripoli was quiet.

Schools are open. Banks are open. People are out normally. Life is normal here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: But Libya, it's in turmoil. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our Michael Holmes, he gives us a look at a dictator that is under siege.

Michael, we have been watching these developments here, and it was really just days ago -- I mean, no one challenged Moammar Gadhafi's rule. And now you have a country, an infrastructure, a society that is crumbling around him.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a week and a half. Amazing, isn't it? You know, Gadhafi's world is getting smaller and smaller every day, too.

I've got a map to show you.

Eastern Libya essentially has been toppled by the opposition, Tobruk, Benghazi, the coastal city of Mesrata. The protesters have driven out Gadhafi's mercenaries -- we've got to call them that -- just people from other countries wandering around with guns.

In Benghazi, the second biggest city in Libya, crowds were cheering as international journalists -- the first of them was my old mate, Ben Wedeman, driving into the city with photographer Mary Rogers (ph). And the people were yelling, "Thank you!" in English, throwing candy, dates, flowers at the crew. The only shooting that Ben said he could hear was pretty much celebratory gunfire. You can see the crowds there.

Meanwhile, we are hearing reports that young men in their 20s, guarding that city with just shotguns and clubs and knives. And it just seems that the momentum, certainly in that part of the country, is growing.

MALVEAUX: So, Michael, what do you think is left? What does the government have to hold on to now? Because this certainly looks like Moammar Gadhafi is under siege.

HOLMES: It's a shrinking empire. Isn't it?

Really, pretty much, we are talking about the capital of the area, around the capital, standing alone. Apart from some fighting in other towns as well, Gadhafi is almost painted into a corner there.

Now, what you've got to remember, when I say other cities and towns, these are localized movements. It's not as if there is an organized army, for want of a better word, of opposition fighters who are beating back Gadhafi. But the domain is crumbling, there's no doubt about that, city by city.

Gadhafi's statement, which you no doubt played back earlier, shows his desperation, another rambling speech and outlandish claims about even al Qaeda being responsible for the uprising, and the young people being drugged with hallucinogens is desperately clinging to Tripoli. Neighborhoods there, state of lockdown, pretty much. No one is allowed in or out, despite what you just heard his son say.

The crowds that were out a few days ago have fled. Government forces tightening their grip on what is really the last scrap of this falling empire.

Now, got to point out, we were hearing more and more reports of these hired mercenaries indiscriminately firing on citizens, both in Tripoli and in other places, too. And then clearing the bodies away, hiding the evidence, if you like, of what could well be a massacre. No one knows for sure.

Several reports, for example, from the town of Zawia -- now, that is just west of Tripoli -- that sort of violence is putting a lot of pressure on the international community. Of course, we heard the White House saying yesterday they are considering all options. And while it's not likely the U.S. is going in there themselves, Mr. Obama did say that a unified international response is forming against Gadhafi.

MALVEAUX: So you've got to wonder, what is left for Gadhafi in terms of his options here? Because as you mentioned, the United States, not going to go in with any kind of military force, but he is clearly a very isolated leader in a country that's very closed.

HOLMES: Yes, absolutely. And you heard it from Gadhafi's own lips. He said he's willing to die as what he calls a martyr before giving up rule.

If things continue the way they're going, he might have no choice in how he goes out. It's going to be crucial in the next day or so how these paramilitaries, not the army, the paramilitaries, the mercenaries, behave against the local population. They have no qualms about shooting people in the streets.

MALVEAUX: We'll be watching. The next 24 to 48 hours very important.

HOLMES: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Michael.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.

(NEWSBREAK)

MALVEAUX: And the Oscars are being handed out this Sunday at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. "The Social Network" has been nominated for eight awards. The movie did not portray Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the most flattering light, but somehow it does seem to have polished his image.

A.J. Hammer takes a look on the "Road to Gold."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

A.J. HAMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a blockbuster battle. In one corner, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the hero, an icon held up as an American success story.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers, of Google and Facebook.

HAMMER: In the other corner is Zuckerberg, the villain, accused of many wrongs, even of stealing the very idea of Facebook. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know he stole our idea. We know he lied to our faces for a month and a half. We certainly see a person who is where he is today absolutely because we approached him with our idea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is nothing normal about the way he conducted business. He broke the law, and that's why he got ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP "THE SOCIAL NETWORK")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys were the inventors of Facebook? You invented Facebook?

(END VIDEO CLIP, "THE SOCIAL NETWORK")

HAMMER: And now the Oscar-nominated film "The Social Network" brought millions of spectators into this two-faced fight.

AARON SMITH, SCREENWRITER: He comes across in the film as a genius, but he spends the first hour and 55 minutes of the movie being an anti-hero, the final five minutes being a tragic hero.

HAMMER: A tragic hero whose star has skyrocketed this year. Zuckerberg was named "TIME" magazine's "Person of the Year" and appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to announce a huge donation to the Newark, New Jersey, school system.

MARK ZUCKERBERG, FOUNDER, FACEBOOK: A $100 million challenge grant.

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: One hundred million dollars?

ZUCKERBERG: A hundred million dollars.

(APPLAUSE)

HAMMER: Score two in the hero column, but probably nothing can settle a battle better than "Saturday Night Live."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you two have not met?

ZUCKERBERG: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Awkward.

(LAUGHTER)

HAMMER: You may have to call this one a draw.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good luck with your video game.

HAMMER: A.J. Hammer, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Video game. And the countdown is on to Hollywood's biggest night. Join SHOWBIZ TONIGHT'S A.J. Hammer and Brooke Anderson for live red carpet access at the Oscars. "Road to Gold" airs Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN. Then, at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, get unparalleled access to the most compelling moments from the Academy Awards on our sister network, HLN.

This has got to be the envy of every kid in south lake Tahoe, California. A dad builds a giant snowman slide for his kids. That looks cool.

Depending where you live, there is a chance that every breath you take is like doing cocaine when it comes to your heart's health. We are looking at air pollution as a heart attack trigger.

What will it take for the U.S. to cut its dependence on foreign oil? Have your say in our "Talk Back" segment.

And sports and head injuries. Concussions can cause serious problems, even death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREGG DUERSON, DAVE DUERSON'S SON: It came as a complete shock to me. I didn't know he was struggling with this and I didn't know he was in this bad of shape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A shocking suicide by a former NFL player draws attention to the hard-hitting game of football. Former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson was found dead last Thursday. He shot himself in the chest because he told family members he wanted doctors to study his brain. He wanted them to see if he had a brain disease that leads to memory loss, blurred vision, even severe depression. It is caused by repeated blows to the head, and we talked to Duerson's son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUERSON: He didn't share it to me directly but he did to my mother, symptoms about memory loss, blurred version and slurred words. But he did let it down and share those things, with his last words in the form of a letter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: There is a growing discussion about the risk for football players, including young kids in pee wee leagues.

Joining me now is Dr. Julian Bailes, he is the chairman of West Virginia University's Department of Neurosurgery, and he studied head injuries among football players.

Mike Ditka is also with us, and he is a former NFL player, coach, now TV analyst. He is also the chairman of a group that provides financial assistance to former NFL players.

Thank you so much for joining us. This is a conversation that many people are having when they realize a player kills himself, shoots himself in the chest because he wants for people to study his brain. It is that serious, and you've got a lot of kids out there involved in high-impact sports.

Coach, I want to start with you. How big of a problem is this?

MIKE DITKA, FORMER NFL PLAYER/COACH: Well, you know, football is a violent game. People hit hard. You put a helmet on somebody and it the helmet becomes a security blanket. People have no fear of striking with their head or in the head because the helmet provides protection for them.

But when you also collide helmet-to-helmet, a lot of things happen to the head and then brain. And basically that's what's happened. You can't legislate hitting out of football because it is a physical sport.

But what the league has done now on concussions, they've done a good job because they're holding a guy out who has a concussion for at least one week. He has to be passed by an outside doctor, not a team doctor. So, if he's passed, then he can play the following week. So, they're doing the right thing. Can they stop it? I doubt it because football is football.

MALVEAUX: And Coach, you bring up a good point. You know, how do you stop this thing?

I want to bring it to the doctor because we take it off the field here. Concussions don't just happen in football, they can happen in so many ways. Tell us who's at risk.

DR. JULIAN BAILES, CHAIRMAN, WVU DEPARTMENT OF NEUROSURGERY: Well, really everyone who plays in contact sports or even collision sports like soccer, where head impact can happen to another player, a goalpost, the ground. So, it's a problem. It's a problem in our Military veterans who have served. So, we learn more about concussion than ever before in the last few years and we're going to continue to learn.

MALVEAUX: I want to show our viewers here. This is one of the helmets here that we got from Georgia Tech. You can see the padding inside, it's about an inch or so thick. There's foam. You've got the face guard. This is a different kind of helmet than what was used before.

But Coach, do you think this is strong enough, is this able to prevent the kinds of head injuries that we are talking about today?

DITKA: Well, the helmets we wore back in the '60s weren't very good. But I don't think there were any more head injuries back in the '60s than there are now.

As I said, when you put the helmet on, if you pick it up and you feel the weight of that helmet with a face mask on, I don't want to say that it's a weapon, but it makes you have no fear of striking with your head. That's the biggest problem.

You know, you watch rugby players, they turn their heads when he hit. And they get cauliflower ears because they don't have a helmet. But I think they have a whole lot less concussions than you have in pro football.

MALVEAUX: And Coach, you bring up a point here. You say that it gives a false sense of security to the players. But those players, you know, they're getting bigger, you know, faster, stronger, the equipment is more advanced.

Do you think it gives them a false sense of security?

DITKA: I don't think there's any question about it. I think it really does. I mean, the better the equipment, the less fear you have of hitting with it, especially with the helmet. I mean, it's what it is.

I don't know how you're going to change it because it's part of the game of football. You're taught from the time you're a kid, you strike, you keep your head up, you stick your head into the opponent. And basically that's what happened. You turn your head to one side or the other, you're going to end up with a lot of neck injuries or vertebrae injuries. So, I don't know how you're going to change it.

You take the face mask off the helmet, that might help. But then again, I don't know if people would be willing to stick their pretty faces into a pile if you don't have a face mask on them. I'm just guessing. I don't know. I just know that football is a tough sport. You hit hard. And you mentioned it.

The people are so much bigger. They're moving at a faster rate of speed. They're stronger. You can build up muscle or develop all the muscle you want to. You can't change ligaments and tendons that much. And something's got to give when you have the wrong type of collision. And when it comes to head-to-head collisions, something usually does give.

MALVEAUX: Doctor, let's talk about that, what is actually giving here. We interviewed former league MVP Kurt Warner, asked him to describe a concussion.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KURT WARNER, FORMER NFL PLAYER: It's like a mental fogginess where you almost seem like you're separated from the situation. You're in it but you're kind of looking at it from the outside looking in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: He also went onto say that he felt he was fully functional at the time and he really wasn't. So how do you diagnose someone who wants to play, they think that they're OK, but they have a concussion?

BAILES: Here's the problem in my opinion with a concussion and helmets is that helmets do a great job in preventing some parts of the injury, catastrophic hemorrhage, things like that in the brain. But the problem is, the brain can move inside the skull and it's floating in this bath of cerebral spinal fluid. So I think that's a big part of the problem.

Diagnosing a concussion also is difficult in many cases because most of the time, probably 90 percent of the time, the player does not lose consciousness. So, they're walking around. They may seem normal. So it's tough to make the diagnosis.

We're trying to err on the side of -- at every level of being extremely conservative of identifying who has confusion, who has headache, who is not processing right.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

BAILES: All of these things make it very difficult to pick it up on the sideline.

MALVEAUX: Coach, let's be real here, though. The unwritten rule in football, if you can walk, you can play. These guys, they want to play. How do you take them off the field when they're so motivated to be out there? You know, you were a coach yourself. The coaches are highly motivated to get those guys playing again.

DITKA: Yes. It has to be done by the doctor. The coach will want the player to play. The player will want to play.

I had a concussion when I played and I played the whole game with it. But when I looked at the film, I don't remember one thing that happened in the game. But, I played. I functioned. I played OK, but I don't remember any of it. I didn't remember a thing when I saw the film. So, this can happen but it's a macho thing to a degree, too.

Players don't want to come out and say, oh, you got your bell rung or you got a dinger or whatever they want to call it. But it is a concussion. And, like the doctor said, when you collide with your head, the brain does move around in the skull and you have a lot of things happen.

MALVEAUX: I want to end it with the doctor here because obviously a lot of parents are concerned about their kids playing sports, even pee wee players, high school kids, NFL teams.

What do you do to try to keep these kids safe?

BAILES: I think all of the things we've done ever since the NFL instituted the new guidelines all of the way down to youth sport. And so I think it's really understanding the signs and symptoms of concussion, learning how to realize you may have to pull a player out if he or she has symptoms. And err on the side of being conservative. Evaluate the player and then get a health care professional or physician to make the diagnosis whether or not they actually had a concussion.

MALVEAUX: Dr. Bailes, Coach Ditka, thank you so much for joining us.

Obviously a very important subject, a lot of people paying close attention to how to protect our kids as well as professional football players and those who are impacted by these type of injuries.

Thank so you much.

BAILES: Thank you.

DITKA: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: This weekend, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to take a closer look on this issue on :SANJAY GUPTA MD". Tune into "Head Games, Truth About Concussions" on Saturday, 2:30 Eastern, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: These are videos you just can't turn away from. In today's "Guilty Pleasure," a nun with some fancy moves on the dance floor. Sister Cecilia Adorni loves to do the polka. Get this, she just turned 103 on Tuesday. Sister Cecilia still holds down a job helping out at an adult day care center in Hamden, Connecticut, and she says one word is her secret to a long life. And that is joy. You rock.

In Big Lake, Minnesota, an ice sculpture on steroids. Roger Hanson (ph) built it in his backyard. It is 64 feet tall, nearly twice as high as the house, and it is 85 feet wide.

And check out this snowman slide. It took 80 hours -- yes, I don't know if you have all that time -- 80 hours of shoveling, but Ricky Rice (ph) from South Lake Tahoe, California, built it for his kids. They have got to be the envy, you can imagine, in the neighborhood.

And a reminder about your chance to "Choose the News." You vote by texting 22360. Vote 1 for a look at Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Vote 2 to see how a fitness studio that offers pole dancing is taking advantage of group coupons. Or vote 3 for the story about the boy who has turned his school assignment in Germany into a worldwide project. The winning story will air next hour.

The governor of Indiana admits that he experimented with drugs. Our own Ed Henry has that story in our CNN Political Ticker.

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MALVEAUX: Republican Mitch Daniels says when it comes to experimenting with drugs, yes, he did inhale. Our Ed Henry, part of "The Best Political Team on Television," live from the Political Desk in Washington. And, Ed, a couple of questions here. Obviously, the reaction to the governor's announcement here and how it even came about that he was talking about this.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it came about because this dates back to 1970 when he was at Princeton. "The Daily Princetonian" there was working on a story on it, he decided to do an interview and essentially come clean about it, maybe deal with it preemptively before it pops up, you know, down the road if he does gets into the presidential race.

Interesting, what he says in this interview is that he learned a valuable lesson, again, back in 1970. When he was a student in Princeton, he was caught with marijuana, charged with possession, a crime that carried a $350 fine. He did this interview with the school paper, said he learned from it.

Interesting, because drug use used to be, of course, a political death sentence for presidential candidates, but we've seen others before him deal with this, whether it's Bill Clinton, then Senator Barack Obama. So we will see what the reaction is among conservatives and whether or not they'll be upset with it, but I think it's pretty clear he's trying to deal with this sooner rather than later.

We move from drugs to money. Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, saying that he can't get into the presidential race early just cause it's too expensive. He can't give up his day job. He's got a pretty lucrative gig right now, a TV host on FOX News; he's also got a radio gig with ABC, he does speeches.

He said at a breakfast with the "Christian Science Monitor" that he basically just about went broke when he ran a few years ago the first time around. He said he even had to cash in his life insurance policy just to stay afloat. He said he promised his wife as well as god, in his words, that he would not do that again.

He also suggested the odds will be heavily stacked against whatever Republican nominee emerges in the end to face President Obama, saying it will be tough to beat the incumbent. He said it's like climbing a ladder, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Ed, tell us about what's happening at the White House with the situation in Libya. There's been kind of a back and forth. It seems like they held back, and then the president came forward very forcefully condemning what was going on. What are their options?

HENRY: Well that's the interesting next question, you're right. And among the options would be sanctions, either unilateral by the U.S. against Libya or working through the U.N. Security Council. As you know, the European Union talking about sanctions, other tough measures as well. There's talk about instituting a no-fly zone over Libya, something that Saddam Hussein had to deal with in Iraq. That was something the international community rallied behind many years ago obviously. But I think also the other big one to watch is a potential military option, potential U.S. military strikes against Libya. We underscore "potential." Our own Barbara Starr reporting a senior U.S. official says the Pentagon is drafting plans. But of course, as you know, the military drafts plans all the time. It doesn't mean the president will actually use that option, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Good point, Ed. Thank you so much.

HENRY: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: For the latest political news, you know where to go, CNNPolitics.com.

Well, unrest in the Middle East has oil prices on the rise. That headline is the subject of our "Talk Back" question today. What will it take for the United States to get serious about actually reducing our dependence on foreign oil? Post your responses on facebook.com/carolcostello (sic). She's going to be here soon in our "Talk Back" segment.

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MALVEAUX: Here's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of day. The unrest in the Middle East is sending oil prices higher and the stock markets lower. A lot of you are talking about it, and Carol Costello, she's joins us from Washington.

Carol, what are folks saying about the sacrifices and how this is impacting them personally?

COSTELLO: Lots of comments about that, Suzanne. If the turmoil in the Middle East spreads, gas prices could shoot up to, what, 5 bucks a gallon? How many times have we heard that? So our "Talk Back" question today -- What will it take to get serious about actually reducing our dependence on foreign oil?

This from Ken. He says, "As long as our politicians are accepting campaign funds from big oil companies, we will always be depends he not on oil."

This from Barry, "There is more oil underground in the United States than all we import, but goody-green-jeans keeps us from pursuing this."

This from Jeff, "$5 a gallon of gas for a period of no less than ten years, there will be nothing but wind farms and solar panels as far as the eye can see."

And this from Nick, "But, but, but...I wanna jeep."

Keep the conversation going. Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/Carol. I'll see you again on TV at the top of the hour.

MALVEAUX: He may not get that jeep, Carol, because that's not happening. COSTELLO: Not if gas prices go to $5 a gallon.

MALVEAUX: Yes, we're all going to be sacrificing.

Thanks, Carol.

Well, more than a million heart attacks happen every year in the United States, so we have question for you. According to a new medical study, what triggers more heart attacks? Is it negative emotions, air pollution, sexual activity or cocaine use? The answer just moments away.

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MALVEAUX: So we asked you what triggers more heart attacks. The answer to that question is trending online right now. According to a new study published in "The Lancet," air pollution triggers more heart attacks than any other causes like negative thoughts, sexual activity or cocaine use. Researchers looked at dozens of studies.

A story that's been hot on CNN.com, Jonathan Mann takes on his encounter with the Libya leader Gadhafi back in 2006.

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JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In person he seemed lethargic. His eyes, even behind sunglasses, seemed unfocused. His answers, through a translator, seemed rambling.

We never saw the female bodyguards, and his clothing was relatively low key, a camouflage shirt festooned with maps of Africa. But that flywhisk never stopped flying.

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MALVEAUX: And one of the most viewed CNN iReports is this video shot in a school library as the deadly quake struck in Christchurch, New Zealand.

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MALVEAUX: Fourteen-year-old Michel Topschij shot this video and says it felt like the library was getting picked up and taken away. You can see some of the other students actually taking cover.