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Libyans Welcome Journalists; Wisconsin Assembly to Vote on Unions Power to Bargain; Americans Stuck in Libya; Concussions and Football; Talk Back Question; CNN Challenge; Impressions of Gadhafi
Aired February 24, 2011 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Want to get you up to speed with some breaking news we have.
A 20-year-old Saudi man is in FBI custody in Texas today. He is charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. They say that targets may have included the home of former president George W. Bush.
(CHANTING)
MALVEAUX: They are calling eastern Libya "Free Libya" today. Moammar Gadhafi's opponents grabbed even more territory. The opposition now holds cities across the Mediterranean coast in that area in red you see. The Libyan leader has a grip on Tripoli and the west.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is one of the first Western journalists to report from Benghazi. Now, the uprising against Gadhafi began in that city just eight short days ago, but unlike Egypt, where journalists faced some angry mobs, Libyan protesters, well, they are welcoming Westerners to tell their story to the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When they saw us arrive, they just exploded with cheers and clapping, people saying, " Thank you, thank you" in English, throwing candy and dates inside the car. I mean, the only thing I can really think of, or I thought of at the time, was it was like being the first American soldier in a Jeep driving into Paris after the fall in 1944.
(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. That's if the bad weather lifts. Libya won't let the U.S. land charter flights to evacuate Americans.
Police in New Zealand say that the number of dead in Tuesday's earthquake is closing in on 100 today. That is twice that many people are missing under these crumbled buildings in Christchurch. No one has been found alive for 24 hours now, but the families are not giving up. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been trying to text my daughter's phone since I have reception just because I thought the rescuers might hear the ring and dig down and find her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Hawaii is now the seventh state to allow civil unions. The governor signed the bill yesterday. The new law applies to heterosexual and same-sex couples. It gives them essentially the same rights and legal benefits married couples enjoy starting next year.
And congressional Democrats are planning a bill to repeal the federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The push comes after the Obama administration announced that it would no longer defend that law in court. Now, the president and attorney general say the law is unconstitutional and discriminates against same-sex couples.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST : What's especially striking about Attorney General Holder's letter to Speaker Boehner on this subject is that if you follow its implications, it really suggests that this administration is about to embrace the notion that gay people should have the right to get married.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: There are now more than 1,000 hate groups operating in the United States. That is the highest number the Southern Poverty Law Center has seen since it began tracking all of this. So check out the map.
The red means there's at least one hate group operating in that state. The darker red means more groups are there. The biggest growth has been in militia and patriot groups.
Well, the Wisconsin Assembly is expected to vote on a controversial budget bill in just a few hours. It would severely limit union bargaining powers.
Our CNN's Kate Bolduan, she is in Madison with the very latest.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Suzanne.
Yes, the assembly is moving towards a vote on this budget repair bill, but all eyes remain on the Senate, which is effectively still remaining at a standstill as those 14 Democrats are still out of state, and they cannot bring this budget bill to a debate and to a vote at this moment. And that's exactly the point, and that's why they fled the state.
But as both sides are showing very little sign of backing down from their position, we're starting to get news of people around the state are already starting to potentially feel the effects of the uncertainty surrounding this debate, as well as the uncertainty about the coming budget that the governor has said will probably include a lot of funding cuts to the cities and the districts. We've learned of a school district just about an hour northeast of where we are here in Madison that has already put -- it's a very small school district -- put 34 of its teachers, all of its teaching staff, which includes 32 teachers and a librarian and a guidance counselor, all on notice that they could potentially be laid off next year.
The superintendent says this is all because of the uncertainty surrounding the debate going on here in Madison, as well as they don't know what kind of funding decrease that they may see in the coming budget. Obviously, it's a very somber mood there, very difficult to be able to do that. And of course they're hoping to not have to lay off anyone, but he says they have to plan ahead, and these are the tough decisions that people across the state and districts across the state are starting to have to take a serious look at.
Very ironically, one of the people that has been put on notice for potentially be laid off come next year is the Senate majority leader, a Republican, Scott Fitzgerald. His wife is a guidance counselor in this district. And she herself, we're told, has been put on notice of potentially losing their jobs.
So, real effects are already starting to be felt. Of course, these people have not been laid off yet, but they're all starting the process of starting to have to warn people that there is potential for that -- Suzanne.
BALDWIN: All right. Kate, thanks so much. A lot of people keeping a close eye on the story you're following there. It's going to impact a lot of folks. Thank you, Kate.
Now, here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. As the unrest in the Middle East spreads, there are worries about gas prices, and it is becoming more urgent.
Carol Costello, she's in Washington. She joins us with today's "Talk Back" question.
Carol, I guess people are going to have to make some sacrifices, but that's pretty tough.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is pretty tough. But, Suzanne, as one oil industry expert told me, let the "petronoia" begin.
Word is if the turmoil spreads in the Middle East, America's gas prices will head north. Way north. They could rise to $5 a gallon. Already, there are calls for President Obama to get ready to open the 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. Bottom line? As an oil expert Tom Collossa (ph) put it, "We like our guns and we like our gas."
So, "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. I'll read your comments later this hour -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Carol, I'm aging myself, but I remember back in the '70s we had that huge station wagon. I was just a kid, and those gas lines were unbelievable at the gas stations there. It was a time you all remember. It kind of changed our lives.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. Interesting you bring that up, because Tom Collossa says the last time leadership took a really strong role in getting America to reduce its dependence on foreign oil was during the Jimmy Carter era, and we all know how that went. Not well.
MALVEAUX: And we didn't have great hairstyles back then either. That didn't go so well. But we'll see how all of this shakes out, if people actually are going to adjust to the changing time.
Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Don't forget to "Choose the News." You just text us here for the story that you want to see in detail, and it will air.
So, your choices are in the tent with Moammar Gadhafi, Jonathan Mann's impressions after two interviews with Libya's leader. Or a small business owner's experience with coupons for pole dancing. Or a German school kid goes global with his class project to help save the environment.
So all you've got to do is text 22360. Vote 1 for impressions of Gadhafi; 2 for pole dancing coupons; or 3 for Felix the Forest King.
The winning story airs in less than an hour.
Governments around the world, they're making a run for it to get their citizens out of Libya now. But the U.S. efforts, they are now stalled. A ferry that was chartered by the State Department to evacuate Americans, it's stuck in port in Tripoli.
Our foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty, she is at the State Department.
And Jill, they said there was really bad weather, that that was the cause here. Is that really what's going on, or is there something more to this?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what we're being told by senior officials, that it really is the weather. It's severe weather in that region, especially high winds. And that is having an effect certainly on that ferry.
The latest, just a few minutes ago I got an update. The ferry will not leave until the weather improves. That is one thing. A senior U.S. official tells me that we believe that a substantial number of Americans who do want to leave are on that ferry. And then also, the weather is affecting planes. The State Department had a plane chartered for today, in fact, to go in, but they were not, we are told, able to get it in because of the weather. They hope that tomorrow, Friday, they'll be able to get a charter plane in.
And another thing that I think is important to point out, there have been previous reports that the U.S. was saying Libyan officials wouldn't let them land planes. That is not, according to this official, the case.
It's actually more the system in Libya right now is under stress, as he put it. It's been very, as you can imagine, chaotic and difficult to get people out. It's not that they are stopping people. It's that they have not been able to physically manage it.
MALVEAUX: OK. Thanks for the clarification.
I know the Obama administration initially said the president did not come out and speak because they wanted to make sure that the Americans were safely out of Libya. We saw the president on camera condemning the violence there, but there are Americans who are essentially stuck in Libya and, for lack of a better term, sitting ducks right now.
Does it create any kind of concern for their safety?
DOUGHERTY: Well, there still is high concern for the safety of the people who are on that ferry. If you notice what the president said, he did not go after Moammar Gadhafi personally. He kept it pretty much, you'd have to say, in line with the strong diplomatic statements, but nothing really specifically, let's say, insulting. That's the problem.
This is a very unpredictable leader, Colonel Gadhafi. The idea is you would not want to start something with him and pay the price with Americans who might be used as pawns or even hostages.
MALVEAUX: Jill, finally, do you get any sense there's concern that they're just all sitting there, that if Gadhafi wanted to do something he could? Do they feel confident for now they're OK and safe? DOUGHERTY: I would say it's very cautious optimism that once the weather clears up, that that ship will be able to leave. That said, you know, on the ground it's very unpredictable, and then you also have the leader who is unpredictable. At this point, no one is saying that there is any direct threat to those Americans.
MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you for clarifying that. Thank you, Jill.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We've been following the story about those Americans who are essentially stuck in Libya, really no way of getting out at the moment. They're waiting for essentially a ferry to cross over into Malta.
We have on the phone Dena Drotar. Her mother actually is one of the those people that is out there. Her mother is hoping to leave fairly soon.
Dena, what can you tell us about your conversation and what your mother told you about the state of affairs? She's on the ferry right now. How is she doing? What is she experiencing?
Well, I think they're experiencing anxiety. But at this point, I think in the last six days they may have had six hours of sleep. So they're also getting a little bit giddy.
MALVEAUX: Where is she now? Where is your mother?
DENA DROTAR, MOTHER STUCK ON FERRY IN LIBYA (via telephone): She's on the ferry, along with the other 22 teachers from the American School of Tripoli. There's, I guess, 600 passengers, so it's not only Americans, but it's mostly Americans.
MALVEAUX: Does she have food? Does she have water?
DROTAR: Well, yesterday -- or last night, when I spoke with her, they were running out of food, but today she said that somebody was bringing some food or fruit in. So that's good. I don't know about the water.
MALVEAUX: How did she contact you? When did you hear from her?
DROTAR: Amazingly enough, she's got a Libyan cell phone that's been completely dead since this whole thing started a week ago, and somehow yesterday it rang, and it was that number. So she had been trying it, and it somehow worked. There's also somebody on the ferry that has some kind of device that can bounce off of satellites, and so they have been able to send intermittent e-mails.
MALVEAUX: Dena, what did your mom say to you when you first picked up the phone?
DROTAR: That she loves me. MALVEAUX: What did you -- was she emotional?
DROTAR: You know what? My mom's the director of the American School, and so she is in the place right now where she needs to be a leader. And so I don't believe that she is going to let herself get emotional until that ferry lands in Malta. She needs to be strong for the teachers and, you know, try to keep a level head.
MALVEAUX: Sure, sure.
Well, Dena, we really appreciate the phone call and we hope the very best for your mom, that she remains strong and she's able to get out as quickly as possible.
Thank you, Dena.
DROTAR: Me, too. Thank you. Bye-bye.
MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you.
Tragedy continues to unfold in New Zealand. At least 98 people have been killed by Tuesday's earthquake, and the death toll, it's expected to rise.
Hundreds remain missing. Among them, almost 30 visiting students from Japan. And yet, we are still hearing some incredible stories of survival.
Malou Silerio was away from her home when the quake shook it to the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALOU SILERIO, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: We cried and cried because we're grateful, we were so grateful for that. If we were inside, we can't even run, because the shake was so quick, so strong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Couldn't escape that thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Michael Holmes is here with the latest out of New Zealand for today's edition of "Global Trekking."
And Michael, we're entering the fourth day of this tragedy. And it's hard to understand whether or not there are any good stories, any survival stories.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's tragic. And you're right. I mean, time is moving on now.
You mentioned the death toll there, 98 officially. But local police, they've got -- well, they call it grave fears for the hundreds still missing under the rubble, somewhere between 260, 270 missing at moment. They're having difficulty, too, identifying the bodies they have found because of the condition the quake left those bodies in. Those crumpled buildings all over, the bodies, have done a lot of damage. A lot of people had to be taken out after having their limbs amputated as well. The quake was a 6.3 magnitude, hit on Tuesday if you remember.
Now, authorities are saying that they've completely given up the hope of rescuing up to 120 people they believe were trapped in that CTV, Canterbury Television, building in downtown Christchurch. They say they are 100 percent certain no one in that building is alive. The same difficult news thought to be of victims trapped in another major building there, the Pyne Gould building, in the same area of the city.
MALVEAUX: That is so heartbreaking.
HOLMES: It is, yes.
MALVEAUX: I mean, how are the rescue workers dealing with that reality, that now they have to give up on actually searching?
HOLMES: It is a difficult call, isn't it? But they say that they have to be realistic so they can move resources from those sites where they think the chances of survival are nil top those where they think the chances are better.
Four hundred and thirty people in the emergency room since the quake on Tuesday. Much of the region still without power. Not all of it, but some of it without power, and even water. And the water people are getting they're being told to boil.
Internet, phone service, limited, as you might imagine. Dozens of aftershocks continuing to rattle this city, the second biggest city in New Zealand.
They're saying it's going to take a decade to rebuild the city. It will never look the same, of course. Up to $12 billion. A team of structural engineers went in today, actually, to have a look and try to assess the task ahead.
MALVEAUX: It's just heartbreaking.
HOLMES: Oh, it is. It's awful.
There was one horrible sidebar story. A producer at CTV was in that building. Her family was holding a vigil outside to get news about her.
MALVEAUX: Right.
HOLMES: Their house was robbed while they were there. And then they found out that their mom was probably dead. Horrible.
MALVEAUX: It's just tragic.
HOLMES: There have been a few arrests for looting. Not many, but a few.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Michael.
HOLMES: Yes.
MALVEAUX: We're going to have more on another international story that we're following. That, of course, the crisis in Libya. And it's got oil and gas prices skyrocketing. We know that you will feel it, and we're going to tell you what to expect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Time for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions.
With me this hour, Ryan Mack is the president of Optimum Capital Management, and Doug Flynn. He's a certified financial planner and founder of Flynn Zito.
Thanks for being here today, guys.
Our first question is from Semiray (ph), who writes in, "I'm a 22- year-old college student and I have $20,000 in debt, not including student loans. I have considered bankruptcy because I want to start fresh. Will that affect my student loans?"
What do you say, Ryan?
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, as of right now the answer is no. I mean, essentially, right now student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. There is legislation that individuals are talking about proposing to make sure that they are. But as of 1998, in October, that essentially negated them from being discharged in bankruptcy unless you can prove undue hardship within that.
But the bigger question is exactly being responsible, making sure we can do the patriotic thing and making sure we use loans responsibly, take out loans responsibly, devise a plan, and pay it back responsibly, whether individual, governments, and corporations. All we have to do to make sure that we're adding value.
ELAM: Yes, that could be kind of young, 22, going into bankruptcy.
MACK: Exactly.
ELAM: And that could really affect you for a long time, so I'd look at the effects of that.
All right. Our next question from Ken is, "I'm 64 and have been out of work for 18 months. I have depleted what was left of my 401(k), been through $125,000 in personal savings, carried $20,000 in credit card obligations, and am about to lose my unemployment benefit. Is there a way back?" -- Doug. DOUG FLYNN, FLYNN ZITO: Well, the first thing that comes to mind is if you're 64 and you spent that much money in that short period of time, a year and a half, two things pop up. One, you're probably spending $100,000 a year and haven't changed your lifestyle being out of work. And, two, you are completely not prepared for retirement at 64 if money that was supposed to last you the rest of your life was completely gone through in 18 months. So the problem is this person was probably already on a way to working for their entire life. They just overspent. And the bigger issue is, what should have happened was three or six months into the unemployment, that's when you have to go into crisis mode. You don't wait until the very last dollar to do that.
ELAM: What can he do now? Anything?
FLYNN: The problem is he is going to have to probably downsize if he owns a house, cut expenses to the bone, get any kind of a job. And the problem is, had he done this a year ago, he might have been able to do it with $100,000 in the bank.
Now you're doing it -- and humans do this. They wait until it's an absolute crisis, and then they act. And what we try to do is to say, listen, three or six months in, act as if right then and there you have that money as a backstop. You can always go back and do these things --
(CROSSTALK)
ELAM: So the idea then is just find places to cut that you didn't realize you could cut before.
FLYNN: He's going to have to cut everything.
ELAM: All right. Thanks so much, gentlemen, for helping us out.
If you have a question you want to get answered, let us know. Send us an e-mail any time to CNNHelpDesk@CNN.com.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEUAX: Checking at what's ahead on the Rundown, a shocking suicide by a former NFL player draws attention to the hard-hitting game of football and head injuries.
And how can the U.S. cut its dependence on foreign oil? Speak your mind in our "Talk Back" segment.
And you get to "Choose the News."
Libya's government is intensifying its brutal crackdown on protestors. State TV is showing video of them being rounded up in Tripoli. The streets are deserted. People are scared to come out after leader Muammar Gaddafi called on supporters to attack anyone suspected of being with the opposition. Gaddafi's hold on power is confined mainly the to the capital and the western part of the country. The opposition holds cities across the Mediterranean Coast. That's the area in red. That includes Libya's second-largest city, Benghazi.
Well, that is where our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is. He was the first Western TV journalist to report from inside Libya after this crisis first started. The first to reach Benghazi after the opposition took control. And his arrival there speaks volumes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This demonstration in Benghazi gives you an idea of the passion of the people of this city, of the passion of so many Libyans who have been thirsty for 42 years for this sort of opportunity, the chance to express themselves freely.
(AUDIENCE CHANTING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WEDEMAN: We arrived in this city, and from the beginning, everywhere we went, I felt like I was an American soldier going into Paris during World War II. Everybody clapping and cheering. We are the first television crew to get to this city.
And we were just overwhelmed by the welcome here. People were throwing candy inside the car, clapping, shaking our hands, telling us you're welcome, thank you for coming here. An incredible experience. And, you know, I'm almost -- I feel like I'm just not up to the task of conveying just the significance of what we're seeing here.
(AUDIENCE CHANTING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
It's noisy, it's chaotic. But the people are ecstatic. The pictures just say it all.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Benghazi, Libya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEUAX: Well, not much time left for you to "Choose the News." You know how to do it. Vote by texting 22360. Vote 1 for impressions of Gaddafi. Vote 2 for pole dancing coupons or vote 3 for Felix the Forest King. The winning story airs in just 20 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Crisis in Libya is directly impacting all of us here right at home. We feel it every time we go to the gas pump. And our Christine Romans, she's part of the CNN Money Team. She joins us from New York.
Christine, I mean, a lot of people are wondering how this is going to affect us. Some of us have already seen how it's affecting us. And now, oil is hitting, what, $100 a barrel? CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN MONEY TEAM CORRESPONDENT: That's right. For the first time in a couple of years, Suzanne. You're absolutely right.
And Libya is an interesting situation, because this is the largest proven oil reserves in Africa and the third-largest African producer. And you'll hear people say, well, most of this oil coming out of Libya is destined for the European market. Why does that matter in the U.S.?
Well, it matters because Libya has what's called light sweet crude. And the reason it's light and sweet is because it takes the least amount or the certain kind of refining that makes it into kerosene, into high-quality diesel, into gasoline. And those are the things that industrialized countries need.
So, if it's not going to Europe, that means the Europeans then are competing with the U.S. for supplies from Nigeria and from Algeria. Also, light sweet crude products. And you know, we were sucking every bit of oil that comes out of the ground, Suzanne, is accounted for somewhere. Someone is using it. So, whenever you have supply disruptions, it starts to cause problems in oil.
So, again, Libya produces a high-quality grade of oil, and that is one of the reasons why there's so much concern about the supplies coming out of Libya.
MALVEUAX: And what's the connection here with the gas prices here? Is there a direct line here?
ROMANS: There's -- I mean, when you see oil prices go up, you see gas prices go up. That's just the way it works because gasoline is refined out of that light, sweet crude.
So, even if you don't have demand for oil in the -- crude oil going or for gasoline going up in the U.S., you do see prices going up. A year ago today, Suzanne, the price for a gallon was $2.67. It's now $3.22 a gallon. It's up 20 percent in one year. And I'm going to tell you, there are folks that watch this who say by the time you heat the peak driving season, you could see $4 gas again, maybe. There are even those outliers who say, look, $5 is possible. I can't --
MALVEAUX: Really?
ROMANS: I can't tell you. I can't guess. I can't tell you where it's going to go, but I can tell you the trend right now is for gas prices to keep moving higher.
MALVEAUX: And Christine, is it just gas, or is this having a ripple effect?
ROMANS: You know, whenever you have crude oil moving higher, there's a lot of different things that are derived from oil. So, you're going to see - you know, it costs more to ship products around the world. That's one thing. It costs more to make packaging, petroleum-based packaging. That's going to cost more.
And then it also costs more in terms of, for example, your airline tickets. You could see this be a big weight on the airlines. For example, every dollar added to a barrel of oil, it costs the airlines about $100 million a year of added costs. Well, the airlines just now started to get profitable again. A lot of fare watchers say you can watch them to try to pass on some of these oil prices to you, at least in the form of other fees and the like.
So, watch that there. But you are going to start to see this hit you in the pocket if you haven't already. It acts like a tax on global consumers, no question. If you pay more at the pump or more to fill your airplane or more for packaging or to ship your products, that means the cost gets passed along.
MALVEAUX: And it's going to be more expensive for all of us. Thank you, Christine. Appreciate that.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
MALVEAUX: Well, a suicide by a former NFL football player is bringing attention to a type of brain disease that almost any athlete can get. We ask our former NFL player and coach Mike Ditka about the dangers of football and what can be done to keep everyone from kids to the NFL players safe.
(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 Tuesday. He shot himself in the chest after texting family members that he wanted doctors to study his brain. He wanted them to see if he had a brain disease that leads to memory loss, blurry vision, even severe depression. It is caused by repeated blows to the head. And we talked to Dewerson's son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREGG DUERSON, DAVE DUERSON'S SON: He didn't share it to me directly, but he did to my mother. Symptoms about memory loss, blurred vision and slurred words. But he did write it down and share those things, his last words in the form of a letter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEUAX: There is a growing discussion about the risk for football players, including young kids in pee-wee leagues. Now, just last hour I talked with Dr. Julian Bales. He's the chairman of West Virginia University's department of neurosurgery, as well as Mike Ditka, a former NFL player and coach, about keeping players safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE DITKA, FORMER NFL PLAYER/COACH: Football is a violent game. You know, people hit hard. You put a helmet on somebody, and the helmet becomes a security blanket. People have no fear of striking with her head or striking 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 the brain. And basically, that's what happened. You know, 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: The unwritten rule in football, you know, if you can walk, you can play. You know, these guys, they want to play and how do you take them off the field when they're so motivated to be out there? And even, 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 a doctor. The coach will want the player to play. The player will want to play. I had a concussion when I played in -- 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. You know, I played OK, but I don't remember any of it. I didn't remember a thing when I saw the film.
So, you know, this can happen. But it's a macho thing to a degree, too. Players don't want to come out and say, oh, you know, 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 can 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 own kids playing sports, even pee-wee players, high school kids, NFL teams. What do you do to try to keep these kids safe?
DR. JULIAN BAILES, CHAIRMAN, WVU DEPT. OF NEUROSURGERY: I think all the things we've done ever since the NFL instituted the new guidelines, all 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 players and then get a health care professional or a physician to make that diagnosis whether or not they have actually had a concussion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: This weekend, Dr. Sanjay Gupta will take a closer look at this issue on "SANJAY GUPTA MD." Tune into "Head Games: Truth About Concussions" on Saturday at 2:30 Eastern right here on CNN.
Well, you're talking back about one of the top stories of the day. What will it take for the U.S. to get serious about ending dependence on foreign oil? Kenny writes, "$5 or more a gallon for gas would get some people to cut back a little bit. But the only way America will stop its addiction to oil is for it to completely run out."
More of your responses moments away.
And shuttle Discovery is scheduled to lift off on its final mission this afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery is the fleet leader, having flown more missions than any other shuttle. Now, do you know what year Discovery blasted off on its first voyage? Was it 1979, 1984, 1991?
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MALVEAUX: Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to blast off on its final mission this afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Now we asked you, when shuttle Discovery embarked on its first voyage. The answer is, August 30, 1984. At the time it was the third operational shuttle. Today it's the oldest one in service.
Now take a look at this. In honor of NASA's shuttle program winding down, CNN has condensed every shuttle launch, 132 of them, into 132 seconds. You can watch all of them at cnn.com.
Well, she is determined, outspoken and she's just five years old. Watch our "Random Moment of the Day."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to marry someone if I don't have a job first. If a man comes asking me, running out, no, I don't want to marry you yet. I want to have a job! And if he says, I will not come back to you, fine, I'll find a different man. This is my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: I love it. She's single and she said, listen up, you five-year-old boys out there, you have been warned.
Well, here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The unrest in the Middle East is sending oil prices higher as well as sending the stock markets plummeting. A lot of you are talking back about all of this. What it means for you. Our Carol Costello. She's joining us from Washington.
Carol, are people upset? Are they angry? What do they think of the turmoil in the Middle East and how it's impacting them personally?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They think it is impacting them personally. We got over, oh, I would say 200 responses to this question. If the turmoil in the Middle East spreads, gas prices could shoot up to $5 a gallon. How many times have we heard that? So "Talk Back" today, what will it take to get serious about actually reducing our dependence on foreign oil? This from Michael. He says, "it's going to take a depression to wake people up to the fact that we're still very much dependent on oil."
This from Rudy. He says, "it will take Democrats and liberals getting out of the way so we can do more domestic drilling."
This from Eric. He says, "it will take Congress listening to the people instead of sucking up to big oil. We've already seen how easy it is for billionaires like the Koch Brothers to buy politicians."
And this from Paul. He says, "you folks pay far less a gallon than any other G-20 country. We Canucks have been paying $4 a gallon for years and we export the junk. As far as our economy is concerned, stay depend on it."
I don't know if you knew this, Suzanne, but America imports most of its oil from Canada.
Join the conversation. Continue the -- did you know that?
MALVEAUX: I did not know that. That's a surprise to me.
COSTELLO: It's weird, isn't it. It is true.
MALVEAUX: But it's -- it's unexpected. Yes.
All right, well, thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure. Facebook.com/carolcnn.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks.
Well, it's time to have some fun with our CNN Challenge. We're going to take some of those stories making headlines and we're going to quiz a CNN correspondent. So in the hot seat today, our favorite, Chad Myers.
Chad, are you ready for this?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I will take shuttle Discovery for $500, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: OK. Let's get -- let's start -- let's start -- let's start. How many missions has space shuttle Discovery completed? We've got some choices here.
MYERS: Forty-five.
MALVEAUX: Three --
MYERS: Oh -- oh, I get --
MALVEAUX: Thirty-eight, 140 -- yes, I mean, which one's closest to --
MYERS: Oh, well this is -- well, it's STS-133, so it's not c or d. This is -- really?
MALVEAUX: Come on.
MYERS: I'll take b.
MALVEAUX: You're going to take b?
MYERS: I'll take b.
MALVEAUX: Is this to easy for you?
MYERS: That was a good one.
MALVEAUX: It's a give-away. OK. All right.
MYERS: That was a $10 question. OK, I -- you need to buy me lunch for that one.
MALVEAUX: OK, we can get you a better one here. What movie did Lindsay Lohan make her big screen debut? OK. "Freaky Friday," "Mean Girls," "Herbie Fully Loaded" or "The Parent Trap"?
MYERS: "Freaky Friday." "The Parent Trap." "The Parent Trap" was 1998 because that was --
MALVEAUX: Dude, seven seconds. Count -- hurry. You got to pick. Pick.
MYERS: I'm going to go with "Freaky Friday."
MALVEAUX: "Freaky Friday." OK.
MYERS: Because I don't think she was in "Parent Trap."
MALVEAUX: "Parent Trap." Sorry about that one.
MYERS: OK. OK. (INAUDIBLE).
MALVEAUX: OK. Moving along here.
MYERS: All right, next.
MALVEAUX: Let's see. Which actor has the most Oscar nominations in history?
MYERS: OK. I can get this one. I know this one.
MALVEAUX: OK. Because we're waiting, actually, on the Oscars. Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson or John Travolta?
MYERS: Well, it's a matter of how good your movies were, not how many you made. So Tom is out. John is out. It's Clint or Jack. Boy, that's close. It's like 12 or 14, somewhere in there. I'm going to go with Jack Nicholson, c.
MALVEAUX: OK. You are just right on the -- MYERS: Got it.
MALVEAUX: Oh, not bad. Not bad at all.
MYERS: But, you know what, but Clint was right there. I don't know, maybe he lost by one or two on that question. Clint has a lot.
MALVEAUX: Are you going to be watching the Academy Awards?
MYERS: We have a big party at our little condo complex. Our awards ceremony party.
MALVEAUX: Am I invited?
MYERS: Oh, yes. Sure.
MALVEAUX: I want to come. I'm crashing your party.
MYERS: It's not even crashing. Come on.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks.
MYERS: You're invited now.
MALVEAUX: Yes, thank you. Appreciate it.
If you want to take the CNN Challenge, go to cnnchallenge.com and you can play on your own.
Well, our producers, they've been tallying the last minute results. We're going to have the "Choose the News" segment winner up next.
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MALVEAUX: Well, you texted it. We're going to air it. Your winning story for "Choose the News." In the tent with Moammar Gadhafi. Our CNN's Jonathan Mann visited Libya twice to see him and says he was just plain bizarre.
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JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's the strangest head of state I've ever met. Moammar Gadhafi received me several years ago for an interview in his tent in Tripoli, then peaceful port city where just about every billboard and sign was painted with his picture.
Ronald Reagan once called Gadhafi a mad dog, and his behavior does tend to be particular. He's famous for his flamboyant dress, his legion of female bodyguards and his bizarre fixations, such as a plan to abolish Switzerland.
In person, he seemed lethargic. His eyes, even behind sunglasses, seemed unfocused. His answers, through a translator, seemed rambling.
Libya, today, is in turmoil. Its people are demanding democracy. But when I brought it up, he threatened to sue me for slander.
MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): If you or somebody else says Libya is not a democracy, he told us, then it would be considered an insult and maybe we could go to court to redeem honor from that insult.
MANN: Back then, Libya was a rouge state trying to redeem itself. It has surrendered its most dangerous weapons to the west. It was trying to open its economy to the world. Its leader was the wildcard, the unpredictable element, though. He still is.
Jonathan Mann reporting.
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MALVEAUX: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Don Lemon, in for Ali Velshi.
Hey, Don.
