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U.N. Security Council Debates Resolution Involving Sanctions on Libya; Representatives Meeting in D.C. to Avoid Government Shutdown; Numerous States Making Cuts to Education to Meet Budget Needs; Face- to-Face Conversation: Supermodel Iman; Financial Planners Give Advice on Travel Insurance; Countdown to the Oscars

Aired February 26, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Why you don't have to get mean to get ahead, my conversation with supermodel Iman in this hour.

And at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, do some families go too far when it comes to youth sports?

And at 4:00 Eastern, the Farrelly Brothers are out with a new comedy. I'll ask a movie critic if "Hall Pass" is worth your seeing.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM, where the news unfolds live this Saturday, February 26th, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

First, we're following developments at the United Nations. Diplomats have been called to an urgent session. At issue, possible sanctions against Moammar Gadhafi's regime in Libya. Members of the Security Council have been meeting behind doors for the past couple of hours. We understand a draft resolution is being debated.

Our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth, is there monitoring all of it. First, Richard, what's in that resolution?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this resolution is designed to impose sanctions on the Gadhafi regime to try to break their will. It doesn't sound from remarks over there in Libya that that is imminent. But the Security Council ambassadors arrived several hours ago for a rather urgent meeting.

On Friday they heard an appeal from the Libyan ambassador of the United Nations to do something, to help the people of their country. But the United Nations Security Council is considering a resolution that would impose asset freeze, travel ban, and an arms embargo on the Libyan government, including Colonel Gadhafi and his family.

Now, the resolution was pretty much greeted with a lot of enthusiasm by diplomats, but in the last hour or so, things have bogged down a bit. They are discussing one aspect of the resolution, a line in there that talks about using all necessary means to get humanitarian aid in there. Some countries are worried that that means military action, the door open for that. Western diplomats don't necessarily agree to that.

But that's the type of, as we know with Security Council resolutions, Fredricka, every word can hold up a resolution, sometimes for days. So we just continue to monitor the session.

WHITFIELD: So that means it's tough to guess on when a vote would actually happen?

ROTH: That is correct. One gets the sense from several diplomats they want to do it today. They know the urgency. German diplomats saying, we have to do something for the people of Libya.

The Libyan ambassador or the Libyan mission, we are told, minutes ago, submitted a letter to the Security Council saying that they would like, you know, action against those who are committing violence against the people of Libya, that they should be held accountable. That's sort of a last-minute impetus to keep the pressure on to have the international criminal court involved in this. There's some dispute on whether that should be included in the resolution. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Richard Roth, thanks so much at the U.N., appreciate that.

So it is so chaotic in Tripoli right now that thousands of non- Libyan people and companies are doing all they can to get out. Listen to how this man, who evacuated to Benghazi, Libya, described what it's like in the capital city of Tripoli.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was very, very scary. Honest, it's a mess, what Gadhafi is doing right now in Libya. There are a lot of people who have been killed today, according to my friends. I've talked to some people on the phone. There are a lot of people who have been killed today, and have been killed in the last week. And it's just a massacre. There is no human being who can understand what he is doing. And that is assessing a life right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: This is what it boils down right now. In regard to evacuation, some Turkish naval ships left Benghazi today with some nearly 2,000 people onboard. A U.S. chartered plane and ferry evacuated hundreds yesterday. And the British, Canadian, and Chinese governments are all moving their citizens, either bringing them home or taking them to nearby, more stable countries.

So we've been warning you that the U.S. government may have to shut down next Friday because of a fight in Congress over spending. But now there's word that Democrats and Republicans are close to a compromise that could keep the U.S. government in business for awhile.

Democrats would agree to some immediate cuts from President Obama's proposed 2012 budget and to cut earmarks right now. In return, Republicans would support a spending extension that would keep the government operating for another two weeks. Negotiations over a longer term deal would continue.

Now let's talk about the stalemate over Wisconsin's budget battle, showing no signs of easing up there. Democratic senators remain on the lam. Without a quorum, Republican Governor Scott Walker's contentious Bill to rein in public sector unions' power, it can't move forward. And with teacher layoffs looming, protesters are making their outrage known.

Ted Rowlands is tracking developments a to the state capitol in Madison. Ted, now folks have moved outside, very snowy, cold, but that's not stopping them.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Fredricka, not at all. Last week there was a rally and the estimates were about 70,000 people. And the numbers here from those that were here last week as well are about the same, maybe even more. So we're talking about tens of thousands of people who have come downtown here to the capitol in Madison.

And they're still inside the capitol as well. There are thousands of people who are inside the capitol. Those folks have been here the better part of a week and a half, sleeping and eating inside the capitol. And, of course, why are they here? You mentioned it, because of this stalemate, if you will, between the governor and the Democrats that have gone to Illinois, those 14.

Judy is here. She says she's not a union person, never has been, but you're here, Judy, why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here to support the union, I'm here to support the middle class. This bill is wrong. It's going to hurt Wisconsin and I'm totally disgusted with this whole thing.

ROWLANDS: The country this sort of watching this every move. How important is the final conclusion of this in your mind? What happens here in Wisconsin is going to make a big difference?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, definitely. This is going to make a difference across the world. And this is, as everybody said, this is a fight against the middle class. And I'm middle class. I've never been in a union. I have been a museum curator for 20 years, don't have any benefits, but I support this wholeheartedly. This whole bill is wrong, wrong, wrong.

ROWLANDS: And Fredricka, we should, of course, note, there are a lot of people out here, but there are a lot of people who aren't here as well that are supporting the governor. The stalemate continues in Wisconsin.

WHITFIELD: Ted Rowlands in a snowy Madison, Wisconsin, thanks so much.

That's not the only place where snow is falling. People are also digging out in northern California. Up to two feet of snow buried parts of northern California this weekend. Thousands of Nevada county residents are without power. Emergency crews scrambled to take care of downed power lines and trees and deal with spinouts and other traffic accidents as well. The worst of it was in the mountains and valleys north and east of San Francisco. So the threat of more snow and ice has the San Francisco police searching for the homeless. Officers spent much of Friday night handing out dozens of blankets across the city as snow mixed with rain and wind blew through that area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. SHAUGHN RYAN, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE: The officers are actively going out and finding individuals on the street because it is so cold tonight so that they can have some blankets and try to keep them warm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Shelters around the Bay Area are adding more beds to squeeze in more people. More warming centers are also being opened up.

Supermodel, now business mogul, Iman, is one of the most photographed women in the world. She's also credited with helping to open the world of modeling to women of all colors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IMAN, CEO IMAN COSMETICS: If they ever thought of it before, that they could replace one black girl for another, I said, that time has to change now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: More of my face-to-face interview with Iman, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Time to go cross-country now and check stories our affiliates are covering.

The school board in Providence, Rhode Island, has voted to fire all of its nearly 2,000 teachers at the end of the school year. It doesn't mean all of them will lose their jobs. The teachers will actually have to reply for them. By law the board has to notify teachers of changes to their employment by March 1st. City officials say this action will give them more flexibility in making budget cuts.

And look at this. A woman lost control of her minivan, crashed into a coffee shop in Cohasset, Massachusetts, right there. Almost everything inside the business was damaged, but no one was hurt. Police said it appears to be a complete accident and she actually will not be getting a ticket.

And on to Illinois, two of the famed Tuskegee airmen celebrated black history month in Rockford. They urge young people to learn how to fly. The two reminded the audience that African-Americans played a significant role in World War II, something they say too many young people just simply don't know enough about. In the cutthroat industry of top modeling, the hugely popular fashion magazine cover girl and show-stopping catwalk model known simply as Iman proved that you don't have to be mean to get ahead. Quite the contrary. Iman, the daughter of a Somali diplomat, used her cunning intuition and Grace to make and keep peace despite so much around her trying to stir the pot.

For example, when Iman sensed that people in the industry wanted to pit her against the first black model on "Vogue's" cover, Beverly Johnson, Iman shocked everyone, including Johnson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: At the moment, though, you were not just an agent of change for you, but it's almost as if you made a conscientious decision for everybody, every black model in the industry, that if I'm going to make certain gains, then they will too. And that was extraordinary. Because people thought maybe you'd be pitted against, at the time, the black model was Beverly Johnson.

IMAN: And they did.

WHITFIELD: That's what they wanted?

IMAN: And they did. And as I said, I'm a political person. And also, I come from a place that this didn't mean anything to me. And I never understood it, because when they started pitting me against Beverly Johnson, who was the top -- and they keep on saying "black model," but one of the top models of her time. I had a conversation with her, because we were in Italy and she was working for "Bazaar" Italia and I was working for "Vogue" Italia.

And they wanted me to stay an extra day to shoot another five pages or something. And I said I couldn't, but I said, Beverly Johnson is here. And they said, no, no, no, it won't work. And Beverly called me. And she said no black model has ever done this before.

And she felt that I was saying, well, there is no competition. And I said, there isn't. I don't personally -- I said, if they ever thought of it before, that they could replace one black girl for another, I said, that time has to change now, because I think both of us can work at the same time. And we did.

WHITFIELD: That was the diplomat in you.

IMAN: That's the diplomat in me.

WHITFIELD: Because even in this day and age, no matter what industry, people are like, every man for him or herself. And whatever opportunity there is for me, too bad the next guy didn't get it, I'm going to take it. How come you didn't abide by that?

IMAN: I thinks there a strength in number. There is a strength in number. And there is a strength in changing the status quo. I think there's a strength in it because we both found out that in an industry that just gave a black model -- one black model at one given time, not two. It had to be one, so you had to dethrone one to get another one on. It was a brand-new day. We both worked at the same time. So the status quo changed.

WHITFIELD: And became great friends.

IMAN: We became friends. And after that, why you can have Tyra Banks and all these black girls working at the same time. It was nonexistent before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: More face to face with imam next hour from her New York Seventh Avenue office. She explains how her mother's advice early on in life is at the root of her natural inclination to fight for her dignity and that of others.

Also, check out my blog on CNN.com for more of the interview.

All right, so if you've ever considered buying travel insurance to hedge against a canceled flight or extreme delay, you'll want to stick around. Our money gurus, the Dolans, Ken and Daria, are here to tell you if it is worth your money.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're asking this question. Should you buy travel insurance? Is it worth your buck? We're asking financial experts Ken and Daria Dolan. They are back with us this hour. Usually we see you in Palm Beach. This time you've come to Atlanta. Yea!

DARIA DOLAN, FINANCIAL ADVISER: Yea!

WHITFIELD: Guilty. I have purchased it before. Should I have?

DARIA DOLAN: Yes, oh, absolutely.

KEN DOLAN, FINANCIAL ADVISER: I'm going to tell you --

DARIA DOLAN: Let me just say this. Imagine a few weeks ago you had been, for the first time in your life, Egypt visiting the pyramids --

KEN DOLAN: Or Greece, or were thinking of going and had put a big deposit down.

DARIA DOLAN: It means that you can cancel your reservation without penalty or it means if you're stuck somewhere -- or it mean is if you're my mother and slip and fall in Reykjavik, Iceland and break your ankle and go through six hours of surgery in a hospital, she ended up paying nothing.

KEN DOLAN: And they flew her back with a nurse.

WHITFIELD: OK, then let's go to the beginning. How do you go about purchasing, you know, making decisions about what to have? KEN DOLAN: Well, know who you're buying it from.

DARIA DOLAN: Exactly. And generally a good travel agent has a company or two that they can suggest to you. Depending on what your needs are, if you want just cancellation, if you want that medical policy tipped in. But you have to know who the company is and any reputable --

KEN DOLAN: Go to ambest.com, a rating agency, a financial stability rating agency, because any policy, whether it's travel or life insurance or whatever, is only as good as the company insuring it.

WHITFIELD: So you've got to know where this is coming from.

KEN DOLAN: Who's backing it up.

WHITFIELD: Know something about that company.

DARIA DOLAN: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: And then you need to think about, what is it you want to get out of this travel insurance?

DARIA DOLAN: Exactly my point, because if you're just worried that, oh, you know, maybe the kids' school vacation because of snow will be canceled and we won't be able to do it, we want trip cancellation. But maybe you're on Medicare and you don't have coverage overseas, you need to have medical consideration.

WHITFIELD: OK. Then you also want to know about what other kind of coverage might be available?

KEN DOLAN: A lot of people think that maybe their homeowner's covers part of it, maybe their credit card covers part of it. So the answer is, they're very often, Fredricka -- Fred --

(LAUGHTER)

There very often is limited coverage with some of those sources. On the other hand, if you're sitting in Cairo or sitting in Greece, it's almost hard to think of going almost any place where something couldn't break out, believe me, you want to make sure you have full coverage.

WHITFIELD: So you all, because you are world travelers, you always take advantage of this?

KEN DOLAN: We do. It's too expensive not to.

DARIA DOLAN: And when you're overseas and you have this policy, or before you have to go and you have to cancel, make sure you keep the paperwork, all the documentation.

WHITFIELD: You have to know who to call, what to say. KEN DOLAN: And even a great policy is going to say, even a wonderful travel agency policy is going to say, OK, can we see the stuff? Oh, jeez, I didn't save anything. Well, thank you very much.

DARIA DOLAN: Especially helpful when you're going overseas.

KEN DOLAN: Especially when it costs so much money and you may possibly lose all that deposit.

DARIA DOLAN: And particularly nowadays, where you never know the next revolution is going to break out.

(LAUGHTER)

KEN DOLAN: Wisconsin, I mean --

WHITFIELD: Could be domestic, could be abroad.

KEN DOLAN: IRS next hour.

WHITFIELD: That's right. We're going to talk. See you again next hour. We love seeing you in person. And we're going to talk about, can it be possible to actually have like an audit-free tax preparation.

KEN DOLAN: Audit-proof. Yes. We're going to show you how to do it.

WHITFIELD: All right. See you in an hour. Thanks so much.

Next up, who will win the Oscar, the Oscars? Top picks from the red carpet, a plastic-covered red carpet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Oh, you know what that means? We are counting down to entertainment's biggest night, the Oscars. Kareen Wynter is in Hollywood. Top picks to win the big prize, Kareen. Got any favorites there?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I love "Black Swan" with Natalie Portman, but I'm in the sure. I think two other films, "The King's Speech" as well as "True Grit" are going to be duking it out. But we'll have to see.

Things are definitely heating up on the red carpet out here. The weather, the sun is out. It feels fantastic unlike the soggy start to this Saturday. You can see all the plastic around me, and that's just protective measures here. They'll remove this tomorrow, because the weather is expected to cooperate.

You can see a lot of the media, the press, hundreds of press from all over the country. They come here this time of year, of course, to cover Hollywood's biggest, biggest glamorous night of the year. And we talked about "Black Swan" a little bit. Even though Natalie Portman's film won't take home best picture, she's definitely a favorite in the best actress category for her riveting performance in that thriller, "Black Swan," where she plays this twisted ballerina. Not sure if you've seen it, but it was a great picture, great film.

As for best actor, Colin Firth, he's had so much momentum winning award show after award show from the SAG awards to the Golden Globes. They're expecting him to take home the big award in that category, although he'll be duking it out with Jeff Bridges, "True Grit," another impressive film. So we'll have to wait and see what happens.

There's "Social Network," "The King's Speech," they may go head to head. So there could be some surprises there.

WHITFIELD: I didn't see "Black Swan," but I did see "The King's Speech," definitely liked it.

Let's talk about the hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco. What a great combination, just seeing all the clips of their pre-Oscar fun, it definitely looks like it's going to be fun.

WYNTER: I think it's going to be a terrific show. And they call the chemistry they have "bromance." They're not an item, but they have that chemistry on camera. And we interviewed them this week, and they talked about how excited they are, their families will be in the audience.

And James Franco, he's such a talent. Not only is he hosting, but he's also up in the best actor category for his film, "127 Hours," which is also in the best picture category. He has so much going on. And he says expectations are low. I'm just going to go for it. So it's a win-win for him, I would say, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Sounds like fun. All that sunshine you have back there, I'm afraid that plastic is going to melt. Kareen Wynter --

WYNTER: I know, or we're going to melt. My turtleneck!

WHITFIELD: A little toasty on that plastic-coated red carpet there. We'll be checking back with you. Thanks so much. And, of course, you'll find plenty of Oscar coverage tomorrow right here on CNN. A.J. Hammer and Brooke Anderson reporting from the red carpet as well. That coverage begins tomorrow at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

And then "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: ROAD TO GOLD" coverage continues at 11:00 Eastern on our sister network, HLN, with all the Oscar wins, losses, and any of the late-breaking scoops as well.

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