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Thousands Flee to Tunisia; Activists Try to Save Civil Rights Landmark; Boy vs. Girl in Wrestling
Aired February 27, 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: Here's what we're covering in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Oil clean-up takes a pause on a Mississippi barrier island for nesting birds and turtles.
At 4:00 Eastern, Venus Williams is a world-class tennis star who wants kids facing adversity to get a shot at going to college. How she's lending her star appeal to a nationwide scholarship program.
Then, and at 5:00, we'll take you to the red carpet, we'll show you the Oscars' hottest stars and what they might be wearing.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
First, let's get a quick check of our top stories right now.
(NEWSBREAK)
WHITFIELD: Turmoil in North Africa, specifically Libya, dominates the news today. And here's what we know right now at this hour.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends a ministerial- level meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights tomorrow in Geneva. She is on her way there right now. But before leaving, she echoed President Barack Obama's and now the British foreign minister's sentiments that it is time for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to go. U.K. officials have also revoked the Gadhafi family's diplomatic immunity in Britain, and we learned moments ago the British government is freezing their assets.
And our correspondent in Libya, Nic Robertson, says he personally sees armed civilians taking position on rooftops in a protester- controlled town near Tripoli. They're reportedly preparing to face troops loyal to the Libyan government in case they try to retake the town.
Libya's neighbors to the west, Tunisia, well, really, that's a good portion of North Africa/the Middle East, where the uprising began. It is still tense in Tunisia. And the country's caretaker prime minister resigned today.
But let's talk about another source of great concern there. That's the border between Tunisia and Libya, where tens of thousands of people swarmed, afraid for their lives.
CNN's Ivan Watson is there right now -- Ivan.
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, 10,000 people crossed the border from Libya to Tunisia just over the course of the last 24 hours. And everybody we talked to there say those numbers are increasing.
Most of the people fleeing from Libya right now are foreign workers. Libya is a small country, population 6.5 million, but it's an oil country that employs tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of foreign laborers, many of them migrant day laborers. A lot of them Egyptians, Chinese citizens, and they are pouring across the border, not only to the east, to Egypt, that has seem some 60,000 people, but here, to Tunisia. And we saw mostly Egyptians camping out on the roadside in the dirt, sleeping night after night there, stranded, desperate to find some way to get back home.
Now, they're being fed by the Tunisian army. They're also getting some tents and they're getting water. And we see a lot of Tunisians volunteering to help them in a spirit of brotherhood, of solidarity. But the real concern is how to move all of these people back home.
Take a look at some of the scenes that we filmed today right near the border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: These are just some of the estimated 40,000 people who have fled across the border from Libya, here to Tunisia, in just the last week. Most of these people are Egyptian migrant workers, day laborers, who are fleeing the bloodshed and the violence in Libya.
And it's difficult to even call this situation a camp, because some of the men we've spoken with say they have spent two, three, four nights sleeping out here in the cold, out on the streets.
Sir, you've been here one day, two days?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One day.
WATSON: One day? Sleeping right here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two. Two.
WATSON: Two days?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we come from traveling from Libya to Tunisia, they take our six laptops in the same bus, take my mobile --
WATSON: Who took your laptops and mobile?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The military.
WATSON: The military? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The military, yes.
WATSON: Libyan soldiers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Libyan soldiers, yes.
WATSON: The Tunisian military say they need more help, perhaps from the United Nations, from aid organizations, to help deal with this exodus of humanity. Tunisia civil society is stepping forward.
We've seen convoys of Tunisia vehicles, volunteers coming in, bringing in help, bringing in support, and even organizing demonstrations here against Moammar Gadhafi, where they've ever bean waving the pre-1969 Libyan three-color flag that has become a symbol against Gadhafi. We're seeing a show of support from Tunisia, the first Arab country to launch this pro-democracy movement. Support for Libya's own democratic uprising.
But as you can se here, the numbers of people just get bigger and bigger day after day. And the fear is if the bloodshed gets worse, that these scenes could get worse as well if Libyans join the flow of refugees, escaping the violence in their country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Now, Fredricka, one thing to keep in mind, these neighbors of Libya, Egypt, to the east, and Tunisia, to the west, have both had their own revolutions within the last six to eight weeks. Both of them have seen dictators overthrown there, and they're in politically unstable conditions. The last thing they need to deal with right now is tens of thousands, if not more, refugees streaming across their border -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Ivan Watson, thanks so much for that update.
Well, some Americans fleeing Libya are talking about the harrowing trip home already. One Delaware woman and her sons arrived in Philadelphia this weekend. Her family moved to Libya nearly four years ago. Her husband works for Coca-Cola, and before boarding the flight to Philly, she got a call from her husband.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CATHERINE PANDUR, JUST RETURNED FROM LIBYA: I just got the phone call before I left that he's out now. He's out now. The feeling of trying to get out and you can't do it -- I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Her husband's exit was delayed because he was getting his employees to safety.
All right. Many cities across this nation are facing this problem -- trying to preserve history while boosting economic progression.
But first, if you could pick anywhere in the world to live, where would it be? It probably depends on what the city might offer, right?
Well, "The Economist" ranked 140 cities in composing its list of the "World's Most Livable Cities." Vancouver, British Columbia, tops the list for the fifth straight year. Melbourne, Australia, number two. And Vienna, Austria, number three.
So what are the most livable cities right here in the U.S.? After the break, we'll take a look at the list.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Just before the break, we showed you the most livable cities in the world, according to the London-based "Economist" magazine. Vancouver, topping the list; followed by Melbourne, Australia; and Vienna, Austria.
So, how did the U.S. cities stack up?
Coming in at number 34, Washington, D.C. Honolulu, Hawaii, coming in at 30. And Pittsburgh? Twenty-nine, better than Honolulu.
All right. February is Black History Month, and that's weighing on the hearts of many people, particularly in a Baltimore community. They have mobilized to save a civil rights landmark and preserve a moment in history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): Baltimore, Maryland, a city like many across the country looking for ways to spur economic growth. That's why city officials and developers have high hopes for a planned $150 million housing and retail project.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All for history!
WHITFIELD: The problem is one of the buildings they want to demolish has a special place in Baltimore's and civil rights history.
It was back in January of 1955 when 20-year-old Helena Hicks and her friends went into Read's drugstore and sat at the lunch counter, knowing that the store served only white people.
HELENA HICKS, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: It isn't much fun to see other people go in and get something hot to drink, or sit down and be able to get something hot to drink and eat.
WHITFIELD: Hicks and her group were not served. They stayed for nearly half an hour before leaving without incident. But they made their point. Within days after other protests at Read's, the retail chain changed its policy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, four --
UNIDENTIFIED: Save Read's drugstore.
WHITFIELD: Over 55 years later, Hicks is back -- HICKS: If nobody ever does it, it never gets done.
WHITFIELD: -- trying to save the building.
HICKS: It's a big part of the civil rights movement. We have had in this country lots and lots of activities relating to the civil rights of people. And this is a big part of that whole process. And so, it has to stand and be recognized.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Save Read's drugstore --
WHITFIELD: The building that housed Read's is now city-owned, and there are plans for massive construction in the neighborhood. Community activists want the building spared. They say it could serve as an educational tool for children to learn what happened there in 1955.
City leaders and the developers say they're sensitive to the situation, and they say they want to do right by the community.
KATHY ROBERTSON, BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: The developer has already said they in no way want to disrespect the history of the neighborhood and disrespect the event. We're not quite sure how to commemorate that yet, whether it means the physical building, whether it means that there will be a display or some interactive activity in the building.
WHITFIELD: Hicks says she's encouraged, but says she's not letting up more than five decades after she first took a stand here.
HICKS: This has to work. We have to keep this building up because once you lose history, it's gone forever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And the city and the developer would like to break ground by the end of this year. They are continuing to meet with members of the community to go over options, but so far, no final deal has been reached.
(NEWSBREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: OK. Here's a question for you: Should there be a distinction between sports that boys and girls play? Students are sounding off.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: That's a funky little open, isn't it?
OK. So, recently, a boy in high school refused to wrestle a girl in a tournament in Iowa. The decision was his, but it has a lot of other people wrestling with the issue of boy versus girl in contact sports particularly. Carl Azuz with "CNN Student News" is here.
So he elected not to participate. He just said, I don't think this is appropriate for me to be wrestling a girl.
CARL AZUZ, "CNN STUDENT NEWS": That's exactly right. He essentially -- his name is Joel Northrup, and he defaulted to Cassy Herkelman. And what that mean is that she automatically won the match and that Joel Northrup could not get higher than third place in the tournament.
So, basically, what we're looking at is somebody who made a decision based on his religious beliefs, and you'll hear him allude to that right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOEL NORTHRUP, WRESTLER: Well, wrestling is combat sport, and at times it gets violent. And you get put in moves and holds that are compromising, and I just don't believe it's right that a boy and a girl should in this manner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: OK. Now, if you're looking at the other side of this, there are a number of students from our audience who are saying that in wrestling, in any tournament, you are supposed to face off against the opponent you have. And that's certainly something Cassy Herkelman mentioned. She was very disappointed she didn't get the chance to wrestle Joel.
And take a listen to what she had to say after she won that match by default.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASSY HERKELMAN, WRESTLER: I feel like just any other wrestler. Like, I feel like people should treat me the same way. Like, the fact that I'm doing the same sport as them, that I'm doing the same things as them, like, I don't like there should be much difference there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: So, two very different schools of thought we're seeing here, Fredricka. One, a student who says because of his beliefs, he didn't think it was right that he wrestle a girl. And another person saying, you need to wrestle whom you're scheduled to wrestle.
WHITFIELD: So I wonder if this ends up provoking a dialogue about, maybe there needs to be a female wrestling team, male wrestling team, if it means that some athletes are going to feel uncomfortable about competing against one another since it is a contact sport. Contact unlike a whole lot of other contact sports. I mean, it's pretty intimate.
AZUZ: It's true. I mean, it is unique in that it is a combat sport. It's sort of a one-on-one grappling competition, so it's different than other sports.
There are some female wrestling leagues in the country. But a lot of folks here saying, especially when it comes to Iowa, that this is somebody, Cassy is somebody who worked her way into the tournament. And so those students, even though they're in the minority, those students who have talked to us about that they feel she should have wrestled feel that Joel should not have forfeited that match.
Here is a quick poll that we took at CNNStudentNews.com. Not scientific, but it indicates that most people agree with Joel's decision not to wrestle Cassy.
And when we asked them to sort of expand on that, we had a comment from one student who is saying, look -- this is Rebecca talking to us, a student named Rebecca. She's saying, "When you enter the wrestling competition, you enter it to wrestle. Fight whoever you're scheduled to fight."
But a counterpoint from Richard here.
WHITFIELD: I wonder if Rebecca wrestles.
AZUZ: I don't know.
WHITFIELD: I wonder if --
(CROSSTALK)
AZUZ: That's a very good --
WHITFIELD: It's different when you are the athlete, versus being the spectator.
AZUZ: That's true.
WHITFIELD: Right?
AZUZ: Absolutely true.
WHITFIELD: What was that last comment?
AZUZ: It was a comment from a student named Richard, who's saying that "It takes a real man not to hit a girl and to back down from the chance to hit a girl, despite the chance of being mocked and ridiculed for it."
There were some who supported Joel for standing up for his beliefs.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
AZUZ: But there was one more student -- I remember an interesting comment -- who said, "Socially speaking, this is a lose- lose either way, because if he wins the wrestling match, then he gets criticized for beating up a girl. If he loses a wrestling match, then he's the guy who lost to a girl." WHITFIELD: Wow.
AZUZ: So there was a lot of sympathy from students just having to sort of deal with this dilemma.
WHITFIELD: Very thoughtful students. We hear from them all the time. I love that you're able to bring it to us.
AZUZ: My pleasure.
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Carl. Appreciate it.
AZUZ: Thanks, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: OK. So here's another question that has a lot of young people and their parents talking. When kids get involved in organized sports, their parents do as well. Ever wonder how many American kids actually participate?
Here's a quiz for you. Is it 10 million, 20 million, 40 million, or 60 million? We'll have the answer after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Before the break we asked a question about youth sports. How many American kids participate, 10 million, 20 million, 40 million, 60 million? What's your guess?
The answer, about 40 million young Americans participate in youth sports, which brings us to this question now: At what point does it go from a family affair to a family dilemma? How much to invest in your child's sport? We'll talk about that in a moment.
But first, a look at these top stories.
(NEWSBREAK)
WHITFIELD: So, when kids participate in organized sports, their families participate as well. How much is too much?
As part of our 'In Your House" series, CNN's Julie Peterson looked at one young gymnast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE PETERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eleven-year-old Sam Roscigno twists, stretches and bounces 12 hours every week. His sport of choice? Gymnastics.
SAM ROSCIGNO, GYMNAST: I like to do risky things with my body in front of an audience.
PETERSON: Sam and his family live in Ohio, near one of the largest universities in the country, Ohio State.
ROSCIGNO: We practice in the same training facility as the college gymnasts.
PETERSON (on camera): Well, that has got to be awesome.
ROSCIGNO: It's pretty cool.
PETERSON (voice-over): This week, Sam and his mom, Susan, are leaving the rest of the family behind, driving seven hours to Chicago for one of the biggest boy's gymnastics competitions in the U.S., the Windy City Gymnastics Meet.
SUSAN ROSCIGNO, SAM'S MOTHER: We did one in Schaumburg, Illinois, in December. And we have this one, the Windy City, now. And then we go to Tampa in two weeks. And then two in town in February.
PETERSON: Susan says they spend almost $5,000 every year on training, travel, and uniforms.
ROSCIGNO: I'd like to come get my car at about 11:25.
PETERSON: She also takes time off from her teaching job to drive Sam to his meets. They make their own food and they share a hotel room with friends to save money. This trip has been planned for months, all for a one-day competition.
To compete at a higher level, Susan says they have no choice but to travel.
ROSCIGNO: There are only, like, three meets in central Ohio, so for us to go to any meets besides those of any level of competition, we have to travel.
PETERSON (voice-over): It's a short drive from the hotel to the meet where it costs money even for parents, to get in the door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be $10.
PETERSON: It's warm-up time for Sam and his team.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really want you guys to be very focused. There are obviously a lot of people here and I want us to do our best and have fun.
PETERSON: All the practice and training leads up to six events.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The events are rings, high bar, vault, floor, p-bars and pommel horse.
PETERSON: This meet goes well for Sam. He finishes eighth all around for his age and skill level. His mother says it's not just about the competition.
ROSCIGNO: It's a me and him thing. Sam and I do this together even though it's time away from the rest of the family. It's something that we can do together and that will always be a part of our relationship. PETERSON: But she admits there are drawbacks.
ROSCIGNO: Gymnastics are not a real popular sport. Like all the boys that play football, play football with the kids in the neighborhood or play t-ball or soccer, play with kids in the neighborhood.
But because they're only a couple of kids that do men's gymnastics, you have to travel outside of your neighborhood do that. So he's kind of cut off from some of the neighborhood sports stuff.
PETERSON: But Sam says he's happy even with the heavy time commitment required for competitive gymnastics and he's keeping up his grades with his family behind him.
SAM ROSCIGNO: I like it a lot because, yes, I mean, it takes a lot of work, but after you're done at a competition, it's, it feels really cool.
ROSCIGNO: I'm proud of you, Sam. You did a good job.
PETERSON: Julie Peterson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So how does a family strike a balance? Dan Gould is the director of Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. He's joining us now from East Lansing, Michigan.
OK, so Dan, good to see you. So a family, you know, may need to strike that balance between wanting the best for their kid, the athlete versus the best for your kid developing child. How do you do that?
DAN GOULD, MSU INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF YOUTH SPORTS: I think that's a great question. Because on the one side of the equation, we know that kids are more likely to engage in sports if their parents are involved and active.
So we want parental involvement in sports, just like we want in school and other things, but there's also at tendency now that we see children's sports sort of have different goals. Usually more education, developmental goals in a league sport.
And sort of we see a lot more pressure being placed on kids and you know, adult sport models being used for children. So it's a real tough balancing act for parents.
WHITFIELD: When you talk about the pressure, are you talking about you know, the family that says, we're thinking scholarship, or we're thinking you stay committed and one day you will be a professional athlete.
Because you think of some of the current examples when you have somebody like Andre Agassi with, you know, in tennis, when you have like NASCAR's new, you know, Daytona 500 winner, Trevor Bayne and he, too, will say he started out at age five. Of course, this is a family investment.
GOULD: Yes, great point. Some of our studies show that the more families are investing financial resources in their child's sport, the more, if they're not careful, it doesn't always happen, but if they're not careful, they can fall into the trap of expecting more for their money. And that usually falls into ranking and winning.
However, children's sports are really designed for a number of good, other objectives. We know kids involved in sport tend to do better in school. They tend to learn things they can't learn in the classroom like initiative. With the obesity crisis, we know they tend to have better health habits.
WHITFIELD: Sorry. Those are all great positive things, and certainly everybody wants to look to that and hopes for that. But then it can also be a destructive force in a family structure, particularly when you're talking about other siblings that may not be getting the same kind of family investment.
So what do you recommend to a parent when there's more than one child, but perhaps it's one child that seems to be the exceptional athlete, or one child who is getting most of the family investment because of their sport?
GOULD: Yes. First I think, we would recommend that as a parent in general, that you try to make each of your kids special. Find what they're good at, one might be sport. The other might be internet computers and another thing.
Sometimes one thing may cost more than the other and I think just as a family, we need to be careful that each child counts and each child -- it can't always be equal attention. But we don't make the one so special and the other sort of an also ran.
WHITFIELD: Great advice. Dan Gould, thanks so much, director of the Michigan State University Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. Appreciate it.
GOULD: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right, now it's time to go back stage at the Academy Awards, without ever leaving your living room? How do you do that? Our tech guru Marc Saltzman will be along. He's showing us already a preview of how to do it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, so there's a new tablet available to rival the first iPad. Our technology analyst, syndicated writer, Marc Saltzman is here with us. OK, so we're talking about iPad, competing with itself with a new one and yet, there's another?
MARC SALTZMAN, SYNDICATED TECHNOLOGY WRITER: That's right. We'll talk about the iPad II in a moment, which will be unveiled on Wednesday. But, yes, we have the first, I would consider the first real contender to the iPad and that is the Motorola Xoom. This is what it looks like here, and that's Xoom, x-o-o-m, by the way. It's similar in form factor. It's 10.1-inch screen, instead of the iPad's 9.1-inch screen and it's the first to run on Google's honeycomb operating system. This is latest Android 3.0 operating system that really has a lot of bells and whistles over its predecessors --
WHITFIELD: Like what?
SALTZMAN: Well, for one and coupled with the amazing hardware is speed. So for example, this is the main menu here. Let me show you how fast it is to load your music. It's like less than a millisecond. Watch this, I just tapped it and you're good to go. Look at that. That's unheard of in a tablet, including the iPad that exists now.
We'll see about the iPad II, in a couple of days, but really, really fast performance. It has a dual-core processor like a computer running at one gigahertz. It's got all kinds of bells and whistles. So this is the first one. If you like to tinker and you like Android, which is more of an open operating system, this is the first to impress a lot of critics out there.
It is a little bit pricey, however. It's $600 on a two-year Verizon term because it does work with a data plan. In fact, it's 4G ready for when that rolled out or $800 without. So it does have a couple of cons, a bit heavy, pricey, but definitely a great contender.
WHITFIELD: OK, and then if you have an iPad, then it's already almost archaic, right?
SALTZMAN: You know what, I know you're half-joking, because it's true, Apple, you know, I remember there was an "SNL" skit about this, but the moment they release one product, it's already obsolete. You have to buy the new one.
I would argue that the first-generation iPad is amazing for a first product in its category. But with that being said, around the corner on Wednesday in fact, in San Francisco, Apple will unveil the iPad II.
Though they haven't confirmed it, the invitation I received, along with other analysts and journalists does show a tablet behind the March 2nd date for the event. So it is expected to be better than the original iPad, which is now almost a year old. So it's expected to be lighter, more powerful, possibly a better-looking screen using that retina display that's on the iPhone 4 and the fourth-generation iPod touch.
It's not expected to have expandable memory or fix the fact that it doesn't play flash videos, but one exciting feature that I'm really hoping for, yet unconfirmed, is something called NFCs, or Near-Field Communication. In a nutshell, this is a new wireless technology that lets you swipe your tablet for mobile payments.
You know, you swipe it at a terminal or let's say you're leaving a movie theater, you see a poster for an upcoming film, you take your iPad II or iPhone 5 and you swipe the poster and it will automatically download the trailer to your tablet or Smartphone. So we're hoping --
WHITFIELD: So also -- we'll have about 30 seconds left. Sorry, Marc, but - so with that new iPad or maybe the old one that you have, you will be able to kind of watch what's going on behind the scenes, during the Academy Awards back stage. How do you that, real quick?
SALTZMAN: Sure it's called Oscar backstage pass. It is a 99- cent app that you can download that grants you access to more than a dozen videos tonight at the Academy Awards from the red carpet to the ceremony backstage to the Governor's Ball from your iPad, or iPhone, or iPod touch. You can watch the action if you're a celebrity fan or movie-lover.
WHITFIELD: And you've got to be a big fan to do that, right? That's cool stuff. All right, thanks so much, Marc. Always great to have cool stuff that you introduce to us. Have a good Oscar night, too.
SALTZMAN: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, tonight Hollywood does recognize the best movies and actors, but next the award for the worst movie of the year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I always knew you would return. You are the only one who can control all the elements.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): But did you know this was going to happen? The Razzie for the worst picture of the year goes to "The Last Airbender." The martial arts fantasy film earned Razzie trophies for, listen to this list, worst picture, worst director, worst screenplay and worst supporting actor. Along with a new category for 2010 -- worst eye-gouging misuse of 3D. Giant insults all the way, not quite the clean sweep, but close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, so now let's move onto the best in movie- making. The Oscars will be handed out in Hollywood tonight. A.J. Hammer is on the red carpet. Plastic removed, maybe? Shades are out, that means it's sunny, nice.
A.J., lots of odds-makers seem to be lining up behind Christian Bale, among those who will be heading the red carpet for best supporting actor in "The Fighter." Do you concur?
AJ HAMMER, HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: Yes, and Fred, well, I'll get to that in a moment. First don't think of me unprofessional for wearing the big Hollywood shades, but, you know, I'm warming up for the Oscars. It was supposed to be this abysmal blizzard like day here in Southern California, the sun is in my face. It's gorgeous here. The cover is off the red carpet. And yes, Christian Bale getting a lot of attention. What a great year it's been for him. Certainly a far cry from a couple of years ago when he got more attention for all the drama in his life as opposed to what he does best, which is acting.
Well, now he's got himself an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his terrific turn as a crack-addicted former boxing champion for the Oscar-nominated film "The Fighter." So the question is will Christian Bale's road to gold also prove to be his road to redemption.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who are you?
HAMMER (voice-over): Batman in man. Terminator? Done with that. Good-bye, big buff blockbuster action hero. Welcome back, acclaimed, admired, Oscar-nominated actor, Christian Bale. Big-screen bad boy has been nominated again. Bale's rebirth in "The Fighter" has earned him a ton of trophies already.
CHRISTIAN BALE, OSCAR-NOMINATED ACTOR: Every single other actor shares this with me, you can't do it. No one's an island.
HAMMER: Suddenly Christian is counting his blessings. This is Bale renewed, supporting the casts and humbly grateful to his own family.
BALE: I appreciate my family no end, my wife and my daughter.
HAMMER: It's a public image 180 from the angry actor accused of assaulting his mother and sister in 2008. From the Bale who went ballistic on a crew member on the set of "Terminator: Salvation."
After that explosive four-minute recording with 39 uses of the f- word hit the internet, entertainment correspondent Ken Baker says Christian need a career resurrection and he got it.
KEN BAKER, E! ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people were writing him off saying he just kissed his career good-bye. But the fact that he's been nominated for almost every major award and won many of them for "The Fighter," it goes to show that his talent is what people in Hollywood seem to value.
HAMMER: The brand-new Bale seems to have gotten what he's always wanted, the spotlight back on what he does best.
BALE: I'm always very comfortable when I'm playing a character, but myself? I'm just -- I'm generally not comfortable. I'm not somebody who is good in front of a roomful of people, you know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he has a chance to do something I never did.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HAMMER: So the question is, will Christian Bale walk home tonight with Oscar Gold? A lot of people saying it is Geoffrey Rush's to lose. We're going to find out, and of course, "Showbiz Tonight's Road to Gold" right here on CNN kicks off at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
WHITFIELD: And so, AJ, you already have fans that are in the stands there waiting for all the celebs to hit the red carpet. Who gets those tickets? How do folks get so lucky back there?
HAMMER: The bleacher creatures as they're known, they apply, I don't know, like 15 years in advance and they're sitting up there. Actually this section behind me right now is not completely full, but you have them already rehearsing their waves and cheers and they've been here since I think late last week.
WHITFIELD: My gosh, fun stuff. All right, we'll be watching you, AJ, with your very cool shades on and we'll watch you into dusk as well. Because AJ Hammer and his "Showbiz Tonight" co-host, Brooke Anderson will be reporting from the red carpet tonight.
Their "Road to Gold" coverage begins this evening, 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Live coverage continues to 11:00 p.m., shades on, shades off, we will see, eastern time on our sister network, HLN, with all the Oscar wins, losses and late-breaking scoops.
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WHITFIEDL: Tiny tar balls from the BP oil spill are still washing up on beaches of Mississippi's barrier islands. But crews will only be cleaning the sand for a few more days, as our David Mattingly explains nesting season is interrupting their work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys are actually just kind of like a fishing crew here.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been almost eight months since BP oil blackened the beaches of Mississippi's barrier islands and I find that the oil is still here.
(on camera): It's brittle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MATTINGLY: Not at all like we saw last summer. Look at it. It crumbles like a cookie, almost.
(voice-over): Cleaning up this wildlife refuge on Horn Island is slow. Machines can't dig deep enough to reach the buried oil without causing more environmental damage. So every day teams sift through the sensitive dunes and beaches for tar balls.
And every day, the wind and waves uncover more. This section of white sand beach has been cleaned ten to 15 times and it still looks peppered. (on camera): The small pieces in here. These little black specks, these are the tar balls?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Surprisingly, BP crews aren't even trying to pick up all the oil. BP has been directed to meet a government-set standard of less than 1 percent visible coverage.
DAN BROWN, U.S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: Within that section, within that entire section of beach, there has to be less than 1 percent coverage.
MATTINGLY (on camera): So out of every 1,000 feet of beach you can still have ten feet of oil?
BROWN: Over that entire 1,000 feet, yes.
MATTINGLY: That sounds like a lot to me.
BROWN: Well, it's a standard that was determined.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Following another government standard, crews are only collecting the tar balls that are larger than two and a half centimeters, about the size of a quarter.
(on camera): And now, the clock is ticking because the all- important nesting season begins in March. Once the birds come in to begin nesting, these clean-up crews are going to have to leave. And whatever oil they haven't picked up, pieces like this will stay on the island.
(voice-over): Biologists will determine when and where clean-up crews can return to their work. No one can determine yet when the job will be finished. David Mattingly, CNN, Horn Island, Mississippi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So, whose job is it to save a species? At 4:00 Eastern, we'll introduce you to a group of middle school art students trying to make a difference.
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WHITFIELD: All right time to check in with our money team, some wins and losses last week. So what can we expect in the coming week? First to Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. It was a winning week for General Motors, the company posted of almost $5 billion last year. That ends a string of five annual losses. Last year, the U.S. car market rebounded and China continued to see strong growth. A trip through bankruptcy helped the automaker by allowing GM to close factory, kill several brands and shed debt.
But it was a tough week for stock, the surge in oil prices and concerns about Libya pressured the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 to their worst weekly performance since August. Felicia --
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Alison. Blockbuster put itself up for sale this past week. The bankrupt video chain already has at least one offer, but the bid is for less than $300 million.
The company is hoping for competing bids. Blockbuster said it will continue normal business operations during the auction process. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last fall in an effort to reduce it's nearly $1 billion debt load. It's struggled to compete with Netflix, Cable on Demand and other services.
Poppy Harlow has a look at what's coming up in business news. Poppy --
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Thanks so much, Felicia. Well, the coming week is all about jobs. We'll get reports on the labor market on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with Friday's report being the most critical. That's when the government releases its February jobs report.
Analysts expect to hear that the economy added about 180,000 jobs. That would be much better than the 36,000 jobs that we saw added in January, but it is most likely not enough to bring down the stubbornly-high unemployment rate.
That's actually expected to edge back up to 9.1 percent. The unemployment rate, believe it or not, has been above 9 percent since 2009. Of course, we'll keep an eye on it all, track it for you all week at CNNMoney. Fred, back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much ladies so at the top of the hour, "YOUR MONEY" and the countdown to a possible federal government shutdown? What kind of deal is needed to keep the lights on in Washington beyond next week. That and more after a look at these top stories.
Four weeks, the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison has been ground zero for a high-stakes standoff over the union rights in collective bargaining. Hundreds of protesters have slept in the hallways and public areas, but that could be changing today. The state agency that handles security for the building has ordered the protesters to leave so that the building can be cleaned up.
And astronauts on board the space shuttle "Discovery" got right to work after docking with the international space station. After exchanging handshakes, the astronauts started preparing for their first space walk that's scheduled for tomorrow.
And I'll be back in one hour. Right now, "YOUR MONEY" begins.
