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Wisconsin Protesters Can Stay in Capitol; Saif Gadhafi: "Weapons on the Way"; U.N.: 100,000 Flee Libya; Americans Flee Libya; Rodney King 20 Years Later ; Avoiding a Government Shutdown; Twists of the Collar Bomb Case; Dangerous Storm System Developing

Aired February 27, 2011 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It was this police beating caught on tape that led to one of the worst race riots in U.S. history. Now, 20 years later, I sit down with Rodney King who says it still haunts him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Do you still have nightmares?

RODNEY KING, VICTIM OF POLICE BRUTALITY: Yes, yes, I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It's a CNN exclusive.

A standoff in Wisconsin. Protesters defy a deadline to leave the state capitol building. We'll tell you what happened.

Plus, caught on tape. A bull charges into the stands and attacks spectators. We'll talk to the woman who videotaped the chaos.

And we've got the best and the worst dressed at the Oscars. We'll count them down for you.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

But first, we want to get you caught up on the stories that are making headlines.

We start first in Wisconsin, where you won't see anyone dragged out of the capitol building tonight. Police has ordered protesters to leave so the building could be cleaned, but many refused. And police are now saying that anybody who's in there can stay the night as workers clean around them. Nobody else is allowed in until the building reopens at 8:00 a.m., Central Time. We have a live report from Madison in just a few minutes.

The protests in Wisconsin are inspiring others around the country. These are just some of the videos from our iReporters showing protest in Denver and San Francisco on Saturday. They're dead set against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's budget plan, which would strip many collective bargaining rights for his state's public workers. Walker is standing firm, though, saying it's necessary to close a budget gap. There were counter protests in many areas but on a smaller scale in general.

Meantime in Washington, five days and counting to a possible shutdown of the federal government. That is if lawmakers can't agree to another stopgap funding measure. Republicans want spending cuts. Democrats are countering with proposed spending freezes. They get back to work tomorrow.

Further evidence that Moammar Gadhafi is no longer in total control of Libya. Italian TV reports rebels have looted one of Gadhafi's homes in eastern Libya. The mansion apparently even had a private zoo and an underground bunker. The home reportedly was stripped of all of its belongings.

And this is a scene today along a border crossing, where thousands of refugees are fleeing Libya into Tunisia. The United Nations now estimate some 100,000 refugees have left the country, where they worked as day laborers and migrant workers. CNN has just obtained new video of Moammar Gadhafi's son Saif addressing cheering loyalists, telling them not to defect, that more help and weapons are on the way. You'll see it here for yourself in just a few minutes.

Shocking new details now about the deaths of four Americans hijacked by pirates. A source says two of the pirates left instructions to their colleagues to kill the hostages if they did not return from negotiations with American officials aboard a Navy ship. The two pirates were taken into custody, not standard negotiation practice. Hours later, U.S. forces boarded the hijacked yacht and found the four Americans dead.

Tonight's Academy Awards is the finale to the awards season where Hollywood's finest are recognized. And this year, the Academy is trying to appeal to a younger audience with actress James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosting. Some Oscar winners tonight. Melissa Leo got Best Supporting Actress and Christian Bale, Best Supporting Actor. And stick around for the full hour. We have the red carpet moments. You want to see our take on the best and worst dressed tonight.

And now for the worst in film, the "Razzie" Awards were handed out last night. Worst Actor goes to Ashton Kutcher for both "Killers" and "Valentine's Day " Worst Actress, all four of the ladies from "Sex & the City 2". And the Worst Movie of 2010 went to "The Last Airbender." It also won Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor, and a new category -- Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3D.

Ouch.

A "Dancing with the Stars" charity event did not end well for a high- profile couple in Arizona. Police say Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Bundgaard got into a scuffle with his girlfriend on the freeway after she accused him of inappropriately touching his dance partner. Bundgaard says Aubry Ballard tossed his clothes out of the car. Police were called in and said both had marks indicating a scuffle. Ballard was arrested for suspected misdemeanor assault; Bundgaard was not because of immunity during a legislative session. Having a loaded weapon at a gun show is a bad idea. Police in McLean County, Illinois are investigating what's been called an accidental shooting. Two people were hit by gunfire on Saturday when a loaded weapon went off. Both men were hospitalized. The gunfire catching everyone by surprise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBI OHL, EYEWITNESS: The gun was probably -- when it went off, it was probably eight feet in front of me. And the people that were hit were right over here. So they were, you know, several -- probably 15, 20 feet away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The sheriff says he believes the shooting was an accident.

The astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery are prepping for the first spacewalk tomorrow on the 11-day mission. Discovery docked with the International Space Station on Saturday. It's delivering a storage module, a science rig and some spare parts. This is Discovery's 39th and final flight.

I want you to check out this video released by D.C.'s Metro Transit System. Look at that. People were trying to catch trains right up to the Jon Stewart-Stephen Colbert rally at a National Mall -- the National Mall last October. All of a sudden, they started tumbling down the escalator. One person was seriously hurt. Transit officials now say the escalator's braking system failed.

Baseball fans are mourning the passing of Hall of Fame outfielder Duke Snider. The former Los Angeles and Brooklyn Dodger star died this morning in Escondido, California. He was 84. Snider was a feared hitter on Dodger's team that won the World Series in 1955 and 1959. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.

We want to go back now to Wisconsin, where police are allowing protesters to break out the sleeping bags for another night of camping inside the capitol. This despite an earlier order to move out of the building so it could be cleaned. Our Ted Rowlands has been in the crowd all day and all evening for us.

And Ted, why did police reverse themselves here?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you know, I think they made a great decision to do that. They were talking with the protest organizers and rather than try to forcibly pull literally hundreds of people out of here, who didn't want to leave and said they would not leave, they came up with a plan, and that was for them to move from the second floor, you see now there's hardly anybody up here, where there was hundreds of folks, to go down to the first floor.

So most of the folks are down on the first floor. They cleaned the first floor. In a little bit here, they're going to come back and clean the second floor. The bottom line was the police said, all in all, these protesters have been behaving since the beginning of this action and in the end, they decided they did not want to arrest any of them.

LEMON: Also, Ted, how many people were actually -- are actually left in the capitol?

ROWLANDS: A couple hundred now. The amazing thing is once the protesters were told they could stay, a lot of them left and went home. People were willing to stay here, willing to get arrested because they wanted the right to stay here. And then when the police chief said, you know what, you can stay here, a lot of them picked up their stuff and left and they'll be back again tomorrow to continue this action.

The bottom line here is the protesters can stay in the capitol, Don, but the divide, the political divide is still, you know, going on in Wisconsin between the governor and those 14 Democrats. They remain in Illinois, and the governor remains on the side. They will not give in, in terms of this collective bargaining, going into next week. We'll see what happens tomorrow and then Tuesday when the governor is set to deliver his full budget. It is going to be very interesting to see if either one of these sides blinks.

LEMON: And Ted, we have some video sent to CNN that shows what happened when it was announced that they could stay. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHARLES TUBBS, WISCONSIN CAPITOL POLICE: We have decided tonight that there will be an opportunity for the remaining people to remain in the building tonight. There will be no arrests. As we said before, there'll be no use of force. We want the people to continue to cooperate and work within the guidelines and the laws of the state of Wisconsin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That announcement made a short time ago.

And Ted, you could hear the cheers there.

Ted Rowlands reporting live from Madison, Wisconsin. Ted, thank you very much. We appreciate that.

We want to tell you we have some new video. It's coming out of Libya. Moammar Gadhafi's son telling forces loyal to his father weapons are on the way. Find out what else he is saying.

And as tensions rise in Libya, thousands are fleeing the country, including some Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be nice to be home. Just to be so afraid and to hear gunfire all over your house.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: And straight ahead here on CNN, we want you to hear from a mother who just returned to the U.S. from Libya with her young sons. She was worried they wouldn't be able to get out.

Also tonight, we're giving you the best and worst dressed at the Hollywood's most glamorous night. These are our picks. Michelle Williams shines tonight at the Oscars, but the actress has been nominated for her role in "Blue Valentine." On the other side of the break, see who made the list -- the worst dressed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone.

And as promised, we're bringing you some of the losers on tonight's red carpet at the Academy Awards. Scarlett Johansson disappointed with her lacy creation. The actress usually wins raves on the red carpet. We're going to show you in a few minutes stars who were stunners tonight.

We want to turn now to the uprising in Libya against Moammar Gadhafi. CNN has just obtained new video of Gadhafi's son addressing security forces loyal to his father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(PEOPLE CHANTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We want to tell you, we obtained it from YouTube. And as with all social media, CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity but it is consistent with other credible news reports.

During a 4 1/2 minute speech, Saif Gadhafi denounces, quote, "malicious rumors" that Libyan police have joined the opposition. Then he says, "Hold on to your weapons, support is on the way, weapons are on the way." The crowd repeatedly breaks into chanting, saying only Allah, Moammar, Libya. At one point, they shout we sacrifice our blood and souls for our leader.

The deadly violence in Libya has sparked a mass exodus of foreign nationals. Thousands are leaving by planes and ships. But the United Nations now estimates the vast majority, about 100,000 laborers and migrant workers, have fled over land to Tunisia and Egypt. CNN's Ivan Watson is at one crowded border crossing into Tunisia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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, two days.

WATSON: Two days?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we come from probably to Tunisia, OK. Take our laptops, six laptops in the same bus, take my mobile, take my...

WATSON: Who took your laptops and mobile?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Military.

WATSON: The military?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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. Tunisian civil society is stepping forward. We've seen convoys of Tunisian vehicles, volunteers coming in, bringing in help, bringing in support and even organizing demonstrations here against Moammar Gadhafi, where they've even been waving the pre-1969 Libyan three-color flag that has become a symbol against Gadhafi. We are 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 see 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.

Ivan Watson, CNN, near the Tunisian-Libyan border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And one American who fled Libya was Catherine Pandur. She arrived back in Philadelphia Saturday with her two young sons. They have been living in Libya because her husband works for Coca-Cola. But as the violence escalated last Tuesday, getting out of Libya became an urgent priority. I spoke to her about finally leaving for the Tripoli airport in the wee hours of the morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE PANDUR, FLED LIBYA WITH TWO YOUNG SONS: We all regrouped at 5:00 in the morning and we drove in a convoy. And it was -- it was really quiet on the streets, which we thought was very strange. But when we got to the airport, there was a sea of 10,000 people, easily 10,000 people that we had to get through. And there was pushing and shoving and yelling and screaming, and then the children were being pushed.

So we got actually into the airport through a secondary check. And when we got in there and we were standing and waiting to see if our flight was ever going to come in, there was this chanting started outside, this very loud chanting. And then people started screaming and then you heard pops of gunfire. And everyone in the airport where the ticketing counters were just froze.

And then a rush of people came toward us and they were actually carrying a body and it was covered in blood. So, we're not sure if the children actually saw that. We're hoping that they didn't.

LEMON: Yes.

PANDUR: But just to experience something like that and, I mean, it was maybe 15 feet away that they carried the body through from us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And Catherine's husband stayed behind to escort 60 Coke workers out of Libya on Friday. They are now safe in Egypt.

Terrifying moments to tell you about at a rodeo in North Carolina. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(A BULL CHARGING, PEOPLE SCREAMING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Stay with us to see what happens next and hear from the woman behind the camera.

Plus, a Pennsylvania woman will be sentenced tomorrow for the death of a man killed when a collar bomb exploded around his neck. Later, we'll take a closer look at the case that riveted the nation.

And she won an Oscar herself for her role in "Dream Girls" four years ago. And Jennifer Hudson won great reviews tonight for this show- stopping red gown. She was our choice for best dressed at the Grammy's as well. And in a few minutes, another red carpet loser of the night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone.

We have the losers of the Academy Awards, not inside but outside, on the red carpet. We have the worst dressed of the night. On the list, Cate Blanchet. The actress's square-shouldered outfit did not impress. One of the night's successes, just ahead.

Time for viral videos. A North Carolina family learned the hard way just how little separates the audience from the animals at a rodeo. This video explains it all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(PEOPLE SCREAMING)(

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, it happened at a rodeo in Williamstown, North Carolina last Saturday. The bull had just bucked a rider. The crew was rounding it up when it headed for the stands and jumped about five feet into the crowd. The couple did get hurt. They're going to be OK. Also in the crowd, Ann Conner, her husband and her 5 and 9-year- old daughters, and took the video of the bull escape and told me by phone how she avoided it.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ANN CONNER, TOOK VIDEO OF BULL ESCAPE (via telephone): When the bull went airborne, my back was turned and I was running.

LEMON: What were you thinking?

CONNER: Well, my daughter had jokingly said, "Mom, front row seats, the bull might come into the stands like you see in TV sometimes." And I went, oh, no, honey, that won't happen. And as I was running, I'm thinking, my gracious, she had intuition, I should have listened.

LEMON: You wanted that up close seats, right?

CONNER: That's right. We got those front row seats. So I guess -- we're planning to go back next year and sit a little higher up.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: And everyone is going to be OK in that.

More viral videos right now. You know that thing about geese flying south in the winter and north in the summer? Look. Well, this gaggle of goslings never got the memo. Jogging through the neighborhood appears to be their preferred form of migration. These little guys will fly when they get a bit bigger, if they watch out for traffic.

All right. If you have some time on your hands and an ear for music, you, too, can make a viral video. Just look what these people did with a simple bookcase, a bunch of books and about 12 hours of nothing better to do. If you like this kind of music, this song is played by Rodrigo y Gabriela.

All right. This one can be classified as the extreme viral video of the day. Here's a lesson on how to ski down a mountain that cannot be skied. Strap on two snow skis, a paraglider shoot and nerves of steel, of course. Then just fly around all those jagged rocks. This epic adventure deserves a killer soundtrack. The song is "Take a Minute" by K'naan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODNEY KING, __: Three steps back, said lay down. So, I laid down. I laid down like this. And my face was --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Two decades after surviving one of the most disturbing police beatings ever caught on tape, Rodney King takes me back to the scene of the crime. It is a CNN exclusive just ahead.

But first, more from the Oscars. Actress Sandra Bullock is looking gorgeous tonight. Her red ensemble was dazzling to our eyes, but who disappointed with her outfit? That's on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This choice of Oscar wear was a miss tonight from Marissa Tomei. The actress's mermaid-shaped gown landed her on our list of the worst dressed on Hollywood's biggest night. But she's definitely not the worst, not the worst of the worst. We'll have who is later on in this program.

In tonight's "What Matters," we take a look at the man whose name, for a generation, has evoked memories of riots, flames and police brutality. We're talking about Rodney King. This week will mark the 20th anniversary of King's beating by Los Angeles police. The officers' acquittal for the attack led to days of chaos and looting in L.A. and beyond and years of racial introspection for the nation. To mark the anniversary, my documentary will retrace Rodney King's footsteps that day with the man at the center of it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice over): A city in flames. Entire neighborhoods burned to the ground. Now, two decades later, what's it like to be the man, whose beating seen around the world ignited one of the worst race riots in U.S. history?

(on camera): Do you still have nightmares?

RODNEY KING, VICTIM OF POLICE BRUTALITY: Yes, yes, I do.

LEMON: What's nightmare? Do you wake up like tossing and turning?

KING: Sometimes even hearing the voices you heard that was going on that night. Get down, get down. Get down you (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know, those words, you know. So I have to wake up and, all right, look outside, and it's all green, blue.

LEMON (voice over): King's nightmare begins just after midnight. He and two friends, out celebrating, head west on the 210 freeway.

KING: I had just gotten word that my old construction company had called me to come back to work that following Monday.

LEMON: But the celebration is cut short. State police caught King's car going 110 miles per hour and immediately start a nearly eight-mile high-speed chase through L.A. neighborhoods.

KING: I was doing 100. I did every bit of 100. And I'm not proud of it.

LEMON: Following our interview, Rodney King agrees to relive those terrifying moments by taking me back to the scene. As we retrace his steps, we discuss those split-second decisions.

KING: I exit here on Paxton.

LEMON (on camera): Where did you pull over?

KING: I'm seeing all those apartments over there, so I said, man, going to stop right here. If it goes down, somebody will see it.

LEMON: Once he stops, they are surrounded by police. King's two friends are arrested without incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands up.

LEMON: But Rodney King would have a much different fate.

KING: When I opened the door, she said take three steps back away from the car, which I did that. Took three steps back. Once I took three steps back, she said lay down. So, I laid down. I laid down like this. And my face was facing this way so I can see them. No, put your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) head down, face down. When I finally faced down, bam, took the blow. Bam, a real hard blow to the temple. When he did that, I just slipped and then went like that. I ran this way with my hands up to show no threat. And that's when I didn't know that my leg was broke.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: My special hour-long report, "Race and Rage: The Beating of Rodney King," will air this Friday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. That's right here on CNN.

Trouble still looming in Congress. Lawmakers have yet to approve a spending bill that will keep the government up and running. How close are they to an agreement? We'll check in with our senior political editor Mark Preston.

But first, a banner year for Natalie Portman. She's been nominated multiple times for her lead role in the film "Black Swan," and she's been really wowing the red carpet watchers all season long. Tonight at the Oscars, she continues her streak with this royal purple dress.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: She usually sparkles on the red carpet, but tonight, Nicole Kidman was a dud at the Oscars. The actress is on our list of the worst dressed at the Academy Awards. Stay tuned for those who reign supreme on the red carpet, straight ahead here on CNN.

Congress returns to work tomorrow and it's faced with a very pressing matter. Without an agreement by midnight Friday, the government will shut down. CNN's senior political editor Mark Preston tells me they're getting closer to making yet another short-term fix.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: They actually haven't sat down and carved out an agreement to at least keep the government open for two more weeks. But what we heard today on the Sunday talk shows and what we're hearing from leaders here in Washington on both sides of the aisle is that they want to try to get an agreement done.

Don, if they're not able to get an agreement done and the government were to shut down on Friday, here's what would happen. Air traffic controllers would continue to keep their jobs. They would continue working. Border control agents would continue working. However, non- essential federal employees would not be working.

In addition to that, passport applications would go unprocessed. So, all these moving parts of the government, that would have to stand still. But I will tell you, politically, Don, neither Democrats nor Republicans want to see that happen.

LEMON: And let's talk about our lead story. We spent most of our first block in this broadcast covering Wisconsin and how it is shaping the 2012 race now, Mark. That's what I want to talk to you about.

Will voters respond to the GOP hard line against collective bargaining? And is President Obama doing enough to back unions, which are the Democrats' bread and butter?

After all, he said -- I think it was 2007 when he was running when he said, you know, if the union was ever out on -- you know, had issues, I'd be the first one out there on the picket lines with them. He hasn't been out there.

PRESTON: No, he hasn't been out there. And in fact, Don, you know, let's take the first question first. The fact that Republicans, Republican governors are taking a hard line right now on spending in the states, we're seeing Republicans taking a hard line here in Washington D.C., that is absolutely helping with their base. What their base is going to want, though, Don, is that they continue to keep this hard line all the way through 2011, through 2012. That will help them on election day.

At the same time, what Democrats need to do is to continue to keep on fighting. President Obama did make that comment. He made it in South Carolina when he was running for president. I will tell you, he got a little bit of cover today from a major union head on one of the Sunday shows. However, I will tell you, activists are very frustrated. They don't think that he's doing enough. They want to see him up in Wisconsin.

That's very unlikely to happen. In the very least, if they don't see President Obama in Wisconsin, they want him to send somebody up to Wisconsin to at least show that in fact he is on their side. LEMON: All right. Mark Preston.

All right. The man you see here on the ground in front of the police car died more than seven years ago when the collar around his neck blew up. We'll tell you who's being sentenced this week for that crime. That's straight ahead.

But first, Hilary Swank won multiple times at the Academy Awards. Tonight, her metallic gown with its feather train won much praise from red carpet watchers, but there was an actress who outdid her tonight. We'll have our number one best dressed later on tonight in this newscast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Gwyneth Paltrow is on our list of the stars who made a bad choice for Hollywood's big night. Her simple shimmery gown failed to impress. In a few minutes here on CNN, see another of our red carpet winners.

Turning now to this week's CNN Hero. A woman who once believed that HIV and AIDS are punishment from God. An unexpected revelation about her own health not only forced Patricia Sawo to re-evaluate her own beliefs but to launch a crusade in Kenya to end the stigma of HIV and take care of children impacted by the disease.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICIA SAWO, CNN HERO: Back in the 1990s, I believed that AIDS was a punishment from God. When I personally tested HIV-positive, it was, oh, my God, how could this happen to me.

I fasted and prayed for years hoping that I would be healed. When I went public, I lost my job. My husband lost his job. The landlords wanted us out of his house. The stigma was terrible. I realized that I had been wrong.

My name is Patricia Sawo. My mission is to change people's attitudes about HIV.

All that you need is accurate, correct information.

As charity leaders, we need to shepherd the people. HIV is not a moral issue, it is a virus.

I do a lot of counseling. When I'm helping somebody else who is HIV- positive, I want them to know that you can rise above this.

The 48 children at this center, most of them saw their parents dying of AIDS. My HIV status brings some kind of a bond. I provide that motherly love and all their basic needs.

HIV is making me a better person. We want to be there for people. So if we have it, we share it out.

Bye. It's what I want to do because it's what I'm meant to do. God has his own ways of healing. So for me, I'm healed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And remember, to nominate someone who you know is making a big difference in your community, go to cnnheroes.com.

I want you to take a look at this tornado spotted this evening along the Oklahoma-Kansas border. A report on that storm and more on your weather just ahead.

But first, this actress has come a long way from that '70s show. Mila Kunis is rocking the red carpet 2011. Her lavender laced gown was striking at tonight's Oscar ceremony. But we thought one actress electrified the red carpet even more. The big winner, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Look at this. I think she looks great. Less is more. But several ladies on my team say it was uninspired. This A- lister got an F tonight for her Oscar nightgown. Reese Witherspoon has made it on our list of the worst dressed. There was one actress whose look was so bad that we called her the worst dressed of the event. I think Reese looks OK. All right. That get-up is coming up.

Tomorrow, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong is going to be sentenced. Don't recognize her?

This woman from Pennsylvania was found guilty of a crime that riveted the nation more than seven years ago. A man with a bomb locked around his neck sits as an officer in Erie, Pennsylvania surround him. He pleads with them, saying he was forced to rob a bank minutes before. He told them if he didn't deliver the money, the collar bomb would go off. Minutes passed, then the bomb explodes, killing 46-year-old Brian Wells.

And for years, the case stumped investigators. And that's what journalist Richard Schapiro found. He wrote the incredible true story of the collar bomb heist for last month's edition of "Wired."

Rich, thanks for joining us.

What was going on here and what do prosecutors say was the role of Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong?

RICH SCHAPIRO, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Diehl-Armstrong is essentially been portrayed as the mastermind of this crime. Prosecutors say she hatched this bizarre heist because she wanted to pay someone to kill her father. She wanted her father dead, they say, because she believed he was blowing through her inheritance money.

LEMON: OK. So, how did it come to be that Wells went from being part of the plan to being a victim of the plan?

SCHAPIRO: Yes, that's one of the very mysterious questions that is still lingering in this case. Prosecutors say that he was initially recruited as a conspirator and Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and others essentially told him that he would be a part of the heist but he would be wearing a device around his neck that was a fake. It would be a fake bomb.

At the last minute, he was double crossed and they used a real bomb and they actually put the bomb on his neck at gunpoint and forced him to go through with this bank robbery.

LEMON: OK. It's very interesting how this all came about because initially, it was -- he said that he was, I guess, robbed or accosted by several black men who made him do this and then it turns out it was this whole plan that rolled out.

You're in Erie tonight to be there for Diehl-Armstrong sentencing tomorrow and she is expected to get life. But in your article, you say there is a lot of doubt about her being able to pull this off and that another person is actually the mastermind.

SCHAPIRO: That's right. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong has a very long and complicated mental history. She's been found mentally incompetent several times before she was finally convicted in this case. If you speak to people who know her well, they say she's just not capable of putting together this sort of plot.

There is another person involved, who is purported to be involved. His name is Bill Rothstein. He is this handyman, very eccentric, highly intelligent, very proficient technically. And I spoke extensively with Jim Fisher, an ex-FBI agent, who's been studying the evidence in this case for years and he's convinced, as are some other people close to this case, that Bill Rothstein was in fact the true mastermind.

LEMON: OK. So, what's made this case so tough for the FBI and local police to crack?

SCHAPIRO: Well, they're initially left with several pieces of very intriguing evidence. Inside Brian Wells' car, they found several notes that essentially laid out a scavenger hunt.

When they found him, he was on scavenger hunt. And these notes instructed him to go to a series of locations around Erie to pick up keys. And the final clue, at this final location would be the key that would enable him to disarm the bomb around his neck. The investigators tried to do handwriting analysis to figure out who actually authored these notes and they found that they were written in block letters that prevented any kind of analysis, any way of actually identifying who was behind it.

Then there was the bomb. The bomb was incredibly complex, however, it was built using very basic parts, parts that anyone could have in their backyard or in some shed. So trying to track down, you know, the source of these pieces proved to be virtually impossible.

LEMON: It is an interesting case, one of the strangest that I have seen in a while. Rich Schapiro, thank you very much. Appreciate you joining us.

SCHAPIRO: My pleasure.

LEMON: Protesters in Wisconsin State Capitol building are allowed to spend the night after defying a deadline to leave. That report is straight ahead.

But first, best is often near Halle Berry's name on Oscar night. She won best actress honors of 2001, and tonight, she won our title of the best dressed of the night with this gown extraordinaire. On the flip side, right after the break, though, who was the worst dressed?

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LEMON: Sharon Stone, OK, not so much. She doesn't have a nomination, but she lost big time tonight on the red carpet at the Oscars. I love Sharon Stone, but her ostrich feather off-the-should outfit has earned her the distinction of the worst dressed on Hollywood's biggest night. Poor Sharon.

Let's check some of your top stories right now. Protesters are now allowed to stay the night inside Wisconsin's capitol building. Many refused to leave when police ordered them out so the building could be cleaned and the order was rescinded. For nearly two weeks, protesters have gathered at the Capitol in opposition to Governor Scott Walker's budget plan. It would strip public workers of many of their collective bargaining rights.

This is a scene today along the border crossing where thousands of refusing are fleeing Libya into Tunisia. The United Nations now estimates some 100,000 refugees have left the country where they worked as day laborers and migrant workers.

CNN also obtained new video of Moammar Gadhafi's son, Saif, addressing cheering loyalists telling them not to defect, that more help and weapons are on the way.

Now a quick update from Hollywood and the Academy Awards for you. Here are tonight's winners. Christian Bale for Best Supporting Actor, Melissa Leo for Best Supporting Actress. "Toy Story 1," Best Animated Feature Film.

Now to our correspondents from Washington to Wall Street with their preview of the big stories in the week ahead. We begin at the White House.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian at the White House. On Monday, President Obama and Vice President Biden will meet with a bipartisan group of governors. They will touch on a whole host of issues, but in particular, the economy and jobs.

Later, the president will sit down with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki- Moon to talk about the issues in Libya. Then on Thursday, President Obama will host his monthly meeting with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Also we'll welcome the president of Mexico, Calderon. And then on Friday, President Obama heads to Miami where he will continue his sessions on innovation and job creation in the U.S. and host a fund-raiser for the Democratic Party.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash in Washington where it will be a dramatic week on Capitol Hill, because if House Republicans and Senate Democrats can't work out their differences over spending cuts, a government shutdown will be triggered, Friday, because Friday is the day of measure currently funding the government expires.

The House Republicans say they won't support anything without cuts so they're going to hold a vote to cut $4 billion and keep the government running for two weeks. Now the cuts they're proposing are from programs the president has supported so Senate Democrats are now making it clear they may be able to live with that. And if so, a government shutdown could be avoided for now.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Well, Wall Street is awaiting a slew of economic reports this week. We will get the December pending home sales report, as well as construction spending and auto sales numbers. But all eyes will be on that monthly jobs report that comes Friday morning. Economists are expecting that about 180,000 jobs were added in February, but the unemployment rate is expected to tick up slightly to 9.1 percent.

And investors and Apple enthusiasts around the world are expecting to see the debut of the latest iPod at an event in San Francisco. No details yet, but we'll see if that happen and we'll track it all for you on CNN Money.

LEMON: All right, thank you very much.

Let's talk about the weather. A dangerous storm system hits the central U.S. with funnel clouds and an apparent tornado popping up. So let's go right to Karen Maginnis at the CNN severe weather center.

What's going on, Karen?

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Don, this was riveting. I watched this for hours. They had CNN affiliates out of Tulsa that were watching the border between Kansas and Oklahoma.

Take a look at the video and watch how the clouds are forming in the sky. This, I thought for sure, was a funnel cloud that actually had touched ground. Actually this was a super cell and there was a tornado. Two reports of tornadoes in fact which did touch ground. We don't have any reports of injuries, but there were several funnels that were spotted with us as well.

What made this so riveting was, several helicopter reporters, if you will, out of our CNN affiliate in Tulsa were giving play-by-play of the violent weather that was to swirl around Oklahoma into Kansas and is going to push towards the east. As it pushes towards the east, take a look at some delays we can expect at some airports.

In that northeastern corridor, it looks like a midday activity. New York metro airports, you're going to see windy weather. That's after the strong storms blew through. So you might expect delays about an hour or so. D.C. Metros, Philadelphia and Atlanta, also looking at some storms. Expected to move in and move out fairly quickly when they do behind it that cooler air is going to start to rush on in.

Chicago, a very curious forecast, done. You probably know Chicago has very unpredictable weather. It looks like sleet, snow, ice, windy conditions, and these delays, 30 to 60 minutes I think that's going to be stretched out a little bit longer, because it's going to be a little tricky forecasting the timing of all this.

Temperatures by the afternoon will be warming up above the freezing mark, but it's going to slow going until then. San Francisco starting the day out with some low clouds and reduced visibility, delays maybe around half an hour. So not so bad. Don?

LEMON: All right, thank you very much.

You get the best dressed award tonight. The worst for us went to Sharon Stone, the best went to Karen Maginnis and of course Halle Berry as well.

All right, have a great evening. Thank you so much.

I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Thanks for watching. Make sure you have a great week. I'll see you back here next week. In the meantime, we're leaving you a video of this amazing parasail. Look at it, a mountain that cannot be skied. This guy is going it. Amazing.

Good night, everybody.