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Texas Immigration Bill; U.S. Could Cut Ties with Libya; Apple Unveils iPad 2 in San Francisco; Potential Fifth Case of Measles in Boston; TSA Taking Action at Honolulu International Airport; President Obama Makes Unannounced Appearance in Briefing Room; U.S. Troops Attacked In Germany; Gadhafi Unleashes Attacks; Libya's Refugee Crisis; Robert F. Kennedy's Killer Up For Parole; Court OK's Funeral Protests; Serena Williams Medical Emergency; Unveiling IPad 2 This Hour; Charlie Sheen Says He's On A Drug Called Charlie Sheen; Texas Immigration Bill

Aired March 02, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Lots of breaking news. A very busy day.

I want to take you first to the White House. Take a live look at the White House now, where the president getting ready, in just a few minutes, going to hand out the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal to 20 honorees in the east room, including Meryl Streep, Quincy Jones, Harper Lee, Sonny Rollins, among others. And we should tell you that the first lady will also be attending this event.

But we want to start this hour with a story that is quickly unfolding, it's out of Germany where we are getting new information. There has been an attack on U.S. military personnel. It happened at the Frankfurt airport. At the Frankfurt Airport, we're told that two U.S. service members were killed in this attack. We're also hearing that the bus driver was possibly killed as well. As soon as we get more information on that, we'll bring it to you.

We want to tell you CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is actually on his way to the airport there. He's going to join us for the very latest in just moments. But, again, two U.S. service members among those who were killed and injured in an attack there at the airport in Germany, and we'll bring that to you in just a short time, here on CNN.

Also, we want to bring you up to date on some fast moving developments in Libya, today. The Libyan military has dropped three bombs on Al Brega and you see it right there on the map. Residents say the opposition is apparently maintain control of the town, managing to drive out Libyan troops. And that's not the only place to see military action there. Nearby, the Libyan military also bombed military camps on the outskirts of Ajdabiya. And we'll talk to Ben Wedeman in just a moment.

But, first, we want to tell you about this. The aerial bombings by the Libyan military have led some to propose the United States consider imposing a no-fly zone over the country. But Admiral Mike Mullan, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff says he has called this option a, quote, "Complex operation." The U.S. has repositioned two amphibious (ph) assault ships in the Mediterranean. One of those is a USS Kearsarge -- you're looking here at a photo of the ship from today as it went through the Suez Canal. And to give you some perspective on this, the ships must go through the Suez Canal in order to get near the region. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said the repositioning is to provide humanitarian relief and the capability for emergency evacuations.

Well, let me tell you about the capabilities of an amphibious assault ship. It has the ability to transport and land troops, tanks, trucks, cargo and artillery. It can serve as a deck for helicopters, it carries anti-aircraft missiles and missile decoy launchers, and also has 600 hospital beds.

Today, the United Nations is still working to contain the humanitarian crisis happening at Libya's border. So far, over 150,000 have arrived in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, and thousands more are arriving hourly. The situation is unfolding there every minute.

Now, back to that unfolding story out of Germany we were telling you about. There has been an attack on U.S. military personnel at the Frankfurt Airport. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is actually on his way to the airport now, and he joins me now by phone.

So, Fred, what is the latest information you have on this story?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): I just got off with the police in Frankfurt that are on the scene there. And they and the German government are now saying that it's actually U.S. service members have been killed in that attack. We understand that one of them accused (ph) had been the driver of that bus which was waiting in front terminal two in Frankfurt. And now they're saying that a man who appears to be from Kosova (ph), seems to have stormed that bus, opened fire, killed those two people -- killed those two service members, and there's two further U.S. service members who are in a critical condition at this point in time.

They say that that man (ph), actually, initially managed to flee the scene but then fairly quickly, that German -- the federal police who are at that airport serviced (ph) with assault rifles themselves, managed to catch this man.

So, at this point in time, the assailant appears to be in custody, the weapon has been confiscated. But, again, U.S. service members attacked, two of them appear to have been killed, and two further in critical condition -- Don.

LEMON: Any idea why this person would have done this?

PLEITGEN: No, and you know, the German authorities are really not giving out very much information as to that. I asked them whether or not they felt this might be a terror attack? They said, at this point, it appears to be no indication of that. They say, they appears -- it appears to the be the fact that he did this on his own. Although, it would appear that at least some planning must have gone into this, because you don't just walk into the area of an airport terminal in Germany with a weapon just like that. So, it appears that there was some sort of planning that went into this. Right now, the Germans, however, are saying they have no indications this could be a terrorist attack, and they say they believe that he did this on his own.

And also, we have to note the fact, Don, that Germans, in fact, have increased their security immensely over the past couple of months, because there were some terror warnings that went into it. There's a lot more cops at the airport now, a lot more police with bullet-proof vests and automatic rifles. So, certainly, they have increased their security, but, again, not able to stop this attack on American military personnel there at Frankfurt Airport -- Don.

LEMON: And, Fred, this is not unusual -- the U.S. military based in Ramstein, Germany regularly offer shuttles to Frankfurt for commercial flights. So, these military members were headed for a commercial flight rather than a charter.

PLEITGEN: Absolutely, and this happens all the time. If you walk into terminal two in Frankfurt, more likely than not, you're going to see members of the U.S. military somewhere in there trying to get some sort of flight, either to the U.S. or to some other destination. For instance, the U.K. or other places where America might have access. But also, the U.S. military does still have quite a large presence here in Germany, and especially in the Frankfurt area. You mentioned the air base in Frankfurt -- Ramstein, I'm sorry, and also, of course, there's that large U.S. military hospital and lunchroom (ph) which is near there also. There are also some other U.S. Army as well as Air force bases in that vicinity. So, this assailant who appears to be from Hostulos (ph), must have known that that airport terminal is one that is often frequented by American soldiers -- Don.

LEMON: Hey, Fred, has anyone talking to you about the circumstances surrounding this -- on the bus, what it was like, was it chaotic? Did this guy just come out of nowhere? Was he riding the bus? Did he come on to the bus and stop it from on the side of the road?

PLEITGEN: Well, he certainly wasn't riding the bus. I mean, this is a -- this is a U.S. military bus. It's a bus that's actually flown in from America. It's not even made in Germany, it's a U.S. military bus clearly marked as a U.S. military bus. Now, it appears as though the bus was parking when all of this happened. It was on the bus lane in a parking area. And what the police have been telling us is that the -- an indication is that he stormed into the bus and opened fire. There must have been some sort of -- sort of scuffle, obviously, that initially -- as he stormed on, he opened fire and, then, at some point, he fled the scene.

So, he certainly wasn't riding the bus, because this was by no means any form of public transportation. This was something that was solely being used for American soldiers, and is also something that's clearly visible as a U.S. military vehicle -- Don.

LEMON: OK. Our Frederik Pleitgen reporting from Germany. Frederik, thank you, standby. We'll get more information from you as soon as you get it. Fred is on his way to the airport. Again, two U.S. service members killed and two other believed to be injured, according to the reporting of Frederik Pleitgen there. Again, very busy news day. The situation is still unfolding as well as the situation in Libya, and we're going to keep you updated on all of that so stay tuned.

In the meantime, we want to check some of your "Top Stories" right now. On CNN in just a few hours, a convicted assassin of Robert F. Kennedy will face a California parole board. 66-year-old Sirhan Sirhan is serving a life sentence for the 1968 killing. Today will be his 14th shot at parole and the first time in nine years he's appeared before the board. And one of the surviving victims of the shooting is expected to testify for the very first time, today, saying he would not object to Sirhan being released.

Only about 10 percent of California's life sentence convicts are granted patrol. A major legal victory today for the Westboro Baptist Church. By a vote of eight to one, the supreme court ruled in favor of the church saying it does have the right to stage anti-gay protests at U.S. military funerals. The father of a fallen Marine had sued the Kansas church, claiming the protests amount to targeted harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The church says god is punishing America for the, quote, "Sin of homosexuality through events including soldiers' deaths." (ph)

Actor Mickey Rooney is in Washington today and he is set to testify before a senate committee, and that should happen in the next hour. He's going to speak on the issue of elder abuse. The 90-year- old star filed a case in February against his stepson and stepdaughter, alleging verbal, emotional and financial abuse. He was granted temporary restraining orders against both. The goal of today's hearing is to draw national attention to elder abuse.

Lawmakers say they hope Rooney's testimony will encourage other victims to speak out.

A major health scare for Serena Williams. "People Magazine" is reporting the tennis star underwent emergency treatment for a hematoma on Monday, that's after doctors treated her for a blood clot in her lungs last week. A spokesman told the magazine the clot was discovered when she returned to Las Angeles after seeing doctors in New York about ongoing issues with her foot which have kept her off the court since July.

From ranting and raving to a calmer chat and a sentimental shout- out to his sons. Today's "Sound Effect", seven days and many sides of Charlie Sheen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: I embarrassed him in front of his children and the world by healing at a pace that his un-evolved mind cannot process.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEEN: Yes, I am on a drug, it's called Charlie Sheen. It's not available because if you try it once, you will die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEEN: I don't believe myself to be an addict, I really don't. I think that -- I'm just (ph) ignore or smash or finally, dismiss a model that they think is rooted in vintage balderdash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEEN: Bob, Max, it's your dadda, and I've never lied to you, and this is another example of that. And I will -- I will see you soon, and you're in my heart, and I love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: As we said, seven days and the many sides of Charlie Sheen. Authorities removed the actor's twins from his home last night.

The next generation of iPad is almost here, almost here. Apple is expected to unveil the new iPad 2 -- iPad 2 sometime this hour, iPad 2 sometime this hour.

Chief executive Steve Jobs, who's been on a medical leave of absence, has shown up for the big unveiling, not sure if he's going to take the stage and do the unveiling himself, but we're checking on it, we're following all the developments.

Industry experts expect this newest model to be faster, slimmer and smaller. It's also expected to come with a camera for video chat. And we're having to bring you these updates online because Apple usually doesn't allow live cameras inside the press room. But CNN does have reporters, live blogging, from inside the event, so make sure you follow CNNTech on Twitter or just head to the tech section of CNN.com for some live updates. Also, keep it tuned, right here on CNN.

We will continue to bring you the updates throughout the hour, here on CNN.

A Texas lawmaker has proposed a law that would deal out strong punishments for those who hire unauthorized immigrants unless that immigrant is going to do your lawn or clean your house. We'll talk to a Texas state representative who believes that the exception is a good idea.

And in the meantime, get ready to join discussion over this bill and over the iPad 2 as well. Head over to Ali's blog at CNN.com/ali to leave your comments, and you can also post them on Ali's Facebook and Twitter accounts. We'll share your comments throughout the show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Now to a story that's only going to ramp up as we head towards 2012. We're talking about immigration and a proposed Texas house bill would create tough state punishments to those who knowingly hire unauthorized immigrants. Violators would face up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000, but it's an exception in the bill that is drawing the real attention here. Apparently, you would not be in n violation of this law if you were hiring a maid, a lawn caretaker or another house worker.

Republican Texas state representative Aaron Pena is in favor of the exception and he joins me now live from Austin. Representative, thanks for joining me here, today. What are you looking to accomplish with this bill?

AARON PENA (R), TEXAS STATE REP.: Well, this is a bill filed by Representative Debbie Riddle. And it is a -- in response to the frustration felt by many of her constituents and many citizens across Texas to try to get a grip on the immigration issue because the federal government has not done their job. Bottom line here is that the federal government needs to take control of this issue and deal with it comprehensively because otherwise you're going to see states, like Texas, trying to respond in their own way.

LEMON: So if you want to take control of the issue, then why an exception?

PENA: Well, I think what it is, is Representative Riddle has filed this exception because of the realities of Texas. And, quite frankly, the realities of most people who live along the border. In this situation, the bill proposes that if you hire a yard worker or somebody who works in your house, the so-called laundry loophole, that, you know, that you will be exempted from being considered a felon. In talking with Representative Riddle, she -- her intention is basically to go after employers who hire illegal workers.

LEMON: OK, employers, like when you say that, because you said you wanted -- you're looking for big business. So employers like who? What kind of employers?

PENA: Well, I -- you know, I can't speak for Representative Riddle, but my sense is, is that what she's trying to do is to go after large employers and not necessarily your average citizen who is -- who somebody comes to their yard and says, hey, can I mow you yard for $10 or $20, yes, sure, go ahead. We don't want to have somebody thrown in prison when we already have a crowded prison system simply because they hired somebody and didn't knowingly know that that they were a citizen or not.

LEMON: So if you're going after big businesses, aren't you -- wouldn't you be going after construction, manufacturers, people who do farming, who do gardening? And if you don't want to -- this to be a blow to the economy, then why go after those big businesses? Because by hiring the people who do the lawns and who, you know, do laundry, that's really not going to help the economy much.

PENA: Well, listen, I agree that certainly along the border we have -- we have commerce going back and forth, we have labor demands and some of that is addressed by Mexican citizens. The bottom line is the federal government needs to come up with a worker program where these citizens can come across and do the work and then go back home. If we have a labor shortage here and they've got extra labor to provide, we need to do that. Bottom line is, this is a federal issue and although I'm not sure Representative Riddle's bill is going to pass, at least it recognizes the realities of Texas.

LEMON: Yes, isn't that an incentive, though, even if you have that exception for lawn care workers, for maids, doesn't that make people want to immigrate to -- into Texas?

PENA: Well, you know, that certainly -- that argument can be made and, from my perspective, that's probably true. But this is something that's proposed by Representative Riddle because, quite frankly, at least where I live along the border, you put maybe half the population in prison and have them committed as felons when they simply hired somebody who was looking for work.

LEMON: Yes. So, listen, you guys meet every two years, correct?

PENA: We do.

LEMON: Do you -- OK, so if you don't do it now, you said you're not sure it's going to pass, then what happens in the meantime?

PENA: Well, we already have a federal law that addresses this issue. I think Representative Riddle filed the bill because her constituents have come to her frustrated with the federal government not simply doing their job. And so she's looking for a Texas response. I'm not necessarily a supporter of the bill, although I am responding to the laundry loophole. I said, well, look, at least that recognizes the reality of the circumstances on the ground for most citizens living on the border. We have many citizens from Mexico working here, and although that may be an incentive, that's the reality of the circumstance.

LEMON: All right, Representative Aaron Pena, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

PENA: Thank you.

LEMON: So what do you think? Is the proposed Texas bill a good idea? Do you agree with this exception, as he said, the laundry loophole? Go to Ali's blog at cnn.com/ali to leave your comments. And you can also post them on Ali's FaceBook and Twitter accounts and we'll use your comments throughout the show here.

OK, are you on the wrong career path? Is your industry dying out? I want you to check this out. We're looking ahead 10, even 20 years to give you the top 10 jobs of the future. So don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: All right, let's talk about your money and really, check that out. This is just in. Has to do with your money because a lot of people are going to be spending a lot of money here to get new iPads. The iPad just came out just over a year ago and now Steve Jobs, you see him there, announcing the iPad 2. He did come in for the event. There were concerns about his health and that he may not show up. But, again, Steve Jobs there in Silicon Valley, at Apple, announcing the iPad 2. We're going to keep you updated. And if you want to follow it, go to cnn.com/tech (ph). We are live blogging this event.

In the meantime, let's talk more about your money. Before the break we promised you that we'll be looking ahead to the top jobs of the future. And CNN's Christine Romans shared the list from careerbuilder.com with Ali Velshi and Kiran Chetry earlier today. It's important information, so pay close attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE": In technology, look at these, cyber security technology specialist, mobile application developer, robotics technician, simulator engineer, social media manager. So that's technology.

Then there's medicine and environmentalism. These are the three big blocks of the future of work. In medicine, genetic councilor, medical records administrator, stem cell researcher. We've also heard our friend Andrew Ruben (ph) over at NYU, he always talking about medical coders. Those are in big demand too.

ALI VELSHI, CNN: This is about billing, medical coders?

ROMANS: Yes, I think so.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN: And so what you're saying is we make the transition from -- to electronic records.

VELSHI: Right. That's right.

ROMANS: Absolutely.

CHETRY: And that is going to be an enormous amount of job potential.

VELSHI: It's actually quite remarkable how many hospitals still do this on their own, how many doctors still do it on their own as we mandate change to everybody being automated.

ROMANS: And it's just a huge growing part of the economy.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: So you want to get in the jobs in health care that are paying the money, too, not the ones that are paying $19,000 a year. And there's a lot of jobs growing in there too.

Also under environmentalism, organic food farmers, sustainability officers. This is from Career Builder. Some analysis that they've done. Specific kinds of jobs.

One of the ones under technology I thought was interesting, social media manager.

VELSHI: Uh-huh.

CHETRY: Yes.

ROMANS: I mean you think about that. A lot of companies are trying to figure out --

VELSHI: Yes, we have them here.

ROMANS: How to harness social media.

VELSHI: Sure.

ROMANS: So these are all areas.

Now, there's also where to go. The states with the best and worst job growth. North -- how many times have you heard me talk about North Dakota.

VELSHI: I'm waiting for Iowa (INAUDIBLE). Is Iowa on the list?

ROMANS: It's not on the list. But North Dakota is on the top of the list. Washington, D.C., and South Dakota.

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: Some of those state, like North Dakota and South Dakota, the commodities boom has been very good for them --

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: But they also have pretty diverse bases of kinds of jobs that are available.

VELSHI: And to your point about stem, they've got eds and meds.

ROMANS: That's right.

VELSHI: Educational institutions and hospitals and universities with medical (INAUDIBLE).

ROMANS: The worst, Nevada, California. Big, big problem there with real estate too. And New Jersey, believe it or not.

VELSHI: Huh.

ROMANS: Those are the worst states for jobs growth. Interesting, isn't it?

VELSHI: (INAUDIBLE) California. It's just -- that's odd that they've just been hit very hard by the recession, so they've got a whole lot of people, unemployment. ROMANS: So it's where you go and what you're studying, what you do, where the growth is going to be. And it's very hard to kind of pivot after you've been doing something for 20 or 25 years.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: But it's very instructive, I think, if you're in college, if you've got a kid that's going to college, if you're thinking about a career reinvention, these are the areas that are getting all the buzz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Be sure to join Christine Romans for "Your Bottom Line" each Saturday morning, 9:30 Eastern. And "Your Money" with Ali Velshi Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3:00.

The Senate votes to keep the government up and running for two more weeks. But it's not exactly what the White House wanted. Our Ed Henry will explain, standing by at the White House, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone.

The U.S. has already imposed sanctions against Libya and suspended embassy operations. Now it is considering cutting off all diplomatic relations as Moammar Gadhafi fights to stay in power, even if it means the deaths of innocent civilians. I am joined now by our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry.

Ed, good to see you.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

LEMON: What would the point of the White House cutting off diplomatic ties be? Why is this significant?

HENRY: Well, it's significant because, you know, many people don't realize that even amid this crisis, the U.S. has actually had contact and communications with the Libyan government. There have been those open lines. And that has been important as the U.S. has tried to get as many Americans out of Tripoli and other cities as quickly as possible.

Now with the White House considering the possibility of shutting off all diplomatic relations after the embassy was at least temporarily closed, et cetera, the significance would be that Colonel Gadhafi, it was a big, big deal for him when the George W. Bush administration re-opened diplomatic relations just a few years ago with Libya because Gadhafi had come forward with his weapons programs. Important because Gadhafi wanted to be legitimized. Wanted to be, you know, a player again on the world stage, if you will. If the U.S. cut that off, maybe, obviously, that would send a signal to him.

On the other hand, he's so far gone at this point, given all the violence that he's continued against his own people, the chances of him being legitimate on the world stage again are pretty remote. So the U.S. cutting off diplomatic relations might not even matter to him. At one time it mattered. Maybe now it doesn't because he's so far gone.

I think the bottom line is, this just shows the U.S. is almost out of answers about what they can do short of military action to actually get his attention. So they're basically trying almost anything at this point, Don.

LEMON: And, as you mentioned military action. We know they're weighing the possibility -- the possibility of military action. But where are we on this issue of possibly arming the rebels?

HENRY: Well, you know, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was on the Hill today testifying about that and she did, again, leave the door open to that possibility. But she, herself, noted in that testimony that the Arab League, while wanting -- while saying that they want more international action on this has expressed reservations about the west coming in and arming these rebels.

The bottom line is, that, you know, the U.S. has repeatedly tried to make sure and show that, look, the Obama administration is not driving events in Egypt, not driving events in Libya. If all of a sudden we start arming the rebels there, that's got the U.S. fingerprints all over it and allows Colonel Gadhafi to say, see, the west is coming in here, arming these rebels. They're trying regime change and all the like.

Maybe it doesn't matter anymore because maybe the more important thing is to just to end the humanitarian crisis regardless of the PR hit that the U.S. and its allies ma may. But the bottom line is, the U.S. is not quite ready to go there just yet because it is a very, very complicated question to just go in there and start arming these rebels. It's not as easy as it may seem at first glance.

LEMON: All right, Ed. Thank you very much. When next we speak to you, we're going to talk about the government -- possibility of the government shut down and the two week extension. We'll talk about that later.

Thank you, sir.

A lot of complaints lately -- OK -- the President of the United States. Let's go the briefing room. I'm being told, there he is.

Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- a brief moment just to say a few words about a tragic event that took place earlier today in Frankfurt, Germany. I am saddened and I am outraged by this attack that took the lives of two Americans and wounded two others. I think the American people are united in expressing our gratitude for the service of those who were lost. Michelle and I have their family and their friends in our thoughts and prayers and we are praying for a speedy recovery for those who were injured.

I want everybody to understand that we will spare no effort in learning how this outrageous act took place. I'm working with German authorities to ensure that all of the perpetrators are brought to justice. And we don't have all the information yet and you will be fully briefed as we get more information. But, this is a stark remind e reminder people in uniform are making all around the world to keep us safe and the dangers they face all around the globe.

So, I think it's fair to say that on behalf of the American people we want to extend our deepest condolences to these families. And we will give you further updates as we get more information about it, OK?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE).

OBAMA: I will have a chance to take some questions tomorrow. President Calderon, from Mexico will be here so I'll give you guys a chance to ask a couple questions on some of these other pressing topics.

All right? Thank you.

(END COVERAGE)

LEMON: All right. The president walking into the briefing room right there and giving a statement on the situation that's happening in Germany. It was our lead story here on CNN. Two U.S. service members killed, two others believed injured by a Kosovo national.

Let's bring in our Ed Henry, our senior White House correspondent.

Ed, I just wrapped up with you and there the president just walked into the briefing room talking about this, saying, this really just shows the sacrifice our men and women in uniform make all over the world.

HENRY: It really does. Extremely rare for the president to just kind of walk in unannounced to the briefing room. Shows the gravity of this situation.

I mean, look, there's all kinds of events happening rather rapidly all around the world, especially in the Mideast right now. The White House struggling to stay on top of all of that while still juggling the domestic agenda, which by the way, jobs and the economy was what the president just about four weeks ago talked about in the State of the Union address.

But instead there's been one national security challenge after another. This Frankfurt situation, yet a reminder of the security challenges all around the world. And I think that's why the president obviously wanted to make sure and tell the American people that he's fully aware of the situation, being briefed about it.

But, as you can also tell, very few details still, it appears that even the president may have at this point and that may be one reason why he won't take too many questions about it. He made that brief statement but this thing is still unfolding in terms of trying to get to the bottom of it, Don.

LEMON: Yes. Again, he said a stark reminder of the sacrifices our men and women in uniform make all over the world. He said they're going to spare no effort to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Also, obviously, they were praying for the family. And, as Ed Henry said, it shows you really just how big this event is and what this means for our national security and the security of our men and women in uniform for the president to come into the briefing room.

Ed Henry, we'll check back with you. Thank you very much.

HENRY: Good to see you, Don.

LEMON: A lot of complaints lately about how to thoroughly secure our airports. The TSA just punished a bunch of officers for being too lax. Up next, some stories you might have missed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Want to check your top stories right now and some of the news you might have missed.

The Transportation Security Administration confirms that it's taking disciplinary action against several officers. It all involves security failures at Honolulu International Airport. Now, here's what the TSA is saying. It launched an investigation into allegations that bags weren't being properly screened. The agency is not revealing many details here.

But, CNN affiliate KITV reports at least 27 officers have come under scrutiny. No confirmed figures on how many are being punished. Now, TSA sources told the station checked bags were being marked as screened even though nobody looked at them.

Health officials in Boston think they've got a fifth case of measles on their hands now. The latest, a professor at UMass, Boston. That's got the school scrambling to alert students and staff who may have been exposed. And in the meantime, measles shots are being offered at the campus health center.

On the second day of March, Apple's unveiling its second version of the iPad. Just about a half an hour ago, CEO Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco. And Apple says iPad -- iPad 2 is faster and importantly very fast in terms of graphics. It has a camera on the front and another on the back. IPad 2 is one-third thinner and has a tapered look which looks more like the Mac Book Air. It's thinner than the iPhone 4 -- wow -- and it weighs 1.3 pounds. IPad 2 will have versions for Verizon Wireless and AT&T. It comes in black and white and we'll bring you more updates as they come in.

If you want to check that out go to CNN.com/tech where they are live blogging. News that Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks may do a movie about WikiLeaks has the secretive group tweeting up a storm. One message today reads, this is how PS ends up being history. Spielberg lines up WikiLeaks films based on books by opportunists. So far, no reaction today from Spielberg.

And it devastated the city but last week's earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, also unearthed a bit of local history. Two time capsules turned up in the wreckage of a statue of the city's founder. Both are now in the hands of museum officials who will get a first look at the contents.

What a week it's been for Charlie Sheen to say the least.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: I will see you very soon. Trust me. Your dad don't lie. I will see you very soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Next, the actor reacts to this video from Radar Online showing his twins being removed from his home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Charlie Sheen has had a full week of drama and it is not over yet. This video -- take a look. It's from Radar Online. It shows the veteran actor saying good-bye to his twins, Max and Bob. That was last night after police showed up to remove them from his home. He says it happened after his estranged wife filed a restraining order against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did this come out of left field for you?

SHEEN: Absolutely. Yes. It came out of the bleachers, actually. I was told that a restraining order was being delivered and I thought, OK, I can deal with that. And then it was revealed that it was something much more serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, while we don't know -- and he says he doesn't -- if Charlie Sheen has any mental health issues. His recent behavior has led some to believe that he might be bipolar.

And our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta help shed some light on the condition that affects one in four Americans.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you know, when people are talking about bipolar disorder, they're referring to a mental illness, a diagnosable mental illness where it's characterized by people having extremely high high's and extremely low low's. Manic episodes, for example, something that people talk about quite a bit.

These are some of the characteristics: overly euphoric feelings, jumpy or agitated behavior, rushed or racing speech, impulsive behavior, things that you might guess. Psychiatrists start to get an idea if someone's having a manic episode by looking for those sorts of traits.

With a depressive episode, similar sort of things. Overly depressed, hopeless feeling, loss of interest in fun activities, even thoughts of suicide. That's the other side. That's the low low. It's the other side of bipolar disorder.

And for a long time psychiatrists, Don, have been diagnosing patients by looking at those types of symptoms. But here's what really interesting to me, where it gets pretty exciting is looking at where the field is really headed.

For example, this is an MRI scan, a functional MRI scan. On the left, over here, normal brain. Pay special attention to this area, the frontal lobe. Look at how bright it is. The frontal lobe is a, sort of think of that as a filter for your brain. It's the part of your brain that makes you think before you speak, think before you act.

Now look over here. Same area, frontal lobe. This is the brain of someone who's having mania. The frontal lobe is hardly activated at all. The filter is not on. The person does not really think or process before they act or speak. Again, that leads to some of those characteristics we just described and when somebody is having a manic episode.

Don, the reason this is so exciting is that you're starting to get really objective evidence of what it looks like inside the brain of someone who has this mental illness. If they are depressed, what you would see is a lot of activity in the frontal lobe, more than normal, the filter's turned on too high. It makes it hard to act, hard to speak, hard to do anything and you get some of those depressive behaviors.

In the future the hope is that you could treat it -- when a treatment is implemented, you could actually see objective changes in the brain. So you're taking mental illness, being able to diagnose it on a scan to some extent, and also being able to demonstrate the effectiveness of treatment.

It's fascinating stuff, Don, a little bit of a glimpse of where this is headed. It's not available for everybody yet. But when you think about mental illness, when you think about these terms that are thrown around, this is what they're going to look like sometime in the future.

Don, back to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Sanjay, thank you very much.

Some breaking news here on CNN. Look at that. That is I-95 in Florida. You see all the smoke there. And it has shut down a 21 mile stretch of I-95 in Brevard and Volusia Counties. Shut down due to heavy smoke. That's according to the Florida Division of Forestry. They say they had this fire about 25 percent contained here there's much, much more. It's burned about 16,000 acres so far, plus.

Meteorologist Chad Myers joins us here to talk about that. It broke out -- they said officially earlier in the week, but maybe before that.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It may have been. They were saying Monday. It seems to me like it's been in my brain for a lot longer than that.

You see the MM 232 ? That's mile marker 232 with the DOT camera there. The smoke blowing in from the northeast. Right now the winds have been northeast 15 to 25 miles per hour all day. That's the opposite direction that yesterday and the day before, it blew the smoke offshore, kind of just south of New Severna (ph) Beach.

Well, there's nothing you could do about this. Exit 231 ,there's an exit. Maybe you could snake on over to US-1 and go to the east of this. This is Titusville, this is right near Cape Canaveral. And so if you're driving north and south on literally I-95, for a while it had 1 and 95 shut down over the weekend.

But it's flaring up again. Even though we had rainfall that came down yesterday and overnight, Monday night, it has dried out again. So far, I have been reading especially for south Florida -- and this is middle Florida -- it has been the driest December through February in 80 years for Florida. This will not be the last wildfire we see in Florida this year. There will be many more. No rain is on the way.

LEMON: And this is not the last we have seen of this particular one. Again, it's only 25 percent contained. And you said the winds are helping to fuel it more.

MYERS: They had it knocked out last night pretty well, but with wind gusts at 25 miles per hour, it is jumping fire lines. You can see the smoke. That is a very good camera for being a DOT camera. You can see the flames, you can see the smoke billowing across. You cannot be driving through that. You can't see the car in front of you that just stopped.

LEMON: And those pictures, again, from the Florida Department of Transportation. As Chad said, it is a really good traffic camera there.

MYERS: Sure is. And look at it bouncing around. That's the wind bouncing it.

LEMON: Twenty-one-mile stretch, I-95 between Brevard and Velutia Counties. Shut down, so stay tuned here on CNN. Much, much more coming up, including today's top stories. We'll take you to Libya as well after the break.

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LEMON: We have a developing story to tell you about out of Germany this hour. Two U.S. Air Force airmen -- two U.S. Air Force airmen -- were shot and killed today at the Frankfurt airport. A military source says the attack was on a U.S military bus and that two others were also wounded.

The military source says the victims were on their way to deployment. American military personnel usually fly in and out of the U.S. military base at Ramstein, but when troops fly commercial, they take a shuttle bus to the Frankfurt airport. We will keep you updated on this as more information becomes available.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi today launched a ground and air assault to retake territories seized by rebel forces in eastern Libya. CNN correspondents report fierce fighting in and around the strategic oil town of Brega. At least three bombs were dropped on the town. One just missed a CNN crew. Residents say anti-Gadhafi forces repelled mercenaries fighting for Gadhafi and once again, control the town. Opposition members are calling for international enforcement of a no-fly zone, and one U.S. senator says it may be needed to prevent the slaughter of Libyan citizens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), FOREIGN RELATIONS CHAIRMAN: A no-fly zone is not a long-term proposition, assuming the outcome is what all desire. And I believe we ought to be ready to implement it as necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: In Tripoli, Gadhafi lashed out again today at the West in another rambling speech, warning of a blood bath if the U.S. or NATO intervenes in the crisis.

As we have mentioned here on CNN, just a short time ago, Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance today for the new unveiling of the iPad 2. We'll show you the new iPad 2 right after this break.

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LEMON: All right. It's time for "The Big I." For those of you who love technology, pay attention. It's a huge day for Apple. The iPad and their millions of fans -- right now iPad 2 was unveiled this hour in San Francisco. Check out the pictures from InGadget.com's web site. Do we have them?

There it is, right there. That's the iPad 2. Kind of looks like the iPad 1 - or if you want to call it classic, probably, right? But it's supposed to be slimmer, it's got a camera on both sides and it looks more like the MacBook Air. That's what we're told. Joining us with the details, Mario Armstrong, a digital lifestyle expert. So, give us more details. I went with the best I knew about it. So, tell us about this new gadget.

MARIO ARMSTRONG, DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: Right. Hey, Don, this new gadget, at first -- there's been a lot of speculation. I thought this was only like a 1.5 upgrade, like an upgrade and a half. But really, it's looking like there's many more details that are coming out.

No. 1, new chip set. A new processor called the A-5. This will make the iPad 2 faster -- two times faster. The graphics will move at nine times faster the processor speed. So, you're already going to see an improved quick performance just on the CPU alone. This is 33 percent thinner, and it's going to weigh a little bit lighter, about 1.3 pounds compared to 1.5. That's going to make lot of people happy. And two colors. It will be in black and white.

The pricing is still around $499 on the low end to $829 on the high end. But one cool thing that you just saw there were these new smart covers. I don't know about you, but I know you have one, Don. I know you've had to put yours in a case or some type of cover when you travel. They have a new smart cover that actually are these magnetic covers that will go right over top. And it will wake the iPad 2 up the minute you pull the cover back or shut it to sleep the minute you put the cover down. Pretty slick.

LEMON: Very cool, Mario. So, this is the old one. This is my old iPad classic. But the other one, it seems a little bit slimmer on the edges, and it has a cool new case. So can't wait to see it. Don't know if I'll run out and buy this one. I think I'll wait for the second generation. But good information --

ARMSTRONG: Oh! You're going to hold off?

LEMON: I'm going to hold out for this one.

ARMSTRONG: You're going to hold off?

LEMON: Yes. I just got this one a year ago. So, I'm going to wait -- a little bit. Thank you, sir. We appreciate --

ARMSTRONG: That's already retro! That's already retro, Don.

LEMON: It's a classic.

ARMSTRONG: Thank you. Hey, follow @cnntech for all the live headlines.

LEMON: All right. If you want to watch the events live or link, go to Ali's blog at CNN.com/ali and we'll link you over there. OK?

In the meantime, a decision by Fox News may get insight into the Republican field for president. I'll show you what I mean, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Time now for our CNN political update. In the update, some news about several potential presidential contenders and their relationship with Fox News. Our Jessica Yellin, part of The Best Political Team on Television, joins us now. What's going on, Jess?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fox - sorry, hey, Don! That's funny

Well, Fox News has reported that they are going to suspend the contracts of Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, both gentlemen, because they have made meaningful signals that they might explore a presidential run. A senior Fox executive told The L.A. Times that's because this would create a, quote, "clear conflict."

So, what are they doing? They say both are suspended during 60 days. During that time, they can let Fox know whether if not going to run for president. Otherwise, in 60 days, that contract is done.

There are a number of other people on Fox's payroll who also may or may not run. So far, no word. They are still contributors as of now. Those people include John Bolton, the former ambassador to the U.N., the most unlikely of all to run. But also, of course, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee who has a Saturday night show on Fox. But so far, those three still on the Fox payroll. Gingrich and santorin not for the moment. And we expect Gingrich tomorrow is going to announce that he is looking at possibly running for president. He'll do it in Atlanta, and it's earned me a free trip down to your town. So I'll be there covering that, Don.

LEMON: All right. Make sure you see me.

Thank you, Jessica Yellin. Appreciate it.

YELLIN: Thanks.

LEMON: One hour for another update.