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U.S. Aids Evacuations from Libya; The Battle for Libya; Driving Ourselves Crazy over Gas; Restoring the American Dream

Aired March 06, 2011 - 19:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

We're going to start with your "Top Stories".

A fierce battle today in the Libyan city of Mesrata; the opposition forces say pro-Gadhafi troops tried to retake the town but were beaten back. More than 40 people died in the fighting. An eye witness account from inside Mesrata just ahead here on CNN. Yemen has been another Middle Eastern country with unrest; but today, a massive pro-government rally in support of the country's president. Violence is an ongoing threat, and the U.S. State Department says Americans should avoid traveling there. There are reports today that al Qaeda militants killed four Yemeni soldiers.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says civilian casualties are no longer tolerable when it comes to the U.S.-led war in his country. Karzai met with General David Petraeus in Kabul today after a NATO air strike accidentally killed nine Afghan boys last week. Petraeus is the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. He made a public apology on Wednesday, and then repeated it again today. But Mr. Karzai said apologies are not enough.

Congressional hearings will take place on Thursday on the issue of home-grown terrorism; in particular, the radicalization of Muslim Americans. And today, a coalition of more than 100 interfaith and non-profit groups gathered in Times Square in New York to voice their concerns.

Meanwhile, a counter rally took place nearby. House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King is holding the hearings. He says radicalization within a small minority of the Muslim community is a threat to America that needs to be explored.

Reminders today of the BP oil spill which happened a year ago next month. An oil rig caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to the rescue of two workers. The Coast Guard says the oil platform is 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Coast Guard crews pulled the two survivors from a ship, which had retrieved the men from the water. Officials say the two had escaped the platform fire by using a life capsule. The rig is owned by Arena. No word on the cause, but the fire is reportedly out.

Federal authorities say they're seeing an increase in the number of vacant homes in the Atlanta area being occupied by anti-government groups -- an anti-government group. Late last week, the S.W.A.T. Team evicted members of the so-called Sovereign Citizens from a home in Riverdale, Georgia after receiving what they called a veiled threat. Deputies say a couple had been living illegally in the home for months. Sovereign Citizen group doesn't believe in paying taxes or obeying state or federal laws.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIDEON ISRAEL, SOVEREIGN CITIZEN: I'm just a person that's a pilgrim and a stranger in a system of oppression and I -- I refuse to adhere to unrighteous dictates when the Constitution states that we have rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: As Libya looks more and more like it's in a civil war, tens of thousands of people are escaping the nation. Today four more U.S. military planes headed to Cairo to drop off Egyptians fleeing Libya. Many of the refugees left Libya by way of Tunisia, which is to the west.

And CNN's Ivan Watson has the latest from the border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The people keep streaming across the border from Libya here into Tunisia. More than 100,000 people have fled in the last two weeks. And more keep coming.

They are met by Tunisian volunteers who hand out food, who hand out water and this is important, because these refugees are hungry, and thirsty, and frightened. Many of them tell us that they haven't had any access to food and water for days and they have been charged exorbitant prices for transport to try to flee the fighting in Libya.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am still very hungry.

WATSON: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the borders, I never eat anything.

WATSON: No food for four days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No food. No food.

WATSON: Yes.

No more silly things. You see my face?

WATSON: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm so very tired. People are so very tired. A lot of our brothers decide that they're afraid to come out. There is no (INAUDIBLE) -- you bring them out. They are afraid, all of the Libyans.

WATSON: What are the Libyans doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're stuck in there. They are attacking us --

WATSON: Attacking who?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The foreigners. Foreigners, foreigners.

WATSON: All foreigners? Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Especially West Africa.

WATSON: Why? Why are they attacking West Africans?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they demand the -- the leader.

WATSON: Uh-huh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brought some mercenaries.

WATSON: Mercenaries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WATSON: Why are you here today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For -- they are human.

WATSON: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should do this.

WATSON: Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm -- I'm a student. I should do -- do this.

WATSON: Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I even go to -- to the faculty to study. I am here for helping people, just for helping people.

WATSON: This is the first stop for the flood of humanity that's been streaming across the border into Tunisia. A transit center of sorts across the road over here is a virtual tent city of thousands of tents, and many of these people are likely to spend days and nights waiting there until their governments or until aid organizations find some way to transport them back home.

Ivan Watson, CNN, near the Tunisian border with Libya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Ivan. And as you just heard, some of the heaviest fighting today was in the town of Mesrata, more than 40 people were killed as pro-Gadhafi forces tried to retake it from rebels who control the center of the city. A witness describes what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are celebrating exactly and I've seen people distributing juice and water. And people are, you know, holding hands up and singing songs. Listen to this. They're saying (INAUDIBLE), which means, be patient, be patient in Mesrata, we'll dig your grave. That's what's going on at the moment in front of the courthouse in the city of --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The truth is often the first casualty of war. And with both sides claiming victory in some places, it can be difficult to sort out who is in control. So here's what we know right now.

Most Libyan cities and most of the people are on the Mediterranean coast. You see the coast there along the Mediterranean Sea. The capital, Tripoli, is far to the northwest.

So the top of the -- of your screen right there. The oil rich city of Benghazi is to the east. And by all accounts, Benghazi is firmly in rebel control. In fact, that's where a budding government is taking shape this weekend. Tripoli is still, though, a Gadhafi stronghold.

Here's where it gets a little bit less certain. The cities of Bin Jawad, Mesrata and Zawiya all have been sites of fierce clashes and pitched battles in recent days. Rebels say they're in control in those places. Tripoli says its forces are in control. CNN has no way of verifying either account: so Mesrata, not a definite; Zawiya, not a definite either, and Bin Jawad also not a definite.

The conflict in Libya is having a big impact in the U.S. and if you have been to the gas station lately, you really know what I mean. Prices have jumped almost 33 cents a gallon in just two weeks.

But is there something you can do to ease the shock at the pumps? Some answers, coming up.

And make sure you join us online. Check out our social media accounts. We want to connect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. We call this "Viral Video Rewind."

Well, this is something we thought we would never see. A tractor- trailer lost control in central Pennsylvania; it was last month. Luckily, it was the middle of Amish country, because four draft horses pulled a truck out of the ditch without breaking a sweat. That's what you call real "horsepower."

Now this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BABY LAUGHING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Any time you need cheering up, just watch a baby laughing or go pick one up. It works every time. This 8-month-old thought dad ripping up a job rejection letter was hysterical so dad set up the camcorder and started tearing up the credit card statements and then you get that. Very sweet.

Our favorite viral video of the day is next. Sit tight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Have you heard of the latest dance craze in Turkey?

Take notes. This grandpa shows how it is done. The dance is called Apaci. It's traditional Turkish dance. It moves with techno music. All right. That's enough of grandpa.

Let's get serious now -- serious news.

Oil is up. Gas is up. And it feels like deja vu. It's because we went through this same thing just a few years ago. My guest tonight is John Davis. He is the creator and the executive producer of "MotorWeek" on PBS.

And John, thank you for joining us. We went through this pain at the pump back in 2008. We all remember. Everybody is all fired up about hybrids, electric cars and then gas prices went down, and we just kind of dropped it.

And I remember the big SUVs, you couldn't -- you couldn't even give them away. And then people -- they were like the number-one selling thing after gas went back down.

So are we as unprepared now as we were three years ago?

JOHN DAVIS, HOST & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, PBS MOTORWEEK: No, fortunately, Don, we are better prepared. The new fuel economy standards that mandate cars, as a fleet, get 35 miles per gallon by 2016; that's in place. The car companies are on board, so when we get there, which is only a few years away, we'll actually be building cars that are on average 40 percent more efficient than they were back in 2008, the last time we had a gas spike.

So we're on the road. I think that electric cars and all the new models that are coming out in traditional cars are all helping that. But we still have a ways to go.

LEMON: Yes, because we keep -- it appears we keep lurching from, you know, from gas crisis to gas crisis. I remember -- I'm old enough to remember the gas crisis in the '70s when the prices went up and then the one we have recently.

When are we going to realize that we need to do more?

DAVIS: Well, I think that the industry and the government actually do realize it, and they've got this very fragile alliance right now, where everybody seems to be working together. And the public actually is responding. The newer cars, like Chevrolet Cruise, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra -- these are five-passenger family cars, they're not the biggest, but they're not tiny and they're getting 40 miles per gallon.

Forty-miles-per gallon is the new black for the auto industry. If you don't have that in a car, you can't really boast. And I think we're seeing the SUVs go along the same road. You know, in a couple years your average SUV is going to get 30 miles per gallon and that's double what it was ten years ago.

LEMON: Ok, so listen, I'm just playing devil's advocate here, ok.

DAVIS: Yes.

LEMON: Because many people say -- I know you work for motoring. And the auto industry is not going to like this. Many people say cars -- that's really the problem. It should be mass transportation, we should have way less cars, way fewer highways and it should be mass transit.

DAVIS: Well, I think that's absolutely true, when you're talking about the urban situation, you know, people that's clustered around a city center. But a lot of our folks in this country, including myself, live 20, 30 miles from downtown and mass transit is not very practical. Also, people --

LEMON: Hang on. Hang on. Let's stop there. Let's do it one point at a time.

DAVIS: Sure.

LEMON: So you live far from downtown and mass transit is not practical. Isn't that the price you pay for not living -- for not living close to a city center?

DAVIS: That's correct. And I think over time, especially if fuel prices go up, you will see people migrate back towards the city. We're already seeing it. But that's talking about a generation. And I don't think we can wait that long to do something about fuel economy.

LEMON: Ok. And you said there are other options. There are other options here that are not being explored.

DAVIS: Well, personally, I think that natural gas of which we have a lot in this country, needs to be promoted more as -- certainly in municipal fleets and bus fleets and any kind of commercial fleets. And this would need the government to get behind it.

I actually think the government should stop playing favorites and go out there and basically say, every type of alternative fuel -- the hybrids, the electrics, the natural gas, down the road maybe hydrogen, we need to look at all of these, because we need all of these pieces of the puzzle if we really want to get serious about using a lot less petroleum. LEMON: All right. Considering what's happening, the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, the oil-rich countries, how high do you see gas prices going?

DAVIS: Well, right now, I think an easy $4; that's not even -- that's already there in California. I wouldn't be surprised to see this get closer to $5. And at that point, you're starting to have real economic impact.

It really depends on how far this unrest in the Middle East spreads. It's speculation right now, but it could turn to shortages. I don't think it will. But I think again, this is another one of those wake- up calls that we have been getting every few years.

LEMON: John Davis, MotorWeek on PBS. Thank you.

DAVIS: My pleasure, Don.

LEMON: There are some big names being thrown around as potential presidential -- Republican presidential candidates. Some like Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich, pretty big star power. Until now, things have been pretty quiet. This week, many are headed to Iowa. Coming up, we'll explain what that means as we look ahead at 2012.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: President Barack Obama has warned of a Sputnik moment where the U.S. is in danger of being left behind in the sciences and technology fields. Our Fareed Zakaria introduces us to a successful tech company, it's called Foursquare, which is leading in scientific innovation and encouraging others to do the same.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA, GPS": Foursquare reportedly grew by 3,400 percent in 2010. Its founders are Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai. So what is Foursquare?

DENNIS CROWLEY, FOUNDER, FOURSQUARE: So Foursquare, what we're trying to do is build applications for mobile phones that help make the world easier to explore for people. And people use Foursquare to check in on all sorts of places. You can open up Foursquare pretty much anywhere you are in the world and it will give you little tidbits of things that you should be doing nearby.

You can go check in at bars or coffee shops or whenever they go out to eat or a park. And when they check in, we let their friends know where they can find them.

And if I want to check in at Foursquare headquarters, I can find Foursquare on the list and broadcast that to all of my friends that I'm at Foursquare headquarters with CNN.

ZAKARIA: So if you were to -- if I were to say to you, the president or the secretary of treasury were to call you in and say, we need a lot more entrepreneurship in America, we need a lot more innovation, we need a particular technology, what should we do to have lots more of this kind of thing? These kinds of companies?

NAVEEN SELVADURAI, FOUNDER, FOURSQUARE: Yes, we have actually been called for advice on similar things. And I think a lot of it is -- it's two parts: one is to educate students, youngsters, about this path in life that you can go do something on your own. And if you fail, you just start over again. Or if you fail, a steady job is waiting for you to pick you up and bring you back to where you could be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That was Fareed Zakaria. America was number one across the board in key areas like education, infrastructure, competitiveness and much more. But recently, we have fallen back. So what's it going to take to get us back on top?

Tune in tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern for CNN special, it's called "RESTORING THE AMERICAN DREAM" with Fareed Zakaria.

Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Donald Trump; they're all names that have been thrown around as would-be presidential candidates. Coming up, CNN's senior political editor, Mark Preston, joins us for a look ahead at what may be in store for 2012.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Guys named Newt, Mitt and Donald, as in Donald Trump are among the potential challengers to President Obama next year and all three men are in the political spotlight right now.

Let's bring in our senior political editor, Mark Preston. So Mark, let's start with the former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. He's been holding news conferences, attracting attention, but he's not really announcing anything. What's he doing? Is he running or is he not?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, he is running. And there was a lot of confusion late last week about whether he was forming an exploratory committee or if he was heading into an exploratory phase. Bottom line, he is exploring a run. He went on Fox News on Friday, the company that he worked for, for ten years. He went on and, of course, was suspended because he was looking at running for president.

He went on and told them that they'll have a decision in six or seven weeks. And he fully expects that he's going to run. If Newt runs, Don, expect him to be the ideas man, the ideas candidate, and expect him to be a little less bombastic than what most people are used to.

LEMON: All right. Let's talk about Romney now, the health care reform that he approved as Massachusetts governor really coming back to haunt him with conservatives, you might say. I want you to listen to Mitt is this weekend, speaking to New Hampshire Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS: We were one of the laboratories of democracy. Our experiment wasn't perfect. Some things worked, some things didn't. Some things I'd change. But one thing I would never do is usurp the constitutional power of states with a one-size fits-all federal takeover.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So the problem here is that they have been saying, hey, you know, the Obama health care plan is really the same as his. So what's he trying to say is health care going to be a problem for him?

PRESTON: Well, Don, it is going to be a problem for him. Two things: it's no surprise that Mitt Romney made that speech in New Hampshire last night. New Hampshire is a state that most people think that Mitt Romney needs to win if he is going to win the Republican nomination.

As for the issue of health care, it is his Achilles heel. The Obama administration looked at the Massachusetts model to base their national model. What Mitt Romney is saying right now is that the states are laboratories, he tried to do something, he wishes he had some things to change. But right now, he's trying to get out in front of it, and saying, look, there were some good things, there were some bad things. But I don't think the Massachusetts model should be used all across the country.

LEMON: Hey, Mark, I have about 15 seconds left here, and I want to say that Lamar Alexander spoke and talked about Donald Trump running. He's saying, hey, Donald Trump is famous, but he can't win.

PRESTON: And actually, I agree with Lamar Alexander, unless we see more from Donald Trump, Don, that he's serious about running, then I think that this is just a lot about nothing about Donald Trump talking about Donald Trump. And let's not forget the "Celebrity Apprentice" premieres tonight.

So Donald Trump likes the spotlight. He certainly has some ideas, Don. But I think that right now Donald Trump is not as serious as some of these other candidates we have talked about tonight.

LEMON: Yes. I just wonder if it's maybe publicity for his show. Who knows? You never know with Donald Trump. Thank you, Mark Preston, appreciate it.

I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. "BUILDING UP AMERICA", a CNN special with Tom Foreman starts right now.