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Libyan Rebels: Gadhafi Wants a Deal; NATO Has 24/7 Surveillance in Libya; Oil Prices Ease; U.S. Student Found Dead in Spain; Outrage Over "Radical Islam" Hearing; Mom and Dad Deploy to Afghanistan; Teen Boxer Dies Defending Sister; Charlie Sheen Fired; Five Republicans Woo Evangelicals in Potential Bid for White House; President Obama to Tour Boston School; Donald Trump Fires Back

Aired March 08, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, you guys, have a great day. Thanks so much.

Hi, everybody. It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast and we've got a lot of news to talk about today. So let's get right to it. I'm in for -- I'm in for Kyra Phillips this morning.

What we're watching this hour, the body of an American student -- actually, yes, let's start right here. The body of an American college student found in a Spanish river. The mystery of his whereabouts, solved. The mystery now, what killed him?

And also, the average price of gas. It crept a little higher as you slept but oil prices seemed to have leveled off.

And if you didn't know if already, it's Fat Tuesday. Let the good times roll in New Orleans. But there are also some powerful storms rolling in as well. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Mardi Gras partiers might need to take the celebration inside.

This morning, let's begin in Libya, though. And what we -- and what could be the beginning of the end for Moammar Gadhafi as the bloody clashes enter their fourth week. Rebel leaders say he's trying to strike a deal to step down but Gadhafi's government is scoffing at the claims and no one is underestimating the dictator or the ruthless cunning that has kept him in power for 41 years.

Let's get the latest, CNN's Nic Robertson is joining us. Let's actually move on to Ben Wedeman. We are having some troubles over there in Libya. But as we said, for more -- for more than four decades, Gadhafi's shrewd and merciless tactics maintained an iron grip on his country and his opponents are not about to underestimate him now.

Let's Ben Wedeman as I said. He is traveling in eastern Libya. He's joining me live from -- on the phone.

Ben, what are you hearing about this deal that we're just starting to get a little word of from the opposition on the ground there?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to members of the opposition, they heard about this so-called proposal whereby Moammar Gadhafi would be allowed to step down with honor. They heard about it through the media.

However, they are very hesitant to even publicly discuss any sort of proposal coming from Moammar Gadhafi. Their feeling is that they just cannot trust this man and they continue to insist their goal is one way or another to topple him from power. But, of course, that is not as -- that's much easier said than done.

Certainly we see Libyan army -- armed forces making progress in the western part of the country, continuing to threaten towns like Zawiya and Misrata where the opposition has taken over but it's essentially surrounded.

And here in the eastern part of the country, the opposition which had made some initial advances in gaining territory from pro-Gadhafi forces, they are offensive, if you can even call it that, has come to a screeching halt outside the town of Benjuwad.

So it appears that at least at the moment there is something of a stalemate both on the diplomatic and the military front.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. All right, Ben. We'll check back in with you.

Let's now try to get back to Tripoli where our Nic Robertson is -- I want to make sure that we have Nic.

Nic, do we have you?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You do, indeed.

BOLDUAN: Hi there, Nic. So tell us, what are you seeing on the ground there?

ROBERTSON: Well, we're seeing a high level of expectation of the hotel we're at. The red carpet has been rolled out and we're told that Moammar Gadhafi is going to come here. The journalists are waiting.

We're not told what he's going to say or in fact what he's doing here. But government officials have been very clear with us. They see the claims by the rebels that Gadhafi has been some way got himself into a deal to step down on certain preconditions. They see that as lies and propaganda and they say it's absolutely rubbish.

They say that the military offensive in the east, the tide has been turned because they've been able to bring more tribes on to their side. The military advance, not just the army, they say, but behind that, the tribes. And they say when some of the rebels have seen seeing the tribes that are supporting the government they have, therefore, decided that they're up against a much greater force and some of them -- the government has a changing side.

But the idea here in Tripoli that Gadhafi might, in some way, be -- have a plan or negotiations to be part of -- to step down as part of some kind of deal, they say is absolutely rubbish at the moment.

BOLDUAN: And Nic, we're seeing some video of that red carpet that you're talking about at that hotel. I mean, of course, we never know really what Moammar Gadhafi is going to be -- going to say. But what if -- I believe the last time we heard from him was over the weekend. This clearly seems to becoming quite a surprise that they're rolling out the red carpet and he could become to speak to you.

ROBERTSON: The -- one of the most surprising things is that even the government officials here who work with us at the hotel were caught completely unaware by this. The first indication we had were a couple of jeeps full of troops pulling into the back of the hotel in the gardens and he's setting up additional security. And then a sniffer dog is seen out in the front and the red carpet rolled out.

The government officials here who deal with the media still don't know exactly why Moammar Gadhafi is coming. They've set aside a conference room here. It seems that he's going to -- that he will likely speak to everyone but that's the way things work here. When the leader -- and he claims not to be the leader of the country, but the leader of the people. But when he makes a decision and says he's going to do something, everyone jumps to it even if they don't understand why or what their role in it is. And that seems to be what we're seeing play out right now -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Well, clearly we'll watch and wait. And if Moammar Gadhafi shows up, we will be right back to you, Nic. Thank you very much.

All right. Well, in Libya as the violence increases the call for international action is growing quite louder. Now the -- now NATO military alliance is stepping up its surveillance and inching toward possible military involvement.

CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon for us.

Barbara, what does a surveillance flight typically involve? And what does this mean for American involvement?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kate, what's going on right now is NATO, which has its own surveillance aircraft, is flying them, shall we say, around Libya. Not very likely they are flying into Libyan air space. But over the Mediterranean.

And basically keeping an eye on Libyan air traffic control, radars often which involve commercial airport radars, and just keeping an eye 24/7 now on what is happening in Libyan air space.

Of course, the discussion around the international community is whether or not to establish a no-fly zone over Libya to go all the way into doing that, which would essentially be a military operation going into Libyan air space, taking out their radars, taking out some of their surface-to-air missile sites.

It's a tough call right now. The Obama administration says that option remains on the table. There is discussion at the U.N. There's discussion in NATO. But nobody really willing, at this point, to take out additional step.

Still, the bottom line, very little international stomach for taking outright military action against the Gadhafi regime -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Barbara, we know that there are -- obviously, these conversations about the possibility or not a possibility of the no-fly zone, but what are the other options in terms of a range of response from the international community? Are we talking about that yet?

STARR: Yes. I think -- I think the focus right now really remains on humanitarian relief operations. You have the international community flying or trying to fly tens of thousands of those refugees, mainly Egyptians and Bangladeshis, off the Tunisian border next door -- these people have fled the violence in Libya -- and get them back to their homes.

There are U.S. warships out in the Mediterranean standing by, we are told, ready for additional humanitarian relief operations, ready to offer medical assistance. One of the things that is going to be very tough is, you know, there are so many casualties inside Libya amongst civilians.

What do you do to try and get medical aid to these people without -- you know, putting troops on the ground inside Libya for which the U.S. has no real stomach at the moment. So these kinds of very tough humanitarian questions.

And still, Kate, there is very deep concern at the Pentagon and across Washington about what some people call the nightmare scenario. What if, at the last minute, Gadhafi forces really open up on the Libyan people and you have mass civilian casualties? Then what does the international community do? Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. It seems there is no easy solution, no easy choice to make at this point.

Barbara Starr, at the Pentagon for us. Thanks so much, Barbara.

We're also keeping a close eye on how the instability in the Arab world is impacting your wallet. We've been talking about this quite a bit.

This morning oil prices have eased a bit after reports that OPEC may increase its output. Prices are still hovering around $105 a barrel and that's the highest in nearly two and a half years.

And some gas prices, of course, you care about. This time yesterday, we told you unleaded was averaging $3.51 a gallon. Today, Americans are paying a penny more, an average of $3.52.

Will it ever go down? We will be watching.

Police in Spain meanwhile have found the body of an American college student. 22-year-old Austin Bice had been missing for nearly two weeks. This morning police pulled his body from a river in Madrid near the disco where he was last seen. CNN's Al Goodman is in Madrid.

Al, what are police saying today?

AL GOODMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kate.

Well, Spanish police have been searching various sections of river near the discotheque where the San Diego State University student Austin Taylor Bice was last seen by friends more than a week ago after a night out in Madrid.

On Monday night, the Spanish police started draining a section of the river just downstream from the discotheque and that's where they found his body on Tuesday. Now they -- there will be an autopsy but the Spanish police are saying there -- initially there are no signs of foul play.

Bice never made it into the discotheque that night. Some reports say he had too much to drink but his family denies that, and says he just decided to go home alone. Bice's father, an accountant, rushed to Madrid from San Diego last week to search for his son.

And Bice's friends at the Madrid University where he was studying business courses this semester, also mounted a very public search for him, putting up missing person posters around the capital. So this news is hitting all of them very hard -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: What a sad story.

All right, Al, thanks so much. We'll check back in with you on that.

So look what people in New -- in a New England town are dealing with this morning. A lake of mud that stopped cars in their tracks and chased some people out of their homes. It's really amazing. The ground just can't take the pounding rain and melting snow.

Also capitalizing on the Sheen machine. The story that just won't go away. McDonald's links itself to the Charlie Sheen drama with a Tweet. And the American Red Cross is doing that as well.

And would you ever write LL or OMG on a term paper? Well, your kids might be doing that. Texting lingo is creeping in to kids' schoolwork. We're talking to the principal about this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Got some breaking news to tell you about. Two U.S. marshals and one police detective shot in St. Louis. Reports are that a suspect has been shot as well.

We're still gathering details from our affiliates on the ground. Seeing some video from the scene there and we'll bring it to you as we get more.

Also, let's take a look at some stories making news "Cross Country." A Baltimore community is mourning the death of a promising teen Boxer. 17-year-old Ronald Gibbs was stabbed to death over the weekend while trying to defend his older sister. Gibbs was preparing for the Olympics.

And also, the intern honored for helping save Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' life is running for office. Political Science major Daniel Hernandez is one of six candidates in the race for student government president at the University of Arizona.

And here's something you don't hear every day. A would-be robber calls 911 because he's scared of the homeowner. In Portland, a man charged with breaking into a house says he was concerned the homeowner might have a gun. The homeowner also called 911, and that's when police found the suspect, 24-year-old Timothy James Chapek locked in the bathroom.

And a Wyoming couple is crossing the country by horseback. We caught up with Richard Jeannette McGrath in Out West, Arkansas. They left California one year ago on their 4,000-mile trek to Washington. They're doing it to raise awareness for a group called Hearts Up Ranch that helps people with emotional problems. Good luck to them.

A powerful winter storm. Flooding and mudslides. Could it get any worse? Maybe. Some severe weather is really pounding the Northeast. Rob Marciano is in the CNN Weather Center. Rob, what's going on?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Check out some of this video we have for you. A mudslide across parts of Massachusetts. They saw tremendous amount of rainfall yesterday. Boom. This car just stuck in it right there in Greenfield, Mass.

So, a lot of rain, obviously, and also some snow melt. You see some of the snow still hanging around, there. So, that combination led to certainly a big headache there. And there are still rivers that are under flood warnings right now in that part of the world.

All right. Also, just north of that part of the world in places like Vermont and northern New York, just got hammered with snowfall yesterday. Burlington now creeping up on their all-time snowiest winter list. One of many cities across the US that claim that. A heavy, wet snow.

Look at the -- well, we had the snow and flood totals. Thirty inches, basically, in places like northern Vermont. And where it rained, it rained three, four, and five inches in places like Virginia, western Connecticut, and Southwick, Massachusetts. So, that's the type of problems that we had yesterday with this system.

And now, with another system coming onboard, we've got flood watches that have been reposted for some of the same areas across the Midwest and the Appalachians that have been seeing heavy rainfall for the past couple -- week and a half.

Also, threat for severe weather across parts of Louisiana, in through parts of the deep South later on tonight and in through the day tomorrow.

Have you seen the movie "Up"? Check out this video, it may bring back some memories. A great little animated movie where this old guy refuses to give up his house, straps a bunch of balloons to it, and manages to lift himself up, I think, down to South America.

Well, they -- Nat Geo tried this. They got 300 helium-filled balloons and they've got this house, and look at that, Kate. They managed to lift it up.

BOLDUAN: I don't have the courage. At all.

MARCIANO: No word of any pesky little tweenies out there with BB guns trying to take it down. I think it was a fairly successful launch.

BOLDUAN: All of the factors. --

MARCIANO: And landing.

BOLDUAN: The birds, the -- I mean, aren't they going to burst at some point? I don't know.

MARCIANO: It looked pretty, though.

BOLDUAN: It did look pretty. Good luck to them. I wonder how it actually came down.

MARCIANO: Nice and easy.

BOLDUAN: All right, Rob, we'll check back with you. Thanks, man.

MARCIANO: All right, see you in a bit.

BOLDUAN: So, Charlie Sheen -- yes, your favorite entertainment story -- he is calling himself an "unemployed winner" this morning. I think of myself as a winner, as well.

Warner Brothers Television fired the actor from his hit show "Two and a Half Men" yesterday following his string of public rants against the show's creators and his admitted drug use. Sheen has threatened to sue CBS for shutting down the show. He was earning nearly $2 million an episode.

On his Twitter page, Sheen writes, quote, "Born small. Now huge. Winning. Bring it." I guess that's signed unemployed winner?

Take a look at who else is hitting Twitter now, trying to capitalize on the Sheen drama and his catch phrases. McDonald's, of all things. The fast food giant tweeted this. "Despite all the rumors, there are no plans to bring McLobster or McSushi to the US menu. We are working on a new menu idea call McWinning."

And after Sheen claimed to have tiger blood, the American Red Cross tweeted this. "We may not collect tiger blood, but we know our donors and volunteers have fierce passion for doing good." I can't even believe it. PR and brand strategist Marvet Britto joins me -- joining me from New York.

Marvet, wasn't it a long time ago that corporations were actually trying to distance themselves from a celebrity scandal. Why are they trying to jump onboard now?

MARVET BRITTO, PRESIDENT AND CEO, THE BRITTO AGENCY: You know, I think they see a really increase in interest in Charlie Sheen. They see an explosive following. An unprecedented number of Twitter followers in a matter of days. So, I think his equity is really being seen in other brand extensions, IE other corporations leverages the Charlie Sheen brand.

The problem is, he's not an asset to his network, to his employers. The dilution of his brand there is where it's causing him the most detriment. So, right now it's funny and the antics are being really supported by other brands. But right now, CBS and Warner Brothers is where it matters, and they no longer are in the business of Charlie Sheen.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. It has to be pretty risky, when you think about it, jump -- using anything that Charlie Sheen is kind of dishing out these days, because it doesn't seem like he's stopping anytime soon, or what is going to come out of his mouth next.

You, Marvet, were instrumental in reviving Mariah Carey's career after a pretty public meltdown. What could you do for Charlie Sheen? What can be done for Charlie Sheen, do you think, in terms of his brand?

BRITTO: I think right now, Charlie Sheen, when he was only self- destructing himself, it was tolerable. Now, he's self-destructing other brands and other producers, and that's when you have to really cement your positioning, which is what we saw his employers do.

I think there's an element of truth. No one is sitting Charlie Sheen down and saying, "It's no longer funny. Your self-destructive behavior is now self-destructive to others around you." And I think with any celebrity, it starts with a truthful place and it starts with a truthful conversation.

Everyone around him, his enablers and, perhaps, even his family, may be afraid because of economic positioning and posturing from Charlie not to really be as truthful as they need to be. But now that the checks won't be coming in, I think people need to stand up and really sit him down and explain to him what his detrimental behavior will really cost him in the end.

BOLDUAN: Not that this is important at this point, especially with someone who clearly needs help, but can a celebrity come back after this, do you think?

BRITTO: Absolutely. Celebrities, you're as good as your last record, you're as good as your last hit. I think he really needs to get the help first. I think we're a very forgiving public and we love a redemption story, we love a comeback. But only when that comeback is attached to real willingness to seek help and a real admitting and an admittal (sic) of you having a problem. We need to see Charlie do that. Right now, he's not thinking and not admitting to the fact that he has a problem. We hear him saying he's a winner. An unemployed winner. He hasn't submitted yet to the truth and, until we see that, there won't be redemption for Charlie, at least is as it pertains to him working again.

BOLDUAN: We'll watch, Marvet. We'll have to have you back on when it's time to start talking about redemption when it comes to Charlie Sheen. Marvet Britto, thank you so much for joining me.

BRITTO: No problem.

BOLDUAN: And the big story we're watching, CNN crews are in Tripoli, where Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is expected to possibly arrive any minute at a hotel where international media are staying. You're see something video, there. They've rolled out a red carpet. Nic Robertson is live with the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Five Republicans who are looking a lot like White House candidates are getting a foothold in the first in the nation caucuses state. Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Buddy Roemer, Herman Cain, and Rick Santorum made pitches to a group of Iowa evangelicals last night, and that's where CNN's Jessica Yellin was. And joining me now from Des Moines, Jess. Were -- did any major -- one major theme come out last night?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the big message from this crowd, Kate, was that social issues should not take a back seat to economic concerns, even -- despite the nation's difficult fiscal picture.

This is a crowd of people who are important in this state, especially in the Republican side of the race, because they are among the most likely to go out in caucus on a cold Iowa night just under a year from now and help select this year's state nominee for Republican to run for the White House.

Now, the issues we heard from some of these would-be candidates include things like renewing the fight against same-sex marriage, renewing the fight against abortion rights, bringing God and religion more forcefully into the discussions and in public life.

But one of the cases that was made over and over again is that these things do not need to be at odds with the effort to fix our economic picture, and that was an argument made forcefully by Newt Gingrich, maybe the most prominent candidate or would be-be candidate to speak last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Balancing the budget is an essentially moral, not economic, question about whether or not politicians ought to have to follow the same rules as the rest of us. So, there should be no distinction between economic national security and social conservatives. We should all base our principles on fundamental questions of morality.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: Now, others who appeared, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty impressed many in the crowd with his passion and with a clear social conservative message of the place of religion in public life.

Rick Santorum made a strong case for renewing the fight against abortion rights a central piece of his platform.

But we also heard from some people less well known, especially Buddy Roemer, the new -- the Louisiana governor who recently got into the race. A big hit with this crowd, Kate, but there'll be many, many more like this to come, and we'll hear from these candidates a lot more in Iowa in the weeks and months to come. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Exactly. Especially if they decide to finally throw their hat into the ring. But that will be coming soon enough. Thanks, Jessica. We'll talk to you soon.

So, is New York congressman Peter King putting Islam on trial? His scheduled hearings tomorrow are drawing criticism both inside and outside the Muslim community.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: On Wall Street, oil prices have been the driving force lately. Today, there's a bit of relief. Prices are retreating and a new CNN Money survey says all of the volatility we have been seeing will subside.

Alison Kosik is up at the New York Stock Exchange to explain it all. Alison, the big question is when will prices go down?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, I left the crystal ball home and I'm really not exactly sure when prices are going to drop. But the good news is prices are expected to fall before the end of the year at least that's according to a CNN survey of the economists.

So most at this point most are not changing their oil forecast from December. On average, economists see the oil ending the year around $95 a barrel because even if the tension in the Middle East doesn't get resolved quickly we could get more clarity as time passes. Right now, oil prices are down a bit hovering around $105 a barrel.

Those prices are being helped by talked of OPEC possibly boosting output and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi maybe trying to strike a deal to step down. Wall Street thought, of course, focusing on oil and not many major economic reports coming out today.

Right now, we got a mixed open. The Dow is up 23. The Nasdaq is off slightly. Urban outfitters shares right now are tumbling, 12 percent on earnings as fourth quarter margins were hit hard by more markdowns. It shows even by discounting doesn't necessarily mean those sales are going to rise. Kate, back to you.

BOLDUAN: All right, Alison, thanks so much. We will check back in with you.

It is half past of the hour and time to check some of the headlines that we're watching. The red carpet, you see right there, it's rolled out in Tripoli where Libyan's leader Moammar Gadhafi is expected to face international media.

That comes amid reports that he is trying to strike a deal to resign. The rebels say he is demanding safe passage and a guarantee that neither he nor his family would be prosecuted. Gadhafi's government though is scoffing at the claims. Much more will come on that.

And police in Spain say the body of a missing American student has been found in a Madrid river. The 22-year-old Austin Taylor Bice disappeared after leaving a disco more than two weeks ago. An autopsy is scheduled, but the authorities say his body showed no signs of violence.

And this is the last full day in space for the shuttle "Discovery." It's due to wrap up its final mission tomorrow with a noon time landing in Florida. Its next stop -- the Smithsonian.

So New York Congressman Peter King has stirred up quite a Hornet's nest it seems by scheduling hearings on Muslims in America. The title of the hearings opening tomorrow is the extent of radicalization in the American-Muslim community and that community's response.

Our Deborah Feyerick has been watching that all and she's joining me from New York. Deborah, a hearing on Muslims in America, why now?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's so interesting. As a matter of fact, the head of one Muslim group tells me that Peter King's approach doesn't really focus on the criminal threat, but instead demonizes the very community that needs to be treated as a partner, not a suspect.

People I've been speaking to in national security and the American Muslim community say maybe five years ago these hearings might have been relevant but not now. They say so much progress has been made. American-Muslims are cooperating with the FBI and local police and that's generated a much higher level of trust on both sides than ever before.

Does it mean it's 100 percent? Well, no. The White House officials say that American-Muslims and Arab-Americans have been essential in identifying and preventing terrorist threats and countering what they call violent extremism.

A Muslim group that actually tracks the number of disrupted terror plots finds that in the last year, since about December 2009, the time of the underwear bomber, 8 out of 12 plots were disrupted because Muslim family member or neighbor reached out to law enforcement.

Now, late last summer, we went to the Somali community in Columbus, Ohio. What we saw is community leaders working with the FBI. Some of them were going door-to-door. They were talking to neighbors and taking the pulse of the community to see whether in fact a family member may have changed, whether they see more withdrawn and more extreme in his views. Here is what the top FBI guy in Ohio had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH BENNETT, FBI, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: We have seen many instances where parents have indicated that they would have concerns about their child and they will come to us and we work together with that parent to hopefully minimize or mitigate any potential threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Now, is the trust 100 percent? No, but there is a reason. A lot in the community really feel that instead of incarceration, the government has to focus on intervention.

If they come forward and saying, look, we know somebody and we're not sure what is going on, law enforcement has to sort of step in and begin to question as opposed to set up a sting. That's really what the big concern is, but that is a policy shift. Kate --

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. We want to see what if any impact does these hearings have maybe on the trust between the government and the Muslim community moving forward, but we will watch that closely. Thanks so much and we'll talk to you soon.

Later this month, CNN's Soledad O'Brien looks at the question, does freedom of religion mean freedom from suspicion? She lays out the dramatic fight over plans to build a mosque in the heart of the Bible belt unwelcome, "The Muslims Next Door." That is Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, March 27th. You're going to want to watch that.

And a family separated by war. A mother and father deployed together, leaving their young son behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have decided we had rather go together than be apart for another year.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): How the 2-year-old is coping without his parents and also how they are coping without him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: War is one most of us cannot comprehend. Layer that stress on to the pressures of everyday family life and, too often, some things got to give. Technology can help, but as our Chris Lawrence shows us, even our bravest can get lost at the intersection of war and family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the hardest choice this couple ever made, leaving their 2-year-old son for seven months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Better keep it up. Remember.

LAWRENCE: While mom and dad deployed to Afghanistan at the same time.

PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS CHAT RICE, U.S. NAVY: I don't think a mother could ever describe that feeling, leaving your son and especially I was leaving him for the first time.

LAWRENCE: But last time Chat Rice got back from a tour in Iraq, she barely had time to get the bills before Jeff deployed again.

STAFF SGT. JEFF RICE, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It's very hard because you try to catch up in that two weeks, but you really don't have much time.

LAWRENCE: This is Jeff's eighth deployment.

CHAT: We have decided than we would rather together than be apart another year.

LAWRENCE: With Seth at his grandparents in Ohio, their saving grace has been Skype.

(on camera): Remember, Seth is 2 years old and with everything that comes on with that. Sometimes he doesn't want to talk at all. But at least they can see him, watch him play, things they would never be able to do before.

CHAT: Technology has been so amazing.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): They are lucky to be on a base with fast internet service.

JAMIE RICE, SETH'S GRANDFATHER: We know a lot of families don't get that same -- excuse me. I just feel sorry for those who don't get that pleasure, you know?

LAWRENCE: In 2001, the military divorce rate was lower than the national average. After 10 years of deployment, it's higher. Counselors have even used Skype for marital counseling during deployments.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it can be a double-edged sword.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Kelly Hruska is an advocate for military families. She's also a sailor's wife who says her husband in Iraq got frustrated when their daughter avoided Skype.

KELLY HRUSKA, NATIONAL MILITARY FAMILY ASSOCIATION: Why doesn't she want to talk with me? And it was after a few months that we finally realized that her way of coping with the deployment was out of sight, out of mind. And that by talking to him on the phone, by Skyping with him, it was just a reminder that he wasn't there and it was hard for her.

LAWRENCE: Technology also means troops can't immerse themselves in war like they used to and some say I can't leave my problems at home, they are there every night. Now it's almost time for Seth to move back with his mom and dad.

CHAT: It was very, very difficult, but I know that we're doing -- we're doing this for our future and we can have more time with him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: And Chris Lawrence is joining us live from the Pentagon. Chris, are there any restrictions with the military on allowing both parents to deploy at the exact same time?

LAWRENCE: Yes, good question. As long as they have designated a primary caregiver which, in this case, are the grandparents. There are more couples choosing this option because when you look at some studies, up to 80 percent of kids who have mom or dad deployed have anxiety.

They are having trouble at school, trouble sleeping so some couples are saying, well, let's increase the time that the entire family is together, but there's going to be some challenges on the back end as well.

Not just Seth, you know, being happy that mom and dad are home, but also now adjusting to fact that grandma and grandpa are gone, you know? It was it grandpa who broke Seth from the bottle. It was grandma and grandpa who helped potty train him.

So there may be some issues there in terms of him missing them even as he welcomes his parents back into his life.

BOLDUAN: Just looking at that video, it reminds us with that precious little boy, the amazingly difficult decisions our men and women in the military make for our country, which is really amazing. I think I'm correct on this. Correct me, Chris, if I am not, that the rice family is supposed to reunite later this week?

LAWRENCE: Yes. This story has a great ending, Kate. The Rice's, Jeff and Chat have finished their deployment. They will be home on Thursday. Right now, the grandparents have Seth in the car. They're driving across the country from Ohio to San Diego and they'll all be reunited in a couple of days.

BOLDUAN: We will definitely check back in with them on that. Thanks so much, Chris. Great story.

So texting lingo it's turning in schoolwork apparently. It's a little gift from the digital age to the English language. What do you think? Would you want your child turning in a term paper full of text words? BRB maybe? We will be talking about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A little later today, President Obama heads to a Boston high school that's really cranking out the graduates. He'll say its proof that government business and philanthropy can work together and that it works.

But here are two school stories that the President probably will be talking about. One, being a Florida teacher who stapled a 7-year- old's embarrassing progress report to his shirt to make sure mom and dad would see it. And also this story, texting lingo like LOL and OMG creeping into kids' school work.

That's where Steve Perry comes in. Our education contributor. Steve, you're a principal. What would you do if -- what would you do if you saw a term paper turned in with a little BRB, LOL, any of the above?

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: Correct it. One of the biggest problems that our kids are facing right now is they are not learning what they need to learn in the classroom, they are not learning how to write. And unfortunately, they are communicating primarily through text.

And unfortunately, what you see is that kids are writing entire papers like a page of just one paragraph because there are no text breaks within -- I mean, there are no paragraph breaks within texting.

BOLDUAN: From your view when you -- when you're hearing about this creeping into kids' schoolwork do you see this more of a school/teaching problem or a parenting problem?

PERRY: I think it's a -- it's a school/teaching because just like Morse code before it or any other -- any other form of written communication that wasn't the written -- traditional written language, it's just an expansion of language and that's ok because there are only 145 characters you get on Twitter so you couldn't use the full word even if you wanted to in many cases.

When we get in the classroom, it's our responsibility to make sure that we teach children exactly how to write. That's what we're being paid to do, that's what the expectation of the community is and that is what we should do.

BOLDUAN: And what about this other story, this Florida teacher stapling a -- a progress report to a 7-year-old's shirt to make sure that his mom and dad would see it? Apparently, he wasn't taking home this, I'm guessing, not a very good progress report.

PERRY: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Does this work or is it just kind of serve as humiliation? I don't know.

PERRY: It's ridiculous. It is -- it is a ridiculous lapse of judgment on the behalf of the teacher. And if the teacher really very badly wanted to communicate with the parent, there is this thing they call the telephone. In addition to that they also have the cell phone, and they also have e-mail. And, of course, text. They could LOL this all the way through.

So we know that there are other forms of communication. The objective here was, in some way, I believe, the intent appears to have been to show the child that what he was doing was not appreciated by the teacher. Unfortunately, though, what gets lost in this is that this is apparently a child who does need some correction. So I'm hopeful that while the parents are upset about the way in which this teacher communicated the information that the information itself is not lost in the communication.

BOLDUAN: Yes and hopefully, it doesn't backfire. Because you're right, the child's work which clearly needs some help, is --

(CROSS TALK)

PERRY: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- that's being completely lost in this debate at this point.

PERRY: Which it should not be. It's very easy for parents -- and parents do this all the time. They call me and they're all fired up about something in the way in which one of my teachers expressed it to the child but the fact remains that there was a reason why an expression needed to be made. You're calling and you're angry at the teacher for embarrassing your child, but there is something that your child did that is embarrassing.

BOLDUAN: Right.

PERRY: And let's focus on that.

So while the teacher was wrong, no doubt the parents definitely need to come together for a conference. And my hope is this principal puts everybody in the room and that they all like women and men have a conversation about what's most important here which is the child's performance because as a 7-year-old, if they're having that much trouble, then that could be a sign of things to come.

They need -- they need to correct this right now.

BOLDUAN: Have an adult conversation.

All right. Steve Perry, we'll talk to you soon. Thank you so much.

PERRY: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: A Republican senator is doubting Donald Trump can win the White House. And as you'd expect Trump is not timid with his response.

Our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser is here with that story and I'm sure much, much more. What's going on Paul? PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, I guess the takeaway here, Kate, is don't mess with the Donald. Ok, this all started right on CNN on Sunday on our "STATE OF THE UNION" program when Senator Lamar Alexander, the Republican from Tennessee who ran twice for the Republican presidential nomination back in 1996 and 2000. He said this about Trump, he said, "There's always someone like Donald Trump who absolutely has no chance of winning." He went on to say, "Trump is famous for being famous."

Well as you said, Trump didn't let that one stand. In interviews last night and in a statement he said, he never really, he doesn't really know Alexander but he calls him and he termed him ineffective. So the Trump fires back. Donald Trump of course says he'll decide by June whether he'll run for the Republican presidential nomination.

Talking about running for the nomination, Michele Bachmann the Republican Congresswoman from -- from Minnesota who's popular with the Tea Party Movement she was on "AMERICAN MORNING" this morning. And Kate, she said, she gave us a little more of a hint, she said, she would decide by early summer whether she will officially jump in.

Of course, she goes to New Hampshire this weekend coming up. She's been to Iowa and South Carolina as well, all crucial early states in the race to the White House. Kate, back to you.

BOLDUAN: All right, Paul, this is always is such a fun game -- game leading up. Will they, won't they. Will they, won't they, anyway.

STEINHAUSER: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much. Paul Steinhauser, we'll talk to you soon.

And we'll have your next political update in one hour. And a reminder of course, for all of the latest political news go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.

And coming up, Kate Middleton shows off her pancake tossing skills. I'm sure she has many more skills than that. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Police in Spain have found the body of a missing U.S. college student. Zain Verjee -- Verjee is joining me now live from London with the latest on this and of many other stories from abroad.

Zain, this is a -- a sad ending to this story.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. It's really awful, Kate. He was 22 years old, his name was Austin Taylor Bice and he was found in a river. what police said was that they sectioned off some of the river and then they drained it and they found his body. He was at a club he had been and then he just disappeared. They're doing an autopsy but there are initial indications that there was no violence or -- on the body but they're going to see after they've taken a greater look at the forensics what actually happened. He was from San Diego State University.

The other story we're following is one of an appointment case, a pretty important one, President Obama has pointed or nominating Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be the next U.S. Ambassador to China. That's a big deal, a big post.

As you know he's a two-term governor of Washington state and also the first Chinese-American to hold the post of Commerce Secretary.

Now, Kate, I want to tell you about another Kate, Kate Middleton who did a very important thing today, she tossed a pancake. She tossed the pancake in Belfast, Northern Island. And this is news, why? Well, she's to be the future Queen of England. So she's actually there with Prince William and they were, you know -- they were basically supporting a cancer fund and that's the reason she was there.

Hundreds of people were there just to check her out and get a handshake and watch the pancake get tossed. They handed her a frying pan. It was a bit of a surprise, but there she did it.

BOLDUAN: Did it work?

VERJEE: And a good job.

BOLDUAN: I mean, I know if I would toss a pancake, one, no one would know about it or care.

VERJEE: Yes.

BOLDUAN: But I mean, that's -- it's not an easy thing to do.

VERJEE: No, it's not an easy thing to do, but, you know, she managed it. They've been -- you know they've been training her in etiquette and decorum.

(CROSS TALK)

BOLDUAN: And pancake tossing.

VERJEE: -- and how things -- and pancake tossing may be one of them. I know, curtseying is one.

BOLDUAN: Something I also, yes, etiquette and curtseying probably not really in my bag of tricks.

All right. Zain, thanks so much. Great to see you.

VERJEE: You too, Kate.

BOLDUAN: So if you're finding that high gasoline prices are starting to cramp your style, I'm sure everyone would agree, next hour we're going to talk to an expert on -- who has some great suggestions for finding cheap gas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BOLDUAN: The madness, yes, the madness has started for college basketball fans.

Jeff Fischel from HLN sports is here. So, we're already starting, I guess it's March. I guess I wasn't ready for it.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS ANCHOR: There you go, it's already here.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

FISCHEL: The conference tournament this week; that means every conference even the small ones is getting all kinds of attention. And these small conferences knows, the teams know, they have to win if they're going to make the tournament. The West Coast Conference final, John Stockton, the Hall of Famer, watching his old school Gonzaga, and watching their point guard, yes, his son David, the sweet pass to Robert Sachry (ph). The Zags win, they're going to the tournament again, 13 straight trips to the dance. That's amazing for a team that's not from one of the big conferences.

St. Peters is exactly the kind of team you route for in the tourney. This team was 5-25 when the seniors were freshman. Wesley Jenkins and the foul. St. Peters beats Iona. St. Peters is in the tournament.

Let's do some spring training. The Phils and Yankees, Plastio (ph) Palanco, the pop-up. Nick Swisher, aka, the hubby of sitcom star Joanna Garcia. The flip? OK, he did not land the dismount but he did hold on to the baseball. That's a great catch. Swisher's such a great guy. On Facebook there's even a We Want Nick Swisher to Host Saturday Night Live fan page. Swisher is a great guy, very gregarious.

Minor league hockey teams come up with the craziest promotions. The Bakersfield Condors have given us Charlie Sheen Night, Kate. This Saturday night if you bring a clean drug test, you get in free. Expect a lot of Rick Vaughan (ph) jerseys, anyone dressed as a Sheen movie character gets in for, yes $2.50 bucks. Sheen masks will be handed out and Tiger Blood Ices' will be available.

And, of course, if you bring in Charlie Sheen's one week paycheck for the show, $2 million, you can own the team. They will hand over the keys.

BOLDUAN: I don't think anyone could hear. I was rolling my eyes for that entire thing. That is amazing. And I don't think anything called Tiger Blood sounds delicious.

FISCHEL: The Goddesses have also been invited to be mascots. We don't know if they'll show up.

BOLDUAN: We'll watch.

Thanks, Jeff.

FISCHEL: OK.