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Jared Lee Loughner Heads Back to Court; 21 Pennsylvania Priests Suspended; Serious Success in Innovation

Aired March 09, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

AL VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the man accused of shooting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and many other people is heading back to court next hour, but this time is different. This time, Jared Lee Loughner faces many more charges, and this time the court is in Tucson, the scene of that horrific bloodshed two months ago.

Loughner is expected to plead not guilty to 49 federal counts in a new indictment handed up last week. They include the attempted assassination of a member of Congress and the murder of two federal employees. One was a Giffords' aide; the other, the chief federal judge in Arizona, John Roll. Loughner is also charged with murdering four people who were not federal workers.

And CNN's Ted Rowlands joins me now from Tucson to tell us what to expect in about 90 minutes from now.

Ted, first off, this is the very federal courthouse where Judge John Roll spent much of his life. What's it like there today?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can imagine, very somber. Not only spent his working life here, but really touched a lot of lives.

All of the staff here, very emotional today because the accused killer of John Roll will be appearing in a courtroom one floor above John Roll's courtroom. He was in 5D. Loughner will be up in 6A.

And at 5D right now, there's a visiting judge. The courtroom is still being used, but Judge Roll's nameplate is still there, his portrait is still there. Clearly, this will be a difficult day here at this Tucson courthouse.

This will be his third appearance, Loughner's, the first in Tucson. So we also expect family members of the victims to arrive here shortly to see Loughner face to face.

Other things that will be discussed today besides those pleas, mental competency. Loughner, of course, had a history of mental illness. And the United States wants him to go under a psychiatric evaluation.

The judge is expected to talk about that today, possibly rule on it. Legal experts say if he tries to go for a not guilty by reason of insanity plea, it is a very tough road to go. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEELE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The number one difficulty in my view is simply getting a reliable diagnosis, a reliable assessment of who it is it you're dealing with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Another thing the judge will likely rule on, Ali, the government would like Loughner to undergo a handwriting sample so that they can trace those notes that were found in his home back to him definitively. We expect a ruling on that as well. VELSHI: All right, Ted. Thanks very much for that. We'll stay on top of this with you.

All right. Congressional hearings go on all the time. Most of the time nobody is interested outside of the meeting rooms. Sometimes not even the people inside are interested.

Every so often, though, there's a hearing that generates buzz, controversy before it even starts. That is our "Sound Effect" for today.

The new Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee defending his plan to investigate the radicalization of American-Muslims. Critics of New York Congressman Peter King fear a McCarthy-style witch hunt. But King insists his only target is al Qaeda, his only goal is fighting terror.

On CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," he was asked about a claim he made some years back that most American mosques are headed by radical imams.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETER KING (R-NY), CHAIRMAN, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: I made that statement back in 2004 during an interview. I was basing it on testimony by Sheikh Abani (ph), a national Muslim leader who had been testifying at a Clinton State Department hearing back in 1999. And at that time he said that he thought over 80 percent of the mosques in this country were controlled by radical imams.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Do you believe it?

KING: I don't know what the number is today. That quote was from back in 2004. I had no reason to doubt Sheikh Abani (ph) at that time. And he was, again, a very respected Muslim leader. But also, he was making the point that these imams do not reflect the Muslim community, the ones he was talking about. And the point is the overwhelming majority of Muslim-Americans themselves are very good, outstanding people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: We're going to talk a lot more about King's hearing, his methods, his motivations, with our Stream Team about 40 minutes from now. I'll be joined by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Episcopal priest Father Albert Cutie, and comedian Dean Obeidallah.

You don't want to miss that conversation. Three very good guests.

Now to several other stories unfolding this hour.

In Libya, Moammar Gadhafi's regime is offering a bounty of more than $500,000 for the capture of a top opposition leader. It also comes as Gadhafi forces appear to be advancing on the eastern oil city of Ras Lanuf. They've already been firing a barrage of rockets and artillery from the western edge of the city near Bin Jawad. They're trying to retake Ras Lanuf from opposition fighters.

But even though they're outgunned, the opposition forces, armed with anti-aircraft guns and Soviet rifles, aren't relenting. Many are still in the city, willing to battle it out to keep Gadhafi from crushing any part of the uprising against him.

Violence re-ignites in Egypt, with pro-democracy activists coming under attack in Cairo's Tahrir Square. State TV reports people armed with knives and machetes attacked hundreds of demonstrators. Opposition activists say at least 44 people were injured.

Thousands of protesters remain camped out in Tahrir Square, even though former president Hosni Mubarak is long gone. They're pressing the country's new rulers to implement promised reforms.

Also out of Egypt, 13 people were reported killed, 90 reported wounded, in clashes between Coptic Christians and Muslims. The Christians took to the streets to protest a church burning last week.

A shakeup in the media world. Vivian Schiller is out as the CEO of National Public Radio. But an NPR spokesman said she couldn't confirm reports that Schiller was forced out because of the fallout from an undercover video involving a former fund-raising executive.

Ron Schiller, who is not related to her, apologized and resigned after he was videotaped calling the Tea Party racist and saying NPR would be better off without federal funding. He had accepted a position with the Aspen Institute, but that's not going to happen now because of the controversy.

An Oregon man convicted of killing his wife and kids wants to donate his organs after he's executed, but state law is standing in the way. According to Oregon law, death row inmates have to be killed by lethal injection. The drugs used in executions make organs unusable for transplant. Also, executions have to be done in a prison, not a hospital, where organs can be harvested.

A Corrections Department spokesperson told KPTV that Christian Longo (ph) has exhausted his appeals and can only be executed according to current state law.

We want to know what you think about this. Should death row inmates be allowed to donate their organs after they're executed?

Join the discussion on my blog, CNN.com/Ali. Or go to Twitter or Facebook.

Twenty-one Catholic priests won't be on the pulpit for Ash Wednesday services. New fallout from the church sex scandal, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Twenty-one Catholic priests won't be on the pulpit for Ash Wednesday services. New fallout from the Church sex scandal, next

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Twenty-one priests have been placed on administrative leave following a review of suspected child sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church in Philadelphia. This is the latest move by Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali in response to a grand jury report which identified 37 priests said to be active in ministry, even though there were credible allegations of child sex abuse against them.

CNN's Mary Snow joins me now from Philadelphia with the latest on this development.

Mary, this is the first time Cardinal Rigali has spoken publicly about these suspensions since yesterday, right?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is, Ali. And he presided over services here for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a time of repentance. And he said, you know, this is a time about facing the reality of sin.

And some of the people who attended the service at the cathedral say this is the first time they have ever heard the Church address the sexual abuse scandal from the altar. The cardinal's comments were brief, but in talking about the season of Lent, talking about what he said are these grave sins, and saying that, "We renew our commitment to make every possible effort to prevent these evil acts and to protect children from harm."

He said it is paramount to protect children, but there were many people here who were just in utter shock. There were protesters, some of the survivors of sexual abuse by priests, who say this is too little, too late.

And one of the parishioners I was speaking with said, you know, if this was a board of directors at a company, this cardinal would have been fired had he been a CEO because of the scope of allegations, which is really believed to be unprecedented that have been outlined.

VELSHI: All right. So what's likely to happen next, both for the Philadelphia Catholic Church and these priests who have been suspended?

SNOW: Well, you know, last month, in this grand jury report, what came out is that three priests and a church leader have been charged. Three priests with charges of sexual abuse and one church leader for endangering the welfare of children. So they face criminal charges. But the 21 priests who were suspended, we talked to the district attorney's office, and they say that the statute of limitations have run out. So besides the fact that they have been suspended, that is really what they are facing right now. But they are not facing criminal charges, and the D.A. has asked people who may have faced sexual abuse to contact the office.

But, you know, this is a big black eye for the Church, the Archdiocese here in Philadelphia, because the cardinal last month, Ali, when that grand jury report came out, he had said that none of the priests were in active ministry. Only days later, there were three priests who were put on leave, and then again this month, yesterday, 21. This is the result of a former prosecutor who has been hired by the archdiocese to look into the allegations from that grand jury report.

VELSHI: You would think having seen these unroll in other places that there would be some sense for the archdiocese as to how to deal with this, when these allegations come on. That just seems -- not to belittle it -- it seems like a rookie mistake, for him to have come out and said they're not in active ministry, because anyone with 10 minutes' worth of work could have found out otherwise.

Is there some sense of this Cardinal Justin Rigali being on top of things, or is there some sense that this is Boston repeating itself again, or other places repeating themselves, where the archdiocese just is not being as responsive as they can be and this could end up being much bigger than it would be if they had just handled it right off the top?

SNOW: There is certainly a sense that this could be much bigger because of his initial statements in giving those assurances that these priests were not in active ministries, particularly since what happened in Boston several years ago with the big church scandal there that had unfolded, and some of the changes that were put in place to address these issues.

VELSHI: Right.

SNOW: And there are just people here today who just say they have so much distrust. And they were just really shocked that this could happen after everything that has gone on in recent years in trying to get this out in the open and address these allegations. That some of these priests could have been in ministry for years is really what is most disturbing to these parishioners, they say.

And, you know, the D.A.'s office said the purpose of this grand jury report was to show that some of these priests had just been shuffled around from one parish or one church to another, even though the allegations were out there.

VELSHI: And it's interesting. They drew the analogy of being a CEO, because you're right, if this kind of thing happened in a company, shareholders would -- they'd catch on to it. They'd say, wait a second, you're just shuffling bad people around. You actually have to deal with them. All right, Mary. Thanks very much. We'll stay on top of the story with you.

Mary Snow, in Philadelphia.

Now back to a story about death row inmates donating organs after they are executed. As expected, the majority of people supported the idea on the Internet. We posted the question, should they be able to?

Darla posted this online: "Darn right he should be able to donate his organs. It should be a requirement."

Kandis says, "My father spent over three long years waiting on a transplant list for a kidney and a pancreas. He was on death's doorstep when those organs finally became available. Another month and he probably wouldn't have been with us any longer. No matter where they come from, they save someone's life."

We did get some interesting opposition to the idea. Joshua says, "Any incentive to sentence people to death is wrong. His organs can't be accepted by any organ transplant organization for these ethical reasons."

Interesting. He's saying be it's an incentive to sentence people to death.

Charlie says, "If someone is sentenced to death, can his transplanted heart legally continue to beat in the chest of another?"

Charlie, I'm sure it can. I don't know if that's a legal issue.

I just hope those of you in opposition to the idea are thinking about this from the perspective of Kandis' father, who was on a long waiting list for donations.

All right. Join the discussion. It carries on, on my blog, CNN.com/Ali. Go to Twitter: @AliVelshi, or Facebook: AliVelshiCNN.

Imagine a college where 80 percent of the school's graduates are job-ready before graduation date. Tom Foreman visits one such place, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. We talk a lot about education on this show, public education, post-secondary education. Imagine having a school that teaches you the technical skills that have you ready to take on the job market immediately.

In this week's "Taking the Lead," we look at how an aviation school is investing in America's workforce.

Here's Tom Foreman.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali. You know, as we've traveled across this country, we've heard more and more talk in recent months about the need for technical skills, for people who will work with their hands and make things work, because that's what we need to have the economy get better. And that is making some unique opportunities, especially for one place right here in Tulsa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Oklahoma's aviation industry is massive, a cornerstone of the state's economy. And even in the backwash of the recession, the Spartan College of Aeronautics, where Jeremy Gibson is president, is booming.

JEREMY GIBSON, PRESIDENT, SPARTAN COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS & TECHNOLOGY: Our enrollment has grown in our technical school programs almost 110 percent in the last four years as a result of the need for technicians in our industry.

FOREMAN: The promise of a two-year education for, on average, $35,000, draws students from all 50 states and dozens of countries, including Lawrance Mayo, who could have gone to a traditional university but wanted immediate marketable skills.

LAWRANCE MAYO, STUDENT: Yes. I'm good with books. I can do the books. I can read the books. That's a really simple part. But I've also got to learn it hands-on.

FOREMAN: That hands-on training and growing demand for technicians, especially to refurbish an aging air fleet, has more than two dozen companies calling every week looking for new talent.

(on camera): It sounds like you guys are always hiring.

RYAN GOERTZEN, AAR AIRCRAFT SERVICES: We are. So we've got anywhere between 10, 20, and sometimes upwards of 30 people we're hiring almost on a weekly basis.

FOREMAN: So you want your students to be able to work on everything from a small craft, all the way up to a commercial jetliner.

GIBSON: Absolutely.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Many students have jobs waiting already.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obviously, aviation isn't going anywhere. I mean, it's here to stay.

FOREMAN: They say jobs often start at $40,000 a year.

(on camera): Do you have any doubt that you're going to have a job?

MAYO: Oh, not a doubt at all. No doubt at all.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And next fall, enrollment is expected to rise even higher.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: It really comes down to a very simple equation. All the young people we talked to there said, we want real skills that can put us into the market right now so we can actually start making a living. And the aviation industry is saying, we desperately need those skills. It's a win-win -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Tom. Thanks very much.

And checking some top stories now.

Illinois has just outlawed the death penalty. Governor Pat Quinn signed a ban on capital punishment and commuted the sentences of 15 death row inmates to life in prison without parole. That makes official a moratorium declared by one of Quinn's predecessors more than a decade ago.

Veteran "Washington Post" columnist David Broder has died. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his writing and was often referred to as "The Dean of the Washington Press Corps." He and The Post each won a Pulitzer in 1973 for coverage of the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation.

The Post said Broder died in Arlington, Virginia, of complications from diabetes. He was 81.

Arizona shooting suspect Jared lee Loughner is due in a Tucson courtroom in just over an hour from now. He faces 49 federal counts arising from the January massacre where six people were killed and 13 others wounded. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head, is undergoing rehabilitation in Houston.

Seven children died in a fire at a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania. Police say the children, ages 7 months to 11 years, died last night when fire fully engulfed the two-story house in Loysville. The parents, who were away at the time, survived, as did another child.

Strong thunderstorms moving through the Southeast right now. It's already creating flooding in Mississippi and Alabama this morning.

Where the storm system is headed, next. You'll want to know. We'll tell you right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: OK. Time to touch down for good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Space shuttle Discovery now on final approach to the Kennedy Space Center. Just more than 30 seconds to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: God, that always brings a tear to my eye, when I see that shuttle come down for a picture-perfect landing. Look at that. That is something to behold.

It's a sentimental journey for the world's most traveled spaceship. We will catch you up with all the details in T minus two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It's 30 minutes after the hour. Let me get you caught up on the stories you may have missed.

Veteran Washington Post columnist David Broder has died. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his writing and was often referred to as "the dean for the Washington press corps." He and The Post each won a Pulitzer in 1973 for coverage of the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation. The Post says Broder died in Arlington, Virginia, of complications from diabetes. He was 81 years old.

Illinois has just outlawed the death penalty. Governor Pat Quinn signed a ban on capital punishment and commuted the sentences of 15 death-row inmates to life in prison without parole. This formalizes a moratorium declared by former governor Frank Ryan more than a decade ago. 34 states and the federal government still have capital punishment on the books.

Accused Tucson shooter Jared Loughner is due in court in about an hour. He'll be arraigned and enter a plea on 49 federal charges including some extra ones brought against him last week by a grand jury. This is Loughner's first court appearance in the city traumatized by the January shooting rampage. Six people were killed, 13 wounded, including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

An update from the National Weather Center on the severe storms raking the Southeast. They've now confirmed three tornadoes touching down in Louisiana. That's in addition to a confirmed twister in Mississippi. The systems brought flooding rains and dangerous winds from Louisiana into Georgia. The system is now tracking toward the Northeast. They've already got some flood watches in effect.

Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich is asking a federal judge to just sentence him already. He's already -- also filed a motion seeking a second trial against him to be dismissed. Blagojevich was convicted last year of lying to the FBI, and prosecutors vowed to retry him on nearly two dozen other counts. But he says another trial will cost too much taxpayer money and add to his already huge legal bills.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Led by commander Steve Lindsay. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: The crew of the shuttle Discovery is back on solid ground. A picture-perfect landing wrapping up a 13-day mission to the international space station and the ship's nearly 30-year career. Discovery heads into retirement now. It will be joined by NASA's other space shuttles later this year.

Moammar Gadhafi is raising the stakes in his battle with forces fighting to run him out of Libya. $400,000 bounty now on the head of this man. We'll tell you who he is and why Gadhafi wants him captured.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. Libyaian defiant leader Moammar Gadhafi warns that he will fight any international attempt to impose a no-fly zone over his country. The U.S. and NATO are still considering that step to stop Gadhafi's forces from killing civilians. Gadhafi also offering a $400,000-plus reward for the capture of the former justice minister who's now a top opposition leader. More on that in a minute.

Let me bring you the latest in the civil war. You're going to always see these two cities, Tripoli and Benghazi. On the western side of the country, Tripoli, the capital. That is, at the moment, at least, a Gadhafi stronghold. Benghazi on the other side of the country, on the eastern side, is a rebel stronghold. So, these are the two cities we're going to see a lot about.

Take a look at this map. It shows the number of cities and towns right now that the rebels claim as being under their control. As you can see, most of them are in the eastern part of the country. A couple key exceptions in the western part of the country.

Now take a look at this map here. These are the cities and towns that the government claims are under their control, including the capital, Tripoli. A couple of towns to the west and Sirte, which is Moammar Gadhafi's hometown. Bin Jawad. So, you can see how this is coming down. Right now, the rebel advance on Tripoli appears to be stalled because of strong counterattacks by government forces in Tripoli.

Now I want to show you three cities where most of the heavy fighting is taking place. We are talking a lot about Ras Lanuf. That's over here on the eastern side of the country. What you don't see here is that all sorts of pipelines from the oil producing part of Libya around here go to Ras Lanuf. It's a major port city. It's come under heavy bombardment from government war planes and tanks for the past few days.

To the west is the coastal city of Misrata over here. The fight for control has also been raging for days in Misrata. And just 30 miles from Tripoli to the west of Tripoli over here is Zawiyah. We continue to get conflicting reports on just who controls Zawiyah. Both sides are claiming victory in that town.

So this is how it's panning out right now. You can see most of the activity in Libya is along the coast of the Mediterranean.

Joining us now CNN international anchor John Vause. John, some very, very heavy fighting going on in the last few days. Very hard to see whether anyone gaining ground. We talked about this yesterday. It does seem that these guys, the rebels, are losing momentum.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. Zawiyah. You mentioned Zawiyah. Now, this morning we were told that the rebels were out, that Gadhafi had control of that. A short time ago, Reuters news agency reported that in fat, the rebels had controlled the square, (INAUDIBLE) Square, which is in the center of the town. Gadhafi's son is leading a brigade to try and take that city back.

Very important because Libya's largest oil refinery there, which produces 70 percent, or 120,000 barrels a day of gasoline for vehicles. That's why that town is so important. So, right now we don't know what's going on there.

VELSHI: We talked a little earlier about this former justice minister. Gadhafi's offering a reward, $400,000 or more for his capture. He is now a key leader in the opposition.

VAUSE: Well, he's pretty much the only leader he has. He was the justice minister. He defected about six days after the uprising began. His name is Mustafa Abdul Jalil. Now, they're offering half a million Libyan dinas for his capture. Gadhafi has done this tactic before. It's all about trying to divide the opposition, keep them weak.

And he is the one that is actually emerging as a rallying leader for the opposition. He's in the town of Benghazi. Remember on Monday we talked about that transitional national council? He's head of that council.

VELSHI: OK. So, all -- the opposition, fair to say, these two cities are the key places. Tripoli and Benghazi.

VAUSE: Sure.

VELSHI: OK. Let's talk about -- earlier I was talking to Ed Henry about maybe fissures developing in Washington over what activity to take, that the West should be taking with respect to a no-fly zone. Gadhafi has chimed in on this as well.

VAUSE: He says he's going to fight it. And when he says he's going to fight it, I think he sees it as a rallying point. Because if there is a no-fly zone over Libya, it will be predominantly over the east coastal areas here. And he can't actually fight it. His air defenses are weak.

The problem with the no-fly zone you're going to see is that in these legal (INAUDIBLE). It's got to get through the U.N., NATO. And the U.S. says they won't do it unless they get a U.N. mandate for it. Russia and China are opposed to military action. So, there's going to be a problem. Also, with the no-fly zone, it's only good against other fighter jets. It's no good against helicopters. Gadhafi is using helicopters. They move slow, they fly low. And then the other problem you have is you've got to wonder how effective the air strikes have been. They're terrifying for the residents, but the pilots are missing their targets either intentionally or for some unexplained reason. And they're not actually being that decisive on the battles on the ground.

VELSHI: It's interesting because defense secretary Robert Gates has said that when you talk about a no-fly zone, it's not that you just fly planes around and shoot down other planes. Typically, if it's done properly, it means air strikes and taking out their air defenses. So, it's a much more serious commitment --

VAUSE: It's an act of war.

VELSHI: It's an act of war. Right. It's not just flying plane around.

VAUSE: So, then you've got to look at the other options you've got. We heard a short time ago from Washington they're now talking about the ability to supply arms to the rebels. Now, there's an arms embargo on Libya right now. There's some talk that that actually favors Gadhafi because he's got most of the arms.

The problem you have with arming the rebels, and we've seen these guys who are fighting -- the guys are young, inexperienced. It takes weeks to train people how to use the weapons properly. So, if this is going to go on for another week or so, training people on weapons just isn't technically possible.

VELSHI: And while we talk about that, we should remember that we have trained a lot of people in the use of weapons. We've supplied a lot of weapons around the world, and some of those weapons have created forces unto themselves.

VAUSE: There's a lot of blowback that comes when you do this kind of thing.

VELSHI: Right.

VAUSE: The question is, when you look at how all of this will advance, you've got the opposition in the east, the government in the west. If it does come to a stalemate, which is looks like it's getting to that point, and if this is going to go on not just for weeks but for months, then it becomes a realistic possibility to start training these rebels on how to use weapons properly.

VELSHI: -Because this becomes a longer term problem. OK, John, as thanks very much for making this a little clearer for us.

OK. As this week's House hearings remind us, many people have a lot to say about Muslims in America. Much of it is opinion. We're going to do a just the facts breakdown about Muslims in America, something you've been asking for, right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Every day here on the show we have a segment called "You Choose." We give you three story headlines, and you vote on which one you want to see us cover.

Your first option, a man sues a firefighter for stealing his foot. Your second option, enough of Charlie Sheen. How to erase him from the Web. Your final option, an Apple fan taking his love of Apple products to the street, literally.

Head to my blog, CNN.com/ali to vote. We'll bring you the winning story in about ten minutes. Once again, to cast your vote, go to CNN.com/ali. That is the only place you can cast your vote. Don't go to Twitter or Facebook to do it. Go to CNN.com/ali.

Today's "Big Breakdown" takes a look at Muslims in America. Let me zoom in on some demographics here. The gender of Muslims in America is evenly split, roughly, about 50/50, 54 percent men, 46 percent women. Among Muslims, men have a slight edge. So, as you can see there, 50/50 in America, the general population 54/46 for Muslims.

Take a look at schooling, the numbers track pretty closely with the rest of the country. Fourteen percent of Muslims are college graduates, another 10 percent have continued into post-grad studies for a total of 24 percent of the population involved in higher education. The general public, about 25 percent.

Let's take a look at annual household income. Basically, it's identical to other Americans. Sixteen percent of Muslims make more than $100,000 a year. About 17 percent of non-Muslims do. At the other end of the scale, 35 percent of Muslims earn less than $30,000. About 33 percent of the general public earns less than $33,000. So, about the same on all of these economic and social fronts.

From the financial to the spiritual across the country, there are more than 1,800 mosques and Islamic centers where Muslims can worship. Now, all of this serves as a backdrop to a congressional hearing tomorrow that is already, already highly controversial. It's about radicalizing Muslims, turning law-abiding citizens into terrorists. That's also the topic of our "Stream Team" conversation. That's up next, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It is time now for a CNN political update. Shannon Travis, part of The Best Political Team on Television, joins us now from the political desk in Washington. Hey, Shannon. What do you got?

Shannon doesn't want to talk to me apparently. I've known him for a long time. It's very rare when Shannon doesn't want to speak to me. Shannon, I apologize in advance for anything bad I did to you.

By the way, if you've seen Shannon in real life, his arms are about the size of my thighs, so you don't want to upset him. SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Not anymore. I'm working on that, Ali. Apologize for that earlier. I had someone else talking in my ear. Let's continue the more important conversation.

VELSHI: All right!

TRAVIS: How do you kill a rumor that just apparently seems to not be able to die? Maybe use a little humor. President Obama did that last night. You and Mark last hour talked about the Democratic fundraiser that the president attended in Boston last night.

We're talking about this notion that the president was not born in the United States. Now, you and I and our viewers know that he was in fact born in Hawaii, but the president took it on last night. He was talking about finding common ground with people you disagree with. But listen to this quote that he made. Quote, "I was born in Hawaii. What can I say? I mean, I just can't change those facts."

So, the president kind of directly taking on something that a lot of people say about him. There are a number of states, at least ten states, that are introducing bills that say the next time presidential candidates might actually have to prove they were born in the U.S.

Let's move on from that. Let's talk about what a lot of people call Blago, the former Democratic governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. He wants a judge in Chicago to basically dismiss, to cancel, a second trial planned for April 20th. You remember that in his first trial, he was convicted on a single count of lying to the FBI. There is another trial planned again for April 20. The former Illinois governor has filed a motion in court saying, hey, that's going to waste a lot of taxpayer money and it's also going to cost me a lot of money. He says basically he's running out of money for his legal team.

And then lastly, Ali, this one you might file under basically stretching your 15 minutes of fame. You remember Michaela Salahi, the White House party crasher, at the state dinner. Of course, you remember her. Well, she didn't get kicked out of the state dinner, but she is getting kicked off a reality TV show called "Celebrity Rehab." The VH1 producers say, hey, she shouldn't be on the show because she doesn't have an addiction. But Salahis' representatives basically say, you know what? The VH1 people knew that all along.

VELSHI: Shannon, always a pleasure to see you. Thank you so much. Shannon Travis. Your next update from The Best Political Team on Television is just one hour away. We're taking a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All week, we have been talking about the controversy surrounding Muslim radicalization hearings beginning on Capitol Hill tomorrow. These hearings are the brainchild of New York Congressman Peter King who is the new chairman of the House Homeland Security committee. He's defending the hearings, of course, saying it's all about keeping America safe. Representative King spoke on "AMERICAN MORNING" today about the goal of his hearings. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: I want them to realize the extent to which Al Qaeda is attempting to radicalize within the Muslim- American community. I want to determine the extent to which the radicalization is taking place, the extent to which Muslim leaders are cooperating and trying to stop that radicalization. And I also want to encourage people in the Muslim community, I think to be more aggressive in choosing their leaders. I don't think the leadership right now, the groups such as CAIR are doing an adequate job. I think in some ways doing a very poor job of representing the Muslim-American community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: OK. You'll hear there he made a specific accusation about a group called CAIR. I'll tell you about that in a second.

Meanwhile, many people say it's a witch hunt for Muslim-Americans and that it fuels Islamaphobia. CAIR is the Council on American- Islamist Relations. It held a news conference this morning challenging the need for these hearings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IMAM JOHARI ABDUL-MALIK, COORDINATING COUCIL OF MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS: The American-Muslim community has been a faithful partner with law enforcement while at the same time being the subject of investigations. The American Muslim community, I believe, is the best defense that we have against radicalization in America among American Muslims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Let's have a conversation about these controversial hearings. Comedian Dean Obeidallah is with me. He'll be sitting in on some of these hearings. Father Albert Cutie is an Episcopal priest and author. He joins us from miami. Good to see both of you.

Dean, first of all, the battle before this thing starts is about whether these hearings are necessary. You've got Peter King saying they are. Some people are saying they're McCarthyistic. They target Muslims. You're a comedian. You can sort of see the ironic side of anything. What's your thought on this? Are they necessary? Are they important? Is this just part of national dialogue?

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, COMEDIAN: Yes. Some of it could be part of national dialogue, but you have to keep in mind -- just recently a study was released that showed last year the number of Muslim- Americans involved in terrorist activities went down to 10, from the year before, it was 18. So, it was not an increasing threat. It's a receding threat.

You know, to be honest, Peter King is now a chairman. He wants to get on TV. He's on TV more than Charlie Sheen. And he makes about as much sense half of the time. VELSHI: That's a good point, Dean.

Father Cutie, you were a prominent, prominent member of the Catholic Church. And over the last couple of days, that issue has been brought up -- to say that like the Catholic Church struggled with some of its demons and continues to, Islam has demons. And the American Islamic community should not be afraid of discussing those demons. What's your thought on this?

REV. FATHER ALBERT CUTIE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST/AUTHOR: Well, part of it is, what are we saying about radicalization in all religious groups? I don't know why we're singling out this one group and having hearings on this in our Congress. I think we need to talk about the role of religion in American life.

And if this is a threat, do we have the right to single out one group? Like the Muslims, say, oh, by the way, there's a problem with you people. This sounds to me like the Russians are coming, back in the '50s. You know, it's like we're instilling a lot of fear in people. I'm not sure this is going to produce what the congressman wants to produce. I think it's going to produce more xenophobia, more Islamaphobia. And it's just going to confuse people even more. (AUDIO GAP)

VELSHI: Let me bring in my good friend, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. Rabbi Shmuley, good to see you again. It's been a while.

I'm very anxious to hear your thoughts on all of this. You're a big fan of interfaith dialogue. This does seem to be something that targets the Islamic community in America. Is there a danger just of these kinds of hearings, or do you think it's good?

RABBI SCHMULEY BOTEACH: Ali, the marked absence of anti-Islamic bigotry in the wake of 9/11 is what distinguishes the utter openness of the United States. I don't see anti-Islamic bigotry and I'm not afraid of these hearings.

Let's be honest. With all due respect to Father Cutie, when he says, why don't we talk about all religions, right now terrorism is a problem from radical Islam. I mean, to deny that is to deny reality utterly. We don't see Catholic priests who are now stoking the fires of their followers to dislike Jews the way they did during the Crusades. Times have changed. I

think the morality of every religion comes down to the words and to the teachings of its clerics. And Islam is not a militant religion. It is not. Any religion comes down to how it practices its tenets at any given time in history.

But there are radical elements who do try to steer the faithful to acts that could be very, very harmful to others. So this is not directed against Islam. It's directed against radical imams who do try to radicalize their followers.

VELSHI: Let me ask Dean about this, Rabbi. Dean, you're a Muslim. I'm a Muslim. I don't know if you know any terrorists. I don't. Peter King points out that Muslims in America are not doing enough. I'm not sure what enough needs to be. What should I be doing, and what should you be doing, according to Peter King, to solve the problem of radicalization of terrorism in America?

OBEIDALLAH: We have to love what Peter King says about Muslim communities not cooperating enough. He says law enforcement officials have told him that. And how many has he called to these hearings? Zero. None will come before this committee.

Well, then, subpoena them, Congressman King. If this is important, subpoena them and bring them to the forefront to answer to that. And why won't they answer? Maybe because it's not true. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said last week it's not true.

So, I mean, you don't even have this kind of ambiguous threats out there with no facts behind them, radicalization of Muslims. As I just said, the study by the Triangle Center on terrorism said 10 Muslims last year were arrested, down from 18. It's going down.

You single out one group? What does that do? It causes alienation. And that, undisputed by law enforcement, alienation leads to homegrown terrorism. And that's the fear of these kind of hearings.

Let's look at all extreme violence threats against Americans. Not just one religion. There's many threats to Americans. Let's not isolate it as one.

VELSHI: All right. Well, to Rabbi Shmuley's point, you may still find a disproportionate amount of Muslims if you do look at extremism in America.

Look, guys, what a great conversation. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, good to see you again. And he's coming to us from Australia, by the way. Dean, you'll be speaking to us tomorrow because you'll be in on those hearings. I want to get your take on it. And Father Albert Cutie, always a pleasure to see you. I hope you'll all three come back to talk to us more about this. This is a very pressing issue. We will be following those hearings very closely tomorrow live on TV.

For now, my good friend Brooke Baldwin takes over with CNN NEWSROOM -- Brooke.