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Survey on Muslim Americans; Limiting Debit Card Transactions; White House Fights Bullying; Muslim-American's Reaction to Radicalization Trials; U.S. Suspends All Ties with Libyan Embassy in Washington; Top Medical Innovations; Muslim "Radicalization" Hearing; From Showdown To Lockdown; Survey On Muslim Americans

Aired March 10, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Have a fantastic afternoon, Suzanne. Thanks very much. We're pick up where you left off.

Fate, freedom, homeland security and, of course, politics, all part of this highly controversial hearing on the radicalization of American Muslims. You're looking at it now, we are live on Capitol Hill where the house homeland security committee so far has heard from lawmakers, activists, and relatives of American Muslim kids who turn to terror.

Now, we knew there would be a motion and push back from those who feel that Muslims are being unfairly singled out, but the arguments, claims and debates we've heard for days now could not prepare us for the testimony from the first Muslim American elected to Congress.

Keith Ellison, the Democrat from Minnesota, struggled to tell his colleagues about a 23-year-old New York police cadet and part-time paramedic who died at ground zero. That paramedic's name, Mohammad Salman Hamdani.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEITH ELLISON (D), MINNESOTA: Mr. Hamdani gravely sacrificed his life to try to help others on 9/11. After the tragedy, some people tried to smear his character, solely because of his Islamic faith. Some people spread false rumors and speculated that he was in league with the attackers because he was a Muslim, but it was only when his remains were identified that these lies were exposed. Mohammad Salman Hamdani was a fellow American who gave his life for other Americans. His life should not be identified as just a member of a ethnic group or just a member of a religion, but as an American who gave everything for his fellow Americans. I yield back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: We want to keep our eyes and ears own this hearing and bring you much more over the next two hours.

Right now, though, I want to get insights from Daisy Khan. She's the executive director and co-founder of the American Society of Muslim Advancement. She's the wife of the prominent New York imam Feisal Rauf.

Daisy joins me on the phone from Phoenix. Let's get down to facts, Daisy. Let's just take it at face value what Peter King says, that if there is such a thing as monolithic Muslim community that he talks about, and that members of that community are disproportionately radicalized and drawn into extremism and terrorism. Daisy, what can members of this Muslim community do to address that issue?

DAISY KHAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MUSLIM ADVANCEMENT: Thank you, Ali, for having me. And I am at Women Islam and Peace Building Conference in Arizona. And I just heard something very significant that symbols trump facts and what you saw the Congressman Ellison do today, to talk about the symbolism, that Muslims have not been able to share in this tragedy -- in the 9/11 tragedy. We have been shut out of this tragedy.

And, you know, people gave their lives, many Muslims died, and we're also Americans. I think that what we -- I'm unfortunately have not been privy to everything that has been going on. But I think it just shows that we need to foster better relations with the Muslim community, law enforcement needs to do that, and I think that the New York police department is a great model. They have a thousand police officers that serve in the police department. They have an outreach department that has been reaching out to Muslim community.

FBI has had outreach departments before and I really think -- if the law enforcement and the Congress and Mr. King cooperate with the Muslim community, then I really think we can have -- we can have a significant impact.

VELSHI: It is noteworthy though, with one exception, there are no law enforcement officials testifying at this hearing. They've not been invited to do so.

Daisy, let me ask you this, terrorism, it is a blight on Islam, extremism and radicalism are blight on all faiths? Is this an issue Muslims fail to acknowledge? Listen to one of Peter King's allegations -- the Muslims fail to sort of take on the problem that there might be higher incidents of radicalism and extremism amongst American Muslims than amongst other groups. Do you agree with that? Do we fail to acknowledge that as Muslims?

KAHN: Well, I think that first of all, there is an element of truth because, you know, first of all, when 9/11 happened, it was a major setback for our community. We have -- we have gone in a difference of mode, and -- but the truth is that there are many Muslim community leaders and activists who have been really trying to see how they can counter this extremism.

For instance, several years ago, I took a group of Muslim leaders of tomorrow, very young active group of people -- men and women to the state department to plan -- a policy-planning meeting. And we discussed ways in which we could get into countering extremism. And the 12 leaders that were there suggested something very specific. They said, you know, we can't access the Web sites of the terrorists because you will be watching us and we will go on a watch list. Can you please give us a special password so we can crack the code and we can go in there and see how they are recruiting people so we can create a counter ideology. And, of course, you know, that never happened.

So, there are specific, specific initiatives that people have that, you know, if we cooperate with law enforcement, we really can have an impact. The problem is there hasn't been this cooperation and this is one of the things that we've been complaining about, if that -- if these hearings are going on and it's good that it's highlighting an issue, but let's work together to see how we can really have an impact.

VELSHI: Daisy, thanks, again, for being with us. We appreciate you coming on and talking to viewers about this. Daisy Kahn, joining us from Phoneix.

KAHN: Thank you.

VELSHI: I want to quickly remind you about a CNN in America special, CNN's Soledad O'Brien chronicles the fight over the construction of a mosque in the heart of a bible belt. It's called "Unwelcome, The Muslims Next Door." It debuts Sunday March 27th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Live pictures now, this is Madision, Wisconsin. The fallout from what some are calling 'the nuclear option.' Remember -- these are not live pictures, this is from earlier. Remember that the standoff over the budget repair bill that was going to strip public workers of most of their union bargaining rights? Well, last night, the state senate Republicans passed the bill on their own after taking out a new fiscal -- a few fiscal provisions that required a larger quorum. And that's how it went down, this is how it's going over. Not at all well with union members, teachers and other critics of Wisconsin's Republican governor and majority lawmakers.

Late this morning -- now you're looking at live pictures. Late this morning, police moved into lock the capitol down. Now, you can see there seems to be a sit-in of some sort going on there. They wanted to clear the protesters out, that's ahead of the final vote in the state assembly which was supposed to happen an hour ago.

Now, before we go much further, let me show you briefly what all this fuss is about. The Wisconsin bill would let public employees negotiate only their wages, not working conditions or anything else that a typical union can negotiate, it would limit pay raises to the inflation rate unless there's a referendum that would sharply increase worker contributions to health care and pension funds. That, of course, is something that workers have already agreed to and it would bar unions from deducting member dues from worker paychecks.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in the thick of things, he joins me now for "Two at the Top." Ed, tell me what's going on there right now. What's happening? And what's likely to happen to the bill? Will it get into the state assembly? You're in the statehouse at the moment? ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Ali, well, we're, as you mentioned, waiting for the assembly that was supposed to have convened an hour ago to take that vote. We finally were able to make it inside to run that video that you were showing there a little while ago was that (INAUDIBLE) that was just outside one of the doors that have been kind of pried open, as many people were trying to push their way in. A lot of anger because the capitol building had been on shut down, essentially, on lockdown for several hours.

Thousands of protesters outside and many more here inside as well. And you can see just up there on that balcony is where the assembly -- just at the end of that is where the assembly members have gone in. What was incredibly intense in the area where we were at earlier today was that several Democratic lawmakers who have been trying to get into the capitol to make the way into make this vote here in the assembly today were actually denied entrance for a little while. So, we assume that they're all in place now, and from what we can understand. And we have a team inside the assembly there right now as well. So, we're waiting for that vote to happen.

But as you mentioned, Ali, that vote was supposed to have taken place about an hour ago. So, not exactly sure why things are delayed here at this point, but the great deal of anger and frustration with many of the people as they are kind of waiting to see what is going to transpire here today and in the next couple of hours -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Ed, we'll stay on top of it with you. If anything develops, just let our producers know and we'll get you back on TV. Ed Lavandera at the state house in Madison, Wisconsin where tempers are heating up.

Critics of today's Congressional hearing on Muslim extremism say it unfairly singles out one portion of society. What do Muslim Americans think? A survey reveals some interesting opinions. I'm going to take a look at the results with you, on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. These are live pictures, again, of the testimony going on at Capitol Hill right now. This is the investigation, the hearings into the radicalization of American Muslims. And this is Zuhdi Jasser, we had him on the other day, he's testifying about radicalization.

Representative Peter King, who's hosting the hearing, says he was partially motivated to conduct them because he claims some 80 percent of mosques in America are controlled by radical imams. He also says Muslim leaders are not doing enough to help law enforcement identify possible terrorists. Strangely, though, there are not many people from the law enforcement community invited to those hearings to participate and to actually give him data on this.

Joining me now, are social scientists Matt Barreto and Karam Dana. They did an opinion survey on American Muslims.

Guys, thanks for joining us. There's such an absence of fact in this discussion that we are trying everything to bring fact into it. Who are American Muslims? How many Mosques are there? What evidence is there that they have not participated with law enforcement? You guys have done a study, so I want to talk a little bit about the study that you've done. Fourteen hundred American Muslims you interviewed across the nation and you asked questions about religion, civic and political participation, what did you find that most surprised you in this?

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: You guys are moving in sync. OK, let's start with -- Karam, let's start with you.

KARAM DANA, RESEARCH FELLOW, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Sure, well, thanks, Ali, thanks Matt -- sorry. So, well, in fact, what we found was the total opposite of that, that, in fact, the Muslim American community is very -- is very integrated into American politics, in fact, and that mosques play a role that is -- that is very important fostering participation among the Muslim American community.

So, what, you know, the hearings and looking at proceedings earlier today, I was struck by the lack of numbers in fact and empirical data that would support 80 to 85 percent of mosques that actually support what representative King suggests.

So, I think that the fact that no numbers or empirical data supports this is a bit, frankly, problematic. And considering the fact that this is, again, a very specific situation whereby Muslims are specifically targeted in this context. I feel that to be a bit of a problem.

VELSHI: Matt, let me ask you this. Muslims are newer as a community in this country than Jews and Christians. Does the role -- does the role of the religious -- the place of worship, the mosque in this case, has it played the same role that synagogues did for Jews and the churches did for Christians in terms of getting them involved in civics and politics, or is something different going on at mosques in America?

MATT BARRETO, DIRECTOR OF THE ANNUAL WASHINGTON POLL: No, that's a great observation, Ali, and I think if we go back in the history of America, we'll find that ethnic minorities and religious minorities have faced persecution and discrimination. But, in fact, their places of worship, whether they were a synagogue, a church or a mosque, are, in the American setting, a very integrating force, that is, that they help these religious minorities throughout the history of America, find a place of community, and find a place to integrate. They connect with people, they socialize, they get jobs, they learn the American system.

We find in our data that as you're, Karam mentioned that as you're more involved in the mosque, as you're more religious here, in fact, more supportive of the political --

VELSHI: Let me bring up. One of your findings here, Matt, because you found that 53 percent of those you surveyed saw an increase in civic engagement as a result of relationship with the mosque.

And 81 percent say they follow elections more closely, 95 percent say Islam is compatible with American politics. I want to hit the last one, Islam compatible with American politics.

Karam, let's talk about separation of mosque and state. That's been one of the criticisms. For Muslims in America some say the separation is not as clear. What is your data indicate?

KARAM DANA, RESEARCH FELLOW, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Well, in fact, our data specifically looks at Muslims living in the United States so we don't look outside the context of the United States. So the various debates over this issue that may be outside of the United States could be there.

But in the context of the United States, in fact, we found the population of Muslims who come to the United States, come for specific reasons and as we can see from our data sets and other data sets that basically Muslims are very affluent. They're very educated, et cetera and they understand the importance of secularism in society.

Privately, however, they are very devout Muslims interestingly enough, but, you know, there's seems to be very little incompatible between Islam and the American democratic system in this particular case.

Now the interesting thing also is that there are various scholarships that look at whether or not the idea of social contract in Islam is incompatible with living in non-Muslim societies. There's an overwhelming qualitative sort of research that addresses those questions and in fact, the findings suggest that Islam and democracy are not incompatible.

In fact, there's a very good -- actually there is a very serious philosophical argument that suggests that various scholars have addressed this and you know, what we bring to the table here is empirical evidence to support that.

So Muslims in the United States are in fact supportive of the American political system. Again, you know, the questions that we ask are scholarly questions. We are independence scholars. We have no agenda in this. We just want find answers to these questions that Congressman Peter King is trying to get at. But we're getting through data.

VELSHI: I wish you guys were testifying. We're happy to have empirical data as opposed to simply anecdotes and opinions on the whole thing. Matt Barreto, an associate professor, director at the University of Washington Seattle and Karam Dana is a research fellow at Harvard University, thanks for coming on and telling us a bit about your research.

DANA: Thank you, Ali.

BARRETO: Thank you very much. VELSHI: I want to quickly remind you about a CNN in America special. CNN's Soledad O'Brien chronicles the fight over the construction of a mosque in the heart of the Bible belt. It's called "Unwelcome, Muslims Next Door."

It debuts, Sunday, March 27th at 8:00 Eastern. Make a note of that. It will be worth watching. Listen up, your bank may be ready to set limits on what you buy with your debit card? If it happens and if so, how soon? I'll tell you next in your money.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: So there's this proposal floating around to limit the amount of money you can spend per transaction with a debit card. One major bank is considering capping your purchase to as little as 50 bucks. Why do they want to do this?

Christine has got more on this from New York. Christine, what's this about?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, ANCHOR, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE": Well, this is about this, interchange fees, Ali, and CNN Money with a fantastic piece called denied. How you might not be able to use your debit card for transactions of more than $50 or say $100 if some banks decide to -put limits on what you charge.

Banks get 44 cents for every transaction that they do. They share it among their partners. That's the interchange fee. Those are the debit card transaction fees. Because of new rules likely to come in July from the fed, that could cap that at 12 cents.

This is an interchange fee that created $16 billion in revenue for credit card companies, Ali. So since they are going to get what they can take home cut, it might mean that they restrict the transactions frankly that are going to be able to be done.

Now look, this is all part of Wall Street reform. These new changes are all part of Wall Street reform, cutting back on some of these interchange fees. There are other ways that banks are trying to compensate for Wall Street reform.

Chase is testing a $3 monthly fee on its debit cards. Bank of America and Chase are also testing account fees. We know that free checking, fewer and fewer examples of free checking out there as they try to raise money in other ways because they can't have sky high interest rates so they can't raise interest rates without telling you ahead of time.

So these are all consequences, Ali, I think of credit card reform. Quite frankly, the banks can find new ways to try to make money and that's exactly what they are doing. I'll point out that no bank has done this yet and you can read the CNN Money story for more information on this, but it's being talked about and people think we could be heading in this direction. VELSHI: We knew when we were talking about banking reform that if you limit them in the ways that you know they raise money, they will work around the system. That's kind of how they do. Kind of makes you feel --

ROMANS: You don't give up $16 billion easily, right? You try to find another way to get it.

VELSHI: Christine, great to see you as always. Christine Romans, you can find out more at cnnmoney.com. By the way, as Christine said, they have some great coverage on this.

Also be sure to tune in to Christine's show "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" at 9:30 a.m. Saturday Eastern. My show "YOUR MONEY" airs Saturdays at 1 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3 p.m.

About one in three students say they have been bullied and the White House is working to put an end to it today. We'll find out how with Ed Henry standing by ready for it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: President Obama as you know is the father of two girls who says the bullying is very personal to him. There's a big conference on bullying today at the White House.

Ed Henry joins me now. Ed, are you a featured speaker or just covering this?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Are you saying I was bullied as a kid?

VELSHI: I don't know whether you were bullied or you are a bully. I'm trying -- you never know people.

HENRY: Well, you know, I will admit I had these horrible buck teeth. My two front teeth grew in giant when I was a kid and I got made fun of. I think it evened out, but you'll have to tell me whether people joke behind my back or not. And I understand you pretty much lost your hair around age of 18. So I can imagine that --

VELSHI: Yes, exactly. But this is weird that they are having a discussion at the White House about it. This is the first time. I think that something like that has happened, is it not?

HENRY: It really is, first ever anti-bullying summit, a very serious subject. Obviously, a lot of kids have died because of bullying and that's why a lot of these parents have come forward to tell their very painful stories.

And the president -- the reason why I asked about your own situation, the president, you know, tried to in a light hearted way, say, look he's got big ears. As a kid, he was bullied a little bit. Never anything as serious as some of these other kids who have come forward and some of their parents tragically coming forward to talk about it. And I think what's important is he's trying to shine a light on this subject, but more important than that is going to be whether or not there's actually action from this White House and from divided Congress. They can't come together on a whole lot of other things, but maybe this is one of those areas where they will.

Two big things, one, the president has put in over $120 million into his new budget to try and combat bullying, some grant money going out to schools all around the country. And secondly, there is a new bipartisan bill, Bob Casey, Democrat from Pennsylvania, Mark Kirk, Republican from Illinois.

They've just introduced and trying to get bipartisan support that would basically put in a code of conduct for schools that get federal money and put in there as part of that code of conduct that bullying violence, assault, harassment et cetera is completely unacceptable.

What's interesting though, of course, is that $120 million is decent money for these schools as a starter, but as you know, the budget fight is ongoing on much bigger line items like Medicare and the like. So this is caught up in everything else. We'll see whether or not the president's budget goes anywhere. It's out there as a line item, but it hasn't been approved yet.

VELSHI: Let me ask you this, many months ago you were -- I think I may be mistaken. It was Friday night, you were on a beach in Florida and the president was there. You asked the president about what was then looking like the hottest topic going in the midterm elections. It was the mosque being built in downtown Manhattan.

HENRY: Right.

VELSHI: And you got a comment out of the president the next day, but there was an uproar about it. Are they going to do that again? Are they getting involved in these Peter King hearings at all?

HENRY: You know, they are mostly staying out of it. Now, it's interesting that Dennis McDonough who is the deputy national security adviser here, real powerful kind of behind the scenes player, gave a speech on Sunday to kind -- to try to get ahead of these hearings a little bit.

His point was, look, they are not going to try to stop the hearings, which have become obviously pretty controversial before they started, but they want to make sure that what Peter King is doing is pointing out that there are Muslim-Americans who in the words of White House officials like Dennis McDonough.

They say Muslim-Americans are part of the solution, not the problem and so they basically say they have no problem with these hearings on the Hill if they're going to constructive and if it's not just about picking on Muslim-Americans.

If it's saying look, there may be some bad apples or may be some people who are helping terrorists, but you can't lump everybody in as a group because of their religion and also have to point out according to the White House, they believe, that there are Muslim-Americans who are helping law enforcement for example and giving law enforcement information to stop terror attacks.

VELSHI: Yes, strangely, not a lot of them have been invited to be part of these hearings. Ed, thanks very much. We'll check in with you again. My good friend, Ed Henry is the senior White House correspondent.

And this is the stake out. All right, Demonstrators pounding on the statehouse windows. Hundreds of high school students walking out in protests, the battle lines are drawn in Wisconsin after Republicans sneak that controversial budget bill through. We'll tell you what you missed up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Thirty-two minutes after the hour. Let's hit some stories that you might have missed today.

Some incredible scenes from Wisconsin State House. Those angry crowds shouting, "Shame, shame" at police who were forcibly removing them, locking them down -- locking the building down. The chaos came after the state Senate pushed through a bill limiting collective bargaining rights for public workers. The state assembly is set to cast a final vote on the bill sometime today.

Brushing off accusations of bigotry, Representative Peter King has opened his Homeland Security Committee hearings on radical Islam. These are live pictures you're seeing from the hearings. King said there was nothing un-American about investigating the radicalization of Muslims on U.S. soil. Congressman Keith Ellison later testified that the tenor of the hearing amounts to stereotyping and scapegoating. Ellison is the first Muslim ever elected to Congress.

Ohio has become the first state to execute an inmate using a single dose of a drug that's also used to euthanize animals. Johnnie Baston was put to death for the 1994 shooting of a Toledo store owner. His death was the first use of pentobarbital as a standalone drug in an execution. Oklahoma also uses the barbiturate but it's part of a three-drug cocktail.

The FDA has just approved the first new treatment for lupus since 1955. The drug Benlysta is given intravenously, apparently helps reduce the number of abnormal cells. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can be debilitating and even fatal. Until now the main therapies have been steroids and aspirin and an anti-malarial drug.

Coming up, reaction to today's Muslim radicalization hearings from a man who usually can find the humor in anything. What a Muslim comedian has to say about today's events, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: During the congressional hearings on Muslim radicalization, comedian and producer Dean Obeidallah was watching from the committee room and tweeting the whole time. Before heading to the capital, he had a few comments to share about Representative Peter King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, COMEDIAN, PRODUCER : We cannot forget Peter King's continual statement that the American Muslim community refuses to cooperate with law enforcement. So, is he going to call law enforcement officials to support that claim? Nope, none. Not one. Amazing. All of a sudden Charlie Sheen's looking a little bit more reasonable, isn't he?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Dean joins me now from Washington.

Dean, thanks for joining us. You've been inside the hearings. What struck you? I mean, when I was listening to it this morning, the thing that really hit me right off the top was Keith Ellison and his testimony, highlighting a young man who died in 9/11, a young Muslim man who died.

What struck you as most interesting?

OBEIDALLAH: That was really one of them. It was moving and Keith was moved to tears, literally. I mean, to me it was like the Super Bowl of Islamaphobia. I mean, it was amazing for these guys.

You know, whenever a person starts out with, "You know, I don't think all Muslims are bad," whatever is the follow-up to that is usually not good. That's exactly what you hear at this hearing.

It was very interesting to me, though, and certain congressman brought up, there was a lack of facts by Peter King's witnesses. He brought three Muslims to testify, I guess the only three in America that agree with him, I'm sure there are a few others. But, three that agree with him and they gave anecdotal evidence, nothing about facts. It was very weird for a man who used to be a former prosecutor -- Peter King -- he was a prosecutor -- to bring really nothing to support his claims.

VELSHI: So his issue here is that Muslims and Muslim leaders and mosques and imams are not doing enough to help law enforcement. There was one law enforcement -- there was somebody there from law enforcement testifying this morning. Generally speaking, he has not invited those people who can confirm what he says or contradict it because he hasn't invited those people to testify?

OBEIDALLAH: Well, juts to be clear, the person he brought was Sheriff Lee Baca from L.A., who was brought by the Democratic minority, not by Peter King.

Peter King has repeatedly told the media people in law enforcement have told him that Muslim community has not been cooperative. Yet, he doesn't bring any of them because they don't want to talk. Well, then subpoena them. That's what you should do. You have that power as a chairman. Sheriff Lee Baca was the only person who gave statistics. He said there's been 118 terror plots since 9/11. And I'm looking at the number here, 77 were perpetrated or involved people who are not Muslim. Less than -- about 40 were Muslims. But also he said out of the last 10 al Qaeda plots against America, seven of the ten were turned in by Muslims. So it was 70 percent stopped by Muslims.

So what Lee Baca said was completely untrue and he's found the Muslim-American community to be frankly, in his words, the most responsive, the most cooperative of all of the organizations, all the groups he deals with in California.

VELSHI: That said, we need to sort of say that whatever community you're part of, if there is an element of radicalism or extremism or terrorism in there, is there some benefit to this discussion and should it be prompting Muslims in America, to say, huh, should we be doing more? Or, does it not fall upon average people who have no connection to terrorism or extremism to solve that problem?

OBEIDALLAH: Well, I think that on a positive outgrowth, this is -- more organizations that are interfaith. Like I was here tweeting for What Unites Us -- it's WhatUnite.us, it's a great organization, people of different faiths coming together. There was a rally in Times Square on just on Sunday. Russell Simmons was there. People of all different religions and faith standing together.

So perhaps it is a rallying point, perhaps it is a time for learning, an opportunity for that. I think the average Muslim, even Peter King's people who testified not once said if a Muslim knew about a terror threat, they would turn them in. Not one said they would turn a blind eye.

So it's kind of this ambiguous, nebulous threat out there that is really hard to articulate. And even the Democratic congress people, one after the other, where are the facts? And that's what we all want to hear. I want to hear the facts, too, so we can counter it and deal with it.

VELSHI: Well, if you hear facts, tweet them out. We're following you on Twitter. Dean Obeidallah is a comedian and producer, joining us live from D.C. He's our eyes and ears inside those hearings.

Dean, thanks very much. Great to talk to you, again, as always.

OBEIDALLAH: Thanks. Nice speaking to you, Ali.

VELSHI: I want to remind you about a CNN in America special. CNN's Soledad O'Brien chronicles the dramatic fight over the construction of a mosque in the heart of the bible belt. It's called "Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door," debuts Sunday, March 27th, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Libyan civilians gunned down in the streets of the besieged town of Zawiyah. A journalist's incredible eyewitness report coming up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: The Obama administration moved a step closer today to talk about suspending ties with the government of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. is suspending all ties with the Libyan embassy in Washington. A senior administration official tells us the move is recognition that Gadhafi is no longer the legitimate leader of Libya and that the Libyan embassy must shut down.

In another diplomatic move, French President Nicholas Sarkozy met with a top Libyan opposition official today in Paris and became the first government leader to recognize the rebel leadership, the National Transitional Council, as Libya's legitimate government.

Now, in Libya, government forces appear to be on the verge of recapturing the key oil port of Ras Lanuf after several days of heavy fighting. Witnesses say Gadhafi forces attacked the town with planes, tanks, rockets and heavy weaponry.

There's also heavy fighting reported in other key towns, including Zawiyah, which is just 30 miles from the capital, Tripoli. Alex Crawford of Britain's Sky News is the only foreign journalist whose managed to enter Zawiyah. She spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper.

Some of you might find her report and pictures troubling.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Alex, first of all, you and your crew were able to do what no other reporters in Libya were able to do, actually get into Zawiyah and stay there.

How did you get in?

ALEX CRAWFORD, SKY NEWS FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think timing was absolutely critical, Anderson, because we went in on the Friday, on the day of Friday prayers. And although there had been fighting earlier on that day, there certainly wasn't the massive military ring around the town that there is now.

We had to go through several checkpoints to get there, but we managed to -- we were with a very sympathetic person who drove us in. And as we arrived, there was a huge march going on of several thousand people.

So we got out of the car and we just saw this wave of people coming towards us and realized that they were all anti-Gadhafi people. They were all civilians. I didn't see anyone in army fatigues or army uniforms or anything. They were just this huge body of people, children amongst them.

COOPER: We're looking at the video right now. Essentially, they were marching, it looks like, for the most part unarmed, and then just got fired upon. CRAWFORD: Yes, there were a few people, very few people, I would say about half a dozen people, at the head of the group who had -- one person on the car, for instance, had a pistol. One person who was wandering along the side had a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder. But mostly, the huge majority were just civilians walking, were unarmed, and they were just chanting anti-Gadhafi slogans and calling on him to leave.

They walked -- they were marching towards the military lines that had been set up. A tank was in front of (AUDIO GAP) and a number of military vehicles. And as they got close, they opened fire.

And they didn't just open fire once or twice, and they didn't just fire over them. They fired into them, and the casualties were instant and immediate, and they carried on firing.

COOPER: And we're seeing people run away right now from that firing.

What's so important, not only remarkable about your reporting, but what's so important about it is because pretty much each step of the way, you show evidence, direct evidence, irrefutable evidence that the Gadhafi regime is not telling the truth in many of their public statements.

For instance, they repeatedly say they have not fired on unarmed protesters. You personally witnessed them doing just that.

CRAWFORD: They did not just once, but scores of times. I can't even count how many times they did it over the entire period that we were there.

And we were in Zawiyah for -- from Friday midday until Sunday afternoon. And there was continuous, constant, repeated shelling, firing, bombing, attacking of that town. And the military got closer and closer and got -- basically, it's trying to strangle the town.

And the people inside it, they aren't -- to call them a rebel army is just not the case there. There may be rebels in the east, a rebel -- sort of rebel army made up of this -- defections from the Gadhafi army, but in this town, they are 99 percent civilians.

There are a few soldiers who have defected, very, very few, and they have brought with them some weaponry, but they are vastly outnumbered by the civilians in the town. This is a town that is under siege, being constantly attacked, and there is a massacre going on there.

COOPER: The other lie that the regime has been telling which your reporting again highlights and points out is this claim by Gadhafi and his son and his spokesmen that they're fighting al Qaeda and that al Qaeda has drugged Libyan teenagers with hallucinogenic pills. Again, what you just said shows that to be completely false.

CRAWFORD: I saw no evidence of any al Qaeda either influence or input or anything to do with terrorism at all. The only terrorism appeared to be coming from outside and focusing in on those towns.

Everyone I spoke to -- and there were hundreds of people, thousands who I was mixing and mingling with in the hospital, in the mosque, in town, in the square. Amongst the -- some of the defectors, they are primarily people who live in that town. They're very determined to try and (AUDIO GAP) that there's no al Qaeda influence.

I had a couple of colleagues, journalist colleagues, who were in Tripoli who (AUDIO GAP) network was still up. They were texting me and saying at the moment, they're saying that -- the government spokesman here is saying that they have retaken the town.

And I said, well -- they could hear all the firing in the background of my telephone conversations with them. And it was a complete lie. Later on that day, they said apparently the forces have moved in and they have regained control and they say that you're lying.

At this point, we were under fire, being shelled on -- gunfire all around. It wasn't even just one side. It was top, bottom, left, right, in front, behind, absolutely under attack. And as soon as the government forces pulled back, the place had filled with Zawiyah civilians and residents again.

If they weren't against Colonel Gadhafi before, they absolutely are to a man and woman now. There is no one there who wants him. And the only way that that town can be taken control of by the authorities or the Colonel Gadhafi forces is if they actually took up residence in the town and never left.

COOPER: You also report on something we have heard many reports of, but have not directly seen. You actually were in an ambulance that was fired on by Libyan government forces.

CRAWFORD: Yes. We got -- we ourselves were fired on whilst we were in the ambulance.

At the front of the ambulance, there were two doctors clearly identifiable in green medical gowns. But, also, at the hospital, we have got on film two -- at least two ambulances who came in with bullet holes all the way down one side. The back rear window had been shot out. So the whole of the window was taken out.

And whilst I was there and my crew were there, there were people being unloaded from the ambulance. And the shelling was landing right next to the hospital. They -- the actual doctors and medical staff who were around the stretcher trying to take in this wounded civilian, there were about 25, 30 of them, all (AUDIO GAP) blue medical gowns, green medical gowns, white medical gowns, thought they were being attacked, and scattered.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Stay with CNN for part two of Alex Crawford's extraordinary report on Gadhafi's forces targeting civilians in Zawiyah. It's coming up in the next hour. Well, completely artificial hearts, mobile health coaching programs and malaria vaccines. Innovations in medicine save lives every single day. Coming up in today's "Big I," a look at the three most innovative companies in the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Every day in this country, people's lives are saved by amazing medical inventions. Today, we're highlighting some of the most innovative in our "Big I" segment, and here to talk us through them is the editor-in-chief of "Fast Company" magazine, Bob Safian. "Fast Company" is one of my favorite magazines, and it is out with its top 50 most innovative companies of 2011.

This is relevant for you because, A, these are companies that are doing things about the future; B, you might want to work for these companies, you might want to invest them when they become investable in some cases. I want to highlight three of those companies in the medical industry.

Bob, let's start with the SynCardia, manufactures an FDA- approved, completely artificial heart; 5.7 million Americans suffer from heart failure. How did this one make it on to your list?

BOB SAFIAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "FAST COMPANY": Well, the total artificial heart is right now used as a bridge device. It's for people who need heart transplants and have to wait for one. The total artificial heart, now people can have this heart in and leave the hospital for weeks, months and even years at a time.

And what that allows and we see the future being that there could be a point where just as today you can get a knee replaced or hip replaced, that you could get a heart replaced. There are 3,000 people who are on waiting lists for hearts right now. So this has potential for tremendous breakthroughs.

VELSHI: All right, there's a company called Amyris which is known for synthetic fuel, but it's got a biotech operation and this has got to do with malaria, which, you know, a lot of people here in the western world don't realize what a big killer and problem and economic weight malaria continues to be.

SAFIAN: Yes, malaria is a tremendous threat, particularly in Africa for children. And what Amyris is they're using their biotech to apply a particular therapy for anti-malaria treatments that is now very costly to create and takes a long time. It's extracted from something called Chinese wormwood.

And they've done a microbial version that they have licensed royalty-free to large drug companies so that this treatment can be commercialized at a much lower cost and much more effectively, and save lives and hopefully change and make the world a better place. It's a terrific, terrific innovation.

VELSHI: I want to ask you about one other company, the third one, Voxiva. SAFIAN: Sure.

VELSHI: Mobile health coaching programs, what does that mean?

SAFIAN: Yes, I mean, this is as a system where you could use text messages -- apps and the web, but primarily text messages -- to be able to be reach people hop otherwise don't have health services and be able to be have a treatment programs, whether this is for prenatal care, well baby care, diabetes treatment, smoking cessation.

The great thing about this is this was pioneered in the developing world and was -- was brought here in what we call trickle- up innovation, started in the developing world and has come here to the States. So there's a program called Text for Baby, for instance, where you can text to the number 511411 the letters for baby, and you'll get a customized program for how to take care of yourself in a prenatal situation and to take care of your child.

VELSHI: Bob, great talking to you. Thanks very much for these.

Bob Safian is the editor-in-chief of one of my favorite magazines, "Fast Company."

To get linked up with these three medical innovations and "Fast Company," head right to my blog, CNN.com/Ali.

By the way, while you're there, tell me what you think about -- I've asked a question there about what you think about the hearings that are going on on Capitol Hill. I want to get your thoughts. You can do it there, you could do it on Facebook or Twitter. CNN.com/Ali.