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Say Goodbye to Free Content; U.S. Role in Libya; Superbug Causing Sickness in Los Angeles County Hospitals and Nursing Homes; Former President Jimmy Carter Visits Cuba; President Obama to Explain Scope of Libyan Mission Tonight; Libyan Rebels Strike Bank; Explosion Kills Scores In Yemen; Two Missing Journalists released; Congress Resumes Work On Budget; Japan's Nuclear Crisis Worsens

Aired March 28, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: We are following many developments in two of the world's hot spots after weeks of being outgunned and outmaneuvered in Libya. Forces opposed to Moammar Gadhafi again have the upper hand. And for the first time since Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant fell victim to a tsunami, plutonium is showing up in the soil. We'll have full coverage of both of these stories beginning right now with Libya.

Now, more than ever, the fight for Libya isn't just a civil war, it's a tug of war. After a week of allied air strike aimed at protecting Libyan civilians, fighters opposed to long time dictator Moammar Gadhafi regrouped and pushed back with a vengeance. In the space of a weekend, they took back most of the ground that Gadhafi forces claimed in the past month.

Today, they're poised to launch what could be their toughest battle yet for Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. A victory there would be symbolically huge and geographically one giant leap toward Tripoli.

Check out the map that you see here behind me. Just about a month ago in the early days of the uprising, momentum was clearly with the rebels. The cities you see here in green fell quickly, but then came the counter assault. And after 40 plus years in power, Gadhafi had the weapons, the organization and the will to remain in power no matter what. Regime opponents were pushed back to their unofficial capitol, Benghazi.

Well, take a look at this, this is the map today. Town after town in the east in rebel hands, Gadhafi forces holding the lines for now at Sirte.

I also want to mention Misrata, Libya's third largest city, after many days of bombardment, Libya's foreign ministry says calm has been restored, but it's not clear exactly what that means.

CNN's Reza Sayah is following the fighting from his vantage point in Benghazi. And, Reza, it has been a remarkable weekend, wouldn't you say?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly has been some remarkable progress made by opposition forces, Randi, but it looks like for the first time in three days they're getting some resistance from Gadhafi forces, Gadhafi loyalists, and it's happening in the town of Sirte. Sirte, of course, Gadhafi's hometown, his birthplace, he's got a lot of family members there, relatives, friends, his tribe, the Gadhafi tribe is there. Not unusual that they would give resistance to the rebel fighters. The opposition saying that that's what they expected.

In the last several hours, rebel fighters telling CNN that they tried to move into the city and they faced some gunfire. They're not sure, they say, if that gunfire is coming from Gadhafi soldiers that have taken positions inside the city or civilians who are simply Gadhafi loyalists. So, things heating up in Sirte.

In the meantime, about 225 miles west of Sirte in the capitol of Tripoli, another set of air strikes according to French officials. French fighter jets launching these air strikes, targeting what they're calling a command center. Of course, it's been French jets, British jets and U.S. jets that have launched most of these air strikes.

And again, Randi, for the past several hours, French officials saying the fresh set of airstrikes targeting the command center near Tripoli.

KAYE: And, Reza, we've been told really from the beginning that allied air pour power isn't allied with the rebels, it's really only protecting civilians, but isn't that a meaningful distinction at this point?

SAYAH: Well, at this point, there's no question that what it's doing, it's facilitating this remarkable push by the opposition forces west towards Tripoli, to which is their final destination. All you have to do is look at March 19th, that was the date when this no-fly zone was put in place and that's when this stalemate started breaking down. That's when settling the opposition forces started pushing west, they took Antlabia (ph) on Saturday when those air strikes softened up those Gadhafi attack units, those artillery units. Once Antlabia (ph) felt that it was Brega, Ras Lanuf, and in they came to search and again, but first little bit of resistance from search the Gadahfi stronghold, but certainly, this no-fly zone, those air strikes, pivotal in the progress of these rebel forces.

KAYE: Yes, and NATO is supposed to take control of that no-fly zone today and the whole operation by the end of the week. Does any of this matter to the rebels? Do they really feel that this is what's helping them?

SAYAH: It will matter if these air strikes are deescalated. Of course, with NATO taking control, there are some member states that are not as enthusiastic as others about the aggressiveness of these air strikes, namely Turkey. If this new plan with NATO in control deescalates the aggressiveness of the air strikes, if we see fewer air strikes, that's going to be something the opposition forces won't like. They openly, today in a news conference, called for the air strikes to continue. KAYE: All right. Reza Sayah for us there watching it all in Benghazi. And, Reza, we'll talk with you again next hour. We'll speak to you then.

We can't forget President Obama addresses the nation tonight on the U.S. role in the Libya campaign, how it came to be and when it might end. The president speaks at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time, but CNN's live coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern, 4:00 Pacific. Be sure to join us for that.

The fighting in Yemen is escalating. Medical officials say a powerful explosion at a weapons factory has killed at least 121 people and injured 45 in southern Yemen. Islamic militants have seized control of the plant and residents were looting it when the blast occurred. This all comes after months of demonstrations against Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh (ph). And it's just the latest in an intensifying battle between the government and the local Al Qaeda group. Saleh (ph) says he's holding onto power, arguing he is best equipped to fight off Islamists.

Two journalists missing in Syria since Saturday are now free. A Syrian official says the reuters (ph) producer and cameramen were detained two days because they lacked a work permit and filmed in a prohibited area. Both journalists are Lebanese nationals and returned safely today.

In the meantime, security forces flooded two Syrian cities today. Officers patrolled the streets and shielded government buildings against protesters. The situation is extremely tense, witnesses say forces marched into the main square of one of the cities early this morning firing shots in the air and turning water cannons on protesters. They say at least 37 people have died since last week.

The Senate is back in session today, and the House reconvenes tomorrow. With less than two weeks to go before a possible government shutdown, the budget battle is the big issue on the agenda. Both sides are still far apart on spending cuts. The government runs out of money on April 8th, if you're keeping track, and that's if they don't pass the continuing resolution first. They've done six of those so far.

Experts say the nuclear crisis in Japan may be at a turning point for the worse. High levels of radiation in the ocean and the air, and now, plutonium in the soil. What this all means, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It's been two weeks, but we're still getting new powerful video reminding us of the tsunami's force as it devoured cities along Japan's coast. This was what happened to a town north of Sendai, the epicenter of the earthquake.

We have some alarming signs that the nuclear crisis in Japan may be getting worse. We're just getting word, Tokyo Electric is finding plutonium in the soil around the Fukushima nuclear plant. Experts say this could be a turning point for the worse. There's also increasing concern highly radioactive water is escaping and may be leaking into the ocean. The concern centers around a turbine building connected to reactor two. Tokyo Electric says the water in a tunnel there is at least 100,000 times more radioactive than normal. Officials say they are still trying to find the source of that leak.

On top of that, Japan's nuclear agency says its tests show high levels of radiation in the ocean and in the air near the reactors. Tests showed sea water, in different locations offshore, had radiation levels as high as 1,850 times the normal amount.

Cham Dallas, an expert on nuclear safety, is here with me now to talk about all of this. We are just learning about Tokyo Electric finding this plutonium in the soil. Can you put these new developments into some perspective for us?

CHAM DALLAS, PH.D, DISASTER MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST, UNIVERSITY OF GOERGIA: Well, this starts to become a little more deja-vu, to me, from my the Chernobyl days, all those expeditions I led there into Chernobyl, because that was one of the most horrifying things I experienced there was walking through plutonium fields. And so, now, it's disconcerting to see that plutonium has gotten out. We still don't know whether this plutonium from the reactor or from atmospheric bomb scares (ph).

KAYE: What could it mean if plutonium is in the soil?

DALLAS: Well, it means that something is getting out of the reactor core there, because the plutonium in unit three, they had mix of plutonium and uranium there, that means it's gotten out either in the water or from a reactor core breach. It's not a good development.

KAYE: I want to ask you about Greenpeace, which is now in Japan, and it's workers are doing its own tests, actually. And we spoke with one of their nuclear experts on Sunday, CNN did. So, Let's listen to what their expert had to say and then we'll ask you another question about that.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JAN VAN DE PUTTE, RADIATION MONITOR: So, the population would get above the maximum allowed annual boast in just a few days. And we strongly recommend the government to help those people to relocate to another place.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KAYE: OK. So, we're talking about people, about 45 kilometers, which is not even 30 miles away from this plant, being exposed to levels of radiation that they would normally get in, what, about a year in just a few days. So, we have to ask, I mean, how reliable are the Greenpeace tests versus what Japan officials are saying?

DALLAS: Well, I'm all in favor of having checks and balances in the system. The reason Chernobyl happened in Russia, because there was no environmental movement, it was just a totalitarian state there. So, it's good to have checks and balances here. I have been very disappointed in the amount of information coming out of the Japanese government now out of the nuclear reactor company there.

KAYE: Can we trust what they're telling us?

DALLAS: Well, right now, I'm depending on the numbers I get international atomic energy agency and from the United States nuclear regulatory commission. Lately, I guess to have a little good news, some of the numbers coming out of the Japanese government have been a little more dependable than in the past. In the first week, it was very poor.

KAYE: I want to ask you, of course, about seafood coming from Japan. Hong Kong has already banned imports of seafood. How concerned should we people be when we hear about this radioactive material getting into the soil and getting into the ocean?

DALLAS: Well, I've done studies on this for over 20 years, and the good news here is, if there is any good news, is that when radioactive nucleus or radioactive particles get into the water, they go down into sediments, and then the water becomes a protective barrier to protect you up on top. Only about 1 percent of the radioactivity stays in the water column. Right now, I don't see an immediate threat to the seafood area, but it's a bad development. This is a turning point, finally, it's getting into the ocean and it's not a good thing. It's not bad yet, but it's going in a bad direction.

KAYE: Would you eat seafood from Japan right now?

DALLAS: Actually, if you ask me point blank, I would, but if you ask me that question again in a week, I'm not sure that I -- I might change my --

KAYE: It all depends on the developments, I mean, they certainly have --

DALLAS: I might change my answer.

KAYE: They keep coming. All right, Cham Dallas. We really appreciate your expertise. Thank you.

DALLAS: OK. Thank you, Randi.

KAYE: Japan's nuclear disaster is no laughing matter for European broadcasters who are now taking a closer look at episodes of "The Simpsons." As any fan of the show knows, Homer works at a nuclear power plant. And let's just say safety isn't job job number one. Networks in Germany, Switzerland and Austria want to make sure an episode featuring a meltdown never airs.

So, if you want to comment on this, we'd love you to. Go to our blog, CNN.com/ali and share your thoughts. And you can also post on Ali's Facebook and Twitter accounts, and on my Facebook and Twitter accounts as well, RandikayeCNN. We'll share your comments later on in the show.

In less than an hour, one of the nation's most popular news Web sites will start charging readers. Is this a site that you visit? We'll tell you next in "Your Money."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

A big change today for news consumers who rely on "The New York Times" website and "New York Times" mobile apps. The news will no longer be free for frequent users. Starting in less than an hour from now, if you click on more than 20 articles in just one month, "The Times" will require a subscription. Senior correspondent Allan Chernoff joins us from New York to explain more about this.

Hi there, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Randi.

Well, of course, a lot of "New York Times" readers used to pay for this, but they've been reading the same content on this. Well, the freebie days are over. After 20 clicks, "The Times" will start charging $15 online and $20 every four weeks if you want to read on a tablet like this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): "The New York Times" is trying to harness a force that has been wrecking the newspaper business, free access on the Internet. Executives here plan to walk a fine line to generate subscription revenues from avid readers willing to pay while still retaining casual customers who boost advertising revenues with their click. After much research, "The Times" believes that fine line is 20 articles every four weeks.

MARTIN NISENHOLTZ, SR. V.P., "NEW YORK TIMES": We're as confident as we can possibly be in a research setting. Obviously whenever research hits the real world, there are changes.

CHERNOFF: Whatever the right number of clicks is, "The Times" intends to become the largest general interest newspaper to emulate what business paper, "The Wall Street Journal" and "Financial Times" have done, collect subscription fees from online customers.

JILL ABRAMSON, MANAGING EDITOR, "NEW YORK TIMES": When I say it's a bet on the future, we want to maintain the most robust kind of newsroom, full of talented journalists. And in order to do that, it seems sensible to begin asking some readers to pay for it.

CHERNOFF: As newspapers have given away their product for free online, paper subscriptions and advertising have dropped. The prestigious "Times" is no exception. Its online readership and web advertising have steadily grown, but that hasn't made up for the drop in print revenue, so the paper needs a second stream of online revenue. And executives believe now is the right time to start charging.

PAUL SMURL, V.P. NYTIMES.COM PAID PRODUCTS: A few things have changed recently. You know, one is that people are more used to paying for digital content with the advent of apps and app store and the ease of purchase through apps.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: Still, "The Times" anticipates the vast majority of online readers will never hit that payroll. It is counting, though, on the most devoted of those readers to start reaching into their wallets, just like they used to, for their daily newspaper. Randi, we'll see what happens. This is very, very important for the future of the news business. Not easy to get anyone to pay for something they're used to getting for free.

Randi.

KAYE: No, it certainly isn't. My question is about the crossword puzzles. What's going to happen to that? Our demand for the crossword puzzles. Are we going to have to pay for that now?

CHERNOFF: Well, actually, if you want the crossword puzzles on a daily basis, you already have to pay. "The Times" has been charging $40 a year for that crossword premium. So the crossword junkies, they're already used to this.

KAYE: OK. So they're not going to have any problem there. All right, you can see I don't do the crossword puzzles online. So now I know.

All right, Allan Chernoff, thank you so much.

And be sure to join Christine Romans for "Your Bottom Line" each Saturday morning at 9:30 Eastern. And don't miss "Your Money" with Ali Velshi Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3:00.

It is 21 minutes past the hour. Time for top stories.

Libyan rebels are pushing west toward Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. Reported victories by rebel fighters in Ras Lanuf and Brega over the weekend represent a comeback by opposition forces. NATO expects to complete its takeover of the no-fly zone in Libya today.

And tonight, President Obama goes on TV to explain the mission in Libya and the U.S. role. You can watch it live right here on CNN.

The U.S. Supreme Court has reject a Georgia man's request to delay his execution. The justices turned aside two separate appeals from Troy Davis without comment today. Davis was convicted of killing a Savannah police officer. He claims he can prove that he's innocent.

High residential vacancies are making it hard to sell homes. A new report says the national vacancy rate has hit 13 percent. That's up from 12.1 percent in 2007.

President Obama is getting ready to spell out the U.S. role in Libya's uprising. Coming up in just two minutes, our Ed Henry is going to tell us what we can expect to hear. Stay right there, Ed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: The U.S. has played a big role in the Libya uprising since firing some of those very first cruise missiles a little more than a week ago. President Obama has faced much criticism over that decision. Well, tonight, we'll hear from the president. CNN, of course, will bring his address to you live starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

CNN's senior White House correspondent Ed Henry joins me at this time every day for our "Stakeout."

Hi there, Ed.

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

KAYE: What would you say we're expecting to hear from the president tonight?

HENRY: Well, I think, you know, as some White House aides were telling my colleague Dan Lothian this morning, that one thing they'll look at is the timing. It's not by accident that the president picked tonight to do this because, in recent days, you've had that transition where NATO has said, look, they're going to take command and control of -- taking control of the no-fly zone. And that backs up the president's promise at the beginning of all of this that it would be days, not weeks, where the U.S. would sort of be in a lead role. And there was so much pressure on him in recent days to give a speech like this, but they wanted to wait until NATO really did take that lead role and at least show that commitment.

But I think having said that, and even though NATO is now stepping up, the president has a lot of work to do tonight. I was talking to a Democratic strategist this morning who was telling me, look, they got really spooked inside the White House late last week when John Boehner fired of this letter to the president with something like 16 questions about, how are you going to pay for it, what's the end game, what if Gadhafi doesn't step down?

What spooked the White House was not that John Boehner wrote the letter. It's, you know, expected that the Republican speaker is going to be tough on this White House. But what spooked them inside the White House, according to this top Democrat, was how many Democrats on Capitol Hill said, you know what, John Boehner has a point. They've got to answer these questions. And they've grown worried in recent days here inside the White House that it's not just Republicans that have been pounding on him, but Democrats on The Hill, usually on their side, saying, we were caught off guard by how quickly this happened and not enough of these questions have been answered. Got to answer a lot of those tonight, Randi.

KAYE: And to answer those questions, Ed, has the president been relying on anyone in particular for advice in Libya?

HENRY: Well, there's no doubt that he's been relying on that war cabinet. We saw them out in full force yesterday with Defense Secretary Gates and Secretary of State Clinton. But it's interesting that when you par some of their comments from some of the Sunday shows yesterday, it was very clear that Secretary Gates, for example, was saying that this was not necessarily in, you know, the direct interest of the United States to intervene. And critics have seized upon that. But he was saying, look, it was still important for the U.S. to step forward and save perhaps thousands of civilians and prevent a larger humanitarian crisis.

KAYE: Yes.

HENRY: But he was acknowledging there that maybe this was not in the direct strategic interest of the United States, giving critics some fodders to say, why exactly did we step in?

KAYE: And, Ed, have to ask you about this. This has nothing to do with Libya, of course. But there was a story about a reporter with "The Orlando Sentinel" being sequestered in a storage closet. He was actually stuffed into this closet during a fundraiser attended by Vice President Biden. Kept in there until the vice president spoke. Has this ever happened to you? Is this unusual?

HENRY: It's very unusual and it's gotten me a little spooked here. I don't want to get caught thrown into a storage closet next to a broom or something like that. But in all seriousness, "The Orlando Sentinel" reporter, you know, was sort of the pool reporter representing the rest of the media at this fundraiser the vice president was attending and what -- he wrote a blog post in the last 24 hours saying that it sort of spun out of control and that it wasn't quite as small a closet as people thought. It was a little bit larger. There was a table and a chair for him to sit at. And that basically there was light in there. There was a window. And that it sort of -- the Internet sort of took on a life of its own.

KAYE: It's a still closet.

HENRY: But, nonetheless, you're right, it's still a closet and the vice president's office has apologized. And I think that while maybe the thing got a little bit out of control and maybe a little exaggerated on the Internet. On the other hand, it's a bad idea for any politician, especially the vice president, to have a reporter stuck in any sort of a closet when they're trying to cover a fundraiser. It's just pretty darn awkward and I think they got a pretty black eye -- a big black eye about this. And I can pretty much guarantee the vice president's not going to do that again. This was a big PR hit for them and they're not going to let it happen again.

KAYE: Yes, well, beware of any closets around the White House there, Ed, OK.

HENRY: And I'll be on the watch out for sure. Yes, I'll be on the lookout for that.

KAYE: All right. We'll see you later. Thanks, Ed.

HENRY: Good seeing you, Randi.

KAYE: Be sure to watch CNN for live coverage of the president's speech tonight. You can see it right here at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. HENRY: A drug resistant infection is spreading. We'll tell you where it's showing up and who is at risk, right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: And now a look at news you may have missed. President Obama explains the goals and scope of the Libyan mission tonight. He'll speak to the American people from the National Defense University in Washington. CNN's live coverage begins right here at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

The next target of Libyan rebel troops is Moammar Gadhafi's hometown. They're moving west now to Sirte, where they expect a bloody battle for control. Opposition fighters swept out of Benghazi in the east this weekend and reclaimed towns they recently lost to Gadhafi forces. Their ultimate goal is the capitol, Tripoli.

Three types of plutonium have turned up near Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant. The Tokyo Electric Power Company says the radioactive element was found in the soil inside the plant grounds. They say the discovery poses no risk to humans, but will monitor the situation. Plutonium can be a serious health hazard if inhaled or digested.

A super bug is spreading through Los Angeles County nursing homes and hospitals. The potentially deadly bacteria is called CRKP and it's resistant to antibiotics. Health officials saw more than 350 cases during the last half of last year, most occurring in the elderly. Doctors say the best way to prevent the spread of CKRP is through the washing of hands.

Straight ahead, the largest private employer in America at the highest court in the land. We'll preview a Wal-Mart sized sex discrimination case, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Every case at the Supreme Court is big. Every decision important. But this is an especially big and important week. Tomorrow the court hears arguments in a sex discrimination case against Wal-Mart. Just the name Wal-Mart tells you this is a big case. It's been building since 2001, and whatever the court decides could potentially affect every employer in America.

Today the court took up a campaign finance case from Arizona, which could, once again, change the way elections are bankrolled.

CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins me from the courthouse steps or close by, I Guess, anyway.

Jeff, let's start with the Arizona case. What is the issue there?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Arizona set up a system where there was a kind of public funding, that if one side in an election was spending a lot of money, the other side got some public money. That's sort of the simplification of what the Arizona law said.

And judging from the argument this morning, it seemed very clear to me that the court was going to strike this down, just like it struck down part of the McCain/Feingold law in this famous Citizens United case. I mean, this court seems very determined to basically deregulate campaign finance, deregulate elections. And today's case seemed like part of that pattern.

KAYE: So could this spell the end of public financing of elections?

TOOBIN: I think we are certainly heading that way. It's certainly not very politically popular for Congress or for state legislatures to have public financing, and the court is pushing in that direction, basically saying that any sort of regulation of campaigns potentially violates the first amendment. And I think we are very much moving in that direction with the Supreme Court as it's currently constitute d.

KAYE: And now let's turn to the Wal-Mart case. This case has been building for quite some time, years. Tomorrow's arguments are actually not on the merits though, of the case itself, right? This has nothing to do with the case itself. This is all about whether or not they can bring the class action?

TOOBIN: Correct. Basically what happened was early in the '90s a group of lawyers recognized that about 80 percent of the hourly workers at Wal-Mart were women and about 30 percent of the management were women. And they did some investigation and they decided this was systematic discrimination. So all the hourly workers who were women could be in a class action, could sue Wal-Mart for potentially many billions of dollars on the grounds that they had been discriminated against.

Wal-Mart is arguing, and the case to be argued tomorrow centers on whether a group this big, whether millions of women can constitute a class action, or whether that's simply too big for the legal system to manage, and the cases of the individual women are all too different from one another, to be in the same lawsuit.

KAYE: And Jeffrey, you know this court well. You've written books about the Supreme Court.

Now with three women justices, how receptive do you think they'll be to the claim?

TOOBIN: I think unreceptive. I mean, one of the touchstones of this court, this current Supreme Court has been they have been very receptive to corporations, to the Chamber of Commerce, to all the groups there are arraigned on the defense side here and relatively unsympathetic to women claiming discrimination.

The famous Lilly Ledbetter case, which they threw out a case on the grounds that the woman plaintiff had not filed it within the statute of limitations. They threw that out. This case is very much in that tradition and I think the three women who tend to be on the more liberal side will likely be outvoted by the conservative majority. And I would not be at all surprised at all if this case was thrown out of court after tomorrow's argument.

KAYE: All right. That is very interesting. Jeffrey Toobin, great to talk to you on the steps of the Supreme Court.

Thank you.

TOOBIN: All right, Randi. See you.

KAYE: Coming up, YouTube, Gmail, Android, Google Earth, Google Chrome -- they're all about to get a new boss. We take a look at his strategy in today's Big I, right after this very quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The fate of an American jailed in Cuba may rest in the hands of former President Jimmy Carter. He arrived in Cuba on a three-day private visit. He's expected to discuss bilateral relations with Fidel Castro and other top officials. But he also may raise the sticky issue of Alan Gross, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for alleged subversive activities.

CNN's Shasta Darlington joins us from Havana.

Shasta, what is Mr. Carter doing at this hour?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, he arrived just about two and a half hours ago with his wife Rosalynn. They arrived at Havana's international airport where they were greeted by Cuba's foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez. It was a pretty efficient affair. He handed over flowers and then they took off in cars.

Right now he should be on his way to meet with U.S. diplomats. From there he'll go onto see religious leaders, both Jewish leaders, Catholic leaders. But as you mentioned, this is a private, nongovernmental visit.

Nonetheless, expectations are high that Carter will try to secure the early release of Alan gross. He was arrested in 2009, but only sentenced this month to the 15 years that you mentioned. And that's because Cuba views that he was doing illegal subversive work, connecting Cubans to the internet, but with the ultimate goal of basically undermining and destabilizing the government.

Washington insists, however, that he was just trying to help the islands' small Jewish community connect to the internet, and in fact, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Carter just before his departure to talk about the issue.

Now, it's not on the official agenda. Today after these meetings -- tomorrow he'll meet with the Cuban President Raul Castro. And, in fact, that's when these kinds of issues could start to come up. But we won't know what the outcome is until the press conference on Wednesday. It is an interesting moment in Cuban history, though. Just to point out that Castro has introduced pretty sweeping economic reforms, basically allowing more private enterprise, more small businesses. And just last week, Cuba released the last of 75 dissidents arrested in a huge crackdown on the opposition in 2003, and that was considered a major obstacle to improving ties, Randi.

KAYE: And I'm just curious about the visit. I mean, this is a private visit but did he confer at all with the Obama administration on making this trip? Besides Hillary Clinton?

DARLINGTON: Well, it was really announced -- right, of course. It was announced just a short while ago. It was announced on Friday, really without any details given, sort of a one photograph description from the Carter Center. The Cuban government didn't announce it officially until today. No details are being given.

I think the context of these economic reforms of these prisoners being free are important, but it's also natural that people jump to the conclusion that they will be looking at the Alan Gross case, and the fact that he'll be meeting with Jewish leaders today is pretty significant, Randi.

KAYE: All right. Shasta Darlington, we'll leave it there. Thank you.

Forty-three minutes past the hour. Here's a check of our top stories.

In Libya, rebels appear to have regained the momentum from Gadhafi forces and are now marching toward his birthplace of Sirte. Part of today's fighting has centered on the main road leading into that town. Over the weekend, the rebels seized a number of coastal towns and oil installations.

The White House says President Obama will give a televised speech tonight on his case for U.S. involvement in Libya. He's expected to talk about NATO's decision to take command of military operations, including air strikes on the ground. The White House also says the president will discuss U.S. policy from here on in. The speech is set to start at 7:30 p.m. Eastern from the National Defense University in Washington. CNN plans live coverage which actually begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, so join us u then.

In Yemen, an explosion at an ammunition factory killed more than 120 people today. The plant was raided by Islamic militants during clashes with government troops yesterday. Yemen has been rocked by weeks of deadly anti-government protests, demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down.

In today's Big I segment, we have big news today in the land of Google. First of all, Google and MasterCard are teaming up for mobile payment technology. You literally wave your cell phone in front of a device at the store to pay for whatever you're buying. How cool is that? Mobile payment technology is another way Google is branching out to other industries. The face of Google is changing as well. One week from today, Google's new CEO, Larry Page, takes over for Eric Schmidt. Page was profiled by "Fast Company" magazine's Farhad Manjoo. Farhad joins us live from Mountain View, California to talk about this. Farad, nice that you're joining us. Thank you.

In your profile of Larry Page you called him, quote, "personally reserved, unabashedly geeky, and said to be introverted." What is his strategy, do you think, expected to be?

FARHAD MANJOO, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "FAST COMPANY": Yes, this was interesting about Larry Page. He's very different from the old CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, who had a public face. He's very different from how we think of CEOs. We think of CEOs as being, you know, outgoing, extroverted. That's not what Larry Page is.

And I think maybe that kind of gives us a clue of what Google wants to do over the next few years with Larry as the CEO. I think they'll be much more focused on revitalizing some internal processes and making the company much more entrepreneurial.

As a result, I think we'll see them taking a much more direct aim at some of their competitors. I mean, the mobile payment system is interesting because they're working on it kind of as a tactic to be the iPhone, which is expected to have that. They're also working on a music streaming service they want to add to their mobile systems, to Android, which I think is also going to perhaps debut before that does in the iPhone.

So, they're really kind of going to ramp up - kind of aim at some of the competitors in this space where it's been seen lately that they may have been a little slow, a little soft doing that.

KAYE: Right. What kind of changes do you expect people at home to see in terms of the products? Any big changes with Page taking over?

MANJOO: I don't think we'll notice changes immediately. I don't think we'll notice the Google search engine or Android phones or other things change immediately.

What we will notice is sort of gradually over time, they're going to -- they're going to kind of revitalize many of the product lines. And they're going to do it in a way that I think they haven't lately. Like for example, on the Web, I think we will notice a lot more social networking features being added to the search engine, to various other -- Gmail and other various products. For example, in the search engine when you search for something, it will start to highlight links that your friends put out on Facebook or on Twitter. They'll add those kind of social networking signals, which they have now. But they'll add more emphasis to those.

KAYE: Yes, I want to ask you really quickly about the ups and downs that we've seen when it comes to mobile phones. But also, Google got shot down on the idea of putting out-of-print books online and the Google music app is being tested right now. I mean, if you look at the brands owned by Google - Android, YouTube, Gmail, Google Chrome, Google Earth. So what would you say in just 30 seconds or so, the future of Google looks like?

MANJOO: I think what we have noticed with Google over the past few years is that they're going everywhere. They're kind of aiming to be in kind of every way we interact with digital technology. I think that will continue.

You mentioned the books program. They got shot down in the courts. But I don't think they're going to stop that effort to digitalize books or to kind of catalogue the world's information, which is kind of their main mission. I think we're going to notice them more and in more and more parts of our lives. Certainly.

KAYE: All right, Farhad. Thank you so much. Interesting discussion. And, of course, you can check out the complete article in "Fast Company." Head to Ali's blog, CNN.com/ali.

College basketball's March Madness rolls on. We started with 68 teams. Well, now, we are down to four. So, what is ahead? We'll take a look, next.

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KAYE: Welcome back. It's time to take a few minutes to chat about something millions of Americans talk about this time of year. March Madness. Let's bring in Turner Sports studio host Matt Winer for a deeper look at the tournament. Good to see you.

MATT WINER, TURNER SPORTS STUDIO HOST: Good to see you as well.

KAYE: How unusual is it, no number 1 or number 2 seed moving on?

WINER: To the final four? It's historically unusual. The NCAA started seeding these teams back in 1979. Since the time, this is the third time there hasn't been at least a number 1 seed and the first time ever not a one or two seed in the final four, which means theoretically, the eight best teams in terms perceived strength coming in are no longer playing. Never happened.

KAYE: Wow. A lot of great stories coming out of this tournament. Four unlikely stories you see.

WINER: Very much so. Butler and VCU are the two sort of Cinderella stories in this thing.

But look at the other two teams, sort of brand name teams, power programs in U Conn and Kentucky. But U Conn finished ninth in the Big East in the regular season. They had lost four of their last five game before the Big East tournament. They get on a roll there and win five games in five days. They've now won nine games over 19 days, which is an unbelievable schedule for these guys to make their way into the final four.

Kentucky, this is the 14th time in the final four for that program, a historically great program, but the first since '98. And this time last year, they lost a round earlier than where they've already gotten to right now, then lost five players to the first round of the NBA draft. You just don't survive that kind of loss of talent and come back to the final four.

Those two teams are power programs. Then you look at Butler and VCU. Butler last year came within a desperation heap of maybe the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history in the championship game. They lose their best player to the NBA, and somehow make it back to the final four. And VCU is an 11 seed into the final four.

I'll tell you how unlikely there were. Their conference, the Colonial Athletic association, was ranked tenth in the country. They finished fourth in their conference in the regular season, and unlike most teams who gather on Selection Sunday to see where they're going to be placed, they didn't even bother to show up. They didn't think they were going to be in the tournament, and nobody else did, either. And they wound up winning five games to get to the final four.

KAYE: Just quickly, who's your new pick to win it all?

WINER: I have no idea!

KAYE: Kentucky was your pick.

WINER: It was Kansas.

KAYE: Kansas!

WINER: Kansas lost yesterday to VCU. I have no idea what I'm doing with this thing; no one else does either, which is the beauty -

KAYE: Well, that makes two of us.

WINER: -- the beauty of March Madness. If I have to take a stab, and you're telling me I do, I would say U Conn now. I like the momentum they have. Campbell Walker, a senior guard is spectacular.

KAYE: A little easier to pick your winner now, isn't it?

WINER: I have a 25 percent chance now!

KAYE: That's my point! All right, I'm writing it down. U Conn, there you go. When you come back, I'm going to hold you to it.

WINER: All right.

KAYE: All right. Matt, great to see you.

WINER: Good to see you.

KAYE: Thank you.

From basketball games to political gamesmanship. The Senate is back today, the House tomorrow. The big issue for both is the budget. Still no movement as another deadline for a government shutdown looms. CNN's senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins me now from Capitol Hill for a political update.

Hi, Dana. What's on the agenda, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPODNENT: Hi, Randi.

Well, as you said, it's keeping the government running. We've reported a lot over the past couple of months about the threat of a government shutdown and because of the differences that both parties have about how much to cut federal spending. But each time the deadline has loomed, they've come to a short-term agreement to keep the government running. But now sources in both parties say that they really do see the possibility, more real than ever, that the government could shut down.

Take a look at the calendar, Randi. I'll show you why I'm talking about this. And that is, there are only 11 days before April 8th. April 8th is the next deadline for the government to shut down. From what I'm told, sources in both parties have said that negotiations to get to the bottom of this, to fund the government for the rest of the year, they've been pretty rocky.

Democratic sources, Randi, they say that Republicans, particularly on the House side, they simply are under so much pressure to not give too much on cutting spending because that that simply, they say, was the reason why House Republicans were given majority. So, that's a problem that Democrats say they have. In fact, I'm told today that senior Democrats have offered, that they want to give Republicans to cut, $20 billion in addition to the $10 billion that the Congress has already cut. And they say they can't even get to the table with Republicans because they're not ready to negotiate.

And of course, there are two sides to this story. Republicans say, oh, that's not true. They're waiting for the Democrats to come over with an offer. So, that gives you a sense of how rocky these talks are. Pretty much at a staff level now. It would be interesting to see if the principals, mainly the vice president and others, step in and sit at the table themselves.

KAYE: All right. Dana Bash, good to see you. Thank you.

Your next update from The Best Political Team on Television is just one hour away.

After the break, we're telling you about Facebook depression. That's right. Pediatricians are now talking Facebook depression with kids. We'll explain what this is all about, coming your way next.

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KAYE: The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling on doctors to ask their younger patients about, get this, something they're calling Facebook depression. According to our sister publication "Time," the causes of Facebook depression include cyberbullying and constantly hearing about peers' happy status. The AAP says that heavy users of Facebook may begin to feel like they don't measure up by comparison. If you want to read more about this, we'll link you to the entire story on Ali's blog, CNN.com/Ali.