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CEO Under Fire For Elephant Run; Rebels Discuss Ceasefire with Gadhafi

Aired April 01, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is 10:00 a.m. on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. in the west, sitting in for Kyra Phillips. Good news on the economy, 216,000 jobs created last month, that pushes down the unemployment rate to 8.8 percent, that's the lowest rate in two years.

New information about that deadly outbreak of bacteria in several Alabama hospitals. Health officials say they found the exact same strain on a water faucet at a Birmingham pharmacy. Nine people died. Another 10 got sick.

An animal rights group calling for a protest of godaddy.com after its CEO posted this controversial video online. It shows Bob Parson shooting and killing an elephant in Zimbabwe and then posing next to it. Parsons is talking about it this afternoon in a CNN NEWSROOM and that will come your way at 4:00 Eastern.

Breaking news to tell you though about out of Libya. About a potential cease fire. We want to get straight to Nic Robertson, he's in Tripoli. Nic, what are you hearing?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, this is coming from the rebels, from the rebel leader in the east of the country saying that a ceasefire from their side is an offer if the following seasons can be meet by the Gadhafi leadership and that is the removal of snipers and militias from the government troops around the towns of Misrata and other rebel holdouts in the west of the country. They're saying that the siege of Misrata itself must be ended but one of the goals of this ceasefire and any agreement they're saying must ultimately be regime change.

So this is a conditions-based ceasefire coming from the rebels and this is the first time we have heard talk of a ceasefire like this so far, Carol.

COSTELLO: If that stipulation is in the works that regime change, how likely is it that Gadhafi's side will agree to a ceasefire?

ROBERTSON: I don't think anyone can realistically expect and certainly not Moammar Gadhafi that he will go at the point of a gun. If the language is such that both sides can agree and this is still some ways off, then both sides can agree a language for deescalating the military conflict for resolving their differences. That there is potentially the space in the future, we have heard talk of here by senior officials, a number of them in the past, that there is potential that Gadhafi could in the future at some point step aside.

That I don't think anyone expects him to go at the point of a gun. That would not the way that it would happen but there is potential in all this language here for some middle ground to be found. It's just a question of can the sides who are at each other's throat right now really achieve that kind of mutually agreed language. Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, the other question is, what would a possible ceasefire or a ceasefire mean to the NATO operation?

ROBERTSON: This would mean that NATO would very likely have to suspend its military strikes, that one would imagine that it would go to a position of falling back to the U.N. resolution which is ensuring and enforcing a no-fly zone and ensuring that civilians are safe.

If the conditions of a ceasefire are met by both sides and Gadhafi doesn't use aircraft to bomb the rebels then it would seem that the no-fly zone could continue to be enforced and patrolled but without actual strike. Carol?

COSTELLO: Interesting. I'm going to let you get back to gather more information. Nic Robertson live in Tripoli with breaking news, talk of a ceasefire. We'll see what happens.

One of Gadhafi's inner circle is in the U.K. right now. Moussa Koussa was Libya' foreign minister until he defected. Koussa could give the allies key information but he could also fill in some blanks about a notorious act of terror, the 1988 bombing of PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Another man was convicted of planting that bomb but some people think Koussa was the mastermind. 270 people, 189 of them Americans were killed including J.P. Flynn. He was a Colgate student studying overseas. His parents told us what they'd like to see happen to Koussa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN FLYNN, MOTHER OF PANAM 103 VICTIM: I just want justice to be done. I mean, I want the people who prepared the bombing and who exercised the bombing, I want everybody brought to justice. And I think it's the only fair thing that can happen and put this, you know, behind us. If you don't have justice and, you know, the United States government isn't willing to take that step it's ridiculous at this point in time. And I think it has to be done. Justice must be served.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And, you know, Mr. and Mrs. Flynn have been fighting for justice for 22 years now. Zain Verjee is in London and Zain, you can feel these parent's pain but British officials are in a pretty tough spot here.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, they really are. They kind of have to hold their noses on this one because they know full well that this is the guy who is kind of like the black box recorder of Libya. He has all the goods so on the one hand they want to get justice for what happened with Lockerbie but on the other hand they need to mine him for information about Moammar Gadhafi that they're trying to take down.

They're going to need to know things like what is going on operationally in the inner circle, on the battlefield. Gadhafi's state of mind. Will he stay? Will he cut a deal? So these are crucial things that they're going to have to use this time and this place to get information out of him and put them on the winning side.

COSTELLO: So, where exactly is he? Is he somewhere in detainment? Is he out there in a hotel somewhere in the U.K.?

VERJEE: There's a big mystery. Nobody really knows for sure. I mean, MI-5 typically, we're told, will have safe houses. There was one report that he was in one particular safe house, being interrogated, being debriefed. Officials are really not saying anything because it is just so sensitive right now.

The only thing that did say, Carol, was that even though he may want immunity from prosecution they say they're not giving it to him but down the road, they're going to have to cut a deal. And that's why a lot of Lockerbie families are worried that what if this guys cuts a deal and gets away scot-free? And doesn't get prosecuted or tried and just as able to live somewhere in exile? So the issue of immunity is off the table for now but that could be a discussion down the road.

COSTELLO: Zain Verjee, live from London, thank you.

Today, there are new reports of protests turning violent in Syria. Witnesses tell CNN that security forces have opened fire on protesters outside of Damascus. More than 100 people have been reportedly killed in recent weeks. Our Rima Maktabi has been following latest developments in Syria and she joins us now. It just seems to be getting worse and worse in Syria.

RIMA MAKTABI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, every Friday, it's a new event in the Middle East. Today, Syria, angry protesters all over the streets just after the Friday prayers which are usually noontime in the Middle East. They got out of the mosques and they were mad and angry with the lack of reforms, and they expected more from President Bashar.

COSTELLO: You say lack of reforms. You know, President Assad, he said he's going to lift this state of emergency that's been in place for what? 25 years but he did not do that. He dissolved the rest of the government but he himself did not step down. I mean there seems to be no way out for these protesters except to risk their lives in the streets right now.

MAKTABI: And they are risking their lives. We're talking to the opposition. We called them via Skype or they even send e-mails. They talk to us over the phone but they are all the time afraid, worried they may be arrested. These are challenging times for the Syrians and President Bashar al Assad promised reforms but people want reforms fast and they want more freedoms.

COSTELLO: And they're not giving up either. Rima, many thanks to you.

Turning our attention now to American politics, with the government funded just through next Friday, members of Congress are fighting over what to cut from the federal budget. Yes, we have heard this story before. Billions of dollars are at stake as you know but do lawmakers really know what they're fighting over?

Actually, do you? CNN's Jessica Yellin has the results of a fascinating budget IQ test.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Capitol Hill, they're on the verge of a government shutdown. Because Congress wants to slash federal spending. But Republicans and Democrats can't agree on how much to cut. The biggest fights are over just a handful of programs including -

REP. RAND PAUL (R), TEXAS: Foreign aid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: NPR.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Food stamps.

YELLIN: If trimming those programs will rein in spending they must make up a huge part of the federal budget. Right? Well, that's what most Americans think.

(on camera): What percentage of the federal budget do you think we spend on foreign aid?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 40 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Foreign aid? 20 percent.

YELLIN (voice-over): A new CNN/Opinion Research Poll finds most Americans think foreign aid makes up 10 percent of this year's federal budget. Reality check? It is not even close. Foreign aid, 0.6 percent of the 2010 budget.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really? Wow! Yes, I thought it was like a big thing.

YELLIN: So we asked about a few more.

(on camera): Government pensions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Government pensions. That was probably the 10 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's probably 10 percent.

YELLIN (voice-over): According to the poll, that's what most Americans think. But the reality - just 3.5 percent.

(on camera): For public broadcasting, NPR.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Zero now, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe 15.

YELLIN (voice-over): Most folks think public broadcasting gets five percent of the federal budget. Reality - less than 0.1 of one percent. Overall, Americans believe foreign aid, government pensions, education, food and housing assistance and public broadcasting account for 52 percent of the federal budget. In reality, it is just 11.3 percent of the budget. The bulk of our spending goes to defense, social security, Medicare and Medicaid.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have very skewed perspectives.

YELLIN (on camera): Why do you think that is?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably the media.

YELLIN: We in the media can take some of the blame but it's also the politicians who are making a small part of the budget a huge part of the budget fight. They're not talking about or touching the biggest challenges. Social security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And it's funny. Jessica should mention social security, Medicare and Medicaid because if you really want to know where your taxpayer dollars are going, this is a graphic from the White House. You can go to white house.gov and get this. And this is where the money goes. And the bigger the box, the more federal dollars that go to that program.

So you can see here, Medicare is a huge box. Social security's huge, huge box. If you want to know about health care, it's this little box right here. Some lawmakers have talked about cutting Pell grants and things like that and cuts to education. That's this little box right here. And there's the financial aid for college students.

So this is just an interesting perspective on how many tax dollars go in to specific things. And you can see why it's so important to talk about cuts to things like Medicare and social security and also defense. I mean, it is just huge. So if you want a real education, whitehouse.gov.. Go there, check out this graph and learn a thing or two.

As congressional leaders try to reach a deal to keep the government running, Tea Party activists are sending out a strong message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I say to the Republican leadership, take off your lace panties, stop being noodle backs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That's right, "stop being noodle backs." Can anyone reach a deal? When one fraction refuses to compromise. We'll discuss after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Oh, you have heard this a million times maybe. If lawmakers can't reach a deal on the federal budget, the government will shut down on April 9th. Monday it looks Republicans and Democrats actually struck a deal but not so much anymore. Budget negotiations are fuzzy at best, nasty at worse. Tea Party Republicans say they will not compromise. The Republican leadership says they may have no choice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE SPEAKER: We can't impose our will on another body. We can't impose our will on the Senate. All we can do is to fight for all of the spending cuts that we can get an agreement to.

REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: If liberals in the senate would rather play political games and shut down the government instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, I say, shut it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN contributor John Avlon joins me from New York. It's interesting John Boehner is trying to kind of the grownup here. He's saying "look, the Democrats can control the senate. We have to compromise but those 28 freshmen Republicans who were elected to like slash the deficit in any cost are saying "We can't compromise because those who voted us in don't want us to compromise." So who's on the right side here?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The folks that want to actually follow through on that old idea that politics is the art of compromise. You know, it is important to remember, there's a $30 billion cut that's been offered as a compromise proposal. That would still represent the largest single cut in a budget negotiation at this stage in American history so we're not talking nothing.

The other big picture is a government shutdown, CNN poll found 62 percent of self identified Tea Party supporters support shutting down government but only 50 percent of Republicans, 35 percent of independents and 20 percent of Democrats. So this is not about the will of the people, this is about absolutism. It's about ideologues that at the end of the day are not interested in actually solving problems and that's when you get the danger of a government shutdown. CARROLL: Put this into perspective for us, you have a tiny, tiny teeny amount of people in this country controlling what happens to the federal budget?

AVLON: Yes. That's the danger here. I mean, the extremists have been sucking up all the oxygen in our political debates lately and they have an all or nothing point of view. Government shutdown is the result of that kind of playing chicken with the American budget. If we go off a cliff, the government shuts down and nobody is well served at the end of the day. And I think responsible Americans like John Boehner realized that. At the end of the day, this budget fight is a lot less important in the big picture than dealing with, you know, issues like entitlement reform. Next year's budget. If you really care about reducing the deficit and the debt. Those are the fights to pay attention to, not taking the government off a cliff on the 30 billion question on this budget resolution.

COSTELLO: So I guess we'll all be glued to our sets next week because that's when budget talks will start in earnest. John Avlon, many thanks. Live from New York.

AVLON: Yes.

COSTELLO: That missing Cobra with 200,000 Twitter followers, he's back home. We'll follow her slithery tail next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We told you a bit about this developing story. Talk about possible ceasefire in Libya on the rebels part if, of course, conditions are met by the Gadhafi forces. We want to find out a little bit more about this on the rebel perspective. Reza Sayah is in Benghazi, what are you hearing, Reza?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, this could potentially be a significant development or it could be all talk. It is not clear at this point but the opposition now saying they're open to a ceasefire with the regime, if certain conditions are met. That announcement made here earlier today in the rebel capital of Benghazi.

The top official of the opposition Mustafa Abdul Jalil saying these are the conditions for a ceasefire. If the regime, if the Gadhafi forces, pull out of the cities, especially in the west, if they withdraw their sieges in those cities, especially like Misrata and if they give the Libyan people, they say, freedom of expression and freedom to protest.

Also, at a news conference today with the Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the U.N. special envoy to Libya, Abdullah al Fatir (ph), who is serving as a mediator. The U.N. special envoy telling reporters that yesterday he was in Tripoli talking to regime officials, conveying these conditions.

Now, what's interesting in the same news conference, the opposition still saying their ultimate goal is regime change. So it's not clear how that ultimate goal is squaring with these talks of a ceasefire, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, Because you have to wonder what's in it -

SAYAH: Saying they're open -

COSTELLO: I was just going to say - What's in it for the Gadhafi forces?

SAYAH: Well, what's in it for the Gadhafi force is the taking off of pressure from the rebel forces and these air strikes, the involvement of the coalition. But again, what was interesting today, you had two officials, the U.N. special envoy and you had the opposition leader with two very different objectives.

The U.N. special envoy saying that the U.N.'s objective is a ceasefire, an end to the killing of civilians. The opposition leader although saying he was open to a ceasefire and the end of fighting, still maintaining that the ultimate goal is regime change. So the discrepancy between these two goals was made clear. And also, another development today, one opposition official telling us that new weapons, new military equipment have arrived to the front line.

Again, a lot of mixed messages coming from this opposition capital, this fight which is nothing unusual with the way things have unfolded in the past couple of weeks.

COSTELLO: I know, very confusing. Reza, thank you for filling us in. We appreciate it.

Checking news cross country this hour, WLEX photographer pulled a woman from her car moments before it burst into flames. The TV photographer was heading to Houston for a story when he spotted a four-car collision just outside the city, he managed to rip the window from the car and he pulled the woman to safety.

Next, to Baltimore, where a group of middle school students are heading to the National Chess Championships after earning a state win for a second year in a row. How did they do it? One seventh grader said it's all in how you, "use your mind."

That missing Egyptian cobra that's been lighting up Twitter pages has been found hiding inside the reptile house. It turns out the snake never left the building. The snake actually was coiled away in a holding area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BREHENY, DIRECTOR, BRONX ZOO: What we're going to do is we are going to watch her really closely for about a week and make sure she is OK after being loose and she looks in fine condition. I'm sure she's okay. And if that's the case, we probably will put her on exhibit when we reopen the building next week. We're going to try to do that next weekend.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: And just so you know, there's now a Facebook page for people trying to get the cobra to host "Saturday Night Live." Yes, more than 8,000 followers so far. On Conan O'Brien's show the other day, the snake was actually playing the piano. So why not host "Saturday Night Live"?

When was the last time you got pumped by an 89-year-old woman? "Hot in Cleveland Star" Betty White appears to be tearing a page from Ashton Kutcher's production playbook with a new TV prank show that's in the works. "Showbiz Tonight" host A.J. Hammer has details on that one. Hello.

A.J. HAMMER, HOST "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Hey, Carroll. Yes, you know, it was a Facebook campaign that got Betty White to host "Saturday Night Live," too. So hey, it could work for the cobra. Betty White's entertainment reign does continue. The woman who has done just about everything else in television is going with the times, she's doing a reality show. 89-year-old Betty White's going to host and executive produce the 12-episode series, tentatively called "Betty White's off their Rockers," now this show is based on an award-winning European Program. According to NBC, they're going to air the show, this version follows a band of seven senior citizens who make it their mission to play pranks on unsuspecting younger people. I love the formula Carol, sounds like a winner to me, I will be watching.

COSTELLO: Anything that Betty White is associated is a winner, I'm sure.

Let's talk about Katie Holmes because she was on "The Ellen Degeneres Show" trying to explain how her four-year-old daughter wound up eating x-rated candy.

HAMMER: Yes, this is one of those unfortunate parental moments that wouldn't have been a big deal, of course. But for the paparazzi, Katie Holmes can't go anywhere with her daughter without attracting a mob of photographers. And sometimes little kids well they're just going to pick up things that maybe they shouldn't. Here's how Katie explained what happened on Ellen's show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE HOLMES, ACTRESS: She grabs some gummies that are boy part gummies and I was horrified. I was like -

ELLEN DEGENERES, HOST "THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW": Boy part?

HOLMES: Well, p-e-n-i-s gummies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Yes. So there you go. That definitely wins the funniest scandal of the week for me. And I should add, Carol, that Holmes was in a very popular New York City sweet shop that caters to kids. So it wasn't like they were in some an inappropriate place. Holmes she tried to get her daughter to put the offending gummies down in a low-key manner. Of course, that doesn't matter when you're Katie Holmes and then the picture goes viral and it even made you snort. So apparently it's very entertaining.

COSTELLO: When she spelled that word that just made me laugh, for some reason.

HAMMER: Well, she is used to having the kid around, I guess.

COSTELLO: I guess so.

A.J., thank you so much. If you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J. has it tonight on "Showbiz Tonight" at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and 11:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN.

Remember in the thick of the recession when lots of CEOs did their part and they skipped big raises and bonuses? Well, that didn't last long. Details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our top stories now. Minutes ago, we learned that an opposition leader in Libya is proposing a cease fire. The rebels say their goal remain it is removal of Moammar Gadhafi from power and say the talks could begin under certain conditions. They want the government to end the siege on rebel strongholds and withdraw snipers and mercenaries.

Yemen is another Arab state that's been reeling from weeks of protests. Today, tens of thousands of people are filling the streets of the capital. Some are rallying in support of the government, others are demanding the president resign immediately.

Here in the United States, the roads are the least deadly in decades. New government figures show that last year, car accidents killed the fewest Americans since the 1940s. That's even though we're driving more than we did in 2005. Fatalities have dropped a whopping 25 percent.

The jobs report for March is out today. The economy's expanded by more than 200,000 jobs, shaving the unemployment rate by just a tiny bit. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange for us. 216,000 jobs added, how significant is this, really?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Carol, it is significant. I'll tell you this much. It's better than Wall Street expected. You know, and if you compare it to last year where we saw big gains, sure, saw them, but that was because of the temporary census jobs added to the economy. So, that wasn't really a true representation of job market. So, if you take that out of the equation, we haven't seen gains like this, I'm talking around 200,000 in four years.

All right. So, if you're looking for a job, here's who's hiring, at least, they were hiring back in March. We saw the biggest job gains in health care and manufacturing, in areas including leisure and hospitality, mostly in the food services area. Temporary help got a boost as well. It's a great way to get in the door. And we also saw gains in jobs in administrative services. All right. The jobs are being cu, though, in areas of construction, no surprise there. We'll still seeing housing in the dumps. And state and local government having the huge budget issues. Not seeing any hiring going on there. Carroll?

COSTELLO: Not seeing the paychecks fatter, at least most of us. The wage gap is bigger than ever but, oh, those CEOs.

KOSIK: I know. Those naughty CEOs, right? So, the median CEO pay last year up 27 percent. When was the last time you got a raise, Carol --

COSTELLO: Not like that. I'm thinking three percent for most of us.

KOSIK: Exactly. Exactly. So that means CEOs made about $9 million a year and that counts, their salary, their bonus, their stock options and so yes, the average worker saw the pay increase two percent. This is a worker making $50,000 a year. We got this from a "USA Today" study. The CEO pay increases, mostly because of the stock options. As you know, the stock market is doing well, so that's what helped their bank accounts.

Earnings of stocks rebounded last year, also. That was boosting the stock market, as well. Carroll?

COSTELLO: I want to say so many things but I won't because I get myself in trouble. Alison Kosik.

KOSIK: I was told to wrap or I would keep going, too.

COSTELLO: Yeah! Thanks, Alison.

Turning now to the latest on the Japanese nuclear crisis, frustrating news for evacuees. Tens of thousands of people who left their homes near the Fukushima plant may not be allowed back for months. Japanese officials say the plant needs to be under control first.

Radiation above the legal limit has been found in beef from the province where that damaged plant is located. The meat will not be sold, of course. More tests will be conducted on beef, chicken and pork from the region.

And 155 U.S. Marines trained in radiological operations are due to arrive in Japan shortly. The initial response force could help with radiation detection, search and rescue operations and decontaminating people.

As the nuclear crisis in Japan unfolds, many of us are asking what if, especially in cities where there's a nuclear reactor right next door. Allen Chernoff take a look at one plant's evacuation plan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the event of an accident at the Indian Point nuclear power plant, some nearby residents fear they'd be stuck, unable to flee.

MIKE CRAWFORD, PEEKSKILL, NY RESIDENT: I don't think that we would be able to evacuate sufficiently.

CHERNOFF: By law, Indian Point is required to have an emergency planning zone, a 10-mile radius from the plant. Westchester County where the plant is located would try to evacuate residents gradually.

ANTHONY SUTTON, COMMISSIONER, WESTCHESTER COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES: The evacuation may initially be for the people living in a two-mile ring and a five-mile downwind span.

CHERNOFF (on camera): The direction of the wind could determine who needs to evacuate. Since Indian Point is located right on the Hudson River in a valley between these hills, the wind tends to blow downstream towards Manhattan.

(voice-over): In Japan, U.S. authorities are urging Americans within 50 miles of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to evacuate. For Indian Point, that radius would encompass New York City, which is just 25 miles away.

(on camera): Rush hour in New York, heaven forbid there's a nuclear accident near here. There is no way everyone is evacuating quickly. It would be nuclear gridlock.

Practically speaking, we couldn't really evacuate New York City.

JOSEPH POLLOCK, VP OPERATIONS, INDIAN POINT ENERGY CENTER: Well, there's not a scenario we have where the dose rates or the radiation that would go out would require an evacuation of New York City. That's been at least identified up until this point.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): The county's chief executive says they're well prepared for a 10-mile evacuation, but if a 50-mile evacuation were ordered --

BOB ASTORINO, WESTCHESTER COUNTY EXECUTIVE: It's a complete game changer. We would have to go back to the drawing board tomorrow and work day and night with multiple agencies, multiple jurisdictions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Allen Chernoff joins us now. Allan, I'm not feeling any better.

CHERNOFF: Well, that's understandable. Of course, a lot of counties are asking the NRC questions now after the NRC said in Japan it should be a 50-mile radius from which people should be evacuating. The plans here just call for 10-mile radius. So, county officials all over the country are highly concerned about this.

COSTELLO: And hopefully this is the wake-up call they need -- and I know it's complicated but has to be a way to fix these problems, to solve them. CHERNOFF: Well, there are lots of details plans, but they all involve these emergency planning zone that are ten miles in radius. So, that's really where the focus has been, and this remains a question. We really need to learn a lot of lessons from what's going on right now in Japan, and it's going to take some time before we get all the information and we see what the outcome is in Japan, as well.

COSTELLO: Allan Chernoff, many thanks.

The royal wedding, just weeks away. Will the Lego Land version of the royal wedding be just as regal as the real thing? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: At the end of the month, Prince William will make an honest woman out of Kate Middleton. Mark Saunders joins us live now. Hello, Mark.

MARK SAUNDER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Afternoon.

COSTELLO: I didn't mean to put it that way. It's going to be a beautiful ceremony. You know what everyone's talking about here in the United States? That Prince William isn't going to wear a wedding band. Some people are quite shocked by that.

SAUNDERS: Yes. This is true. And in fact, Buckingham Palace confirmed it. On the day of the wedding, there is only going to be one ring exchanged. That's going to Katherine. But William's decision, this is in marked contrast of his father, Charles, who frequently wears his wedding ring in public. And of course, his late mother Princess Diana in the last year of her life, Diana wore both her wedding ring and her engagement ring. So, a strange decision by William.

COSTELLO: And it's strange they felt they had to come out and announce that. So, apparently, I guess, if people spotted him without a ring, it would cause the paparazzi to go crazy.

SAUNDER: Well, very much so. I mean, every time Charles wears his wedding ring, it still gets photographed now.

But the good news is that Katherine will be wearing a wedding ring, and we're told that is going to be very, very special. It's actually going to be made with a part of Welsh gold. Now, I didn't know there were any gold mines in Wales but apparently there are. Welsh gold is very, very rare. In fact, it's so rare there isn't any left anywhere in the world.

But the queen was given a bit as a present sometime ago. She saved it for a very special occasion and she's now passed it on to William. And it will go towards the ring that Katherine slips on to her finger.

COSTELLO: I would wear that ring, too.

(LAUGHTER) COSTELLO: Did you hear about -- did you hear about this, this Lego thing? It's kind of -- it must have taken hours to put together.

SAUNDER: Oh, I did. And I think the queen's heard about it, as well. Last weekend at Windsor Castle, she blurted out to a royal aide, I'm so excited about this wedding. And it's actually, Windsor Castle is quite close to Lego Land. Lego Land in Windsor. And I've seen this reconstruction of the wedding. It's extraordinary.

And if you haven't got a ticket and can't be bothered to sit on the pavement for four days prior to the wedding, this would be the best place to go.

COSTELLO: That's really cool. Thank you very much, Mark Saunders. Live from Britain. Thanks so much.

SAUNDERS: Thank you, Carrol.

More evidence that life begins at 40 from a CDC fertility study for women. Your "Daily Dose," coming your way next.

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COSTELLO: I kind of don't find this surprising. There's a new CDC study out showing fertility rates among women over 40 are skyrocketing. And that's more than any other age group.

Elizabeth Cohen is here with our "Daily Dose." And it didn't surprise me because so many of my friends are having children.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. But what's so interesting is that the birthrates overall have gone down for younger women, especially - are plummeting. And they're going way up for women over 40. Up six percent between 2006 and 2009. And that's a huge jump for three years. I mean, that is really a big jump.

COSTELLO: Well, it just shows you how women lives have changed. Because I'm sure younger women want to maybe go overseas, experience life, go to college. Live their lives fully. Have a great career, and then leave their jobs and have kids.

COHEN: And speaking of which, look at Kyra Phillips. Lived this wonderful, full life. Continues to live it with these two -- there's those cute babies!

COSTELLO: Aww!

COHEN: Introducing the Phillips-Roberts family.

COSTELLO: Kyra is over 40?

COHEN: She is. I know. I know! You'd never know, right? She looks like she's 25.

COSTELLO: I know! She will be back to work but, yes, probably going to take a -- they're so cute.!

COHEN: Aren't they so cute? You just want to reach out and just pinch their cheeks.

COSTELLO: I think even though it's more common for women over 40 to have children, there's still this fear that many women have that because they're pregnant over 40, they'll have a baby with some sort of birth defect.

COHEN: Right. And that does happen, and the chance of that happening does get bigger as you get older. But the chances still are very, very small. And you can talk to your doctor about it. And there are ways to manage the risks of being a pregnant mom over age of 40.

COSTELLO: Is it safer than ever? Have they figured out ways to make it even safer for women to get pregnant after 40 and have children?

COHEN: Yes. They have certainly figured out ways to make it easier to get pregnant. I mean, fertility treatments just jumped by leaps and bounds. And as far as managing the risk, things like diabetes or preeclampsia. I mean, you can't cure those things. But you can certainly go to your doctor, get good prenatal care. They're manageable risks.

COSTELLO: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you as usual.

COHEN: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Calling all code breakers. The FBI wants your help in solving a mysterious encryption case that's stumped them for a dozen years. So we'll bring in master decoder Brad Meltzer for help. That's next.

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COSTELLO: Another bit of breaking news to tell you about. This out of Afghanistan. Eight United Nations staffers were killed in an attack on a U.N. building in Mazari Sharif. That's in northern Afghanistan. And that's according to a regional polices spokesman there. We don't have much information on this story. Of course, we'll continue to gather and update it as information comes in to us.

In other news this morning, the FBI is hoping you can help them solve a suspicious death from a dozen years ago. Two notes were found in the pocket of 41-year-old Ricky McCormack. His body was discovered in a Missouri corn field in 1999. And the notes are the new clues investigators now have, but they're encrypted and the encrypted text has them mystified.

Best selling author Brad Meltzer has cracked a few codes. He's live in Fort Laurderdale, Florida via Skype. So, how do you begin to crack something like this?

BRAD MELTZER, AUTHOR: Well, you know, the key thing is first you have to figure out who you're up against. And either fighting an insane person or we're battling a riddler. And when you want to crack something like this, there's really four methods. First one is you determine the language that's being used. If it's English or French and Spanish. Then you figure out the system he's using. And the system will be is he using just random letters where A is 1 and B is 2 or is he using an old Freemason code? Is he using an old presidential code? Then when you figure out, you reconstruct that key, and fourth step is, of course, to decode the message.

COSETELLO: Wow. So the FBI posted the notes on its Web site. Have you got an chance to look at them?

MELTZER: Not only did I look at them, but I immediately sent them to our staff. Because I was like, we should do an episode of "Decoded" on this!

What's interesting to me is the FBI is not a dumb group here. They're among the best decoders out there, and their cryptography division is incredible. I know it. I've spoken to people. When they're asking for help, there's a real problem.

When you look at these codes, sometimes you can see things that repeat. In the English language, the letter E. So when you have the letter E, you can decode normal words by looking for that E, what repeats over and over. What's happening here is there's no - it's random. His parentheses and amprastamps, things like that.

COSTELLO: So, is it possible that this is just nonsense or is this a really clever killer?

MELTZER: You know, my first - listen. It's always easy to say its nonsense when you can't crack it, but my first reaction was, is this guy a complete lunatic? Because when you have -- it's not just the FBI. They went to a cryptoanalysis club that specializes in these things. We're talking my nerdiest friends of all who are members of these things.

And sometimes you have to wonder. One of the best ones I'll tell you about is sometimes instead of a random letters, it'll be a book code. And a book code is something that if you don't have the book because each number will go to a letter in the book, if you don't have the book, you don't crack the code. Sometimes they're much harder than what logic would entail.

COSTELLO: Brad Meltzer, many thanks. And I hope you do the TV show on these letters. That would be fascinating. Thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.

MELTZER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: News from Libya and Japan may be making the headlines right now, but Americans are focused on jobs. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is here to show us how wide the gap is between the economy and other issues. Hi, Paul.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Carol. Good morning. You have been talking a lot this morning about the new job reports that just came out, the unemployment level. And I have to think they're dancing the congo line at the White House. Because jobs still by far the most important issue with Americans, even if it's not in the limelight.

Don't believe me? All the national polls agree. Check this one out. The most recent from CBS News. What's right at the top, Carol? Look at that: jobs and the economy. Way, way, high above everything else. Yes. And just about every other poll indicates the same thing. It's still number one.

And Carol, jobs and the economy, a huge issue in the midterm elections and I got to believe, unless things change it will be a very, very important issue for the presidency, which is a year-and-a- half away.

And talking about that, Carol, April 1, a very important day in the race for the White House. Why? Not because it's April Fool's day. Today is the beginning of the second quarter of fundraising. That means if you're thinking of running for the presidency, you have to start raising money. How do you do that? You have to file papers. So, I think we'll see a lot of these contenders, possible contenders, actually, get into the game.

And that includes President Barack Obama. To start raising money for his re-election, he has to file papers to form a re-election committee. Carol, the race for the White House heating up as we enter the second quarter.

COSTELLO: It has begun! And that's no April Fool's joke. Paul Steinhauser, many thanks. We'll have your next political update in one hour. And a reminder, for all the latest political news, go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.

College basketball's final four games tomorrow, and one game, you got your blue bloods and the other, your upstarts. First, the party crashers. Shaka Smart coaching the 11th seeded VCU Rams. They knocked off number one seed Kansas, this after almost not making the tournament. VCU will take on Butler. Butler made the finals last year, but few picked them to return to the final four this time around.

A clutch three-pointer helped them get by Florida in overtime. There it is! I'm not very good at sports. This team is destined!

Kentucky's back in the final four for the 14th time. Brandon Knight led the Wildcats in their win over North Carolina. Kentucky will play another team with a history of basketball excellence, Connecticut. U Conn's Kemba Walker has sparked the Huskies to quite a run this postseason. Five wins in five days to win the Big East tourney! Now in the final four after beating Arizona. All the number one seeds have gone home. So, throw away your busted brackets and just sit back and enjoy tomorrow's games!

How will radiation from Japan's damaged nuclear plant affect dolphins and other sea life? In the next hour, live from the Georgia Aquarium with a marine biologist.

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COSTELLO: Looking at stories making news later today, in the noon hour. President Obama is headed to a UPS Facility in Landover, Maryland, to talk about clean energy truck fleets. He's promoting a public/private partnership that will help large companies reduce diesel and gas use in their fleets by incorporating electric vehicles and alternative fuels.

Today, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, religious leaders who are fasting to protest federal budget cuts will line up to pray at the U.S. Capitol. They say the cuts unfairly target the poor.

And a statue honoring nine-year-old Tuscon shooting victim Christina Green will be unveiled at 8 p.m. tonight. The sculpture is shaped like an angel. It's stands 9 feet 11 inches tall, and it's made out of pieces of steel from the World Trade Center to mark the fact Christina was born on 9/11.

NEWSROOM continues now with Suzanne Malveaux.

And Suzanne, I'll join you shortly to talk about those messy budget negotiations going on in Washington.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: We need you to anchor the next two hours Carol. Sorry.

COSTELLO: No, no, no. I've done enough.

MALVEAUX: April Fools. I thought I'd get you. All right. See you in five minutes.

COSTELLO: OK.

MALVEAUX: Thanks, Carol.