Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Protesters Back in Tahrir Square; Unemployment Rate Down; Getting Out of Harm's Way; Day of Rage; Fewer Fatal Crashes in 2010; The Immigration Debate
Aired April 01, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: After Gadhafi, what then? He's not gone yet, but people are talking. After the revolution in Egypt, protesters wonder what really changed. And almost two years after the official end of the great recession, the job market begins to catch up.
We begin this hour with a deadly attack though on U.N. staff in Afghanistan. At least 12 people and maybe as many as 20 were killed today at the U.N. assistance mission in the northern town of Mazar-e Sharif. The dead include U.N. workers and guards and Nepalese soldiers who were helping protect the compound. The violence came after a protest, reportedly over the burning of a Koran in Florida.
You may remember Pastor Terry Jones and the outrage he caused when he planned to torch the Muslim holy book on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Well, he backed off then, but his website says last month, his congregation put the Koran on trial, found it guilty, and executed it.
Details from Afghanistan are still being sorted out. We'll bring you more of those details as we learn them ourselves.
To Libya now, where both sides appear to be mulling a common strategy. An exit strategy, in fact.
Moammar Gadhafi still has the rebels on the run, but his own top officials are fleeing as well. Foreign minister Moussa Koussa defected this week to Britain. Now former foreign minister Ali Abdussalam Treki is in Egypt.
Back in Tripoli, sources close to the Libyan dictator tell CNN Gadhafi may be open to dialogue with the opposition, even to giving up power, but only to someone within his own inner circle, possibly his son Saif, and only after the rebels stop fighting. A senior aide to Saif Gadhafi is reportedly in London for back-channel talks with the Brits.
In the opposition capital of Benghazi, leaders are called on Gadhafi to back down and step down. But a visiting U.N. envoy says both sides need to cease fire. Neither side wants to be the first. Rebels, led by army units that have switched sides, today launched yet another push near the town of Al Brega, a town that's changed hands now six times in six weeks, if you're counting. In Egypt, the revolution was quick. And compared to what's happening in Libya and Syria, well, it was peaceful. But was it successful? That's the question in the very Cairo square where the people took on a president, and that president lost.
CNN's Ivan Watson is there for us right now.
Ivan, Egypt, such an inspiration for those in Libya and really throughout the region. But where is the change that was expected and in fact promised in Egypt?
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are massive changes taking place here and across the Arab world, Randi. Friday is supposed to be the day of prayer, but since these revolutions started sweeping across Arab countries last January, they've also become a day of protests.
I'm going to get out of the way and we're going to zoom in to show you the world-famous Tahrir Square, where thousands of people are still gathered. This was the site of 18 historic, sometimes bloody, days of protest that ended up toppling a dictator, Hosni Mubarak.
Now, the people that have gathered there are -- many of them are young activists, many of them from secular liberal groups, who are trying to, as they put it, save the revolution, trying to become relevant again. They feel they've been marginalized a bit by some Islamist groups that are very well organized, that government pressure has been removed since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, and by the ruling military council which has been charting out constitutional reform here and setting up a time schedule for parliamentary and presidential elections. The parliamentary elections are due to begin in September, and a number of groups are trying to organize political parties for what's hoped to be the first real free elections that Egypt will have seen really in decades -- Randi.
KAYE: And Ivan, I know that you have some souvenirs from the uprising that actually ousted Hosni Mubarak. Can you show us those? I'm just curious what they are.
WATSON: Well, I mean, it is a carnival atmosphere down there, and Egyptians are very good businessmen. They've been very quick to capitalize on the revolutionary fervor here.
Down there you can buy T-shirts like this. The revolution started on January 25th, and these are T-shirts you can pick up for the equivalent of a couple bucks. You can pick up things like bumper stickers where, actually, it looks more like a license plate celebrating January 25th.
And just to give you a sense, this is not purely an Egyptian movement. We see an awful lot of these down there. These are the Libyan rebel flags that are being waved by the rebels in Libya across the border. They're very popular here in Egypt, these types of demonstrations as well.
It also shows the immense amount of sympathy coming from Egyptians for the protesters, the opposition movement, across the border against Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. And at protests like this that I've seen in other Arab countries, we also see the flags of other countries that have sparked these pro-democracy movements, them being waved as well as a sign of solidarity.
KAYE: And I know, you know, we talk quite a bit about Egypt and Libya these days, but this really all began in Tunisia. So how are things going there?
WATSON: That's right. Tunisia was the first successful revolution. And I just got off the phone with the a Tunisian friend. There were some clashes in the capital, Tunis, today between what were described as Islamist protesters, a couple hundred of them, and riot police, and some tear gas fired there.
Tunisia has had a remarkable change, Randi. It went from one- party rule, decades of that. There are now more than 40 registered political party ahead of elections in July that are scheduled to help write up an entirely new constitution.
There's a lot of new political freedom that was never seen before. Political police -- those are the secret police much feared -- no longer on the streets of the capital there and in other cities. But the unemployment that was a spark of the revolution, still rampant. Still, thousands of Tunisians making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy to seek better jobs there every day -- Randi.
KAYE: All right.
Our Ivan Watson, reporting from Tahrir Square.
Where, Ivan, I know you've spent quite a bit of time reporting from over the last few months. So we appreciate it. Thank you.
And some good news out of Syria now. A man we told you about yesterday from Houston who was detained in Syria for alleged espionage is now free. If you were watching, you saw his mother's desperate plea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHA RADWAN, MOTHER: I want to see my son. I have no idea where he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: She now has an answer. Thirty-two-year-old Mohammed Radwan, an Egyptian-American, was released today to the Egyptian Embassy in Damascus after being held by Syrian authorities for a week.
He had been working for an oil company in Syria and had taken part in protests in Egypt. His family last saw him on state TV this past Saturday being interrogated and accused of trying to export Egypt's revolution to Syria. A cousin says she spoke with Radwan on the phone. He said he's hoping to return to Cairo as soon as possible.
Here at home, we've had a banner month for hiring, and not a second too soon. Let me show you some better-than-expected numbers from the Labor Department. Take a look.
Two hundred sixteen thousand jobs created in March. And just as important, a stair step trend in the right direction. We're going up.
The economy now has added 1.5 million jobs since early 2010. Another good sign, the jobless rate is trending down, 9 percent at the start of 2011, now 8.8 percent, as you can see. That is the lowest in two years.
Where are these new jobs coming from? In March, business services hired 78,000 people, and it was another good month for health care, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing as well.
Joining me to put these figures into context is a financial planner who wants to make all of us a whole lot smarter about money. Ryan Mack is founder and president of Optimum Capital Management in New York.
Ryan, is this good news? Are we really seeing a meaningful improvement in the labor market?
RYAN MACK, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: We definitely are seeing a meaningful improvement. And they estimated it to be about 180,000 jobs to be added on, but now we saw 230,000 private sector jobs added, 14,000 jobs cut from the public sector. So that was -- again, the public sector has been hurt a little bit.
But, again, overall, 1.1 percent uptick in the unemployment rate. We're seeing a lot of jobs.
And one of the numbers that I do like to add in there was the temporary jobs increased by about 30,000 jobs. So a lot of temporary jobs are being added, and these are the type of jobs that people are adding on, temporary jobs, in order to train them for possibly more permanent types of positions. So we are seeing a lot of positive upswings in these numbers. So I'm very optimistic about our prospective for moving forward.
KAYE: And where are we losing jobs, though? Because it isn't all positive.
MACK: Well, we've seen, again, eight million jobs -- or almost eight million jobs that essentially evaporated since the recession. We have seen approximately about eight million individuals -- 8.4 million, who are part-time workers. And we're seeing a lot of jobs being cut with the public sector, about 250,000 cut within the last year, over half of them for teachers in the public sector. So, if you're a public sector teacher, you're probably worried about getting that pink slip lately.
But again, we're seeing a lot of good health care jobs. Manufacturing jobs, very positive as well. But I guess the public sector is really one of the things that's dragging the economy down.
KAYE: And what about are there -- is there any hope for the long-term unemployed? Because from what I understand, the average length of unemployment is actually up.
MACK: Yes. We've seen about four million individuals right now who essentially just said, I give up. You know, again, there's 8.4 million individuals who are part time or unemployed. Four million people saying, you know what? I'm just not looking for jobs any longer.
But I think we just have to be a little bit more optimistic. Again, with manufacturing jobs, and being able to create more things, and putting more investment here in America, more of those jobs will start coming back home.
So what I advise individuals to do all the time is investment education, make sure they're going to local community colleges, and making sure they're retraining themselves. Again, community colleges are off the meter in terms of enrollment this year.
So a lot of folks are seeming to get the message that, you know what? Those eight million jobs are probably not going to come back. So I have to retrain myself and get into a different sector to make sure I can actually find employment again.
KAYE: And who is finding employment? Is it men, women, whites, minorities?
MACK: Well, a lot of the men right now have been some of the highest individuals who are unemployed. And men right now, especially in construction, a lot of these construction -- that's why a lot of the stimulus funding was very helpful in many states because a lot of these men were being laid off. So that started to get them in terms (ph) again.
A lot of the women right now, and especially in the health care sector, are some of the individuals who are finding the most employment right now. So many -- especially nurses sector, IT sector as well. And that's predominantly -- and the IT sector was a male- dominated industry, but we're starting to see women start to decrease the differences between those numbers in the IT sector as well.
So, the men are not doing so well in this recession, the recovery. Women are definitely doing a lot better in this recovery moving forward.
KAYE: Well, it may not be perfect, Ryan, but we'll take what we can get. Right?
MACK: We're getting there slow but surely, one step at a time. So, again, start looking for the silver lining, get retraining, and you'll be just fine.
KAYE: All right. Ryan Mack, thank you. Good to see you.
MACK: Thank you.
KAYE: Japan's nuclear crisis forced tens of thousands to evacuate. Here at home, one nuclear plant is near millions of people. So what are the plans for getting them out of harm's way if disaster strikes?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: With no end in sight for Japan's nuclear crisis, a Japanese minister said today it could be months before tens of thousands of residents are allowed to return home.
The disaster there has many Americans wondering, what if something like that happens here? Are we prepared?
In New York, 20 million people live within a 50-mile radius of the Indian Point nuclear power plant. CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff looks at whether current plans for evacuating residents would work if there is a serious accident.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 down wind 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 the 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 anywhere 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, here's not a scenario that we have whether those rates or the radiation that would go out would require an evacuation of New York City. That's been identified up to this point.
CHERNOFF: The county's chief executive says they're well- prepared for a 10-mile evacuation. But if a 50-mile evacuation were ordered --
ROB 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)
KAYE: And Allan joins me now live from New York.
Allan, you talk about 10 miles. I mean, is 10 miles enough?
CHERNOFF: Well, that's the question now. Nobody really knows, because what's happened in Japan appears to change all the thinking that the NRC, that FEMA had in place. As we've reported, 10 miles is the emergency planning zone. But in Japan, they're saying 50 miles. So now county, state executives all over the nation don't really know.
KAYE: Yes. And, of course, with this there really is no room for error. I mean, this would require everyone to follow pretty strict orders.
CHERNOFF: Yes. But how can we guarantee that, right?
If people hear there's been a nuclear accident, and radiation is being emitted, lots of people certainly could panic. So, do they all listen to the instructions? I don't know if we can count on that.
KAYE: All right.
Allan Chernoff, watching it for us.
Thank you, Allan. Very interesting report.
CHERNOFF: Thank you.
KAYE: Thousands of Boston-area homeless women now get free health care thanks to this week's CNN Hero. We'll introduce you to her, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: More than 2,000 women in Boston are homeless, often living unpredictable and unstable lives. This week's CNN Hero is giving them something they desperately need -- free quality health care in the shelters. Her name is Roseanna Means.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ROSEANNA MEANS, CNN HERO: You OK?
Every week I talk to women who are sleeping outside.
It's only 17 degrees out, so I didn't want you to get frozen.
There's so much pain and suffering right on the fringes of our perspective.
Do you need some help, hon?
In Boston, despite all the medical resources for the homeless population, I was seeing very few of the women using the services. For women who are poor, homeless or battered, to deal with a system of health care becomes overwhelming.
They don't have an address. They don't have a phone. There are lots of emotional issues, psychiatric issues.
I just didn't like the idea that they were falling through the cracks.
I'm Dr. Roseanna Means, and I bring free, high-quality medical care to women and children in the shelters of Boston.
Good morning.
The women come into the shelters to get warm, to feel safe, and we're there.
Come on, Ellen (ph).
There's no registration. We're not charging anything.
If they want to come see us, we'll use that moment to try to build a relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my safety net right here.
MEANS: The women learn to trust us as ambassadors of the health care system.
All right, hon. God bless.
Over time, we can teach them how to use the system as it was intended, and eventually they do move forward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I knew she really cared, I started wanting to take care of myself.
MEANS: I love these women no matter what.
You're doing a great job.
That starts to get taken inside, that if I matter to somebody else, maybe I matter to myself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Roseanna and her team have served 2,500 women and children a year for the last decade. All of this year's CNN Heroes, by the way, are chosen from people that you nominate. So log on to CNNHeroes.com to nominate someone that you think is changing the world. We'd love to hear their story.
It's 22 minutes past the hour. Time for a look at our top stories.
Sources close to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi tell CNN Gadhafi could conceivably give up power, but only to someone within his inner circle, and only after rebels stop fighting. Rebels say Gadhafi has to stop fighting, and neither side wants to go first. A new rebel offensive is under way, led by army units that have switched sides.
In Afghanistan, at least 12 people, and maybe as many as 20, were killed today at the U.N. assistance mission in the northern town of Mazar-e Sharif. Officials say the dead include U.N. workers and guards and Nepalese soldiers who were helping protect the compound. The violence came after a protest reportedly over the burning of a Koran in Florida.
House Speaker John Boehner said Congress would keep the U.S. government running beyond an April 8th deadline. House and Senate bipartisan negotiators are trying to cut roughly $33 billion from the 2011 budget. House Republicans originally wanted about $100 billion in cuts. Although the numbers are not set in stone, they've begun drawing up a list of specific spending cuts.
Coming up next, the final report from special correspondent Philippe Cousteau's amazing journey to the Arctic Circle. Keep it here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Chad Myers is here now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAYE: For two weeks, as you know, we have been documenting Special Correspondent Philippe Cousteau's amazing journey to the Arctic Circle. But all good things must come to an end. Today marks the final day that we're going to have his updates for you.
Cousteau's been on an expedition to study how effects of the melting Arctic could be felt globally. Dangers we watched him prepare for range from subzero temperatures to polar bears. He also accomplished a CNN first with our furthest north live shot ever.
Here's his good-bye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPPE COUSTEAU, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been an incredible journey exploring the critical science happening here at the Catlin Ice Base. We've been privileged to see the scientists at work up close and personal as they dive into the heart of their research. So we've got a little tiny bit of seawater starting to seep up through the ice. We haven't broken through yet, but we are very close.
Are you -- how much further?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's coming. There we go.
COUSTEAU: Whoa. All right! Whoa!
You can continue to follow this amazing Arctic adventure both on air and online in the coming weeks and months as we continue our work to unlock the mysteries of this beautiful and awe-inspiring place at the top of the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: To recap, Philippe Cousteau's expedition and see some amazing videos, head to our blog at CNN.com/Ali.
Well, just in the nick of time. Take a look at this. You see that car? Well, a veteran TV photographer used to covering the news finds himself a part of a heart-pounding rescue. That harrowing story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Here is an update on the latest headlines and some of the stories you may have missed:
Stocks on Wall Street are surging as unemployment hit its lowest level in two years in March and businesses are hiring more. Take a look at the latest numbers: 216,000 jobs were added in March. That's better than what economists were expecting. The unemployment rate edged down to 8.8 percent, the lowest since March of 2009.
In Libya, opposition leaders gathered in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. They extended the offer of a cease-fire with Moammar Gadhafi's forces, but only under certain conditions that include pulling his forces out and giving Libyans freedom of expression.
On the front lines, rebels are moving to push Gadhafi's forces back, but his troops are amping up their ferocious attacks in various cities along the coast. In classified briefings, the CIA told Congress that Gadhafi's troops are killing a substantial number of people in towns where the media is not present.
And now, there are growing signs his inner circle is cracking under international pressure. Just a day after his foreign minister defected we're learning that another of Gadhafi's men has done the very same thing, this time Gadhafi's top choice as U.N. Ambassador, Ali Abdussalam Treki defected to Egypt.
Moving further south in Africa, in the Ivory Coast, gunfire and explosions erupted in obvious Abidjan, commercial center and the largest city. The United States is urging the U.N. and French forces in the Ivory Coast to take all possible steps to protect civilians and prevent any looting. Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, who is internationally recognized as the president here, attacked the home of his opponent Laurent Gbagbo today. French and U.N. troops are beefing up their presence on the streets.
Gbagbo is refusing to give up power after a disputed election. But the U.N. is pressuring him to step down immediately.
Now, take a look at this. A Lexington television news photographer was traveling to Houston for the Final Four when he saw this car hit the median wall. The photographer and another driver pulled over before the car caught on fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB COOK, WLEX PHOTOGRAPHER: The people inside were kicking the doors. They couldn't get them open. They were screaming for help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Cook, who you just saw there, and the other driver came to the rescue, amazing. Just in time. The men smashed out the car windows and pulled out the two people inside just moments before that vehicle exploded -- incredible bravery. And, amazingly, the two people inside that car walked away without any major injuries.
If all goes according to plans, Prince William and Kate Middleton will have a royal wedding cake. But if anarchists and other protestors have their way, well, the ceremony will also be a royal mess. Details all about that right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: More deadly anti-government protests in Syria today, just one of several countries in the region rocked by demonstrations.
Michael Holmes joins us now with a check of what has happened there.
We've seen some deaths there as well.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. There's reports of deaths, large scale demonstrations. You know, we kind of expected this on Friday as well. It was foretold that these would happen.
But the same thing, we're seeing thousands of people in different parts of the country as well and again we're hearing of security forces crackdowns yet again. You know, even if these protests are suppressed, the Syrian regime is going to have to do something to change it. It's like the genie is out of the bottle now. You can't squish this back in.
KAYE: Well, he keeps coming out. Al-Assad keeps coming out, promising -- or these people are hoping that he's going to promise to may be lift --
HOLMES: Promising the promise, yes.
KAYE: Right, maybe lift the emergency law. But it's still there.
HOLMES: And maybe replace it with an antiterrorism law, which people think would be just as bad.
You know, there's miscalculation. It's like he's dealing with new world, social media, justifiable demands by people, with old guard crackdown style tactics. And it's just not going to work. It's a big miscalculation.
And, you know, I think eventually, the regime is going to realize this, you know, that in the modern days of communication, people aren't going to buy it anymore. They're not going to buy this -- oh, it's foreigners come in and creating trouble. It's gangs of people.
KAYE: Right.
HOLMES: People aren't buying it.
KAYE: Conspiracy, yes.
HOLMES: Yes. They're dealing with economic mismanagement.
KAYE: You saw these pictures out of Egypt today.
HOLMES: Yes.
KAYE: Massive protests there.
HOLMES: Huge, wasn't it?
KAYE: The "Friday to save the revolution," as it's being called.
HOLMES: That's right. "Friday to save the revolution," and also called a day of cleansing as well. What you've got there is something we talked about right back when this happened, that the disappointment -- if there was disappointment among the protestors, that this would continue. And we're seeing that now, there's a dissatisfaction, there's anger over a proposal to ban protests.
The people who started the revolution in Egypt are worried they're losing control of it. They're also worried the parliamentary elections coming up in September, and that because of the way the Mubarak ran things, there's no democratic opposition structure there -- infrastructure. And they've fallen behind the Islamist groups, like the Muslim Brotherhood, who have been a party for many, many years. They're ready to go for the elections. Those who are just trying to form opposition parties are not.
So, they want to slow things down a bit there, too. A lot of concern things aren't going the way they hoped.
KAYE: Yes. That sounds like a lot of countries in the region. I mean, we could sit here, I feel like we could tick through every country and talk about all the problems.
HOLMES: Exactly. You can't predict the outcome. Yes.
KAYE: All right. Michael, thank you.
HOLMES: Good to see you.
KAYE: It is the most anticipated event in years in Britain, as well as much of the rest of the world, the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. But anarchists and others would like nothing more than to turn the event into a royal mess. Plans are already being put in place to make sure that doesn't happen.
Dan Rivers reports from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the nightmare scenario for those planning the royal wedding, anarchists attacking a car carrying the royal family. In this occasion, it was Prince Charles and Camilla. But this is the same car that will be used to take Kate Middleton to the wedding. And anarchists are vowing to do their best to interfere with the best.
CHARLIE VEITCH, ANARCHIST: For the royal wedding, we'll see what we call a disruption spectacular.
RIVERS: Charlie Veitch is an ex-city banker who was laid off and is now a committed anarchist protester. He was among this student protest against austerity cuts lasts year and is warning there will be more of the same on April the 29th, which he describes as --
VEITCH: A shock and awe campaign. It will involve a lot of fireworks. It will involve a lot of people dressed in black. It will involve a lot of very, very loud music.
RIVERS: Security expert Roy Ramm shows me the aftermath of the latest protest.
ROY RAMM, SECURITY EXPERT: You see them here doing this kind of damage, which is just completely --
RIVERS (on camera): This is just one window of hundreds --
RAMM: Oh, absolutely.
RIVERS (voice-over): He says the royal wedding presents an incredibly difficult challenge.
RAMM: The police have got a job to get the public in, close up to the wedding, but they've got to keep the people who want to cause disorder and damage like we're seeing here away from the royal wedding. It could be immensely disruptive. And, you know, it's a very unenviable position that the police are in.
RIVERS (on camera): The big problem for the police is getting enough evidence to stop the anarchists doing something before they get to the wedding route. There is talk of using stop and search powers. The problem is: who do they stop and search?
Experts say intelligence before the big day will be crucial.
(voice-over): Anarchist Web sites are already humming with references to the wedding.
VEITCH: There are plans which are being passed around online in encrypted forums and through encrypted e-mail, which the government cannot hack, to basically disrupt the procession route as well.
RIVERS: But knowing exactly where to deploy riot police is tough. The protestors could strike at almost any location in central London.
COMMANDER BOB BROADHURST, LONDON METROPOLITAN POLICE: There's a lot of chatter out there, no real intelligence. But we must bear in mind that people have a right to come and protest.
RIVERS: The anarchists will have to blend in with a crowd like this, and these staunch royalists could be the best defense the police have.
ANDY HAYMAN, FORMERLY WITH LONDON METROPOLITAN POLICE: I don't think it will be very easy for the anarchists to infiltrate. The great majority would stop that happening. On the other hand, if there was a pot of paint that was thrown at any of the royal VIPs, that would be a worldwide embarrassment.
RIVERS: An embarrassment that the police are desperate to avoid, one that the anarchists would consider a huge victory.
Dan Rivers, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And speaking of the royal wedding, I had to bring Michael back in -- because I have to get your take on Prince William --
HOLMES: That's not very nice, is it?
KAYE: Not on that, but on Prince William now saying he's not going to wear the wedding band. What do you think?
HOLMES: That's right. That's right. And, you know, he's dad didn't either. Prince Charles never wore a wedding band either. And so, yes, he's decided he's not going to wear one. And --
KAYE: Why is that?
HOLMES: He hasn't really said. He hasn't really said.
KAYE: See, if I was Kate --
HOLMES: I mean, maybe it's the military thing or something, you know?
KAYE: -- I would say, you're wearing it, buddy.
HOLMES: Well, it's not like he can go to the pub and say, oh, I'm not married.
KAYE: Right, nobody knows who he is, right. He wouldn't do that.
HOLMES: She's going to be wearing one. And it's also now a tradition being around since 1920s. Her ring is going to be partly made of this rare welsh gold from a particular gold mine. It's been sort of a royal tradition for a long time.
KAYE: That sounds beautiful.
HOLMES: I can just see him going to the pub and saying, I'm not married.
KAYE: I know. (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: Yes.
KAYE: He would never do that! He's a prince.
HOLMES: He would never get away with it.
KAYE: All right. That's good stuff. Glad you hung around for that one.
HOLMES: There you go.
KAYE: We'll see you tomorrow.
HOLMES: Yes.
KAYE: A steep drop in deadly accident on America's roads. Who is taking part of the credit and how did the recession help possibly? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: So is it seems American roads are becoming safer. That's the focus of today's "Big Breakdown." Transportation officials say, last year, traffic fatalities fell to their lowest level since 1949.
Now preliminary figures do show that almost 32,800 people died in traffic accidents in 2010, that's compared to nearly 34,000 in 2009. The 2010 number represents a 25 percent drop from 2005 when more than 43,000 people were actually killed.
Now take a look at this. Experts say different factors contributed to the decline, like vehicle rollover protection, campaigns addressing drunk driving, distracted driving and seat belt use, of course, and laws aimed at young people, notably older minimum- drinking ages and graduated driver's licenses. The recession and high unemployment rates are also cite as possible reasons many young people weren't traveling as much.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood thinks his policies also played a big role.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY LAHOOD, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: I'm going to take a little bit of credit here on our two years of really hammering on distracted driving. We're not where we want to be, but we know, with good laws and good enforcement, people will put their cell phones down and their BlackBerrys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: While the numbers dropped a lot during the first half of 2010, they started to creep up a bit in the third and fourth quarters. LaHood says that doesn't mean we'll see a sets back this year. That's what he says at least.
Now, as for the worst year on record for traffic fatalities. That was the year right there, 1972, when more than 54,000 people died on American roads.
The deportation of 4-year-old American citizen Emily Ruiz has shed light on one particular argument in the immigration debate. How should we treat illegal parents of American children? The "Stream Team" will tackle this subject next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back.
Four-year-old Emily Ruiz was reunited with her family on Wednesday after arriving from Guatemala. She was deported there a few weeks ago, even though she's an American citizen. This because Customs officials would not allow her grandfather to enter the U.S.
This incident has renewed a heated immigration debate. How do you treat illegal parents of American children? And really, how do you treat the children themselves?
And that's the question we want to ask today's "Stream Team." Frank Sharry is the founder and executive director of America's Voice. Jessica Vaughan the senior policy analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Good to see you both.
Frank, I want to start with you and I want to talk about these kids. One Texas lawmaker called these children, quote, "terror babies." Is there really a national security concern here about these children being born on U.S. soil to illegal parents?
FRANK SHARRY, FOUNDER & EXEC. DIRECTOR, AMERICA'S VOICE: No, no. This is some imagined threat made up by the far right in this country as if somehow people are going to be born here and come back and attack us. There's no evidence for it, of course. Our intelligence would be all over it.
The real question is, what do we do about the fact we have 11 million people here without papers, many of them like Emily Ruiz's parents who have been here 15 years or more, are hardworking are established, are rooted in their communities. Are we going to try to get rid of all of them? Are we going to find some way where they meet requirements and become, eventually, U.S. citizens with all the rights and responsibilities?
KAYE: And, Jessica, what do you think? I'll ask you that same question about these so-called terror babies, as one lawmaker put it. Is that the issue here?
JESSICA VAUGHAN, SENIOR POLICY ANALYST, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: Well, it already has been a problem. Anwar al-Awlaki, who is the inspiration for many of the 9/11 hijackers and the underwear bomber and other terrorists, is a U.S. citizen simply because his parents were here on temporary visas a long time ago, and they took him back home and raised him abroad. And he was radicalized abroad and now he uses his U.S. citizenship against us.
And it's very well known among national security circles that terrorist groups really value having people who have American citizenship within their ranks because they can travel freely between the United States and other countries without the scrutiny that we put on other visitors, you know, who need to get a visa.
KAYE: But what about the children themselves?
VAUGHAN: Well, it is an issue because, you know, someone happens to be born here and is a U.S. citizen, they're raised overseas and perhaps radicalized overseas, not that all of them are, but many of them are, they also have the ability to transmit that U.S. citizenship to their children, who are raised overseas with no ties whatsoever to our country.
And this, you know, is an issue that is difficult for us to control and that lawmakers need to look at it to see if this really makes sense for us to continue in this day and age.
KAYE: But, Frank, isn't it true that just because you have a child here, you can still be deported, right?
SHARRY: Exactly.
KAYE: The child doesn't keep you here automatically.
SHARRY: Exactly. This fantasy about terror babies is hard to even take seriously.
What happens is that we have many people here, they're working, they're living, they get married, they have children. And we have something like 5 million children whose parents are here illegally. What do we do with them? Some are U.S. citizens, some of them are not.
And what happens every day is that, as the drag net that has taken place in this country looking for people who are here illegally gets tougher, people are being arrested, mothers and fathers are being separated from their kids and families are being ripped apart.
The question is, is that wise social policy, is that the best immigration policy, or should we come up with a better way in which we say, wait a minute, people who are rooted here, people who have equities here, people who are established here, as part of an overall fix to end illegal immigration, why don't we deal practically and humanely with the fact that we have 11 million people here.
KAYE: And, Jessica, what is your response to that? What do you think the answer is?
VAUGHAN: Well, there are really two facets to this problem.
One is people who are living here as illegal aliens who have children here while they're living here. And I don't think they necessarily always come here specifically to have children, but when they do it provides them with access to all of our social welfare programs, which imposes enormous costs on communities.
But the other side of it is people who come here specifically for the purpose of having a baby who will have a U.S. passport and then raising them overseas. And that is an issue that hasn't been discussed as much as it should be.
But there are literally tens and tens of thousands of people living overseas who have U.S. passports. They don't consider themselves to be American citizens, but they will waive their passport as kind of an entitlement to come here at some future point if they want to, and that does have national security implications.
KAYE: Sure.
VAUGHAN: What it boils down to is that we need to more better control how many people get into the United States to begin with, and then this wouldn't be so much of an issue.
KAYE: Right. All right, we'll have to leave it there.
Frank Sharry, Jessica Vaughan, we really appreciate it. Very interesting discussion. Certainly not going away anytime soon. Thank you both.
Another battle going on in Washington, the oncoming budget shortfall. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney maintains that Democrats and Republicans are close on budget talks. Today, he reiterated that the president will accept cuts for the good of the American people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president will make tough choices. He will, in the spirit of compromise and finding common ground, he will accept cuts that are hard, accept some details that he would not otherwise in an ideal world want to accept, but he believes that the American people expect us to find that common ground, expect us to be reasonable.
You know, political rhetoric and shooting spitballs is not, I assure you -- and I know you know this -- is not what the American people want out of Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Got to take a quick break, but next in my "XYZ," a slithering snake's final chapter, sort of.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Time now for my "XYZ," and I wanted to wrap up our week with my favorite story of the week.
Yes, you guessed it, the Bronx Zoo snake once missing, thought to be homeless, now safe and sound at the reptile house in the zoo. Scattered rodent-scented wood shavings managed to lure the snake out, so we guess it was hungry.
So our 20-inch poisonous pal is home, but the story doesn't end there. Now the zoo plans to have a contest to name the snake. Translation? The zoo is trying to cash in on all the buzz about the missing cobra.
Can you blame them? The cobra is more popular than ever. He has some 200,000 followers on Twitter, so the zoo is getting a whole lot of attention. Sure, they wanted the cobra home, back in his own bed, so to speak. After all, its venom can kill a human in 15 minutes.
But now that they know their slithering snake is safe, they also want to hold on to the momentum the cobra's disappearing act created. Hence, the snake naming contest.
When was the last time something so small -- the cobra weighs just 3 ounces -- became such a huge story? None of us can remember, but we will all watch with great anticipation as the search begins to name our little cobra friend.
CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Brooke Baldwin.
