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Sizeable Hole Opens in Southwest Airlines Jet; Radiation Levels Up in Ocean Around Fukushima; Big Spats Over Tiny Budget Items; Florida Koran Burning Sparks Protests Abroad; Getting Paid to Watch Baseball; NBA Team Helps Build Oklahoma City
Aired April 02, 2011 - 11:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we are at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia for this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes, I'm glad you could be here.
Some terrifying moments to tell you about on a Southwest Airlines, jetliner. Passengers panicked. And why wouldn't they? There's a hole in the roof. And they could look up from their seats and see clear blue sky, a live report just ahead.
Also, a battle in Japan to stop water with high levels of radiation from leaking into the Pacific Ocean.
Also it has all come down to four. The best teams in college basketball ready to duke it out for the national championship. And of course two of those teams a lot of people scratching their heads what are they doing there? All of that coming up for you.
But let's get the latest now on that terrifying Southwest Airlines flight. There was a Boeing 737 headed from Phoenix to Sacramento when a three to four-foot hole opened in the roof. Many of the passengers thought they were doomed. The pilot managed to land that plane safely at a military base in Yuma, Arizona.
CNN's Ted Rowlands is there for us. Ted, this is some scary stuff. And you were telling me last hour, you just don't hear about things like this happening.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no, T.J. It's very rare. And in fact, the only real case that you might be able to look to that was similar was at an Aloha Air flight back in 1988 where a large section of the skin of the aircraft came out and in that incident there was a flight attendant that actually got sucked out of the aircraft. And one thing to take away from that incident is the seriousness of what happened to this aircraft; the fact that there was a hole in the skin.
The NTSB is leading the investigation, and we are expecting investigators to arrive here in Yuma this morning and start the process. But Southwest is involved, Boeing is involved. And the FAA is involved. And what they are going to have to do is find out specifically what happened here. The stakes are very high. The 737 is the workhorse of the industry. Southwest, as a precaution, has taken out 81 of their 737s of the fleet that were due for an inspection of the skin of the aircraft.
Let's talk practically here. Generally there are only a few things that could have happened. Either someone or something did something to this aircraft. There's no evidence of that. Or the skin of the aircraft became fatigued, as they say in the industry.
So they're looking at those 81 planes and they're going to scour the maintenance records of this plane and look at this plane as well. You talk about what happened on board. Just imagine seeing a hole in the aircraft while people were taken from Yuma here to Sacramento last night.
We talked to a couple of those folks. And boy, oh, boy, they went through a very harrowing experience. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBBIE DOWNEY, PASSENGER ABOARD SOUTHWEST FLIGHT 812: My husband and I looked up, you could see blue sky, you could see the wiring, the cabling. We looked at each other and, thought, oh, my gosh, this is not a good sign. Immediately put our head down, looked up, to see the air masks fell down immediately within seconds.
So we grabbed our mask, started to kind of look out the window. And as soon as I tried to look out the window and put up the shade screen, the aircraft went into a complete nose dive fast.
LARRY DOWNEY, PASSENGER ABOARD SOUTHWEST FLIGHT 812: We descended so quickly that it was -- and it was so noisy that it -- the plane actually decompressed pretty quickly. So if you didn't get your mask on, it was a -- it was a pretty scary situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: It's unbelievable to imagine being on that flight. There was 118 passengers, five crew members, apparently a flight attendant did faint, but everybody on board had the same story to tell that not only the crew but the passengers for the most part, T.J., extremely calm during this incident. I'm sure everybody's heart was racing, though as they were making that, quote, "nose dive" that the passenger talked about. Unbelievable. Clearly stakes are high to figure out exactly what happened.
HOLMES: That is unbelievable. Ted Rowlands, we appreciate you, on scene for us this morning in Arizona. Thank you so much.
Also to our viewers, we are keeping a close eye on the highly radioactive water that is leaking from Japan's troubled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. Officials with Tokyo Electric they are now saying that it's coming from an eight-inch crack in a concrete-lined basin outside the Number 2 reactor. They still have -- we don't know how the radiation is actually getting into that water.
Right now, contaminated water from reactor one being pumped into containers on a huge barge that's anchored next to the plant. Japan's prime minister personally thanked some of the workers today during a visit to the operations center. It's about 15 miles from the plant itself right on the edge of that evacuation zone.
And also look at this. A surprising discovery, here we are three weeks after the disaster, a dog found floating on a pile of debris more than a mile off shore. The Japanese Coast Guard plucked him to safety. And as you can imagine, the little guy was hungry. This all comes at a time we are still seeing the death toll continue to rise. And we still have so many more still missing.
We'll get back to that nuclear plant now, still leaking radioactive water in the ocean. CNN's Martin Savidge joins us now from Tokyo about 150 miles from that plant. Martin, hello to you, once again. I guess, where do they even start to get at this problem? I guess you got to figure out exactly how the water is getting radioactive material in it in the first place.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're exactly right, T.J., good morning to you. This has been a mystery that's really been progressing since last weekend when they started noticing that there were high radiation levels in the ocean just off the coast from where the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant is located.
But they've been wondering well, how is the water getting contaminated, how is the radiation getting into the water? Well, today they got a piece of the puzzle solved. They found very close to the edge of the water a shaft, a shaft that normally is used to run electric cables. And that shaft had become filled with water, highly radioactive water.
Well, also in that shaft was a crack -- a crack that is about eight inches. And as a result of that, it was through that crack that the highly-radiated water was getting into the ocean. But as you point out quite correctly, what they don't know is how, in fact, did the water there get radiated. No one seems to know that at this particular point. And it's an issue that is still very confusing. Because they know that the radiation is coming from Reactor Number Two or at least, that's what they suppose. But they can't figure out how it's getting from the reactor to the shaft and then into the water. Once they'll figure that out they'll solve a major part of the puzzle.
HOLMES: And Martin, also we were showing pictures -- we'll put them back up for our viewers there. But this is kind of fascinating to hear about this barge they're using now.
SAVIDGE: Yes, Mega Float is the name that it's been given. Mega Float is essentially a floating park right now. It's sitting off the coast of a village South of Tokyo. And it is so large that they believe it's going to bail them out of their problem of trying to handle all of the water that they have. And this has been their problem.
They're pouring so much water trying to keep the reactors cool, trying to keep the cooling rods cool that that water is going all over the nuclear reactor site. Well, it's been collected in basins but those basins are now full and they still need to keep pouring more water. So this is where Mega Float comes in. They're going to bring that up to Fukushima, Daiichi, put it off shore and then they are going to connect hoses to it where they can begin bailing the water into it. It holds 18,000 tons of water. The thing is massive; 450 feet long, 150 feet wide.
So it'll hold a lot of water. The question is what happens once it is full, and they don't have the answer to that -- T.J.
HOLMES: Wow, Martin Savidge. They are throwing everything at this problem. Live for us in Tokyo today, Martin, we appreciate you as always.
I want to turn now to a physicist James Acton, he is with me now, he is with the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Sir, thank you for being here with us. The two issues, they're both serious, I take it. You have radioactive water getting into the Pacific Ocean. That's one problem. But is that more -- is that more concerning to you or to hear that they don't know how the water that's leaking from the plant is getting radioactive material into it in the first place?
JAMES ACTON, CARNEGIE, ENDOWMENT, NUCLEAR PROGRAM: Well, good morning, T.J. We've known actually since the radioactive water just started leaking that the cause of that water is unknown. You have to understand that the inside of a reactor is an incredibly complicated array of pipes. And somewhere in that vast array there appears to be some leaking.
And so hunting that down, finding out where that leak is coming from is a priority at the moment, but it really is an exceptionally challenging task for the reactor operators.
HOLMES: Well, just how challenging is it? I would imagine like you're describing, that the -- that the complexity of the inside of one of these reactors, I mean, even if you didn't have radiation leaking out, I assume you would have a problem, but it seems like it's very difficult for them to get in there safely and work on it.
So how tricky of a problem are we talking about here?
ACTON: Well, that's exactly right. The inside of the containment building at the moment, the -- the -- the outer shaft is a very dangerous radioactive environment. And it's also quite possible that there's large amounts -- it's hot in there, there's large amounts of radioactive steam. We don't know what the lighting even is like inside of that.
So it's -- it's actually not a surprise that the plant operators themselves are -- you know, in some degree of uncertainty about exactly what's going on in the reactor. That's something actually they've acknowledged all along. HOLMES: And what is the danger, what's the threat now we need to worry about with all of this radioactive water leaking into the Pacific?
ACTON: I actually think the radioactive water leaking into the Pacific is not the primary concern here. Because radioactive water that leaks into the Pacific is going to become diluted. I'm actually more concerned about the radioactive water that's leaking into the ground water supplies.
And I still think the biggest concern here is what's going on in the reactor cores. Keeping those cores cool is still the single-most important task facing the plant operator at the moment.
HOLMES: Mr. Acton, let me ask you as well and I think back to the BP oil spill, that disaster was unprecedented. And they were really just coming up with the playbook as they went along the way. Is there a playbook at all for the disaster we're seeing, or are they really looking at an unprecedented disaster and having to make this up as they go along?
ACTON: Well, there was a playbook, but they actually ran out of that playbook at about 10:00 a.m. Friday morning three weeks ago. They have been improvising as they've been go along here. This is a disaster which in terms of its complexity, having three reactors causing trouble and a spent fuel pool at four reactors in trouble is -- is -- is unprecedented in its complexity as a disaster.
This is not going to be the worst nuclear disaster ever, it is the most complex. And as a result, they really have been forced to improvise as we were just seen with that enormous barge that they brought in yesterday to take as much of this radioactive water as possible.
HOLMES: And last thing here to you, sir, it seems like we hear a little progress one day, and then the next day something else comes up unexpectedly. What do you possibly think or what are you keeping an eye on that could be the next problem in this disaster?
ACTON: Well, as I say, the -- the -- the principal concern for the reactor operators right now is keeping the cores of the three reactors cooled and keeping the spent fuel pool topped off with water. And those are -- those are the things that every time I look at the new data that I see, is the thing that I'm paying closest attention to.
HOLMES: All right, again, James Acton, physicist with the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Sir, we appreciate your time today. Thank you so much.1
ACTON: Thank you very much, T.J.
HOLMES: And as many of you may know, we are now coming up on the one-year anniversary of that BP oil disaster. Yes it's been a year. Look at that picture. Do you remember seeing that day in, day out for months now? The company, BP, could be facing possible criminal charges for that deadly rig explosion. What's the likelihood of that, however? And the likelihood of a conviction?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, quarter past the hour now. You remember that picture? We saw it for months last year.
April 20th is going to now mark the one-year anniversary of the BP oil disaster in the gulf. Now we're learning that the Justice Department may ask for manslaughter charges for the 11 men who died when that oil rig initially blew up. Is that really possible, manslaughter charges? Earlier I talked about our Sunny Hostin. She's a legal contributor for "In Session" on our sister network TruTV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSON": Well, I think there's no question that it is very possible that this could happen, T.J. When you talk about environmental disasters, the government has a couple of options at its disposal. One option is always administrative penalties, one option is civil enforcement and one option is criminal enforcement.
There is precedence for this. Remember the Exxon Valdez spill 20 years ago which by many experts' say was a much smaller disaster than this disaster and criminal charges were pressed there. When you think about that and you think about the fact that this started with the death of 11 men, there is no question that the Justice Department will use their sort of criminal prosecutorial tools in this case.
And it really goes back about 173 years under this sort of Seaman's Manslaughter Statute that allows someone or the government to sue and to criminally prosecute sort of the keeper of a vessel if someone on that vessel dies. And we know that there was an oil rig in the middle of the ocean with this huge explosion and 11 men died. So manslaughter charges? Absolutely.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Before I let this one go, we're talking about -- they could go after the people at the very top, the executives of that company?
HOSTIN: Yes, there's no question, because they have to go after who was negligent, who made those decisions? We heard Tony Hayward in front of congress talk about the fact that the decisions were made at the very top. We've had experts come in, the decisions were made at the very top. Those are the people that the Justice Department will be looking at, no question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Also there's a pretty big budget battle in Washington over what to cut. You may have heard about it. Some big name programs are getting tossed around. But how much would cutting them actually save?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, it's 20 minute past the hour this CNN SATURDAY MORNING now. The biggest budget fights in Congress are about programs with some of the smallest price tags. CNN's Jessica Yellin reports that most Americans are dead wrong about how much the United States spends on what.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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 --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Foreign aid.
NPR food stamps.
YELLIN: If trimming those programs will rein in spending, they must make up a huge part of the federal budget, right? That's what most Americans think.
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: A new CNN opinion research poll found most Americans think foreign aid makes up 10 percent of this year's federal budget. Reality check? It's 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. Government pensions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Government pensions, that would probably be 10 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably 10 percent.
YELLIN: according to the poll that's what most Americans think, but the reality, just 3.5 percent.
For public broadcasting, NPR.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Zero now, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe 15.
YELLIN: Most folks think public broadcasting gets 5 percent of the federal budget. Reality? Less than one-tenth of 1 percent. Overall Americans believe foreign aid, government pensions, education, food and housing assistance and public broadcasting account for 52 percent of the federal budget. Reality, it's 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: 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.
Well, VC who (ph)? If you don't know by now, you certainly will know by the end of today. Also Butler, these guys weren't supposed to be there. Who are these guys? We'll let you know exactly what's happening tonight.
Final four, we have a champion coming up on Monday. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: 25 minutes past the hour now. On April 1st, yesterday, if I told you that Butler and VCU are in the final four, you would have sworn that was an April Fool's joke. It's not. It's for real. They're there. They'll meet up tonight.
This all comes down to huge, beautiful march madness comes down to this weekend. Our Mark McKay is here to talk NCAA basketball. He is in Houston for us. Good morning to you once again. Are we done calling these guys underdogs and Cinderellas?
MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS: We certainly are when it comes to Butler, T.J. We know who Cinderella is here at the final four. It's certainly not the Butler bulldogs. They are an eighth seed here at this final four, but Butler is one of only nine teams in NCAA history to return to a final four after losing a national championship game the year before.
Remember last year, in Indianapolis, butler, the bulldogs, coming to within a whisker of beating Duke in the national game? Well, butler's back in the final four and their baby-faced coach will be the first to tell you that it was not easy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD STEVENS, HEAD COACH BUTLER: It's hard because people get tired. It becomes a long season. And I understand why teams don't always play their best at the end, because there's a lot of dynamics involved. But if you have a team that's committed to one another that will work through it, then your chances of getting better are pretty high. And I think that's what we have. And I think that coupled with the perspective that our guys kept was probably why we're here.
Last year, once again; it felt good to be there, make it to the national championship and fell a little bit short. When you taste it a little bit. And you know what it's like to get here, you want even more. In the summer, I mean me personally, I worked as hard as I could to get my game right to get back to this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKAY: It is saying something when Butler, Butler's the team with more final four experience than their national semi-final opponent tonight. VCU, the Rams, are the story of this tournament. The 11th seed making it all the way to Houston. In many ways that VCU/Butler national semi-final game, the first that will go off tonight, overshadowing the second mammoth game between and Kentucky and UConn.
You said this could have been the story of the tournament. VCU, this 11th seed. But if they make it and then end up winning it, that could be the story of the year. Are you seeing a pretty good representation there of fans in Houston, and even people who may not be from VCU but may be pulling for VCU?
MCKAY: They're. Their adopted team now? You better believe it T.J. Kentucky is a team that travels so well, you're seeing a lot of blue here in Houston. But you are seeing VCU. There's a lot of representation from the fan base back home itself. 200 lucky students were able to win a lottery. They are down here all expenses paid watching their Rams hopefully, what they hope will play in the national championship game.
HOLMES: Yes. I'm pretty sure that was the video we were just looking at. Those kids are going crazy. They're on campus.
Mark McKay in Houston, That's pretty much the video we were just looking at. You enjoy that final four weekend. We'll talk to you again soon.
A lot of people will remember those four journalists from the "New York Times" that were hauled away, locked up, threatened, beaten by Libyan troops. Their story in their words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER HICKS, "NEW YORK TIMES": When they demanded we lay on our stomachs. We all were begging not -- no -- we don't to go. We're sorry we're begging not to go out on our stomachs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, we're at the bottom of the hour here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Some terrifying moments for the passengers and crew on a Southwest Airlines flight. A three-to-four-foot hole opened in the Boeing 737's roof after takeoff from Phoenix. The pilot was able to make an emergency landing at a military base in Yuma, Arizona.
When the hole opened, some of the passengers -- well, how do you think they reacted?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was texting my sister to make certain that she told my kids that I loved them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was in back of me, to the left. And I did hear it. It sounded like a shot and a lot of air decompressing. And it was quick and it was scary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: More radioactive water is leaking from Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Officials with Tokyo Electric say it's coming from an eight-inch crack in a concrete-lined basin outside the number 2 reactor. What they don't know, however, is how the radiation is getting into that water.
Also, gunfire and explosions continue to wrack the Ivory Coast capital today after forces loyal to former president Laurent Gbagbo fought back, retaking control of the state-run television network. Supporters of the new president, President Ouattara, attacked Gbagbo's residence on Friday. Gbagbo has refused to cede power since most in the international community say he lost the election in November.
Want to turn to Afghanistan now, where a second day of anti- American protests turned deadly once again. Officials say at least nine people were killed this morning in Kandahar after protesting a Koran burning at a Florida church. This comes just a day after protesters attacked a U.N. compound in northern Afghanistan, where a dozen people were killed there.
Our CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence, with more on the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: U.N. officials tell us that these attackers used guns and even knives to attack these U.N. workers. And when it was all over, at least 12 people were dead and more than two dozen were wounded.
Now, let's take you back and tell you exactly why this happened.
Last September, a Florida pastor, Terry Jones, threatened to burn a Koran, but that burning was initially canceled after the pope, President Obama and the defense secretary all urged him not to do it. Well, about two weeks ago, on this small Florida church's Web site, it threatened to put the Koran on trial. And then a subsequent post said the Koran had been found guilty of causing rape, murder and terrorism, and a copy had been burned inside the building.
Well, Pentagon sources say this news initially hit very quickly in Pakistan, and they saw several demonstrations there. Nothing to this level of violence.
And then, just a few days ago, the Taliban put out a statement basically saying, look, this is proof that the U.S. is against Islam. That set off massive protests across Afghanistan.
The one in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghan police tried to fire into the air to hold off the protesters, but they were no match. They stormed the wall. And that's when they got inside and attacked those U.N. workers.
President Obama condemned this attack, the secretary-general of the United Nations called it cowardly. And Afghan president Hamid Karzai said it goes against both Afghans and Islamic values.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, four staffers from "The New York Times" are telling their stories of mistreatment, imprisonment and absolute fear that they would die at any second. They're free now. Over six days they were locked up by Libyan soldiers loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.
They told their story to our Anderson Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANTHONY SHADID, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": And Lynsey was the first to realize that it was a government checkpoint. And it must have been seconds, but it felt like minutes. As we got closer and closer, we saw the green military uniforms --
LYNSEY ADDARIO, "NEW YORK TIMES" PHOTOGRAPHER: And you can't turn around and go back because they'll open fire. I mean, you would assume they would open fire. You look more suspicious if you try and run away.
I mean, Tyler was saying, "Don't stop. Don't stop," because we kind of just wanted to coast through and hope they didn't recognize we were foreigners. And then our driver, when he stopped the car and he jumped out and said, "Sahafa (ph)," "journalists," and then there was chaos.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": All hell broke loose.
TYLER HICKS, " THE NEW YORK TIMES": We were put on our knees first and there was a lot of kind of slapping. There was emptying our pockets.
On my stomach, looking up, and I remember him being a tall soldier and him saying, "Shoot them." Another soldier said to him, "You can't, they're Americans." COOPER: You really thought you were going to die?
HICKS: Yes. When they demanded we lay on our stomachs, we all were begging no, we don't want to -- we're sorry. We were begging not to go on our stomachs.
STEVEN FARRELL, "NEW YORK TIMES" VIDEOGRAPHER: Anthony was working. Anthony was throwing Arabic at them. I was throwing what Arabic I had at them. You're just pushing -- you just push every button you can.
COOPER: And Lynsey, you weren't spared any different treatment because you were a woman.
ADDARIO: I think I was spared -- I was punched in the face twice. And this guy came up next to me, and my instinct was that, oh, he's going to help me. And he just punched me on the side of the face. And to me, I've never been punched in the face before.
And I was sitting like this, and a guy reached over from the front seat and started caressing my hair like -- either like a mother would a son or a daughter. And then he started touching my face, very sort of gently, and saying this phrase over and over.
And I sort of tried to put my head down. And he picked it up and just kept caressing me in this weird sort of tender way. And he was saying the phrase over and over.
And I said to Anthony -- I said, "What's mort (ph)?"
Right? Yes. I said, "What is he saying?" And Anthony said, "He's telling you you're going to die tonight."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, it has one of the lowest unemployment rates of any U.S. city, new attractions, and now an NBA team. Find out where it is and the secrets to its economic success.
Also, this is great work if you can get it, guys being paid to watch baseball. But it might be too much of a good thing. We will take you to the Fan Cave.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, about 41 minutes past the hour now. Now it is springtime.
And Bonnie Schneider, springtime can only mean one thing.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: How does this sound for a job -- how would you like to be paid to watch baseball all season long? What if you were paid to watch every single game?
Major League Baseball is paying two fans to do just that.
CNN's Carter Evans joins us from New York.
This is not the man cave, but the Fan Cave. How do I apply for this job?
CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. Yes, don't get -- you know what? You're too late, T.J.
Ten thousand applied for this job. Only two guys made it. In fact, only one guy was supposed to make it, but they liked the second guy so much, they brought him along, too.
Let's start out with MLB's number one fan, Mike O'Hara.
So, you applied for this. You're one of 10,000 people. But I think a lot of people are thinking, all right, hey, this is a really cool job. You get paid to watch every single game. And there are probably some people that are thinking, I don't know if I'd really want that job, that's a lot of work.
MIKE O'HARA, "FAN CAVE" OCCUPANT: Well, I mean, if they though, I don't really want that job, they shouldn't have applied. You know?
But I definitely wanted it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You know, I get to live here in the Fan Cave for every Major League Baseball game, watch every game, meet ballplayers, celebrities, and have fun with social media.
EVANS: But it's a lot of games. It is 2,430 games, and that's the regular season. And then you've got to watch the post-season, too.
O'HARA: Well, 2,413 now, so we're counting down.
EVANS: You don't have to watch all the games back to back. You're actually multitasking here. You've got 15 TVs.
Tell me about how this works here.
O'HARA: Well, basically, as the games come on, and as the games end, we'll switch around. We'll have the kind of premier games there in the middle. And yes, just kind of bounce around. I was saying to a bunch of people, my ADD is finally paying off because I'm able to bounce from here to there.
EVANS: Yes, right. You can actually put it to work for you.
O'HARA: Right.
EVANS: Hey, real quick, T.J., I want to give you a little look around the Fan Cave here, because this is a 15,000 square foot area.
This is right in Greenwich Village, right in Manhattan. It's right at street level, too.
And we've got the other fan here. This is Ryan Wagner.
Now, Ryan, originally, they liked you so much, they decided to bring on a second fan. Can you kind of show me around the Fan Cave here? Give me an idea -- tell me about the statue here.
RYAN WAGNER, "FAN CAVE" OCCUPANT: This is the coolest part of the Fan Cave, as far as I'm concerned. This is actually an 18-foot statue. It's made out of Styrofoam with a steel framing inside of Willie Mays, the famous catch in the 1954 World Series.
I mean, we've even got a ball floating up there for Willie to catch. It's really neat.
EVANS: But you guys are going to be here for six months. Don't you think this is going to get old after a while?
WAGNER: No. It's Major League Baseball. You know, I tell everybody, this is what I'd be doing if I was at home.
You know, it's kind of neat to be able to sit in this amazing place that they've made for us. You know, obviously, you guys were just in our den with all the 15 televisions and everything else. There is no better place to watch baseball, and that's what I'd be doing if I was home.
EVANS: All right. Thanks a lot.
Hey, you know, one of the cool things about this, T.J., is they want this to be accessible to everyone. So if you want to come down and check it out, Broadway and 4th Street, right here in Manhattan. They're going to be here every day during the season.
HOLMES: OK. Carter, you've got to help me on a couple of things here.
Are they supposed to take notes for Major League Baseball? Are they reporting to Major League Baseball? I guess they watch. And then what do they do with that information, if you will?
EVANS: Well, you know, this is one of the best things about it. There's no real job description. They're kind of making it up as they go along.
HOLMES: Are you kidding me?
EVANS: But yes, they are supposed to kind of report on social media. They'll be tweeting. They'll be Facebooking.
They'll be basically telling people how they feel about the games. There is no real specific thing they have to do other than that they've got to watch the games.
HOLMES: OK. Are they telling us how much they're being paid for this gig?
EVANS: That's something they don't want to tell us. I was real curious as to how much you guys thought you were making per game. You figured that out already? Hadn't really thought about it.
HOLMES: Yes, right. That is a nice place there.
Carter, get out of there, man. I know you want to stay.
Carter Evans for us there in the Fan Cave, which certainly doubles as a man cave, I'm sure. See you, buddy. Thanks so much.
Well, Oklahoma City, building up its economy by creating jobs, attracting more residents, and also getting a new NBA team. You may have heard of them.
CNN's Tom Foreman looks at the town's thunderous transformation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every time the Thunder takes the floor, the home crowd cheers not just for the team but also for the remarkable transformation it represents.
KENDRICK PERKINS, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: I love what I've seen. I think it's been great. It's been great.
FOREMAN: For almost two decades through targeted use of a voter approved one-cent sales tax, Oklahoma City has been rebuilding itself, with a new ballpark, new attractions, refurbished entertainment centers, museums, schools and more.
MAYOR MICK CORNETT, OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: We're creating a city where your kid and grand kid is going to want to live.
FOREMAN: Mayor Mick Cornett --
CORNETT: The past paradigm has been that people went to where the jobs were. And what I believe is that in the future the people are going to go to the cities where they want to live and the jobs are going to follow the people.
FOREMAN: The acquisition of the Thunder three years ago was a milestone in the process of making this a prime place to live and a coup for this town that is one of the smallest to host an NBA team. It was made possible in large part because that same tax money was used to build an arena with no loans to hang over the profit-making potential of the new franchise.
GARY DESJARDINS, REGIONAL GENERAL MANAGER, SMG: There's no debt on the building. It's paid for.
FOREMAN: That's pretty unusual.
DESJARDINS: Extremely unusual.
FOREMAN: Thunder coach Scott Brooks called it team work. SCOTT BROOKS, COACH, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: It's important that we all get behind each other's endeavors.
FOREMAN: So today, Oklahoma City enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates of any city in the country. Sales tax revenues have soared, and this town is charging back from the recession.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Oklahoma City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, one of the highlights of CNN SATURDAY MORNING coming up -- Fredricka Whitfield.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's just a few minutes now away from the lovely Fredricka Whitfield.
I see your getup. We had Didi Conn, who played Frenchie in "Grease." We had her on earlier. You're one of the Pink Ladies with the pink.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, that's right. Where's my poodle?
HOLMES: Very nice. Yes.
WHITFIELD: I once had one, you know.
HOLMES: Did you, really?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HOLMES: Why am I not surprised by that?
WHITFIELD: But I should have a poodle skirt or something to go along with the mood of the day.
HOLMES: Well, yes. How are you today?
WHITFIELD: I'm doing good. And you?
HOLMES: Things well? I'm doing well.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Finally a little sunshine in a good part of the Southeast. You know, it's been rough. Right?
HOLMES: Nice in Atlanta. Now, last week you had a topic, your legal guys, I really wanted to see, but I missed it. But this week, what do you have?
WHITFIELD: And it was good. Well, this one you're going to want to see, too, because as a resident of any community, do you feel like you have the right to say, I want quiet, I don't want kids with loud toys playing outside? HOLMES: There's a limit.
WHITFIELD: I don't want them riding their bikes behind my parked car?
HOLMES: Yes, you do want that stuff, but it's part of a neighborhood as well. Kids in the streets, yes.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, that's one side of the argument. The other side of the argument is, you know, the homeowners association says we need to enforce some rules, and these are the rules of this community.
Well, now it's a legal case. Our legal guys are going to delve into that one in Florida. Yes. How far do you go for some peace and quiet in your neighborhood? How far do you go to try to foster some harmony?
HOLMES: They say it's for safety reasons as well.
WHITFIELD: You've got to strike a balance, yes.
HOLMES: They say. All right.
WHITFIELD: Well, they're going to dig down deep into it.
HOLMES: OK.
WHITFIELD: And then retirement. How much are you thinking about your retirement at this stage in your life?
HOLMES: Not enough yet.
WHITFIELD: Do you kind of feel like, you know, the preparations that you've made thus far, you're going to be set? Will you be able to pay your bills, all your medical expenses?
HOLMES: It's a lot, and it's scary, but you have to do it now, they say, when you're at this age so you don't have to be freaking out about it when you get there.
WHITFIELD: That's right. And there are a lot of myths that come with retirement, because sometimes people think, you know what? I've got it all planned out. I'm going to move to a state where there's no state tax, and so I'll be able to afford it. Well, apparently that's one of the myths.
HOLMES: That doesn't work?
WHITFIELD: Not necessarily.
HOLMES: That was my retirement plan.
WHITFIELD: Not all the time. You've got to plan for that, too, because there are other expenses that kick in. Maybe the sales tax is a lot higher, the property tax a lot higher. So, you know, lots to consider.
HOLMES: OK.
WHITFIELD: We'll have a financial expert along with us to talk about that.
And then, are you into reality TV?
HOLMES: Not at all.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, then you're not going to know this check.
HOLMES: Sorry. That was not the right response.
WHITFIELD: Bethenny Frankel, ever heard of her?
HOLMES: You got me.
WHITFIELD: It's OK. It's OK.
HOLMES: You got me.
WHITFIELD: Yes -- of "The Housewives of New York" fame, and then now "Ever After," all on Bravo. Well, you know, it's more than just her reality TV fame. She really is a business mogul.
HOLMES: Oh, I recognize her. OK.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, there she is. I sit down "Face to Face" with her.
HOLMES: OK.
WHITFIELD: And not just about the whole reality TV stardom, but what it is to be a powerful businesswoman. And, you know, her plan straight ahead.
How is she now juggling not just career, reality TV fame, but she's a new mom of a 6-month-old. She's also married. So it's a really interesting -- lots of surprises that come with Bethenny Frankel. So you'll want to tune in.
HOLMES: Your impression, once you sit down with her versus what you're seeing on TV?
WHITFIELD: Completely different.
HOLMES: Completely different.
WHITFIELD: Completely different. And see, I was not a follower of "The Housewives" --
HOLMES: Of the show.
WHITFIELD: -- or even "Ever After," full disclosure. I'm not a reality TV watcher, regular watcher. I did to prepare for this interview, but what I saw, you know, on the screen, some of it paralleled who I saw in person, but she really is a dynamic businessperson.
HOLMES: All right.
WHITFIELD: Yes, interesting.
HOLMES: All right. Good stuff. Our Pink Lady for the morning --
WHITFIELD: Where's my poodle?
HOLMES: -- Fredricka Whitfield.
WHITFIELD: I'll make arrangements next time.
HOLMES: She's just five minutes away, folks, and she'll be here.
WHITFIELD: All right.
HOLMES: Good to see you as always.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you, too.
HOLMES: Good chat.
Well, of course thousands of Americans are getting phone calls, harassing phone calls from debt collectors. You might be one of them. We've got advice, though. You have some rights. We'll let you know how to handle that situation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, a tough economy, as we all know. And it is a call that a lot of people are getting -- but they hate to get it -- from bill collectors.
Last year, more than 140,000 Americans filed complaints with the government about harassing, even threatening phone calls. We're not just talking about people calling up to say you owe money. They call up and say they're going to send the police to your house, cursing people out. Complaints were up some 17 percent from 2009.
I talked to our financial analyst, Clyde Anderson, about what you can do to protect yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL ANALYST: Well, what you have to do is understand what your rights are. You've got to understand when they can and can't call.
You've got to understand they can't call you before 8:00 a.m., they can't call you after 9:00 p.m. They can't call and threaten you. They can't call and say that, "We're going to have you arrested."
There's certain things that they just cannot do. And they also can't annoy you with phone calls.
And I always say, what's annoying? How many calls is that? Well, recently, a U.S. district court in Tennessee said that 17 calls in a month was excessive. Seventeen calls, and I know several of us get probably more calls than that from these debt collectors, because they just run rampant sometimes.
HOLMES: Now, what are you supposed to do? You said they can't call before 8:00 or after 9:00. But do they?
ANDERSON: Yes.
HOLMES: OK.
ANDERSON: A lot of times they do. A lot of times they do.
We've seen a lot of complaints with that area. We've seen a lot of complaints with people saying they threaten them with violence. And just like some of the phone calls we heard, it's ridiculous. You've really got to go to the FTC. The FTC is what regulates these companies under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
HOLMES: Are they effective, though? I mean, people say, OK, I filed a complaint. But now what?
ANDERSON: Well, we've seen people recently win lawsuits. If you can document this information, document when they're calling you. Do what you can to protect yourself. They're recording your calls. Record their calls.
HOLMES: Now, one we saw there threatened to have someone arrested.
ANDERSON: Right.
HOLMES: Does a debt collector have any rights or any legal backing to make that happen?
ANDERSON: No. They can't.
HOLMES: So if you hear that, you can totally ignore it.
ANDERSON: Totally ignore it. I mean, what you need to do is get their information, get their name, get the name of the company. Get their phone number, their address. How do I correspond with you?
They also have to validate this debt. So they need to send you something in writing to say that this is your debt and how much you actually owe.
HOLMES: OK. This is maybe the most important question. Suppose you do get one of those calls. You're going to get fired up with somebody talking to you like that, you're going to get scared, or you just might flat-out get angry.
ANDERSON: Exactly. HOLMES: How are you supposed to handle those calls?
ANDERSON: You've got to back away. You've really got to count to 10, and you've got to realize that they've got the upper hand.
They know what they're doing. They're professionals. This is what they do, and they're trying to push your buttons.
You can't let them push your buttons. So you've got to realize what the situation is, step back, and say, "Wait, give me your information." And if they don't do that, that's when you hang up the phone, because you have the right to tell them to stop calling you, too. You can write them and say, "Do not call me. Do not contact me anymore."
It doesn't make the debt go away, but you can stop those harassing phone calls.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Important information for a lot of folks out there, Fredricka, who are getting those phone calls.
WHITFIELD: Yes, a lot of times people feel like they don't have a right.
HOLMES: You don't know what your rights are.
WHITFIELD: You know, they're in this bind and they kind of feel like the creditors have the upper hand. So that's good advice.
HOLMES: It's good advice.
Well, good to see you.
WHITFIELD: We count on you for that, bringing us all that great advice.
HOLMES: Good advice.
WHITFIELD: We so much appreciate that.
HOLMES: Well, that was, like, six hours of it this morning.
WHITFIELD: I know.
HOLMES: So hopefully you got something in there.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well now hopefully hang with me for the next five.
HOLMES: All right.
WHITFIELD: All right, T.J.
HOLMES: Fredricka, we'll see you later. WHITFIELD: Good to see you. Have a great day.
