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No Encouraging Signs From Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant; Looming Budget Showdown; Lost Photos of MLK's Killer
Aired April 03, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Tomorrow marks the 43rd anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. This hour, we see new pictures of his killer.
Then, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, five tips you need to know if you work from home.
And at 5:00, watch why a government shutdown could give hackers better access to federal computers.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
First up this hour, the president of Afghanistan wants an American preacher brought to justice. Here's President Hamid Karzai and his staff meeting today with U.S. officials in Kabul, talking about a small Florida church whose members say they burned a copy of the Islamic holy book.
General David Petraeus talked about it today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE: We condemn the action of an individual in the United States who burned a holy Koran. That action was hateful, it was intolerant, and it was extremely disrespectful. And again, we condemn it in the strongest manner possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK SEDWILL, NATO REP. IN AFGHANISTAN: This was an act of disrespect to the Muslim faith and to all peoples of faith. It does not represent the views of the peoples or governments of the alliance. We condemn it.
Our condolences of course go out to everyone who has been hurt in the demonstrations over the past few days. And we call on everyone to remember that this was the act of an isolated individual, and that the peoples and governments of the alliance both respect and defend the Muslim faith and are in Afghanistan to support a peaceful future for the Afghan people.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: The church claims to have burned a Koran last month. Friday's attack on a U.N. headquarters and violent protests that followed have so far killed more than 20 people.
The conflict in Libya is no quick fix. Today, former national security adviser Jim Jones told CNN that the international coalition cannot pull out of Libya until Moammar Gadhafi is out of power.
Also today, Libya sent an official to Greece to deliver a personal message from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. We don't know yet what the message is.
The Libyan woman who burst into a room of journalists claiming that Libyan troops raped her is still missing. That's according to her father. CNN could not verify her story, and Libyan security forces yanked her from the room that day. Libyan government spokesmen have said repeatedly that police released her from custody, but her father says he still has not seen her.
On to Syria now. Another wave of angry anti-government protests today. Gunfire broke out during yesterday's protests, and human rights activists say at least 16 people died. Syria's president, Al- Assad, today named a new prime minister, former agriculture minister Adel Safar.
In Japan, rescuers are finding more bodies three weeks after that tsunami. The death toll from last month's calamity now tops 12,000. More than 15,000 people are still missing.
Meantime, no encouraging signs from that crippled nuclear plant.
Here now is CNN's Martin Savidge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a very difficult day for workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on a number of fronts.
First of all, TEPCO announced today that two employees who had been missing ever since the disaster struck on March 11th, their bodies were found inside the basement of turbine building number 4. It was quite evident that they had died in the initial tsunami. Their bodies were actually found on Wednesday, but the companies released the news today because they wanted to make sure that families heard the word first and had time to grieve before it was all made public.
Then they've been dealing with this very frustrating aspect of a leak. This is a leak that's about eight inches, or 20 centimeters. It was found in a tunnel that's located between reactor number 2 and the ocean. And it is from that leak they can see that there is a gush of water, highly radioactive water, that is now pouring into the Pacific Ocean. It's been doing that for over a week.
What they tried to do initially was to pour cement into the tunnel, hoping to stop the leak. It didn't work. So today they went after it with a high-tech polymer, one that expands greatly when exposed to water. And they also threw in some chopped-up newspapers and sawdust for good measure, and that did not work either. So it's a frustrating setback as they try to contemplate what to do next.
Meanwhile, public frustration continues to grow. There was a demonstration outside of TEPCO headquarters. This is the largest one we have seen so far, and one of the most vocal.
TSUKAGOSHI MYUKA, FIRST-TIME PROTESTER: I can't believe our government anymore. It's stupid, but I want to escape Japan.
SAVIDGE: People increasingly are growing angry over the lack of progress both in dealing with the disaster and with dealing with the nuclear situation in Fukushima.
In Tokyo, I'm Martin Savidge.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Marty.
Southwest Airlines, meantime, is determined to find out how this happened. The airline has grounded and will thoroughly inspect 79 jets just like the one that landed Friday with a four-foot hole ripped in the fuselage. A federal safety inspector says the first priority is clear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT SUMWALT, NTSB BOARD MEMBER: It's very important to find out what happened in this event. We don't want this to happen again. And airplane structures should not fail and rupture as it did yesterday here over the skies of Arizona.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. No one was hurt when the hole suddenly appeared in the plane -- that's the good news. Southwest encourages ticket holders, however, to be aware that they have canceled so many flights.
All right. Now to the looming federal budget showdown in Washington.
President Barack Obama is pressing both parties to reach a compromise to avoid a shutdown which he calls a threat to the economy's recovery. But time is running out. Midnight Friday is the deadline.
Our Sandra Endo is live now from Washington.
So, what are you hearing in terms of whether there will be an agreement?
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, both Democrats and Republicans are trying to work towards a budget agreement to avoid a government shutdown this Friday. What they do agree on is cutting $10 billion in temporary spending measures. But what's on the table and being considered is an additional $20 billion for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends September 30th.
Now, the Republican-controlled House passed a $61 billion spending cut plan, but Senate Democrats say that is too much. And they're working to find some middle ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: I think progress is being made. They're working off a number, $33 billion of cuts. That's very reasonable. It's right in between what Democrats have proposed and Republicans have proposed, right in the middle. And after all, that was the number proposed originally by the House Republican leaders, Ryan and Rogers, the head of the Appropriations Committee.
So they're working off that number, that's good. Now we have to figure out what goes into the number. And that's where the discussions are headed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENDO: At least they're talking. And President Obama called congressional leaders yesterday to urge both sides to reach a deal, but House Speaker John Boehner has said so far there is no agreement on a figure for spending cuts. And Republicans are pushing for more reductions. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham made the case on CBS's "Face the Nation."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Americans as a whole are very upset about the size and scope of the federal government. We're trying to reduce spending, and our Democratic friends are hanging on to old ideas that every time you try to reduce spending, you're being cruel and mean. What's cruel and mean is to pass this debt on to future generations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENDO: Now, there is some progress being made towards working out a deal, and the president emphasized a government shutdown would be a threat to economic recovery -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Sandra Endo, thanks so much.
Meantime, money matters of a different type may dominate President Obama's agenda tomorrow. He is expected to announce his 2012 reelection plans. While small donations played a major role in his first campaign, this go-around, the president will seek big money, even bigger, from wealthy Democrats.
Fundraising could shatter records. Sources tell CNN the campaign hopes to create a $1 billion war chest.
The Final Four, oh, that was so yesterday. Men's college basketball is now down to two after last night's semifinals in Houston. U-Conn and Kentucky took it all the way to the last second, with U-Conn holding on to win 56-55.
And then, a couple of hours earlier, Butler earned its second straight trip to the finals, beating Virginia Commonwealth 70-62. The big game, the big championship, tomorrow night in Houston.
Also ahead, tomorrow marks the 43rd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. What new photos and letters tell us about the man who killed the civil rights leader.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Police in Tucson, Arizona, are blaming a dust devil for injuring two kids. The strong whirlwind lifted an inflammable jump (ph) castle -- that one right there -- some 15 feet into the year yesterday and then slammed it into the street. The two kids inside suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Meantime, 43 years ago tomorrow, an assassin's bullet took the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Recently discovered letters and photos tells us more about James Earl Ray, the man who fired that shot, and his racist leanings.
Marc Perrusguia is an investigative reporter for "The Commercial Appeal" in Memphis, Tennessee.
So, Marc, why are we just now hearing about these letters and photos? And what are they saying about the archives where I guess they've been all this time?
MARC PERRUSGUIA, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, Fredricka, one reason we're only hearing now is because they were placed in county archives, the various offices throughout the various changes of administrations. They pass all their things on to the county archives, and they were just set aside and forgotten.
It was only recently that some workers going back through some things discovered some papers. One was a file from the public defender's office that was marked "James Earl Ray," wrapped in butcher paper. And it took a while for them, once they discovered what they had, through talking to the lawyers and considering things such as attorney-client privilege and whatnot, to release this.
But they are now out. And the really, really interesting thing about these records is that they're there for the world to see.
The registrar in Shelby County, Tom Leatherwood, has a very transparent policy, and he has put these digitized images on the Internet. You see all of Ray's letters, or at least the ones they can find now. You see various exhibits, new photographs of Ray.
WHITFIELD: And photographs of him being booked. We saw the one shot of him being searched. We saw a mug shot. Was that a mug shot that we just haven't seen before?
PERRUSGUIA: Well, these photos were sealed up. The night the photographer -- Sheriff Morris brought in a photographer the night when Ray was extradited back from London. And he shot 60 to 70 frames. And these were sealed up and hadn't been seen to this day.
They were pretty much forgotten. And what you do see is Ray. You know, Ray had been on the run for better part of a year and had been on the lam from the King assassination for two months. And here you see him.
WHITFIELD: He had been in London. He had been in Africa.
And so when you look perhaps the writings, some of these letters, which I understand letters that that were written by him, he sent to his brother, there were letters others sent to him, what do you suppose we will learn through these letters about him that maybe we didn't know? What was kind of the real revealing material for you as you read through this material, read through the letters?
PERRUSGUIA: Well I think one thing we see is we see the mindset of an assassin right after he's been captured. And he's, you know, initially very shocked. He's trapped. But at the same time, we see who he immediately gravitates toward.
James Earl Ray immediately gravitates toward the segregationists, the racists throughout the South. He makes a contact with J.B. Stoner, a very virulent segregationist from Georgia who came up to visit him in jail. And you see Ray funneling messages through his brother, Jerry, who was his chief emissary, to Stoner, asking for various things. Ostensibly, it was to file a libel suit against "LIFE" magazine.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Asking for what, in particular?
PERRUSGUIA: Well, like I said, ostensibly, it was he wanted to stop "LIFE" magazine from writing about him for pre-trial publicity. But we don't know what was -- we don't know when the connection was made between Stoner and Ray. And there's a lingering belief by students of the assassination that Ray might have been paid or Ray might have been expecting to get paid by shooting King.
WHITFIELD: Interesting.
PERRUSGUIA: And so when Congress reexamined the King assassination, the best they could put it is that Stoner had contacted Ray when he was arrested in London. But whether there was a preexisting relationship there is one of the mysteries of the assassination.
WHITFIELD: Marc Perrusguia, this is some fascinating stuff, 43 years after that assassination. All of this material now in the Shelby County register. So people can go to that Web site and they can look at these images for themselves and try as best they can to maybe read those letters as well.
Marc, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.
PERRUSGUIA: Thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: And tonight, hear firsthand stories of the tragedy that still resonates today. "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination" airs tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.
Straight ahead, see why one Florida neighborhood wants to ban kids from playing outside.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Checking other stories "X Country" now.
What may be the largest kidney exchange at a single hospital. It happened Friday in San Francisco. Five people received healthy kidneys from five other people. None of them had met before the surgeries.
A heads up about a recall. It involves Jennie-O white meat turkey burgers sold at Sam's Club stores. The patties are being recalled for possible salmonella contamination in 10 states. A few people have become sick after eating them. The company suggests that you return the burgers for a full refund.
And The Dentist Place in Orange Park, Florida, was the place to be yesterday. The office treated the first 100 people in line to free dental care. They had two options -- have their teeth cleaned or get a tooth pulled.
OK. So remember when your parents would say, "Why don't you just go outside and play?" Well, a neighborhood in central Florida is trying to ban kids from doing just that.
Listen to what our legal guys, Avery Friedman and Richard Herman, had to say about that yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Remember how your parents always said, "Why don't you just go play outside?" Well, a neighborhood in central Florida is trying to ban kids from actually doing that.
Our legal guys are back; Avery Friedman in Washington, Richard Herman in Las Vegas.
Oh, my goodness. OK. So we're talking about -- it sounds crazy on the surface, but there's a good argument on both sides, right?
Edgewater, Florida, this homeowners association for 48 townhomes is saying it's just not safe for kids to be playing tag, skateboarding, riding their bikes, et cetera, in the parking lot right in front of the townhomes there. And if you do so, there's going to be a $100 fine for every violation.
So, Richard, can an HOA really do this lawfully?
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, they can, Fred. They can, and they should.
Homeowners associations, condominium boards, co-op boards, they're charged with regulating the common areas for these facilities. What this board is saying is that for safety reasons this is a parking lot. Kids shouldn't be riding, and if one of these kids should get injured or hit by a car, this community is going to get sued for a lot of money. They don't want that.
They're trying to protect the environment. If you don't like it, vote new people in the homeowners, have your vote heard and try to overrule it.
WHITFIELD: So I wonder, Avery, is it an issue of, does this neighborhood not have a playground, so the money that people spend, you know, toward their HOA, does that mean that the HOA now has to be aware of the populace there, there are kids. There's got to be a safe place for them to play, so why don't they use that money and erect a playground? Might that be a decent argument?
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I guess. Look, Fredricka, the fact is this activity, this proposal is a dope slap concept that flies in the face of the Federal Fair Housing Act.
HERMAN: What?
FRIEDMAN: Ronald Reagan enacted legislation, signed a law in 1988 that prohibits the homeowners association from doing what they are doing. And let me tell you something. The Justice Department will be down there.
The only one that will bring suit in federal court faster than they will be me. It violates federal law. They can't do it. There's no way they can justify the law.
A hundred dollars for playing tag? I don't think so.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So the home owners association plans to vote on this issue April 27th.
All right. A retired pilot joins us to talk about a different safety issue. He has a theory about why a gaping hole opened in a Southwest jet. Find out why he thinks the airline's short trips might have caused the damage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. A look at our top stories right now.
Heavy shelling was reported today in the Libyan port city of Misrata. Since the Libyan uprising began, some of Moammar Gadhafi's troops have defected to the rebel side, as our Ben Wedeman reports. Here's the update.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Color and panache and flair. Libya's revolutionaries have aplenty. But their battlefield skills have come up short.
Outgunned and unruly, their tactic has been to rush forward. And then, when met with resistance, quickly rush back.
They've recently been joined on eastern Libya's fluctuating front by organized units of soldiers who defected from Moammar Gadhafi's army, who have such novelties as satellite telephones, heavier weapons and a bit of discipline.
(on camera): An attempt is under way here to bring some sort of military order to that the effort against Gadhafi's forces in eastern Libya. The young, so-called revolutionaries are being kept back. Only soldiers allowed to the front.
(voice-over): The result is tension and arguments. The young and not so young aren't used to being told no and resent the damper placed upon their revolutionary zeal.
This 19-year-old student who says his name is Saddam Hussein doesn't understand what gives the late-arriving army the right to take control. "The army came yesterday, or the day before," he says. "It was us, the revolutionaries, who almost made it to Sirte," referring to Gadhafi's birthplace.
Troops loyal to the Libyan leader, however, pushed the revolutionaries way back. "Their abilities are weak," says Ibrahim, who says he's with special forces, adding, "And sometimes they bother us because they're over-enthusiastic and get in our way."
There are also worries that not all the revolutionaries are what they say they are. "Some of them know what they're doing and some are untrained," says Captain Mohammed Al-Fabi (ph). "And some are giving our positions away."
"You mean spies?" I ask. "Yes," he responds. "Moammar Gadhafi's people who are watching us, listening to our communications, and telling them where we are so they can hit us."
The new tactic is to hold ground and move forward with caution, an approach that makes sense but goes against the grain of boys and men who want to do it their way.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, outside Al Brega, eastern Libya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: In Cairo, fans riot and a soccer stadium is damaged. Now Egypt's prime minister is apologizing to the people of Tunisia. It happened in the closing minutes of a qualifying game against Tunisia.
Fans of the Egyptian team stormed the field after a crucial goal was disallowed. A CNN I-Reporter says police were protecting the referee, which made the fans apparently even angrier. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): And there's growing anger now in Japan over the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. About 200 people demonstrated outside the headquarters of TEPCO, the company that owns the plant.
They told CNN's Martin Savidge, they don't like how the company is handling the crisis and are increasingly frustrated with the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The clock is ticking towards a possible federal government shutdown in this country, Friday, if U.S. Congress doesn't come together on a budget deal. Some movement is expected this week, but experts wonder if the Democrats and Republicans will be able to avert a shutdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Americans as a whole are very upset about the size and scope of the federal government. We're trying to reduce spending and our Democratic friends are hanging on to old ideas that every time you try to reduce spending, you're being cruel and mean. What's cruel and mean is to pass this debt on to future generations.
I have a lot of sympathy for Speaker Boehner because he does want to come to an agreement. He knows how devastating a shutdown would be. That's his words, not ours although we all agree on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Lawmakers have until midnight Friday to reach a deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): All right, Southwest Airlines is determined to find out how this happened. The airline has grounded and will thoroughly inspect 79 jets. Just like the one that landed Friday with a four-foot hole ripped in the fuselage.
No one was seriously hurt. The 737 did land safely. Southwest encourages ticket holders to be aware that so many flights have been cancelled. It certainly might mess up people's schedules.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So let's bring in Michael Maya Charles right now. He's the CEO of AirSafety Experts and he flew jets for more than 40 years. So Michael, you know, you've seen the pictures, just as we all have.
And are all thankful that we weren't on that plane because you can't imagine what those passengers were going through. What does your gut say about what happened here? MICHAEL MAYA CHARLES, CEO, AIRSAFETY EXPERTS: Well, what really happened, Fredricka is the Southwest operates aircraft in what's called a high-cycle, high-fatigue environment.
They run up and down, in other words the airplane goes from the ground to altitude and back down, which is a pressurization cycle, quite frequently, much more so than a lot of other airlines.
And what happens is we exercise the fuselage, as it blows up with pressure and then deflates when we're back on the ground. They tend to flex to metallurgy in the whole structure, which is normal stuff.
WHITFIELD: So it sound like you're saying a lot of short trips stress out the plane as opposed to people just thinking, you know a plane that's being overused on long trips. This kind of short-trip stuff is what jeopardizes the skin of the plane?
CHARLES: It does, and what we have in these short-trip airplanes as you call them are -- we are watching them pretty closely in the industry. We have an aging aircraft segment, if you will in the FAA that watches this kind of occurrence.
Watches for this kind of occurrence because what we do when we see problems like the one we had on the Southwest jet this past week, is we say, are we inspecting these aircraft significantly enough?
Are we doing the non-destructive testing to be able to really tell us if we have fatigue issues in the metallurgy as the airplane goes through its normal day.
WHITFIELD: So is the issue in the method of the maintenance taking place, the inspections? Because if the NTSB, the inspectors are saying this plane did undergo major maintenance and was disassembled in May of last year. All eyes and hands have been on deck here. Is it an issue of revising the methods that are used?
CHARLES: it is revising and probably what will come of this, frankly is we will revise the methodology once again on the inspection cycles for these airplanes, we'll look at them more often and perhaps more carefully to be able to pick up problems like this before they become a big issue.
And we've done that before in the industry take a look at you know, how these airplanes are performing over time. This airplane was built back in about 1996 and it went into service, about '96, I should say.
So it's not, in comparison to a lot of other airliners, it's not that old. It's just got a lot of cycles on it. That's what we're looking at now.
WHITFIELD: So that Southwest has grounded now 79 jets. They're going to further inspect. Give me an idea of how this might cripple an airline as a whole. To have to ground so many jets and have much more thorough kind of checking and double-checking of everything?
CHARLES: Well, when you have that significant percentage of your fleet down for maintenance, required maintenance before further flight, it does put a monkey wrench into your schedule, obviously.
And I think Southwest has been very proactive in trying to get ahead of this thing and say, let's put these airlines on the ground and look at them first.
The inspections themselves should not take a significant amount of time, although there will be some disruptions, I'm sure.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and I'm sure that everyone is comforted by these kinds of inspections, I'm sure very few will be complaining about that.
CHARLES: Exactly. It has to be right, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: That's right. Michael Maya Charles, thanks so much. Appreciate your time.
CHARLES: You're certainly welcome, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, let's turn to some entertainment news and Charlie Sheen's one-man show -- winning?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): That does not say winning or at least it doesn't sound like winning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Actor Charlie Sheen now on stage and apparently in need of some work on his material. Reviews are in after Sheen kicked off his "Torpedo of Truth" road show in Detroit yesterday. And entertainment correspondent, Kareen Wynter was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Charlie Sheen, he definitely was not winning on his opening tour night. His highly- anticipated "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour, his name up in bright lights, center stage in the motor city, but Sheen bombed in big way.
(voice-over): And the thousands of fans inside Detroit's Fox Theater, they let him have it. They chanted refund, they called him loser. Sheen basically spoke all night long saying he was here to save the fans and said he rolled out a presidential-like podium and gave a nonsensical speech.
There were clips from his recent one big massive montage and he had his goddesses on stage and they burned his iconic "Two and a Half Men" shirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst show ever.
WYNTER: This show, it's just a show where Sheen, he never, ever managed to connect with the audience. He even chalked it up as an experiment. The question is with all the tour dates remaining over the next month, fans really want to pay to see a less-than-stellar performance. Kareen Wynter, CNN, Detroit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Warner Brothers fired sheen from the hit comedy, "Two and a Half Men." Warner Brothers is owned by Time Warner, CNN's parent company.
Technology is advancing so fast sometimes it simply hard to keep up. Fortunately, we have our gadget guru guy, Marc Saltzman in the house with some new gadgets, can't wait to put my hands on that one. What is it, anyway? We'll bring you up to speed after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, so here's a thought, this spring you may need to take time off from work just to figure out all these new gadgets that are on the market.
Syndicated technology writer, Marc Saltzman usually in Toronto, this time here in the house.
MARC SALTZMAN, SYNDICATED TECHNOLOGY WRITER: Nice to see you.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you too.
SALTZMAN: Awesome.
WHITFIELD: Some cool stuff, this is a beautiful new tablet. It's smaller. It's going to compete with the iPad, right?
SALTZMAN: It sure will. This is the Blackberry Playbook. It's out on April 19th starting at $499 depending on the memory you want, but yes, it's a seven-inch tablet, instead of a nearly ten-inch one and a beautiful high-def screen as you can see.
And check this out, I love the interface, you simply scroll across, so you can listen to music, tap to enlarge it. Again, you flip up to minimize so it's very powerful because it's running all of this simultaneously.
This is a full web browser with flash support. Something the iPad doesn't do. It's got a dual core processor. So very powerful, it's got dual cameras, HD cameras one for taking pictures or shooting video, one for engaging in live --- yes, it's a digital Swiss army knife.
WHITFIELD: Well, it's amazing because, you know, we've gone from laptop size - people, you know, would shrink it down to or be happy with the fact that the iPad is one size. Now that's not small enough -
SALTZMAN: Yes, there's going to be plenty of options.
WHITFIELD: This is right between kind of your cell phone and your iPad.
SALTZMAN: Yes, there's going to be dozens of tablets this year, but I think RIM has a great shot here. So again, that's April 19th.
WHITFIELD: Speaking of phones --
SALTZMAN: Right.
WHITFIELD: Folks aren't going to know if you're, you know, really taking care of business --
SALTZMAN: Well, you'll know in a minute, yes.
WHITFIELD: E-mailing work or if you're playing.
SALTZMAN: Exactly so that's the operative word here. This is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. It looks like a regular four-inch Android phone. It runs on Google's mobile operating system.
But check this out, you flip it up and you're right. Here's where the play comes in. This is the first PlayStation branded phone. So it's got familiar controls to gamers, the familiar pad, these are called analogue buttons here.
This is a racing game. It comes bundled with six games and even the PlayStation, you know, the square, x, circle, all that. So this is racing game. You do get six games for free and there's going to be 60 games available at launch in late April.
It's going to be through Verizon wireless. No price yet, but very cool. It's a very high definition graphics, impossible to play backwards so I'm sorry.
WHITFIELD: This is a phone?
SALTZMAN: This is, it is in fact an android phone. Yes. It runs on the popular operating system. I'll just exit out of the game. So here are all your apps. So there's 200,000 downloads from the Apps store.
Exactly, exactly, there you go. So that's coming out again in late April, no price just yet and that's the Xperia Play. It's dubbed the PlayStation phone.
WHITFIELD: So that really is for the kid in you, but --
SALTZMAN: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: Of course, a lot of parents are probably going to be sharing that with their kids when they're stuck at the airport.
SALTZMAN: Kids and kids at heart exactly.
WHITFIELD: And a fabulous new laptop. What makes this one so unique?
SALTZMAN: Well, for one, you many notice. There's no keyboard. WHITFIELD: No keyboard.
SALTZMAN: Isn't that interesting?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
SALTZMAN: This is the Acer Iconia coming out later in April. So here's what's cool about it. So get ready for this. When you want a keyboard, a virtual keyboard to pop up at the bottom, you just press your palms down and there you go.
What's cool about it is if you speak different languages, you have people in your home that speak different languages, it pops up the keyboard that you want it to so it's got different letters and languages.
So let's close that and then when you want to pull up this Acer ring, you just take your five fingers like this and prop it down and then you can play things like media. You've got this little scroll here.
WHITFIELD: This is something like out of like "Mission: Impossible" or something.
SALTZMAN: This is a video that's bundled, but you obviously load it up with your music, your photos. We're hearing the Blackberry playbook.
WHITFIELD: You can watch a movie and at the same time do a little work.
SALTZMAN: That's it. You can multitask. So on the bottom, you can be surfing the web and on the top, watching a TV show or you hold it like a book, like this and you actually can read it like this way and flip through the pages.
WHITFIELD: I'm going to have a heart attack. This is way too much.
SALTZMAN: This is going to be $1,200 when it comes out in late April. So it's got dual 14-inch touch screens. So very unique, very unique from Acer.
WHITFIELD: That's incredible.
SALTZMAN: Very cool stuff.
WHITFIELD: OK, so I don't know how you keep up with all this stuff, all these gadgets. You get to play. Every week you get something new.
SALTZMAN: It's a tough gig, what can I tell you.
WHITFIELD: I'm feeling for you.
SALTZMAN: A little violins, I can hear it.
WHITFIELD: I'm so glad you're the one to simplify it for all of us. Thanks so much. Marc Saltzman. Good to see you in person.
SALTZMAN: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Next time Toronto again?
SALTZMAN: Yes, you got it next Sunday.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, enjoy your travel and you have a little gadget just for the plane.
SALTZMAN: You got it. A few to choose from.
WHITFIELD: Reality TV star, Bethenny Frankel. You know her, do you watch her?
SALTZMAN: No, I don't. I'm sorry.
WHITFIELD: OK, well, you'll have to watch this segment then to get to know her a little bit. This is a woman who really knows what she wants out of life and she says it's very simple, just say yes. I sit down face to face with her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: She's become America's favorite self-described skinny girl. Bethenny Frankel. Best-selling author, natural food chef and breakout reality TV star is so hugely popular in large part because of her sharp tongue, wit and wisdom.
I sat down face to face to talk to her about her third book, which reveals how she gets what she wants out of life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETHENNY FRANKEL, REALITY TV STAR AND AUTHOR: It's been an incredible journey. It's kind of hard to hold on, but I'm trying and holding on for dear life.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): On her hit reality TV show, "Ever After" holding on to so much looks easy for Bethenny Frankel.
FRANKEL: It's been quite a year. My business kind of exploded over the last year and few years. I got married. I had a baby. My own show is quite a success.
WHITFIELD: She's the fast-talking brainchild behind the ever so popular 100-calorie premixed "Skinny Girl" margarita. The witty first runner up on NBC's "The Apprentice" Martha Stewart and the once take no prisoners standout in the bravo hit series, "The Real Housewives of New York."
FRANKEL: I left the "Housewives" and then ironically became a housewife.
WHITFIELD (on camera): It's funny how that works out.
FRANKEL: It is funny how that works out.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): A meteoric ascent in the public eye in just five years, a blink by entertainment business standards.
FRANKEL: Basically, the way I got here, my life is from coming from a place of yes.
WHITFIELD: Yes, the basic ingredient she says to just about all that's come her way.
FRANKEL: It doesn't mean that I'm always positive. It doesn't mean I'm always in a good mood, it means that there is no such word as no in my vocabulary. And it's just yes, we can get it done and it will happen and I will make it happen and keep going. Plow straight through things.
WHITFIELD: Yes, is also the premise behind her third book.
(on camera): "A Place of Yes" ten rules for getting everything you want out of life. Where did this come from?
FRANKEL: People don't really ask me that many questions about my personal life because they know a lot of it. They ask me, how did you succeed in business? My book "A Place of Yes" is how I got here and it tells mostly women, how to get there.
And whatever you want to do. If you want to just be married, if you want to be a great mom, a tri-athlete, a philanthropist or a CEO, whatever it is that you want. "A place of Yes" is telling you how to get it and how I got there.
WHITFIELD: So first you break the chain and then you say everything is your business. You have 10 rules. We're not going to go through all ten. So I've just selected a few. You say everything is your business. Give every job your all. Respect others. Play fair.
FRANKEL: everything is your business. I have had a woman work for me who was a coat check girl at a party and she treated it like she was the president of the United States. And she later went on to run Bill Gates' and Paul Allen's event businesses and has a big job marketing at Red Bull now. All roads lead to Rome, which is another big rule.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): Rules of life, Bethenny Frankel may not be first to have penned, but like in her shows --
FRANKEL: I was told by an ex-boyfriend, you should not be using reality television for therapy.
WHITFIELD: And her business ventures --
FRANKEL: And I say, why not? You should use everything for therapy.
WHITFIELD: She's unapologetically honest. Engaging a huge audience that can't seem to get enough of Bethenny Frankel's life recipe.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Later on this afternoon, more of my face-to-face with Bethenny Frankel. S he'll talk about the lessons that she wants to teach her daughter.
All right, it's just 15 days until the tax deadline. Have you filed yet? If not, hear some things you should avoid. CNN Money came up with a list of some of the wackiest tax deductions the IRS has ever seen.
Number five, buffalo meat. Number four, loofah sponges. Number three, underwear. So what are the top two wackiest tax deductions? After the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: So we told you about some of the wacky tax deductions that people try to claim. Here are the others that made the IRS's list of odd claims.
Number two on the wackiest deductions list a scientology class and the number one wackiest tax deduction is -- prostitutes. Yes. You heard me clearly. Don't ask any more questions than that.
All right. Jobs, Japanese cars and interest rates all affecting your bottom line this coming week. First over to Alison Kosik.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka, the job market took a big step forward last month, 216,000 jobs were added in March and unemployment rate dropped to 8.8 percent. Analysts say it's a sign the labor market is gaining momentum.
Michigan will become the first state to trim unemployment benefits by six weeks down to 20 beginning next year. Michigan doesn't have enough money to pay benefits. States like Florida and Arkansas are also considering similar moves.
It could take a while to get your car fixed. Toyota is rationing 200 types of parts that come from a Japanese supplier affected by the disaster. Toyota and Lexus dealers will only be able to order a part as need, no stockpiling allowed.
Poppy Harlow has a look at what's coming up in business news now, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: This coming week we're going to hear from the Federal Reserve when it releases the minutes from its last meeting. Analysts are looking for any talk of inflation.
Food and energy prices as you probably noticed have been soaring and one fed official tells the "Wall Street Journal" that an interest rate hike is coming this year.
Meantime, Google is getting a new CEO. The co-founder, Larry Page, reclaims that title on Monday. Page handed the reins over to Eric Schmidt in 2001, but Schmidt is now stepping down to focus on the role of chairman. We'll follow up for you all week on CNN Money. Fred, back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, ladies. All right, straight ahead on "YOUR MONEY," how to understand the Washington budget battle. Exactly what Democrats, Republicans and Tea Party members are fighting about.
Meantime, I'll be back in one hour. Time now for "YOUR MONEY."
