Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Government Shutdown Poses Tech Risks; 2012 Re-Election Bid; 2012 Contenders and Their Baggage; Gifted Children Left Behind; Top Five Happiest Careers in America; Rules for Working from Home; Art: Home Not Required; Reality TV Star is on the Rise; Libyan Rebels Retreat; NCAA Gear Scores Big Bucks; Killed Over a Spilled Drink
Aired April 03, 2011 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Looking at to our top stories at the top of the hour. Southwest Airlines is keeping several planes on the ground today, 79 of their aircraft will get a thorough once-over before rejoining the fleet. That is after passengers aboard a Southwest 737 watched a large hole rip open at 36,000 feet in the air on Friday. A flight safety expert told me earlier what likely happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MAYA CHARLES, CEO, AIRSAFETY EXPERTS: Southwest operates aircraft in what's called a high-cycle, high-fatigue environment. They run up and down. In other words, the plane goes from ground to altitude and back down which is a pressurization cycle quite frequently, much more so than a lot of other airlines. What happens is we exercise that fuselage, as it blows up, if you will, with pressure and deflates when we are back on the ground; they tend to flex the metallurgy in the whole structure, which is normal stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Inspectors say the external skin of the plane came apart at a rivet line. No one was seriously hurt when the Southwest flight made an emergency landing in Arizona.
Across the seas, Libyan rebels fighting outside al Brega retreated about 20 miles today. There have been reports of road side mines. Also today Libya sent an envoy to Greece with a personal message from Moammar Gadhafi. Greek officials say Gadhafi appears to be looking for some kind of solution to the conflict.
The president of Afghanistan wants the U.S. Congress to condemn an American preacher who burned the Quran. The incident touched off three days of protest in Afghanistan and it killed more than 20 people. President Hamid Karzai met with U.S. officials in Kabul today and the U.S. top commander in Afghanistan also spoke out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, INTL. SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE: We condemn the action of an individual in the United States who burned a holy Quran. 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)
WHITFIELD: In Japan, rescuers are finding more bodies from last month's devastating earthquake and tsunami. The death toll now tops 12,000. More than 15,000 people are still missing.
And in Tokyo, a growing number of Japanese are taking to the street. Today, about 200 people demonstrated outside the headquarters of TEPCO. That's the company that owns the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Protesters told CNN's Martin Savidge they don't like how the company is handling the crisis and they're also losing patience with the government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TSUKAGOSHI MUYKA, FIRST-TIME PROTESTER: I can't believe our government anymore. It's stupid, but I want to escape Japan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And more setbacks for TEPCO. Its first two efforts to plug a leak of radioactive water from the plant into the Pacific Ocean failed.
The U.S. House Budget chairman wants to make drastic changes to Medicaid and Medicare. Congressman Paul Ryan is expected to reveal a plan Tuesday that sources say would cut Medicaid spending by up to $1 trillion. It would also require seniors on Medicare to choose from a menu of health care insurance plans. Critics derided an earlier version of the plan as a voucher program.
And President Barack Obama is getting involved in the ongoing budget battle on Capitol Hill. He called Senate leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner this weekend urging them to reach a compromise deal. The government could shut down if no deal is reached by Friday.
And if there is a government shutdown, what would that mean to this can country's cyber security? CNN's Deborah Feyerick put that question to some cyber experts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The last time Washington, D.C. shut down over stalled budget talks in 1995, Ford Tipton was in charge of protecting critical infrastructure, power grids, water supplies, monitoring natural disasters. Back then, he says cyber security was so new, it was almost a nonissue during the shutdown.
(on camera): The government shutdown that you experienced back in 1995, for one to happen today it would be a completely different ball game?
HORD TIPTON, CYBER SECURITY EXPERT: There is no comparison. The number of people that will be determined essential this time just for the security piece alone will be several orders of magnitude larger.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Federal agencies are required to have backup plans listing essential employees, people who stay behind and safeguard their agency when everyone else goes home.
(on camera): Where do you see the biggest threat being when it comes to security of the cyber infrastructure?
TIPTON: We just need to have people who can read the output from the monitoring systems that come in and if there is targeted attacks, which we get every single day, then you have to be able to respond to those.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Karen Evans was in charge of information technology under President George W. Bush. She says policy guidelines have not adequately changed since 1995 to reflect the new cyber reality.
KAREN EVANS, FMR. ADMINISTRATOR FOR E-GOVERNMENT: How you connect in with your Blackberries and how you can connect in with multiple devices. It's really about protecting the information, so you have to have defenses around your most sensitive information.
FEYERICK: The federal agency in charge of managing government, Office of Management and Budget, says it's prepared for any contingency. They declined to be interviewed or discuss any agency specifics. Still, Evans worries.
EVANS: What I'm really concerned about right now is that we're advertising that the agencies are going to shut down.
FEYERICK: Tipton has been on Capitol Hill lobbying lawmakers on what he sees as an already-existing shortage of cyber security personnel.
TIPTON: We don't have enough people to do the things that need to be done now and during a shutdown, when we start sending people home, we will have less. So the risk, to me, has to go up.
FEYERICK: A risk redefined by data in a largely digital world. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Days before a possible government shutdown, President Barack Obama is expected to make his re-election bid official. He could file his paperwork with the Federal Election Commission this week. Maybe even tomorrow. That would give him a head start on some record-shattering fundraising goals.
Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is back, as promised. Does it seem really early, much earlier than usual, for a president, an incumbent, to say I'm back in?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It seems, but actually, you know, President George W. Bush, the most recent example, he did it in May of 2003, the year before he ran for re-election. So, we're really in the same timeframe here. And what we think, good reporting by our national political correspondent, Jessica Yellin, as early as tomorrow, the president will file papers with the Federal Election Commission and that will allow him to do two things. He'll declare his candidacy that will allow him to start raising money and it will allow his campaign team to open up shop in a downtown Chicago office tower just a few blocks from where he had his 2008 presidential campaign.
WHITFIELD: Interesting. So, one would automatically think that an incumbent wouldn't need to raise as much money as he or she might have running, you know, the first time around.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. But --
WHITFIELD: Not true?
STEINHAUSER: Not true. Not true. First time around, he broke all records, raised almost $750 million. The idea this time is to raise maybe up to a billion dollars, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Where will that money go? I mean, what would it -- what would it cover?
STEINHAUSER: Well, advertising, first of all, campaign commercials, travel, get out the vote efforts. It's not cheap. And we just saw these midterm elections. The Republicans were very good, not only the Republican candidates and party raising money, but outside groups raising money for the Republicans. The president and his team may take a page from that and also raise money separate from the campaign. It's expensive nowadays.
WHITFIELD: So, I wonder what this will do for those who are considering a run. Is this also, you know, a smart move on President Obama's side that this is this kind of intimidation that, you know, if you don't, you know, make a commitment right now, you're not going to be able to catch me?
STEINHAUSER: Exactly. Remember, the second quarter fundraising just begun. July 1st they're going to show how much money they made and if the Obama team raises a lot of money, that could scare some Republicans who are thinking of running but haven't done it yet from running, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Interesting stuff. All right, Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much. Always good to see you, better. And even better, to see you right here, as opposed to usually on the road or in Washington. Excellent. Thanks so much.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. President Obama is not the only politician thinking, of course, about 2012. But some of the possible contenders bring a lot of baggage to the campaign trail. How do they turn those negatives into votes?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: The race for next year's Republican president nomination is getting underway right now. Some of the potential candidates carry a little baggage, however. CNN's national political correspondent Jessica Yellin takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN: CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mitt Romney, he has a fierce fundraising machine, broad name recognition and he's getting praise from the man in the Oval Office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I agree with Mitt Romney, who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished on health care in Massachusetts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: What's that about? Well, health care reform could well be Romney's Achilles heel. As Massachusetts governor, he signed a health care reform law that included a mandate. And it's a lot like the Obama health care plan, which is wildly unpopular among Republican voters. Here's the governor explaining it in New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R), MASSACHUSETTS: Now, our approach next door was a state plan to address state problems in ways that were unique to Massachusetts. Now, our experiment wasn't perfect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: For former House speaker Newt Gingrich, the challenge isn't policy, it's personal. He's been married three times, he's admitted to having affairs. That's a tough sell for the values voters who naturally gravitate to a social conservative positions. Now, he's asking for forgiveness and offering a rationale on the Christian Broadcasting Network.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Well, I mean, first of all, there's no question that at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and that things happened in my life that were not appropriate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: That got the late-night comics buzzing. Here's NBC's Jay Leno.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, COMEDIAN : Did you hear his explanation? He said he's so passionate -- he's so passionate about America, that he loved it so much that it led him to cheating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: These days, Gingrich's wife is a prominent part of his team. His supporters are banking on his energetic campaign style, his wealth of ideas, and some name recognition to carry the day.
Then, there's former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. His biggest challenge, he hasn't grabbed a lot of notice. A fellow Republican joked:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BEN QUAYLE (R), ARIZONA: Tim Pawlenty could win the general election and serve two consecutive terms before anyone would notice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Ouch. They noticed him when he was governor of Minnesota. He slashed government spending, so much he prompted a bus drivers' strike and a government shutdown. As for his lack of pizzazz, here's what he told ABC's Terry Moran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM PAWLENTY, FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: You can either look at pizzazz or you can look at people's records and what they stand for and what they got done. And I'll take results over pizzazz any day of the week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN (on camera): Then there's former governors Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. Both have strong appeal with the conservative base but more difficulty with independent voters. Plus, there's no clear sign either of them plans to run and you can't win if you don't run.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: The "Best Political Team" on television will take an in depth look at the 2012 presidential contends all day tomorrow right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The No Child Left Behind Act has focused the nation's attention on kids who need extra help in school. But kids who are more gifted sometimes get neglected. CNN education contributor Steve Perry explores the consequences in today's "Perry's Principles."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): What do Lady Gaga and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They're alums of the Center for Talented Youth, known as CTY, the 32-year-old organization seeks out and identifies kids are academically advanced.
PATRICIA WALLACE, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV. CTR. FOR TALENTED YOUTH: Sometimes the teachers don't know who they are because they may be the ones who sit in the back of the room who become behavior problems because they're bored. We start developing programs that really challenge them. We never underestimate them.
PERRY: At Baltimore's Mt. Washington's Elementary School, gifted students solve advanced math problems at their own pace. The CTY online program which enrolled more than 10,000 students last year offers a variety of courses where kids around the world interact with teachers through the Internet.
(on camera): What happens to kids when they don't have this in the school?
WALLACE: It's very frustrating. They will never make it to the potential that they are capable of without help. It's like an athlete. What would have happened to our great football players if they didn't have a coach.
PERRY (voice-over): We spend so much money on public education and gifted and talented programs are the first to be cut.
WALLACE: They are. Because of the No Child Left Behind legislation, it just -- we collectively decided to put more of our resources into helping children who really needed a lot of help. But one of the costs for that was that we started to neglect the ones at the top. We're paying a price and losing these kids. The cure for cancer is in the minds of one of these students, and we're missing the boat if we don't nurture that talent.
PERRY: Steve Perry, Baltimore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Are you happy at work? According to Forbes.com, here are the five top happiest careers in America. Number five, purchasing- procurement. Number four, administrative assistant. Number three, education. Number two, customer service. And we'll have the number one career that makes people happy right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Before the break we began listing the top five happiest careers in America, according to Forbes.com., and here is number one on the list. Biotechnology.
Well, some of you are happiest working from home, but it's not always as easy as it sounds. Last hour, life coach Valorie Burton shared some rules for reclaiming your career. For starters, she said, set boundaries.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALORIE BURTON, LIFE COACH: A lot of that starts with talking with family and friends. I've had the experience of clients, or even myself, working from home. I'm having people saying, well, you know, you're home. Are you up? You get a call at 9:30, are you up yet? So, really make sure -- no, you're working during this time. You can't do the things you might normally do on a Saturday afternoon. Set those boundaries.
Set boundaries around things like, you know, sitting down to eat. Maybe you have dinner at the same time every night. Close up shop.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Or maybe don't disturb me if my office door is closed, that kind of thing. That means I'm really working.
So, you know, you -- part of those boundaries are keeping those regular hours as you say, you know, and you need to kind of close up shop or open up shop in a very visible way.
BURTON: Do it in a visible way. If you're able to have a separate office, the make sure that you close that door when work is over. If you don't have some visual way of even, you know, covering up the computer, or having a partition, that making sure that you're keeping that separation. Because many people have had that experience of working from home and getting up at, you know, 11:30 because they had an idea and they haven't closed up shop.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. And then you say don't let work take over the house meaning don't have files here, paperwork there.
BURTON: Yes. Try to contain it to one area. And it is very overwhelming to always have that work there. So, the visual is really, really important. Try to keep things contained.
WHITFIELD: And that's hard to do if you're living in an apartment or if you live in a small apartment in New York City, for example.
BURTON: So, you know what? Taking that time to say, how can I get organized? And it might be one day. Sometimes it's just, you know, taking an hour on a weekend to say, how can I separate my work and home a little bit better?
WHITFIELD: OK, excellent. And you say, you've got to leave the house. You may be thinking about, you know what, I got all these things to do. I've got five things I got to do today, I got to tackle. And it means I'm going to hunker down. But you say, you got to leave the house because you become more productive, how?
BURTON: Well, it's really, really important. You know, when we think of most people wanting to work from home it's because they don't want to have a commute. But sometimes when you work from home enough, you create a commute. Maybe you don't want the one-hour commute, but --
WHITFIELD: That makes you crazy.
BURTON: Yes, you know, just to Starbucks to do some work there might be a good idea. So, getting out of the house so you don't go stir crazy. It doesn't have to happen every day, but make sure that sometimes you schedule that time away. (END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And Valorie also suggests that you reach out to other people, perhaps join a professional group. More advice every Sunday afternoon right here in the CNN NEWSROOM on how to reclaim your career.
All right. You're about to see that artists, true artists, only need inspiration and an outlet even when life deals them a bad hand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): Tieree Malone knew he had some artistic talent but never found time to pursue it.
TIEREE MALONE, ARTIST, FORMERLY HOMELESS : Somewhere I always pushed it in the back of my head because I didn't see a outlet, really.
WHITFIELD: After losing his apartment and seeking shelter at the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, Malone stumbled on a surprising opportunity. Another resident, Greg Walcott, introduced him to a thriving arts community at the shelter.
GREG WALCOTT, ARTIST, FORMERLY HOMELESS: We would paint every day all day long until -- from the time we got up in the morning until sometimes 1:00, 2:00 in the morning.
WHITFIELD: The art studio in the storefront of the Task Force's 1920s era building in downtown Atlanta was started a few years ago by the program's executive director Anita Beaty, an artist herself.
ANITA BEATY, EXEC. DIR., METRO ATLANTA TASK FORCE FOR THE HOMELESS: It seemed to me that there were lots and lots of creative people among folks who were experiencing homelessness. And they needed a place to be secure and a place to paint.
WHITFIELD: Anyone is welcome to apply for free studio space. There are seven artists working there now. All must follow certain rules, including staying drug free.
Malone and Walcott became fast friends and formed a unique bond as artists, even working on paintings together. They say art helped them deal with their situations.
WALCOTT: It gave me an outlet. I didn't think about being homeless. I didn't think about where I'm going to eat at.
WHITFIELD: It also provided a source of income, collectors, church groups, and even people passing by the storefront purchased their paintings which sell for anywhere between $200 and $2,000. After about two years, they earned enough from their art, combined with weekend jobs at a nightclub, to rent a house together.
WALCOTT: I like working out here mainly because of the sounds, you know, the birds, you know, I mean, the sunshine.
WHITFIELD: Malone and Walcott now spend more time painting on their own back porch, but they still get to the studio as often as they can.
MALONE: We eat, sleep and breathe art at all times pretty much.
WHITFIELD: Beaty believes the art studio at the Task Force can provide the community a unique perspective on homelessness.
BEATY: We think that this is an important way for people to begin to look at homelessness as an experience, not as a blood type, not as a kind of person because it isn't.
WHITFIELD: Both Malone and Walcott say they don't know where they'd be today if it hadn't been for the art studio.
MALONE: Some people just -- they go through things, learn a new experience, some bounce back. Unfortunately, some don't.
WHITFIELD: Malone says the art studio was just the help he needed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And to see more about the artists, Tieree Malone and Greg Walcott, including a gallery of their paintings, check out CNN.com.
All right. If you're a reality TV show fan, you probably know her as just Stephanie. Stephanie Frankel, a natural food chef, brain child behind Skinnygirl Margaritas and now author of three books. Well, she's very public about just about everything in her life. The star of "Bethenny Ever After" on Bravo tells me face to face how real reality TV really is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (on camera): You are, you know, very transparent. You are out there. It's kind of tell it like it is. People see that on "Ever After." How many cameras do you have at any one time?"
BETHENNY FRANKEL, REALITY TV STAR, ENTREPRENEUR: Usually two cameras. Sometimes if it's a bigger event, there will be more, but usually two.
WHITFIELD: Do you feel like this is very authentic? This is very real? You really are saying what you feel?
FRANKEL: On "Housewives," I felt that some people were very aware of the cameras and acted accordingly. In real life, you don't really see people flipping tables and ripping people's hairpieces out. I mean, I have never seen that in my life except for on television.
WHITFIELD: Is it ever uncomfortable for you?
FRANKEL: It's uncomfortable for me. Not -- it's not uncomfortable for me when I'm living something, to be honest, because it's happening. I'm not -- what could you do? You know, the -- all I could do is be honest. I'm sorry that I sometimes act crazy. I'm sorry that I'm neurotic. Or I'm not sorry. I am obsessive, I am neurotic. I don't always want my in-laws around. I don't want to go to church on Sundays with my husband. WHITFIELD: Yes, you surprised me for a moment when you said, I'm sorry. I'm like, really? Are you really, you know, apologetic? But no, because this is who you are.
FRANKEL: I'm not -- I'm not really sorry.
WHITFIELD: You're not making excuses. So then, I wonder -- you know, just recently watching an episode with you and your husband, Jason. And you were talking about family and what he thought was normal and you were saying, you know, family gatherings, Thanksgiving, holidays. It's not everybody's normal.
FRANKEL: It's funny. You know, Jason really is a genuine person and I can't believe that I married someone who happens to just be kind of OK with all this. He really is about the truth. He's a little bit less forthcoming. I mean, Jason's a great guy, but he's -- he doesn't -- we don't see all --
WHITFIELD: A little bit more private.
FRANKEL: He likes to be the good guy. Jason's a pleaser. So I think that translates on the camera.
WHITFIELD: So is most of this spontaneous or do you have discussions with the producers, with the crews, you know, likely these things are going to take place over the next hour and a half, just roll with me?
FRANKEL: No, it doesn't work over the next hour and a half . It would be, you know, OK, on June 12th, I have to go to Vegas for a liquor conference. And they'll be like -- they'll decide whether they want to come for the weekend. Or I'm going on my speaking tour or I have a book signing. Or sometimes, you know, we're just going to hang out at the house today and we might take a bubble bath and, you know, whatever's going to happen.
WHITFIELD: Are there boundaries?
FRANKEL: There are boundaries.
WHITFIELD: Off limits?
FRANKEL: We didn't want the cameras to be there when we got engaged. We have our own weird boundaries. It doesn't mean that something crazy happened when I got engaged. It just means we have our own decisions that we make about what we want to not be filmed.
WHITFIELD: So, what's next for Bethenny Frankel? You've got this book "A Place of Yes." You've been touring the country, talking about these ten items and more and everything else that folks want to know about your life, your career, your margaritas. What's next?
FRANKEL: The "Skinnygirl" cocktail line will expand very soon to white sangria, Hohito, palmopolitans (ph), all kinds of sweet tea, vodka lemonade. And we'll global, we'll international within the next year. So that's going to be a really big jump in business and things like that. I have Skinnygirl shape wear, Skinnygirl daily, which is a cleanse. I've shut the store right now because I have a lot of really great products and brands and things that really are aligned with my ideals and my philosophy and I don't want to be bogged down and not be able to really give 100 percent to everything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And later this hour, more face to face with Bethenny Frankel who says she's got great advice for her daughter and yours.
And if your reality involves a daily commute, you'll want to know what to wear when you go to work tomorrow. Karen McGinnis joins me in a moment with your "Commuter Forecast."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: To Libya now, a new development out of Brega. The city has been a hotspot for battles between rebel forces and government troops. But now, as CNN's Ben Wedeman reports, those opposition forces are in retreat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Opposition fighters are on the move quickly and to the rear. Somewhere near Brega, they say, they were ambushed by forces loyal to Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi. All of a sudden, we heard firing in the distance, it set off a panic. Dozens of cars leaving. This is one of the problems here. There is no communications here. Nobody knows why they are running back, but back they are going.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're on the wrong side.
WEDEMAN: As we are. Though crossing the road in the midst of the panic is no easy task. Even in retreat, they flash the "V" for victory, which seems to be slipping steadily from their hands.
When the fighters finally stop running away, they complain they are no match for their enemy. "We call on the Security Council to supply us with weapons," says this fighter. "You see what we have? Grenades. They have rockets and more." Says another, "We have no planes, nothing, just small arms."
Their threats increasingly empty. They watch the horizon for advancing Libyan army forces, hoping NATO aircraft will do something. But on this day, the skies were, for the most part, quiet. The soldiers of the Opposition National Libyan Army seem just as unable as the revolutionary irregulars to hold their ground.
Between pullbacks, there's little to do but clean their weapons, ready their ammunition and prepare for a fight they just don't seem prepared for. And when word goes out that rockets are about to land, another panic, the rockets, wherever they were, never materialized. Ben Wedeman, CNN, outside al Brega, eastern Libya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: A look at other stories that we are following. Afghanistan now, more than 20 people are dead in three days of angry protests over the reported burning of an Islamic holy book at a Florida church. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, calls the Koran-burning "hateful and intolerant."
The Pentagon is reporting the deaths of two U.S. service members in Iraq. Their unit reportedly came under indirect fire in Baghdad. Military officials won't release the names until the families have been notified.
And if you're holding a ticket on Southwest Airlines, you should probably make a phone call. Southwest grounded almost 80 passenger jets this weekend for a thorough inspection. That's after passengers onboard a Southwest 737 watched a large hole rip open at 36,000 feet in the air. That happened on Friday. No one was seriously hurt and the plane did land safely.
Let's check in with our Karen Maginnis. Still some crazy, wintry weather this spring.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: And you can bet Butler and UConn fan gear, well apparently it's going off the shelves. You know why. It's down to just those two. And Monday night's college basketball championship match up is certainly getting a whole lot of folks very excited. So what you might not know is how much colleges and universities actually depend on the revenues earned by their NCAA-approved merchandise. Here is T.J. Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It's $1 billion industry. Not only the court though, on the backs of the fans. NCAA merchandise is everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is accumulated from 30 years of supporting Auburn.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I probably have about 30 shirts, maybe like 10 hats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd say probably about a quarter of the clothes I have are probably Tennessee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably about half of my wardrobe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got several hundred, $300, $400 worth of clothes, between the jackets and the shirts and everything.
HOLMES: According to the Collegiate Licensing Company, sports fans generated a total of $3.9 billion in retail sales in 2009. And if you think it's only popular during the game, think again. JOHN GREELEY, COLLEGIATE LICENSING COMPANY: We like to consider ourselves almost a cradle-to-grave industry. We have licensed things from baby pacifiers to casket and urns.
HOLMES: CLC says it has generated more than $725 million in royalties for scholarships on college campuses since 1981. Most of its clients have a year-round marketing platform even as the sports seasons change, featuring their brand name or logos.
GREELEY: All of the royalties that generate from the sales of licensed products go back to the universities and fund differently scholarship initiatives or other on campus initiatives on campus. A lot of people once they realize that feel a lot better about the purchases that they are making.
RICHARD SINK, OWNER, SPORTS CART: It is not unusual to have $100 and $200 sales during a tournament event like this. I sell more merchandise to women, probably 70/30 over men. I love the women. They definitely bring the money and they bring the credit cards.
HOLMES: So while the players go hard in the paint during the NCAA tournament; it is this niche economy that scores with the merchandise madness of the fans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, something else that you buy changed your life perhaps maybe 38 years ago and here is a hint, you probably have one in your purse or pocket.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A New York bar owner died, gunned down over a spilled drink. That was 30 years ago and still no one has been convicted. CNN's Susan Candiotti has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CATHERINE GODKIN, VICTIM'S WIDOW: He was just overwhelmingly kind and gentle.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Richard Godkin appeared to have a happy life. He married a former Catholic nun and they had four children. He ran a local boys club in Queens, New York. In 1981, he and a young partner bought a tavern called the Shamrock Bar.
C. GODKIN: Here I am married to my wild Irish rose, as he used to call me and The Shamrock Bar, this has got to be an omen.
CANDIOTTI: It was a bad omen. About two months later, Godkin and his partner were shot dead at the Shamrock. Thirty years ago that night, this grocery store was a bar. It was 2:30 in the morning, the bar is crowded. A young man accidentally spills his drink on a woman seated bar with her boyfriend. He explodes and he won't calm down so the bartender throws him out, but he vows to come back. And about 20 minutes later, he does, with two accomplices.
Court papers state bartender John D'Agnese is shot point-blank in the head. The bar's co-owner, Richard Godkin tries to help, but he is shot in the chest. Suddenly, Catherine Godkin was a widow with four young children. Did you ever see the crime scene photographs?
C. GODKIN: No. I don't want to see a picture of somebody that you loved look like that. I want to remember him like he was the night he left, smiling and happy.
CANDIOTTI: Godkin's son, Brian, was only 8-years-old at the time. It took a while to sink in.
BRIAN GODKIN, VICTIM'S SON: That's when my sisters and I began to cry, our dad is never coming home.
CANDIOTTI: The double-murder was never solved, even though the FBI helped New York Police locate a suspect, Bartolomeo Vernace. The FBI says he was on their radar for mob ties, but the police case went cold. The victim's son, Brian Godkin, went on to become a Nevada police officer. In 2001, serving as a deputy U.S. marshal, he helped track down Frank Riccardi, the man thrown out of the bar the night of the murders. Riccardi and alleged shooter Bartolomeo Vernace were tried and acquitted in 2002. According to all accounts, not one witness from the crowded bar could identify Vernace.
C. GODKIN: When she put the "mob" word in there people get frightened.
CANDIOTTI: But the story doesn't end there. More when we come back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The recent arrest of more than 100 suspected mobsters could end a 30-year-long nightmare for one New York family. CNN's Susan Candiotti talked with a widow and son of a man who was killed over a spilled drink.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Decades after the 1981 murder of Richard Godkin and his partner, John D'Agnese, Godkin's widow and children thought the case would never be solved.
After all, a trial of two suspects 10 years earlier ended in acquittal. By all accounts, the prosecutor's case fell short. Two months ago, a glimmer of hope. The U.S. attorney general announced the arrest of more than 100 suspected mafia wise guys and singled out the Shamrock Bar murders that happened 30 years ago.
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: It was a dispute over a spilled drink.
CANDIOTTI: The family had no idea the FBI reopened the case. C. GODKIN: I almost had had a heart attack. I was like -- I was just stunned, absolutely stunned.
CANDIOTTI: Bartolomeo Vernace, AKA Bobby Glasses, once acquitted on state murder charges, now stands indicted on federal racketeering charges for the double murder. The Justice Department calls Vernace a capo in the Gambino crime family. Did Vernace's alleged mob ties that date back to the murder shield him until now? Were they a possible reason witnesses could no longer identify had him at a state trial?
Federal prosecutors claim they have witnesses, recordings and ballistics to make their case. Vernace has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond pending trial. The murder victim's family will be watching from the front row.
C. GODKIN: I don't have anything to say to a man that was so heartless.
CANDIOTTI: If this case is closed, what do you think it will mean to your dad and your -- to his memory?
B. GODKIN: He would probably say good job on everybody. He probably would have them all over to the bar for a drink.
CANDIOTTI: After 30 years it maybe the bittersweet ending they've been longing for. Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, the NEWSROOM does not end at the top of the hour, it picks up, with Don Lemon. He is here now with a preview.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to be talking about a lot. Remember the story of Mohammed Nabbous, the young man, 27-years-old in Libya, brought light to the situation there, put his life on the line really to bring those pictures? He spoke to me a couple of days before he died. He had a really, really sad prediction. He goes, "Don, I may not make it through the night." Well, it took a couple of days, but he did die, snipers killed him in an effort to try to bring light to that. Well I spoke exclusively to his widow today, Fred. And one of the most emotional conversations that I've had recently about how she is going to tell her unborn child about his dad -- his or her dad -- and it is emotional. You should -- everyone should stay tune and watch that. The other thing that we are going to talk about --
WHITFIELD: So she is not afraid to speak?
LEMON: She is not afraid to speak. We did not give her real name on the air to protect her but she said we could say she was in Benghazi, but she's not afraid to speak and she said her husband is a hero. And also we're going to talk about those airplanes too, those gaping holes, from one man who survived a flight 23 years ago, a flight attendant was sucked out, he had to hold on to another flight attendant.
WHITFIELD: Wow, who can forget that? That was extraordinary. We'll look forward to all of that. Thanks so much, Don. Appreciate that. Much more right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Many may bless the moment while others curse it. Thirty- eight years ago today, the first cell phone call was made. The impact has been enormous. Cell phones have literally changed the way that people communicate. And by the way, the man who made that first call? His name, Martin Cooper. He was the general manager of Motorola's communications division. Cooper tested the phone on a New York street.
Well there are so many new gadgets out there right now that you may need a tutorial just to figure out what might work for you. So here is a shortcut. I asked syndicated technology writer Marc Saltzman to show us some very cool new stuff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARC SALTZMAN, TECHNOLOGY WRITER: This is the Blackberry playbook. It's out on April 19th starting at $499, spending on the memory you want. But yes, it's a seven-inch tablet instead of a nearly 10-inch one. And a beautiful high-def screen as you can see. Isn't that great? And check this out, I love the interface. You just simply scroll across so you can listen to some music. You 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 supports, something the iPad doesn't do. So it's got a dual core processor, so it's very powerful, it's got dual cameras, HD cameras, one for taking pictures or shooting video, one for engaging in live chats.
WHITFIELD: Everything.
SALTZMAN: Yes, it's a digital Swiss army knife.
WHITFIELD: Well, it's amazing because we've gone from laptop size, people would shrink it down or be happy with the fact the iPad is one size. Now that's not small enough.
SALTZMAN: There are going to be plenty of options.
WHITFIELD: This is right in 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. Let me just show you what it looks like 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: A whole other level. That is insane. You can find that kind of hands-on tech advice from Marc Saltzman right here every Sunday afternoon, 2:00 Eastern Times.
All right, she is a natural food chef who has made the rounds on reality TV from "Celebrity Apprentice," "Martha Stewart," to "Housewives of New York" to now "Bethany Frankel Ever After." Well now a new wife and mom, she admits to many flaws. Face-to-face, Bethany Frankel shares with me and you her advice for her 6-month-old daughter and yours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: What are the lessons you think you want to teach your daughter?
BETHENNY FRANEKL, REALITY TV STAR: I want to teach Bryn to be just nice, a nice girl. Nicer than I am. When she was born, the first thing my husband said was she's so pretty. And I just said, she's a nice girl.
FRANKEL: What are you hoping she doesn't do that you did or valuable lessons you learned you're hoping she might avoid?
FRANKEL: I'm hoping that Bryn never wants to date anybody because she knows they are wealthy and can take care of her. I'm hoping that Bryn knows that being taken care of is emotional and not financial. It took me a really long time to learn that. And that is a difficult thing. And many women feel that way but just don't admit it. I am hoping that Bryn doesn't just want to look at labels and want to have all those labels. When I had no money, I was really consumed with labels. And ironically now that I can afford to buy them, I don't care about them anymore. I don't want to go through all that confusion to get there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, Bethany Frankel face to face. Of course, you want to check out any of the other segments we did with Bethany Frankel throughout the day, go to my blog, CNN.com/Fredricka.
All right, that's going to do it for me. CNN NEWSROOM continues of course at the top of the hour with Don Lemon. Have a great week.
