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Budget Passed; Libyan Rebels Retreat; Egyptian Military Attacked Demonstrators; Gunman Kills Shoppers; Planned Parenthood Stumbling Block; GOP Hopefuls in Spotlight; Civil War Sesquicentennial Starts; Student's Mouth Duct Taped; Barry Bonds Perjury Trial; Sheen Copyright Attempt; Cash for Opening Your Heart

Aired April 09, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

DEB FEYERICK, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Well, it's a done deal, the government still open for business. Democrats and Republicans coming together at the very last minute to pass a budget. President Obama is expected to sign it any minute now, we'll bring that to you. It funds the government through Friday. Lawmakers say they have a deal to keep the government operating through September, that's when they start talking about the budget of 2012. It calls for more than $38 billion in cuts, that's what they agreed to, from the president's original spending proposal. Republicans had originally wanted $61 billion in cuts.

Among the issues the two sides were fighting over funding for Planned Parenthood. Republicans dropped their demands to strip a lot of that funding, at least for now, but it is on the table. Democrats have agreed to consider it. Sources tell CNN Democrats in the senate also agreed to take up a Republican initiative to repeal president Obama's health care overhaul law. Here's what he and the house speaker said right after the deal was struck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: We protected the investments we need to win the future. At the same time, we also made sure that at the end. Day this was a debate about spending cuts, not social issues like women's health and the protection of our air and water. These are important issues that deserve discussion, just not very debate about our budget.

REP JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I'm pleased that Senator Reid and I and the White House have been able to come to an agreement that will, in fact, cut spending and keep our government open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Well, our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar and senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, have been working this story for us for weeks and certainly drinking a lot of coffee waiting to see what's going to happens.

Brianna, let me start with you. First of all, the one thing that no one has sort of been able to find out in all the reading, in all the blogs and everything, is what exactly the cuts entail. What's going to get trimmed? BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know what some of them may be, certainly, because some of the things that were on the table when House Republicans passed their initial bill with $61 billion in cuts, there were a lot of controversial things as far as Democrat saw it. Cuts to funding for nutrition assistance program for women and children, cuts to Environmental Protection Agency, cuts to the Head tart program. We're waiting to see exactly how this flushes out when we look at the cuts on a smaller scale at $38.5 billion. We're going to be finding that out. The bill is going to be posted online on Monday, Deb, and then we're going to be seeing a vote on Wednesday.

FEYERICK: All right. And Ed, let me ask you, and Brianna I'm going to want to let you weigh in on this, as well. But, from the Senate's perspective there was a lot of theater surrounding all of this. I think people were very frustrated. There was a little bit of panic, certainly, among military families, what this would mean to them. But, how much of this was real? Did everyone expect that there would be a deal or what was really going on? Blow all that smoke away from in front of my eyes.

ED HENRY, CNN SR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well wait, political theater in Washington? Yeah. I'm sure you're shocked to know there was some theater to this. But, in all reality, I mean, we're told by White House officials the president did not know for sure that there was at least some sort of an agreement in principle on the broader budget deal until about 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, last night. That's only 90 minutes, of course, before that midnight deadline to shut down a large part of the federal government. So I think, of course, there's theater on both sides, there's some partisanship and some back and forth, but this was real in the sense that they still were not quite there right up until the final moments.

FEYERICK: All right. Brianna, let me ask you about the Tea Party and the whole role of the Tea Party in this. It does seem that they were able, if nothing else, to move their agenda in terms of looking at President Obama's health care plan, they were able at least to get that on the table in terms of now the Senate is going to be able to take a look and vote on it. So, there was some real accomplishments as far as the Tea Party is concerned. Yes or no?

KEILAR: Certainly, there was an impact. And you have a faction of Republicans very fiscally conservative, wanted as many cuts as possible. But keeping in mind, Deb, there are certainly some Tea Party voters who are not happy with this deal. Some Tea Party leaders who say this isn't enough. And there are some Tea Party backed members who will never vote for this at $38.5 billion. Simply not enough for them, even when the starting point for Republicans, $61 billion, not enough for them.

We focus on the Tea Party, yes, but we're also -- you know, we shouldn't lose track of another faction of Republicans who also had quite a, impact on this and that's social conservatives. Remember abortion was an issue. Republicans insisted it wasn't the only issue, Democrats insisted it was the only issue as we went into the homestretch, here. But they also were able to push their agenda, make some demand and certainly get some return on that.

FEYERICK: OK, and, Ed, what did -- President Obama sort of stayed behind a little bit on this. Clearly he was watching everything that was going on and being briefed, but you got the sense that this was really being played out in Congress. He stepped out once or twice to say we could have done this deal months ago. What was his role in all of this?

HENRY: Well, look they laugh inside the West Wing of the White House behind me to those kinds offing fights and hammering in the media, because they remember back in the health care fight there was some talk maybe he's too far in the weeds, the White House, he's become legislator in chief and that was weighing him down on jobs and whatnot, now he takes more of a backseat and people are saying why are you not more involved. The bottom line is they believe within the administration, they may be wrong but this is what they believe, that it was better to reserve the president, not have him get his hands dirty early in the process when they were far from agreement, save him for the final 72 hours or so, which they did. For example, yesterday, in the final day, he spoke by phone with john Boehner no less than four times. So, he was very active in the final hours and they feel like using their best weapon in the final hours is what helped push it across the finish line.

And finally on Brianna's point, you know, about the Tea Party and whatnot and not being satisfied, you know, that obviously helps John Boehner a little bit sell this around the country and the independent voters, says, look I didn't sell out to the right, they're not completely happy with this and I can tell you that the Tea Party at least regardless of where you stand politically, they make one very fair point which is that these $38.5 billion cuts, it's miniscule in a larger project, less than one percent of the entire federal budget. So, everybody may be patting themselves on the back for a big "victory," here, quote/unquote, but there's a lot of bigger budget battles ahead. This is a small, small victory for both sides.

FEYERICK: All right, Brianna Keilar, Ed Henry, great job following this and sort of shedding some light on everything that's been going on. We're going to be following up on this topic a lot more later on during the show.

Moving on to Libya. Two new developments in the Libya war. Moammar Gadhafi is seen in public for the first time in quite a while. Video shows him visiting what looks like a school in Tripoli, one he says NATO had on its target list. Meanwhile, the African Union agrees to meet with both sides to try to stop the fighting. CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us by phone, he's just outside Ajidabiya.

Ben, what is going on, there? Where do things stand?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we were at the outskirts of the town where we saw that their rebel fighters were heading back into the city after, according to eyewitnesses there was a three hour battle between opposition fighters and loyalists, several dead on both sides. According to eyewitnesses who went to the hospital, three of the dead Gadhafi fighters are not from Libya. One had an I.D. from Syria, another from Algeria, a third from the African country of Chad.

Now, NATO aircraft apparently were involved in today's battle bombing on the eastern and western sides of the city, according to residents of the town. At this point, it does appear that the opposition has retaken control of this critical city. Of course, this is the last city before the stronghold of Benghazi, so very important for the opposition to retake control of this town after, as I said, a three hour battle in the streets of Ajidabiya.

FEYERICK: OK, all right, Ben Weidman thank you so much. We are going to be checking with you also a little later on just to find out, certainly, what the opposition, what they're -- what towns they've got and also what gains and what losses can be expected. Ben Wedeman joining us from Libya. Thank you so much.

Well, next door, shades of the Hosni Mubarak regime in Egypt, today. The military attacked a large group of demonstrators in Cairo using guns, clubs and tear gas to break up the crowd. CNN's Ivan Watson reports from Tahrir Square

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Egyptians woke up today to once again today to, once again, barricades erected around Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square. This is after clashes erupted here overnight, under cover of darkness. What appeared to take place were demonstrators were trying to do a sit-in here, in the central roundabout. Included among the demonstrators where about 15 uniformed army officers and soldiers who defied a ban by their generals and joined protests here that took place on Friday. Around 3:00 in the morning, eyewitnesses tell us, that the military tried to come in to for the demonstrators out of this area, it was after curfew, there were long rounds of gunfire, vehicles torched and the people here, coming out, here very angry and confused over just what took place, here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Look what they did. You think this is -- the people did this? No, the militant..And it's deeper so we look (INAUDIBLE), they're going to make us look (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) and we have tortured a lot of us and beat a lot of us and -- for three hours from about three to six..

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: A spokesman for the ruling military council is blaming what happened here, the tear gas, the bullets, the burned vehicles on remnants of the former regime of Hosni Mubarak. But in the eyes of some of the people we've spoken to, this may have struck a crippling blow to the credibility of the ruling military council which took over executive and legislative powers in Egypt after Hosni Mubarak stepped down on February 11. And now we're seeing signs that demonstrators are going to continue their sit in here, in Tahrir Square. Instead of facing off the former president Hosni Mubarak, they are now appearing to head towards a conflict, a standoff with the ruling military.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Ivan Watson there.

Well, Dutch police say a gunman opened fire at a mall today killing five people. Reporter, Hank van der AA was at the police press conference.

Hank, what have you learning from this?

HANK VAN DER AA, REPORTER: Well, I'm learning that yes, there are six people killed, so the shooter himself killed himself, as well, in the end. Five other people killed. There's still four critically wounded. And at this very moment the police is evacuating three other shopping buildings in this town, because they think they got some information that he might have planted some explosives on other sites in this town, as well.

FEYERICK: Hank, is -- we remember the boshing that took place outside of a shopping mall back in November -- back in December, excuse me. Is there a suggestion that this is some sort of connection to terrorism? Is this an isolated individual? What are they learning? What do they know?

VAN DER AA: Yeah, they don't give us a lot of information, just yet, but I that it they are really thinking of someone who is a loner and they're trying to rule out the fact that he would be part of a terror group. That's my feeling. That's the information I got. They told us that he is a citizen from this town, in his mid-20s and they are actually thinking that he did this action by himself.

FEYERICK: OK, but no, right now, he didn't leave any -- there's no indication or evidence that he left, any notes that this was a terrorist attack or he was doing this in retaliation for anything,, no indication that's that the case, right now. I know that's early.

VAN DER AA: It seems that there has been a letter found in his apartment or in his car, but police does not want to confirm that piece of information. But it seems weird three hours after the shooting they have decided to block off and evacuate new centers, shopping centers in this town. So, I think that points to the direction of him leaving a note, saying that he has also planted other bombing materials in different spots in this town, but this is rumor or a position, it's not a fact. I have not had that confirmed, yet.

FEYERICK: Hank van der Aa, thank you so much for joining us and of course we will continue to check in on this developing story, shooting at a shopping mall in the Netherlands..

Well, how did Planned Parenthood become such a huge stumbling block in the budget battle? Paul Steinhauser explains in our political update, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, one of the major sticking points in getting that budget deal done was Planned Parenthood. But why was that such a big deal for both sides? CNN deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser joins me now.

Paul, why did that one issue resonate so deeply, holding up this budget battle for months?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIR: Interesting, because this budget battle is about the 2011 fiscal year, right? But I think both parties have 2012 and the next election on their minds, Deb.

You know, Democrats yesterday, you heard it from Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, all the way down, they were talking about how Planned Parenthood and the Republicans push to defund part of Planned Parenthood, the federal funds that go towards them. They were saying that was the big sticking point. Now maybe was a message from the Democrats to women voters, that watch out Republicans are trying to, when it comes to your reproductive and health care rights, they're trying to take away funding and Democrats are saying this was the big sticking point.

Maybe the next election has something to with it. Debbie, look at this. Take a look at this. This is their exit polls form the most recent elections. How did women vote. 2006, 55 percent went for the Democrats in 2008, look at that, up to 56 percent, but a drop in last year's mid-term elections. So maybe what the Democrats were doing here was partially a push towards next year to get back that woman's vote.

FEYERICK: So Paul, is it fair to say that on some levels there was a lot of almost political jockeying going on, so that people could create campaign slogans, so that people could position themselves for the next set of elections?

STEINHAUSER: I think that was definitely an undercurrent. You know, the Democrats -- Senate Democrats were fundraising off this Planned Parenthood push. On the flipside, Republicans were saying just the opposite. This had nothing do with Planned Parenthood. This is about cutting, the Democrats aren't serious about caught, the Democrats weren't cutting enough in this budget and that's what Republicans, yesterday and all week, were emphasizing.

And look at this, this is the exit poll from last year's mid-term elections and you can see right there, people who said reducing the deficit was their highest priority, well, they went overwhelmingly for Republicans.

Remember, it was those Tea Party activists and other fiscal conservatives who helped Republicans win back control of the house. So, this was the push from Republicans to their base to say we are serious about cutting and more will be coming.

FEYERICK: Sure, and it's interesting because the Tea Party people were given some credit for actually holding firm to this, you know, we've got to cut, we've got to cut. We've got to cut, we've got to cut, now I know President Obama wanted spending freeze, which means that the levels of spending who have remained exactly the same. They were able to negotiate about $38.5 billion in cuts. But more interestingly, I think, is Obama's health care, President Obama's health care plan that's now on the table. There was some significant sort of, I don't want to call then upheavals, but now, basically, Republicans now, there's a -- it guarantee a vote in the Senate on whether in fact this should move forward. So that's in jeopardy, right now. Is that fair or is that an overstatement?

STEINHAUSER: No, I think that's fair to a degree. And remember why? Because one of the selling points, I guess, from Republicans to voters in last year's election was they wanted to either repeal and replace the president's health care, which is now, of course, the law of the land, so it was a huge issue in the last election. We saw it being played out in this budget battle. And Deb, it's going to continue to be a big issue straight through next year's presidential election.

FEYERICK: OK, well Paul Steinhauser, don't go too far, hopefully we can check in with you a little later on in the program. Thanks so much, Paul.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

FEYERICK: Well, the Justice Department does a 180 on the 9/11 trials. This turnabout not unexpected, but is it the right move? Stand by our legal guys are ready to weigh on the possible repercussions and a lot more. They are coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: So, the Obama administration reverses course and sends 9/11 terror trials back to Guantanamo Bay. We're going to bring in our legal guys, Avery Friedman a civil rights attorney and law professor is in Cleveland, Richard Herman a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joins us from Las Vegas.

First of all, gentlemen, Attorney General Eric Holder, I heard him speak, he said that they had a very strong case, they really felt this could be done in civilian court, but the pressure from outside was simply too great and they felt it was a no-win situation. Do you think that's the case? Do you think this case could have been won in a federal court? Let's start with you, Richard.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY: Well, here's what I think. Here's what I think the bottom line here is. You remember the Galani (ph) trial was held in New York. In that case he was the chauffer or the driver for...

FEYERICK: The embassy bombers, absolutly. He played a big role and prosecutors in that case felt that they could get him. They had 284 counts against him. They convicted him on one. I mean, was that just too close for comfort?

HERMAN: Way too close for comfort. And that's why, in my opinion, the case is going back to GITMO, because they got scared. And can you imagine if this individual or this group, any of them, got acquitted. I mean, the country would go insane. The Constitution says you must provide some sort of legal process. It's vague. That's what it says. So, it's argued these military tribunals are constitutionally permissible and the words that President Obama used when he ran that the Bush doctrine, the Bush laws were draconian, ineffective and contra to the United States...

FEYERICK: Avery is shaking his head. Avery's shaking his head, so he clearly disagrees.

Avery, what is your problem with this? Why do you think this should this not be done in a military tribunal?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTY: Well, look the hallmark of a free society are open courtrooms. The fact is America is the model for the world. Any you know what, Deb? We've had over 300 convictions involving terrorists and the reason I'm so upset about this and my heart is heavy about it is because we are able to do these trials. Even the Republicans, guys like Giuliani and Bloomberg said you know what? They committed these murders here in New York City; let's try them here and all of a sudden I'm hearing language about traffic jams. I mean, there are 4,000 dead Americans who are fighting for our freedom, now we're going to have a secret or semi-secret court trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. It's in absolute outrage. Absolute outrage.

FEYERICK: Well, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad apparently is representing himself, so we'll see how that turns out. But I do want to move on, because the next topic, this is a big one and remember, gentlemen, the Duke, what happened in Duke, the disgraced prosecutor, Mike Nifong, OK, he's been disbarred. Bad ruling against him by the judge because those lacrosse players, they're suing him saying that it was prosecutorial misconduct, that he fabricated evidence. Avery, I'm giving you the first go on this one. What do you think?

Well, actually Richard loves this guy. The fact is that U.S. District Judge James Beaty, Jr. came down with a very comprehensive, actually two rulings this week, holding Mr. Nifong to the fire. He will be a defendant, it will go to trial along with -- listen to this, Duke University officials. And essentially the underlying theory here, Deb, is that fourth amendment prohibits unreasonable search and seizure. Nifong, among other things, withheld DNA evidence which would have shown the innocence for these young men. Federal district judge did the right thing.

FEYERICK: OK, and Richard, Mike Nifong -- go ahead, jump in. I have a question. For you, but go ahead, but jump in. What is your reaction to that?

HERMAN: OK, the significance of the ruling was the judge curtailed the amount of damages that the plaintiffs could win. He did not let it go to punitive damages which could have been in the million, perhaps. But in this case the judge limited the measure of damages, at least against the city, to actual damages, actual lost wages or lost educational opportunities. But he took away the punitive and I think that's a bad ruling. But he allowed the punitive against Duke University... FEYERICK: Well, I find that fascinating, actually. Right, you can't sue the government, but you can sue the university. Guess who has a little bit more money, right now.

FRIEDMAN: It's been the law for 25 years, that's been the law.

FEYERICK: Right. Absolutely. And interesting note and I think it was Richard, you brought this up, the young lady who brought the charges against these young men, she's in a little bit of hot water now, herself, isn't she?

HERMAN: Well, you know, she just had a rough weekend and she's allegedly stabbed her boyfriend multiple times, so they arrested her, she's being held on $300,000 bail and that's after she did 88 days in jail for child abuse, et cetera. So, she's clearly got some problems in addition to the fact that she ruined so many lives from this Duke debacle.

FEYERICK: Absolutely and that's also...

FRIEDMAN: Thanks to Nifong.

FEYERICK: Right. And this is a person who had 100 press conferences basically trying these young men in the press. So, I think this is their chance to, if nothing else get back their reputations. They certainly can't get back what they lost while they were in college. Well, Richard and Avery you know we're coming back to you...

HERMAN: Most of the cases have settled. Most of the dependents settled.

FRIEDMAN: We'll see. We'll see.

FEYERICK: Right. All right. Well, we're going to come back to you because I obviously cannot stop talking to you. But anyway, thanks so much. Hang tight. We're going to be back with you in about 20 minutes to discuss a very talkative teenager and the teacher who taped her mouth shut. Can she do that? Can't wait to hear what both of you have to say on that particular matter.

Well, it seems more people are choosing to cheat on their taxes when it comes to age, 55 percent of cheaters are under the age of 45. But who cheats more, men or women? The answer after the break.

Join me on Twitter @Deb Feyerick CNN at Twitter.com. Follow the conversation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, before the break we asked who cheats more on their taxes, men or women? Well, take a look.

According to CNNMoney.com, men, you win. You're the cheaters. The breakdown, 64 percent of men cheat compared to 36 percent of women.

Well, three likely GOP presidential candidates are in South Carolina today, and you can guess what they are talking about. The budget deal.

Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House when the government actually shut down back in the 1990s. This morning, he said this deal is a step in the right direction but not good enough for the long term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: This administration, and frankly politicians for a long time, have been all too willing to pile debt, to - to make today's decisions to buy something. It's as though we're saying to our children and grandchildren we're going to make you pay for our house although the house wouldn't be there by the time you're done paying for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Well, CNN'S Peter Hamby is live in Greenville, South Carolina this morning. The candidates are there. Are they declaring this a victory? Are they taking a lap there?

PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: They're declaring it a sort of a victory. I mean, they're all praising, applauding John Boehner and House Republicans for negotiating a deal and avoiding a government shutdown. But they say this is just, you know, a tiny fight and bigger fights to come including the fight over the debt ceiling and Paul Ryan's 2012 budget, which is going to be a huge showdown in Washington that'll, you know, make yesterday's fight look like small potatoes.

But they are taking something of a victory lap and they are praising Republicans in Washington while they're down here in South Carolina, on the hustings for the 2012 presidential race, Deb.

FEYERICK: OK. And you have the results of the new straw poll. What does that show?

HAMBY: That's correct. I mean, Greenville County, which is the biggest county in South Carolina, most populous, and it's a crucial conservative county in the state that has a real big role to play in the presidential primary in 2012 that's going to -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) everyone - everyone in this convention can hear you (INAUDIBLE).

HAMBY: Sir - I know. The - the winner of the straw poll was Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator. He won the straw poll at 31 percent. That's not a surprise because he's been to the state about a dozen times and in this part of the state a - a few times as well. So an important straw poll here in South Carolina, Deb.

FEYERICK: OK. Peter Hamby, thanks so much. And obviously a couple of people not liking the fact that you're filling the rest of the country in on what's going on there. But we do appreciate your work. It takes a lot to stand up in a room full of people and talk.

Anyway, also in South Carolina, a Civil War reenactment. The war between North and South began 150 years ago this week when rebels fired on Fort Sumter. Civil War re-enactors have gathered at Fort Moultrie, across Charleston Harbor, from the fort.

CNN's Jim Spellman is there as well. Jim - and I understand that if there had been a government shutdown the re-enactors would have had to change plans. They never would have had this.

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Deb. It's maybe 2011 there in Atlanta. It's 1861 here in Fort Moultrie.

Look, hundreds of re-enactors have gathered here to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. But until midnight last night they were on pins and needles because they would have had to have moved. They were going to lock the gates right here at midnight and they would - like any good army, be ready to march and go somewhere else. And they're delighted that they are able to do it here on the actual grounds where these things happened.

They don't want to se any politicians here. Nobody I talked to was happy with either party or the president about what went on, and it was - it's really - it may - this may not be as important as some of the functions that the federal government does on a daily basis, but about 800,000 people a day visit the national park, and people may not even realize it's private property - I mean, federal property.

So it really - it could have had a really big impact on a lot of people across the country. I think a lot of people on this beautiful weekend here are - are happy that they managed to keep it going, Deb.

FEYERICK: All right. When are the re-enactors going to start bombing Fort Sumter?

SPELLMAN: That will be - that'll be Tuesday morning. It's about 4:30 Tuesday morning when that happened 150 years ago. Fort Sumter is on an island out in Charleston Harbor, not - not (ph) over there.

So, right now, the - the army here around us is doing what armies do best, kind of hurrying up and waiting and getting ready to - to do their - to do their next round of things. They've been doing drills and they - they eat with just - and drink out of Civil War era implements in here.

So, they're having a great time. This would not have gone over as well if they had to go to some parking lot somewhere in Charleston and try to kind of get this going off of federal property, Deb.

FEYERICK: All right. See how much more they're relaxed? This was a time before we had BlackBerrys, Twitter, iPhones. You could just sit, pour a little water and have yourself a cup of coffee.

Jim Spellman, thanks so much. We'll check in with you a little later on.

Well, Charlie Sheen and Jimmy Buffett may be battling it out for the phrase "tiger blood." Our legal guys are going to be weighing in next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, a chatty teen doesn't stop talking when her teacher tells her to. Should the teacher be able to duct tape her mouth shut?

Our legal guys are back, Avery Friedman in Cleveland, Richard Herman in Las Vegas.

Avery, what do you think? Crossing the line?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Absolutely. I mean, it seems to me that teachers have certain professional standards and it strikes me that when teachers start having to use physical constraints, then they fail to do what they're supposed to be doing.

(INAUDIBLE) this doesn't rise to the level of a lawsuit by any means, but you know what? This is actually bad professional work by the teacher. At very least, she owes the student an apology.

FEYERICK: And, Richard, what do you think about this? I mean, there are rules. There are rules. Was this an actual violation?

RICHARD HERMAN, LAW PROFESSOR: Well, Deb, I think, number one, this teacher should be terminated immediately.

Number two, I disagree with Avery. I would absolutely file a lawsuit. I'd get the child into therapy right now. I mean, she got duct taped in front of her entire class. Who knows if she's having nightmares about this? Who knows the lasting impact it is?

It is - it's really ridiculous. If the teacher can't control the class, they have to be terminated. Simple as that. There's a lot of teachers who want to work these days.

FEYERICK: All right. Avery, no? You don't think - do you think that's going too far?

FRIEDMAN: Yes. A little extreme. I - I'm with that -

Richard's answer is based on a lot of assumptions.

FEYERICK: Well, she was talking, so maybe at least she learned not to talk in class. But certainly that - that certainly opens up a - a host of issues because it's not - she's not the only teacher in Florida.

Well, I want to move on to the Barry Bonds perjury trial. Let's - let's move on the Barry Bonds, OK? Jury deliberations began this week in the Barry Bond steroid trial. Bonds never took the stand to explain the allegations. Not only that, but he didn't even call any witnesses.

Do you think the prosecution's case is airtight? Richard, starting with you. Go.

HERMAN: No. The prosecution's case is a mess. It's an absolute mess, Deb. One of the counsel's already dismissed on consent earlier.

What's going to happen here, I believe, at this point is he's only going to get convicted on one count, and that's the count of Anderson injecting him with a steroid, because that -

FRIEDMAN: Right.

HERMAN: -- that act was eye witnessed by someone who does not have a dog in this fight. The jury's going to believe that person. That's going to be the only conviction, not that he willingly and intentionally lied to the grand jury on anything else.

So I think one count, house arrest, short period of time, probation. That's all we're looking at on this multimillion dollar trial that took place.

FEYERICK: Avery, though, I want you to take it the next step further. OK, yes, maybe he gets convicted on one count, that he was injected with something that appeared to be steroids. Doesn't that still destroy his reputation and call everything else into question?

Yes, the prosecution's case may be a mess, but you only need one to basically destroy a reputation. Avery, what do you think?

FRIEDMAN: Yes. Exactly right. I mean, there's going to be an asterisk by his home rin championships. Every year, he was successful behind, you know, slamming them out of the park.

But, the bottom line is the - the prosecution is going to make - you know, nobody cares if there's 10 counts, five counts, one count, there's going to be conviction. I've said this from the beginning.

And - and Richard's right in this respect. The personal shopper who testified, she did not have a dog in the fight. Jury's going to buy it. I'm thinking two, probably one conviction. Once that happens, reputation up in smoke. No doubt about it.

FEYERICK: And let me ask you a question. You know, just as - the public looking at this, basically, did he lie to the grand jury? That's a big deal.

But, the fact that he did it seems to the more significant issue, you know, the sort of the forest to the trees or - what do you think, Richard?

HERMAN: Deb, if you look at the steroid era in Major League Baseball and the records that were set during this - this four, five year period of time, they're astronomical.

Everyone of these players - Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Bonds - all of them get asterisks. "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron -

FRIEDMAN: Right. That's the point.

HERMAN: -- is the true home run champ.

FEYERICK: All right. Now, the gift that keeps on giving.

FRIEDMAN: That's right.

FEYERICK: I want to move on to Charlie Sheen. We got Barry Bonds off the table, let's go to Charlie Sheen.

He has filed for trademark protection for more than 20 of his infamous bad boy catch phrases, including, "Duh, winning," "Tiger blood," "Vatican assassin," and "Rock star from Mars."

Should he be allowed to coin those phrases? Is this actually - phrases. Is this actually an interesting marketing strategy, Avery?

FRIEDMAN: Yes. It's a wonderful trademarking. It's not going to make up for the $1.8 million per episode he was making but, you know what? He's putting those phrases on hats and bras and all sorts of paraphernalia, and he's selling this stuff.

Some of the markets loving this guy. Detroit hated him, came to this town, put on his Cleveland Indians outfit. They played "Wild Thing" in the background, the crowd went nuts. So I guess it depends on where you're going and who's buying that stuff.

FEYERICK: And Richard, do you think he's going to be successful at trademarking these sort of very generic phrases? I mean, you're -

And, by the way, listen. You hear him being booed on stage. This did not go over well. And he showed up last night - I got a tweet. I haven't had time to check it out. He showed up like half an hour late to the show he was supposed to do.

Can he actually trademark these phrases, though?

HERMAN: Some of them he will. Jimmy Buffett beat him to the punch on "Tiger blood."

But, Deb, I have breaking news, too -

FRIEDMAN: That's right.

HERMAN: -- because, I'm sad to say, one of my attorneys in my office, Stephanie, went - went to the show last night, and - I'm embarrassed to say this, but the - the ring side seats, the orchestra seats, went from $100 to $30.

Any hecklers were thrown out.

FEYERICK: No.

HERMAN: They were booing him throughout, and the show ended a half hour early. So he good some good, down home New York hospitality last night.

FEYERICK: Interesting.

FRIEDMAN: (INAUDIBLE) it's Charlie Sheen. That's how it works. Right.

FEYERICK: Exactly. Maybe the love affair is a little bit over right now with Charlie Sheen.

FRIEDMAN: I think so. You're right.

FEYERICK: So we'll see where it goes.

But at least he's trying to diversify his career portfolio by selling t-shirts or bras or whatever.

HERMAN: Is that what that is? Is that what that is?

FEYERICK: Well, you know, I'm an optimist. I'm trying to put a positive spin on things here.

Well, gentlemen, always a pleasure to have you. Richard Herman, Avery Friedman thanks so much, and we'll check in with you a little later on. You guys have a great afternoon.

FRIEDMAN: Take care.

HERMAN: You too, Deb.

FEYERICK: Well, a large part of the country is under a threat for severe weather. We're going to tell you about that and where next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Let's head across country to see what our affiliates are reporting.

First up, Honolulu. You're looking at the aftermath of an explosion at an industrial plant. Four people died.

The fire still burned hours later. Investigators are looking into what happened.

Now to Vancouver, Washington. You may remember Bethany Storro's claim that a woman attacked her with acid. A jury found her guilty of making it all up.

She now has to repay $28,000 collected from fundraisers and enter a mental health treatment program.

Now to South Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLISE BIRCH, HOMEOWNER: I've been here seven years and this is the third time they're going up in that roof.

No more bees. No more bees. I'm hoping that they'll never come back again.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FEYERICK: So would you if you were in this woman's shoes in Tamarac, Florida. Bee experts removed three huge hives weighing about 100 pounds total. Each had its own queen with up to 80,000 bees each.

Well, residents in North Dakota and Minnesota bracing for spring flooding this weekend. Crews in Fargo have finished piling sand bags along the Red River, expected to crest tonight or tomorrow at 39 1/2 feet. That would be the third highest crest ever.

Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is in the severe - CNN Weather Center and she's going to bring us more. Bonnie, the - the people there are very worried about what this is going to mean and how this is going to affect them.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, and they have good reason to be because by the time we get to Sunday we'll be watching for the river, the stage to get pretty high.

Will it get close to the record setback in 2009? Well, that was - that was really high, and it looks like we're getting close to it on Sunday. But, right now, it's not raining. They were just watching for more snow melt with warmer temperatures.

We do have some updates for you on the severe weather that's happening right now. In fact, as we can see, we've got a brand new watch box. Let's zoom in on it here. It's just to the east of the one that you saw earlier. Let's get a closer shot there.

Just to the south of Charleston to Knoxville we have this brand new watch box for Kentucky, Western North Carolina, Tennessee, parts of West Virginia and Western Virginia. So it's going to be an active volatile day for severe weather, heavy downpours of rain hitting Cincinnati at this hour, just moving into Lexington, Kentucky.

The same storms rolled through Louisville earlier this morning, and, if that's not enough, flash flooding has been reported in parts of Indiana. That's where we've had water covering some of the roadways.

Remember, do not attempt to travel across any road that has water covering it. You don't know how deep it is, and it only takes a few inched of water to dislodge even an SUV on the roads.

Well, water would be a good thing on - on this part of the country, across the southwest and the Southern Plains. Windy, dry and very hot conditions. This is kicking up fire danger in the region. We've been reporting on that for the past week or so, particularly into Oklahoma.

But today things are changing. This storm system that's working its way across the west is going to kick up the winds in cities like Albuquerque. Gusts could be as high as 60 miles per hour, and unfortunately that's going to make for some problems.

O'Hare, some ground delays at 30 minutes. We've had some clouds and showers roll through. But, keep in mind, Chicago will actually see worse weather tomorrow. Temperatures will heat up to well past the 80 degree mark, but it be - get a little bit severe. And, finally, Deb, as you can see, we're tracking wintry weather across the mountain west, snow and winter weather advisories across Utah, Colorado, parts of Nevada. So we're seeing it all here today, that's for sure.

FEYERICK: All right. Bonnie Schneider, thank you so much for bringing us up to date on all that weather. A lot of it all across the country.

Well, they're an American family and they've got it all - a home, lots of love and a pleasant surprise when tax return time rolled around this year. Their story. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, many parents of adopted children are getting quite a shock this tax season, and here's a switch, this tax shock, it's a good one.

Here's CNN's Poppy Harlow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA WARD, PARENT: Georgia (ph). Get up.

DIMESHIA WARD, DAUGHTER: I mean, it's been an adventure every single day because one day you come home from school and it's just you and your mom here, and the next day you come home from school and it's three extra kids, and you're like, "Hi."

T. WARD: (INAUDIBLE) the trash can away (INAUDIBLE).

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): North Carolina natives Thelma and David Ward raised six kids of their own. They fostered more than 100 children, but some they just couldn't let go.

HARLOW (on camera): You adopted six kids?

T. WARD: Yes, ma'am.

HARLOW: Why?

T. WARD: Because they didn't have a permanent home.

DAVID WARD, PARENT: And there was nowhere for them to go.

HARLOW (voice-over): The Wards budget carefully on a modest income, but they were never banking on this.

HARLOW (on camera): Total savings, how much?

T. WARD: $54,292.

HARLOW: Oh, my goodness.

T. WARD: Oh, my goodness. HARLOW: In one year?

T. WARD: In one year.

HARLOW (voice-over): Believe it or not, that's their tax refund, which even shocked their tax preparer.

DARLENE CRABTREE, H&R BLOCK: $54,000 is as much money as some families make in an entire year.

HARLOW: And it's all thanks to a little known clause in the Affordable Care Act, part of health care reform.

HARLOW (on camera): This is the first year since the Adoption Tax Credit was created that families who adopt can get up to roughly $13,000 in cash for each child they bring into their home. And this really helps lower income families like the Wards, people that don't really make enough money to have a big tax liability so, a tax credit, it just doesn't really help them.

What was it like when you got the phone call saying you're getting $54,000 back? Is that what you did?

DA. WARD: Yes. That's what she did.

T. WARD: Oh, Jesus. Lord, I thank you.

High five, high five, high five, high five.

DI. WARD: This is something they really need because it's always been, well, we got to pay this. This is next. This is next. This child needs this. This child needs that.

A family this big, you can't let anything slide by. So we didn't have a chance to actually breathe and to say, OK, you can breathe for a moment, just rest. I think it's good for them.

HARLOW: And what are you going to do for yourselves?

T. WARD: Just to see my kids smile. That's all I need. Money come, money go, but we're all we got.

Come on, you all. (INAUDIBLE).

HARLOW (voice-over): In Smithfield, North Carolina, Poppy Harlow, reporting.

T. WARD: (INAUDIBLE) Dimeshia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: A quick check now of our top stories.

President Obama is expected to sign a temporary budget today that funds the government through Friday. This will allow lawmakers to finish up final details on a deal that will keep the government operating through the end of the 2011 fiscal year. It calls for more than $38 billion in cuts.

And Egyptian security forces attacked a crowd of demonstrators in Cairo today. They stormed into the crowd using guns, tear gas and clubs to break them up.

Daylight revealed the violence darkness helped hide. The protesters want the ruling Egyptian military council to prosecute former President Hosni Mubarak.

And the third round of the Masters Tournament is well underway. The current leader, Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland, tees off in just under two hours.

Right before him, four-time Masters champion Tiger Woods. He tore up the back nine yesterday and is in a tie for third.

Well, what four things do you need to know before you file your taxes? We're going to tell you. That's coming up at 2:00.

But, right now, "YOUR MONEY" starts. Stick with us.