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FAA Air Controller Manager Quits; Mom Drowns Self and 3 Children; Mubarak Family Affair; Zeta-Jones Has Bipolar Disorder; Defining Wealthy; Talk Back Question; Muslim Beauty Queen Faces Threats
Aired April 14, 2011 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.
Let's get you up to speed.
The search for the Long Island serial killer goes airborne. The FBI is using planes and helicopters with specialized equipment to scour areas searchers can't get to on foot. Investigators say they have spotted objects that look out of place. At least eight set of remains have been found on Long Island beaches since December.
The House is on track for a late afternoon vote on the budget for the rest of fiscal 2011. The plan which stopped a government shutdown cuts $38 billion. Some Tea Party-aligned Republicans say the cuts are not deep enough. They are threatening to break ranks and vote no.
Moammar Gadhafi rained more shells on Misrata, Libya's third largest city. A medical worker tells CNN that at least 20 people have been killed. A ship that was going to evacuate people could not make port because of the shelling. Now, the U.S. says the regime is shelling food warehouses to starve the city.
Japanese nuclear experts say they have found tiny amounts of radioactive strontium outside the Fukushima hot zone. So, strontium is produced when uranium undergoes nuclear fission, confirming at least a partial meltdown at the plant. The heavy metal has a half- life of 29 years and is known to cause bone cancers, as well as leukemia.
Federal prosecutors have not said whether they'll retry Barry Bonds on three perjury counts. A jury convicted the baseball slugger for obstructing justice, but the panel could not reach verdicts on the perjury counts which dealt with lying about using steroids.
Here's a juror explaining why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The evidence that he did steroids might have been there, but did he knowingly did steroids was the question. And we couldn't prove that beyond a reasonable doubt. There was just a piece of the puzzle missing. You know, we had a lot of pieces to put together, and we just didn't have quite enough to put the whole puzzle together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Federal guidelines call for a sentence of 15 to 21 months on an obstruction conviction. Some defendants are even allowed home detention.
Well, FAA manager Hank Krakowski quit his job today due to a growing outrage over sleeping air traffic controllers at airport towers. Krakowski oversaw the air traffic controllers division.
Well, the resignation comes after a controller in Reno, Nevada, fell asleep, didn't respond to a medical emergency plane. The pilot got a regional controller to help out.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PILOT: Yes, we're here.
TRACON: We -- you weren't able to get through to the tower?
PILOT: No.
TRACON: OK. We're going to call them on the phone line.
PILOT: All right. We'll circle some more.
TRACON: OK.
PILOT: We have got a pretty sick patient. We may just have to land whether we have clearance or not.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Want to bring you more now on the fallout over the FAA -- over the sleeping air traffic controllers. Want to bring in our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, out of Washington.
Jeanne, what can you tell us about this resignation today at the agency? I mean, how serious is that? That really is upper level there, holding people accountable.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's one of the top officials there. And in a statement from the FAA, Randy Babbitt said -- the administrator said that Krakowski offered his resignation, he accepted it. He praised him as having been a dedicated professional, but there's little doubt if you read this release that it's related to this recent string of incidents at some of the nation's airports.
I will say that Babbitt goes on to say in this statement that his review of the situation is continuing, and he says he will do whatever is necessary to keep air travel safe -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And Jeanne, you've been covering these stories. This is, what, the third recently that we've heard about, a guy in the control tower out of commission, falling asleep, a pilot trying to land a plane. How big a problem is this?
MESERVE: Well, there were a couple others actually that were revealed yesterday by the FAA as well, one in Seattle, where a controller is believed to have fallen asleep. And also a couple of controllers in trouble in Lubbock, Texas, for apparently failing to hand off a departing aircraft and to take control of an incoming aircraft.
What's unclear to us at this point, Suzanne, is whether this has started to happen all of a sudden or if these incidents were happening all along, and we just didn't happen to find out about it. We're trying to get to the bottom of that, of course.
MALVEAUX: There are some airports, Jeanne, that folks have told us that they don't have anybody in the control towers late at night. There are so few planes that are actually flying.
How important is it to have somebody directing traffic, if you will, from a tower?
MESERVE: Well, it really depends how big the airport is, how busy it is, how complex the airspace is. Listen, there are some airports that don't have any air traffic control facility whatsoever. And, in fact, the pilots from the plane can turn on the runway lights to land. So, it really varies from facility to facility.
Now, clearly, there were 27 airports where the situation was considered serious enough that they had one controller on duty through the night. Now the FAA and DOT says they're immediately staffing up to two, hoping, I'm sure, that one controller can keep the other awake to deal with the incoming and outgoing traffic.
MALVEAUX: That is the question. All right.
MESERVE: Yes.
MALVEAUX: Jeanne Meserve.
Thank you so much, Jeanne.
And now it's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day.
Today we are discussing an issue that impacts every working American, and that is the retirement age. Some working the 9:00 to 5:00 counting down the days, right, until you can retire? But they may have to add a few years on here.
Carol, you know, we're going to be working and working and working. A lot of us are going to be working long in to the golden years.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. Imagine, you have to work until you're 70 in order to collect your Social Security. You have, what, 10 years left and that's it, probably, most likely. But that's what we're talking about on Capitol Hill, the next elephant in the room, Social Security.
Right now, one out of four families relies mostly on Social Security to pay all of its bills. President Obama mentioned the "S.S." words in his speech yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: While Social Security is not the cause of our deficit, it faces real long-term challenges in a country that's growing older. As I said in the State of the Union, both parties should work together now to strengthen Social Security for future generations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The problem is Mr. Obama offered no real fix for Social Security, which, with all the baby boomers retiring, will be unable to pay for itself come 2037.
Republican Lindsey Graham and two other Republican senators say they have a fix -- raise the retirement age to 70.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: If we do nothing, everybody in America is going to be hit -- the richest person in the country and the poorest person. That's not right. If we'll adjust the age to 70, and act today, and not wait another five years, we can protect more Americans than if we wait.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Not so fast, says the AARP, the nation's largest senior organization. You want to raise the retirement age to 70? Take a look at how many older Americans can't find a job.
The AARP says people in their 60s are at their highest unemployment levels ever. On average, 44.5 weeks.
Now, the GOP plan doesn't raise the retirement age to 70 until 2032. It also asks wealthy retirees to pay more. But some are asking, why are we even having this conversation?
Social Security does not add to the deficit. It pays for itself and cannot borrow money. But here's why we're having that conversation. The government is dipping into the Social Security fund to pay off its debt.
So, "Talk Back" today: Should the Social Security retirement age be raised to 70?
Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I will read your comments later this hour.
MALVEAUX: And Carol, covering President Bush, he tried to privatize Social Security. That did not go anywhere. It's going to be interesting --
COSTELLO: No, that lasted about, what, 3.7 seconds?
MALVEAUX: Yes, although he tried for months to convince the American people that was the direction. So, we'll see.
COSTELLO: But imagine if we would have privatized Social Security, and then we had the big recession. What would have happened?
MALVEAUX: Right. The stock market, yes.
COSTELLO: So you see the problem here. It's a tough solution, right?
MALVEAUX: Right. Right. It will be very interesting to see what folks have got to say.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Carol.
A look ahead at what's "On the Rundown."
The wildfire danger in Texas, getting worse now as winds pick up.
Also, the saga of Hosni Mubarak's two sons held by authorities.
I'm going to talk with a criminal profiler about the search for a suspected serial killer.
Plus, a closer look at bipolar disorder after news that actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has been treated for it.
And finally, a breakdown of the Bush-era tax cuts at the center of the current fight over the nation's finances.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Today's "Choose the News" candidates all feature folks facing barriers to their goals.
So I want you to vote by texting 22360 for the story that you'd like to see.
First, a young British woman braves death threats in hopes of becoming the first Muslim to represent her country at the Miss Universe Pageant.
Next, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball 64 years ago, but there's a part of the story not even his own family knew until now.
And finally, a food truck vendor in Chicago takes on City Hall for his restaurant on wheels. Vote by texting 22360. Text 1 for "Muslim Beauty Queen"; 2 for "Jackie Robinson"; or 3 for "Food Truck Fight." The winning story airs this hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MALVEAUX: We're getting new details about a young mother who drove herself and her four children into the Hudson River. Only one child escaped.
Our Deborah Feyerick reports from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANGELA GILLIAM, LASHANDRA ARMSTRONG'S AUNT: Nobody knows what my niece has been through. Nobody.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Grief-stricken Angela Gilliam came to the banks of New York's Hudson River to mourn. Her niece, 25-year-old Lashandra Armstrong, described by neighbors as quiet, polite, and a loving mother, packed her four kids ages 10, 5, 2, and 11 months in the family minivan, then drove into the river just blocks from her home.
Neighbors say Armstrong never showed signs something was wrong.
TINA CLAYBORNE, NEIGHBOR: Well-mannered, well-dressed. They were fed. Very polite. Basically (INAUDIBLE) with the mom and the father waving, "Hi. Hi."
And I (INAUDIBLE). You know, that's how we were. But we never got into nobody else's business.
FEYERICK: Only the eldest child, 10-year-old Lashaun Armstrong, survived, scrambling out a window and swimming to shore.
CHIEF MICHAEL VATTER, NEWBURGH, N.Y. FIRE DEPARTMENT: He was having difficulty speaking, of course, and just was repeating about the car being in the water with his mom and siblings.
FEYERICK: Police say without the boy's eyewitness account, the family would likely have disappeared under the frigid water. The child's bravery, not surprising at his church and daycare center, where he watched out for his siblings.
DESIREE WATSON, YOUNG AND UNIQUE CHRISTIAN CHILD CARE CENTER: He's 10 years old, and he was probably aware of what was going on and was able to do something about it. Like I said, he's a good kid. He was always one to help with the other children.
FEYERICK: The tragedy occurred moments after police responded to a 911 call concerning a domestic dispute at the family's home in a rundown part of Newburgh, New York. Police found the apartment empty.
The director at the daycare center said that the mom picked up the kids unusually early and a teacher noticed Lashandra Armstrong didn't look right.
WATSON: She did mention that she was going through something with the dad at one time. And just recently, she had removed him from the pickup list and said that she was filing some type of court order against him.
FEYERICK: The landlord says he had changed the locks twice in six months.
JOHN BOUBARIS, LANDLORD: I'm assuming that she didn't want the person that was living with her being here.
FEYERICK: The 10-year-old boy is now staying with his aunt.
DR. LOU BAPTISTA, CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: He's going to suffer a lot. It sounds like from the narrow information that we have about this boy that he's a resilient boy, a likeable boy, a resourceful boy.
FEYERICK (on camera): The couple was not married. Police say they have questioned the father of the three youngest children to find out what may have triggered this tragedy.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Newburgh, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: So, is it a case of like father, like son in Egypt? Michael Holmes joins us with the story of Hosni Mubarak's sons who are being detained with him for questioning in the deaths of protesters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Checking some stories across the country.
A dangerous situation in west Texas is now getting worse. High winds are helping spread wildfires. The Texas Forest Service says almost half a million acres have burned this week. More than 500 homes have been evacuated. And more neighborhoods could be at risk later today.
In Lansing, Michigan, protests over Governor Rick Snyder's budget plans. Several thousand people from across the state gathered for a rally at the state capitol. Among other things, they're upset about the governor's push for education cuts and his plan to tax pensions.
In Vermont, a daring rescue. After four hours, crews were able to pull a young dog from the icy waters of Lake Champlain. The dog had broken free from its leash and ran into the lake ice.
Remember to vote for the story you'd like to see later this hour. Vote by texting 22360.
Text 1 for a Muslim beauty queen getting death threats for wanting to represent Britain in the Miss Universe contest. Text 2 for Jackie Robinson, how an unknown story of faith played a role in the historic signing of Major League Baseball's first African-American player. Or text 3 for food truck fight -- a Chicago vendor takes on City Hall.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We have new video for you. This is out of Libya, in what is reportedly a rare glimpse of Moammar Gadhafi, the country's embattled leader, touring what looks to be just outside the compound, his compound in Tripoli. This comes from Libyan state television. CNN cannot confirm when this video was made.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is now acknowledging that U.S. warplanes are still bombing Libya. A military spokesman tells CNN that the U.S. has now flown 97 sorties since the NATO handover. And on at least three occasions, U.S. jets have fired on targets.
Troubling news out of Syria. According to "The Wall Street Journal," the government is getting help cracking down on the protest movement from a dangerous ally, Iran. Iran is thought to be providing gear to Syrian security forces and helping track Internet and cell phone use among the protesters.
And in Egypt, the fallen president, Hosni Mubarak, is being detained by the state. He's facing questions about the deaths of protesters who were killed in the uprising that essentially unseated him. But Mubarak, he is not alone. His two sons have also been detained.
Our Michael Holmes is here to get us beyond the headlines into the saga of Egypt's former first family.
And unlike some of the other countries in the Middle East, the power is not automatically transferred from father to son.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No.
MALVEAUX: But he certainly had high hopes for his sons.
HOLMES: Yes.
MALVEAUX: What is the state of play now?
HOLMES: It doesn't happen everywhere. It's not unusual, but you're absolutely right.
Mubarak's two sons -- let's have a chat about them -- Alaa and Gamal are their names. One is a businessman, ex-banker as well, who have been in the public eye for many years now.
Now, Gamal is the youngest son. He is the one that had the most political aspirations. He was appointed to a very senior position in the party, the National Democratic Party, largely believed to have been groomed to take over from his dad.
Now, as I say, that doesn't always happen in these sorts of regimes, but this is what is thought to have been the plan. And it actually helped galvanize the protesters. They didn't want to see that at all.
He's 47 years old, was educated at the American University in Cairo. He was a Bank of America executive, actually, based in London, before he ended up starting his own equity firm and went back to Egypt to get involved in politics. Now, the protests have been fueled that we've seen by rumors that he was indeed being groomed as an heir.
Now, let's have a look at the other Mubarak son, Alaa.
He is the oldest son, sometimes gets overshadowed by Gamal. There's been talk of a little rivalry there as well.
A businessman, generally stayed out of the public eye. He lost a child back in 2009. And there was a lot of outpouring of sympathy for him at that time, one of the rare times, actually, that you saw much pity from the Egyptian people for the Mubarak family.
MALVEAUX: And it's rather rare, isn't it, Michael, that you have a former dictator actually being questioned by the government, by the state itself?
HOLMES: Yes.
MALVEAUX: What is that about? What can we expect from this?
HOLMES: Yes, absolutely. It's very unusual when you look back at deposed dictators, even in the current round of protests that we're seeing.
What you're seeing is the governing Military Council perhaps trying to placate protesters frustrated with the pace of reforms. Initially, they were thought to be protecting Mubarak. Now it's the other way around.
It is amazing though to see a leader in the Arab world face this sort of treatment after being deposed. Definitely have other leaders in the region, too, finding themselves in the middle of a little bit of concern about this, too. There's no easy good-byes when you are tossed out of office, that's for sure.
MALVEAUX: I understand that Hosni Mubarak is not taking the questioning very well. There's been numerous reports.
HOLMES: Yes.
MALVEAUX: What is the truth here? Is he really having a heart attack? Did he fake the heart attack?
HOLMES: This is it. I mean, it's impossible to know. It's interesting timing though, that he became ill during questioning, the first round of questioning.
MALVEAUX: Right.
HOLMES: Nobody is sure what caused the illness, if there was one. Some of the local news sources have been saying it was a heart problem. He has had heart problems in the past, various health issues, gallbladder surgery in Germany just last year, actually.
But a lot of people are a bit skeptical, too, that this might be an attempt to evade the pressure. And the questioning didn't stop though. After being treated in the hospital, they started up again, too. So it's still going on.
MALVEAUX: OK. It will be very interesting to see what ends up happening with Hosni Mubarak.
HOLMES: Yes.
MALVEAUX: How do they handle him? Where does he go?
HOLMES: A lot of anger there. You know? There's a lot of anger among the people.
They do want to see this happen. There is some support for him, still, but a lot of people want to see this happen.
Interesting, it was only a couple of years ago that there was a blogger who speculated on Hosni Mubarak's health, locked up in jail. So that's why there's not a lot known about it. It was pretty much illegal to even discuss it.
MALVEAUX: Wow.
HOLMES: Yes.
MALVEAUX: Well, a lot has changed. All right. Thank you, Michael.
HOLMES: Good to see you.
MALVEAUX: Good to see you.
Here's what's ahead "On the Rundown."
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is being treated for a bipolar disorder. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen talks to us about what it means to be bipolar and how it's being treated.
NBA star Kobe Bryant is paying the price for making offensive remarks during a game.
And what does it mean to be rich in America? The president wants to let Bush-era tax cuts expire.
As well, investigators conducting air, land and water searches now in their hunt for clues to a serial killer. At least eight sets of human remains have been found on Long Island. Only four of them have been identified.
Want to go to criminal profiler Patricia Brown who joins us. She is founder and CEO of the Sexual Homicide Exchange. If you would -- thank you for joining us -- can you tell us first why is this taking so long to find this serial killer? Is this common? PATRICIA BROWN, FOUNDER/CEO, SEXUAL HOMICIDE EXCHANGE: Well, actually serial killers rarely get caught. So, I'm not surprised they haven't rushed over and picked out the guy and said wow, we already got him here.
It's a stranger homicide. They don't know who hooked up with these particular women. It's not the same thing as looking at a bad boyfriend or the ex-husband. You really do not know in the population who it is. Now, the advantage they have is it's probably someone local to the area, and the area is not heavily populated like in the middle of Manhattan, so they've got a little bit of an advantage there.
MALVEAUX: Do we know -- is there any information about how long the serial killer has been killing? Are these old or fresh remains? How can we tell?
BROWN: I think they're going back at least four years at this point in time. I don't think they've got all of them identified. They have to figure out exactly when these women went missing. But he's been operating for at least half a decade, if not longer. So, I'm guessing we're going to be looking at a middle-aged man here. He seems pretty stable.
He is a sexually sadistic killer. And he's using a lot of his smarts. So, he's not a 20 year old out there. So, I'm looking at a middle-aged guy that has a life in the area, perhaps has a home in the area he can perhaps can bring all these women back to.
MALVEAUX: Do we have any other idea who we might be looking for? Any other characteristics based on the information we have so far?
BROWN: Well, we can't go for race. We aren't going to know that, although if the area is heavily white, we would say he's probably Caucasian. As I say, middle aged. The sexual sadism is very important. He's the kind of guy who's extremely psychopathic. Extremely controlling and domineering. He really wants to get the women into his clutches.
There's two kinds of serial killers. One is anger retaliatory. He's the guy that jumps out of the bushes and knocks you over the head and rapes and murders you, and 10 minutes later, he's gone. He's done his thing. But a sexual sadist will say "What a waste of time. What a waste of this victim that you've got. I want to bring her into my little dungeon, and I want to keep her there and I want to torture there and have a relationship with her. And do everything I want to her, and when I'm finished, I'll get rid of her.
So, this is a guy who's going to be looking on the Internet. He's going to be looking at a lot of hardcore porn. He's going to be going to bondage sites. And that's why he's probably checking out Craigslist and picking out some victims from there as well.
MALVEAUX: Do we have a sense at all whether or not he is killing in one particular area near the Long Island beaches, or do we suspect that he is located somewhere else and he's dumping the bodies there?
BROWN: I actually think he's located east of where the bodies were found. It's kind of interesting. All the bodies were found on the right side of the road. And I think what's happening is he's killing them in his home, then he's getting in his vehicle, he's driving away from home toward the west, and dumping them out. And when he's finished, he turns around, U-turns, and goes back to his house.
So, I think we are looking for someone to the east of where the bodies are found. I don't think it's going to be much further away from that. I don't think we're going to have somebody who's in state driving all the way to Long Island to get rid of them. They usually don't work that hard.
So, I think he is in the area. That will help them at least narrow down who it could be.
MALVEAUX: All right. Patricia Brown, thank you so much for your perspective. We really appreciate this. Thank you.
Millions of Americans have bipolar disorder. Now we know that actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is among them. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen with a closer look at the illness.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Remember to vote for the story you would like to see this hour. Vote by texting 22360. Text 1 for a Muslim beauty queen getting death threats for wanting to represent Britain in the Miss Universe contest. Text 2 for Jackie Robinson: how an unknown story of faith played a role in the historic signing of Major League Baseball's first African-American player. Or text 3 for food truck fight. A Chicago vendor takes on city hall.
NBA star Kobe Bryant fined for making offensive remarks on the court. We'll tell you how much and what was said.
With more than 1,600 different versions out there, Paul McCartney's song "Yesterday," - one of my favorites -- holds the Guinness World's record for most recorded versions. But when he first wrote it back in May of 1965, "Yesterday" was called something totally different. Was it A, "The Day After Tomorrow"? B, "Scrambled Eggs." C, "Sausages"?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEUAX: We asked you what Paul McCartney first called "Yesterday" when he wrote it back in 1965. Was it A, "The Day After Tomorrow," B, "Scrambled Eggs," or C, "Sausages"? The answer is B, "Scrambled Eggs." That's a surprise. I love that song.
Brings us to today's Showbiz update. A.J. Hammer standing by in New York. A.J., I understand the very that Paul McCartney used to compose "Yesterday" is now in the news. A.J. HAMMER, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ" CO-HOST: Yes it is. And by the way, don't you believe in scrambled eggs? Because I believe in scrambled eggs, Suzanne.
(LAUGHTER)
HAMMER: Let me talk about the piano. Maybe he had scrambled eggs on the piano. It's being sold at auction. And I got to tell you, I want it. If you're a music lover, there's a lot in this auction that might catch your eye. The (INAUDIBLE) Drury Lane in London is conducting this auction with 73 items today from stars as diverse as The Sex Pistols and Chuck Barry. But this is the highlight, this piano used by Paul McCartney to write the song "Yesterday," arguably one of the Beatles' most beloved songs. The art deco mini piano may not be a whole heck of a lot to look at, but for an estimated 125,000 British pounds, it could be yours. So, Suzanne, that's about 200 grand U.S. if you're thinking about phoning in a bid today.
MALVEAUX: I am piano shopping. We'll see.
I know there is another controversial comment made by basketball star Kobe Bryant. What do we know?
HAMMER: Yes, this is really unfortunate. The NBA is fining Bryant $100,000 for a homophobic slur he used Tuesday night. He was caught on tape during a game against the San Antonio Spurs shouting a profanity and the gay slur, apparently directed at one of the referees.
Now, Bryant released an apology yesterday. Here's what he said in that. "What I said last night should not be taken literally. My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period. The words expressed do not reflect my feelings toward the gay and lesbian communities and were not meant to offend anyone."
Well, the NBA called the comments offensive and inexcusable and they handed down that big fine. And gay rights groups, like GLAAD and The Human Rights Campaign issued statements condemning Bryant and supporting the NBA's fine. A spokesperson for the HRC told CNN that Bryant personally apologized to him over the phone, and he applauded Bryant for standing up and taking responsibility for his mistake.
Now, the NBA has been on this year-long campaign to protect their in-game officials from verbal abuse from the players. So, everyone who follows the league expected Bryant to get a fine over this, and the thinking is if the regular season didn't come to an end last night, he also could have been suspended. Hopefully, Suzanne, a lesson learned for Kobe Bryant. And maybe he will never toss the word around whether in private conversation or publicly ever again.
MALVEUAX: All right. A.J. Hammer, thank you very much.
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is being treated for bipolar disorder. The mental illness affects millions of Americans. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to talk a little bit more about this. Elizabeth, tell us what is bipolar disorder?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Bipolar disorder, Suzanne, is just what it sounds like. So, a person has times when they are really up and they are manic and they feel like they can do anything and they have a ton of energy. Then they have times when they are down and feeling depressed. The important thing to remember is these two things, they cycle. You're up and down and then you're up and then you're down.
MALVEAUX: And we're told she has type two bipolar disorder. What is the difference between type two bipolar and type one?
COHEN: Type one is where these poles go like this, you're up, you're down. It's very extreme. Type two, it's more like this. You go up and down, but the extremes aren't quite as high and quite as low. So some people, when Charlie Sheen was going on, what people call rants, some psychiatrists say he looks like he has type one bipolar disorder. Type two you might not notice it quite as much. The episodes aren't as dramatic.
MALVEAUX: So, a lot of us have ups and downs --
COHEN: Sure.
MALVEAUX: If someone has bipolar disorder, are they okay? Do they function fine? How does that manifest itself?
COHEN: Right. It's when those episodes sort of get in the way of living life normally. And psychiatrists in particular will often pay attention to the depressive episodes because those tend to last longer. So they -- in a bipolar disorder, it's not like 50/50. The depressive episodes can last for, like, a year or even longer. The manic episodes can be just a couple months. The depressive episodes can really start to take over and it's really hard to function when you're in that phase.
MALVEAUX: A lot of people think you're born with bipolar disorder. But Catharine Zeta-Jones, she said it was triggered by the fact her husband had throat cancer. Is that something you're born with? Is it triggered? Some people get it, some people don't?
COHEN: Right. Psychiatrists tell us you may be genetically wired to get bipolar disorder. They're not quite sure, but they think that might be part of it. And it does get triggered by having a difficult time. I mean, her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Her husband's ex-wife sued them for money. Her stepson went to jail. I mean, that's a pretty tough year right there.
In addition, believe it or not, sometimes the seasons can trigger it. In spring, like now, people tend to be more likely to get it because you tend to be more manic because the light is just -- we take cues from the seasons. And there's more light and there's more energy and you've got more time to sort of be awake and do things. So there's a bunch of different things that can trigger it.
MALVEAUX: So, real quickly, what is the treatment for this? COHEN: The treatment is mood stabilizers and also lithium sometimes for the depressive episodes and then also therapy. And so patients are taught, look, these are the symptoms to look for. When you're feeling manic, get help. And also, get in private so that you're not suffering these episodes publicly. Because you think you're great, but really you might look not so great.
MALVEAUX: OK. Thanks for putting this all into perspective.
COHEN: Thanks.
MALVEAUX: Thanks, Elizabeth.
Well, the president wants to raise taxes now for the rich. But what does it mean, really mean, to be rich in the first place? How much would the wealthiest Americans be paying? Our Carl Azuz is breaking it down for us.
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MALVEAUX: The House is on track for a vote today on the deal that kept the government from shutting down. The plan calls for about $38 billion in spending cuts and pays for government operations for the rest of the fiscal year, that is through September. Now, both the House and Senate are expected to approve the plan by the end of the day tomorrow.
In the next fight over tough budget choices, Democrats want to let the Bush era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire. Now Republicans say that raising taxes on anybody right now is a bad idea. But to have this debate at all, you first have to define, what does it mean to be wealthy in the first place in this country. Our Carl Azuz is here to talk about that.
Carl, we've been debating this for the last couple of days.
CARL AZUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
MALVEAUX: What does it mean to be rich in this country?
AZUZ: You know, that word "rich," the word "wealthy," they've kind of taken on new meanings in this tax war we're seeing on Capitol Hill. And to a certain extent, it depends on whom you ask. If you look at Webster's dictionary, it defines rich as having abundant possessions and especially material wealth. We can all agree on that. But we could argue all day over how big a paycheck you need to meet that definition.
For years, President Obama has been clear about what it means to him. Any individual making over $200,000 a year or any household making over $250,000 a year is what the president says is wealthy enough to bear the burden of more taxes.
So, whom does that affect? Well, 2 percent of Americans make that much money. So 98 percent of us don't fit the president's definition of wealthy. In fact, the median household income in the U.S. in 2009 was $49,777. That's according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A family of four earning less than $22,000 that year was considered to be below the poverty level. And the nation's official poverty rate that year was 14.3 percent, more than 43.6 million people, and that rate was up from 13.2 percent in 2008.
So take a listen to what President Obama said about taxes during his speech yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I say that at a time when the tax burden on the wealthy is at its lowest level in half a century, the most fortunate among us can afford to pay a little more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Some folks might hear that number and say that $250,000 for a family doesn't get you what it used to, especially if you live in an urban area or an area with a higher cost of living.
MALVEAUX: So, Carl, how much more would the wealthy be paying under Obama's plan in taxes?
AZUZ: Well, I mean, if we were talking about folks in that 2 percent, the president's top 2 percent who are in those top two tax brackets, President Obama wants to let income tax rates go from 33 percent and 35 percent, where they are today, back up to 36 percent at the $200,000 level and almost 40 percent at the $250,000 level. So we're looking at a 3 to 4 percent tax jump for that top two percent. And that, as you might expect, could cause a lot more headaches and a lot more back and forth on Capitol Hill.
Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Absolutely. OK. Also want to join us here with the responses of the tax "Talk Back" question. Several Republicans now proposing raising the Social Security retirement age to help the country save money, pay down the debt.
So, Carol, give us a sense, what have folks been telling you about this?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of controversial issues today, right? And they're all flying around on Capitol Hill. Our "Talk Back" question today is, should the Social Security retirement age be raised to 70?
This from Bill. "Not just no, but no, no, a thousand times no. Just raise the wage cap and Social Security will be solvents well into the future. Stop moving the goalpost, Republicans, and start working for all Americans instead of just the top 1 percent."
This from Darrell. "With all the Republican cutbacks to Medicare and health care, I fear our life expectancy and health will deteriorate to the point that will no longer become reasonable or necessary because as we die younger, Social Security will become financially viable again."
This from Joe. "I am 54 years old and worked 34 years in a steel mill in the heat and the dust. I'm worried about making it until 63, let alone 70. Maybe people in office jobs can last that long, but how many people can work 50 years in a mill or a coal mine."
And this from Adam. "I'll enjoy my retirement years in my wheelchair, just how I imagined, awesome."
Keep the conversation going, facebook.com/carolcnn. And thanks again for your comments.
MALVEAUX: Most -- so most viewers, would they say that they're just upset about this whole thing?
COSTELLO: They are upset. They don't think the retirement age should be raised, you know, to 70 years old. Of course, this will happen far into the future and probably won't affect many of our FaceBookers unless they were born after 1970. But, still, it's like, OK, let's say they raise it to 70. How long will life expectancy be in 2032? Will it be still 80, 85 years old? You won't have that long to live in retirement and you have to wait -- you have to work all those years to collect it.
MALVEAUX: Right. Right. And then there's some like my father who just won't retire because he just wants to work.
COSTELLO: He's crazy. Tell him, you're crazy, dad.
MALVEAUX: He wants to work.
All right, Carol, Carl, thank you so much.
AZUZ: Thank you, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Well, you told us what story you wanted to see. Your "Choose The News" winner up next.
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MALVEAUX: Here's a story that you wanted to see. A young British woman receives both support and death threats as she tries to become the first Muslim to represent her country at the Miss Universe Pageant. Here's CNN's Richard Greene.
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RICHARD GREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shanna Bukhari is a fashion model from Manchester, England. She was born in England, she studied English literature in college and she hopes to be the first Muslim to represent her country at the Miss Universe contest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just lean a little bit more.
GREENE: Unfortunately for her, not everyone likes that idea. SHANNA BUKHARI, MISS UNIVERSE HOPEFUL: I've received a lot of hate mail. I've had racism. I've had a minority from Muslim community, I've had it from all religions and all communities that dislike what I'm doing.
GREENE: She says she's gotten messages through FaceBook calling her a dirty Muslim, telling her that Britain is a white country, and, on the other hand, that she's defiling her religion, that she should be murdered. But, she says, she gets more support than criticism from all communities. On the streets of Manchester, no one seems to have a problem with a Muslim representing Britain at the Miss Universe contest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I up (ph) for anybody should represent Great Britain if they're happy (ph). No problem at all.
GREENE: But some Muslim community leaders have a different view.
MOHAMMED SHAFIQ, RAMADHAN FOUNDATION: Islam is very clear that women should dress in a modest way and guard (ph) their (ph) modesty (ph). And certainly as a liberal Muslim myself, I do believe that she should do just that.
GREENE: Shanna Bukhari says she could do a lot of good charity work as Miss Universe, but Mohammed Shafiq isn't convinced.
SHAFIQ: I oppose these all (ph) pageantries where women have to be paraded in bikinis and idealized as sexual objects, you know, and then spend a year promoting peace. You can promote peace without having the title Miss Universe or Miss U.K. for that matter.
GREENE: Shanna Bukhari insists she can be both a beauty queen and a good Muslim.
BUKHARI: I do believe in my religion. My religion is for myself. And I do not believe that I should be judged on how I am because this competition doesn't define me as a person and it doesn't make me any less of a Muslim being in a pageant like this.
GREENE: She's getting support from another trailblazer, the first Muslim Miss USA, Rima Fakih, who says, go for it.
RIMA FAKIH, MISS USA 2010: Be proud of who you are. And no matter what anyone tells you, by using religion as a tool against you, don't let that affect you.
GREENE (on camera): People don't focus much more on Rima Fakih being the first Muslim Miss USA, she says, they just think of her as Miss USA. Whether Shanna Bukhari's story turns out the same way may say a lot about Britain and how it's adapting to its own rapidly growing Muslim minority.
Richard Greene, CNN, Manchester, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX: Only four votes separated that story from the Jackie Robinson story. So your vote does count. If you choice did not win or you just want to check out the runners up, I'll have the links to them on my page at facebook.com/suzannecnn.
CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kaye, who's in for Ali Velshi.
Hey, Randi.
