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Asleep in the Control Tower; Bringing the Farm to You; Clean Water Around the World; : Palin Expose; Trump Called "Just Another Liberal"; Michelle Obama and Jill Biden on "The View"; Fed Shut Down Poker Sites
Aired April 18, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Sleeping on the job can get you fired pretty much anywhere I can think of. Depending on the job, it can also get other people killed.
Case in point, this job, air traffic control. Seven times so far this year -- that's right, you heard me -- seven times controllers have fallen asleep when they should have been guiding airplanes through takeoffs and landings. No accidents have resulted, but the federal official in charge has resigned. And after the latest unauthorized nap, which was just this weekend, the FAA tightened some rules.
Controllers now have to have at least nine hours off between shifts, and that applies to swaps with co-workers as well. They can't work an unscheduled midnight shift after a day off, and more FAA managers will work early mornings and late nights.
On Saturday, the FAA suspended a controller who dosed on duty at the air route control center in Miami. Before that, controllers slept in Washington, Knoxville, Tennessee, Seattle -- you see all the states there on the map, including Reno as well, and twice in Lubbock, Texas.
To drive their message home, the head of the FAA and the Air Traffic Controllers Union today launched a cross-country tour right here in Atlanta -- well, Peachtree City, a suburb, of course. That's home to a regional air control hub.
And CNN's Jeanne Meserve is there for us today. She joins me for "Two at the Top."
Jeanne, tell us what happened there.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the most unusual barnstorming tour I think I have ever seen to see the head of a federal agency pairing up with the head of an employee union, but of both these men, Randy Babbitt and Paul Rinaldi, have a real stake in seeing some sort of solutions found to this problem of controllers falling asleep on the job. As you mentioned, the latest, just this past weekend in Miami.
They met here at this facility with a group of controllers to hear their concerns and also issue a few messages. Part of it was cheerleading, saying, listen, 99.9 percent of the time, you guys are professional and do a great job, but any mistake is important. And that is something else they talked about.
They said, scolding in part, we have to do better. Here is part of Administrator Babbitt's remarks to the controllers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDY BABBITT, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: Just because 99.9 percent of us do it right, we have got to have us all doing it right. This is a business where one mistake is one too many.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: As you mentioned, they have made some changes to scheduling. Already, more changes may be in the offing after they complete studying this issue.
The FAA administrator, Randy Babbitt, told us that he estimated it would cost $2 million to $9 million a year to institute the changes they have already talked about. They do say that they want to be fiscally responsible, but there is no price tag that you can put on safety in this situation.
In addition, he told us that one of the controllers involved in one of these situations, the one in Knoxville, where the controller appeared to have willfully fallen asleep, has now been fired.
Randi, back to you.
KAYE: All right, Jeanne. Thank you very much.
We want to get back to our breaking news and live pictures of this woman who has been hanging from a tree in the canal near Violets Lock Road. This is in Maryland.
We had said that Montgomery County Fire and Rescue were there on the scene just a moment ago when we showed you this video for the first time. And now, you can see, there they are. They're getting right to her.
Apparently, she is a kayaker who lost control of her boat, ended up grabbing hold of a tree. We're not clear how long she has been holding onto that tree, but you can see there is fire and rescue in their boat, about three people trying to pull her off that tree.
Apparently, the woman was caught in her kayak, which is under the water. And there they are as they try to pull her.
You know, you can take a look at how rough that water looks and how quickly that current is moving. You certainly don't want to lose her in between getting her from that tree and into that boat. So there you can see two of the fire and rescue crew. There's three in the boat, two trying to pull her. OK.
She is free from the tree. These pictures are coming to us from WUSA. And it's all happening in Dickerson, Maryland.
And there she is. They got her in the boat. That is wonderful to see.
So here we have this woman who had been trapped, clinging to a tree in Dickerson, Maryland, had had a problem with her kayak, got stuck, clinging to that tree for dear life. And now she is safe and sound on that rescue boat. Much thanks to the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue team.
We are glad we were able to bring that to you and have a happy ending as well.
Moving on, our "Sound Effect" would make a decent novel. An adventurer-turned-humanitarian writes about his travels in Afghanistan and Pakistan; educates millions about the need for Afghan schools, especially girls schools; raises millions of dollars; sells millions of books; and years later is accused of writing lies.
This is the book in question, "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One School at a Time." The author is Greg Mortenson, who is defending his work against a "60 Minutes' investigation that claims, among other things, Mortenson made up his tale of being kidnapped by the Taliban back in 1996.
Well, CNN tracked down one of the alleged kidnappers who runs a Pakistani think tank, and listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greg Mortenson says that you kidnapped him. Did you?
MANSUR KHAN MAHSUD, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FATA RESEARCH CENTRE: No, he is lying. He's lying.
We didn't kidnap him. He was our guest, and we treated him as a guest, not someone -- we have not kidnapped him. He used to move around with us to different places in Waziristan. He was (INAUDIBLE) guest at a football tournament.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you think he said this about you?
MAHSUD: Just to sell his book, because people in 2005 or 2006, wanted to know about Waziristan and the Taliban. So he thought that it's good to make this story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you saw Greg Mortenson now, what would you say to him?
MAHSUD: I would just say that, why you have defamed me, my family and my tribe? We treated you well. We housed you in our homes. So, why the hell you have made all these lies about us?
I intend to sue him because he has defamed me, my family, my tribe.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: Mortenson insists he was detained for eight days. In a statement on the Web site of his charity he writes, "It was against my will, and my passport and money were taken from me. I was not mistreated or harmed, but I was also not allowed to leave. A blanket was put over my head any time I was moved by vehicle."
In an e-mail to supporters, Mortenson says the "60 Minutes" story "paints a distorted picture using inaccurate information, innuendo -- and a few points in the book that occurred almost 18 years ago."
CNN hasn't been able to reach Mortenson directly, but his charity he is due to undergo heart surgery this week, and once he is recovers, he will comment in person.
We have our eye on the Dow right now. It's been a rough day for U.S. investors. Stocks plummeted at the opening this morning after Standard and Poor's cut its outlook of U.S. debt from stable to negative. Here is where the Dow stands right now, down about 186, negative territory.
The S&P, the leading rating agency, said it was concerned about the ballooning U.S. deficit and lawmakers' inability to agree on a plan to reduce it. Investors are also on edge about the debt problems in Europe and corporate earnings.
With everything that's happening in the Middle East, we are watching these gas prices like hawks. But exactly how much crude oil do we get from countries in the Middle East? Take a look at the list.
Which country do you think is number one? Where's it coming from? We'll reorganize that list and give you the correct answer right after this very quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Oh, yes, we are all feeling the pain at the gas pump these days. It seems like every day, the price of gas goes up.
The founder and CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy was on "STATE OF THE UNION" yesterday talking about the possibility of $5 gas in the next couple of years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN HOFMEISTER, FOUNDER & CEO, CITIZENS FOR AFFORDABLE ENERGY: In the short term, like this year, I think we'll see a little bit more upward movement depending upon what happens in the Middle East. I'm more worried about next year.
If the U.S. doesn't pick up its contribution to that crude oil production, we'll be looking back at $5 in a couple of years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So, John Hofmeister just mentioned the Middle East. You're probably thinking that we get the majority of our crude oil supply from the Middle East, right? That's what a lot of people think, but you would actually be wrong to think that. So let me break it down for you.
Here we have the top five places that we get it -- top five countries.
Number five is actually Venezuela. There you go.
Number four, Nigeria. Hope you're playing along at home.
Number three is what a lot of people think would actually be number one, Saudi Arabia.
Number two, Mexico.
And coming in at number one is actually Canada.
So, let us know how you did at home.
So, when we talk about the gas prices, well, you always hear about crude oil prices. But how exactly do crude oil prices affect the price that you pay at the pump?
Let me break this down for you as well. These figures are all from the Energy Information Administration.
So, first, let's look at last year's average.
Sixty-eight percent of the cost of a gallon of gas went to actually purchase crude oil. All right? Fifteen percent went to taxes, 10 percent to marketing and distribution, and seven percent to refining the crude oil into gasoline. So that was 2010.
Now look at the average for 2009. Look how much less we were paying for crude oil, 51 percent, compared to 68 percent. Also, check out the refining cost. It was more than double what we pay for refining gas now, 15 percent, and now we pay seven percent.
And check out taxes. Percentage-wise, we were actually taxed less today on each gallon of gas than in the last decade.
And just to give you an idea of how much we have paid for gasoline in the past, the national average for a gallon of regular gas hit $4.11 in the summer of 2008. Well, today, we are only 28 cents away from that all-time high.
Coming up, imagine acres of farmland in the middle of a city, skyscrapers, concrete, traffic jams and all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT LIOTTA, FOUNDER, PODPONICS: This is the future of farming, because it's completely different than conventional farming in the sense that we divorce growing a crop from the land.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: A new kind of farm that may help you eat just a little bit greener. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: As we approach Earth Day this week, we're focusing on the greener solutions of the food we eat, how it's grown and where it comes from. It's part of our new series, "Green Solutions in Focus."
Today, the equation for produce is often relatively simple -- the closer it is to the place you eat it, well, the fresher it is. And consider this -- as the population continues to grow, we need more food, but farmland in the U.S. is shrinking. A lot of what we eat is imported from other countries.
It takes days to get what you see at the grocery store from the farm to your table. But one company has invented a new kind of farm that condenses an acre's worth of food, and it can go anywhere.
Photojournalist Greg Kilday, shows us how.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LIOTTA: This is the future of farming, because it's completely different than conventional farming in the sense that we divorce growing a crop from the land.
I'm Matt Liotta, the founder of PodPonics. And we grow fresh produce right in your neighborhood.
As our population increases, we need greater and greater amounts of food source, and we're having to do worse and worse things to our land to do that. By doing this, we're able to actually can take land that's readily available in urban areas, but that is traditionally not useful for farming, and we can make use of that.
So these are shipping containers that were previously used for importing/exports goods in the United States. And what we do is to recycle them into an optimal growing environment for a particular fresh produce crop.
We plant seeds in a little inert growing medium, and the seed then is irrigated on a regular basis. You know, when you look at the amount of energy that you use to grow a crop, you have to look at all the energy from getting from seed, ultimately to the end product in the consumer's hand.
So when you look at the annual yield that one of these containers produces, which takes up 320 square feet, we produce about the equivalent of an acre and a half of conventional farm. The distributor comes three times a week to pick up our products. The vast majority of our product goes to restaurants here in the Atlanta area.
CHEF SCOTT SERPAS, SERPAS TRUE FOOD: We probably use between 10 and 15 pounds of lettuce a week here at the restaurant at Serpas. There's a lot of local farmers, but something of this magnitude, being so close in an urban setting, is very unusual, and I think it's probably going to the be trend-setting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Eighteen minutes past the hour. Time now for some top stories.
Just minutes ago, in Montgomery County, Maryland, emergency workers were able to rescue a woman who was desperately clinging to a tree in fast-moving canal near Violets Lock Road. You saw the rescue live here on CNN.
The woman was a kayaker who lost control of her boat and ended up grabbing a hold of the tree. No word yet on the woman's condition.
Top leaders from the FAA and a controllers union are here in Atlanta today. It's their first stop as they begin a tour of air traffic control towers across the country to talk about new safety and new FAA rules. The tour kicks off after another air traffic controller, the seventh this year if you're counting, was caught sleeping on the job.
Dozens of relief teams are heading to the Southeast to start the cleanup from a powerful system that unleashed a wave of deadly tornadoes across the region. At least 45 people were killed in six states this weekend. North Carolina was the hardest hit state, with 22 deaths.
In Texas, dozens of large fires are burning out of control today, especially in west Texas, in the panhandle. Firefighters say high winds, temperatures and dry conditions have created a perfect storm for wildfires. Authorities arrested one man for accidentally starting one of those fires.
In the meantime, Texas Governor Rick Perry is asking the president to declare Texas a disaster area.
As we mentioned, Earth Day is Friday, but actor Matt Damon works every day to provide clean water to people around the world. In today's "Impact Your World," we travel with him to see first hand the struggle for accessible water in Ethiopia and his group's efforts to make a difference.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT DAMON, ACTOR/WATER.ORG: We're about 60 kilometers outside Mek'ele, Ethiopia.
This is a hand-dug well. It services about 6,000 people.
The kids behind me, they've come here to gather their water. The bottles you see them drinking, full of that dirty water. That's what they come to fetch to take to school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a matter of life and death. DAMON: A matter of life and death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
DAMON: It's in people's nature to want to step up and do their part.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Join the movement, CNN.com/impact.
KAYE: CNN's "Impact Your World" is challenging you to pledge at least 11 volunteer hours this year, in 2011. Go on CNN.com/impact, or text "impact," space and the number 11 to 22360 to make your pledge today. And when you complete your hours, go back to the Web page to submit your photos or video. Your volunteer story could be featured by "Impact Your World."
Strong winds, unseasonably warm temperatures, and low humidity in Texas are creating what some forestry officials call a perfect storm for hundreds of wildfires.
Up next, Chad Myers and Ed Lavandera will join me live with the very latest from Texas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAYE: Background checks before you go on a date? Why one Internet site is screening its members before they can ask each other out. We'll tell you which one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Now, a look at news that you may have missed. The Dow dipped more than 200 points soon after the opening bell today After Standard & poor's downgraded the long-term U.S. credit outlook from stable to negative to morning. And the issue: fighting in Washington over U.S. debt reduction plans. The news caused gold to spike to almost $1,500 an ounce.
Top leaders from the FAA and the controllers union are beginning to tour air traffic control towers across the country. Their first stop was Atlanta today. This after seven incidents of controllers caught sleeping on the job. The FAA also announced new rules over the weekend to help combat controller fatigue.
The Air Force Academy football team met with President Obama earlier today in the Rose Garden to receive the commander in chief's trophy. The Falcons earned the award by beating both Army and Navy in football games last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, this is a group that has a lot to be proud of. but obviously the most impressive thing about these young men and the thing that sets them apart is that being a football player isn't what defines them. They are airmen first. And more important than any bowl game or trophy is the commitment that they have made to serve this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: An epic novel now being called a pack of lies. Monsieur Massoud called Greg Mortenson a friend, and now he says that Mortenson's book about being kidnapped by the Taliban in Pakistan is made up. Massoud says that the images show that the villagers were neither Taliban nor kidnappers but instead hosts. Here you can even seen Mortenson hold a weapon.
In a CBS "60 Minutes" investigation, author John Krakow also alleges the stories in the book "Three Cups of Tea" are not true. Mortenson denies the allegations.
Match.com says it will begin cross-referencing members against the National Sex Offender Registry. This after a woman claimed she was raped by a convicted offender she met on the Internet dating site. However, Match.com's president warns members against a false sense of security and says to be cautious when meeting anyone online.
They are now known as inmates number 23 and 24, but we knew them as two of the most powerful people in Egypt's Mubarak regime. I will reveal who they are and how they got there next on "Globe Trekking."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: We have been talking about these wildfires spreading throughout Texas, and we have Ed Lavandara on the phone with us. And he is on the road in Texas watching these wildfires. Ed, what can you tell us? Bring us up to date.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Hey, Randi. Well, we just made our way through with the deputy from the Young's County Sheriff's Department outside of - to the west of Fort Worth. And we are on the front lines watching some of the strike teams near the town of Grand, Texas, battle these flames that the fires are several miles away, about five or six miles away from the town of Graham. And the firefighters are doing their best to make sure that those flames don't get any closer.
Of course, the concern here is the winds and whether or not those winds will pick up later on this afternoon and put the town in more danger. As of now, there is no plans to evacuate the town of Graham, but if those winds pick up and change directions, it can really complicate things here this afternoon. And there are a number of strike teams working on the ground and with aerial teams to fight the fire on the ground. But that's kind of what we're in the middle of doing right now.
It has been an extremely treacherous few weeks here in Texas as wildfires have raged in many corners of the state. And the resources here to battle these flames have really been exhausted and quite tired. These crews that we are watching right here, and a couple of these volunteer firefighters are walking around me to spray a couple of the hot spots that we are seeing here in the fields outside of Graham, Texas, Randi.
KAYE: Those pictures, that video of those fires is really something. All right. Ed Lavandara watching it for us. Thank you, Ed, we appreciate the update.
Now, let's go "Globe Trekking," starting in Egypt. They are now known as inmates number 23 and 24. To us, they are better known as Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, sons of deposed leader Hosni Mubarak.
These days they live in a prison called Tora Farm. How did they end up there? CNN International's Michael Holmes is with me to talk a little bit about that. So, boy, what a difference -
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tora Farms is sort of an ironic name, really. Has nothing to do with agriculture. This is a prison. Tora Farms is on the dusty outer suburbs of Cairo, just to the south. It is home to about 600 inmates there, and as you said, Hosni Mubarak, the former president, his kids are in there, Gamal and Alaa.
Now, they are there at the moment, they accused of all kinds of things. Alaa for impropriety financially, Gamal for things like ordering security forces to fire on protesters, so facing a couple of fairly serious charges. They are not the only ones, though. This is interesting because this was a prison that was really set up for those deemed to be the enemies of the state. And now it is the powerful who inside and not just the two Mubaraks, too. There's the president's closest confidante is in there, the former prime minister, the former speaker of the house.
The guards, I was talking to Ivan Watson a little earlier, and he was saying that the guards are telling him that they are well behaved and the guards are actually glad they are there.
KAYE: From what I understand, they actually share a cell. The two brothers.
HOLMES: Yes, they do. And Gamal is apparently, according to some reports, a bit depressed about it all. They get meals brought in, and in fact one other inmate there, a former politician who famously arranged to have his Lebanese pop-star girlfriend murdered in Dubai, he gets his meals sent in from the Four Seasons. So, the food is OK when you have it brought in, but it is a jail, and apparently not a fancy place.
KAYE: And are they eating?
HOLMES: Apparently, Gamal is not. He is off of the food, as they say. He is not doing well inside. He is facing some serious charges, too.
Hosni Mubarak, he of course, is in the hospital being treated --
KAYE: So, he could end up there?
HOLMES: Yes, he certainly could end up there. If his health is better, that's where he will go.
KAYE: You know, anyone who's watching this might wonder, why didn't they leave when they had the chance?
HOLMES: Nobody knows for sure, but I think -- my gut feeling is power. These people did not think they would be overthrown.
KAYE: They never thought it would catch up to them?
HOLMES: They never thought it would come to this. They thought they had been there for 30 years and so powerful, and they ran the place with an iron fist. And remember, this happened in a couple of weeks, two to three weeks, and it all ended. I think they thought they would just be able to tough it out.
KAYE: Well, I'm interested to see where this goes. Let's move on the Syria. Protesters fired upon by the country's security forces?
HOLMES: Yes, serious clashes, and eight people were reportedly killed in clashes between the security forces and anti-government protesters. This was concentrated in the city of Hahm. These pictures are from elsewhere. But Hahm was where it really was (INAUDIBLE), about 100 miles north of Damascus. And that was triggered in that case by the announcement of the death of a well respected elder in police custody.
You know, this just goes on and on and spreads a little bit more everyday we talk about it. It is still not in the capital, but that's where the protesters wanted to be. Bashar Al Assad promising to end the emergency rule within the next day or two, but the protesters are worried what is going to replace it.
KAYE: Haven't we heard that before?
HOLMES: We have heard that before!
KAYE: OK, just making sure.
HOLMES: And we're hearing it again.
KAYE: OK. I wanted to have it on the record.
HOLMES: And I wouldn't be surprised if he meant it (ph) this time. The emergency law that has been in place for decades will probably go, but it's being replaced with what they call an antiterrorism law, and the cynics in Syria say it is probably going to be a new name for the same sort of restrictions.
KAYE: And yet the government is still holding on?
HOLMES: Oh, absolutely. They are holding on, and they, again, don't think that anything is going to happen to them. They are clinging to it with their life. But they have announced a raft of reforms, and are hoping that's going to win people over. It is not working at the moment.
This is not on par of what we saw in Egypt, and it's not on a par with what we've seen, obviously in Libya and places like that. But it is fermenting along, and it is not going away.
KAYE: What is the best outcome if you can tell us for the U.S. in this situation?
HOLMES: Well, the U.S. -- you can argue that the U.S. doesn't have a dog in the fight, but they do in a way, because they were trying to bring Bashar Al Assad into the fold, if you like, to reduce his anti-Israli stance and to pull him away from Iran, because they are best friends.
So, they felt that they were having a little nibble of that before all of this started. Now, all bets are off. And who knows?
We have talked about this before, and the problem with Syria is the regional implications. Hezbollah is based there, Hamas is based there. Lebanon, of course, is huge Hezbollah influences there. You don't want to see this spreading outside the border, certainly not to a place like Lebanon, which can go off very quickly.
KAYE: So, you think they're watching what happened in Egypt and checking on that Tora Farm prison?
HOLMES: They might be, too!
KAYE: You might want to think about high tailing it out of there?
HOLMES: They might be watching that with interest, but at the moment, they believe they can be holding on.
KAYE: All right. Michael Holmes, thank you.
HOLMES: Good to see you, Randi.
KAYE: Good to see you as well.
KAYE: Who is paying the most taxes, you ask? Who is paying the least? And who pays none at all? I'll break it all down for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: If you still haven't filed your 2010 tax returns, what are you doing watching TV? Get back to work after you watch this tax day edition of "The Big Breakdown." We are looking on the bright side, by the way, of the 96 million returns that the IRS has already processed. Almost 81 million have put money back into the taxpayers' pockets. And by the way, check out the 83 million e-filers. The most ever. 83 million. And how much is the Treasury giving back? So far, about $234 billion, almost $2,900 on average per refund. On the other side of the ledger, we know five percent of taxpayers, the richest five percent, pay 59 percent of the taxes. But 45 percent paying no federal taxes at all.
How does that break down? Almost all of those who don't owe earn less than $50,000 a year, but more than 12 percent are in the mid- to high- five figures.
And take a look at this. There you have it, one percent of the filers who earn a million dollar a year pay no federal taxes. That's not to say any of these people are off the hook entirely. There's also payroll taxes and local and state taxes, sales tax, gas tax - I can go on and on. You get the idea.
Well, it is being called, quote "a chilling expose on Sarah Palin," Got my attention. CNN political producer Shannon Travis joins me now from Washington. Shannon, what are we really talking about here?
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, Randi, just when you thought you had everything that you wanted or needed to know about the former Alaskan governor, there is a book coming out on May 24th that promises as you said to be a chilling expose on Palin.
That is supposedly being written by a former aide to Palin who worked for her for a number of years from 2006 until the former governor of, until Palin resigned the governorship of Alaska, and Simon and Schuster is saying, the publishing house is saying there will be, quote, "an explosive close-up view of Palin."
So certainly, that will be catching a lot of people's attention. Moving on to Donald Trump. He is being called quote, "just another liberal." That is coming from the Conservative Anti-Tax Group Club for Growth.
They are saying that some of Trump's past positions, some of the things that he supported in the past makes him a liberal. Listen to this quote of a representative of the Club for Growth, quote, "Donald Trump has advocated for massive tax increases that display a stunning lack of knowledge of how to create jobs."
Now, of course, Donald Trump has not declared a presidency, a presidential bid. He says that he's considering it, and he says that he is very conservative, as conservative as a lot of the other potential contenders.
One last thing, Michelle Obama, the first lady and Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, they're teaming up. They were on "The View" this morning. You're looking at some video of them, actually being interviewed by the ladies of "The View."
They're teaming up to raise awareness for support of military families. They talked about how many Americans, a lot of us can go out there and to support these families and the service members are off at war and the families struggle back at home.
But one other thing that caught my attention was, you know, it's very chatty on the couch there with the ladies of "The View," Mrs. Obama talked about the president and how he is handling the eldest daughter Malia's, how's he's handling her transition to becoming a teenager. And she talked about a funny moment where Malia was getting ready to go out and she was dressed up and pretty in a nice pretty dress, and the president kind of had to choke up a little bit.
KAYE: Well, his little baby is growing up.
TRAVIS: That's right.
KAYE: He has to deal with it at some point like he doesn't have enough to worry about too, right?
TRAVIS: Got a lot of other things to worry about.
KAYE: Shannon, thank you.
Your next update from the Best Political Team on television is one hour away.
The federal government clamping down knocking online poker offline, but should they step back and maybe find a way to make money off of this popular pastime? Our stream team tackles that question next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: A shock for online poker players, their favorite sites are now shutdown in the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE (voice-over): The big three in the online poker business are Poker Stars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker. This is what you see now on the popular poker stars site. All of them were part of a federal government crackdown. Indictments on fraud and illegal gambling were unsealed late last week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: This is big money that we are talking about. A website that tracks the online game says U.S. players wagered around $16 billion on these sites last year. Top players can earn upwards of $1 million a year in online cash games and tournaments. So should internet poker be legal in the U.S. and maybe even taxed?
Let's bring in the stream team now. CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, Barrett Duke, Director of Research at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and Vince Van Patten, TV Host of the popular World Poker Tour.
Glad you're with us, guys. Let's start with the obvious before we get into the nuts and bolts here. It's the same argument that some are having over marijuana, legalize it and tax the industry. So Vince, let's start with you. What is the harm here?
VINCE VAN PATTEN, HOST, "WORLD POKER TOUR": Well, to me there is a difference. I think legalizing marijuana to me is a bad idea because you could get high and then you possibly get in your car, drive and hurt somebody else.
Online poker, I believe should be legalized in the U.S. because, you know, it's in the privacy of your home. It's a spice of life. It's entertainment and there's no harm in my opinion.
KAYE: Barrett, you want to weigh in?
BARRETT DUKE, THE ETHICS AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY COMMISSION: Well, yes, in fact that is one of the problems. It is done in the privacy of your own home. People's lives are being destroyed by the thousands in this country because of gambling.
The last thing we need is for that to be streamed into their homes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is just a bad policy to have that, and I think that the federal government has made the right decision on this.
KAYE: Jeffrey, what is the legal problem with online poker? I mean, can't the government make money off of these sites?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the broad problem at the moment is that online poker is illegal, but most of these operations were based abroad either in Ireland or somewhere else.
And the way that this investigation went forward is that even though the businesses are offshore, the financial mechanisms, the banking that got the money from the players to the poker operators, that's what the federal government cracked down on.
There were sort of a gray area now where the government tolerated the existence of these offshore poker operations, but clearly, that period is over. We know it is illegal and now the country has to decide whether to legalize it and tax it or continue these criminal investigations.
KAYE: And Barrett, I want to ask you because poker players say that this isn't gambling, it is a game of skills so it is not gambling. What is your response to that?
DUKE: Well, certainly, you know, it takes more skill to play poker than it does for instance to bet on a roulette wheel, but still, when you come down to it, you need luck to get the right cards, just because you want an ace does not mean you will get an ace. So there is some skill involved and it's still a game of chance.
KAYE: And Vince, you see a lot of these online players in your tournaments. What do you think that the impact is going to be on the game and the popularity of your TV shows and also can't the government add their own rake to make some money off of these sites?
PATTEN: Well, of course, first of all, you're going to have billions of players out there that are saying what just happened? OK. Where is my poker game? They are going to probably -- it is hysteria right now.
They're running out to the bars, which is not a good thing. I say, you know, get the game back, let them play their poker and it is a spice of life. It's a lot of fun.
You know, some good social things that people -- there is camaraderie. There is intelligence. There's skill factor in poker. I say, what is wrong with gambling? I don't think it is that bad. And the world poker --
KAYE: Jeffrey, I want to get back to what you meant -- sorry.
PATTEN: Well, the World Poker Tour, we do a show with the big tournaments around the world, and that is continuing. And actually a lot of the shows that were produced, TV shows, poker shows that are produced by those sites, I don't know what will happen to them, but it will be beneficial to the World Poker Tour.
KAYE: And Jeffrey, you mentioned that the shows moved offshore. Why did they move offshore in the first place?
TOOBIN: Well, the federal government in the last decade made an effort to stop online poker, and that's, and so it is illegal to run a business in the United States that is online poker, but given the demand and given the creativity of entrepreneurs what they did was, they moved the actual operation of the web sites out of the United States, outside of the reach of American law enforcement.
But what they couldn't do was to create a mechanism to get the money from players in the United States to the poker operations overseas and that is really what this big prosecution is about. It is about the money moving operation from the United States to the poker operations, which I think that has shut them down permanently.
But as we know and we have discussed here, you know, there is such demand for poker. There is so many people who want to play it and want to play it online. It's probably only a matter of time until other web sites surface, other financial feeders surface and then we're going to have this discussion all over again.
About whether it is better for the government to control it and tax it or try to stop it. And I'm glad it is not my decision because I think it is a hard call.
KAYE: Well, if it pops up again, we will be sure to call you all and we have your numbers and have you back to discus all of this. Vince, Barrett and Jeffrey, great discussion. Thank you.
Well, once Kate Middleton marries her prince, she has to stop eating shrimp and that is not all. Some really bizarre rules of royalty in my "XYZ" next.
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KAYE: Time now for my "XYZ" and today we are heading to London. The royal wedding is less than two weeks away. Here is what caught my eye. Once Kate Middleton marries her prince, there are so many things that she won't be able to do anymore. Some of them are bizarre.
Kate is no longer called Kate, but Catherine. Kate just isn't royal enough. Don't expect her to vote, the queen considers voting unconstitutional and not in accordance with neutrality it turns out.
Here is a weird one. She won't be able to eat shell fish, apparently British royals are never served shell fish because of fear of food poisoning. She won't be allowed to work. I guess, royals and careers don't mix very well.
What will she do with that hard-earned art history degree is I want to know, these last two are my favourite. Once she becomes a royal, Kate likely won't be able to finish her dinner unless she eats really fast.
The rule is once the queen stops eating, everyone stops eating no matter if you are done, still hungry or not. And finally, Kate will no longer be able play Monopoly, the board game.
Yes, Monopoly, this goes all the way back to 2008 when Prince Andrew, Duke of York said that the royal family was not allowed to play monopoly at home because, quote, "it gets to vicious."
