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Continental Airlines Plane Diverted; Getting Tough with Pakistan; Relentless River Continues to Rise

Aired May 08, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM on this Mother's Day. It's Sunday, May 8th. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We start with breaking news out of St. Louis. A second passenger plane has been diverted today. This one a Continental flight bound for Chicago. Apparently there was an unruly passenger on board. He approached the front of the plane and tried to get to the exit door. The passenger had to be restrained. He was taken off the plane in St. Louis and is being questioned by federal authorities. The plane was allowed to continue on to Chicago, and now this comes after this taking place in New Mexico. Albuquerque, Delta flight 1706 was forced to land there because of a potential security threat.

According to the TSA, a flight attendant on the San Diego bound flight discovered a suspicious note in the lavatory. The passengers are being checked out by the FBI there in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Again, that flight that started out in Detroit on its way to San Diego, diverted to Albuquerque, New Mexico. You're seeing that picture right there of the flight on the ground in Albuquerque.

CNN is following both of these stories. One out of St. Louis. This one out of Albuquerque. We'll bring you more details as they become available.

Now, in other news today, blunt talk for Pakistan from the president of the United States. Mr. Obama is publicly calling on the Pakistani government to investigate possible ties between that country's intelligence service and Al Qaeda terrorists.

CNN's senior political editor Mark Preston joins us now from Washington with more on the president's interview to air tonight on CBS's "60 Minutes." What are can you tell us, Mark?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Sure, Fred. The lightning raid that killed Osama Bin Laden is being described as the single biggest achievement against Al Qaeda. But top administration officials acknowledge it's complicated their relationship with Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRESTON (voice-over): A week after the U.S. killed enemy number one in a daring nighttime raid, the White House says it is pressing Pakistan for answers about how Osama Bin Laden was hiding in plain sight, just 30 miles north of that country's capital.

In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," President Obama says the U.S. has delivered that message to Pakistan.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We think that there had to be some sort of support network for Bin Laden inside of Pakistan. But we don't know who or what that support network was. We don't know whether there might have been some people inside of government, people outside of government, and that's something that we have to investigate and, more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate.

PRESTON: Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. says an investigation is under way and promises that if need be, heads will roll. But at the same time, he insists his government would have taken action if it had known Bin Laden's whereabouts.

HUSAIN HAQQANI, PAKISTANI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: If any member of the Pakistani government, the Pakistani military or the Pakistani intelligence service knew where Osama Bin Laden was, we would have taken action. Osama Bin Laden's presence in Pakistan was not to Pakistan's advantage.

PRESTON: Questions about Pakistan come amid calls by some lawmakers to cut U.S. aid to Pakistan. Currently about $1.5 billion a year. But President Obama's national security adviser Tom Donilon tells CNN, remember, Pakistan is a key U.S. ally.

TOM DONILON, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The fact is Osama Bin Laden was in Abbottabad, Pakistan, for six years or so. But the fact also is that more terrorists and extremists have been captured and killed on Pakistan soil than any other place in the world. They have been a very important partner for the United States in our efforts against terrorism.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PRESTON: With Bin Laden dead, Donilon said all eyes now turn to the hunt for senior Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Mark Preston in Washington, thanks so much for that.

In the meantime, we are still learning more about the raid on Bin Laden's compound. Just yesterday U.S. officials released Bin Laden videotapes captured in the raid on that compound. Today we learned that the courier who unwittingly led the U.S. to Bin Laden was first identified during the Bush administration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HAYDEN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: I think it was about four years ago in 2007, we had built up sufficient lead information on the name of the courier that we thought it was ready for presidential primetime. So we briefed it to the president. Not as something imminent, but as our most promising lead to track down Bin Laden. FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: So this is classic human intelligence. You had people on the ground. They talked to people. They developed relationships. Is that right?

HAYDEN: It is. But it also came out of detainee interrogations. One of the more prominent leads we had at the beginning of this exercise was partial identity information that came out of detainees that we were holding in our so-called black sites. And then from that point, we used all the tools of intelligence.

I can't go into detail, but I can assure you it was signals intelligence, imagery intelligence and human intelligence that allowed us to build this. And Fareed, this wasn't done one brick at a time. This was actually done one pebble at a time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Former CIA director Michael Hayden also talking about his thoughts about the decision to attack Bin Laden's compound with a commando raid instead of a missile strike. We'll have those comments later on this hour.

And then this. A remarkable rescue in Nevada. This Canadian couple disappeared seven weeks ago while traveling in a van on a remote road in northern Nevada. Well, they were last seen in surveillance video from a convenience store in Bakers City, Oregon. That was nearly two months ago. Well, just this past Friday hunters found the woman. But not her husband. Rita Chrestien told rescuers that she survived by eating tiny amounts of trail mix and snow. Family in Canada says the discovery is a great mother's day gift.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORAINE HOVING, ALBERT CHRESTIEN'S SISTER: I'll probably cry. Just seeing Rita, knowing she survived seven and a half weeks in a van and hung on to hope for all that time. Probably words will not come and probably tears will come and lots of hugs and kisses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The search now turns to Chrestien's husband. He was last seen on March 22nd when he left her, his wife, Rita, to go find help.

All right. Let's talk weather now. Severe weather along the Mississippi River. A non-stop battle to keep floodwaters out of homes and businesses. The river is expected to crest Tuesday in Memphis at 14 feet above flood stage. That's just inches below the record flood level back in 1937. Right now at least 1,100 homes have been evacuated. The high water has already covered some streets in downtown Memphis including river front - the river front street at Biel. And right now nerves are on edge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just bad, man. Like I say, it's an act of god. What can you do with an act of god? MAYOR MARK LUTTRELL, SHELBY COUNTY, TENNESSEE: Just use the common sense test. Look out the back door. If the water's there today and it wasn't there yesterday, you need to be concerned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Downstream from Memphis, the flooded river won't make it to the Gulf of Mexico for a couple of weeks now. But no one is waiting around. Right now they are shoring up the levees around New Orleans. And tomorrow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to open a spillway north of New Orleans to divert the floodwaters from the city.

Let's check in with our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. Sometimes these efforts are controversial. Some feel like let the levees do their work. And then others say -

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right.

WHITFIELD: ... to avert a bigger disaster, you've got to do something about the levees.

JERAS: Exactly. Either way you slice it, it's going to be having a detrimental impact on somebody. That's for sure. Let's talk a little bit about this system of levees that we have. First of all, you know, we're talking about 3,700 miles overall, where the river has crested right now here in the boot heel of Missouri. So it still has hundreds of miles before it makes its way down towards New Orleans. We're going to zoom in.

We already heard about the first levee explosion that took place at Bird's Point. That was up in Missouri. Now these aren't levees that we're going to explode. These are going to be, like, gateway systems and spillway systems they're going to open up to move that water. Now the first one, this has already been approved, the Bonnet Carre spillway. And they've decided tomorrow morning, starting around 8:00 a.m., they're going to open this up.

Now we'll zoom in a little bit further and we'll be able to see that this is the stretch that we're talking about. This is the Mississippi River right here. This is Lake Pontchartrain and when they open this up, the water is going to flood into this area and move into Lake Pontchartrain. And the whole idea of this is, yes, to spare New Orleans.

Now, the flood plan, basically what it's going to do when they open up these gates, they think it's going to help to relieve some of the pressures and the stresses as well. Now the waters are still going to be rising in New Orleans. The official crest is that it's going to hit 19 1/2 feet next week and that is half a foot shy of where those levees are going to be able to hold, right? At over 20 feet, then it's overtopped in New Orleans.

So the question is, are they going to open up a second spillway called the Morganza spillway? And this one has a much greater impact in terms of homes, in terms of agricultural. And we're going to talk in another 15 minutes, Fredricka, about where that spillway is and what we're expecting that to do if they do, indeed, open it.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll look for that. Thanks so much, Jacqui. Appreciate that.

And then there's the tornado ravaged state of Alabama where some moms are spending this mother's day counting their blessings.

And later, face to face with Venus Williams. She actually has advice for some parents with athletic kids and advice to the masses. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Across tornado ravaged Alabama, many women are spending this Mother's Day in Red Cross shelters. That includes one courageous mom in Pratt City. After the storm she climbed over downed trees and nails to make sure her newborn son was safe. Our Reynolds Wolf talks to her and has the latest on the recovery efforts there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Well, I'm coming to you from Pratt City, Alabama, where clean-up continues. I'm going to step out of the way so you can see what these guys from Alabama Power have been doing, picking up a lot of the lines, the power lines, the community picking them up, sending them off, possibly recycling them. Many of them beyond repair. But it is the action you'll be seeing, not just here in this place but still in many communities around parts of central Alabama, trying to clean up after the storm.

As far as you can see, this neighborhood in Pratt City, I mean, you've got wreckage everywhere. You got houses that are ripped apart, some of them completely off the foundations. If you look off in the distance here, just every single house has had some kind of damage. Nothing left untouched. Certainly a tough thing to deal with, especially on a day like today which, of course, happens to be Mother's Day.

Speaking of Mother's Day, just yesterday in Tuscaloosa, we were able to meet a very interesting person. She's 20 years old. Her name is Leicia Fairchild. She's celebrating Mother's Day in a shelter and she has a very interesting story.

LEICIA FAIRCHILD, TORNADO VICTIM: All I could think was, my son, I got to get to my son. They pulled nails out of my feet from where I had to run through my house. We had to climb over a huge tree that landed on our house that was blocking the door. And I had to climb over that tree. I was determined to get to my son.

WOLF: That's a pretty great mother's day present.

FAIRCHILD: Yes, it really is. He's a blessing. I can just tell him, hey, you know you lived through a tornado when you were nine weeks old, eight weeks old.

WOLF: Now you're home for Mother's Day. What is that like? FAIRCHILD: It's kind of hard. Because I've pictured Mother's Day at home with his father. And happy and everything. And it's not. It's far from happy.

WOLF: Now Leicia has applied for federal assistance. When she gets the check, first thing she plans on doing is buying a car and buying a home.

From Pratt City, Reynolds Wolf, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: An investigation is under way after a crowded commuter train overshot its stop in Hoboken, New Jersey, today and slammed into a bumper block. The bumper helped absorb the impact of the crash. 38 people suffered minor injuries.

And the price for a gallon of gas may have topped out at least for now. Crude prices fell sharply over the past few days and lowered gas prices usually follow when that happens. Oil dropped below $100 a barrel Thursday for the first time since the middle of March.

And speaking of money, you know you deserve a raise. But can you convince your boss? What are the right words to use? We have three ways to justify that pay increase that you want and advice on what to do if the boss still says no. That's in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In today's "Reclaiming Your Career," if you're thinking about asking your boss for a raise, you'd need to show him or her why you deserve it. Paula Caliguri is the author of, "Get a Life, Not a Job." She joins us from New York with three ways to do that.

So Paula, first you say there are markers that you need to be aware of to determine whether, in fact, you as an employee actually deserve a raise.

PAULA CALIGURI, AUTHOR "GET A LIFE, NOT A JOB": Right. Well, we all think we deserve one, right?

WHITFIELD: Of course.

CALIGURI: We'll probably get one, though, if all three markers are in place. We want to make sure that there's an equity issue, perhaps you're making less than others doing the exact same job. Also merit. So you want to make sure that you're consistently performing exceptionally well. And then the third is critical. That your organization just cannot afford to lose you.

Those three things all in place you're probably in a pretty good position to ask for and, in fact, get a job or salary increase.

WHITFIELD: All right. So let's tackle that equity first. You need to be looking into or know, what are the ranges of salaries, pay, for others that are doing the same job as you. And you got to try and figure out what that is. That's hard to sometimes determine.

CALIGURI: That's really tough especially now. Because in the past few years of downsizing, we've seen a lot of people have their responsibilities increased but their salaries not increase. So the first thing, take stock of the types of responsibilities that you have. And you might want to, believe it or not, you might want to ask for an elevated job title. I know there's that old joke when you can't get a raise, you know, ask for a title.

But really that one's going to be very important. Because that will indicate what your salary range. We want to get you to a higher salary range. And the next thing, use that new title or the title that you have to go on to some of those sites like payscale.com or glassdoor.com to try to figure out what that range is. And hopefully in combination you'll do a good job of making the equity case for yourself.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then merit. You need to discuss - you need to come equipped to say on merit, I deserve this raise. You need to come up with maybe some real hard core examples of what you've done, what makes you deserving, right?

CALIGURI: Absolutely. Most organizations will link performance review with your salary increase. So don't assume that your boss remembers all of the great things you've been doing. You want to make the case for yourself. Accomplishments, achievements, any evidence of commitment or engagement. You want to make sure that you make the best possible case for yourself going into that - that meeting.

WHITFIELD: And you want to show that competitive advantage. That's the third marker that you talked about at the very top. You need to explain, what's the competitive advantage. Know what kind of role you've played and how you have an advantage over anybody else who plays that similar role?

CALIGURI: And in this climate, Fred, in this climate, this one's particularly important because unemployment is so high. You want to make sure that you are in a role that is absolutely critical to the organization. They need you in order to compete.

In addition to that, you want to make sure that the role that you do and the job skills that you have are unique. So very difficult to replace either internal in the organization or on the open job market. So both being in the critical role and a unique role, you'll be in a much better position to ask for that salary increase.

WHITFIELD: OK. So you've gone in there with these markers, making this argument about equity, merit, competitive advantage. And in the end your boss still says, sorry, it's not in the budget, not going to happen. Then what?

CALIGURI: And we're seeing a lot of this. Because companies are very reluctant to add anything to their operating expense. So what we're starting to see, companies are getting very creative with variable pay. So things like a commission. Any kind of a bonus or an incentive plan, you might want to go and sort of craft something for yourself that you think would be fair that's based on what you're actually accomplishing.

Another possibility is to ask for a tangible benefit that you would value. Something like maybe going back for a credential or going back to school, receiving tuition reimbursement. If that fails try asking for something you'd value such as additional vacation time or maybe the opportunity to work from home. And, remember, above all, make sure you have the appropriate job title. So go back to if you can't get a raise, give them a title. Really ask for that title. That will be important in the long run.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. Usually people say elevated title, that means they want elevated pay that goes along with it. But you say sometimes be happy with the title. Maybe you'll be empowered in some other way somewhere down the line.

CALIGURI: Hopefully it will come. Hopefully after the title's there, hopefully over time, the salary will improve as well.

WHITFIELD: All right. Paula Caliguri, thanks so much. Happy mother's day.

CALIGURI: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Paula.

All right. Straight ahead, the backlash now following the removal of two imams from a plane in Tennessee. They were on their way to a conference, actually, on prejudice against Muslims.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A nervous wait in Memphis, Tennessee, as the Mississippi River keeps rising. The river is expected to crest Tuesday at a near record level. Upstream they're still dealing with the impact of the high water. CNN's Ted Rowlands is in Cairo, Illinois, that city was spared the worst by levees that were actually blown up. So Ted, what is the scene right now?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, a huge sigh of relief for people. What a difference a day makes. This is the Mississippi. Well this is water from the Mississippi. It's not actually the Mississippi. This is the spillway which normally doesn't have any water in it at all. The actual Mississippi, the banks of it are way out. You can see that building out in the distance.

It's actually about another quarter mile past that. That's where the Mississippi normally would be. But all of this water has gone over the banks of the Mississippi and come right up to the town of Cairo. Now they have another problem. That's the Ohio. This city is right at the confluence of these two rivers. And if you look in the back here behind me, you can see a wall with a red barge in the background. That's the Ohio. The levels of both of these rivers have gone down considerably over the last few days, meaning residents are back for the most part in their homes here. Officials are warning them to leave in the evening hours. Then come back and get things they need and then stay here during the day. But they're asking people to leave in the evening hours. And the reason is because of the amount of pressure that is still up against that retaining wall, specifically in the Ohio. There is some seepage. If any part of that were to blow, of course, the city would be flooded in a matter of minutes.

People in Cairo are very pleased the Army corps of engineers decided to blow that two mile hole basically in a levee on the other side of the Mississippi. They believe it may have saved their town. There are some farmers over on the Missouri side who have lost everything. They've lost their homes, their barns and their fields are now covered with water. They're not too happy. But the folks here do believe that decision may have saved their homes.

WHITFIELD: Right. And in fact those who were not too happy, they're actually filing suit wanting to take it to the next level that someone should pay for the damages and their losses?

ROWLANDS: Yes. And basically what their argument is, is that the rules have been in place since the 1920s. And back in the 1920s, Cairo was a big town. There was 15,000-plus people. Now there are less than 3,000 people here. They say the farmland actually is more precious, if you will, than this city. They're battling, saying this really wasn't right. And they're also saying that they should have waited a few more days.

They believe that Cairo still would have been safe without blowing that levee. They're hashing it out in court. As you could imagine, you lose your home after a man-made situation, not mother nature necessarily, although it's rooted, obviously, to the flooding, it leaves a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. So they are going to court. Whether or not they'll be successful, who knows. These people are happy. These people are not.

WHITFIELD: Ted Rowlands, thanks so much in Cairo, Illinois.

Let's check back in with our Jacqui Jeras right now. Because certainly not everyone is out of the woods just yet. There are still grave concerns all along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

JERAS: Yes, we have hundreds of miles to go. You know, when we take a look at where the peak of that water is right now, this is where the river is cresting. OK? So we've got a long ways to go. But when we say "cresting," excuse me. When we say, "cresting," we're talking about the height of the river. It's already elevated all the way downstream, even into New Orleans. So the waters are starting to rise downstream and they're just going to get higher in the upcoming days. So what are they going to do about this threat of the rising waters in some of these major metropolitan areas that are right along the Mississippi River?

Well, one city of concern is New Orleans. And right now the river is expected to crest just below, about a half a foot below the levees. So if it stays that way, it's good. But that takes into account that they're going to open a spillway, similar to what they did in Cairo. It's called the Bonnet Carre spillway. And it's just this little channel that's going to move water from the Mississippi River into Lake Pontchartrain.

Now there's a second one. Nobody lives there, by the way. So nobody's really worried about it. It's a good thing. That's what it was designed to do. The second one is the Morganza spillway. And if this thing opens up, this is going to be impacting people. This is going to be impacting agriculture as well. That one has not been used to protect New Orleans just yet. But it was opened one time back in 1973. It is designed to fill a swampy area basically between Chapelaya (ph) River and in between the Mississippi River. I just want to show you real quick. A couple of the impact, if Morganza is opened, seven parishes could be covered with five to 25 feet of water. The deepest water expected to be near St. Francisville, Louisiana and five feet of water could move into parts of Houma and Morgan City into those areas. So this one will certainly be detrimental but it is that kind of catch 22 Fredricka. You know do you harm fewer people or more people? The corps has officially asked for them to open the Morganza one. But it hasn't been approved yet. That could happen later in the upcoming week.

WHITFIELD: Similar dilemma played out upstream. This is very complicated in so many different way. . Thank you very much. Jacqui thanks so much we will see you again later on in this hour. Appreciate that.

All right. More now on that raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Former CIA director Michael Hayden was a guest today on CNN's "FAREED ZAKARIA: GPS." And earlier this hour we heard him talk about the courier who unwittingly led the U.S. to Osama's doorstep. He said the CIA began keeping tabs on that courier four years ago. Hayden also talked about President Obama's decision to launch the raid on bin Laden's compound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HAYDEN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: I would have been very worried and I know my friends at the agency were very worried. But frankly, Fareed, this was a courageous choice on the part of the president. Make no mistake about it. In addition to being courageous, I think it was also inevitable. This was the very best chance we had to kill or capture this target. The president had choices.

Made more difficult because even as those helicopters were going over the wall, everything we had on this facility, the belief that bin Laden was there, was truly circumstantial. There were no sightings. Nothing that you can point to and say, that's it. That's him. So the president made this decision even in the face of uncertainty. That requires some courage. But, frankly, I cannot imagine any American president not making that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Also on CNN today, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, FORMER SECY. OF STATE: I was proud that over two presidencies, we were persistent enough and patient enough to put together the picture that ultimately led to him. You don't just stumble upon Osama bin Laden. It takes a lot of work to get there. And I think it really closes a chapter in the book on al Qaeda. I was surprised that he wasn't in the tribal areas some place that he was in essentially a suburb of Islamabad.

And we all know that Pakistan is a fractured society. I don't for a minute believe that the government knew this and was trying somehow to hide Osama bin Laden. But I do know that there are some very hard questions to be asked and answered by Pakistan. And they really ought to be asking them themselves. Because Pakistan itself is at risk from terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: There are also a lot of questions about this case. Why two imams were kicked off a flight in Tennessee Friday. Atlantic Southeast Airlines has apologized to them and launched an investigation. CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is following this story and joins us right now from New York. So Allan there are reports that the pilot actually made that decision. Because some of the passengers apparently made it clear they felt uncomfortable with these imams onboard.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, the attorney for the Imams is saying, actually, the passengers were fine with them being onboard. He says that a Delta supervisor went back onboard the plane, surveyed the passengers. No one had a problem. But nonetheless, the pilot still would not allow these two Imams on to the flight.

Now there was a lot of irony here. The Imams started in Memphis. They were trying to get to Charlotte for a conference on Islamophobia. They board the flight in Memphis; it was a Delta flight but operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines. Now what happened there the plane actually left the gate, then returned to the gate for these two Imams to be checked once again. And they got through security a second time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IMAM MASUDUR RAHMAN, BOOTED FROM FLIGHT: We let them check our stuff and our luggage, our bag, our body, everything they did. They said, OK, you guys are good. You can go. When we are entering to the plane, the supervisor, Mr. Russell, he said Mr. Imam, sorry, I was pleading with the pilot to let you go with this flight. He is not allowing you to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Delta invited the two men into its sky club at the airport in Memphis. They had to wait six hours until the next nonstop flight over to Charlotte. Delta deferred statement to Atlantic Southeast Airlines. It did say, quote, compensation and re-accommodation on the next available flight were immediately offered to the passenger and the passenger's travel companion. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Certainly a very embarrassing situation.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Allan I'm wondering about the pilots. What is being said from them or what might they be facing besides questions? Might there be any penalties imposed on them? Is there anyone who is saying they want them to explain themselves?

CHERNOFF: Well, certainly, yes. I mean, an investigation is being conducted by Atlantic Southeast. The attorney for the Imams says he wants training for Delta and Atlantic Southeast airline pilots. And he also wants the pilot to be disciplined. Not fired, but to be disciplined, he told me.

WHITFIELD: All right, Allan Chernoff thanks so much in New York. Appreciate that.

All right. This young lady's name is cinnamsynonymous with winning. But tennis great Venus Williams says losing actually has an upside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VENUS WILLIAMS, TENNIS CHAMPION: I hate to break it to everyone. But the sad truth is you do learn a lot from losing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Venus Williams explaining face to face court side. That is right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: She has changed the women's tennis circuit in a very big way. Power serving and power playing Venus Williams. Right now she is on the injured list determined to get back on center court. Face to face, Venus Williams tells me sometimes being knocked down makes you stronger on the way up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Venus Williams. Good to see you.

WILLIAMS: Good to see you, too.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much for saying yes to our face to face sit down and inviting us to beautiful Palm Beach Gardens. Fantastic.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We're going to talk about your game, goals, and, of course, your greatness.

WILLIAMS: Thank you. WHITFIELD: Does that ever get comfortable? Being great?

WILLIAMS: I think as an athlete and just for me, it's never enough. One tournament win is never enough. So whether it's great one day doesn't guarantee it's going to be great the next. I'm on a day by day basis.

WHITFIELD: You like to win.

WILLIAMS: I love to win. Not just like. It's addictive.

WHITFIELD: You write in your book, "Come to Win," that you love to win, but at the same time you reached out to a number of business leaders, athletes, some who made it to the professional level, all who have kind of sport at the root. They talk about that winning. You tried to impart some of those lessons about sometimes you really do have to lose in order to be a better winner.

WILLIAMS: Absolutely. I hate to break it to everyone, but the sad truth is you do learn a lot from losing. I'm not saying that you need to lose every time. But there are those key moments where you take a tough loss or a tough failure, a tough break, and those are the moments where you decide to rise up. You learn so much from it. It just stokes a fire in you that makes you go toward the direction that you were destined for.

WHITFIELD: So you were how old when your parents introduced you to the racket?

WILLIAMS: Oh, gosh, 4. I mean, I think my -- my whole family plays tennis. I was around tennis my whole life from birth.

WHITFIELD: What age do you suppose you were when it just hit you and you said you know what; I am in this full bore. I love this game.

WILLIAMS: That's interesting because there was no age. Because that was my life. I woke up, went to school, played tennis, and did homework. That was my life. I didn't think about it. So that was how I was brought up. My parents said, you're going to go pro. You're going to play Wimbledon. And so that was my life.

WHITFIELD: If you had advice to a parent out there who, of course, has dreams of their kid becoming like a Venus Williams, do you advise that parent to introduce their child very early? Does the parent become kind of a coach to their child? Do they let them go? What's the perfect formula?

WILLIAMS: I think it's a combination. I think you have to recognize as a parent who you are. You have to realize whether or not you can work with your child. We would hit for hours and hours. But we had different parks we'd go to. One was a tether ballpark. We'd take 15 minute breaks and we would get to go play tether ball. One was a duck park. We would go by the little lake and look at the ducks. We had a great time. My dad would say, you sure you don't want to go and get on the slides? They're going to say that dad is so mean; he never let his go to the park. He made it fun. Sometimes they were tough on us. In between when I look back, I just remember what a great time I had.

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WHITFIELD: And more face to face with Venus Williams next hour. She's going to be answering some of your e-mail questions. People wanted to know some pretty intriguing things about dating. They wanted to know about her favorite foods. All of that. She reveals it all. You can see Jacqui Jeras with me now, you can see she's very relaxed.

JERAS: She is so beautiful.

WHITFIELD: She does look gorgeous. She really is very exuberant and magnetic. Of course, she loves talking about the game of tennis. But she does a lot of things off court, too, which she thinks are really important. She really does credit her parents in large part to emphasizing it's important to diversify. Yes, be a great athlete. But there are other interests that you need to develop as well.

JERAS: That's an interesting angle on mother's Day. Her talking about how her parents were so pivotal throughout that. I think your parents would have to be onboard from such a young age to be able to develop that way.

WHITFIELD: You were an athlete as a gymnast in school.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: That was something you were drawn to as an individual. But did you feel like it was important to hear from your parents along the way or for your parents to be very involved?

JERAS: Sure. Oh, yes. Your parents are a huge part of your life. I don't think you could become successful really without their support to be there for you. I want to know why you didn't play tennis with her. You play tennis.

WHITFIELD: That hopefully is coming.

JERAS: Oh really.

WHITFIELD: She really is just getting on the tennis court again. She's been injured. She's following doctors' orders and her trainer's. She's got to take it very easy. The game I would have brought, yes, that might have set her back a little bit on her recovery. Not a chance. Not a chance. I'd love to get on the court with her. But right now she's just taking baby steps on getting back into action. Even though she's already signed up for a tournament which is considered a warm up tournament to Wimbledon in June. But we'll see if she delivers on the court in that one. We'll see her next hour and see you again next hour in the chat room. Next hour we got some fun stuff from gators to geysers.

JERAS: And it's prom season, too. We'll talk about that.

WHITFIELD: OK we will talk about that too. All right. All of that straight ahead. All right. And then, of course, later on in the hour we're going to talk about high profile Florida murder case that starts tomorrow, jury selection. Our legal guys are already weighing in on it.

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WHITFIELD: The Libyan woman who claimed she was held against her will, beaten and raped by soldiers loyal to Moammar Gadhafi is no longer in Libya. Let's get you live to Tunisia, Indonesia now and CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has been following her story from the very beginning. Now you've got details about her escape and how she was able to get a little help by going to Tunisia.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, it's quite incredible. I mean this is the lady who became the face of the sort of abuse and repression of Gadhafi's regime when she came to the hotel and tried to tell journalists her story of being raped. Then at the same time, government officials jumped on her and escorted her away and pushed journalists out of the way and roughed her up and took her away and never addressed her issues denigrated her on the public media.

Finally she's been able to get out of Libya. She was able to do it because two Libyan army officers decided they were going to desert the army and with their families and her, they got in a car, a military car and using their military identification documents, they drove through the mountains to get to the Libyan/Tunisian border.

When they got there, Libyan rebels helped them sneak across the border and into Tunisia where they went to a safe house. That's where CNN was able to catch up with the woman and talk to her. She said one of the ways she was able to get out of the country was because she not only went with these army officers who were deserting, but because she used a local costume that covered everything on her face, all except one eye. When she was asked about whether she wanted to try and meet with her family who are in the east of Libya in rebel controlled areas, she said she was still very concerned about it but she wanted to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Would you like to go see your family in the east? What are you planning next in the future?

EMAN AL-OBEIDY, ALLEGES BEATING AND RAPE BY GADHAFI TROOPS (via translator): I still don't know what I'm going to do. Of course, I'd like to see my family. I have called some relatives of mine in Egypt. But still did not hear back from them. No, I did not rush. I walked to my cousin's house and we all met, and then rode in the same car. We left very normally, of course. I was wearing -- bring me that. It's a traditional tribal headwear which was given to me by my friend's mother. I was wearing it and indeed you can't see anything apart from my one eye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Once she got to that safe house in Tunisia she spent a couple of days there. Then a European embassy helped her to get to Tunis here, the capital, sending a driver and a car down to the border area for her. Bringing her up to the capital here. It now appears she's already moved on out of Tunisia, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Incredible story. Nic Robertson thanks so much for bringing us that update.

Back in this country, a high profile jury selection is about to happen somewhere in Florida. Why all the mystery? We'll explain after this.

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WHITFIELD: A Florida judge wants a jury that is not familiar with the Casey Anthony case. Anthony is the Orlando mom accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter. The judge in the case is taking an extraordinary move. When jury selection begins tomorrow, it'll be a secret location. Our legal guys have plenty to say about this.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Perhaps somebody forget about the First Amendment. The fact is that the media has already disclosed in the worst kept secret in America that the jury is being selected in Hillsboro County in Tampa. In fact, the funny thing is the chief judge in Tampa says if you want information, call the chief judge in Orlando where this case is going forward. So give some credit to Judge Belvin Perry (ph) he is the presiding judge in the Casey Anthony case Fredrikca. But the fact is nothing trumps the First Amendment. Understand prejudice to the defendant. But at the end of the day, First Amendment prevails in this case.

WHITFIELD: So Richard, this is strange. Is it not? I mean, it does appear as though this is something that happens on a fairly regular basis. There may be a change of venue. But that jury selection would take place in a secret location is highly unusual.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's highly unusual, Fred. I have never seen or heard about this ever happening. I don't think this is something -- there's going to be a lot of challenges on appeal for this case. This probably is not going to be one of them. There'll be more severe ones with the experts and the battle of the experts and what the judge allows in as admissible or not.

Look, there are far more reaching and more devastating issues for this defense than whether or not the press knows where this trial is going to be. This case is really setting up miles and miles against this defendant. This is what happens, Fred, when an attorney lets his ego get involved and not his ability. This attorney Baez does not belong defending this woman here. He does not have the skills to do it. And she is going to get annihilated, Fred. It's going to be a flash verdict. She's going to get crushed in this case.

WHITFIELD: Our great legal minds there. You can catch Avery Friedman and Richard Herman every Saturday live beginning at noon Eastern Time.

All right some international headlines --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. Some international headlines now. In Egypt crowds of Christians and Muslims clashed in Cairo, throwing rocks and at one point actually shooting at one another. Officials said the clashes started when rumors spread that a woman, a Muslim convert, was being held in a church against her will. At least 12 people were reported killed.

In Bahrain, the country's ruler says he'll lift the state of emergency put into place in March. Witnesses and civil rights groups say Bahrain's forces cracked down hard on protesters during that time. Anti-government demonstration spread across Bahrain beginning in February.

It's election weekend in Singapore. Voters returned to the ruling people's action party to power. That's the party that has ruled Singapore since 1959.

And listen up, moms. Do you know where the best and worst places are for mothers on earth? According to the group Save the Children, the best place to live is in Norway. Moms get generous maternity leave and the country has the lowest infant mortality rate. Australia, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark round out the top five. The five worst places to be a mom and to live, Niger, Guinea, Yemen, Chad and Afghanistan. And of course you're wondering, where is the U.S. on this list? At number 31, down from number 28 last year.