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$173 Billion Bailout for Greece; Santorum Denies Comparing President Obama to Hitler; Afghans Protest Quran Burning; Trial Starts in Webcam Spying Case; How Addiction Changes Your Brain; Dow Could Hit 13,000 Today; Chris Brown and Rihanna Reunite; Secure the Border; Knicks Fall to Nets; Slapping and Spitting

Aired February 21, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN HOST: Let's get right to "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips. It begins right now. I'll see you back here for STARTING POINT tomorrow morning.

Oops, I think we've eaten the baby.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Someone is going to start choking in about 10 seconds.

All right, Happy Fat Tuesday there, Soledad.

Well, all eyes are on the Dow this morning which could cross 13,000 for the first time in four years, all in response to a second bailout for cash strapped Greece. Just hours ago European finance ministers sealed the deal to provide Greece with $173 billion in financing.

Christine Romans following it all for us out of New York.

All right. Bottom line. Let's talk about what this means for us because that's what everybody wants to know.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Bottom line, you don't have a disorderly disintegration of Greece and the European Union that causes all of our financial arrangements to come unglued. That's what this is about.

Finally also markets get to react to $173 billion bailout deal that was really thrashed out. One of the European leaders actually saying that there's a reason why the marathon was invented in Greece, because that's what they were doing last night, marathon negotiations. Greece will stay in the eurozone. It will continue to use the euro. It will get the financing it needs to pay its bills in March. A big bond payment due.

And Greece will also be -- have to take more cutting, more painful cutting, and all of this is something that investors in this country are relieved about. And believe it or not, in case you missed it, the Dow, stocks have been moving higher for some time now on the hopes that Greece would get this all settled.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now trading at the highest level when it opens probably since January 2008. Also an election year, Kyra. A real big advance, 66 percent has been the gain since the president took office of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Many people say, well, that's great. But have you seen gas prices? Because gas prices are also up big over the past three years. They're up more than 90 percent since the president took office. So this all becomes very political what happens with your wallet these days, right? So Greece getting a little bit of a benefit this morning but a lot of people talking about gas prices and the level of the Dow -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Steve Forbes, you know, money guru himself, is going to join us as well, Christine.

ROMANS: That's good.

PHILLIPS: Christine, we're going to talk about -- and we're going to talk about gas and oil, and Mitt Romney as well. We're going to get it all in there.

Christine, thanks so much.

Well, the Greek bailout is one of the biggest stories making headlines around the world. And Zain Verjee is following that for us out of London.

Good morning, Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Kyra. Yes, most of the papers have this right in the middle of their front pages. Greece -- let's take a look at the "International Herald Tribune," Kyra. It says, "Breaking Europe's Vicious Cycle." That's the headline. And actually, this one was my favorite today, Kyra. It said this. "Like drunks at a bar door the eurozone's governments and banks are leaning unsteadily on each other for support. The banks know that they have to sober up, but it's the governments that are urging them to just have one more for the road.

Then you've got "The Kathimerini" in English. That's a Greek paper. And its headline, "Europe's Common Currency is More Than Money." It says, "From the moment the politicians and press of our partners and creditors painted the Greeks as a nation of frauds who live large at their expense, we all forgot that the problem was not only that of a country but that it was over its head in debt and hugely dysfunctional. Also that of a unity that did not function with unity."

So they're blaming the whole Eurozone here for not working properly.

"The Guardian" in Britain has this. "Making a Drachma Out of a Crisis." It says, "Rising share prices and a stronger euro suggest that financial markets are confident enough that enough's been done to isolate Greece. Policy makers by contrast have become more cautious about claiming success. For them the events of the past two years have been as daunting as the labors of Hercules." So the question now, Kyra, is can Greece be trusted? Can they deliver and actually follow through on the measures that they have to do, live up to their promises, and get through these austerity measures? The Greek people are going to hurt even more and they're going to be even madder -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Zain Verjee out of London. Zain, thanks so much.

Comparing President Obama to Hitler. Rick Santorum had some explaining to do. Political editor Paul Steinhauser joining us from Mesa, Arizona.

Paul, what did he say?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, Kyra, this started over the weekend when Rick Santorum, the Republican presidential candidate and co-frontrunner was talking about how Americans back just before World War II were not so quick in into the action and going after Adolph Hitler, that they sat on the sidelines for too long, and he was comparing that to present day.

Here's what he said on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, he's not -- I mean, he's a nice guy. I mean he -- it won't be near as bad as what we think. I mean, you know, this will be OK. I mean, oh, yes, maybe he's not the best guy after a while you found out some things about this guy over in Europe, and he's not so good of a guy after all. But you know what, why do we need to be involved?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: So a lot of people were saying, well, wait. Was he comparing Adolph Hitler to President Barack Obama? Yesterday Rick Santorum said of course not. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: The World War II metaphor is one I've used a hundred times in my campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know. Were you comparing the president to Hitler?

SANTORUM:

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Kyra, listen, ever since those February 7th sweep, the sweep of victories for Santorum, he has jumped in the polls. He is now a co-frontrunner with Mitt Romney in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination. So anything and everything he says is going to come under the microscope. A lot of scrutiny. He's had some comments over the last couple of days on prenatal testing, on abortion, on birth control. And there's been a lot of controversy over that.

Now where is Santorum today? He's right here in Arizona campaigning two events, Kyra. And tomorrow right here behind me, this is Mesa, Arizona. The art center of course. Rick Santorum the other three candidates will be here for our GOP presidential debate.

PHILLIPS: OK. And meanwhile, Mitt Romney's campaign burning through some major cash. What's going on?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, let's talk about the campaign cash because now we're in 2012 the campaigns have to report every month. Take a look at this. This is the amount of money that the campaigns had as of February 1st, cash on hand, as they call that money in the bank.

Looking up there, Mitt Romney at the top at $7.7 million. Newt Gingrich, $1.8 million. But he's in debt. Ron Paul, $1.6 million. And Rick Santorum at the bottom there at $1.5. That's before his big victories on February 7th so he says he's raised about three or four million since then.

Go to the next figure. This is really interesting. Just good sheer point, Kyra. Look at that. The Romney campaign, the biggest spender here, they spent $18.7 million in January. A lot of it on campaign ads. And right next to them, this is the Romney super PAC spending another $11 million. You can see the Gingrich super Pac and Gingrich often spending a decent amount of money in January, Kyra.

A lot of big bucks being spent by Romney and Gingrich. A lot of it on commercials -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Paul, out of Mesa, Arizona, for us. Thanks, Paul.

Now remember you can watch the Arizona Republican presidential debate right here on CNN tomorrow night 8:00 Eastern. It's the last debate before Supper Tuesday, that's March 6th. And it could be the last debate of the Republican campaign.

In Afghanistan NATO and U.S. military in full-on damage control this morning because of this.

That's about 1,000 Afghans protesting outside the Bagram Air Force Base. They say soldiers allegedly burned their Korans.

Senior Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr with more on this. So, Barbara, did it happen?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, by all accounts, Kyra, it did. The U.S. military, the NATO forces now launching an investigation into exactly what did happen and why. When you look at those pictures outside Bagram airbase, that is not what the U.S. wants to see right now is angry Afghans.

Here's what we know. According to ISAF, NATO officials, they had gathered up a number of pieces of religious material, including the holy book, the Koran, the holy book of the Islamic faith, and these were gathered up for disposal. That was planned. We don't nope why they were being disposed of. Perhaps they were worn out or something. We simply don't know. They had planned to dispose of them, but it is how they disposed of them. They burned them.

And that is not appropriate, of course. That is what is now being investigated by NATO commanders who gave the order to burn them, how did somebody decide to burn this material. The Afghan authorities have been invited by NATO to join the investigation. They want to really get to the bottom of this very quickly. They don't want to see more demonstrations. This one so far they say is all that they have seen that's been substantive in terms of the numbers of Afghans.

Very understandably angry and demonstrating against the burning of their religious materials. The investigation, however, is now underway -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And what is -- what's been the reaction here in the United States?

STARR: Well, look, I mean, the U.S. military has seen some of these types of incidences before, and they have really learned in both Afghanistan, Iraq, other places around the world, when things like this happen, get to the bottom of it very quickly. If there are inappropriate videos out there, if there are other things that come to light, get an investigation going. Get people questioning. Get to the bottom of it. Don't let it fester. And that's apparently what they are doing now, moving very quickly on this matter

All right, Barbara Starr live from the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks so much.

STARR: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Well, you remember Rutgers student Tyler Clemente, he died by suicide in 2010. Now his roommate is on trial for invading Clemente's privacy. We've got the latest.

And Whitney Houston's death got us talking about addiction. So we're going in depth. If addiction is a disease, how does it happen? Dr. Sanjay Gupta going to tell us what makes us addicts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Jury selection begins today in the case of Dharun Ravi. He allegedly used a Web cam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clemente. You remember Clemente later jumped to his death sparking a huge debate on cyberbullying and gay teen suicides.

Ravi is accused of bias intimidation, a hate crime, and invasion of privacy. Ashleigh Banfield joining me live from New York.

Now, Ashleigh, you and I know this case put a national spotlight on bullied teens, counts of biased intimidation can actually lead to jail time, right? And I'm curious how hard it will be to prove that.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST, EARLY START: There is your question. Look, he's looking at about ten years or so on those top bias counts, the hate crime aspect of this. But you nailed it, Kyra. It's how do you prove it because what the prosecutors have to do here is they have to prove that this defendant went after the victim because he was gay and meant it in a malicious way. They have to decide was this like a malicious homophobe who was doing what he was doing, or is this a stupid prankster? And there in lies that argument for those tops counts. And that's going to be tough. And I'll tell you why.

If hundreds of pages of documentation of communication not only with the defendant but also between the defendant and the victim. And I'm just going to read you one. And you can make up your mind as to what this defendant was thinking.

I have no problem with it in terms of him being gay. I have no problem with it. In fact, one of my closest friends is gay and I have a very open relationship.

So does that sound like someone who was after Tyler Clementi because he was gay and wanted to cyber bully him or intimidate him? That's a tough one.

PHILLIPS: All right. So -- I mean obviously this is breaking new ground because usually hate crimes are associated with murder, assault, violence. I mean this is psychological.

BANFIELD: Exactly. And that's exactly what they're going to bring up in court as well. They're going to suggest in a defense here that this is tough. I mean we don't have a lot of precedent here. And this could set some serious precedent because you and I are reporting regularly, Kyra, on cyber bullying.

This is the kind of thing that's really taking off. And there's not a lot of legal precedent to sort of deal with it. So a lot of legal eyes are on this case to determine whether this can be considered up there with the ranks of people who beat up or murder or physically assault people in -- you know, in a hate crime-related way. So it'll really be fascinating to see what happens and how this plays out.

PHILLIPS: . Yes, we'll definitely follow it closely. Ashleigh, thanks so much.

BANFIELD: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Checking stories "Cross Country" now.

In Philadelphia, jury selection begins today in the case of four priests and a Catholic school teacher accused of raping and assaulting young boys. And their church supervisor is the one charged with covering the whole thing up. Prosecutors say the outcome of the trial could change the way the U.S. justice system deals with other alleged cases.

Hail pelts cars and roads in Wichita, Kansas. Folks in Oklahoma to Nebraska are getting hammered by a huge line of nasty storms. Strong winds damaged roofs and uprooted several trees and downed power lines.

All right. Toss the beads, grab your hurricane, pull out the king cake. It's Mardi Gras time. You're looking at live pictures coming out of New Orleans right now.

Are those live? Those aren't live pictures, are they?

No, they're not. They're not live pictures. But, hey, you know what it's like if you've been there. It's one heck of a party, that's for sure.

We'll be following the Mardi Gras celebrations around the world as the day goes on.

Whitney Houston's death has us talking about her fight with addiction for so many years. We don't know if it played a role in her death, but we do know that for more than 23 million Americans fighting addiction, quitting not just a matter of will power. New research actually reveals that substance abuse causes lasting changes in brain function.

We're going in depth this morning with our host of "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D.," Sanjay Gupta, our resident doctor. Our, you know, the list goes on. You do everything basically.

All right. Let's talk about your piece. I guess why did you choose -- this is your expertise, the function of the brain.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What exactly the brain looks like in someone who has addiction, who's going through this, is a pretty remarkable thing. I think it gives us a lot of insight into how it should be treated and understand it.

That's what I'm trying to do here. I want to explain a couple of things quickly. First of all, this idea that someone has some sort of anticipation of taking a substance. That's sort of the first step.

But then there are two important steps after that in the brain. Stick with me here. So imagine, for example, as you take a look at this animation I'm about to show you, that someone takes a drug of some sort.

What happens there, this is the middle of the brain, there is a sense of euphoria. That's dopamine, those small little particles. That makes you feel good.

PHILLIPS: Is it any kind of drug? Everything from cocaine to Xanax?

GUPTA: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Anything?

GUPTA: Just about any kind of drug. Not even drugs necessarily. It can be other things, too, certain food, substance, sugar for example. There can be a certain addiction quality.

But I think what's important is the next step. So, you have that euphoria. But in someone who's a true addict, take a look at this picture here. On the left side, the bright areas, that's still feeling good. That's the euphoria. But on the right side is someone who has an addiction now, not as much of that bright spot.

And that is relevant -- why? Because they need more and more of the substance to try and get that euphoria back. Think about that for a second. You take the substance, you feel good. But in an addict, that good feeling doesn't last.

So, what do you do? You take more and more than ever before.

PHILLIPS: Keep going.

GUPTA: And that's sort of the basics, sort of simplistic but basic form of addiction.

PHILLIPS: Are those changes permanent?

GUPTA: Well, they last a long time. And exactly how long is a little bit of a subject of controversy. But people say you can eventually get to the point where your brain does feel natural pleasure again, but that can take some time.

What doesn't go away is this idea of the memory of the addiction. So let's say you're a cigarette smoker. Quit for 10 years. Pick up another cigarette and start smoking again, and right away, you can go back into addiction.

Whereas, if you've never smoked before, it would take you some time to build up that addiction again.

PHILLIPS: It's like what they say -- well, I mean, folks that we know that have gone through treatment say once an addict, always an addict, there's truth to that, right? You aren't just cured? It's a constant battle to stay away from the temptation or feel that euphoria, right?

GUPTA: That's right. And people say that. But I want to show the pictures of the brain to explain why that is.

PHILLIPS: OK.

GUPTA: You see dark areas of the brain, you need a lot of the substance to get that euphoria back. So, that's why relapse occurs so quickly.

They say three days of acute withdrawal which is painful, three months where you're the most sort of subject to relapse again, and three years before you really start having natural sort of pleasure again from substances.

PHILLIPS: Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

GUPTA: You're welcome. Any time.

PHILLIPS: Well, U.S. stocks set to open higher this hour and some big retailers are releasing earnings reports. The news from Wall Street right after the break.

And Kate, the duchess of Cambridge, on her third solo trip today. We'll tell you where she is, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Kate, the duchess of Cambridge, flying solo today. She's in the historic city of Oxford visiting children from the Art Room charity.

Max Foster joins me from Oxford with all the details.

Tell us about this organization. Of course, we know Kate loves art.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: She does, indeed. She's been throwing herself in today. She's in the building behind me speaking to teenagers.

And I was in there a moment ago and came out. There are some very powerful stories coming out today, children from broken homes, real problems as youngsters.

And the duchess is really keen in using art in therapy when children just can't express themselves properly through words. You've seen some really powerful examples of how that's worked here. A bit earlier on we could see some pictures of her with some young children showing her artistic skills. She's fascinated by art. She's fascinated by art therapy.

And this little charity, the Art Room, is the only art therapy charity she could find. It's a tiny charity. I think they've been quite overcome by all the attention they're getting as a result of this.

But I do have to tell you, Kyra, these young children managed to get an exclusive, a world exclusive, which all the newspapers have been after for literally months. And that's the fact the duchess has got a dog and no one can get the name of this dog. One of these children actually got the name of the dog out of her. It's going to be on the front page of all the tabloids tomorrow.

I can exclusively reveal to you, the child had it first, the dog called Lupo. I had to mention it was going to be mentioned everywhere.

PHILLIPS: Very extreme, important royal detail, right, Max?

FOSTER: Absolutely. The Twittersphere is all about Lupo, not about art therapy today.

PHILLIPS: Oh my goodness.

All right. Art therapy, the dog. Also I understand, of course, as usual, everybody enamored of Kate's fashion.

FOSTER: Yes, but it's kind of taken on a mind of its own, this whole fashion thing. Basically whenever she turns up at an event, within minutes a lot of the fashion watchers on Twitter have identified the outfit. They did so today in I think about 10 minutes. Within 1/2 hour, the dress was sold out around the world.

Interestingly, it was in a sale. It was only $200, but no one can get ahold of it now.

In America, there's a very well-regarded research company that have been indexing all of the buzz words in the fashion industry. And the top buzz word of the moment is the duchess effect. And this overtaken Lady Gaga even.

So, certainly, she's having a big impact on fashion whether or not you like what she wears.

PHILLIPS: Max Foster, following Kate. We'll keep checking in with you.

Well, all eyes on the Dow this morning, which could cross 13,000 for the first time in four years. Opening bell four minutes away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now.

The Red Cross trying to get a ceasefire between the opposition and the Syrian government so it can deliver food and aid.

Opposition activists reporting at least 18 people have been killed today including a baby.

And a historic vote underway in Yemen. The presidential election marks the end of Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33 year rein. Voters have only one choice on the ballot, his vice president who took over when protests forced Saleh from office.

And police have charged a 28-year-old man with the armed robbery of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. The suspect turned himself in on the Caribbean island of Nevis. Breyer was vacationing when he and two family members were robbed.

But it would be historic, the Dow crossing 13,000 today. It could happen.

Christine Romans and Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, let's go ahead and start with you. Help us understand the psychology behind this and why people are getting back into the market.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. First of all, we're 20 seconds before the opening bell. We are beginning. The Dow is at 12,949. Yes, everybody is on Dow 13,000 watch.

You know, this is sort of a big deal, more so I think for the headline, more so than for the markets. What it's essentially winding up doing is if it hits that 13,000 mark, you know, it helps to sort of build investor confidence. You know, as the recession has been going on and since the recovery has been going on, there's been a lot of cash on the sidelines and investors have kind of seen that as sort of burning a hole in their pockets, ready to kind of buy back into the U.S. recovery. You know, they've been putting their money in U.S. treasuries, gold. They want to sort of put their money into riskier assets as they see the Dow climb.

The opening bell just rung, we see the Dow in the green, up 18 points here. But what's interesting is that some of the market pros actually worry that the market may be moving a little too fast. They say a pull back is actually likely at some point soon.

But, you know, it does make for a nice, interesting headline, more of a news event than a market event, Kyra. What's interesting is that several local stations are actually perched outside here at the New York Stock Exchange on their own Dow 13,000 watch. And usually, the news agents don't pay any attention to the markets otherwise.

PHILLIPS: We're definitely paying attention.

Christine Romans, there's a political component to the Dow's rise as well?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Sure, because this is the highest the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been since this president took office. In fact, the Dow was up 66 percent since President Obama took office. You remember that it was way above 14,000 back in 2007. Then 2008, we started to get worried about Bear Stearns, and the financial system.

And the president took office just as the stock market crashed. There was already a big move underway when President Bush was still in office. Then it literally crashed.

And since then it's been a slow, steady slog higher. And now, it's up 66 percent.

But here's the interesting thing. A lot of people will quickly say, look, you know, Main Street isn't benefitting from a Dow at 13,000 the way it used to because Main Street wants more jobs and Main Street is looking at gas prices that are higher. Gas prices are also up, up 94 percent since President Obama took office, for a lot of different reasons, recovering economy, problems in Iran, et cetera, et cetera.

A couple of things are very political. Stocks are doing well, but the thing you feel every week when you fill up your gas tank, that's higher and going to keep going higher probably through the spring. So, that's the good news/bad news part of the economic numbers.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, Dow industrial's up 29 points right now. What do you think, ladies? What should we be watching for in the next couple of hours? Alison?

KOSIK: I think -- I think you are going to see Dow 13,000 -- if not today, you're going to see it this week. This really has been a slow, steady climb for the Dow. This just didn't happen overnight.

You know, Greece got its bailout deal, sure, that's helping to give the market a bit of a boost right now. But what's been happening is the economic reports that we've been getting here in the U.S. have been improving. The jobs numbers have been improving. Even housing numbers, GDP is still weak but it is improving. So, it's on those improving reports that you see the Dow making its slow, steady move higher.

So it's not just one event that's doing this, it's been -- it's been, you know, over the past couple of months. The Dow is up almost 6 percent for the year so far. The S&P 500 which is actually a better indicator of the broader market, that's up more than 8 percent. And many market pros say you're actually better watching the S&P 500 if not because it represents 80 percent of the market but because that's what really reflects what your 401(k)s are doing these days.

So, although that 13,000 may not make you feel better when you go and fill up the gas tank with the higher gas prices, if you are invested in the stock market, your 401(k) most likely is if at least breaking even, you may be actually making a profit somewhere at this point -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. We'll be talking throughout the morning.

Christine Romans, Alison Kosik -- thanks so much, guys.

Straight ahead: job creators, family values, secure the border -- buzz words we often hear on the campaign trail. But what are the candidates really trying to say? L.Z. Granderson has his take.

And Rihanna and Chris Brown back together, sort of. A.J. Hammer has the details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Rumor has it Rihanna and Chris Brown are back together.

A.J. Hammer, what's going on with these two?

A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" HOST: Well, Kyra, this is one reunion that's making a lot of people uncomfortable. Rihanna and Chris Brown are working together again. Rihanna just released a remix of her song birthday cake featuring Chris Brown. She did that on Twitter yesterday which was her 24th birthday.

And Brown released also on Twitter a remix of his song "Turn Up the Music" with Rihanna.

Now, we cannot forget it was just three years ago that brown assaulted Rihanna. Those pictures of her face afterwards are images that stick with so many people.

Now, Brown is still on probation but he has resurrected his career. And this release isn't completely out of the blue. Rihanna and Brown have been reportedly seen out together. A lot of people have been speculating that they are a couple again together, but there's no confirmation of that.

But there are plenty of people out there loving these songs and saying, you know what, if Rihanna forgave Chris Brown, we should, too. Then you have a lot of people out there saying it really sends a disturbing message to Rihanna's young female fans about abuse.

Certainly, a hot debate, Kyra. And I'm not seeing a whole lot of middle ground on how people feel. It's one way or the other.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about Stephen Colbert. He's back -- one of your favorites of course.

What did he have to say last night?

HAMMER: Yes. Well, it's great to see him back on the air last night after, of course, suspending production of his show last week. Now, he didn't directly address the stories that his mother's been sick, but he did send her a little message. Let's watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: Evidently, having 11 children makes you tough as nails. Confidential to a lovely lady.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Gee, I wonder who he was talking about?

Colbert is the youngest of 11 children and as private as he is, I'm thinking this may be his only public statement about what happened. But last night, he did take some time to shoot down some of the more outlandish stories that spread after the sudden cancellation of two shows last week. The shows apparently were not canceled because he was going to run for president, because he offended the Catholic Church, and it wasn't because he had a nose job.

Now I didn't hear him say anything about it not being because he was cloning himself.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: I'm still caught in the 11 kids. I had no idea. Wouldn't you just love to know what his siblings are like? The dinner conversation.

HAMMER: I would. You know, it doesn't surprise me at all knowing that, that he has had the tremendous success he has had doing what he does.

PHILLIPS: A.J. Hammer, thanks so much.

A.J.'s going to be back with us next hour with the scoop on Lindsay Lohan and her new movie role.

Secure the border. In other words, keeping America white. Wait until you hear what else our L.Z. Granderson is saying.

And doctors are calling it the world's largest kidney chain. We'll tell you what that means and just how many people it involves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking stories cross-country now.

In Hallandale Beach, Florida, a driver hits a man, drags him 20 feet and then takes off. The surveillance camera actually caught the hit and run on February 12th. That victim has serious head injuries but is lucky to be alive. That driver, still on the loose.

In Roanoke, Virginia, downed power line catches fire after a tree knocked it to the ground. The flames had more than 7,000 volts. The fire chief says they're in crisis mode after winter storms knocked out power and left ice and snow across parts of the state.

And in Chicago, 30 kidney donors and 30 recipients all strangers completed what's being called the world's largest kidney transplant chain. Started with one donor in California and spread across the country. People in 11 different states received kidneys.

All right, America. Be honest with me. When you listen to all these debates and you hear the GOP candidates throw out facts and figures, praises and promises, do you really understand what they're saying?

L.Z. Granderson says you probably don't behind the buzz words and euphemisms, deceit lurks.

So, our CNN op-ed writer is here to play the race cards again. Now, those are not my words, those are his. L.Z.?

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. That would be me. I am playing the race card.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: OK. So --

GRANDERSON: Actually, I'm just --

PHILLIPS: Yes?

GRANDERSON: I think I'm just trying to point out what people are afraid to say.

PHILLIPS: Well, where do we begin? Religious freedom, family values, protect the border?

GRANDERSON: Well, we begin with all of them, really. You know, religious freedom, for instance, right? You know they aren't fighting for Muslims and mosques. They're fighting for Christianity and Judeo- Christianity. So -- so let's just be honest with that, right.

When you talk about family values, they're saying that because the assumption is gay people don't have families and so it's a way for them to talk about gay issues or gay people without saying gay so they don't get, you know, pinned for being homophobic.

And secure the border. That's about Mexicans. Let's just say what it is. They're talking about Mexican people. They're talking about illegal immigrants coming from Mexico. If they really were about securing the border they would talk about the other borders as well.

PHILLIPS: So why are you obsessed with the Canadian border?

GRANDERSON: Well, I'm -- I don't know if I'm obsessed with the Canadian border.

PHILLIPS: You're obsessed with the Canadian border.

GRANDERSON: When I was doing my research for this piece I was really astounded at just how -- how many problems we have with our Canadian border and how we don't even talk about this when we talk about secure the border. You know, it's the largest border in the world. Less than one percent of it is deemed secure by our own security people.

Just last year a group of senator had to petition the Obama administration to get military involved because there were low flying airplanes coming in from Canada into the United States undetected dropping off cargo, drugs, and things of that nature. So we don't even talk about Canada when we talk about secure the borders because we're so obsessed with the discussion of -- of illegal immigrants.

And justifiably so, but when you really look at how porous our border is up north and that it doesn't get mentioned, how can the conversation not be about just Mexico then?

PHILLIPS: Ok, so how do we talk about national security without sounding racist?

GRANDERSON: That is a great question.

PHILLIPS: Answer that for me.

GRANDERSON: I think the first thing we need to do -- well the first thing we need to do is actually admit that there's some element of race in the conversation. We don't like to do that because if we do that, then it sounds as if we're talking about being racist or supporting racism. But if we pretend as if it's not a factor then what we're doing is leading the darkness for racists to actually incubate, if you will.

So let's just go ahead and say, you know what, the Mexican population in our country has skyrocketed over the last number of years. We know that 50 percent of the people who are illegal immigrants come here through evasion. That means they don't go through the legal process.

And so we need to start having a real honest conversation about this and go ahead and talk about race being part of this as opposed to try to pretend that it's not part of it. Because the more you deny it, the more you look like you're guilty.

PHILLIPS: L.Z. Granderson, great to see you this morning.

GRANDERSON: It's great to see you as well.

PHILLIPS: You can read L.Z.'s column at CNN.com/opinion. Weigh in. He'll love your comments.

Well, you Lin some, you lose some. Jeremy Lin and the Knicks fall to their rivals from across the river. Highlights in sports seven minutes from now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And some stories we're working on later today in the CNN NEWSROOM.

11:30 Eastern, a California teacher accused of sexually assaulting students and taking pictures is scheduled to go to court.

At noon, the FDA commissioner holds a briefing on the shortage of cancer drugs.

And tonight just after 7:00, Mick Jagger, B.B. King and many others, perform at the White House. The President and the First Lady are celebrating blues music in recognition of black history month.

All right, we're following lots of developments in the next of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in with our Alison Kosik -- Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Kyra, we're on Dow 13,000 watch, the Dow is actually sitting at its highest level in four years, but guess what? It just moved in the red. Now if it reached this milestone I'm going to tell you what it means in the next hour.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Zain Verjee in London there has been a lot of mixed reaction to the Greek bailout deal, I'll tell you what newspapers in Europe and around the world have been saying about it.

PHILLIPS: All right guys, thanks so much.

Well, he tried running for president, for Republicans twice and he failed but Steve Forbes remains a force in politics and business. He's going to join me live and he's going to tell me why he's got a big problem with Mitt Romney, next hour.

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PHILLIPS: I wonder if Jeff Fischel is tire of all of the puns. You can't Lin them all.

JEFF FISCHEL, ANCHOR, HLN SPORTS: Oh look at you coming with one in the morning, thank you.

PHILLIPS: I -- I completely stole that, sorry.

FISCHEL: Oh well, it is a Lin-disputable fact. It's not easy playing back-to-back nights in the NBA, right.

PHILLIPS: Give me some words of inspiration please.

FISCHEL: Jeremy Lin and the Knicks beat the defending world champs Sunday but last night they lost to the lowly New Jersey Nets. But not because of Jeremy Lin, he actually had a great game. Look at him driving to the hoop here, 21 points, 9 assists, 4 steals, all around fantastic effort.

But the Nets have one of the best point guards in the game, Deron Williams, he was even better; 38 points, it was kind of a pride thing, Williams wanted to make sure Lin knows the point guard pecking order in the NBA. The Nets win and Kyra I know next hour right? You're looking at the role of race in the Jeremy Lin; it's an amazing story.

PHILLIPS: Yes we are.

FISCHEL: And including of course the controversy with ESPN. That's next hour.

Well this is being called the dumbest play of the year in the NBA. Seconds left to go in overtime, Timberwolves down three to Denver they somehow need to steal the ball and make a three-pointer to tie it. Ok Martel Webster he does what he needs to do he steals it for the Timberwolves. All right, so --

Here comes the three-pointer. Where are you going? He dunked it. Well, congratulations, you just got a slam dunk and your team lost by one point. Yes. Don't know. Nuggets say thank you and the Timberwolves lose.

No wonder T-wolves fans want a new shooting guard. Check out this ad that went up on Craigslist after the game. Place shooting guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves, must be able to shoot at least 40 to 45 percent from the field including 35 to 40 percent from the three-point. The pay, $2 million to $4 million. Allegedly signed by the Timberwolves president, David Khan.

Not really. This ad has since been taken down but that is very funny stuff.

Big East thriller less than ten seconds to play, Villanova freshman, Tyrone Johnson drives for the basket. That ties it up. UConn Shabazz Napier, back up court, he has a time-out, doesn't use it, stops at 30 feet and hits it. Look at -- stunned. Take another look. It's been a rough year for college basketball's defending champs but that is a great win for UConn, isn't it?

You know what; I am so excited this time of year. It is spring training. Pitchers and catchers are already there working out. The Oakland A's have signed slugger Manny Ramirez to a Minor League contract. If Ramirez makes the team, he must still serve the 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy. Remember last year he got suspended and he said well, I'm just walking out. He's like -- I'm out of here.

That could have him playing for the A's in June if he makes the team. Ramirez has 555 home runs, that's 14th all time. But that was before last spring. He was just 1-for-17 in five games for the Rays before he just disappeared.

PHILLIPS: Disappeared. That was it.

FISCHEL: Once he failed the test, he's like I'm out of here.

PHILLIPS: Adios. Thanks, Jeff.

FISCHEL: Ok.

PHILLIPS: British boxer becomes a sensation for his most unusual antics outside the ring. Of course Jeanne Moos tells us about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Reporter: what a fight for heavyweight champion of the world, not the fight in the ring. We mean the fight before and after the fight. Slap. Spit. Brawl. It started at the weigh-in. First on the scale, British challenger and bad boy, Dereck Chisora versus long-time Ukrainian heavy champ of the world, Vitali Klitchko. But in the middle of the stare-down, Chisora slapped the champ. The champ kept his cool later saying I'm really looking forward to teaching this young gentleman a lesson.

Reminded us of the time mike Tyson made a beeline for Lennox Lewis. After a little scuffling, Tyson graduated to making obscene gestures.

But Dereck Chisora went from slapping the champ to spitting water in the face of the champ's brother before the fight. The brother kept his cool. And the champ went on to win the fight by unanimous decision. So you figure Chisora's probably had enough, right? Wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you not fighting now?

MOOS: At the post-fight press conference a former British fighter named David Haye got mad about comments Chisora made.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm coming there and tell me to my face.

MOOS: Next think you know, Chisora charged into the crowd and Haye punched him. Someone used a broken bottle as a weapon, Haye's manager got cut. At one point Haye picked up a tripod. And Chisora started yelling threats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I swear to God, I'm going to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) shoot you.

MOOS: The real shooting was done by photographers and the video went viral. Police in Munich, Germany questioned Chisora for hours before releasing. He's been fined $50,000 for the slap, called to appear before the British Boxing Board of Control. He later wholeheartedly apologized, "I have let my family, my team and worst of all, the sport I love down. I'm deeply embarrassed."

While all that brawling was going on --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He (EXPLETIVE DELETED) glassed me.

We raise a glass to the champ, slap, spit, brawl, grin.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)