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Further Violence in Afghanistan; Bin Laden Compound Destroyed; Kidney Donation String Saves Lives
Aired February 26, 2012 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICHELLE CAREY, CNN HOST: Fury in streets of northern Afghanistan today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The compound where Osama bin Laden was caught and killed gets destroyed. We'll tell you why this was so important.
A good Samaritan starts the longest kidney donation string ever; thanks to him 30 kidneys saved 60 lives. We'll talk to him in the NEWSROOM.
And a marine volunteers to donate bone marrow and later wins $3 million. He says it is karma.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAREY: And I'm Richelle Carey in for Fredricka Whitfield. Fury in the streets of Afghanistan today, this anti-American demonstration started calmly, turned violent. One person killed, several U.S. troops were hurt in an explosion in small arms fire outside of an American base.
Meanwhile, afghan police are looking for the man who killed two U.S. officers in Afghanistan yesterday. Investigators know who he is. They say he works at the interior ministry.
The Syrian government says a referendum people are voting on today is aimed at changing the constitution and shows a step toward ending the deadly conflict.
Well, that hasn't stopped armed groups and security forces from battling today in Homs and Damascus and Hama. Across Syria, at least 45 people were killed today.
CNN's Michael Holmes is watching developments in Syria from Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thousands more Syrians died around the country's Sunday violence and anti-government protests in city from the Dara (ph), in south to Idlip (ph) in the north. But many of the victims, again, in the now familiar and still besieged neighborhood of Baba Amr, in the city of Homs. The shelling began just before dawn and continued throughout the day, according to activists we spoke with. The violence and ironic accompaniment to voting on a new constitution. Syrian state media showed President Bashar Al Assad voting with his wife, and ran video of other Syrians casting their ballots as well; 14.5 million were eligible to vote. How many actually did yet to be known. Certainly not many in parts of Homs, where this man expressed his views on the referendum, as one of the city's main marketplaces burned behind him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The referendum on the constitution, it is the 26th of February. This is the referendum on the constitution, burning the shops, the heavy gunfire and the explosions taking place at the main market in Homs. Look at what Bashar Al Assad has done to the market.
HOLMES: Now, the proposed new constitution would conditionally allow multiple parties and pave the way for an election in three months. It would also limit the president to two seven-year terms. That could still mean Bashar Al Assad will be in power for a long time to come.
Opposition groups, many foreign governments, and protesters on the ground in Syria said it was a sham, meaningless. Bashar Al Assad didn't abide by the old constitution, one activist told us, why would we believe he would honor a new one.
Meanwhile, efforts by the international Red Cross and Syrian Red Crescent to get in Baba Amr stalled for the second consecutive day, leaving the wounded and trapped including western journalists facing conditions that worsen by the hour.
Michael Holmes, CNN. Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAREY: Secretary of state Hillary Clinton is weighing in on the situation in Syria. This morning she told CNN's Elise Labott that diplomatic efforts were under way to chip away at inner circle that supports Syria's president Bashar Al Assad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have a lot of contacts, s as do other countries, a lot of sources within the Syrian government and the business community and the minority communities and our very clear message are the same to all of them, you cannot continue to support this illegitimate regime because it is going to fall. So, be part of an opposition that can try to have a path forward that will, you know, protect the rights of all Syrians.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: What about the message that the Syrian national council is sending to those inside Syria? Do you think they're sending the right message?
CLINTON: Well, I think it is very difficult to form an opposition when you have no place to operate out of inside the country you're trying to change. You know in Libya, we had a very effective operation in Benghazi that gave us an address. We could deal with people. It represented Libyans across the country. We don't have that. In Syria, the Syrian national council is doing the best it can. But obviously, it is not yet a united opposition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAREY: Also during that interview, Clinton defended telling an audience in Tunisia yesterday that President Obama would be re- elected. Clinton said that while she would not normally make political statements, her comments were appropriate.
Nelson Mandela, the founding father of democracy in South Africa is out of the hospital. He was discharged today after being treated for an abdominal ailment. A family member said it was hernia surgery. He is 93-years-old. OF course, he was in prison for 27 years for fighting apartheid. He was released in 1990 and was awarded the Nobel peace prize three years later.
Twenty two carnival cruise line passengers were robbed during a guided excursion in Mexico. It happened Thursday on a trail in Puerto Vallarta. Carnival says no one was hurt and that it suspended the excursion until further notice. Two weeks ago, the state department issued a nonessential travel warning to 14 Mexican states. The warning included Puerto Vallarta.
The deep water horizon oil spill won't begin tomorrow after all. It is scheduled to start next Monday, that's March 5th. BP, the plaintiffs involved say that they have been involved in settlement talks all weekend. If a settlement is not reached, a judge will have to decide civil liability for that disaster.
The Muslim American community in New York is angry over newly released NYPD documents and a controversial cartoon.
Susan Candiotti joins us from New York to explain this. So, Susan what are they telling you about this?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Richelle, I tell you there is frustration, hard feelings, even suspicion. And they're showing no signs of letting up in the New York City area. Business owners like the one we're about to tell you about, her name is Hamidah Abdullah, are angry over police surveillance looking for possible terrorists. She's owned a New York boutique for more than 12 years, a photograph and description of her store is part of a stop secret NYPD 60 page dossier listing Muslim businesses in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMIDAH ABDULLAH, BUSINESSWOMAN: It makes me feel like I've been violated, you know. Like I've been like someone has come into my home, and has watched me without me knowing. And I don't think that's right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now, round tables Muslim college students say they're worried big brother is watching.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have to sort of think twice about my opinion on something because it is, like, what if the NYPD is recording what I'm saying or what if the NYPD opens up a file on what I'm doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: There is also outrage about a New York post political cartoon about police surveillance. Men who appear to be Muslim are making a bomb, while an NYPD squad car is parked outside. One of the men is calling the associated press to complain that the NYPD is watching them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZAED RAMADAN, CAIR NEW YORK: It is very like the anti-Semitic propaganda and cartoons that were published all over Nazi Germany. And you know, as it was growing towards the world war. And this sort of anti-Semitic theme, you know, to this is -- it is something that a hate group would do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: And you know Richelle, you've got universities now, a U.S. senator, even New Jersey's governor all calling for investigations into all of this.
CAREY: So Susan, what are we hearing from the New York post, from NYPD or any of them speaking out about this?
CANDIOTTI: Well, we reached out several times today to the New York post to ask them about the cartoon. We have had no response. Now, the NYPD police commissioner and the mayor of New York City are defending their surveillance program as fair, sensitive and legal - Richelle.
CAREY: All right. Susan Candiotti, thank you very much.
A symbol of a dead terrorist leader comes falling down in Pakistan. Not just any house. I'll tell you why Pakistan's government wants it gone.
And the top two GOP candidates offered their take on the Obama administration's reaction to those Koran burnings in Afghanistan. We'll hear what they said.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAREY: Welcome back to news happening overseas today. Sixteen Americans are on trial in Cairo. They're accused of fraud following a crackdown on pro-democracy groups. They are just the official say interfering with the government. One of the Americans on trial is a son of a U.S. transportation secretary. West Africa, this is Senegal on Election Day. People are furious that the president, they don't want him re-elected to a third term. Senegal's highest court though cleared him to seek a third term, despite the constitution's limit to two terms. Protests raged across the country ever since that ruling.
And Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is in Cuba today. This is his arrival I Havana Friday night. Chavez announced on Venezuelan TV that he has to have surgery to remove a cancerous lesion.
Workers with bulldozers and heavy machinery started ripping down a house overnight in northern Pakistan. This is what the building looked like earlier today. The walls torn out, the roof collapsed, this is the three-story walled compound where Osama bin Laden hid from the world and where he was killed by American special forces last May. The Pakistani government wants that thing gone.
Ralitsa Vassileva is here from CNN International. So, this is some sort of contacts for us riveting images there.
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNNI ANCHOR, CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. What the Pakistanis are saying that they did this because they wanted to prevent it from becoming a shrine to Osama bin Laden's followers. And the United States, if you remember, also for these considerations buried Osama bin Laden's body at sea. And if you look back at history, the West German government in 1952 destroyed Hitler's house in the Bavarian Alps for that same reason. So, that has been done in the past.
However, if you talk to observers, they say another reason is that this compound was a symbol of humiliation for the Pakistani military. People were outraged, how could they not know, this was one mile from some are saying the Pakistani equivalent of west point, major military academy, how is it possible, 30 miles from the capital, Islamabad, like a suburb. So they're raising this symbol of humiliation ahead of the first anniversary since that happened, which is going to be in May. So, this is the context in which this is happening.
CAREY: So with this being the symbol of that type of frustration that you're talking about, the frustration, the relationship between Pakistan and the U.S., what is it like right now?
VASSILEVA: It has hit a very, very deep low since that happened. And it is even deteriorated in November. If you remember, there was a strike, a NATO strike which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the border with Afghanistan. And the relationship is sort of on hold now, Pakistan has yet to resume military contacts, parliament is considering what kind of engagement for this, what kind of relations it will have with the U.S. military. So, everything is on hold. Even a major key supply route that the U.S. was using to supply its troops going through Pakistan and those high mountains into Afghanistan, that has been stopped as well. So the relations are sort of on ice right now.
And they really, really hit a very serious low, this lack of trust, the U.S. saying they never alerted the Pakistanis to that because they fear some elements in the ISI, which is their intelligence service, might tip them off.
CAREY: It seems Pakistan is hoping that symbols matter if nothing else, that this symbol will --
VASSILEVA: Absolutely. Absolutely.
CAREY: Ralitsa, thank you very much.
VASSILEVA: Pleasure.
CAREY: All right. Tonight is a big night for stars. Let's lighten it up a little bit. Not just the Hollywood kind. We'll tell you why you should look toward the sky tonight. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAREY: A man donated his kidney to a complete stranger. He says it's no big deal. It is a big deals for the 30 people, the 30 other people in the longest kidney donation chain ever. I want you to meet this guy.
This first, one of television's top chefs has a disease that dramatically changed his life a few years ago, but it hasn't slowed him down. I'm talking about Sam Talbot and boy, does he has ambition, amazing success. Dr. Sanjay Gupta caught up with him for today's human factor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOCTOR SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: For Sam Talbot, making healthy food taste good has been important for a long time, long before fans around the country got to know him as a contestant on the TV show top chef.
SAM TALBOT, CELEBRITY CHEF: I started my first job I was probably 13 years old. I started off as a dishwasher and I went (INAUDIBLE) then busboy and then I was cooking pizzas the last 14 and first professional job, I was at about 15 years old.
GUPTA: Naturally good at cooking?
TALBOT: Naturally, yes. It's just one of those God-given abilities I think. You know, I remember being 8-years-old and going to the farmers market with my grandmother and getting eggs and making scrambled eggs and all those types of things that an 8-year-old, you know, doesn't necessarily just pick up.
GUPTA: You said your food is generally pretty healthy.
TALBOT: I am a personally type of diabetes, right, but I'm not necessary cooking for diabetes all the time.
GUPTA: When you got diagnosed, you were 12-years-old, what do you remember, you were not feeling well?
TALBOT: You know, my uncle, my mom's brother was diabetic. So, a lot of the symptoms that happened when you're becoming diagnosed had happened to me and my mother obviously seen them from growing up with her brother. So, one night, you know, I would use the bathroom like 15 times over the course of a ten-hour sleeping period. My mom took me to the hospital, went to the emergency room, and they checked my blood sugar and it was like 980, crazy.
GUPTA: Normal is usually below 100.
TALBOT: Normal is like 80 to 120 or something, mine was 900, and 980 I think. And my mom burst into tears. She took me across the street to Friendly's, we got a bunch of sundaes and ice cream, and now my blood sugar was through the roof whatever. But, she was like, you know, you do this now because you'll never be able to do it again.
And from that moment on, I was 12. I made it like a lifetime goal of mine to never have to say that to everybody. It's never have to live within a certain parameter.
GUPTA: How much of your life is dictated by, you know, measuring your sugars and your diabetes overall?
TALBOT: I mean, we both wake up in the morning, we both shower, we both brush our teeth. I have a few more steps that I have to go through and that is my life.
GUPTA: Talbot's motto is cook nice, food that makes sense for the mind, body and soul. He shares his philosophy and recipes in his new cookbook called "the sweet life," which he says is for everyone, not just those living with diabetes.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAREY: Nobel peace prize winner Nelson Mandela is out of the hospital. But why exactly did very to go there in the first place? What we know about his treatment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAREY: Breaking story and live pictures to bring you out of Canada right now. A passenger train has derailed outside of Toronto. We believe this is two trains that actually collided. A spokesperson for the railway says there are about 75 passengers on board. We know there are at least minor injuries to tell you about. We believe there may be -- maybe serious injuries as well.
Let me correct myself. At least two cars derailed. That's what we know. Not necessarily a collision. At least two cars derailed. We will get you more information on this, just as soon as we can. But unbelievable pictures there. You should see these cars on their side.
Checking other top stories right now, chaos in the streets of Northern Afghanistan today. This anti-American demonstration started calmly, turned violent, one person killed, several U.S. troops were hurt in an explosion and small arms fire, this is outside of an American base. Meanwhile, the man who killed two U.S. officers in Afghanistan yesterday is still at large. Afghan officials have named him. They say he works at the interior ministry.
More people hurt, more people killed today across Syria. At least 45 people were killed today in street battles between security forces and anti-government fighters. Violence across the country has not let up despite the nationwide vote over whether to change Syria's constitution.
And Nelson Mandela, the founding father of democracy in South Africa is out of the hospital, discharged today. But what exactly was wrong with his health is not exactly clear - Nkepile Mabuse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Great news for South Africans who have been worried all week about their beloved international icon, Nelson Mandela, has been discharged from hospital. He was admitted on Saturday morning with what the presidency described as a long-standing abdominal complaint. The presidency, being very vague about Mr. Mandela's condition, not actually saying where he was admitted. We suspect it was at this hospital behind me. Number one military here in the capital city Pretoria.
The presidency releasing a statement saying that Mr. Mandela underwent a diagnostic procedure that didn't indicate anything seriously wrong with him. Of course, all this vague language is really raising more questions than answers. But South Africans will be pleased to their former president is home and will be recuperating surrounded by family.
Nkepile Mabuse CNN, Pretoria.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAREY: The brazen killings of U.S. service members in Afghanistan last week dominated the discussions on the Sunday talk shows today, among those offering up their opinions, the two top contenders of the GOP presidential campaign as well as top Obama administration folks. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: We have a situation here where the U.S. is working with a government, but we don't trust the security inside the ministries of that very same government. We won't put U.S. personnel in there because we don't think it is safe. How do you reach agreements under that kind of tone?
RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AFGHANISTAN: These are terrible tragedies. And very worthy of the condemnation they received. But this is not the time to decide that we're done here. We have got to redouble our efforts. We have got to create a situation in which al Qaeda is not coming back. DAVID GREGORY, HOST, MEET THE PRESS: Did you know if President Obama personally apologize to President Karzai for this apparently inadvertent act of burning the Korans? What is your reaction to that and the unfolding situation there?
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think the president should apologize for something that was clearly inadvertent. What you should lay out as a president, saying this was inadvertent, this was a mistake, and there was no deliberate act, there was no meant of disrespect. This was something that occurred that should not have occurred, but it was an accident. And leave it at that.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We made an enormous contribution to help the people there achieve freedom and for us to be apologizing at a time like this is something which is very difficult for the American people to continence.
ROBERT GIBBS, OBAMA CAMPAIGN ADVISER: What the president is trying to do now is get us to a point where we can hand off the security of Afghanistan to the Afghans. And that we can bring our troops home. I'm not sure many people are looking to Newt Gingrich for foreign policy advice. If there is a problem on the lunar colony, he'll be among the first we call.
SANTORUM: I support the line out of veto.
ROMNEY: That's what I support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Hold on.
SANTORUM: What kind of country do we live in that says only people of non-faith can come in the public square and make their case? That makes me throw up and it should make every American we are seeing from a president, someone who is now trying to tell people of faith that you will do what the government says.
CHRIS WALLACE, HOST, FOX NEWS SUNDAY: And I hear two major complaints about you. One is that you seem to be campaigning more by attacking your rivals than saying what you're for, and the other is this continuing argument that somehow you seem out of touch with the average American.
ROMNEY: If people think there is something wrong with being successful in America, then they better vote for the other guy. Because I've been extraordinarily successful and I want to use that success and that know how to help the American people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAREY: If you're a space geek, these images will take your breath away. Jupiter, Venus and the moon all lined up in the night sky. Jacqui Jeras, our little geek.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I was --
CAREY: You are. JERAS: I take offense to that.
CAREY: A stylish geek has the details.
JERAS: Yes, it is. Don't have to be a geek to enjoy it. I will say that, Richelle. There are actually two displays of the night sky tonight that are going to just dazzle you, depending on where you live.
The first one everybody is going to be able to see this, not just in the United States, but we are talking worldwide. It is a beautiful display of Jupiter, Venus and the moon. And our ireporters caught this last night, this one, time lapse, that's from Matt Hartman. He took this video in Los Angeles last night.
So, there you see the moon here, this one right next to it is Venus, and Jupiter was the one on up to the north. And also took another very cool ireport. Look at this one. I love this one. Hold on. Sometimes the wall gets a little touchy on me. We'll bring it up there. There it is. Isn't that beautiful? You see the palm trees in the foreground there. And there you can see the moon and you can see the two planets.
And, by the way, you need to look in the western sky to see this tonight. That's going to be your best chance to get a show and see. It still doesn't like me, does it? Gosh darn it. Come on. It won't go away. There it goes.
OK. Western sky is where you see it tonight. And the best time is right around sunset. In fact, those planets are going to be so bright, that you're going to be able to see it through maybe some thin clouds and even with the city lights. So, it will be a nice show.
All right, the second one is the display of the aurora borealis. There was a massive CME, as we call it. Take a look at that. This is a beautiful animation showing you that big area of plasma that was just ejected from the sun. And that is going to be arriving in our earth's atmosphere now later on today and we'll show you who is going to be able to see it right here across the northern tier of the country, places like St. Louise even into Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, and across much of Canada. But there is going to be a little cloud cover across the northern tier, so just be aware of that.
And then another view that I wanted to be able to show you just kind of giving you an idea of this -- this is earth here, this is also going to be impacting Mars. And this is also going to be impacting Mars rover curiosity, yes, the spacecraft that is on its way to Mars. So, cool stuff out there tonight.
CAREY: That's fantastic. Jacqui, thank you.
JERAS: Sure.
CAREY: All right. Coming up, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, will he or won't he show up in costume, in character, at the Oscars? You're looking at a live picture from the red carpet. We'll find out what Nichelle Turner is hearing about Cohen's appearance.
Plus, a marine strikes it rich in Vegas and credits karma for his big win.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAREY: OK, in Hollywood, the Oscars kick off in a few hours. Some of the biggest stars will start arriving on the red carpet. Our star is already there. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" Nichelle Turner is watching and waiting for them. You are, Nichelle. Come on.
NICHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: You are a sweetheart. Yes, OK. I'm just one of these working folks here tonight, Richelle.
CAREY: It is a big night. I mean, it doesn't get any bigger than this. And I think Billy Crystal is going to rise to the occasion. He had to step in at last minute to host this thing. But I think it will be great, don't you?
TURNER: Absolutely. You know, Eddie Murphy dropped out after Brett Ratner resigned, who was the original producer of the Oscars. And, you know, if you have to get a replacement host for the Oscars and it is Billy Crystal, you're not doing too bad. This will be his ninth time hosting the Oscars this year. And he is one of, if not the best Oscar host that has ever done this.
You know, there are some things that we all love about Billy Crystal, when he hosts that will stick around. So be sure that at the beginning of the show you're going to see Billy Crystal in the movies, when he does his bit about putting himself in all nine nominated best picture movies. And also after that, he's going to do his musical -- musical number that he always does, which is always great as well.
But throughout this broadcast, we're told by the producers that there is going to be a lot of laughs. They're embracing comedy this year. So, expect Billy to be very funny and we always love his off the cuff moments as well. So, expect that as well tonight -- Richelle.
CAREY: OK. Let's keep talking comedy, girlfriend. Sacha Baron Cohen, is he going to show up as Sacha Baron Cohen or as the general or do we still not know yet?
TURNER: You know what; we're not 100 percent sure. But if I were a betting woman, I would say he's going to show up as the general, you know as, or excuse me, as the dictator. That is a character for his upcoming movie that comes out in May.
Now Sacha, of course, is coming to the Oscars because he's in the film "Hugo," which is nominated 11 times, the most nominated film here tonight, nominated for best picture. So, he's coming as part of that.
But he wants to come and kind of mix it up as the dictator. First, the academy was saying no way. We don't want you to pull a publicity stunt on our carpet but then they have kind a relented. They blinked first and it was this back and forth kind of funny statements being put out, videos by Sacha Baron Cohen as a dictator. And on Friday, we did find out that the academy said, OK, we want you here, come on, you can come as the dictator, he's got his tickets. So, we expect him to come as the dictator tonight and I tell you, I'm serious, I think I said this to you the other day. I'm going to have to ask him, Mr. Dictator, who are you wearing?
CAREY: You're going to handle it very well. I know you will. I know you will. My last question, what are we hearing about Halle Berry? Is she going to present tonight?
TURNER: Well, originally she was named as a presenter for the awards show. But late word today that we saw that we got from people magazine, people.com, as a matter of fact, that Halle had canceled her appearance here at the Oscars because she has a broken foot. And we have seen a lost pictures of her lately, paparazzi pictures, photos, things like that of her on crutches. She apparently hurt her foot when she was filming her last movie. So, she apparently is not going to present tonight because of the broken foot.
CAREY: OK, Nichelle. Go do your thing and you do it well.
All right. And A.J. Hammer will be live from the red carpet for "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" road to gold starts at 6:30 eastern here on -- on CNN.
And I will -- I'll be tweeting tonight. So, let's talk about the awards tonight.
OK. If I told you someone was angry over ice cream, you would think I was crazy or Lin-sane, insane, got it? OK. Why a Ben & Jerry are saying sorry to basketball phenom Jeremy Lin.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAREY: The Oscars are not the only major black tie event tonight. President Obama and first lady are hosting the governors at the White House. And then there's part of that National Governors' Association went to meeting. At least one governor, though, won't be there, Arizona's governor Jan Brewer.
Turns out the deep water horizon oil spill won't begin -- the trial won't begin until after tomorrow. It is now set for next Monday. That's March 5th. If the settlement isn't reached, a judge will have to decide civil liability and to what extent for the disaster.
And Ben & Jerry's is apologizing for using fortune cookies in the Jeremy Lin inspired taste, Lin-sanity. They say the Harvard shop that sells it intended to do this in a way to honor the Harvard grad, not offend him. Now they're using waffle cones instead.
Talk about being lucky in Vegas. A marine, who just killing time at a casino won more than $2.8 million. A couple of days before he hit the jackpot, he found out he was accepted as a bone marrow donor for an anonymous patient. He calls this karma.
Alright, Corporal Alexander Degenhardt joins me live from Baltimore. He stopped counting his money long enough to talk to us.
Congratulations! Has the reality of all this set in for you yet?
ALEXANDER DEGENHARDT, USMC CORPORAL: It has not set in yet.
CAREY: No. I can tell you seem a little dazed right now.
DEGENHARDT: Absolutely.
CAREY: So, walk us through this moment at the Bellagio.
DEGENHARDT: I walked in the Bellagio with my friends, randomly sat down at a slot machine because I saw the countdown for -- or the count up of the progressive slot. And just sat down, I had a $100 bill, just for the sole fact that the ATM only gave me $100 bill instead of 20s. So, that was really luck right there.
I played -- I put the $100 bill in, played it down two about $70, and then hit a bonus round, took me up to $180, played it a couple more minutes, hit another bonus round and it stopped on the dollar sign. I asked my friend, what does that mean? He said, dude, you won! And that's my story.
CAREY: Do you gamble often? I mean, I put you on the spot. But do you gamble often?
DEGENHARDT: No. I don't gamble often at all. It was nice. It was the first time I was ever in Vegas and I was only there for about 12 hours.
CAREY: Wow. OK. So what are you planning to do with this money? Have you already sorted it out in your head?
DEGENHARDT: Right now I'm going to stay in the military. Live off my paycheck and just invest the money right now.
CAREY: Fantastic. Now, as for this bone marrow transplant part, you recently heard you've been approved for being a donor. Where did that come from?
DEGENHARDT: In the military we can agree to do a DNA swab if we would like to become a donor for anything. So I agreed to the swab and this was actually taken in 2008, and they didn't get a match for me until I was sitting at the airport getting ready to go to Nevada.
CAREY: Wow. So that's something that you're still going to follow through on?
DEGENHARDT: Absolutely. Yes.
CAREY: So you think these two are connected, this generosity of yours that I'm sure that you're going to be humble about, but it is, it is amazing generosity of yours and this good luck of yours. You think they're somehow connected?
DEGENHARDT: I do believe that everything is connected in a way and, you know, the world works in mysterious ways. So, you never know. But I certainly do believe they're connected.
CAREY: Do you have any friends coming out of the wood work or do you think you will have this interview?
DEGENHARDT: I'm sorry?
CAREY: Do you have any friends coming out of the wood work? Do you think you will after this interview?
DEGENHARDT: Not coming out of the wood work yet. They may. They may.
CAREY: Corporal Degenhardt, congratulations to you and also, congratulations on being such a generous person to be willing to be a bone marrow donor. That is absolutely needed.
DEGENHARDT: It feels a lot better being a bone marrow donor than it does actually winning the money. So, it's something I can help being a bone marrow donor. The money was just luck.
CAREY: Outstanding! Outstanding! Great talking to you.
DEGENHARDT: Thank you.
CAREY: All right.
Imagine you can help save 30 lives with one unselfish act. One man did by donating a kidney. That's pretty amazing, even more amazing, he's very humble about it. You have to hear him tell his story.
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CAREY: Follow me here. A man walks into a hospital and offers to donate a kidney, expecting nothing in return. You would think that would never happen, but it did happen, exactly that way.
About a year ago, a California man donated his kidney and by doing so became the first link in the world's longest living donor kidney chain. I got a chance to talk to Rick a Ruzzamenti little earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK RUZZAMENTI, ORIGINAL DONOR, KIDNEY CHAIN: I met a woman, Melissa, who had donated a kidney and told me her story of how she had donated a kidney and how it was no big deal and didn't understand why more people didn't do it. And her telling me that story, it just made me -- inspired me to want to donate a kidney. And I went home the next day and looked into it.
CAREY: But you had to convince the doctors at Riverside Community hospital that you were on the level, that you knew what you were doing, that you weren't trying to get attention, fame, glory, how did that conversation go?
RUZZAMENTI: Well, I'll tell you, the kidney donation was easy. These interviews aren't. (LAUGHTER)
RUZZAMENTI: No. It was very professional. I was just asked why do you want to donate a kidney. And every time they would ask me I would say because I wanted to help somebody. It was that simple, I wanted to help somebody. So, there was nothing to - it was just that simple.
CAREY: When they started to explain to you that there are risks involved in any type of surgery, was there ever a moment are for even a split second, when you had a conversation with yourself and thought do I really want to do this?
RUZZAMENTI: I've never had second thoughts. There is risk every time you step into a car. There is risk you can die. And you don't think about that. And I didn't think about -- I never thought about the risks. I just -- I was excited I was going to be able to donate a kidney to help somebody and get them off dialysis.
CAREY: That's fantastic. Let me share some numbers, Rick. About 90,000 people are on the waiting list now hoping to get a kidney transplant. Fewer than 17,000 people will get one and about 4500 people die every year waiting for a kidney. And basically, what you set in motion is the way this chain kept going. It was a combination of people in donating to a stranger or someone saying I want to donate to my family member. But perhaps they weren't compatible so they would give to a stranger saying as long as my family member gets one. It was a combination of all that that kept this chain going.
The fact that you were the person that set this in motion, that saved lives, how did that change you as a person?
RUZZAMENTI: It doesn't change me. I just am glad I was able to do it. I was glad I was able to help.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAREY: Well, pretty remarkable man, isn't he?
All right, CNN NEWSROOM with Don Lemon is coming up in a few minutes.
Don is here to tell us what he's working on. It is a pretty shocking story.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. We're talking about all these new developments in the Catholic church, abuse scandal, exactly, a pretty shocking story. And what we have here is potential proof, Richelle, that a major church figure ordered evidence destroyed.
Now at issue here, a memo that just surfaced showing a cardinal ordered a list of catholic priests suspected of sex abuse order that list to be destroyed this is explosive for several reasons.
One, is that a cardinal say high level authority within the catholic church, the equivalent of a U.S. senator, right? So, as you can imagine, such a high level figure, making such a request or an order really could change the course of this ongoing scandal. We'll have that for you, all the details coming up at 6:00, Richelle.
CAREY: OK. I can understand that you only have an hour at 6:00 because you --
LEMON: Thirty minutes, actually.
CAREY: Thirty minutes because you have a special tonight about the Oscars. So, tell us what is coming up at 10:00.
LEMON: Yes. I get to rest because usually I took a few straight hours. So, 30 minutes is like a little mini vacation but for a good reason as you said, the Oscars going on. We take them live to the red carpet.
But we have another pretty incredible story. It's a good story. It's a kind of story that is difficult to hear at first, a child is abandoned, and left homeless in a big city, there is a happy ending for a Washington man.
That story was his life until the age of 10 when he found his calling. And you can see what his calling is right there. Today, he's on the verge of becoming a real life million-dollar baby. Remember that Oscar nominated movie?
CAREY: Yes.
LEMON: We are going to meet boxing champ in person. His name is Lamont Peterson tonight at 10:00 p.m. He is going to join us live and tell us his million-dollar baby story.
CAREY: That sounds like an uplifting story. I like that.
LEMON: We need that.
CAREY: Boy, don't we?
LEMON: It is still good to see and have you over here on this network even though we're all one big family.
CAREY: We are all a family.
LEMON: Yes.
CAREY: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: All right.
CAREY: All right. While some states clean up from snow, there's another winter storm on the way, Jacqui Jeras will tell us when and where next.
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CAREY: Looking ahead to the markets, wall street is hoping for a repeat of last week which saw gains in all three indexes.
CNN's Alison Kosik tells us what investors will be watching for.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Home sales have started picked up but the housing market hasn't bottomed out just yet. The national association of realtors says home prices are at the lowest level in the decade. The median prices of previously own homes now sits just below $158,000.
But, with mortgage rates at the store close, that's very good news for prospective buyers. The drop in prices actually helps pushed sales up more than four percent last month.
Here on Wall Street, the Dow industrials crossed the 13,000 mark for the first time in four years, strong economic data and hopes for more progress in Greece helped give the market a boost.
Poppy Harlow has a look at what's coming up in business news.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much.
Well, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke heads to Capitol Hill this week. He will discuss the bank's monetary policy and effect economic outlook his semiannual testimony.
And Microsoft will unveil a preview version of windows 8 operating system on Wednesday. The company is hoping that release will help it make so much needed headway in the tablet computer market.
And on the economic calendar, figures are due out on consumer confidence and also, spending along with a revision of fourth quarter GDP. The initial reading in January showed the U.S. economy grew at a 2.8 percent rate in the fourth quarter of last year.
We'll track that and the business news of the week for you on "CNN money," back to you.
CAREY: OK. Let's turn to weather now. A snowstorm caused quite a few pile-ups in Pennsylvania portion of i-80 shutdown after series of chain reaction crashes.
Jacqui Jeras is here with that. There's another storm on the way. And also, you got the latest on what happened at Daytona today, too.
JERAS: Rain delay, the first time in history, believe it or not, Richelle. What a bummer of a weather pattern too because unfortunately, the rain is going to continue to be consistent so they decided to delay it until tomorrow at noon eastern time, but we are expected to continue to see showers. I'm going to say a chance of 60 percent at least for rain tomorrow so stay tuned as more changes are going to be possible with that.
All right, let's look at the big picture for tomorrow as a lot of you headed to work. We will continue to see the rain across parts of Florida and along the gulf coast. But this is the big storm system we'll be tracking for the week ahead. It is going to be moving across the four corners region bringing in some rain showers and some snow showers. The snow heavy expected into western Colorado, as this system heads into the plains states then by Tuesday some of the thunderstorms on the southern edge could become severe from Missouri down towards parts of Texas. The northern tier, this is going to be a huge snowstorm for you in what's been a very snow deprived winter. Also, I want 4to you notice some of this pink in this area that's going to be a mix of the rain and snow and that's really going to have a huge impact depending on where that lines up on what your snowfall totals are going to be.
Now, the computer models are s aren't 100 percent meshing on this thing, so keep that in mind. This is just one possible solution but I feel confident somebody here in central Minnesota is going to get a foot plus of snowfall. The twin cities are on the edge but you do need to be prepared for a major storm, blizzard watches posted for this as well as winter storm watches. Again, this is a Tuesday into Wednesday event. Chicago at least will be spared which is great - Richelle.
CAREY: Jacqui, thank you so much.
And that will do it for me. CNN NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with Don Lemon. Have an outstanding week.
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