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CNN Saturday Morning News

Tense Calm in Cairo; Weather Makes Getting to the Super Bowl Difficult for Fans; Christians In Egypt Worry About Their Future; Advice for Families Struggling With One Income; Securing Super Bowl Stadium

Aired February 05, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Tahrir Square in Cairo is tense, but peaceful now. That wasn't the case hours ago when gunshots could be heard in the night. Military troops firing warning shots to protesters. Meantime, opposition party is now agreeing to meet with Egypt's vice president today.

But the violence continues to spread. New this morning, a terrorist attack shuts down a critical gas pipeline in Egypt. According to Egypt's television, it's one of the main gas pipelines running to Jordan and Syria.

And here at home, the football hasn't been thrown yet, but six people were injured when ice fell from the roof of Cowboys Stadium. One man was hit in the head, another in the shoulder. None of the injuries, we're told, are life-threatening. And the high in Dallas, by the way, a balmy 42 degrees -- about 20 degrees below average.

It's early and we are on it. From CNN Center, good morning. I'm Randi Kaye. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's February 5th. So glad you're with us.

It's 7:00 a.m. on the East Coast; 2:00 p.m. in Egypt.

The Egyptian military is keeping pro-Mubarak supporters away from Cairo's Tahrir Square. Anti-government demonstrators have been there for much of the day -- and word this morning of a new opposition group that includes Mohamed ElBaradei's National Association for Change and the Muslim Brotherhood.

To Cairo now and our Frederik Pleitgen on the phone.

Fred, if you could, describe for us the scene in the square right now.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, it's quite peaceful, Randi. I would say there's maybe 4,000 or 5,000 people who are on the square. Most of them are actually people who have been camping there for several days.

Also, it seems as though the army has now moved into position. It seems to be sort of negotiating with some of the protesters at one of the barricades that's actually seen some of the worst fighting in the past of couple of days. There's two tanks in position there. It seems as though the people who are there are just sort of talking with the military, possibly negotiating about taking that barricade down. It's not really certain what they're saying.

We've also been inside the square early this morning. We have also heard from the people there that several opposition figures have now been sought out to sort of speak for the movement and went into negotiations with the government, Mohamed ElBaradei seems to be one of them. Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League, seems to be another. But it's very unclear who the other figures in that movement are.

So, certainly, the opposition, while it's still strong and going strong, has yet to decide on who the leader and the face of this opposition movement is going to be, Randi.

KAYE: And, Fred, we know that the military has been trying to keep the peace there, certainly trying to prevent any more violence between the opposition and the anti-Mubarak supporters. What -- where are the pro-Mubarak supporters right now?

PLEITGEN: The pro-Mubarak supporters are still around. I mean, it's not like -- it's not like they've completely vanished. They're just not here in downtown Cairo at this point. There are still some neighborhoods where they conglomerate where they are.

We had a crew yesterday that actually ran into one neighborhood and had trouble with these pro-Mubarak supporters. They didn't come to anything bad, but they certainly aren't very happy about what's going on in downtown Cairo. So, they are around, but they're not trying to regroup and come here.

And I think one of the reasons for that is simply that the military presence is much more -- much more vast and much more sophisticated than it was in the past. The soldiers here that are on the ground right now certainly very professional, also quite senior soldiers who are on the front lines here. The first couple days, we had a lot of younger conscripts who didn't seem to be in control of the situation. That has vastly changed now.

So, the scene that you have right now is that there is no trouble whatsoever at the barricade where these two sides have been facing off. And at the same time, traffic is actually coming back to life in downtown Cairo so that people can actually get around.

So, the situation that is much improved from, of course, two days ago, but also much improved even from yesterday, which was also quite a peaceful day, Randi.

KAYE: It's certainly good news for everyone involved. Fred Pleitgen for us -- thank you, Fred.

Time for the "Weekend Wheel" now, the stories you need to know, to get your day started. A U.S. House member says he is concerned about the health of the Army soldier suspected in the WikiLeaks case. Ohio's Dennis Kucinich is asking the Defense Department to allow him to visit Private Bradley Manning. Manning is being held in a Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Virginia. His lawyers have set up a Facebook account seeking donations for his legal defense.

The Big Easy ain't that big anymore. The latest census data shows New Orleans lost nearly a third of its population in the last decade. Just 344,000 were living in New Orleans last year. That's down from 485,000 in 2000. New Orleans has struggled since Hurricane Katrina flooded most of the city as you recall back in 2005.

Oklahoma state medical examiner says four people died as a result of the brutal winter storm that slammed the state this week. One woman died in a sledding accident, three others died when their car went off a bridge. Five others in the same crash were injured.

Super Bowl fans are now scrambling to get to Dallas after hundreds of flights are canceled because of a winter storm. An update on the weather for Dallas, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Falling ice is putting a chill on Super Bowl festivities at Cowboys Stadium prior to Sunday's game. Gusty winds blew big chunks of ice from the roof of the facility yesterday injuring at least six people. Officials hope the ice will melt before Sunday showdown between Green Bay and Pittsburgh.

It is just about seven minutes past the hour. Meteorologist Karen Maginnis has today's forecast live in the CNN severe weather center.

Anymore snow expected in Dallas?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It doesn't look like snow. It looks like kind of an icy mixture. But they're still having some trouble on those secondary roads, moving around.

We saw some pictures of a beautiful Corvette trying to make its way down the highway. It was slipping and sliding all over the road.

So, some of those interstates, yes, they're fine. But some of the secondary roads and some of the overpasses, not so much.

All right. For St. Louis, what a winter it has been. Already, 25 inches of snowfall for the season. You could see an additional couple of inches of snow before it's all said and done.

Area of low pressure is going to move across the central Appalachian Mountains and then make its way towards the Northeast and New England. Interior sections of New England will be the area that will see some of the heaviest snowfall, maybe three to six inches. And that will be just about it. And as we head towards the Northern Plains states, very icy conditions. Watertown, North Dakota, they are saying that people are slipping off the roads because the icy situation there is just so dangerous.

All right. What happens for your Super Bowl Sunday in Dallas? Enjoy this while it lasts because these temperatures in the 40s with maybe a kind of icy mixture, clouds. Well, it looks like as you got towards Tuesday and Wednesday, those temperatures will struggle to make it to 20 degrees -- Randi.

KAYE: Fun.

MAGINNIS: Winter is still here, hanging on.

KAYE: All right. Thanks, Karen.

It's common right now on the streets of Cairo, but one minority group in Egypt is still unclear what the future holds for them, Christians in Egypt. They say their rights have been violated for years and things could get worse if the country falls into the wrong hands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Twelve minutes past the hour.

For Egypt's Christian community, the situation playing out right now couldn't be more serious. They say they've been the targets of orchestrated attacks within the community for years. But if Mubarak is forced out, the power vacuum maybe devastating to a minority group also losing the struggle for religious tolerance.

Nadia Bilchik is joining me now for our morning's passport.

You're talking about this Coptic Christians.

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Christians, there are around 10 million to 12 million, which makes up around 10 percent of the population of Egypt. And interestingly enough, between the fourth and sixth century in Egypt, the majority of Egyptians were Christian until the 12th century and the Muslim invasion.

Coptic comes from the Greek meaning Egyptian. So, Coptic Christians are simply Egyptian Christians. So, anyone around the world who's a Coptic Christian has Egyptian ancestry, the largest community, being in Egypt. There's also a large community in Sudan.

But this particular community has really undergone great discrimination, various attacks. In 2010, there was an attack, six people were killed. And at the beginning of this year, 20 minutes into the New Year, there was a suicide bombing in the Alexandria Coptic Christian church and 24 people were killed.

KAYE: Simply because they are Coptic Christians? BILCHIK: Simply because they are Coptic Christians. And again, coming -- the community was outraged by the lack of response by the Mubarak government. There was a sense that they didn't do enough.

I want to hear what Joseph Hakim, who is the president of the international community for churches says, he's for the Christian Union. What he says about the Coptic Christians in Egypt. Take a listen. We spoke to him earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH HAKIM, PRES., INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN UNION (ICU): If you don't save the Christians of the Middle East, look at the situation with Iraq, it's not going to get any better. And we don't see things getting better. And I think, now, they are trying to cleanse the Christian element from Egypt because this is the largest amount of Christians in the entire Middle East and the Arab world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BILCHIK: So, it is. It is the largest community in the Middle East. But what happens now is there's grave concern. So, Pope Shenouda, who is the head of the Coptic Christian Church in Egypt has come and said, we want security. So, he's really committed reluctant support for Mubarak because he has the concern, what if Mubarak goes and fundamental Islamic government comes into power.

KAYE: It could be even worse.

BILCHIK: Exactly. What if they are further ostracize -- further discriminated against? So, it's really the proverbial between Iraq and a hard place, isn't it?

KAYE: Sure. And the chances of them getting security, certainly these days, I would imagine, is pretty tough.

BILCHIK: They used to have security around the churches. Now, they have to step and do it themselves. But, you know, you think about this. Here's a group of people who have been discriminated against. So, not thriving under the Mubarak government.

You know, the garbage cities, (INAUDIBLE), the garbage collectors, those are majority Coptic Christians. And there are wealthy Coptic Christians in Egypt, they are very impoverished. They have been discriminated against through jobs, through various things.

KAYE: So, even though it's so bad for these people, they still might not want to see Mubarak go.

BILCHIK: Exactly. It's better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.

KAYE: There you go.

BILCHIK: So, I'm excited to tell you at 8:00, we're going to be talking other kinds of wonderful things like dragons and lions and Chinese New Year.

KAYE: The Chinese New Year. All right. Nadia, we'll see you then.

BILCHIK: From Egypt to China.

KAYE: All right. That's our morning passport. Thank you. We'll see you soon.

The unemployment rate dropped in January, but the numbers just aren't adding up. I'll explain. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The unemployment rate fell to 9 percent in January, down from 9.4 percent the month before. The Labor Department reports employers added only 36,000 new jobs, far fewer than the 150,000 or so they expected. What if your family is one of the millions of two- income families forced to live on one income?

In our "Take to the Bank" segment this morning, tips on how to live on less.

Financial and business consultant Eric Amado joins us live from Dallas.

Eric, lots of folks here, one income. And they think suddenly, oh, no, life has to stop. That's not actually the case. So, tell me what you think the first things couples need to look closely at and where they can cut if they have gone from two incomes to one.

ERIC AMADO, FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS CONSULTANT: It's a great question. I mean, going from two incomes to one income can be a big deal. But some of the things you can look at to cut is, for example, look at cutting the coffee. For example, we spend a lot of money here in America on buying coffee. You can make coffee at home. You can save a lot of money there.

Also, you can look at using coupons when you grocery shopping. Sometime, when we're making more money, we don't want to use coupons. Or sometimes, we get a little bit lax with that.

Also, you can look at cutting up your credit cards. This is a big thing here because usually when you're using credit cards, you pay for things you can't afford. So, cut up your credit cards and stop using those.

And, finally, you know, go to the movies during the matinee. You know, it's great to go to the movies, but you can get cheaper if you go during the afternoon and the morning, and you can save money there as well.

KAYE: And what about creating a budget? Do you recommend that? Is that a good idea or too tough for people?

AMADO: It's actually a great idea. The budget is the foundation of your financial success. You need to know what's going in and out of your household. And the budget is the great way to do it.

A lot of people don't like to use the budget because it's not sexy. It's not you want to do. But the budget is great. And when you get your budget going, you can look at each line item in your household to determine where you can cut costs and save money. So, the budget is very, very key.

KAYE: What about the bigger items, such as mortgage payments? Should you consider refinancing at a time like this?

AMADO: Absolutely. This is a great time to refinance. Interest rates are at all time low for homes. The 30-year loan, you can probably get that like 5.5 percent. The 15-year loan, you probably can get that at 4.5 percent. It depends on your credit and so forth.

Be sure to run the numbers. Make sure it works for you and your family. But this is a great time to refinance your home. And banks will work with you if you go in there with the right attitude.

KAYE: A lot of people, of course, are thinking about their health coverage and insurance when they lose a job or they go from two incomes to one. Is there any room to trim there?

AMADO: This is a great question. There's always room to trim your health care. But one thing I will caution is that you need to make sure you run the numbers and redefine the premium (ph). Because you don't want to have a cheaper premium but all of a sudden you get lesser benefits. So, you want to make sure you run the numbers and make sure you get at least equal benefits or better. If not, you know, leave it where you are, the health care that you have, because you do not want to mess around with health coverage because you can get yourself in pretty big trouble.

KAYE: Sure. And I want to say, you know, this doesn't have to feel like a crash diet, right, where you deny yourself everything. We've all been there. But how can one income household still have some fun? I know you mentioned that the matinee, possible.

But are there other ways maybe to have some fun still without breaking the bank?

AMADO: You know, that's a great question. You know, crash diets, they never work, right? They never work. But in situations like this, you can do some great things.

For example, you can take something called a staycation. And what that is taking a vacation in your local city. For example, I'm in the Dallas area --

KAYE: I love staycations.

AMADO: Yes, yes. I'm in the Dallas area. We have great restaurants, great hotels, great things to do here in Dallas. A lot of things to do. You can also do something called Internet specials. For example, you can go to Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, some of these companies, if you book online, if you book early, you can get great deals.

And, finally, you can do something called shorter vacations, of course. Instead of taking a seven-day cruise, you might want to look at a three or four-day cruise. You can still have a good time. You're probably less stressed and you can also save money.

KAYE: All right. Eric Amado for us with some really good tips this morning. We really appreciate it. Thank you.

AMADO: Thank you. I appreciate it.

KAYE: A major settlement is being announced that could impact anyone who has used a debit card.

According to the "San Francisco Chronicle," Bank of America has agreed to pay $410 million to settle a lawsuit over fees. The bank is accused of manipulating debit card transactions in order to boost the number of overdrafts and in turn, the penalties paid by debit card users. They are also accused of telling customers they can opt-out of overdraft protection.

Bank of America was just one of the banks named in the lawsuit.

Defense in Dallas tomorrow goes a lot deeper than just protecting the ball. I've got details on the high-tech preparations going on right now to make sure Super Bowl stadium is super safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Time now for a check on the top stories.

Unknown terrorists are being blamed for blowing up a gas pipeline in the northern Sinai town of El Arish. The local governor there says firefighters are trying to get the fire under control. The pipeline is considered a critical fuel link for nearby Jordan and Syria.

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich wants to visit Private First Class Bradley Manning. He's the prime suspect in the leak of classified documents to the Web site WikiLeaks. Kucinich's request comes amid concerns that Manning is deteriorating mentally due to solitary confinement at the U.S. Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia.

From his wife's bedside to commanding the next space shuttle flight. Astronaut Mark Kelly says it's his wife's, Gabrielle Giffords, extraordinary progress since taking a gunshot to the head four weeks ago that has helped decided to head up Endeavour's last scheduled voyage. The shuttle's final flight is set for April.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Take a look at this man. He's been arrested for allegedly messing with the super bowl. Frank Gonzales is accused of inserting x-ray images into the coverage of the big game two years ago. Prosecutors say he interrupted the Comcast cable broadcast in Tucson, Arizona, for 37 seconds. But he was just arrested. Gonzales faces fraud and computer tampering charges.

Gearing up for the biggest one day sporting event in the country. But players won't be the only ones out in Dallas Stadium with their game faces on. Security teams also have a job to do and they are on red alert for any potential threat.

Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Sunday, 100,000 people will be in this stadium, 110 million watching around the world. That could make this a very tempting terrorist target.

(voice-over): Sniffing out danger. Security is a critical part of this Super Bowl and an integral part of this stadium.

(on camera): And I'm wondering when building this stadium if they were thinking about security.

JERRY JONES, DALLAS COWBOYS OWNER: Oh, yes. As a matter of fact, all of the --

MESERVE (voice-over): Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spent millions on security features, including vantage points for law enforcement sharp shooters.

JONES: We've got a lot of places for sniper shooters in here.

MESERVE: Multiple entrances allow faster screening and faster evacuation if needed. And surveillance cameras record virtually every inch of the venue. But more, much more is being brought to bear. Special radiological detection teams will be seeking out threats like dirty bombs.

DEBBIE WILBER, NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: There were 10 hits at last year's Super Bowl, all of them were determined to be medical isotopes.

MESERVE: When it comes to security, preparing for the game looks a lot like preparing for a war, with specialized equipment and personnel from all over the country on hand to detect and deal with a wide variety of possible threats.

And on game day, air space within a 30-mile radius of the stadium will be tightly restricted, patrolled by NORAD fighters.

(on camera): What's the price tag?

MILT AHLERICH, NFL SECURITY: Well, we can't put an exact figure on that because it's a little hard to define what an F-18 costs protecting the skies, but it's over $10 million I would say when it's all said and done. And from our side alone, it's $5 million.

MESERVE (voice-over): There is no specific credible threat to the game, officials say, but the Tucson shootings and a rash of homegrown terror events are very much on officials' minds.

JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: And that's one of the reasons why we have the "If you see something, say something" campaign because we want everybody to be part of our security. That's a shared responsible.

MESERVE: That message is being spread well beyond the stadium. But despite all the preparations and precautions, officials admit they are still on edge.

(on camera): What's your biggest worry?

JAMES SPILLER, CHIEF, DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT POLICE: You know, the biggest concern always is that people see something and don't say anything.

MESERVE: Organizers are trying to strike a balance. They want security to be visible enough that it's a deterrent, but not so visible that it makes this less of a party.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, on the field at Cowboys Stadium.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And with a lot of you planning to watch the Super Bowl, we thought it would be a good time to turn to youth football and injury suffered by kids and teens. If you're looking for ways to keep them safe, we think CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, might have found a great program.