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CNN Saturday Morning News

Four Americans Being Held Hostage By Somalia Pirates; House Works All Night on Government Funding Bill; Tea Party Sending Reinforcements to Protest in Wisconsin; Unrest Spreading in Mideast; Russia Mars Mission; Financial Infidelity

Aired February 19, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: The House pulls an all-nighter, passing a bill that keeps the government up and running. But at what cost? We go live to Capitol Hill to find out what programs got cut and whether the services important to you survive tough cuts.

A budget crisis leads to a major showdown between Wisconsin's governor and angry teachers. Thousands of protesters have already hit the streets. So, why is the Tea Party sending in more? We'll have an update.

And when does retail therapy turn into financial infidelity? We'll tell you the bad habit that could threaten your relationships and, yes, your bank account. It's something you want to see before you head out to the mall today.

It's early. We're on it. From CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's February 19th.

Good morning. I'm Randi Kaye. Glad you're spending your morning with us.

A hijacking on the high sea. Somalia pirates this morning are holding four Americans after boarding their yacht in the Indian Ocean. A piracy watchdog group identifies the seized vessel as one that belongs to Jean and Scott Adam. Last hour, I spoke with CNN's David McKenzie who is following the story for us from nearby Kenya.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I spoke to the U.S. military over the night. And they said they are closely watching this, Randi, and checking in on any radio signals, anything coming from them. My sources in Somalia have not seen any yacht approaching some of notorious pirate dens in that region. Generally, what happens is that people who are captured are taken towards the coast of Somalia and held there and then they asked for ransom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The House of Representatives has passed a spending bill that would slice more than $60 billion from the remaining year's budget. They had to pull an all-nighter to do it. Yes, all of his happened while you were sleeping. The vote happened around 5:00 this morning. The bill now heads to the Senate with only two weeks remaining before the funding of federal agencies is set to expire.

In Wisconsin, thousands of employees storm the state capital to protest budget cuts proposed by Republican Governor Scott Walker. He wants to limit the collective bargaining rights of state employees as he grapples with a growing state deficit. More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers fled the state to delay a scheduled vote on the measure.

Well, first, it was Tunisia, then Egypt. Now, a groundswell of popular uprising is sweeping the Middle East. Bahrain, Iran, Libya, Yemen, all seeing a surge of demonstrations. People are upset about housing, unemployment, political corruption and personal freedoms.

The epicenter of the protest seems to have shifted from Egypt to Bahrain and bloodshed has followed with government forces shooting and killing four protesters there yesterday. I'm going to show video from there right now.

The first, a peaceful protest yesterday in Bahrain's capital city, Manama. Watch.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

KAYE: While this is dramatic video, we do have to stress that CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of video posted on YouTube like this. But we have corroborated the images with corresponding news reports. This video appears to be from the same location where our teams were working earlier on Friday.

Now, the same protest as gunfire erupts, striking down several demonstrators. But I need to warn you, the images that you are about to see are graphic and they may disturb some viewers.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

KAYE: That disturbing video is part and parcel of the surging unrest in that region. Many countries unified in their call for change.

Let's take a look at the breakdown, the nation's affected and how it affects you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) go, go, go.

MIGUEL MARGUEZ, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): I only said thugs, because when four or five or six guys are beating you sticks, it feels a heck of a lot like thugs within three or four minutes of them pulling up, they unleashed everything they had.

KAYE (voice-over): At the heart of the anger: discrimination, unemployment and corruption. Protesters are calling for the removal of the royal family, which has led Bahrain since the 18th century.

Bahrain is an important U.S. ally. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

JOHN WOOLSEY, FORMER DIRECTOR, CIA: You could see region-wide war come about as a result of a miscalculation between, say, the Israeli navy and the Iranian navy, or something like that.

KAYE: In Iran, trouble has been brewing since the 2009 election when people fill the streets to denounce the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as fraudulent. Despite the military crackdown, thousands marched against the government this week. In response, members of the Iran's parliament chanted for the execution of key opposition leaders.

The battle lines have also been drawn in Libya. In Benghazi, Libya, Friday, tens of thousands of protesters marched carrying the bodies of those killed in earlier clashes. The issues: poor housing conditions and high unemployment. Human Rights Watch says demonstrators were killed in clashes with security forces.

Meanwhile, state television showed these images of men chanting pro-Muammar Gadhafi slogans and singing around the Libyan leader, who has been in power more than 40 years.

FOUAD AJAMI, PROFESSOR, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: We gave him a reprieve several years ago, because he supposedly, he turned over his weapons of mass destruction. He hasn't changed. This is a monster and the Libyan people are suffering for this. KAYE: In Yemen, sticks and rocks were the weapon of choice as demonstrators clashed with pro-government gangs in the capital city of Sana'a. Protesters want long-time President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. They blame him for lack of jobs and political freedom.

(on camera): While all these countries may sound far away from your home, it doesn't mean the unrest won't hit close to home.

Some experts suggest this unrest could result in oil hitting $147 a barrel, again, like it did two years ago. If the revolution continues in Bahrain and throughout the region, you could feel it at the gas pump.

(voice-over): In Egypt, even with Hosni Mubarak out of the picture, the situation is still tense. Victory celebrations in Tahrir Square Friday sent a message to the military: protesters are still watching and waiting for reform.

Easing tension in the Arab world may require reform instead of repression. But if the rest of the region is hoping to accomplish what those in Egypt did, they better gear up for what is already a bloody battle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Now, here's a question for you. Would you spend a year and a half locked in a very small room with five strangers? Well, some folks in Russia are doing just that. It is an experiment going on right now. And I'll give you a hint: it involves space rations. Yes, space rations. We'll tell you about it, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Ten minutes past the hour. Time now for a check of the weather. Reynolds is back.

I still can't get the image of you out of my mind on the snow bike. But it's OK.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Me on the snow bike or me doing a face plant?

KAYE: Yes, a face plant was pretty good.

WOLF: Yes, there's always good times.

KAYE: Are we going to see more snow? There are going to be snow biking around the country?

WOLF: Out west, it is going to be just remarkable. In the east, you're not going to have too many problems weather-wise, although we do have a travel delay for the time being right now in Washington. Dulles will get a ground stop until about 7:30. I expect more delays to pick out towards west. The weather really gets bad.

And it looks like it might get bad. Again, everything -- there is a little bit of a hodgepodge when I say bad. Bad for drivers, bad for people trying to get from one airport to another, but for people who love the snow, pure bliss for the day.

And this area of low pressure is going to be cruising across parts of the Great Basin. You've got some moisture behind it, some ahead of it. And it's going to provide plenty of snowfall, one to two feet of snow possible in parts of the mountains, including the central Rockies, some in the northern Rockies, back in the Sierra Nevada, and even into the Wasatch Range, perhaps even as far south, and portions of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains in New Mexico -- even Arizona, back in the Flagstaff getting in on that action.

In terms of your high temperatures: 32 degrees in the twin cities; for Chicago, 38 degrees; 67 in Memphis; 73 in Atlanta; 80 in Miami; 60 in Los Angeles; and 51 in Portland. That is a wrap on your forecast.

Randi, let's pitch it back over to you.

KAYE: All right. Thank you, Reynolds.

So, have you heard about the mission to Mars? Well, all right. Maybe we're exaggerating just a little bit. It's not really a space flight but it is as close as it gets, at least for now. We'll explain, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: Well, this story has a lot of us shaking our heads. Would you lock yourself into a tiny capsule with six strangers for oh, say, just about 520 days?

All right. Don't answer yet. Keep in mind: you have no fresh air, no fresh food, and no sunlight. Can you imagine?

But this is exactly what's going on right now in Russia.

Nadia Bilchik is here.

And I have to ask you: why would anyone do this?

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Over thousands of people who applied for this and they chose only six. And the six people that they chose for this experiment. And basically, it's a simulator, what would it be like to go to Mars, and because Mars is so far away and it would take, on average, 520 days.

So, it will be 250 days to get there. It would be another 30 days to explore Mars, which is why we are doing the story now, because this week, they actually explored Mars. And then it would be another 240 days to come back.

So, what the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems and the European Space Agency have done is combine forces to have an experiment to see how will six people survive physiologically and psychologically, because that -- the pressure would be enormous, wouldn't it?

KAYE: And these are strangers?

BILCHIK: These are strangers. They have three Russians, a Chinese man and two Europeans, never met before. But they did train as astronauts for a year before the mission. And apparently, according to all reports, they are actually surviving and getting on really well.

KAYE: Really? But these people wouldn't actually go on a mission? I mean, we don't even know when that mission might be.

BILCHIK: Well, exactly.

KAYE: They are just helping them understand what it would be like. But no sunlight and no fresh food?

BILCHIK: No sunlight. The space is around 1,700 square meters. But the actual living space, the capsule -- living space capsule is about the size of two busses combined. So, that close quarters. And what do they do for entertainment? Well, apparently, they even experienced karaoke.

KAYE: You're kidding?

BILCHIK: Some of the things that they do. But again, as you said, no fresh food. And they literally walked on to Mars this weekend, a kind of large sand pit.

Now, the things that they don't have in a simulated experience would be the gravity issue. So, they the suits are so heavy, 70 pounds of suit.

KAYE: To carry that around?

BILCHIK: To carry that around and there's no radiation. So, a couple of things they haven't managed to simulate. But on the whole, it would be the experience of 520 days. And they are around half way. So, now, from next week, there are going to be two more Mars walks, and then they're going to begin the return home.

KAYE: You really have to use your imagination here if you're walking on Mars, that you really know that you're in some tight quarters in a Russian building somewhere.

BILCHIK: Exactly. And who would do this? But you know how much a real mission to mars would cost? Around $10 billion. So, in 1990, NASA said we're going to do this in around 2012. But it isn't happening. It's probably going to be 20 to 30 years from now.

KAYE: Very interesting experience, Nadia. And quite the "Morning Passport," taking us all the way to Mars, sort of.

BILCHIK: Right.

(LAUGHTER)

KAYE: Hey, listen, next, we're going to talk about financial infidelity. Have you been on a shopping spree?

BILCHIK: Well, financial infidelity is very interesting, isn't it? When we take the shopping bag and take them upstairs before the husband sees.

KAYE: There you go. Now, we are talking the same language here. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

BILCHIK: -- because why expose them to that level of pain.

KAYE: See? I really hope that my husband still has a pillow over his head and he's not watching this, because I've done that. I've gone, I kept the bags in the trunk.

BILCHIK: Or taken all the goods and put them in one bag so it looks like you've done one bag.

KAYE: Bury them in the backyard. That's my next strategy (ph).

All right. So, I'm not alone. It's good to know. Because it turns out that infidelity really isn't just about sex. It could really harm your relationship. And we are going to expose some dirty little secrets and give you some tips that could save your marriage, maybe a friend's marriage.

That's right. Alexa Von Tobel is going to join us in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Nineteen minutes past the hour.

Financial infidelity or hiding your money from your significant other, it is happening to a whole lot of couples. Take a look at this. Recent surveys show 80 percent of married couples spend money that their spouse does not know about. Nearly one in every five have a secret credit card or maybe a bank account. And more than a third say that they are keeping money secrets it because they fear telling the truth would triggers a serious argument or possibly even divorce.

In our "Take it to the Bank" segment, financial expert and founder of Learnvest.com, Alexa Von Tobel joins us to talk about all of this.

And I told you, I really hope my husband isn't watching because I am guilty. I don't know about how many of you out there are guilty of this as well, of hiding all those -- everything from the shopping spree. But it certainly sounds like money can make some lovers liars.

ALEXA VON TOBEL, FINANCIAL EXPERT: First of all, I think everyone is battling with this, and what a fascinating topic.

But you're right, Randi. We have 43 percent of people reporting that they decide to hide a purchase of some kind because they're afraid of the big argument that it's actually going to create. With 20 percent of people being worried it could actually end their marriage if they start fighting about money again. So, lots and lots of lying going on out there.

KAYE: Yes. So, they are hiding their spending because they are afraid. What are people buying that they tend to not tell their spouses about?

VON TOBEL: So, I think this is one of the most interesting parts because they're not buying anything special. We have about 35 percent of purchases coming from things like retail and clothing expenditures, with another 24 percent coming from simple food and dining. So, average expenditure is nothing super special here. And as you know, a ton of retail shopping, though.

KAYE: Yes, it's funny because it's true. It isn't anything special. But you still keep it in the trunk. You wait for your husband to go out and play golf or do something like that. I don't know, something, anything, get him out of the house to bring it inside.

Where do some folks hide what they bought? I mean, I like to use the trunk, personally. But that's -- you know, that can be expose. So, how extreme are we talking? Are people burying it in the backyard or what? VON TOBEL: Yes, it's so funny you mention both of those. So, the number on most common places, is people actually hiding it in the trunk of their car. With -- in big metropolitan areas, the number one place being in the back of their closet. This is actually my favorite trick -- oh, I have had this forever. I had this for years.

And then the most extreme place is actually, we had someone report they buried things in the backyard.

KAYE: Oh, my.

VON TOBEL: So, people actually go to great lengths to actually hide these purchases. That's right.

KAYE: So, this can be a marriage killer. So, just quickly, tell us what can couples can do to get better at this so we don't have to do this anymore?

VON TOBEL: So, at Learnvest.com, we're really focused on helping people with relationships and money. There's a lot of questions and a lot of issues. And, sadly, money really does complicate relationships. So, we have a free daily newsletter that actually goes through step-by-step helping you understand how to have these discussions.

And I think the big thing is just baring everything. So, sitting down when you have time and actually starting with your credit scores. Start there, and then go through what your debt is and what's happening with your finances and have an honest, candid discussion.

KAYE: All right. Good advice. It may be easier said than done. But we'll try it.

Alexa Von Tobel, founder of Learnvest.com -- thanks so much. Great to see you this morning.

VON TOBEL: Thanks so much. Thanks, Randi.

KAYE: And next, some call it attempted murder. A couple stately old oak trees thought to be dying in Auburn, Alabama. It is the worst case of college football rivalry gone wrong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Just about 7:25 now here on CNN.

Funeral processions are expected today for protesters killed in Bahrain. Friday, government forces fired on protesters in Bahrain's capital city Manama, killing at least four according to medical personnel. Protesters say they want parliament resolved and the regime in power out. Confrontations flared up Monday in Bahrain amid a groundswell of popular uprising across the Middle East.

Thousands stormed the Wisconsin state capitol to protest budget cuts proposed by Republican Governor Scott Walker. He wants to limit the collective bargaining rights of state employees as he grapples with the growing state deficit. More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers fled the state Thursday to delay a scheduled vote on the measure.

A hug-in is set for later today in Auburn, Alabama. Two stately oak trees that are considered town landmarks were recently poisoned with herbicide. A 62-year-old man has been arrested and charged with one count of criminal mischief. Harvey Updyke, a retired Texas state trooper is believed to have poisoned the trees in revenge for Auburn's win over Alabama this past college football season.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We all want to be there for a friend in need. But sometimes, you can't be at their bedside. So, what do you do in those situations?

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has some tips in this edition of "Empowered Patient."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Since so many of us have friends and families in various parts of the country, it happens to all of us. A friend who's vey far away has a crisis, or there's a car accident, or a cancer diagnosis or anything. You want to help that friend, but you're not sure how.

So, to help figure out how, we consulted with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She's a Democrat from Florida and good friend of Gabrielle Giffords, who's now recovering in Texas. We asked her: what do you do for your friend to help make her feel better? You can read our story at CNN.com/EmpoweredPatient.

And here are some tips from her and from others. First of all: know your friend. Know what they would want. For example, Wasserman Schultz said that she knew that her friend would want help with her constituents, trying to take care of their needs. So, Wasserman Schultz lent some of her staff to Giffords office so that they could help get that work done.\

Secondly: make specific offers. I talked to one woman who'd cancer. And she said that it made her kind of sad when people would say, oh, I'm here for you, whatever you need. She wanted help figuring out what she did need. In her case, she needed money to buy a wig because her hair had been lost during chemotherapy.

And here's a third suggestion that I've heard from people who suffer. Call at night. Sometimes they get a lot of phone calls during the day. But at night, when people are home with their families, those calls kind of wane and they can be more stressful at night.

So, look at those three tips and others at CNN.com/EmpoweredPatient. You can help take care of your friends no matter where they live.

For "Empowered Patient," I'm Elizabeth Cohen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: We are just days away or just a day away, I should say, from NASCAR's crown jewel, the Daytona 500. It takes nerves of steel to handle a race car at 200 miles per hour. But it takes real drive to overcome heart trouble at an early age and get back behind the wheel. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has one driver story as he gets ready for the great American race.

"SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." starts right now.