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CNN Saturday Morning News
Budget Deal Reached; Military Families React to Budget Deal; Human Rights Groups Investigating Laurent Gbagbo for Crimes Against Humanity
Aired April 09, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And whew! That was close! A lot of people have a sigh of relief across the country this morning. Our government is still open for business today. A deal was struck with just an hour to spare that kept this country from shutting down, essentially.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Good morning to you all, 6:00 AM here in Atlanta, 6:00 AM in Washington, D.C., also 5:00 AM in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where flood advisories are in effect in the surrounding areas.
Take a look. People's homes are under water. A lot of people are being forced right now to sandbag their properties. Our Bonnie Schneider is here taking a look at cities who are facing these flood threats.
Also, it is noon in Cairo, where there's gunfire and we are seeing clashes, thousands of demonstrators calling for change. This just two months after they got the change they wanted. Former president Mubarak was ousted. Now they're demanding something else. We'll tell what you, and we will take you there.
But of course, right now, first, we need to start with when most of you all went to bed last night, you were thinking possibly you'd get up this morning and your government was going to be closed for business today. That's not the case because late last night, Democrats and Republicans reached agreement on not one but two deals.
Let me explain. One of them was a short-term deal, a short-term plan to just keep the government running for the next week. The president is expected to sign that one later today. Now, they did that so they could have time to put together the bigger deal. The second deal we're talking about is the one that funds the federal government through September. That's the end of the fiscal year. It calls for nearly $40 billion in cuts from the president's original budget proposal.
Republicans had originally called for $61 billion in cuts, something that the Democrats called, frankly, extreme. A huge issue that the two sides turned out were fighting over all day yesterday in competing press conferences was the funding for Planned Parenthood -- yes, Planned Parenthood. Republicans dropped their demands to change funding for that program, while Democrats agreed to bring the issue up for a separate vote in the Senate. Democrats in the Senate also agreed to take up a Republican initiative to repeal President Obama's health care overhaul law. So there was a little back-and-forth, a little give, a little take, but still, they got it done.
And this morning, to help us understand what we just watched -- literally about six hours ago, all this happened -- just an hour to spare is when this announcement was made that the government would not shut down -- we do have our Brianna Keilar, who was on duty for us all day yesterday, and also our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry. There he is.
Guys, good to see you both this morning. Brianna, let me start with you. Just exactly how did this come about because I went to bed, we still didn't have a deal. I woke up, there was one. But it didn't sound like the deal that was made was all that different from what they were talking about all day. So why did we have to wait until the 11th hour?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I think sometimes Congress, like a lot of us, let's work expand to the time that's allotted.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: I don't know. A lot of us were not surprised that it went until literally the 11th hour. We knew that Democrats and Republicans throughout the last few days were trying to find spending cuts somewhere between $33 billion and $40 billion. And ultimately, T.J., as you said, they settled on $38.5 billion.
Of course, there were also those policy issues having to do with health care reform, having to do with defunding Planned Parenthood. And you said that there are going to be separate votes on those big issues. What many House Republicans wanted was for that to be wrapped into this big package. So now that's going to be dealt with separately, and that's really the bargain there.
But the action that we saw last night -- I mean, this was about 12:45 when we finally saw final passage in the House of Representatives for that other deal you talked about, the short-term -- the short-term bill that will keep the lights on through next Friday, until the House and the Senate can go for a vote on that bigger package that we talked about. We're expecting to see a vote on that on Monday, and then from there, we will go on, T.J.
HOLMES: I want to bring Ed into this. And Brianna, you stay with me here. But Ed, where was the president in all this? Did he play a major role in getting this done late last night?
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he absolutely did, T.J. What's interesting, though, is White House officials are trying to be very firm in saying, We're not declaring victory. This is a win for the American people, not for the president, be magnanimous about it, even as they serve up some interesting behind- the-scenes details that portray a commander-in-chief very much in command, helping to direct this, put it across the finish line because, let's face it, earlier in the process, this president faced criticism not just from Republicans but some of his fellow Democrats who said he just didn't get his hands dirty enough.
And so what they're saying is, yesterday, the president spoke on the phone with Speaker Boehner four times, four times on Friday just to get this done. They're also talking about another Oval Office meeting earlier this week, where the president directed one of his aides to produce a copy of all the various Republican legislative riders that Brianna was talking about, dealing with controversial issues like abortion, to just lay it all out, said, Look, let's make a copy for everyone, for the speaker, for Senate majority leader Harry Reid.
And we're told by White House aides that at one point, Speaker Boehner joked that the list was so long, maybe you need a faster copier machine. The point of that anecdote is White House aides trying to say this never got nasty behind the scenes. It never got personal, in part because of the president, in part because of the speaker, as well as Senator Reid.
What's significant about that is not just about this deal, but moving forward, as you know, T.J. and Brianna knows, there's a lot of big budget fights coming, big broader fights, you know, including, what are you going to do with Medicare, Medicaid, et cetera. So maybe -- I stress maybe -- there's some momentum coming out of this one, some trust between these leaders to tackle some of these other big issues.
HOLMES: And Brianna, let me bring you back. We talked about two deals made. It sounds like they have agreement -- at least the White House, the speaker, and also Harry Reid have agreement on these deals. But Brianna, I'm almost scared to ask you this question. They put the first deal in place to give them time to essentially put pen to paper, if you will, for the other deal.
But is there any possibility that we might get to this point again next Friday, when the other deal is about to expire and we're looking at another possible government shutdown, or do we have pretty good confidence that the package of cuts agreed to is going to be able to pass both chambers of Congress?
KEILAR: That would be like a total nightmare, wouldn't it?
HOLMES: Yes, it would.
KEILAR: I think -- you never want to say never, but I think the expectation, T.J., is no, that by and large, they worked out all of the big details. And we're actually expecting -- even though this short-term deal funds the government through next Friday, we're actually expecting it here in the next couple days. This big deal will be drafted and we're actually going to see a vote on Monday.
HOLMES: All right, I'm going to hold you to that. And Ed, the president expected...
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: The president expected to sign the short-term one later today. I have that right, Ed?
HENRY: That's right. We can say with certainty the president's going to do that early today, get it out of the way. And now that we've got Brianna on record saying they're going to get this done next Friday...
KEILAR: Oh!
HENRY: ... we will not have to be here next Saturday, T.J.
(LAUGHTER)
HENRY: We will not have to get up early. Everything's going to be just fine.
HOLMES: Well, you know, guys, it's always good to have you here with me on a Saturday morning. So hey, I'll do what I have to do...
HENRY: I got plans...
HOLMES: ... to get you here.
HENRY: I got plans next Saturday, so...
HOLMES: Well...
KEILAR: Me, too!
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: All right. Well, good to see you both this morning. We'll check in with you once again.
And to our viewers, some of you may have missed it last night, let us show you how the final hours played out live right here on CNN. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It appears they are close, very close, I am told, to a one-week Band-Aid budget, keep the government running, because they will agree to that one week because they believe they are very close now to the bigger deal to fund the government for the next six months.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're close to figuring something out. And you know what? They don't have a choice because look at the clock. I mean, we have three hours left before the government, or at least parts of the government, will shut down.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC), ASST. MINORITY LEADER: We are close enough on the big stuff for us to feel comfortable voting for something, maybe another week, so that all the particulars can be worked out.
BASH: The speaker is telling his conference, telling his fellow Republicans that there is a framework of a final deal. I just got an e-mail from a source very close to the negotiators, the leadership aides who have been actually crafting this, every single word, every single comma. And this source says that they just shook hands and they have a deal.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I'm pleased that Senator Reid and I and the White House have been able to come to an agreement that will, in fact, cut spending and keep our government open. And I expect that the House will vote yet tonight on a short- term continuing resolution into next week to allow for time for this agreement to be put together in legislative form and brought to the floor of the House and Senate for a vote.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This agreement between Democrats and Republicans on behalf of all Americans is on a budget that invests in our future while making the largest annual spending cut in our history. Some of the cuts we agreed to will be painful. Programs people rely on will be cut back. Needed infrastructure projects will be delayed. And I would not have made these cuts in better circumstances. But beginning to live within our means is the only way to protect those investments that will help America compete for new jobs, investments in our kids' education and student loans and clean energy and life-saving medical research. We protected the investments we need to win the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: So you see there the president speaking to the American people after 11:00 o'clock Eastern time, and that was less than an hour before the government was set to shut down.
So the deal is done. Still plenty of finger pointing and back- and-forth going on around. We want to know what you think about this all. Who are the winners here and losers? Are there winners and losers? We want your comments and we'll share them. Go to my blog, CNN.com/TJ, or you know where to find us on Facebook and Twitter, as well. We'll read some of your responses a little later in the show.
We do need to turn now to the Middle East. Tell me if this looks familiar to you, demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square. They're there to protest Egypt's ruling military council now. The council has led Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak was forced out in February after, as you know, many protesters were gathering in that same square. Protesters are now complaining about corrupt officials and they're now demanding Mubarak's prosecution. Also, less than four hours ago, several hundred protesters clashed with police and set fire to a military bus.
You're hearing gunfire there, part of the anti-government clashes happening in Syria here. These have turned deadly, a civilian doctor telling CNN that 22 unarmed civilians were killed and more than 40 wounded in Daraa. The Syrian News Agency reports that 19 security forces were killed, 75 injured, also saying that armed groups fired on citizens and police.
Turn to Santa Monica, California, now where a synagogue appears to have been the target of a bomber. Police, as you see here, are actually examining a hole in the roof of a home that's next to that synagogue. The explosion outside of the synagogue Thursday send a large pipe slamming through the roof of this nearby home. Police say they are now searching for a man, a homeless man, 61-year-old Ron Hirsch (ph). They describe him as extremely dangerous. No one, we can tell you, was hurt in that blast.
Police in Los Angeles have released composite sketches of two men, you're seeing here, suspected in the beating of a San Francisco Giants fan at Dodger Stadium. Police say they have stopped tailgating at the stadium and increased security in the wake of the March 31st meeting of a man who was a paramedic. You may remember that beating that took place outside that game. You know it's a heated rivalry, but it just got ugly outside the game. Now, the man who was beaten -- he remains hospitalized, has some brain damage. The mayor of LA is now urging these two to turn themselves in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: Turn yourself in. What you did was wrong. It was despicable and senseless, unprovoked. But make it a little better by coming forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A $100,000 reward has been issued for information leading to the attackers' arrest and conviction.
Well, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords -- she has plans. She has plans to be at the Kennedy Space Center for the launch of the next shuttle mission. As you know, her husband, Mark Kelly, will be commanding shuttle Endeavor. Gabrielle Giffords is recovering from injuries suffered during that shooting in Tucson, Arizona, in January, her office saying that the doctors will still need to sign off on her travel plans before she'll be able to head to Florida. Endeavor is scheduled to launch April 29th.
The rising cost of oil could have a major impact on airlines this summer, the head of American Airlines already calling it a crisis. Oil prices hit a two-and-a-half year high this week partly due to unrest in the Middle East. American's CEO says the cost to airlines is only part of the equation. There's also the fear that people will stay home because they have less money to spend on any kind of travel.
Now, many military families live paycheck to paycheck, unfortunately. Those paychecks would have run out if the government had shut down. Still, we're going to be talking to a military wife about what it takes to get through paycheck to paycheck, and also want to hear what she thinks about this budget deal and the last-minute deal that was done last night.
Also, we're keeping an eye on some nasty weather, Bonnie Schneider joining us this morning. She's in for Reynolds Wolf. Bonnie, what do you have your eyes on?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, T.J., we're tracking some storms that are rolling through Missouri right now, and they are severe. That's just the beginning of a big severe weather threat for today, and especially for tomorrow. Plus, we're also watching for the threat of flooding across the northern plains and fire danger in the southwest and southern plains. Lots going on. We'll tell you all about it -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Bonnie. Thank you so much.
And also, are you happy where you live? According to a survey, a Twitter survey, it may depend on where exactly you live. The list of the top five happiest states in America. Number five, Florida. Coming in at number four -- did you see this one coming? -- Georgia. And the third happiest state in the union, would you believe, North Carolina. Lovely place, actually. What would you guess are the top two? I'm going to tell you in just a moment. It's 15 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 16 minutes past the hour now. We're taking a look at the top five happiest states, according to Twitter. Remember, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina -- those ranked three through five. But the second happiest state out there, you folks in Colorado. And according to Twitter, the happiest state out there, would you believe, is Tennessee.
Now, how did they come up with these results? Well, they're based on the use of happiness-related words in your tweets, words like "nice" and "best." So it seemed that people tweeting from Tennessee use more positive language than the rest of us do.
I want to turn now to some weather and some nasty stuff out there. Some flood watches are in effect for a number of counties in eastern South Dakota this morning. Area lakes, in particular, have been rising by an inch or more per day this week. That's created a big demand for lots of sandbags. A lot of people who aren't sandbagging their property have already left their homes. They're headed for higher ground.
Our Bonnie Schneider here with us, in for Reynolds Wolf today. Bonnie, they know this routine, quite frankly, and they know it well there in town, so they're just hoping once again that it'll hold.
SCHNEIDER: Right. And it came very close in 2009, specifically in Fargo. Remember that?
HOLMES: Remember that well.
SCHNEIDER: It was also down to the wire, another story in the 11th hour. But you know, we are, unfortunately, looking at the time of year where the snow melts and we get that spring thaw, and it does cause a lot of problems. So with that said, you can see we have a flood threat across many locations in the northern plains. We're especially watching the Red River, as we always do this time of year, as it is expected to crest on Sunday, very close to the record. So it's something to monitor at this point. Flash flooding actually has occurred further south in Missouri as a result of strong storms, kind of unrelated to this.
But speaking of storms, here's a heads-up. Saturday, today, and Sunday, tomorrow, get ready for severe weather. I'm talking about a pretty big outbreak and maybe even tornadoes for tomorrow. Here's what we're watching for Saturday. You can see that as we go through the afternoon, we'll look for severe weather in Minnesota, down through Iowa, and certainly to the south, across Missouri, where we're seeing it right now. And then as we head to Sunday, it'll travel a little bit further to the east and we will look for that threat to continue across areas in the Midwest, as well.
Fire danger will be a big concern as we go through the afternoon. Hot, dry conditions and very gusty winds, T.J., throughout New Mexico and into Texas, something to keep an eye on, a very close eye on for dust storms throughout the day.
HOLMES: All right, Bonnie Schneider, good to have you here with us, in for Reynolds Wolf. We'll check in with you plenty throughout the morning.
Also, a story for you this morning that is probably going to outrage you. Can you imagine somebody stealing your money and then telling you thank you?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty minutes past the hour now. Military families have been closely following the budget showdown in Washington. If the government had shut down, their paychecks would have stopped. But now that's not going to happen. That's great news.
Well, Ryan Roach (ph) is an aviation mechanic with the Navy. You see him there with his wife and their family. His wife, Erica (ph) Roach, is joining me this morning. Erica, thank you for being here with us. Can you give me your initial reaction? I assume you're relieved that the budget showdown is over for the most part, but at the same time, you probably have to be upset that it got to that point.
Erica, are you with me? Well, apologies. Oh, we just lost her, I am just told. But again, Erica Roach, a number of many. And we have been talking to a number of military families this week, quite frankly, many of them standing by. There was word that possibly a lot of military families might not get paid on time, and unfortunately, many people in the military live paycheck to paycheck. So a lot of relief, quite frankly, that it is done at this point, but at the same time, a lot of people upset that it had to get to this point in the first place. We'll try to get Erica back up and get back to you here in just a moment.
So we have a budget deal for now. But are we going to go through this all over again when the government funding runs out? We're looking into that possibility, and it's probably one you don't want to be hearing about right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Good morning, as we said good morning to Providence, Rhode Island, there. And here's the stories making news across the country. In Rhode Island, is there a smooth criminal, or is this dude just obnoxious? Did you see that note? A woman in Rhode Island says the person who stole her credit card information sent her a note saying, Thanks for your money. Stephanie Morisca (ph) is her name. She says the thief charged $2,400 to her credit card, then went on line and ordered $65 worth of flowers, had them delivered to her home with that note.
Also, police in Mercer Island, Washington, looking for a man they say stalked and attacked an 85-year-old man. Police surveillance video captured the incident. You're seeing it take place here. It happened in a school parking lot. Sheldon Steinberg says the suspect lured him out of his car, then tried to mug him. He's thanking a student who saw what was going on and chased that suspect away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHELDON STEINBERG, ASSAULT VICTIM: He pointed to my car and said, The license plate's loose, which was obviously intended to get me out of the car. Before I know it, he just grabs me and takes me down. You know, doesn't take much to take me down, either. Funny thing is, if the jerk had asked me, Give me your wallet or else, I would have probably given it to him.
JOSHUA VOSS, WITNESS: He had blood on his face. It was kind of a scary sight, but -- and that's what he said, That man just attacked me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, that was a former naval hospital in Oakland, California. It went down in a cloud of dust on Friday, 800 pounds to bring down the 11-story concrete building. That's 800 pounds of explosives there to bring down that 11-story concrete building. The hospital served generations of wounded American soldiers.
Well, it is, as they say, a tradition like none other, the Masters at Augusta taking place in Georgia right now. And a lot of the talk right now is that Tiger Woods is in contention.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're at the bottom of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Welcome back, everybody. Glad to have you with us. I'm T.J. Holmes.
Crisis averted while most of us were sleeping last night. Congress finally hammered out a deal on the budget. So, no shutdown, your government is open today. There's a short-term deal that's in place now that will take us into next week and a longer deal that will fund the government through the end of this fiscal year which ends in September.
Here are the highlights: almost $40 billion in cuts for the rest of the year. Republicans had originally called for $61 billion in cuts. Democrats called that extreme. Republicans also dropped their demand to change the way Planned Parenthood is funded. But Democrats agree to bring that issue up for a separate vote in the Senate.
Hear now the president's reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the final hours before our government would have been forced to shut down, leaders in both parties reached an agreement that will allow our small businesses to get the loans they need, families to get mortgages they applied for, and hundreds of thousands of Americans to show up at work and take home their paychecks on time, including our brave men and women in uniform.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The president is expected to sign the short-term deal later today. But again that's just the place holder for the bigger deal.
CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is with us this morning in Washington.
Brianna, again, that's just the place-holder. What could actually hold up that bigger deal or is there good confidence up there on Capitol Hill that we are actually done finally with the 2011 budget?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. There's high confidence on both sides going through these negotiations that we're not going to be seeing a hiccup, and we're actually supposed to be seeing a vote on Monday on this long-term deal, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Brianna, tell me, what's the truth and what's the spin? I ask because both sides were trying to spin this as the other side's fault of a possible shutdown. We are the ones who are being adults here and so on and so forth.
So, you tell me the spin from both sides. But also, isn't the truth, yes, you stopped a shutdown, but you're still six months behind in your work?
KEILAR: Yes. I mean, certainly, this was -- I think Americans might be sort of frustrated at the way that Congress moves things along incrementally in this kind of all of these stopgap measures. If you asked Republicans, you asked Democrats, how did you come out of this? They're going to tell you that they feel like they came out pretty well.
There's a lot of moving parts in these negotiations. There's a lot of moving parts in this deal. And so, they'll point to different things.
Republicans will say initially we said we wanted $61 billion in cuts. Democrats said zero. We got $38.5 billion. That's more than 60 percent of what we wanted. So, look, we're doing pretty good.
You talk to Democrats -- they say we got some of the kinds of spending cuts that we wanted. We got some cuts to mandatory spending like the Defense Department and we're also were able to pull out those provisions about Planned Parenthood and defunding health care reform into separate votes. And that is very important, T.J., because if for some reason, that were to pass the Senate, President Obama could veto it because it wouldn't be attached to the spending bill.
But I think when you look at who the losers would have been in a government shutdown, it would have been Democrats and Republicans. This is what everyone thinks. The question would be: who would have lost more? And you know who the big losers would have been, T.J. -- a lot of Americans.
HOLMES: Yes.
KEILAR: Federal employees who didn't get paid. And if this had dragged on, military men and women who wouldn't have got paid. What about the person who was relying on their income tax return to make ends meet, if that had been held up.
HOLMES: You know, and the scary thing here, Brianna -- I know a lot of viewers and American people don't want to hear this, this fight was just possibly the undercard to a couple much bigger fights that are going to take place.
KEILAR: That's right. This last week, House Republicans unveiled their budget proposal, which has an overhaul of Medicare and Medicaid, entitlement reform. What do they call it? The third rail of politics -- and they don't call it that for nothing.
This is going to be a big debate. It's not expected -- you know, it's a House Republican proposal. It's not expected to obviously move through Congress, but it's going to be a big fight about how you rein in spending and how you deal with entitlement reform. And don't forget, there's also an upcoming vote on raising the debt ceiling.
This is like, if you and I spend a lot on our credit card and we knew that we were going to go over our limit and so we had the choice to increase our limit so that we didn't go over it and increase our interest rate, that's sort of what's -- what we're going to be facing and there's going to be a big fiscal battle over that, T.J.
HOLMES: That is exactly -- that is describing it precisely. If you max out your credit card, you cannot call American Express and say, hey, can I get a higher limit? That's essentially what is about to happen. This stuff is maddening.
Thank you. And you are calmer than a lot of folks are this morning. But you see this stuff day in and day out. It's good to have you with us this morning. We'll check in with you again, Brianna.
KEILAR: See you at 7:00.
HOLMES: All right. We do want to talk about how this budget back-and-forth has been affecting military families. If the government had shut down, the paychecks would have stopped or at least been delayed. But now, that's not going to happen. That's a relief.
Ryan Roach is an aviation mechanic with the Navy. His wife, Erica Roach, is with me now. We had an issue a little earlier. I think we have her back.
Erica, are you with me now?
ERICA ROACH, MILITARY WIFE (via telephone): I'm here.
HOLMES: All right. Well, good morning to you. I appreciate you hopping on.
Let me just have your initial reaction. I assume you are relieved that something was done, but you probably can't be too happy that it took this long to do it.
ROACH: Yes. I very much am relieved that there's no shutdown, that we're going to get our paychecks. But in the same aspect, is it going to be OK on Thursday? I mean, are we going to have to go through this again?
HOLMES: So, you feel like you're still on edge. You don't trust them until it's done if you will.
ROACH: Exactly. Like -- I mean, I have two kids that I need to take care of with this paycheck. And, you know, I work a part-time job, but it's not enough. It doesn't compensate for what my husband makes.
HOLMES: Yes.
ROACH: And to know that that's at risk if, you know, Congress can't agree on everything, that's scary.
HOLMES: Ma'am, what was your reaction -- or what is it to hear, frankly, that the back and forth and some of the things that are being argued about and you know people are -- so much of this is politics, but you're a real person with a real family and we can hear your real children in the background as we talk to you here. What's that like for you to be -- to listen to your situation almost and your family and your husband being used as some kind of political pawn almost in what is quite frankly a political game?
ROACH: It hurts -- I mean, to know that military members, in general, and their families, we sacrifice so much. You know, our husbands and wives go on deployments. They don't get to see their significant other. They don't get to see their kids.
I have friends, you know, who have missed the birth of their children and to know that we can just be, you know, a pawn to see who is going to fold cards faster. It's just unfair.
HOLMES: Erica, this is kind of a personal question, but it sounds like you were kind of alluding to this. But would you consider your family that does in fact live and have to live paycheck to paycheck almost?
ROACH: Yes, I would say that. You know, money is tight. If we could put more in savings, I definitely would. That's why I went and got a job, you know, so that things weren't so bad. We have extra money for gas and groceries, and, you know, if we want to take the kids to go do something on the weekends, you know, that's why I went and tried to help myself.
I mean, I'm perfectly capable of working. It's just harder to find, you know, sitters for my kids when, you know, I don't really want to pay child care costs.
HOLMES: Erica, I thank you so much for being willing to share your story with the American people. I know it's not easy to do.
But if you knew you had the ear of every congressman up there on Capitol Hill right now and you could say something that you think might work, to help them do their jobs a little better or do it a little quicker, to keep your family in mind, what would you say to 'em?
ROACH: I would say that they need to keep in mind that their job is to serve the American people and what's going to be best for them and not what's going to be best for their political party and not what's going to benefit themselves. They need to get their acts together.
Our country is facing some very, very tough times ahead and we need to get out of this as quickly as possible.
HOLMES: Ms. Roach, thank you so much for taking the time this morning. Our best to you and your family. You all enjoy the rest of your weekend.
And again, a lot of people glad to hear a sigh of relief that something was done, the shutdown was averted. But, still, as you heard from Ms. Roach there, she won't believe it until she sees the president actually sign that budget into law and we know for sure that the government won't be shutting down. So, hopefully, that will be the case next week.
I did ask you to weigh in on the last-minute budget deal. Are there actually winners and losers here? We're starting to get plenty of reaction in from you.
Here are some of the responses so far. This one sent in from our blog. It says, "There were no winners in the budget deal. The losers are the American taxpayers who are funding a trillion dollar deficit."
Also this one we're getting from Mark says, "Everyone lost, the people losing confidence in their government, the world losing confidence in our ability to govern."
We're just getting started. We'll share some more of those but we're getting them. You know where to find us on Twitter, Facebook, also on the blog.
I want to turn to the Ivory Coast in a moment. A lull in fighting as self-declared leader remains holed up in the presidential palace. A live report on how the conflict is affecting the cocoa economy and what this fight means for the U.S.
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HOLMES: Well, 42 minutes past the hour now.
Take a look at this. They need some rain in west Texas because of what you're seeing. A fast moving wildfire burned more than 100,000 acres across three counties there. That's according to our affiliate KTAB.
And today, firefighters thought they were getting hand on this thing, but strong winds have now stoked those flames, doubling the size of this wildfire. A fire weather watch is in effect for now through tomorrow night.
Let me bring Bonnie Schneider right back in here before we get to some of this other stuff.
Any chance they're going to get some weather relief in Texas?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No.
HOLMES: No?
SCHNEIDER: In fact, the winds will be kicking up in Texas and New Mexico, T.J. And what that means is not only is there a threat for fire danger, but we're going to see dust storms.
HOLMES: Oh, wow.
SCHNEIDER: And once that happens, it really limits visibility because the wind can just pick up the dust and the dirt. So, unfortunately, it's a two-prong problem. You have fire danger and dust storms in the Southwest.
HOLMES: And that's something -- we're talking about fire issues one place and now, they got too much water in another place.
SCHNEIDER: Oh, yes, that's true, T.J.
We're monitoring a lot of rain working its way through the Midwest. And this is just what they don't need there because we're not only looking at severe weather but we have threat for flooding -- particularly in areas to the North and Northern Plains. But this is really the beginning of a setup of severe weather we're going to watch for not just today but for tomorrow. Right now, though, heavy thunderstorms just moving into St. Louis, Missouri, batten down the hatches, these are producing frequent lightning strikes and hail, and it's all sliding to the east. And look at this line, headed right for southwest of Chicago and this will move through the Chicagoland area, so it's going to be a stormy start to your Saturday in the Midwest.
How about in other places? Well, here's that flood threat I mentioned before. These are flooding advisories. One of the main places we're watching as we do every year, this time of year, is the Red River at Fargo, expected to crest on Sunday, very close to the record in 2009. This is something to monitor, T.J., because this time of year, with snow melt happening and the warmer temperatures that are also going to be moving through the area, it will just enhance that melting.
So, it's going to be a big weekend for weather, with all different types of extreme weather from fire, all the way to the floods.
HOLMES: All right. And, Bonnie Schneider, on it for us this weekend. Bonnie, good to have you here with us as always.
We'll check in with Bonnie plenty throughout the morning.
I want to turn to sports now. You know they call it tradition like no other. The Masters is taking place right now. A lot of people are keeping an eye on that leaderboard because a lot of new faces and youngsters up there.
But also someone at the top of that leaderboard right now is one Tiger Woods. Right now, third -- tied for third with K.J. Choi. He emerged as contender Friday, an impressive second round. So, he is now four shots back from the leader.
Now, the young faces, a couple of them at the top of the leaderboard, among them, 21-year-old Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland. He's right now in the lead at 10 under.
Also turn to some baseball now. Folks in Boston were getting concerned here. The Red Sox finally have a win. They started 0-6 on the year, but they got the first win yesterday against the Yankees.
The Sox is coming off the worst start since 1945. They've been criticized for their underachieving, despite one of the most powerful lineups in the game.
Also, a former Red Sox, Manny Ramirez, is retiring. You know his name and face, you know, the locks on his head as well. But you probably also know him for some of his antics and also suspension he had in 2009 for performance-enhancing drugs. But he says he's retiring because of an issue with the league's drug prevention and treatment program.
"The New York Times" reporting that he has in fact tested positive for performance-enhancing drug. Again, he was suspended 50 games in 2009 after a failed drug test. He was facing a possible 100- game suspension if he failed a second one. So, instead of going through that process, he has chosen now to retire.
Also, take a look also out in the baseball field. A 109-year-old lady showing she's still got it check her out -- we'll have to bring her in a little bit. That's OK.
All right. That's Violet Smith. That's right, 109 years old. She was invited to throw out the first pitch at the Great Lake Loons season opener. And it was her 109th birthday. Congratulations to her.
All right. Here's something you don't necessarily hear every day and you don't want to hear. But the FBI is stumped and they're actually admitting it and they want your help to solve a 12-year-old case.
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HOLMES: About 12 minutes to the top of the hour here now.
The group Human Rights Watch is blaming both sides in the fight over leadership of Ivory Coast. It says serious abuses have been committed by forces to loyal to the self-declared president, Laurent Gbagbo, and by those opposed to Gbagbo.
CNN's Zain Verjee, it's a pleasure to have you with us here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
You're going to talk to us about Ivory Coast, also Egypt, and also, give us a little update on what's happening with that royal wedding.
Let's start here on Ivory Coast again, to get our folks caught up. This is the president who everyone says, the international community says, he lost the election at the end of last year, refused to give up power. But now, it seems like he's being squeezed.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is really hitting a dramatic and decisive point here. You have Laurent Gbagbo who says he won, but the world said, no, you didn't and then you have Alassane Ouattara, his rival on the other side, who says, "I won," and the rest of the world saying, yes, you did. They back him.
Laurent Gbagbo is in the presidential palace. He is in his bunker. He has hunkered down and he just refuses to go. There has been an attack on him and his troops, and now, his supporters have done this massive counterattack.
And according to the U.N., they kind of used negotiations as a trick to rearm and move their positions around the area.
Why does all of this matter, T.J., to the United States?
HOLMES: Yes. VERJEE: Well, you know, I mean, Africa's stability is important, because what happens here in Ivory Coast between these two men is going to send a signal to the rest of Africa, because there are a lot of elections that end up in a stalemate and a bitter fight like this and people don't accept the results.
It's important for the U.S. because you need stability to fight al Qaeda and terrorism and Nigeria, a big oil producer has an election next week. So, it's important to see what happens.
HOLMES: Also, we know as far as a business sense, certainly doesn't have the same importance when this comes to lives and treasure, if you will, but still, that's a huge cocoa market there and that has an effect on prices around the world as well.
But let's move now to Egypt. And the pictures we're showing out of Egypt right now in Tahrir Square in particular. It looks awfully familiar. It looks like what we were just seeing a couple of months ago.
VERJEE: I know. It really has taken a pretty worrying turn here. What's happening here is that activists and the military government are now facing off. You got the activists there that say, we want Hosni Mubarak to be prosecuted. They held a peaceful demonstration. Eventually, it turned pretty violent. The army went in there. At least two people are reported killed, many more wounded.
It really sends a worrying message that this was the scene of so much joy just months ago on February 11th, and now, it's a scene of burned out cars, a lot of destruction and deaths.
HOLMES: Yes. It's amazing that, you know, they -- certainly, those protesters got what they wanted. Mubarak was out. And now, it seems, as well, they are not happy with the military council right now either.
VERJEE: Right. And this is the danger. You got rid of the guy and then, now what? This is, like, for all of these Arab countries, you get rid of the guy you want, and there's a whole other Pandora's Box that opens up.
HOLMES: You know, that is exactly the question so many people have been asking in so many of these uprising. The question many people are asking in Libya as well.
VERJEE: Yes.
HOLMES: OK, what if Gadhafi goes, and then what's going to be in his place?
I can't let you go, though - have to talk this royal wedding. It's kind of a requirement anytime I have a conversation with you. We got to do something royal wedding-related.
But this is amazing. What you can and can't do if you go to the wedding. They actually have to send out an instruction manual? VERJEE: Yes. They have 22-page etiquette manual for all the 1,900 guests at the royal wedding. I'll give you a flavor, T.J.
HOLMES: OK.
VERJEE: There's only 20 days to go, right? So, they have time to study it. Don't wear white or wear cream because if you do that, you're going to clash with, guess who, the bride. Right?
They say, you know, understandably, make sure you switch your phone off. I mean, you know, T.J., even if you have "God Save the Queen" as your ringer, it's not going to cut it. It needs to be off, right?
You have to arrive 20 minutes early.
HOLMES: OK.
VERJEE: OK? And you must courtesy or bow when the queen enters and for God's sake, they also say, don't touch the queen, don't slap her back. Stay away. Right?
HOLMES: Now, are there consequences -- Zain, are there consequences if you break some of these rules? I mean, if you show up in white, will they kick you out?
VERJEE: I don't think they would because, you know, they have their own set of decorum. You would be frowned upon were you to do any of this sort of thing, right? So, they are just saying P.S., don't do this.
You know, Michelle Obama, remember when she met the queen. She gave her the old slap on the back and the queen just put her arm around her waist. No consequences there.
HOLMES: First Lady Obama, she can get away with that. If I put my arm around the queen, I'm locked up for years.
All right. Zain, it's good to have you here with us on a Saturday morning. This was fun. We're going to try to get you back sometime.
All right. But thanks so much. Good to see you.
VERJEE: All right. Thanks.
HOLMES: And, of course, all week has been a budget battleground in D.C. We'll tell you how a deal was finally struck to prevent a government shutdown with literally minutes to spare.
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HOLMES: All right. Getting close to the top of the hour. I want to give you look at our extremes of the week right now.
As if the government shutdown isn't extreme enough for you this morning, take a look at this video. It was taken from a cell phone. The woman says she was taping the trucks in front of her because they were driving erratically and you can see and you can hear there what happened.
She says she was going to report them. She ended up having to call 911. A 2x4 came out of nowhere through her windshield. Luckily, she's OK. Only the car got messed up.
Also, some more video. Two teenagers are trying to take pictures on the cell phone ended up in a rushing creek. You see the two girls there, this was in Upstate New York.
One of the girls dropped her phone. So, of course, they went after that phone and the swift water -- rescue team had to be called in to pull them out. As you see here. The water temperature, though, was around 30 degrees.
Also, take a look at this SWAT robot in action in Melbourne -- West Melbourne, Florida. It was sent in to check out man police thought might be suicidal. It found the man buck naked. He was wearing nothing but an AK-47. Now, he fired off a few shots, eventually did give up and put on some clothes and came on out.
Well, as you know now, your government is still open for business. I'm going to tell you about the two deals that had to be struck for that to happen.
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