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CNN Saturday Morning News

Nelson Mandela Hospitalized; Fight for Freedom in Syria; Rising Gas Prices; Three Days Until Arizona and Michigan Primaries; Doctor Makes Remote House Calls; Sneaker Fans Riot Over Nike "Galaxy"; Cosmetic Surgery for Teenagers

Aired February 25, 2012 - 06:00   ET

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

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. it's 6:00 A.M. in the East, 3:00 A.M. in the West.

Good morning, I'm Deborah Feyerick. Thanks so much for joining us. Here's what's happening now.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela is in the hospital. We're going to have a live report for you from Johannesburg.

Also, this is what's facing (ph) the three Syrian armies made up of army defectors and civilians going up against government tanks and troops. We are going to be showing you a lot more of that very dramatic video.

And presidential candidate Mitt Romney addressing an empty stadium. There's more to this picture than meets the eye. We are going to explain.

And ever wanted to hand pick the person sitting next to you on a flight? Good news. There's an app for that.

ANNOUNCER: From CNN World Headquarters, bringing you news and analysis from across the nation and around the globe. Live from Studio 7, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

FEYERICK: And good morning, everyone.

We start with a developing story out of South Africa. Former President Nelson Mandela has been hospitalized with what officials are calling an abdominal complaint. The 93-year-old's health has declined in recent years and he has been living quietly with very few public appearances.

Joining me now from Johannesburg is Nkepile Mabuse. And Nkepile, what are you hearing? What's going on there?

NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Deb, as you can imagine, the South African nation and many people who love and adore former President Nelson Mandela are holding their breath. As we're told by the presidency today that Mr. Mandela was admitted into hospital. All they're telling us is that it was because of a long-standing abdominal complaint that the presidency says it needs proper specialist's medical attention. They're not releasing any more information about the hospitalization of Mr. Mandela. We don't even know which hospital he was taken to.

Normally, he's taken to Milpark Hospital which is just around the road here from - from the bureau here in Johannesburg. But we're being told that he's been taken to a place where the best medical doctors are available here in South Africa.

So we're still working on sources trying to get more information. I spoke to a family member who told me that she was with Mr. Mandela on Wednesday and he was in good spirits. And she feels that doctors may have just wanted to take a precautionary measure by taking Mr. Mandela into the hospital, because, of course, he is 93 years old and his health is frail - Deb.

FEYERICK: And Nkepile, last time, when he - when he was hospitalized for chest infection about a year ago, there was really almost a panic in the country because he is such an icon. Do you expect sort of that same level of concern now?

MABUSE: There is always concern around President Nelson Mandela's health. He's 93 years old. Of course, people are very fearful of what will happen to him.

But, the main reason why there was so much fear, so much confusion the last time when he was admitted into Milpark Hospital for a respiratory infection is because the communication around what was wrong with Mr. Mandela was really not properly - they're not properly streamlined.

We were told that he went in for a routine check-up only to find out that he actually did have a serious infection. And he had been watched by doctors ever since then.

So this time around it seems, Deb, that the presidency is streamlining information. Even family members are not allowed to say anything to the media. Only senior members of the Mandela Family have been told exactly what's going on with the former president.

We are hearing rumors that he was - he had an operation last night. Nobody is confirming that and the presidency is taking charge. They want to release the information as in when they see fit - Deb.

FEYERICK: OK. Nkepile Mabuse, thank you so much. We'll be checking in with you a little later on during this hour. Thanks so much.

Well, now to some incredible video from inside Syria showing the growing humanitarian crisis and battle for freedom. It's something that you're only going to see right here on CNN. And the images were recorded by a French journalist named Mani (ph), who was with antigovernment fighters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Urban guerilla warfare like this is relentless and terrifying. The fighters appear fearless and take crazy risks. But they still find time to look out for Mani (ph).

Back at Mukhabarat (ph) Headquarters, the battle is raging. Free Syrian forces have detonated a bomb below the rooftop position where government snipers are trapped.

After more than 12 hours, the snipers are still putting up a fight. Casualties are mounting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: We're going to have a lot more of that for you later on in the show.

As for what's going on there now, activists say more than 100 people were killed in Syria yesterday, 30 of those were in Homs, which is in the epicenter of the uprising and the main target for the Syrian military.

While that was going on, a group of diplomats dubbed the Friends of Syria met to discuss what to do about the dire situation. Here is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Only a genuine democratic transition will solve this crisis. As the Arab League has said, the goal should be the formation of a national unity government followed by transparent and free elections under Arab and international supervision and Assad's departure must be part of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: The United States is promising $10 million in humanitarian aid. Saudi Arabia is considering arming the activists. The Red Cross is able to get into Homs yesterday to evacuate some of the wounded and they say they hope to get back in there today.

Well, the youngest son of Robert F. Kennedy has been charged with harassment and endangering the welfare of his newborn. Douglas Kennedy allegedly tried to take his 2-day-old son out of a New York hospital despite nurses' warnings.

According to WNBC, nurses tried to stop Kennedy from taking the boy out of the maternity ward and also out of the hospital. He allegedly kicked one of the nurses and then fell down himself while holding the child in his arms. Kennedy and his wife say they did nothing wrong.

The Marine Corps has released the names of the men killed when two helicopters collided during a training mission. It happened along the Arizona-California border this week. The Marines were preparing to go to Afghanistan. The names of the dead are Major Thomas Budrejko, Captain Michael Quin, Captain Benjamin Cerniglia, Captain Nathan Anderson, Sergeant Justin Everett, Lance Corporal Corey Little and Nickoulas Elliott. The cause of that crash is still under investigation.

Well, remember the story earlier this month of a dozen teens in upstate New York suffering from unusual tics? Their doctors now say that many of them are feeling better and that the tics are starting to go away. It's unclear exactly how many of the teens affected have improved. Doctors believe stress triggered the unusual body movements. Treatments range from psychotherapy to anti-depression drugs to antibiotics.

And if you haven't been to the pump lately, yes, check this out. In Orlando, near Disney, that's right, you are reading it correctly, gas closing in on $6 a gallon. Other parts of the country, not quite so bad but still closing in at $4 a gallon.

President Obama talked about the problem and the solution in his weekly address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, we can't just drill our way to lower gas prices. If we are going to take control of our energy future and avoid these gas price spikes down the line, then we need a sustained, all of the above strategy to develop every available source of American energy, oil, gas, wind, solar, nuclear, biofuels and more.

We need to keep developing the technology that allows us to use less oil in our cars and trucks, in our buildings and plants. That's the strategy we are pursuing. And that's the only real solution to this challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Well, in their weekly Republican message, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison squarely blames the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, (R) TEXAS: President Obama's policy has resulted in an unprecedented slowdown in new exploration and production of oil and gas. Offshore drilling permits are being issued at less than half the rate of the previous administration. The average number of leases issued on public lands is less than half that during President Clinton's term.

Not only will the slowdown in production drive up fuel prices, it also takes away jobs from tens of thousands of oil industry workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And we're going to have much more later in the hour on what's behind rising prices and how you can find the best bargains.

Gas prices have been a major part of the Republican presidential campaign this week. Candidates are using soaring prices to hammer away at President Obama. But, well, they're still firing ammo at one another.

Here is CNN's Political Editor Paul Steinhauser. Paul?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, good morning, Deb.

You know, with just three days to go until crucial primaries in Arizona and Michigan, it's been a very busy day on the campaign trail.

Mitt Romney was in Michigan yesterday in fact and he spoke in front of about 1,200 people as the Detroit Economic Club talked about his tax policy, his plans to boost the economy. Also, you know, and just how important Michigan is to Mitt Romney, he touted his hometown credentials. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I should love this state. This feels good being back in Michigan. You know, the trees are the right height. The streets are just right. I like the fact that most of the cars I see are Detroit-made automobiles. I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pick-up truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs actually.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: While Mitt Romney was talking inside, outside union protesters from United Auto Workers were out there doing just that, demonstrating against Mitt Romney because of his opposition to the 2008 and 2009 federal government bailout of the auto industry.

Rick Santorum got to Michigan last night as well. And you know what, he had some tough fighting words against Mitt Romney. Santorum got beat up a little bit I think it's fair to say in our debate in Arizona on Wednesday night. Take a listen to his new language attacking Mitt Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know what principles that you can say you consist of when you say I'm going to bail out one group of folks and not bail out another industry. My feeling was you're either for them or you're against them, but don't you start picking winners and losers. And that's what Governor Romney and others in this campaign have done. I haven't.

You may not like my position on bailouts but I've been consistent in principle unlike other people in this race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Well, Santorum and Romney crisscross Michigan today. And later in the day, Ron Paul heads to the state as well to campaign. The only candidate who's not here is Newt Gingrich. He's got events in California - Deb.

FEYERICK: Paul Steinhauser there for us. Well, call him the youngest crime fighter. A 7-year-old boy sneaks out of his home in the middle of the night to catch bad guys. We're going to tell you exactly what he was carrying.

Plus, Nike is out with a new pair of sneakers. And demand is so high stores are running out. But we know where to go if you've got the dough.

Also, we're going to show you how much your money is going to pay for gas.

And ever wanted to choose the person who sits next to you on a plane? Well, yes, there's an app for that. We're going to be explaining.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: And welcome back, everyone. It is 14 minutes past the hour.

And this is what families in South Carolina are waking up to this morning, damage from two tornadoes that tore through the state yesterday. Winds estimated at about 130 miles an hour. No injuries have been reported.

Meteorologist Alexander Steele in for Reynolds Wolf. And, boy, has all the bad weather now simply moved out?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No. You know, we talked about those tornadoes only days before. In Georgia, there was an EF-1 tornado as well. So certainly a lot of active weather.

Good morning everyone. You're waking up stretching your arms and kind of getting up to some very windy conditions.

So really the big story for about two-thirds of the country, about this east coastal wind storm. So here's to look at the big picture of. We have about 11 plus inches of snow. A day and a half ago in Chicago drying out. Still some residual showers and flurries around, and, of course, right along the Gulf Coast.

But here's the big picture. The big picture, this incredible wind maker. You can see there's the snow. Again, maybe two to four inches in Buffalo, Syracuse today. That's about it.

Here's the wind. Well, we're going to see gusts 40, 50, even 60 miles per hour perhaps from the Great Lakes to Northern New England, and even down towards Georgia. So that's the story. They're making temperatures feel a lot colder than what they were.

Southwest, sunny, beautiful conditions for you there. Northwest has been a one, two punch. The first storm system moved in a few days ago. This is the second one. Of course, snow even coming down to lower elevations than where it was only 24 hours ago.

In terms of the temperatures, we're at 75 degrees in Georgia. Just two days ago, dropped down last night to 35. Today, only get again to the 50s. So temperatures, believe it or not, as much as they have fallen are still at seasonable averages. It's just been so incredibly mild it feels a lot colder than where it's been.

Temperatures in the northeast in the 40s, Deb, but it feels colder than that again because of these very strong, robust winds that certainly could knock down power lines as well.

FEYERICK: And speaking of sort of winds, Alexandra, one of NASA's observatories reported clocking space wind at 120 million miles per hour. What does that feel like? How do you begin to measure something like that?

STEELE: All right. Well, first of all, it is this black hole. And it's kind of interesting. It's kind of the cosmic equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane. Twenty mile-per-hour winds have been measured.

So it's kind of fascinating. Now, we have had winds that have been measured that strong, believe it or not. But in much bigger black holes, this black hole is a lot smaller so it's kind of doing a lot more than the expectation was for a black hole of this size. It's 10 times faster than have ever been reported for a hole this size. Relatively small. We talked about that.

But what one thing is fascinating is the winds are coming from a disk of gas kind of surrounding this black hole. But what they're doing is they're carrying more debris away from the black hole. So it kind of, Deb, it goes against contrary belief where you think of this massive black hole just absorbing everything in sight. It's to the contrary.

It's actually expelling much more than it's even taking in. Still fascinating science we're learning all the time. You think this is just kind of one thing that's really off the charts in terms of what was ever seen or expected.

FEYERICK: Totally remarkable. Alexandra, thanks so much for that. We'll check in with you in just a little bit.

STEELE: All right.

FEYERICK: Well, a Chicago pastor spends 94 days camping on a roof to send a message to prostitutes, gangs and drug dealers. We're going to tell you what made him finally come down off that roof.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: And let's take a look now at stories making news cross country. We're going to start in Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): Reverend Corey Brooks is waking up this morning after 94 days camping out on a roof of a Southside Chicago Motel. Brooks vow to remain on the roof until he raised $450,000 to buy and tear down the building. He wants to build a community center in its place. The community says the motel had become a magnet for drugs, prostitution and violence.

REVEREND COREY BROOKS, CHICAGO: To all of the people who have given $1, $5, $10, $100, $1,000, I want to say thank you.

FEYERICK: Actor and director Tyler Perry helped put Brook's mission over the top Friday, donating nearly $100,000.

In California, the days of the milkman may soon become extinct. The recent spike in gas prices threatening to spoil Jimmy Pastor's small business delivering milk to 5,000 customers. Gas prices have already forced Rockview Milk to cut back deliveries from twice to once a week.

In Oregon, dressed in all black, armed with (INAUDIBLE), a NERF gun and some extra bullet, seven-year-old Liam Baird (ph) hit the streets of Estacada to catch some bad guys. But he had to sneak out of the house first to find them.

LAURAL BAIRD, LIAM'S MOTHER: We had no idea he was gone until my husband opened the door. And there he was with the police officer.

FEYERICK: Luckily, Liam never ran into the bad guys. He did however later visit the police station for a lesson in police work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Gutsy little kid there.

Well, taking medicine to remote areas, the lack of easy access isn't keeping this CNN Hero from making his rounds. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. BENJAMIN LABROT, "FLOATING DOCTORS": My name is Dr. Benjamin LaBrot. I don't have a private medical practice. I make no salary.

I started an organization called "Floating Doctors" to use a ship to bring healthcare to communities that have fallen through the cracks and been denied access to healthcare. "Floating Doctors" has a 76- foot, 100 ton ship that we refurbished from a completely derelict home (ph) and we use that to transport all of our supplies.

Since we set sail about two and a half years ago, our mission has been continuous. We were two months in Haiti to transit into Honduras, and we've been working in Panama for about the last eight months.

In the last two years, we've treated nearly 13,000 people in three countries. I find patients who have never seen a doctor before in their life. That was about as good of a result and our hope is now as we could hope.

Simple community is usually living with no electricity, with no running water, with no sewage, essentially living with none of the basic requirements as we understand it. We've built schools. We've done community projects. We provided health education for thousands of patients.

"Floating Doctors" is an all volunteer organization. Nobody gets paid. All of our medical supplies are donated. I had to postpone many aspects of my own personal life. I don't have a home somewhere. I have to give up a lot, but I gained everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Well, riots for a pair of sneakers. The new Nike Galaxy is causing scenes like this across the country. That is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: We're looking there at a live picture of Miami. A little bit gray. The sun not coming up just quite yet, but it's a good way to get going. A lot of friendships there.

Well, talk about friendship, we all like a good pair of sneakers. But a new Nike sneaker has crowds in outright frenzy, and we're not just talking about long lines and camping out. We are talking riots. And, yes, it is over a shoe.

Here is Martin Savidge with a look at the chaos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what all the foot fuss is about - the Nike Foamposite One. The shoe retails for $220 if you can find it, and it's finding the shoe that has led to problems.

In Orlando, home to this weekend's NBA All-Star Game, more than 100 sheriff's deputies wearing helmets and holding riot shields stood guard outside the Florida Mall as the crowd waiting for the shoe to go on sale there. They eventually had to move in after authorities say shoe fans became disorderly.

Outside a mall in suburban Washington, D.C., the crowd began growing Thursday for the shoe to go on sale Friday. When the number of people got to 1,000, the shoe store canceled the release out of safety concerns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a huge disappointment. I mean, I was out here at least seven hours waiting on the shoes and no shoes, so it's pretty sad.

SAVIDGE: Elsewhere, in other cities, there were reports of long lines, but no real problems.

Nike issued a statement calling for calm, saying, "We encourage anyone wishing to purchase our product to do so in a respectful and safe manner."

In Miami, they resorted to name-calling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, two more times, Michael Bradshaw.

SAVIDGE: As in the lottery system to keep things orderly.

This guy managed to get his hands on a pair, but they aren't for his feet. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you go right now online, they are going to be worth like $1,000 to $2,000.

SAVIDGE (on camera): We decided to look online and see what the shoe was going for. This is eBay. And pretty hefty prices, $1,700, $1,200. Take a look at this one. I don't know if this person is a capitalist or just an optimist. "If you want to buy the shoe right now, $10,000," that's Canadian, by the way, even more in the U.S.

(voice-over): As one customer put it, the Foamposite One is the most anticipated shoe of the year at least until the next must have sneaker comes along.

Martin Savidge, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And a California plastic surgeon's defending his decision to operate on both of his daughters. ABC's "20/20" aired the family's story last night.

And Dr. Michael Nicolle adopted daughters, they're both now 23, and one of them underwent her first cosmetic procedure at the age of 10. The other got breast implants for her 18th birthday.

Host Barbara Walters asked Nicolle if performing surgery on the 18- year-old was, well, a little intimidating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MICHAEL NICOLLE, PLASTIC SURGEON: Not really. Being in practice for 30 years I felt who would give them the time and the patience their father would give them?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Well, the two sisters also receive regular injections of Botox to prevent wrinkles because they are 23, after all.

Well, we want to know what you think. First of all, how old should someone be to get cosmetic surgery and should cosmetic surgeons actually do procedures on their own family?

I cannot wait to read all your tweets. So tweet me @DebFeyerickCNN. I'm going to read all of your thoughts a little later on. And some of them, I'm actually going to talk about on the show.

Well, the Michigan and Arizona primaries, they're just days away. And both are critical contests for Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. But the race is far from clear cut and will give some perspective, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, it is now 32 minutes past the hour. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick. Thanks for starting your day here with us. And checking the top stories, former South African president Nelson Mandela is in the hospital this morning. President Jacob Zuma (ph) issued a statement, saying the 93-year-old anti-apartheid icon has a long-standing abdominal complaint. Doctors felt medical attention was necessary.

Also, we want to show you extraordinary new video out of Syria. And you will only see that video here on CNN.

And this is a horrifying reality many Syrians are living right now. The video is from a freelance cameraman, who was able to slip into the city of Homs. In it, we are getting a rare close-up look at the Free Syrian Army. It's made up of military defectors from President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's big economic speech in Detroit was dwarfed and overshadowed by its location: Ford Field. While Romney drew a crowd of 1,200 people yesterday, the 65,000 empty stadium seats, well, it's kind of hard not to notice those.

The speech was scheduled to take place in a smaller venue. But when that quickly reached capacity, the event was moved to a significantly larger one.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

FEYERICK: And Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has been surging in the polls. And that, of course, has made him a target. At this week's CNN Republican presidential debate, Mitt Romney went after Santorum on his economic credentials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY, R-MASS., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm looking at his historic record, which voting for raising the debt ceiling five different times without voting for compensating cuts; voting to keep in place Davis-Bacon, which cost about $100 billion over 10 years; a whole series of votes, voting to fund Planned Parenthood, to expand the Department of Education. During his term in the Senate, spending grew by some 80 percent of the federal government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Well, Santorum fired back on Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER SEN. RICK SANTORUM, R-PA., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, Governor, you balanced a budget for four years. You have a constitutional requirement to balance the budget for four years. No great shakes. I'm all for it.

ROMNEY: (Inaudible).

SANTORUM: I'd like to see it federally (ph). But don't go around bragging about something you have to do. Michael Dukakis balanced the budget for 10 years. Does that make him qualified to be President of the United States? I don't think so.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Well, joining me now to talk about the campaign for president, Lee May, a Democratic county commissioner in suburban Atlanta's Dekalb County; and "Atlanta Journal Constitution" opinion columnist and conservative political blogger, Kyle Wingfield.

So first we are going to start with Rick Santorum, gentlemen. Did he miss an opportunity with the debate or -- he was a little bit on fire. He was a little bit feisty, what do you think?

KYLE WINGFIELD, "ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION": Well, he clearly looked like he came in knowing he was going to be attacked. And he was ready for some of that.

I think the problem and where he may have missed an opportunity is he got caught up in just sort of inside baseball-type arguments with -- particularly with Mitt (sic) Santorum about who he endorsed in the Senate race eight years earlier and how the earmarking process works in Congress, and a few reasons why that might not be the worst thing in the world, which, in the Tea Party era is not really what Republican voters want to hear.

So from that standpoint, he did miss a couple of opportunities, I think, to make a broader message.

FEYERICK: OK. And I think a lot of people are looking for that broader message.

Well, look, Mitt Romney, from Chicago -- excuse me, from Michigan I should say -- but he's having a tough time there. And it's interesting because the venue he was having a big speech at was too small. So he moved it to a larger one. But the visual impact of seeing those people in such a large venue, how big is Michigan for him and does this sort of send a message that -- ?

LEE MAY, DEMOCRATIC COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DEKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA: Well, you know, I think that picture really represents a miscalculation on behalf of Mitt Romney. Michigan, his home state, you would expect that he would be far out in the polls.

But he's battling with Rick Santorum and it has a lot to do with kind of his position on many of the economic policies regarding his position with the bailout of the auto industry.

But I think it also has to do with his conservative credentials. Again, every election on average in each of these states in the Republican primary, two-thirds of the electorate on average are not voting for him.

They are seeking for someone -- the Republicans are seeking for someone to call their conservative candidate against the President of the United States. And I think Mitt Romney is just not doing that for them.

FEYERICK: Which is really what is so dramatic, because you still have three very strong voices that are out there. Sometimes you kind of feel like Newt Gingrich is hoping that, if the two of them devour each other, then at least he'll be the only guy left standing --

(CROSSTALK)

MAY: (Inaudible), right, right.

FEYERICK: -- you know, who's like through "Survivor," being the last one on the island. Santorum has been making a lot of gains as a result of his stand on social issues. But he same issues, birth control, separation of church and state, these could very well be turned into negatives by the Obama administration because, boy, they have got a boatload of opposition research.

And what Santorum says is a plus the rest of the nation may not, if positioned properly. What do you think? What is your take on that?

WINGFIELD: Well, he's going to have to, you know, he's going to have to explain those things in a way that will resonate to people beyond the Republican base.

And I think we got a glimpse of maybe how he would start doing that at the debate, when he started talking about the family and the breakdown of the family, and not wanting to get caught up in would he ban this, would he, you know, talk about that, but really, as I said earlier, take it much more broader (sic) and say something that will resonate with a lot of people who see a lot of changes in the family around them.

FEYERICK: So basically, he's going to have to humanize it, he's going to basically have to say this is you, this is you, this is you. And speaking of that, you, you, you, is gas prices. And that's going to be a big one because we are seeing it go up. And that's going to be kind of an interesting way that President Obama has to negotiate through that. How do you see that playing out?

MAY: Well, the economy is getting better. You see the unemployment rate getting better. You see people entering the job market at a greater rate as well. But he has this one little nag, which is gas prices. And this is what people see each and every day.

He's going to have to come forward with some really aggressive approaches that would allow the gas prices to lower. He's going to probably have to go into our oil reserves, releasing some of the oil reserves that will give a temporary reduction in the gas prices. But he also really needs to go aggressively in alternative fuel resources, things that then allow us to rely so much on oil from --

(CROSSTALK)

FEYERICK: It's going to be interesting, though, to see how both sides negotiate this. And obviously, you know, the fragile economy right now, gas prices going higher, is not a good thing for anybody.

Gentlemen, thank you so much. Lee May, Kyle Wingfield, appreciate your being here this morning with us.

WINFIELD: Thank you.

FEYERICK: Thanks for sharing your insights.

Well, here is another story. Ever had the worst person sitting next to you on a flight? Loud, rude and, worst of all, boring. Well, apps like Facebook may be putting an end to bad seatmates. We'll tell you how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: And welcome back. It is now 42 minutes past the hour here in Atlanta. Time now for news that might not have been on your radar.

Ten members of Congress are striking a pose for marital equality. Democratic lawmakers posed for these pictures as part of the NOH8 Campaign. It's a silent protest against California's Proposition 8 which makes it illegal for same-sex couples to marry. Just this month, a federal appeals court overturned the legislation, likely setting up a Supreme Court showdown.

Ever wonder why your cell phone call suddenly drops? A new report by CNNMoney shows the mobile phone industry is running out of the airwaves necessary to provide enough speed for your phone.

So as demand for e-mail, apps and video continue to increase, mobile traffic is slowing down. The FCC is working on a solution to find more space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRISON "JACK" SCHMITT, ASTRONAUT: I was strolling on the moon one day --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And check out this amazing video. It shows two Apollo 17 astronauts singing, skipping and dancing on the moon. Apollo 17 was the last Apollo mission and it was also the last time humans set foot on the moon. That was back in 1972.

Well, after a pretty snowless season, some states are becoming winter wonderlands. In Connecticut, as much as six inches of snow reportedly fell across parts of the state.

In Michigan, cars crashed and tractor trailers flipped in Bay County -- Bay country (ph) after a hefty snowfall there.

And check this out. More than four feet of snow has reportedly dropped on Steamboat Springs, Colorado, just this week. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele in for Reynolds Wolf this weekend.

And Alexandra, weather like this, unusual after really what's been such a mild snowless winter?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, lackluster in terms of snow. Hey, from Stratton (ph), Vermont, to Steamboat, these places are thrilled for some snow. But, all right, let's talk about it. We finally had a big snow in Chicago between about 9 and 11 inches Thursday into yesterday. But how much of the snow is left? Right? Is there a lot of robust snow left? There's really not.

Chicago, only about 25 percent of the snow season remains. Of course, we have the biggest snow of the whole season Thursday into Friday. But before that, we only had 10 days this winter with an inch or more of snow on the ground. So that is certainly lackluster for sure.

In New York City, 27 percent of the season remains. So there's certainly not a lot. You know, we have only had about 71/2 inches. That is it this whole winter, which is 40 percent, it's almost half of what we should have had. And, remember, this time last year, 57.7 inches, which is 4 feet more than we've had this year. So certainly pretty benign snow season. But, there's not a lot left even.

So what we are going to get is kind of what we are going to get. Maybe we'll have one big snow left, hopefully, right? In terms of the snow, that's really not the story today. The story is incredibly robust wind. What it is really just a kind of a windstorm all the way from the northeast, the Great Lakes, New England to the deep South, believe it or not.

And to give you a little perspective, 40-mile-per-hour winds can drop power lines and drop tree limbs. So gusts 55 to 65 today, even more than that if you go out to the Cape and islands and even toward the east end of Long Island, from Amagansett to East Hampton, some very strong robust winds for you today as well.

Farther south into Georgia, the Carolinas, 30-40 miles per hour wind gusts. So the big picture, and maybe 2-4 inches of snow for Syracuse, an inch for Rochester, that kind of thing. But pretty benign compared to anything.

Windy along the Eastern Seaboard. Dry in the Southeast. Those winds will make it feel a lot cooler than it is. Temperatures have dropped about 10 to 15 degrees from where we were, Deb, about two days ago, in the 70s in the South. But even with that drop of almost 20 degrees, we are still at seasonable averages. It's just been so incredibly warm.

FEYERICK: Well, good. You know, I bought two sleds and I'm hoping that we do have one more big snowfall for those sleds don't go to waste. (Inaudible).

STEELE: I heard about new ergonomic shovels in Chicago, so it doesn't break the back, because this was a really heavy, wet snow.

FEYERICK: Oh, my gosh. All right, well, there's always something.

Alexandra, thanks so much.

STEELE: Sure. FEYERICK: Pop in with you a little later on.

Well, it's on the minds and hurting the wallets of Americans from coast to coast. We are going to talk about what's behind those soaring gas prices and give you some tips on where you can find the best deals.

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FEYERICK: And they have jumped again. Gas prices rose overnight by three cents. The national average is now $3.67 for a gallon of regular unleaded. That is up 30 cents from just a month ago. And you might not believe how bad it's gotten in parts of the country.

Our Josh Levs, here with that. Josh, what kinds of prices are we seeing? Jaw-dropping is the first word that comes to mind.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. It's dramatic. And, Deb, you know, folks, and we'll go to this video, it was just weeks ago that I was talking to you all about the fact that analysts were saying we might see $5 gasoline in some places this year.

Check that out in Florida, $5.69, $5.79. Now this is near some tourist areas, but look at what we've gotten out of Los Angeles as well, which is also getting up there, up near $5 already. And this is in a very, very short time.

Now these prices have been -- have been jumping. Now here is part of what's going on. A little bit of it is because of the economy. Some of it's the stock market. Remember those issues in the way that oil is traded. There's also problems involving some oil-producing nations that can affect supply. But a lot of what we are seeing is because of Iran.

And some analysts are telling us 30 cents on the gallon can be blamed on Iran. You know, there's talk about more and more sanctions being placed on Iran. Iran is talking about closing a critical passageway for oil, called the Strait of Hormuz, all of which could affect all of this.

Let me do a breakdown for you. I want you to see this screen, because this shows you where a dollar goes at the gas pump. And the vast majority of the price of gas is crude oil. So the price of crude oil is what's determining it.

The other thing are the taxes, the amounts that are taken by the gas stations, those add to the price. But the biggest factor by far is crude oil. So when you see these prices jump, it's almost always centrally because of what's going on in those oil markets, and that's where Iran and all these other factors come into play.

Now, I've updated a map for you all. I want you to see this. Take a look here. This right here is a map on CNN.com that shows you what gas prices are like in all the different states all over the country. You just click on any state and it'll show you the average prices in that state. But what really interests me is the blue map, take a look here. Have you ever wondered how much of your income is going into gas? Take a look here. Folks in Mississippi are paying 12 percent of their incomes right now to gasoline. And that just goes up, as prices go up.

Jump over here. Take a look at Montana for example. Almost 11 percent of your income going to gas prices. This is taking a bigger and bigger chunk of your pay, everybody across the country. So, Deborah, we are all feeling it. And, hey, it's an election year. We'll see how that plays out.

FEYERICK: Yes, well, exactly. And, you know, it's just because prices have never gone this high so early in the year. What I don't understand, however, is what happens in terms of why prices are so random across the country, and also where do you go to find the best prices?

LEVS: So two great things. In the 8 o'clock hour, I'm going to show you why things are different in different cities all over the country and different states all over the country, and why it's impacting you differently from others.

And as we are finding cheap gas prices, I have sent out some links today on Twitter @joshlevscnn. I have a link to this map right here, which will help you find some of the cheapest gas near you, and also a link over (inaudible). The U.S. Federal Government has a link.

I put it all up there on my Twitter @joshlevscnn. Take a look right now. Hopefully, it will help you find the cheapest gas in your area. We all want you to save the money any way you can.

FEYERICK: All right, Josh Levs, thanks so much.

LEVS: You got it, thanks.

FEYERICK: Well, ever wanted to hand-pick the person sitting next to you on an airplane? Good news, there is now an app for that, kind of. More two minutes away.

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FEYERICK: OK, so we have all been there. The worst person sitting next to you on an airplane flight, they might be loud, they might be rude, they may talk and talk and talk and simply be boring. Well, apps like Facebook may be putting an end to this.

And Nadia Bilchik joins me now for this morning's "Passport".

First of all, this is actually quite remarkable that not only can you choose your seat, but you can choose your seatmate.

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Well, only on one particular airline. So that's the Dutch airline, KLM, and only certain routes -- San Paolo, L.A. and, I think, Miami.

But the idea is that what you do is you opt into this program where you look at the Facebook and the LinkedIn of other people who have opted into the program. So you go on to the website. And then, through that, you decide who your seatmate is going to be.

FEYERICK: So is there -- why isn't this private? Like, for example, if I'm flying on a plane, why is the airline allowed to give out even my name that I'm flying, on a (inaudible) --

BILCHIK: Only if you opt into this program. So you have a choice. You could do it like that, which is anonymous, or you opt into the program. Now if you've opted into the program and the person sitting next to you, you start looking up who that's going to be, and you decide that you don't particularly want them sitting next to you, you can't reject them.

That's what's interesting about this process. But what you can do is request another seat and decide to then become anonymous. I know it sounds a little complicated. But if you go on to the KLM Meet and Seat, they call it, website, it's very self-explanatory.

And so far only 200 people have actually used it. But it's certainly interesting to say would I want my Facebook or LinkedIn revealed to the person sitting next to me, and I wonder how many people have actually met and maybe done business in this way?

FEYERICK: And that is -- that is interesting. And I could see also where it might be very interesting for people in first class, because in first class, you're flying business to begin with, so who you are sitting with is kind of interesting.

And I always -- I'll strike a very small, limited kind of boundary conversations with people. I did have somebody who was very nice sitting across the aisle from me yesterday and helped me put my bag up. But are there other airlines that are going to do this? You travel a lot. Do you think this is --

(CROSSTALK)

FEYERICK: -- the kind of thing that's going to catch on?

BILCHIK: I don't know. I mean, I was thinking will it catch on in this country, remains to be seen. So we don't know if it's going to be a trend, but Malaysia Airlines has something called MH Buddy and there's actually a Danish startup, called Planely, that has been doing this since 2010.

So, for longer flights maybe you want to know who's next to you. But you could have the best LinkedIn or Facebook profile and not be as great in person.

FEYERICK: Well, absolutely, of course.

BILCHIK: So this is like eHarmony for travel.

FEYERICK: Exactly, eDate. That's great. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. (Inaudible) because when I fly, I like a certain measure of anonymity, because it's my quiet time. You know, plus I fall asleep like this at the drop of hat, once that planes gets off.

Nadia Bilchik --

BILCHIK: (Inaudible). Maybe we'll experiment on it.

FEYERICK: That's exactly right. I'll sit next to you on a plane anytime. Nadia Bilchik, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

Well, think this idea is the future of air travel? Would you use it? OK, well, that's what we want to me, so tweet me @debfeyerickCNN. I'm going to read some of your responses on air. I can't wait to hear from you.

And ahead in our next hour, an extraordinary snapshot into the growing chaos and destruction in Syria. Major humanitarian prices. Plus, why frequent flyers may have to pay more to the taxman. That's kind of interesting.

Coming up also, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. This week the FDA said they're solving the shortage of critical cancer drugs. Now we found a family and a 12-year old with cancer who says it's not fixed yet. I'll break it down next hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And we asked you and you answered. How old should a child be to get cosmetic surgery? And should cosmetic surgeons do procedures on their family members? We are going to air your comments. That's coming up next.

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