Transcripts For CNN American Morning 20110218

sleeping protesters. the dow opening up the highest level in more than two years this morning. wall street booming as things you buy get more expensive each and every day. so will it trickle down? happy friday to you. welcome to "american morning." it's february 18th, i'm kiran chetry. >> i'm t.j. holmes. we want to start this morning with what we've seen play out in madison, wisconsin. a budget battle that might be coming to your state. a lot of people calling this labor's last stand. take a look. this was the scene yesterday. we have seen the same scene the past few days now in wisconsin. thousands of teachers as well as state workers protesting major budget cuts and also the idea of stripping them of their collective bargaining rights. now, here's the latest we can tell you from here. madison schools are closed once again today. this would be the third straight day that the students have been out of class. meanwhile, 14 wisconsin senate democrats are nowhere to be found. they skipped town. they're hiding out in various places, including across the border in illinois. now, more protests are expected today. many teachers say they will not return until the governor there agrees to discuss their concerns. casey wian live in madison, wisconsin. are we expecting more of the same today, casey? >> reporter: absolutely, t.j. we're expecting thousands of protesters here in madison, wisconsin, state capitol again today for the fifth straight day. most of those protesters are teachers very angry about this budget cutting bill that would strip them of many of their collective bargaining rights and require them to pay more for health care and pensions. now, governor scott walker says these cuts are necessary because the state bases a $137 million shortfall by june 30th and then a $3.6 billion deficit over the next two years. but still, teachers here are very angry. >> like other families, we have a mortgage to pay every month, we've got electric bills, and what -- what i've heard is that it's about a 13% net drop in income with the benefits and the wages. that's what we'd be losing every month. and so we'd have to start picking and choosing how we're going to make our house payments and still do other things. >> teachers say it's not just the financial issues they'll be facing. they say what they really believe is behind this is an effort to bust their union. and as you mentioned, many schools throughout the state will be closed again today because many of the teachers are here protesting. and in fact, 500 or so of them spent the night sleeping on the floor of the state capitol building right behind me, t.j. >> casey wian, we appreciate you as always. so they were in the state capitol building, but there were 14 democrats who were not. the wisconsin senate decided to delay a vote by fleeing the state. they wound up just across the border in rockford, illinois. and they were hold up at a best western, clock tower hotel. with all of them missing, there were not enough senators to legally vote on the new spending bill. they'd remained in wisconsin, the senate sergeant in arms could've compelled them to return to work. wtmj caught up with democratic state senator at the illinois hotel. >> we're just trying to slow things down. the governor introduced this last friday. it has tremendous changes in it that the people of the state of wisconsin are finding out about and reacting to. we've got thousands of people up in madison right now who are upset with what's going on and thousands more around the state. >> at 7:00 p.m. eastern, we're going to be joined by jon erpenbach. all, how long are wisconsin teachers willing to hold out? at the bottom of the hour we're going to ask that question when we're joined by brian kennedy. let's turn now to the protests that continue to spread across the arab world this morning. nations tense after friday prayers today. a lot of people are expecting. a lot of main hot spot is bahrain. this tiny, gulf island nation. what you're seeing pictures of here is one of the funerals of one of the protesters who have been killed over the past several days. bahrain is a critical military importance. it's home to the navy's fifth fleet, which ensures passage of oil there. the top shiite cleric calling the deaths over the past few days a massacre. also, libya, the latest country in the region hit with demands for change. people there want muammar qadhafi out of there now. libyans staged what they called a day of of rage and organized it through social media sites. at least 21 people reported dead there. it's being called the biggest medicare fraud bust in the nation's history. the feds have charged more than 100 doctors, nurses, and physical therapists in nine different cities. attorney general eric holder says they're accused of illegally billing medicare for more than $225 million. >> with today's arrests, we're is sending an important message. health care fraud is not easy money. it's a serious crime. and as we have shown today -- >> holder also said over the past four years, 1,000 defendants have been charged with ripping off medicare for $2 billion. something that is driving up your health care costs. when you are born in the state of alabama, the first thing that's decided is whether or not you're going to be an alabama or auburn fan. it's one of the fiercest rivalries in all of college football. but now one alabama fan is being accused of taking this entirely too far. he's accused of poisoning two of auburn's 130-year-old oak trees. this is a sacred spot for these fans where they traditionally gather after victories to roll the oaks with toilet paper. it's a long standing tradition. he's been arrested charged with criminal mischief for allegedly pouring powerful herbicide around the trees. experts are now saying it is likely those trees will not survive. >> i always want to hold out hope. based upon the technical experts i've consulted around the country, the concentration of spike found within the soil would suggest there's a very low probability. >> so to give you an idea there, they take it that seriously. it's that serious for them, folks. police believe that he did act alone. he's facing up to ten years in prison now. >> unbelievable. eight minutes past the hour. let's get a check of this morning's weather headlines. rob marciano's in atlanta. we're warming up. >> the west coast continues to get hammered. check out these snow totals in california. in some cases, up to 4 feet. most of these spots are around the tahoe area, you know, so ramping up on a holiday weekend here. they're loving life. but rainfall continues to sag across the i-5 corridor. getting into the inner mountain west. it's kind of scooting up towards the north. so that means that where it's been heating up, it will heat up for another day, but there is a cold front. and there you see it. so if you live on the east coast today, places like new york city and d.c. will enjoy very nice spring-like temperatures. but it's not going to last. we'll get into a cooldown over the weekend. we'll detail that later on in the program. back up to you. >> all right, rob, thanks so much. and ahead on this "american morning." they just told you they were going to raise the fares, but already several airlines days later reversing course. we'll explain why. also, a teen wrestler who was a favorite in the state's tournament is refusing to take on his competitor. we'll explain more on this gender controversy coming up. nine minutes past the hour. wrench? 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[ male announcer ] your hard work has paid off. and you want to pass along as much as possible to future generations. at northern trust, we know what works and what doesn't. as one of the nation's largest wealth managers, we can help you manage the complexities of transferring wealth. seeking to minimize taxes while helping maximize what's passed along. because you just never know how big those future generations might be. ♪ expertise matters. find it at northern trust. 16 minutes past the hour now. minding your business. some major airlines say they were going to increase your fees. well, they're already rolling that back. well, your fares, i should say, actually. this started just on monday. these cuts mostly would affected the first class and business class travelers. but they were upping the prices as much as $120 on some round trip fares. but delta was one of the companies -- let me see. we've got continental, united, american airlines, all raised those flight prices. but again, they have stepped back. they kind of checked the temperature of some passengers, and it didn't seem like this would go over so well. so they reversed course. you're paying more for the things you need. stocks are tracking new highs every day. all three of the major indexes will open at the highest levels in more than two years. meantime, inflation is rising. more than 400,000 people filed for unemployment benefits last week. >> things are up, christine, on wall street, why? >> companies are doing better. things are coming back. and they've got 48% of their earnings coming from overseas. even though the american job market hasn't come back and the american middle class is sort of tentatively -- look, they couldn't even take those higher airfares because the consumers are pretty tentative here. but you've got 2 1/2 year highs in stocks even as the job market remains pretty tough. i wanted to tell you a little bit about re-invention this morning. you're not going to wait out the job market. it could take until 2013 o 2014 to return to 2008 levels. in the meantime, the population is growing at the same time. there's more people competing for fewer jobs. all about re-invention. i talked to the re-invention institute, she says you've got to move quickly. you've got to re-invent yourself immediately, analyze the market, repurpose your skills immediately. do not wait too long. you have got to become relevant and re-invent yourself for a globalized market. this is what she said. >> the new form of job security is really about knowing your skills and talents and how they can be applied according to what's going on in the market trend. that's how you're going to have to look at finding a job in the new economy is doing an assessment of your skills and talents, and saying how do i repurpose what i have to offer according to where the market's going? >> repurpose what i have to offer. that, look, it's not going to happen to you, you're going to make it happen. and she has told me that, a lot of other people have told me that. i'm sick and tired of hearing the self-help advice of be positive. people aren't even getting a job interview. so it's about re-invention. quick market check this morning. because the invention in the stock market has been amazing. 21 points higher yesterday at 12,318, nasdaq up, s&p 500 up, as well. we'll see if it can hold for the last day of the week. sometimes you see people taking their profits off the table before the weekend. we'll let you know in the next couple of hours. a teen wrestler in iowa gave up his chance -- could have been a state champion, but refuses to take on a female contender. it's a freshman female, the first girl ever to qualify for the state tournament. well, sophomore joe northrop released a statement saying "wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times. as a matter of conscience and faith, i do not believe it's appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. it is unfortunate i've been placed in a situation not seen in most high school sports in iowa." >> you know, i'm sure it was hard for him like it would be hard for anybody. but it's a decision that his family made. and that's what it is. >> northrop is still eligible to compete in the consolation round. well, coming up on monday we're going to talk to the wrestler and the wrestler he was supposed to take on to talk about this unusual situation. meanwhile, speaking of schools, teachers in wisconsin walking off the job again and schools are shut down for a third straight day. how long are they prepared to stay out? we're going to talk to the president of their union straight ahead. why are dozens of congressmen sleeping in their office? could this be to get a taxpayer-funded perk? 21 minutes past the hour. welcome back. from the court to the capitol, he came to washington to show support for a bill to fundamental health services in schools. in an interview with cnn, artest said he received his first counseling session as a 13-year-old and continued through high school, college, and now as an nba player. after winning the nba title last year, artest raffled off his championship ring, raising $650,000 for various mental health charities. and president obama continues a west coast swing and continues to push an innovation agenda today. he's going to visit intel, headquarters out in oregon. this follows a summit he had in silicon valley last night. and check out this guest list. the facebook founder mark zuckerberg, carl bartz -- sarah palin hasn't said if she's running for president in 2012, but that hasn't stopped her from taking shots at the president and the first lady. palin took a swipe at michelle obama while complaining about the rising cost of food. >> it's no wonder michelle obama's telling everybody, you better breast-feed your babies. yeah, you better, because the price of milk is so high right now. do it for economic reasons. >> well, the first lady said she wants to promote breast-feeding as a way to reduce childhood obesity. your lawmakers spend a lot of days and nights in their offices. and they bunk in their offices during the week. more time to work and take care of the people's business. well, maybe not according to a watchdog group. it claims they're misusing official resources and getting a taxpayer-funded perk. jim acosta in washington. is nothing sacred? we can't even give these guys credit for maybe working so hard they need to crash at the office? >> reporter: they are busy these days. and as you said, there's so many big issues on the agenda in washington. lawmakers are putting in long hours. but with so many members of congress sleeping in their offices, critics are starting to complain the house is becoming like a hotel where the lodging is on the house. after a long day on capitol hill, joel walsh checks into the cheapest hotel room in washington. his own office. >> and how good a night's sleep is that? that doesn't look comfortable. >> i'm going to be honest, it's horrible. the couch is uncomfortable. >> reporter: walsh sleeps on the couch, saving his family the expense of finding a second home in the nation's capital. >> i've rolled off the couch to a thud. >> but a liberal watchdog group isn't comfortable either and is calling for an investigation, accusing more than 30 lawmakers of bilking a fringe benefit on which members of congress must pay taxes. this is nothing new. he was showing off his cot two years ago. >> a good mattress right here. >> democrats are doing it too. even though freshman hanson clark isn't sure how long he can take it. >> i haven't had a good night's sleep since i've been here in congress. >> walsh, a tea party conservative who turned down his own congressional health care plan welcomes any investigation. >> let me ask you this, you don't want the federal health benefits, but you'll take the free housing? >> no, that will be determined. if -- if this is free housing that i have to pay some tax for, i'll pay it. >> so far, it's only a few dozen congressmen, not congresswomen, who appear to be spending the nights in their capitol crash pads. it might have something to do with the fact there are no showers in their office bathrooms, leaving the congressional gym as the only place to wash up, t.j. >> anything really illegal, even, about what they're doing? is there -- besides that, any much more to it? something that can be done about it? >> well, this may be a story in search of a scandal, t.j. the partisan ranger is pretty intense on capitol hill these days. everybody's pointing fingers over everything. you know, they're not really misusing funds. i think this is a little bit of an interpretation on the part of this one watchdog group that is saying that essentially staying in your office is like free housing. so it's sort of like extra income you should pay taxes on. there's going to be an investigation into all of this. there's a panel inside the congress that will look at this and determine whether or not something is wrong here, t.j. but this has been going on for a long time. there would be a lot of back taxes to pay if they were to get serious about this. >> i love how you put that. a story in search of a scandal this morning. appreciate you this morning, jim. some of the stories we're keeping a close eye on. the arab world, protests continue to pop up in a number of countries. and some of them becoming more and more violent. one of the key places people are keeping an eye on right now, bahrain. a critical militarily important spot for the u.s. it is home to the navy's fifth fleet. bahrain leaders, they have banned public gatherings now. we've seen tanks in the street. and also another four people, at least, killed in crackdowns yesterday. 1 in 12 teachers in new york city may be losing their job. mayor mike bloomberg unveiled his new budget yesterday. he wants to eliminate 4,066 teacher jobs and another 1,500 going through attrition. the spending plan has to be approved by city council. 64 former chrysler dealers are being investigated by the government. they're now saying that they're due damages saying they helped stabilize the economy and the car industry, believe they deserve now some compensation. let's head back now to the tension budget battle that's been triggering the teacher protests in wisconsin. we're keeping an eye on 14 democratic lawmakers who literally fled the state to delay a vote on the governor's new spending plan. president obama and others have called it an assault on unions. the governor says he's trying to avoid layoffs and balance the budget. brian kennedy is the president of the american federation of teachers in wisconsin. in wisconsin, you don't actually represent that many teachers, necessarily, but you do represent about 17,000 workers who would be impacted by this bill. thank you for spending some time with us this morning. so tell me, what do you think about these democratic lawmakers who fled? do you think that's the way to go? >> you know, i think that these lawmakers were absolutely showing their courage and their defense for working families here in wisconsin left with no other option. they basically brought the actions of the senate to a stand still. unlike their republican counterparts who had thousands of constituents from all over the state. and they refuse to meet with taxpayers and voters within their districts because they knew that these voters and taxpayers were going to tell them we don't want you to vote with this, we don't want you to strip our rights. >> let me go back to a word you used there. courage. you consider it courageous for people elected to do a job and fight for them at the state house. they left the state literally. and we have grown men hiding out right now and not going to do their job. you used the word courage. >> what is courageous is to stand up and say rights that have been fought for for over 50 years in this state, that have helped to create one of the best civil service sectors you'll find in any state anywhere in the country. to strip that away in letsz tss a week with no debate. that is courage. >> and you said standing up, they're not standing up, they're running. >> no, they're not. they're standing up. they knew if they stayed here, there'd be a vote and rights that have been fought for for 50 years would be lost. >> isn't that our system, though? isn't it our system? republicans won. republicans won the state house, the governor's office, and the way the process works, if you win and the people vote you in. you know what? sometimes the other side is going to lose. that's the process, sir. >> it is. but you know what? the same thing could be said about the u.s. senate. and what happens there? a small minority continues to constantly filibuster every piece of legislation and brings that body to a stand still. we don't have filibusters here in wisconsin. so the only thing these brave senators could do was to leave the state so they could not be forced or compelled to -- they stood up for worker rights. >> that's a good equivalent for you to point out. this is the state equivalent of a filibuster. you don't have the same options. so that may be a good way to put that there, as well. let me turn now to the issues on the table. what would state workers at this point -- what would you be willing to give up? the governor is asking for the collective bargaining rights when it comes to everything besides wages to go away. increase in pension and health care payments. i guess, what are you willing to give? >> well, you know, the state workers that we represent have -- have already given concessions of over $100 million. and that was done obviously under the previous governor. those contracts were rejected by the legislature. this governor says he needs an additional $30 million in concessions. we are willing to come to the bargaining table and to discuss what those additional concessions. in addition to $100 million and additional $30 million, what that would look like. what more we could give up to help him to fill what's left of this budget hole. he has refused to answer any of our calls, refused to come to the table and negotiate. he has decided that the problem is the unions. i don't see how it's a problem if we're willing to come to the table and negotiate and he's not the one willing. he wants to strip our rights and then dictate exactly what the terms and conditions of employment are. that's not our rich history here in wisconsin. that's not wisconsin values. >> let me ask you, as well. are you willing to go to the table before the governor takes off the table the issue of taking away the collective bargaining rights? is that a non-starter, i guess, in your opinion? >> taking ae ining away bargains is a non-starter. we have reached out since november 3rd, his people have refused to return a single call. they have never even acknowledged the unions except to give us notices of termination of contract extensions. they don't want to come to the table and bargain. the bargaining's inconvenient to them. and in terms of specifics, you know, we don't bargain in the news media. this governor has gone to the news media and says what kind of concessions he wants. those need to be done at the bargaining table. and i believe we can bring to the table proposals that would be acceptable, fill this $30 million budget hole, but it has to be done through bargaining, not dictating what the terms and conditions of employment are. >> last thing to you, mr. kennedy, to address. the governor has said he would assure, he would make promises that there wouldn't be furloughs and layoffs if he made the moves that he is proposing to make. the other option, he says, thousands of thousands of layoffs. i guess the question is, is there some point you all, the workers, the unions are going to have to balance out, would we rather pay more and keep our jobs than to continue this fight and end up losing thousands of jobs? >> well, you know, we were willing in the -- with the previous governor when we negotiated with him. he said the same thing to us. that there would be layoffs. so we chose to agree to furlough days. we chose $100 million in concessions. we're paying more for our health insurance. we're paying more toward our retirement. we not only had 0% pay increases, but we had 3% reductions because we were willing to accept the furlough days. it was a loss of 3% of income. and in return, we didn't get any layoffs. we're willing to work with this governor, as well. but he needs to come to the bargaining table and bargain with the employees, not strip us of our rights. >> well, the entire country is watching. and what's happening in wisconsin could certainly be an example of what we're going to see in other places. again, i think people's hearts go out to all of you on both sides. everybody's hurting right now. and also feel for the governor and the state that has a $3.5 billion budget shortfall. we absolutely appreciate you taking the time this morning. hope to catch up with you again. >> yep, thanks for having me. and still to come on "american morning." it's still february. but today the east coast is going to see highs in the 60s and in some cases the 70s. rob marciano joins us in ten minutes. also, we'll be checking in with our zain verge. and it's 40 minutes past the hour on this "american morning." the anger continues to spread across the arab world. two of the main spots, libya and bahrain. >> bahrain's leaders have banned public gatherings. they've sent tanks into the streets. an intensifying crackdown that killed at least four more anti-government protesters yesterday. >> zain verjee live from london this morning keeping an eye on both spots. good morning to you. is there any sign that the protesters are starting to back off at all? >> no. it doesn't. from our reporters on the scene, what they're saying is that thousands of people are out demonstrating, but the demonstrations so far have been peaceful. essentially they're kind of demonstrating around about three people who were killed in a crackdown by the government on thursday. so they're out on the streets, but there are also a lot of heavy security and police presence out there, as well. bahrain, t.j., is important to the u.s. because it's an important naval base. it's in a very strategic region. iran is a concern for the u.s. and bahrain -- and they said there's an important difference to keep in mind when you look at egypt and bahrain and compare the two. they say in egypt it was about a democracy versus a dictatorship, in bahrain, you're dealing with issues about sunnis and shias. bahrain is a friend, but it's a minority sunni royal family that is ruling a majority shia in the country and they feel angry and oppressed. >> you're right. very different situation, but perhaps seeing how these protests have played out in some of these other arab countries and modelling it. the same with libya, they're also becoming a point of massive protests. what's going on there? >> yeah, there is. and it's difficult to know independently exactly what has happened because they're not giving journalists visas to come in and report in the country and show people the images. but what we understand from human rights watch, who is there. they say that 24 people were killed in clashes between demonstrators and security forces. we have multiple witnesses that say the security forces were out on the streets and they shot and killed demonstrators there. human rights watch called it vicious. what did moammar qadhafi do about this? he got on state tv. he was in a limo, and he waved to a cheering crowd and sending the message that everything is okay. >> all right. zain verjee, we appreciate you. we appreciate seeing you as always. if you want more zain, just like we do, 5:00 a.m. every morning, "world one" here on cnn. have a great morning. >> you too, guys. still ahead on this "american morning," the fox show "glee" is all the rage right now. but don't tell that to new york's own glee club. also, a huge warm-up to the east this friday morning. rob's going to have the forecast for us coming up. 43 minutes past the hour. 46 minutes past the hour. looks like the weather's getting better this weekend. rob marciano is in atlanta, at least for us. i know out west it's a different story. they're piling it up for the ski slopes. >> and holiday weekend. so, you know, the folks out there are loving it in that regard. but not everybody going to see fabulous weather. it is getting warmer as we've seen temperatures climb across the east coast. and we do have a cool front that's going to give you a little shot of reality. and it's already doing that in some spots. but before it did that, 82 degrees the high temperature in bartlesville, oklahoma. remember last week. a week ago, bartlesville, there was an all-time record low set for the state of oklahoma at minus 31. so over 110-degree swing there in just a week. unbelievable. tulsa, 79 degrees, and other spots in kansas in the 70s and 80s yesterday, as well. they'll be cooler today because that cold front is certainly coming down just a little bit. and being forced eastward by this powerful storm across the west coast, which continues to pummel them. they've had a little bit of break across parts of southern california. but the moisture heading towards los angeles and san diego later on this afternoon. and we might see thunderstorms on top of the heavy snow. and in some cases, they've seen 3 and 4 feet of it in two days. all right, 58 degrees in kansas city. a little bit cooler today as opposed to yesterday. 60 in new york, but again that warm front short-lived. it will be dry, but it will be cooler, noticeably cooler tomorrow. and that's good news. they rescued this particular animal on the cape yesterday. a porpoise was found stranded in massachusetts. and they nursed him back to health and got him out of the ambulance and carried him back to the shore and back into the atlantic ocean, and all is good, you know. because temperatures were nice and mild yesterday, at least in the air, that porpoise didn't seem too bothered by the human handling. how often do you see that, guys? >> they work so hard to help these animals and send them back in and they're gone. i know you did that with the pelicans, right? all that time in the gulf and then send them on their way and hope for the best. >> it won't be too long before folks will be hanging out on that beach because summer time will be here. but until then, cold air coming. >> you can't jump in the water until august. let's be real. unless you're a really brave soul. >> you're right. >> thanks, rob. an extraordinary look at congresswoman gabrielle gifford's rehab. our dr. sanjay gupta shows us exactly what she's going through. also, the ibm's watson. you remember, he was crowned the "jeopardy" king. what's next for the super computer? would you trust watson to diagnose what's wrong with you instead of a doctor? well, super computers and artificial intelligence could be something new for our health care field. 49 minutes past the hour. playin) - ( clinks ) - ( whispers ) we're breaking out. let's go. hmm? i'll get the dodo. - ( all yelling ) - scandalous. - ( alarm blaring ) - warden, two boys going for a stroll. - release the hounds. - ( dogs panting ) ( dramatic music playing ) oh my spleen! - now what? it didn't work! - hit 'em with the kenny g. ( saxophone music playing ) - oh, i love this song. - focus! ( dramatic music playing ) lancaster, no! it's a trap! nonsense. my father owned one. ( engine revs ) great goodness, i've been hoodwinked! - ( saxophone music playing ) - ( vocalizing music ) ♪ it's 52 minutes past the hour. that was "glee," the hit tv show. but before glee -- >> they made a name for themselves. even if you don't know the name, you're about to know it now. >> big name, a lot of stars coming out to see them. it really is sort of inspirational. they've become an internet sensation with the help of their inspiring director and a group of very talented 10-year-olds. their voices taking them all the way to the upcoming academy awards. >> reporter: videos from rehearsals have gone viral. ♪ gonna be okay >> reporter: these fifth graders in staten island -- capturing the hearts of celebrities. stevie knicks, and anne hathaway who showed up with a special announcement. >> we're going to hollywood! >> unbelievable. i mean, surreal, my head is still spinning. >> reporter: the instructor made the group what it is today. >> they are amazing, amazing kids. they come with experience and -- soul experience. >> when you come from that kind of background, you're maybe a little bit more attune to the way life can be a tough thing. >> reporter: gifted 10-year-olds like denise and azaria round out the group. >> explain to me why singing is important to you. >> for me, music is something that i cannot live without it. >> i realize that my mom was a singer. so i want to be like my mom. >> what i wanted to do since i was a little girl. >> you are a little girl. >> a little baby. >> reporter: come oscar night, millions will hear them. >> they're such great kids. and on oscar night, we are hearing that they're probably going to be singing "somewhere over the rainbow" and another surprise song. we'll hear to see what that is. the worry is every year they come back and they're ready to sing their new songs, but there's always the worry about the budget. whether or not there'll be enough money to keep it going. and so i think when folks out there see this story, maybe they'll -- you know, other school districts will say we should provide more money for the arts. >> they'll be wonderful ambassadors for funding the arts. they sound like they're almost professionally trained. how do they sing so well? >> it's all up to the choir director who puts them in auditions starting in the fourth grade and continuing on to the fifth grade. they're just great, great kids. and it's so funny. when you ask them what to be when they grow up, one of the little girls said, i want to be a marriage counselor. i said, oh, that's interesting. you go for that. >> she knows that work will always be there. one other thing, how often is the oscars -- how often do they invite a group of kids like this? >> this is a first. >> they don't pick up strangers? >> no, they do not. and that's why anne hathaway made the special announcement. >> that's outstanding. good stuff. i'll watch the show this year, maybe. >> check them out. coming up, a quick programming note, all this week alina cho has been doing the fashion week. well, this weekend, she is going to have a special. "fashion week backstage pass." it airs saturday, september 19th, 2:30 eastern here on cnn. a quick break, your top stories coming up. thbe pt delicious gourmet gravy. and she agrees. wi fcyest gravy lovers, uratannjoy the delicious, satisfying taste grmet gravy every day. fay as the best ingredient is love. good morning. it's a showdown in wisconsin. protests are growing as teachers walk out of the classrooms. and senators are running for the border. a nation is watching what could be labor's last stand on this "american morning." good morning to you all on this friday, february the 18th, welcome to this "american morning," i'm t.j. holmes. >> and i'm kiran chetry. a lot going on in wisconsin again today. thousands of demonstrators expected to jam the state capitol once again this morning. teachers are walking out of classrooms. and democratic senators are actually running or have already made the run to the border. all to protest a new budget plan that cuts the rights to collectively bargain. the governor says he's making tough choices to balance a budget. here's the latest, madison schools closed again today. that would be three straight days without classes, 14 state senate democrats skipped town. they crossed the border into illinois and are hold up in a best western hotel. they are avoiding the law and stalling a budget vote. more protests are expected today. and many teachers say they will not return to the classrooms until the governor agrees to go back to the bargaining table. an estimated 25,000 demonstrators jammed the capitol yesterday. thousands of students joining the teachers in a show of sympathy. casey wian right in the middle of it, live in madison this morning where we're expecting all of this to play out again. good morning, casey. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, kiran. we sure are expecting thousands of protesters here again at madison, the state capital of wisconsin. you mentioned those teachers very angry about a proposed bill that would severely limit their collective bargaining rights and also require them to pay a lot more money for health care and for their pension benefits. now, we encountered one couple that's going to be hit doubly hard by these proposed budget cuts. >> kill the bill! >> reporter: john and michelle have been teachers in the madison school district for the past 20 years. john, a high school biology teacher and michelle a special education teacher are fighting for their collective bargaining rights at the wisconsin state capitol. >> we're a two-teacher family, so the cuts are double for us, which is twice as scary. >> reporter: they have been standing out in the cold every morning nine hours a day without dinner breaks living off of granola bars out of their backpack. >> we think it's worth it. without doing this, our voices wouldn't be heard at all. >> reporter: they say the proposed bill would reduce their total income by 13%. >> like other families, we have a mortgage to pay every month. we've got electric bills, and what -- what i've heard is that it's about a 13% net drop in income with the benefits and the wages. that's what we'd be losing every month. and so then we have to start picking and choosing how we're going to make our house payments and still do other things. >> reporter: they say they're going to be okay. it's just not going to be easy. >> i am worried about having to cut things out of our children's lives. we live a pretty simple existence anyway. and having to say, you know, no, you can't take swim lessons this term because we just don't have the money to do it. that's heart breaking. >> reporter: now that the allies of those state employees, teachers, and others in the state legislature, the democratic allies have left the state. legislatively, things are at a stand still. we're expected to see a lot of noise over the next couple of days. but for now, not much legislative action. kiran? >> it's hard to do that when the legislators are not in the state. thanks so much, casey. yes, there are wanted posters going up around wisconsin right now for the 14 democrats who are awol at this point. they decided instead of going to the capitol, instead of having to go up against this vote, they decided to head for the border. they fled the state. they have been found in various places. and one of those places across the border in rockford, illinois. they were at best western clock tower hotel. the reason they left, they have the minority in the senate. it's 14 of them, 19 republicans. so they would need to have at least one more senator there, they have to have 20 there to actually go for a vote. so since there were only 19 republicans, democrats thought this was the best strategy to go with. if they stayed in wisconsin, the sergeant in arms had the right to compel them to return to work. one of our affiliates tracked down one democratic senator at the hotel. take a listen. >> we're trying to slow things down. the governor introduced this last friday. it has tremendous changes in it that the people of the state of wisconsin are just finding out about and obviously reacting to. we've got thousands upset about what's going on and thousands more around the state doing the same thing. >> where exactly are they this morning? when will they possibly return? we'll ask one of them from his underground bunker this morning. he's not really at a bunker, but we'll see if he'll disclose his location this morning. anger in the arab world. protesters filling the streets in countries across north africa. there's a look at the map in red. hot spots around that region in the persian gulf. some under the hand of a brutal dictator or oppressive minority. the main hot spot will be bahrain again today where they're holding funerals for the dead. people that were killed in these protests. people mobbing the streets again. and the numbers are growing despite a government ban on gatherings and also tanks rolling into the streets. in libya, the latest country in the region hit by demands for change. people saying that moammar qadhafi, the dictator of more than 20 years has to go. days of bloody clashes have left at least 21 dead according to a human rights group there. also, traffic once again moving on interstate 20 just outside of atlanta. there was a brush fire there yesterday that caused a 13-mile stretch to be shut down. this happened during the evening commute. one of the worst possible times. interstate 20 is a main artery that runs east and west through downtown atlanta. officials believe this fire was intentionally set. a court hearing this morning for the man accused of carrying out the shooting massacre in tucson, arizona. a judge will decide whether to release search warrants related to the case and a second updated mug shot. a decision today about whether or not to restart the usc university hospital's kidney transplant program. this is out in los angeles. a shutdown last month came after a patient got the wrong kidney. but the hospital says that patient is okay because the kidney luckily happened to be a close enough match. the hospital said this happened because of a "process error." a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in maryland clears a major hurdle. the legislation was approved by a key state senate committee yesterday and now appears to have enough votes to pass the full senate. if it passes there and in the house of delegates, governor martin o'malley says he will sign it. >> let's say hello to rob marciano. good weekend in store for some of us? >> yeah, for some. and a great friday for a lot of folks, as well. a bit of a change coming tomorrow. although, today, very spring-like. and folks will be taking a quote unquote snow day. a cool front in the east. and the snow out west continue to be an issue. here's the highs forecast for today. 73 in d.c., 60 in new york, almost 20 degrees cooler tomorrow. so get out there and enjoy. check out these record highs. oklahoma city, 80, i point this out because a week ago, these areas were over 100 degrees colder. remarkable swing in temperatures. but they're going to be cooler today, as well. and then these numbers. 47 inches at alpine meadows, california, north star at tahoe, 47. and here's what it looks like. roll that beautiful footage, if you could. they're shoveling it -- just trying to get to the lifts. and there they go. still coming down now. and through the trees and on your way down the hill to enjoy some of that fresh stuff. that's music to their ears for this holiday weekend. so there you go. tale of two stories. one hot, one cold, a little bit of everything for everybody. t.j. and kiran, back up to you. >> at least the snow's in the right place this time. coming up on "american morning," now these former chrysler dealers want their bailout. we'll explain. also this morning, congresswoman gabrielle gifford's road to recovery. a close look at that road and the rehab she's going through. it's seven minutes past the hour on this "american morning." hey what's going on? doing the shipping. man, it would be a lot easier if we didn't have to weigh 'em all. if those boxes are under 70 lbs. you don't have to weigh 'em. with these priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. no weigh? nope. no way. yeah. no weigh? sure. no way! uh-uh. no way. yes way, no weigh. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. ten minutes past the hour. there's no school today for thousands of kids in milwaukee and madison, wisconsin. classes had to be canceled again because there's so many teachers calling out sick to demonstrate at the state capitol. they're protesting the governor's attempts to balance the state budget by cutting public employee benefits and stripping workers of their right to collective bargaining, except for wages. it's a deal breaker, according to brian kennedy, the president of wisconsin's teachers union. he appeared on our show a short time ago. >> taking away bargaining rights is a non-starter. we have reached out time and time and time again, since november 3rd, since the day after the election, his people have refused to return a single call. they have never even acknowledged the unions except to give us notices of termination of contract extensions. they don't want to come to the table and bargain. >> well, joining us live from madison this morning is republican glenn growthman, a majority leader of the wisconsin senate, and john erpenbach, he's live from chicago. welcome to both of you. i know there's a lot of tough choices, a lot of strong feelings on both sides. and a lot of people have a point. but glenn, i want to ask you first out of the bag, why not -- why are they saying that the governor has not really been fair when it comes to negotiating with them? they claim he's trying to sort of collective bargain through the press but won't return phone calls. is that the best way to operate in this situation? >> well, i can't speak for governor walker. the state of wisconsin is in a huge budget crisis. and ever since i've been in this building, i can't remember the aft willing to give up anything. but what governor walker is recommending is really necessary for the state of wisconsin right now. we have one of the biggest budget deficits in the country. we have, i think, the most generous public employee pensions in the country, and i'm a part of that plan, by the way. but given the huge deficit we have, the idea of asking teachers to pay more of their health insurance and all public employees and pay more of their pensions seems entirely reasonable. >> hold on, i want to stop you for one second. you said in your entire history of being there, you haven't seen the aft be willing to give up anything. brian kennedy said they gave up more than $100 million in concessions under the previous governor and many other things, including furloughs and wage freezes. do you not agree with him? is he not telling the truth? >> well, as far as negotiating with the legislature, i have not seen them be willing to do anything like this. the governor was able to order furloughs. maybe at the end of the day aft agreed with that. but i think that was another thing that was an absolute necessity. and i will tell you that the employees were not happy with it. >> i want to get john erpenbach to come in on this conversation. this is a mess. you've got people picketing for the third straight day, classes canceled, and you and 13 of your colleagues had to leave the state in a protest on the vote that was taking place. why are you in chicago this morning, jon? >> well, obviously, we want to slow things down. but the unions don't negotiate with the legislature. they negotiate with the governor. whoever the governor is, it's his job, his administration to sit down and negotiate. and what governor walker is doing is absolutely nothing as far as that is concerned. and he's got a responsibility to bring everybody to the table. he's going to get his money, we know that. this is all about the governor's attempt to strip collective bargaining rights away from the unions and essentially bust them. >> but at the same time, you are talking about major budget problems in this state. money's just not going to materialize. so should it be on the backs of the taxpayer then? >> well, basically -- there's two budgets. the budget we're dealing with here, the budget the governor has introduced, it's called the budget repair bill. it's to fix $136 million hole. what the governor's doing right now is going to grab about $30 million from public employees. and they're more than willing to pay their fair share. but at the same time, in this bill, which is supposed to be a technical minor bill, he throws in the union provisions. that's why we're having the problems we're having right now. and that's why we had to leave the state to slow the process down, to bring the governor back to the table, hopefully, and for people's voices to be heard. >> glenn, the american federation of teachers president called it a non-starter if they try to take collective bargaining off the table. what happens? the protests are going to continue on the streets? parents are going to try to find something new for their kids because they can't go to school? it's come to quite a head here. how does this get resolved? >> well, first of all, i don't think what we do, brian kennedy has to sign off with. we had elections last november, and the idea that union has to sign off or has to agree in order to pay for part of their pension seems to me a little bit ridiculous. many people in the state of wisconsin got laid off and have no job at all. many others are not having a 401(k) contribution or contributing more to their health insurance. the idea that governor walker or the state legislature can't have public employees contribute towards their pension without brian kennedy signing off is absurd. >> well, again, i know that you guys have huge challenges ahead. it's not going to get resolved today. this has gotten a lot of attention. wisconsin may be the first state dealing with this at this level. but this is a problem in all 50 states. i thank both of you for being with us this morning. we wish you guys a lot of luck in this. >> thanks, kiran. >> thank you very much. >> t.j.? well, ahead on this "american morning," yes, it's called the u.s. house. but some congressmen are taking that a little too literally. they think they should actually there there in their capitol hill offices. well, the watchdog group claims they're doing it at taxpayer expense. also, it was built as the man versus machine battle. you know this ibm computer taking on these jeopardy champs. does that mean you now trust this computer enough to maybe operate on you? slow down. 16 minutes past the hour. it's 20 minutes past the hour on this "american morning." and some former chrysler dealers are now suing the u.s. government. christine romans, i guess we could probably assume why. >> well, they're suing the government because they say it was unconstitutional that the obama administration took their business, took their property, and didn't fairly compensate them during the whole bailout of chrysler a couple of years ago. what they say and their attorneys say is that on condition for chrysler to be pushed into bankruptcy, managed by the government to come out the other end as a viable company, some 789 dealers had to get -- they filed that lawsuit yesterday at the u.s. court of federal claims in washington. that is according to the "detroit free press." the place that is designated for these cases brought under the takings clause, 64 dealers suing for $134 million plus. it works out to about $2 million apiece. >> i remember when you were getting the papers, the stack of papers listing which dealers would be shut down and which weren't. and the dealers themselves didn't know. >> i can remember being on the phone with a dealer in maryland. and i said i want to go on the air and talk about what's happening for you and your family. and he said you can't use our name, we haven't told mom yet. now the family business is dead forever. and so those are the kinds of people who are very upset about this. and now, many, many, months on are now suing the federal government. there were 789 dealers that were ended, their franchise agreements were ended by the company, and these plaintiffs represent about 8% of those. there are some others who have done some arbitration with the government over this. and, in fact, chrysler won in some cases, but the dealers have won in some other cases, as well. this is about -- this is an allegation that bailout was unconstitutional, taking the property, taking the business from these people. quick check of the markets, 2 1/2 year highs for stocks, folks. wow, a lot has happened in the past couple of years, hasn't it? the dow, 12,318, the s&p 500 at 1,340. we'll see if it can hold through the weekend. >> thank you so much. >> thank. also coming up on this american morning. budweiser has been synonymous with st. louis for years, but now there's something new on tap. some competition. 22 minutes past the hour on this "american morning." now 25 minutes past the hour. we have been hearing a lot about congresswoman gabrielle giffords and the amazing progress she's made after being shot in the head. >> we're getting a shot at what her days are like in rehab. dr. sanjay gupta was able to go to the facility where she's getting this treatment. sanjay was able to play patient and see what it's like to go through it. he's joining us now from atlanta. it's been described as a very gruelling day to try to get this rehabilitation. is that accurate? >> yeah, absolutely. very aggressive therapy, very intensive therapy. remember, she was shot. this injury was on the left side of her brain. concerns about the impact on speech, and also concerns from the left side injury on the right side of her body's strength. it was really fascinating to see exactly how they go about trying to rehabilitate these things and see it firsthand. take a look. >> reporter: for about an hour most days, congresswoman giffords does this. >> sometimes i come in and that's all they can do. >> and that's significant? >> that's significant because it gives me a clue, hey, they know this song and they want to fill it in. >> it's called music therapy. most people never see how it or much of the technology, big or small in this building, actually works. so i will show you as if i, like congresswoman giffords, were a patient of dr. francisco and his team. >> this seems like a pretty long day. >> it is a long day. >> after a brain injury or a stroke, this is a tendency for the patient to forget one side of the body. >> just neglect it? >> just neglect it. >> but this bike doesn't let you forget. >> these little cords here are attached to my muscles in any leg. and it's predicting which muscle should be using and it's giving that muscle a stimulation. >> reporter: they call this the superman device. learning to walk without the burden of my body weight. surprisingly, the shopping cart is also used as part of therapy. >> take a look here, obviously, jewelly helping, for example, if i had weg weakness. >> reporter: here's the thing, all these therapies work together. the music isn't just rehabilitating the mind. it's also teaching patients to walk. and sometimes -- >> and i'll give them a song to kind of get their mind off of the pain. ♪ oh when the saints >> you know, the kind of thing like that. >> i think that was the most fascinating part. the fact you think about these therapies. music therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy as different therapies, but they focus on building one on the other. as a neurosurgeon, i send patients to rehab all the time. that's the first time i spent a day going through it myself and learning how that process works. it's fascinating. >> you know how the brain works better than anybody. but it seems you really have having to rewire the brain? >> you know, what's interesting, t.j. you think about the brain typically sending signals down to muscles. that's what happens. that's what happens when you do any kind of activity. but say your muscle is weak for various reasons. maybe because of a brain injury. what if you were to stimulate the muscles as it's supposed to make a certain movement. give little stimulations to the muscle and now you're sending a signal back to the brain, as well. it sort of becomes a two-way thing. and that really facilitates the process of rewiring, expedites it. >> it's also still shocking that it takes a second to pull the trigger of a gun and all that damage that's done in that split second and then how long it takes to claw your way back. and she's one of the lucky ones, you know, to survive that type of injury. >> the percentages are small. so people have been using the term remarkable, as you know, kiran, for some time to describe her. and if you look overall at the number of people who survive a gun shot wound to the head, and then the smaller percentage who make a functioning recovery. for her now it's all about occupational therapy. the activities of daily living, brushing your teeth, using a utensil to feed yourself and dress yourself. and they're using futuristic technologies. even while we were there in houston, they brought in this robot, for example, you can put a weak limb in right or left arm and you can control various instruments. play video games, for example. teaches you how to improve your cognition as well as your muscle strength. if you're looking at it there, it's the future of physical rehab. just being implemented in places. >> it is amazing. thanks so much for giving us that look. >> thanks, guys. >> don't forget to catch sanjay gupta m.d. saturday and sundays here on cnn. it is heating up once again this morning. people talked about a domino effect after egypt, it appears we may be seeing just that. many nations across north africa, the middle east, as well as the persian gulf now seeing protests. some of the main spots we're keeping an eye on, libya and bahrain. >> and in bahrain, crowds are gathering this morning and the numbers are growing. a spokesman for the opposition called yesterday's crackdown on protesters a massacre. at least four people were killed when police stormed a camp of sleeping protesters in the capital's main square. a lot of people are taking their cue from what they saw in egypt. a day of rage, a day of liberation. a day of victory. thousands of people gathering in cairo's square today after protests that forced hosni mubarak out. here at home is not exactly a frat house, but nearly three dozen congressmen use their capitol offices to sleep during the week. >> a government watchdog group now claiming they're doing it at taxpayer expense. >> reporter: good morning to you t.j. and kiran. they were here to almost 4:00 in the morning the other night voting on budget matters. they are putting in long hours on important issues. but with so many members of congress sleeping in their offices, the house is becoming a bit like a hotel where the lodging is on the house. after a long day on capitol hill, republican congressman joe walsh checks into what's become the cheapest hotel room in washington. his own office. >> and how good a night's sleep is that? that doesn't look too comfortable, congressman. >> i'm going to be honest, it's horrible. the couch is uncomfortable. >> walsh sleeps on the couch, saving his family the expense of finding a second home in the capital. >> i've rolled off the couch to a thud. >> but a liberal watchdog group isn't comfortable either and is calling for an investigation accusing more than 30 lawmakers of bilking a fringe benefit on which members of congress must pay taxes. this is nothing new. the republican was showing off his cot to cnn two years ago. >> that's a well-made bed right there. >> reporter: democrats are doing it too, even though hanson clark isn't sure how long he can take it. >> i haven't had a good night's sleep since i've been here in congress. >> walsh, a tea party conservative who turned down his own congressional health care plan welcomes any investigation. >> you don't want the federal health benefits, but you'll take the free housing? >> no, that will be determined. if -- if this is free housing that i have to pay some tax for, i'll pay it. >> reporter: so far, there are only congressmen, not congresswomen appearing to sleeping in their offices. that might have something to do with the fact there's no shower in their offices in those bathrooms, leaving the congressional gym as the only place to wash up, t.j. and kiran. >> it's incentive to work out. >> exactly. they're staying healthy, at least. >> yeah. we'll see what happens with that. thanks so much. >> thanks. ibm super computer watson could have a new gig down the road. as your doctor? 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[ male announcer ] we bet you'll love zyrtec®, too -- or it's free. he really has a very special relationship with his cat. he really has my joints ache so bad, i wake up in pain every day. i want to know why. i want to know why my hair is falling out. how did this happen? how did this happen? a little pain in my knee. that's how it started. that's how it started, this rash on my face. now it's like my body is attacking me. i want answers. announcer: when you don't have the right answers, it may be time to ask your doctor the right question. could i have lupus? 37 minutes past the hour. he is one of the biggest celebrities in the world right now, and he has no egounless they actually put an ego into him as part of a computer program. we're talking about watson. ibm super computer who defeated his opponents on "jeopardy" wednesday night. >> now we come to watson. we're looking for bram stoker and we find, who is bram stoker? and the wager. hello, $17,973, and a two-day total of $77,147. >> certainly a unique experience to watch watson whip ken jennings. but would you let him perform surgery on you or diagnose a condition? work's underway to see how super computers and artificial intelligence can help improve our lives, particularly in the health care field. ibm says it's partnering with nuance communications. joining me now is joe brown, features editor at gizmodo.com. how would this work? >> that's the idea, maybe a patient comes in, and the patient's a little incoherent or blabbering on, got into a car accident really traumatic and spouting off all kinds of, where's my wife, where's my wallet? but also saying some key words that somebody would have to hone in on to diagnose what's wrong. and this would be a way that watson, who is basically like a guy who can read 1,000 books a second. you preload it with a lot of information and it cross references the information to come up with an answer just like it did on "jeopardy." he said, my leg hurts, it's warm, my head itches, why don't we get saline and a doctor in there to make a final diagnosis. basically streamlining and making the process more efficient. >> this would not be a replacement for a human. but how old would they help? somewhere down the road, we have kiosks now at airports instead of having to see a person. there are ways we've certainly replaced humans. would this down the road perhaps be a way in let's say rural hospitals, in rural places that don't have a lot of health care to actually replace humans? >> i can see it as going into a place where there may not be a human right now. assisting humans in places where it's not possible to have a person at that time. you can definitely see the use of this in an extreme environment, as well. a place where you can't have a doctor standing around all day. >> in a war zone. >> or a mine. where you can use a tool like this to help get medical professionals there if you need to. >> practically speaking, one of the things we did see in "jeopardy" is, he could know everything, have all that information loaded up with all of this information, but he got wrong a question where they said what u.s. city? and he said toronto. and so, sometimes it's -- he could know everything in the world but miss the obvious, but particularly in the health care field that's why it's so important for doctors to not only train medically, but also in human interaction. >> yeah, and i'm -- i was kind of happy to see him get that wrong. i'm not going to lie. it's nice to know there are some things you can't replace with 750 servers and a really fast processor. >> and that's interesting because ken jennings jokingly wrote, i, for one, welcome our new computer overlords. do people have any reason to fear this? we're marveling at it right now. but this whole notion of artificial intelligence down the road. >> well, i think we can see it as welcoming some help. because we're not perfect either. and it's nice to see that the things that we make can actually come and assist us in the future. that's what we need to welcome the artificial intelligence as. >> i want to ask you another question. the president yesterday was supposed to be meeting about innovation about some of the top tech giants. and one of them was apple's steve jobs. there was not an official picture released of this dinner they had. and there's speculation about the health of steve jobs and a lot of concerns about that. what do you make of -- of the concerns over his health right now and whether or not we're going to hear more about how he's doing? >> well, steve jobs and apple are notoriously tight lipped about his health considerations. and that's understandable. people have money invested in it. but he's a tough guy. he's had a liver transplant, survived pancreatic cancer. we're all hoping he licks this too. he definitely has health problems, though. >> that's why he announced he's taking a prolonged leave of absence with no date when he's going to return. >> the last time he said he was going to be back in six months and he was. this time he didn't say anything like that and that was a little bit of a concern for a lot of people. but, you know, this is one of the toughest, smartest, most determined people you've ever encountered in your life. >> thanks for joining us this morning. >> thanks for having me. coming up, a lot of people enjoying some of this nice weather over the past few days. a warm-up, you could call it. well, read my lips, ice and snow on the way. rob marciano coming up next. it's 42 minutes past the hour. . hmm? 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( engine revs ) great goodness, i've been hoodwinked! - ( saxophone music playing ) - ( vocalizing music ) that keeps you tossing and waking up with back pain. or, you could choose the sleep number bed. it calibrates to the precise zone of comfort your body needs. in clinical trials, it relieved back pain in 9 out of 10 people. and it adjusts on each side for couples. and now, every bed set is on sale. queen mattresses start at just $599. save 50% on the final closeout of our innovative limited-edition bed. hurry to the only place you'll find the sleep number bed: sleep number stores nationwide. good morning. this is nice. partly cloudy, 63 degrees later in the day, but a change is coming. >> let's check in with rob ma marciano for more. it's snowing out west, and people could take a run in central park this morning, 63 degrees. >> a gorgeous friday. tomorrow won't be too bad, but it's going to be cold. you might have to wear an extra layer. a cool front off to the east. warm air, and of course, out west is pretty impressive. check out these impressive high temperatures, 68 degrees expected in memphis, expecting 73 in d.c. and atlanta, and 63 degrees in new york city. that's run in the park kind of weather today, tomorrow, not so much. 80 degrees in oklahoma city, these are areas that last week, one week ago today or yesterday, i should say, temperatures were 20, 30 degrees below zero. how about that for a turn around? it'll be a little cooler today, but nonetheless, these are impressive numbers, kansas, as well, upper 70s to lower 80s yesterday. equally impressive on this holiday weekend, 47 inches of snow in alpine meadows, california. and these are all near and around the tahoe area. so they continue to get dumped on. winter storm warnings remain posted for tonight. and some of this action sliding down to the south. and there are winter storm warnings around the l.a. area, and rainfall will be increasing in time today. newark, you might see delays traveling out of the new york area this holiday weekend. 30 to 60-minute delays expected in philly. rain and wind in los angeles, and san francisco, rain and wind, as well. san diego, as well. temperatures tomorrow, though, are going to be a little bit cooler. 42 degrees expected in new york city, 49 in d.c. almost 20 degrees cooler tomorrow. but there won't be much in the way of rain or snow as this front comes through. back to you guys in new york. t.j., kiran? >> we appreciate you as always. some good news in there. thanks so much. well, a week of celebrity watching, champagne popping in new york. fashion week coming to a close in the big apple. >> some people lucky enough to have backstage passes if you're into that kind of thing. alina cho was one with a backstage pass. i would have loved to have a backstage pass. >> there's always next time. you know it's a hard job, somebody's got to do it. you know, i do have a very special half hour debuting tomorrow here on cnn. we'll show you all of the beautiful shows on the runway, of course. you'll hear from the top editors and stylists, trends of what you might be buying in the stores months before they hit the shelves. we although sit down with michael coors celebrating 30 years in fashion. he talked to us about his most memorable moment, his first year back in 1981. he climbed inside the display windows to help dress the mannequins. it's a funny story, we'll tell you about it. another interview, is my one-on-one with victoria beck beckham. she's also a fashion designer. and before you write her off, you know what? her clothes and handbags are selling out. she also talked to me about her personal life. the biggest thing right now, she's 4 1/2 months pregnant with her fourth child. >> obviously every mother you speak to says, i want a healthy baby. but three boys. >> it'd be great. but if i don't have a girl this time, maybe i'll be lucky enough to have a girl next time. >> the next time. how many children do you want to have? >> we'd like to have a big family. >> there could be a fifth? >> there could be, who knows. >> or a sixth? >> i'm not angelina. i don't know, come on. >> she's really cute. >> she is really cute. she also talked about her days as a spice girl. does she miss singing? and she said, oh, god, no, i'm not a good singer at all. and we spent a lot of time talking about her clothing line, which does quite well. >> how old is she now? >> 36 or 37 years old. >> she's been around for a while. >> she's a young gal and she's doing very, very well, and she's found a really great second career, which she calls her passion. >> the funny thing is you always ask why doesn't she smile? and she says it's because she doesn't like her smile. >> she's very uncomfortable. she feels uncomfortable about it. and says she's shying away from the celebrity life because she's passionate about fashion. >> you help me tease this thing. it's this weekend, so tomorrow, fashion week backstage pass with our alina cho tomorrow, february the 19th, 2:30 p.m. eastern time. and i'm sure we'll find anoth another -- wait, that's an encore presentation, no, that's pacific time. i'm sure there will be at some point. >> you bet. your top stories minutes away. including women in the workforce hitting their heads on the glass ceiling, earning 80 cents on the dollar compared to men. the one job where women can actually achieve pay equality. also, this morning, a high school wrestler from iowa who had a chance to win the state championship. he was a favorite. but in his first round, he bowed out intentionally defaulted. why? because he didn't want to wrestle a girl. an amazing story you'll want to hear. and the extraordinary photos of earnest withers photos of ernest withers. a civil rights photographer who became an fbi informant in the next hour of "american morning." . see you, good game. see you guys tomorrow. dylan, you need a ride? no, my dad should be here. every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? that reminds me of breakfast. >> yeah. a different schedule here, folks. >> the king of beers in st. louis the hometown of anheuser-busch. bud has been royalty in that town for generations. >> as many of you may recall it was sold to a belgium brewing giant. stephanie elam has that story. >> it was a fun story to do. the folks in st. louis are very hospitable. >> it's an american company no longer american so some people trying to get in on that american part of it. >> very much so. this is a heartland story, right? when you look at st. louis, what are they known for? known for their beer and may be known for the cardinals and a lot of things but a lot of people associate it because of the beer. you remember back to the commercials anheuser-busch, st. louis, missouri. i remember it on the radio all the time it was on. it's different now and giving people some hope to get in there and maybe do some things on the brewing scene. take a look. >> new orleans is known for jazz. memphis is known for its barbecue. st. louis was world renowned for beer. >> reporter: when tom slafy opened his bruit in 1991 people thought he would get crushed by hometown heavyweight anheuser-busch. >> the initial reaction i was out of my mind. >> reporter: these days, budweiser isn't american owned and schfaly beer is thriving in st. louis. >> i always had been a budweiser beer drinker. after i started coming here and started enjoying these micro brews, i never wanted to go anywhere else. >> reporter: 15 breweries are opening or operating in st. louis according to the post sdach. the most since prohibition. phil yymoore moved here. he says the 2008 sale of anheuser-busch to belgium's inbed left a bad taste in this mouths of people from st. louis. >> it allows people to fill the pipeline a little bit. >> reporter: the idea of opening their own shop came before the merger for urban chestnut. >> we want to bring back that feeling of old world tradition back to st. louis, all of the different styles of beer that maybe a larger brewery wont be able to explore. >> reporter: that has the big bottlers hopping. >> look at anheuser-busch and miller coors. they are trying to create craft beers to keep up with the little guys because they see this is where the popularity. >> reporter: schlafly says their craft gets only better. st. lou st. louisians know their beer. are you thirsty yet, thinking about what you're going to do? maybe hitch a ride to st. louis and see what is going on? what is interesting about what you'll see in the craft brewery scene in st. louis you would think they would be competitive but not at all. they are friendly and get together and talk about brewing beer. they feel people who like craft beers are not the people to stick with one kind of beer. they are simplers by definition and they like that and they all get along and having the most breweries since prohibition in st. louis according to the folks we talked to at the st. louis post dispatch. interesting to see what they are doing and how they are doing. others there that we didn't talk to. >> still growing? >> still growing. there's still more and just going to open up that have not opened up. o'fal llon o'fallons, who have been there are thinking about opening one up. st. louis is slower getting to it but you couldn't go to busch stadium and got anything other than a budweiser before and now it's changed. >> do they still have room for bu budweiser? >> i'll still a big company in missouri so it's still doing things there. >> employing local people and some sort of pride. >> they are hardy americans in st. louis. >> we're behind your back to steal this story but they wouldn't let me. >> maybe i'll give you some of the beer. >> good to see you, stephanie. >> good to see you, too. >> quick break at the top of the hour. drinking water so polluted you can set it on fire. oscar nominated documentary exposing the danger of certain types of natural gas drilling. oh, gee [ bleep ]! >> natural gas drilling pundits say it's propaganda but some went to washington with a message. stop the drilling and keep our water safe and they are here live on this "american morning." good morning to you. thanks for being with us. it's friday, february 18th. i'm kiran chetry. we will have more on that story later in the hour. >> i'm t.j. holmes. growing protests we are continuing to see pop up around the arab world and growing more and more violent and more and more deadly in some situations. we're expecting to see some nations tense after friday prayers. take a look, though, at this map to give you an idea of how this unrest is spreading. libya, egypt, iran, iran, saudi arabia and yemen and bahrain. one of the main spots people keeping an eye on is bahrain. that is where the fifth navy fleet is stationed. they are in charge to make sure oil flows safely through the gulf. crowds are gathering once again today and we're told these numbers continue to grow. four people killed yesterday in violent and bloody crackdowns. bahrain's top cleric called this massive. people are saying in libya, moammar gadhafi they are saying needs to go. preverts a protesters are saying they are sending thugs to beat us. they call a day of rage and organized this like many other countries on social media sites. the days of bloody clashes have left 21 people dead according to a human rights group. a third straight day here in the u.s., kids in madison, wisconsin, have no school as protesting teachers and boycotting classrooms continue. teachers refusing to work while the governor tries to balance the state budget by cutting their benefits and rights to collective bargaining. the teachers are getting a lot of support nationally. in new york demonstrators plan to hold a sympathy protest today and calling it a cheese head rally. 14 democrats from wisconsin senate are awol this morning fled the state yesterday and crossing the border into illinois so they wouldn't be compelled to return to work and that forced a vote on the state's new budget bill to be delayed. earlier on "american morning," we spoke to republican glenn rothman who backs the governor's plan and democrat john erpinbach who says the governor's tactics are irresponsible. >> he has got a responsibility to bring people together to the table. he is going to get his money. we know that. this issue is about the governor's attempt to strip collective bargaining rights away from unions and essentially bust them. >> we have one of the biggest budget deficits in the country and i think have the most employee pensions in the country and i am a part of that plan, by the way. but given the huge deficit we have, the idea of asking teachers to pay more of their health insurance seems entirely reasonable. >> teachers there are calling this a budget -- or union busting budget bill. the president agrees calling this an assault on unions. expecting to see more of the same today. 25,000 jammed into the capital yesterday. how long now are these teachers prepared to stay out? we asked brian kennedy just a bit ago. he is is the president of the american federation of teachers in wisconsin. he says they will stay out, but depending on when they come back, that's up to the governor. >> this governor says he needs an additional 30 million in concessions. we, as unions, are willing to come to the bargaining table and to discuss what those additional concessions, in addition to a hundred million and additional 30, what that would look like. what more we could give up to help him to fill what is left of this budget hole. he has refused to answer any of our calls and refused to come to the table and negotiate. he has decided that the problem is the unions. i don't see how it's a problem if we're willing to come to the table and negotiate and he's not the one willing to come to the table. >> in regard to those 14 democratic senators who high-tailed is out of town, kennedy calls them courageous. public education funding is not only a wisconsin is facing. in fact, it is much worse in other states. wisconsin is projecting a 3.6 billion dollar deficit the next two years. we wanted to show you other numbers to put that into pest for you. a total of 45 out of 50 states are facing a budget shortfall. there you see them in red in 2012. totaling $125 billion. the fiscal year, 2012, illinois is projecting a $13 billion deficit. california, $6 billion. texas, $4 billion. and at least 14 of these states are considering changes in how the government treats the work force. paying more into pensions and health care and/or limiting the power of unions. read my lips. those were three words that got president bush in trouble back in 1988. promised not to raise taxes and many say that cost him a re-election. now the house speaker john boehner is using that phrase as well. he is doing it when he is talking about a government shutdown as a possibility. he says republicans will not compromise when it comes to tightening the belts and, yes, he used those famous three words. >> when we say we're going to cut spending, read my lips, we're going to cut spending. >> we will see if those words come back to bite him. a stop-gap funding measure expires on march 4th. new video to share with us. this apparently an possible arson at the texas governor's mansion? are you seeing this? authorities are looking for the guy who was caught throwing a molotov cocktail that started a fire and this apparently happened in 2008 but texas rangers just releasing the video hoping it will lead to an arrest. they offered a $50,000 reward but no one has been charged just yet. the texas governor was not living at the mansion at that time. joel northrop, a wrestler, he gave up the chance to become a champion refusing to take on a freshman female. she is the first girl ever to qualify for the state tournament. northrop was one of the favorites releasing a statement, quote, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times. as a matter of conscientious and my faith i do not believe it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. it is unfortunate i have been place inside a situation not seen in no other high school sports in iowa. here is what northrop's tlecket director said. >> it's a decision that his family made and that is what it is. >> there is a picture of the girl wrestler who he was supposed to take on, cassy is her name. we're going to talk to both of them, cassy herkleman and joel northrup in our show on monday. facebook recognizes civil unions. the move is applauded by the gay community saying facebook has set a new standard of he has been on medical leave from apple. apple steve jobs was invited to dinner with president obama last night. no pictures came out of that dinner leading to more speculation about steve jobs' health this morning. we will have more coming up. ♪ [ male announcer ] america's beverage companies are working together to put more information right up front. adding new calorie labels to every single can, bottle and pack they produce. so you can make the choice that's right for you. ♪ had a tree that bore the most rare and magical fruit, which provided for their every financial need. [ thunder rumbling ] [ thunder crashing ] and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. ♪ and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. an invitation to the wedding of prince william and kate middleton. a invite to the president and the first lady for a visit to the united kingdom in may. when they were there in 2009 ma sell obama caused a stir with an affectionate gesture putting her arm on the queen which is a big breach of royal protocol. the president continues to push his education agenda and visiting the west today. yesterday, he went out there to visit an intel research facility. he is doing that today in oregon actually. that follows a dinner meeting that he had last night with top silicon valley sxufs including steve jobs, apple's ceo who is on medical leave from the company he cofounded and among others in attendance mark zuckerberg and eric schmitt. >> a woman in kansas is going to prison. they are fighting to, get this, pay more taxes. why? they want to make schools better for their children. she has a son in middle school and that middle school is going to be closed and state law says she can't pay more. the parents can't pay more even if they want to. michelle truevay is the parent i'm talking about. joining me from kansas city, thank you so much for taking time out with us. let's start by explaining this to folks a little bit. there is a cap for how much parents can contribute to those public schools when it comes to property taxes. you can't keep raising your taxes and raising your own taxes to end up putting into the school. why do you have a problem with that? >> good morning, t.j. i have a problem with that. i think it's important to understand how the funding formula in kansas actually works. we receive our funding from three different sources. we have an amount that comes from the state of kansas and i think examples kind of will help you. it costs about $12,000 to teach a kid in the state of kansas today in our district and $4,000 of that money comes from our state funding formula, another thousand comes from the federal government. and because it's a $12,000 amount, we bridge that gap or we pay that extra $7,000 through our local option budget or otherwise known as our property taxes. >> you want to pay more. yes, ma'am, go ahead. >> yes, i want to pay more because we're facing millions and millions of tens of millions of dollars of budget cuts. they are closing schools and they are laying off teachers. they cut off a hundred teachers last year. and the state has essentially said it is unfair for you to raise that $7,000, that local option budget, so if the state is going to cut their portion down, obviously, we would like to bridge that gap in some way, shape or form. >> let's it up right there for our viewers. this is the problem that the state has. they are saying your district, we have to be honest here, y'all have more affluent district than a lot of other places and they are concerned about the inequity. if they would allow an affluent district that has parents with higher property taxes who can keep raising and raising, you will end up with super schools in some ways. recruit the best teachers and pay them the best salaries and other, i guess the poor just get poorer, do you understand that argument? >> yes, but i have to firmly disagree with that argument, because if you actually looked at who received the funding in the state of kansas, our district is in the bottom 5% of the funding for operating expenses in the state of kansas and we are in the bottom 25% of funding overall. if you overlap the fact that we are underfunded, purposely underfunded and our kids are not the wealthiest in the state of kansas. our kids are not the highest performers. our schools are not the top ranked schools. in fact, the governor's award in the state of kansas shows test scores and children's academic our schools are only received two of those awards in the last four years. this whole argument about the rich getting richer isn't true. >> do you think your school district, besides it closing, do you think your child is receiving a lesser education because of the funding? how is your school district been hurt? besides the school closing, are the students still getting a good education? >> undoubtedly, no. their education is clearly suffering. i have a doubt who is 11 years old currently in the sixth grade. she has 27 kids in her class. when she started in first grade at the same elementary school she only had 21 kids in her class so she has increased over six years, six kids in her class. the teachers, obviously, in the state of kansas, the average pupil per teacher ratio is 12 to 13 to 1. here i have my kids in classes with 27 students to one teacher. >> last thing to you, ma'am. we have to wrap this up. i think the larger issue, you put out a lot of numbers this morning. i know it's a specific case there. but the overall overarching idea if you let people with more money pay as much as they want to pay for schools, then is that fair and is that set up an inequity with kids who are in poorer districts? do you see that argument, though? >> you know, i think it's a counterargument. i don't see that argument, because what we're fighting for is just to bring our equity up to equal of all the other students in the state of kansas and that is what has been a difficult message to communicate is our kids are being underfunded compared to everybody else. so there is a notion of equity that is important and every kid in america deserves a really fine education, not just a base education. and i do believe, however, that it's our responsibility to provide that. but if we are willing to sacrifice and come together as a community and say as a community, there is only one pot of money and if we want to sacrifice buying a new car in a couple of years or taking a family vacation and putting that money towards our children, i believe we have that right. >> ma'am, it certainly is interesting playing out there and across the country. i know y'all are talking to a judge today. we could hear more news about it later. good luck to you and the folks in the district. >> thank you. >> and all around the state of kansas right now dealing with education issues. thank you so much for your time. you enjoy your weekend. >> thank you. >> 18 minutes past the hour. [ male announcer ] nature valley sweet & salty nut bars... they're made from whole roasted nuts and dipped in creamy peanut butter, making your craving for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, by nature valley. borders planning liquidation sales. they announced on wednesday it had filed for bankruptcy. a spokesman for the chain says it is possible the sales may take place this weekend. new information out this morning about the gap between what men and women are paid. christine romans who i'd like to say makes far more money i do is watching your money this morning. i want to get that out there. >> you write yours down and we will switch. look. looking at new bureau of labor statistics data from the census that show how much money people make women related to men. it's about 80%. women still make 80 cents on the man's dollar and a lot of different reasons. we have talked and argued about it for years why women make less. you look within these numbers, you can also see differences in terms of professions. look at their financial activities. women make 70% of the men's earnings. education and health services, 77% and leisure and hospitality, women make 83.5% of what men make. look at construction. 92%. in terms of where women just nominally make the most money is in mining. that is one place. also agriculture -- or mining and oil and gas extraction, petroleum engineers and stuff like that. interesting numbers there but overall that disparity still exists women making about 80% of what men make. >> in those fields there are less women in general. they maybe making more money but less opportunity? >> they may be the boss in some of these fields and some of these fields pay more or fewer women and some companies trying to promote women so you have a better chance of moving up the ranks because you're one of the only few of them. it's interesting there. >> speaking of one of the only few, you spoke to one of the only women daily show correspondents, right? that's right. samant samantha bee. she said she is watching us right now and watching every move you make. they make fun of people like us. i personally have never been on the wrong side of a daily show montage. i talked to samantha bee about her new book, how she manages to have three kids under the age of 5 and write a book and have the big job. i asked her, point blank, is your job, samantha bee, to make people laugh, or make them think, or both? >> i only try to make people laugh. i can't be bothered making people think. others can that on. >> some people watch "the daily show." and young people are forming their political opinions and you know, tag their news judgment from the daily show. so that is a responsibility. >> it is a wonderful place to come for a cathartic moment. >> she says she is meant to make people laugh. we talked a lot about what it's like to work there at the "daily show." owner husband jason jones work at "the daily show." three little kids. how do you manage it at all? she says, i don't know. she said, i don't know. i'll let you know on the other end when i think i've managed it. >> very popular. >> they are. she's very funny. her book is out in paperback and a cute read, too. >> i hope she is making more than 80 cents on the dollar on that show. >> i know. i'm going to write it down. in a break, we're going to share. >> christine, thank you. coming up, you've seen these pictures coming out of madison, wisconsin. not only the only place we is see these type of fights playing out. our casey wian is standing by coming up next. the dangers of a certain type of natural gas drilling. actor mark ruffalo and josh fox wanted to highlight this and they are in washington to try to shed light on what is going on in many communities around the country. does the film tell the whole story? we are going to talk to them coming up. on our car insurance. great! at progressive, you can compare rates side by side, so you get the same coverage, often for less. wow! that is huge! [ disco playing ] and this is to remind you that you could save hundreds! yeah, that'll certainly stick with me. we'll take it. go, big money! i mean, go. it's your break, honey. same coverage, more savings. now, that's progressive. call or click today. welcome back. bottom of the hour here on this "american morning." we continue to keep a close eye on the middle east, north africa and the gulf where we are see ago domino affect across the north africa and middle east and bahrain is one of the latest spots to keep an eye on where protests have popped up and libya, many are calling for moammar gadhafi's reign to end. in bahrain thousands attended funerals for protesters killed. crowds gathering and numbers growing. a top shiite cleric called yesterday's crackdown on protesters a massacre. four people died when police while they were sleeping. >> you are looking at not necessarily protests. not a day of rage or liberation. calling this now a day of victory. amazing you're hearing the cheers and the chants and the screams and the whistles and the applause from people now after they have come out victorious as they say. the protesters who have been gathering in tahrir conveyor the past several weeks before they got the president to step down. they are now celebrating the one-week resignation. he was leading the prayers in the square today. >> here at home, the uprising in wisconsin. the labor fight there continues this morning. teachers sick-outs have shut down school in milwaukee and madison this morning. >> thousands of workers expected once again today. you could see another scene like this. they are protesting some of the governor's proposed budget cuts and they say it's an attempt to strip unions of their collective bargaining rights. casey wian is live in madison for us this morning. are they getting started just yet? >> reporter: just beginning to see the beginnings of the protesters gathering here and expecting thousands of them later today for the fifth straight here here at wisconsin state capital. most of those protesters are teachers very upset about a proposed bill that would strip them of many of their collective bargaining rights. also require them to pay more money for pension and health care benefits. now governor scott walker says that these cuts are needed to close a 137 million dollar budget deficit by june 30th and help close $3.6 billion budget deficit the next two years. but teachers are clearly angry. >> sign a petition to kill the bill here. >> like other families, we have a mortgage to pay every month. we've got electric bills and what i've heard is that it's about a 13% net drop in income with the benefits and the wages. that's what we would be losing every month. then we have to start picking and choosing how we're going to make our house payments and still do other things. >> reporter: now teachers say this is not really about money. what it's about is an effort to bust their and other unions but not everyone is sympathetic to the teachers out here protesting. let's listen. >> shame on you for abandoning our children today! at least there is a few teachers out there who have the guts to stands up against you union thugs and actually teach our children! you're awol! you're awol! you're awol! >> reporter: those teachers will be off the job again today. you mentioned earlier, many schools throughout this state will be closed. also there is not going to be much legislative action today because democratic lawmakers in the state senate have left the state to prevent a quorum from taking place and prevent this legislation from moving forward any time soon. t.j., kiran? >> casey wian for us this morning in wisconsin. a lot to keep an eye on there. has to be one of the most helpless feelings in the world you know your water supply is not safe. you can smell it and taste it and people are saying, no, it's fine. in a new film showing really amazing claims that certain types of natural gas drilling can actually make the water flamable. we are talking to gas land director and also mark ruffalo and they are are going to washington to fight this. we will hear about their award-winning documentary next. the whole grain you want from your favorite big g cereals. from cheerios to lucky charms, there's whole grain in every box. make sure to look for the white check. as much as i can about a company before i invest in it. that's why i like fidelity. they give me tools and research i can't get anywhere else. their stock screener lets me search for stocks with more than 140 criteria. i can see what their experts are thinking and even call them to bounce an idea off of one of their investment professionals. a good strategy relies on good insight. if you wanted to learn more about a company, i think you'd actually have to be there. 36 minutes past the hour right now. welcome back. you really have to see this next segment because it had me stopped in my tracks for a moment. natural gas often hailed as the cleaner, better, next big energy source and friendly on the environment than coal or diesel and found in the united states. oil and energy giants like t. boone pickens say it's our transition fuel to cleaner energy. a new documentary shattering that rosy picture. a technique called fracking. it's basically damage willing watersheds property and some people who have lived it ruining lives. take a look of a clip from gas land. >> oh, man! >> tell me you drink that? >> no way! >> tell me ain't nothing wrong with this water. >> it smelled like turpentine. that chemical smell that goes straight to your head and gets you dizzy almost immediately. >> it's i think criminal. what if i dumped it in the big boss in canada's well. they have me in a pen so fast, my head would spin. >> he is joined by mark ruffalo who is nominated this year for "the kids are all right." both in washington to draw the attention to the danger of natural gas drilling. thanks for being with us. >> thanks. >> josh, how did you even come to find out about this and how did you start to slowly become, in some ways, an investigative reporter as you've documented what is going on in these communities? >> this happened to me by accident. i live in the upper delaware basin in pennsylvania on the pennsylvania side of bechlt and mark is on the new york side. i was proposed to lease my land for natural gas drilling in 2008. when a company came in they said a new form of drilling called hydraulic fracturing and great for the environment and you'll make lots of money and everyone in my entire area was being asked to lease. i looked into it and some of my neighbors were saying there were environmental hazards and chemicals injected under the ground. i decided to investigate that and it turned into the film gas land that took me across the united states basically looking at the largest domestic natural gas drilling campaign in history and happening now and i think very few people know this is going on in 34 states. >> you're right. on which times in the areas, at least that have been affected right now, people are not able to get their story out there and, mark, that is why your voice has been very important in this. you also live in a town where you say they have pretty much the quality of life you've seen diminish because of this. what is going on for you? >> i'm on the new york side and we have been able to fight this off for the last three years. finally we pushed through a moratorium on the state level which has never been done and has been a huge victory. for people who are worried about their water and their air. but i've been to demicp.a. where a lot of this broke out, it's in the movie. i saw how terrible these peoples lives had been affected. they can't drink the water out of their tap. they can't bathe in it. the state government is completely turned their back on them. the city government has turned their back on them. the epa is not allowed to regulate this type of drilling and so i see these people and they are asking me for my help and i'm raising three kids, it could be me, it could be my neighbors. so i picked this up on behalf of them. >> perhaps one of the most startling parts of this documentary, it really shows when you guys do this test. when this gentleman says to you i want you to see, this is the water coming out of my tap, this is the water that all of the local state and local and federal officials say is okay for me to drink and for me to give to my kids. let's look. >> whoa! jesus christ! >> went back after he did it and you were able to light what is coming out of his tap on fire. how is this possible? that was so mind blowing. >> when you see this happen in front of your face. this is something we did over and over again and heard reports about this from all over the country, pennsylvania, that clip is from colorado and wyoming, louisiana, all the way into canada. i've seen it done in australia where they are doing this form of drilling. what happens is something goes wrong under the surface. hydraulic fracturing is a pressured process and fluids injected down a wall bed where gas is trapped and opened up these other formations to drilling all throughout new york and pennsylvania that weren't able to be drilled before and, somehow, these chemicals, which are very dangerous, neurotoxins and carcinogens and the gas itself migrate into the aquifers and all of a sudden people with light their water on fire. what is dangerous about that first of all, the gas seeps out into the house and that is unrefined natural gas with chemicals in it and it can cause brain damage and people's houses can explode. some documentary subjects were showering in the dark because they were afraid a light bulb in their bathroom would spark and blow their house i while they were in the shower. it's a terrifying situation and i think it shows how upside down this whole situation is. natural gas industry has been promoting itself as this clean technology and that it's totally safe and okay to live in these drilling areas. both of which are not true. it's a result of a massive pr campaign, they are spenth a lot of money to try to convince people this is the way to go for the energy future but -- >> josh, i want to ask you about that. i'm sure it's not surprising to you you have critics and one group in particular, energy in depth which does represent oil and natural gas producers have a web page out called debunking gas lands and call out the clip that we show and say that methane is naturally occurring and no indications of oil and gas related impacts to water wells. what is your reaction to them saying that you should actually not be eligible for an oscar because of the inaccuracies in your documentary? >> this is insane. the natural gas industry has mounted a very expensive and extensive smear campaign against the film but the colorado oil and gas conservation commission confirmed that this was oil and gas related in pennsylvania, the p.a.d.p. also confirmed when people could light their water on fire is a direct result of gas drilling. what i've seen going across the country is confirmation of the reported thousands of cases of water contamination that are happening all over the united states. the -- >> i wish we could show more. you have clips of animals who have lost hair hair and other problems in these people's areas, the whole entire family having severe stomach distress and everything. mark, you mentioned how you were able, at least in your small area, to hold this at bay. what can other people around the country do who say what if this is coming here and what if it's already here and what i'm not comfortable with it? is there any recourse? >> you know, we're -- you feel like the system is set up against you and there's a lot of cynical forces out there that want us to believe that. but i have seen thousands upon thousands of people stand up and say no to this. it really is at the point where it is in our hands and on the state level, if you lobby, i've been to albany five, six times, if you lobby and if you link hands with your community, you can get things done, and what i find myself saying is if you're losing hope, then you're not doing enough. >> i want to thank both of you. congratulations, josh, on the nomination for this. mark, thanks so much as well for joining us. >> thank you. >> great to talk to both of you this morning. the documentary is nominated for an oscar this year. >> thank you. it is going to be a beautiful, even warm start to the weekend. i say a start. it's not going to end that way. it's going to end in some ice and snow for some of you. rob marciano is up next. [ male announcer ] surprisingly priced at $15,995, the all-new 2011 jetta has arrived. discover german engineering and premium style on the jetta s with best-in-class rear legroom, as well as no-charge scheduled carefree maintenance, all standard. that's great for the price of good. during the presidents day event, lease the all-new 2011 jetta s for $179 a month. ♪ all right. good morning, atlanta, georgia and hello from the atl. there is the downtown sky line. low to mid level clouds out there to start things off this morning. good morning again. i'm rob marciano in the cnn severe weather center. a lot of folks down south and on the east coast where it is unseasonally warm enduring low cloudiness and fog at times. on the west coast you're dealing with storms. this is a stormy pattern the past week and it continues this weekend. look at these numbers coming out of tahoe. 47 inches for two days. not including last night for alpine meadows and northstar seeing almost four feet and homewood, similar numbers. that is good stuff and the holiday weekend they will take it and more rain in the valleys and the snow is shifting farther to the south and see rain in southern california and maybe thunderstorms this afternoon and snow in the surrounding mountains of los angeles. meanwhile, back at the ranch where there was snow and subzero temperatures last week at this time, temperatures in the lower 80s yesterday. bartlesville, oklahoma, 82 degrees. all-time record lows last thursday to record highs yesterday. quite a turnaround. over a hundred degree switch in temperatures. day time highs today 79 in dallas and 76 memphis and 60 in new york city and 74 in d.c. a little bit of spring in the air. probably not going to last all that long. probably about 20 degrees cooler tomorrow. the front comes through dry for the most part, but chillier. same deal in chicago with wintry weather heading your way at the end of the weekend. "american morning" is coming right back. ♪ i thought it was over here... ♪ [car horn honks] our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back. ♪ ♪ .'t always easy switch to tide free & gentle in the white and blue bottle. no other free detergent is milder on skin. and unlike the leading free detergent, it removes more residue from dirt, food, and stains. so nothing spoils this tights enthusiast's enthusiasm. . tide free & gentle. style is an option. clean is not. also look for tide stain release free. cnn hero dan wallrack. >> being a top ten cnn hero was just very humbling. >> the true heroes are service men and women who answer the call. >> since the show aired, we have been getting phone calls and e-mails and donations from all over the world. it's just been incredible. >> we had seen dan on the cnn heroes tribute and we thought, that's a perfect guy we got to team up with. >> good morning patrick and jessica! >> abc's "extreme makeover" joined forces with dan to build a home for an iraq veteran wounded in ft. hood, texas. 13 soldiers died but staff sergeant patrick zeigler pulled through. >> he was shot in the head and he has made a remarkable recovery. >> reporter: for dan it's a help to chance to build a home on a much larger scale. >> 4,000 to 5,000 volunteers involved. >> we have tons of military folks helping us. this house is going to be built in a hundred hours where normally we would take about six months. >> reporter: an event at ft. hood honoring patrick and fiancee jessica, dan made a special announcement. >> we have established ft. hood victims fund to reach out to all of the families affected by this tragedy. >> i feel so good all the time about seeing these lives change. now we're going to be able to change a lot more. . ♪ the power of pictures and just one worth a thousand words. a cnn documentary premiering this weekend focuses on the works of civil rights photographer ernest withers. >> he has become a controversial person. but the pictures don't lie. soledad o'brien is live for news los angeles this morning. always good to see you. a controversial figure here, but many were calling him a civil rights legend. so the jury for a lot of people still out for him? >> reporter: can you be both? can you be both in you know, you may not know the name ernest withers but his photos, you know, the minute you see them, you know them well. one of the most iconic and important civil rights photographers in that era. and that word came out in the fall that he was cooperating. he was informing for the fbi and his family members are stunned and don't believe it. photos of dr. king and "i am a man" for the memphis sanitation strike he took photos of emmitt till. today what are the value of his pictures considering what we know with his now involvement with the fbi. take a look. through one lens, memphis and much of the american south was a frightening place to be but through another lens, the lens belonging to budding photo journalist ernest withers, it could also be exhilarating, exciting, inspiring. >> i don't think that he had the impression at the time that he was taking this for preservation of history. but he had a sense of the importance of what he was doing. >> if you look at his work, one of the things he had a feel for was the little guy, the poor guy that is working hard. he had a way of being able to photograph someone's face. it was almost like you were looking at the person's hands or something because you could see how hard their lives had been and it was in their faces! >> reporter: in 1960, black sharecroppers in fayette county, tennessee, were being evicted from their homes for registering to vote. tent city was emergency camp set up on donated land for those people who you suddenly found themselves with no food, no shelter, nowhere to turn. withers rushed there with the only aid he had, his camera. >> that was a sense of mission to him. i can remember him calling all of the different editors and reporters around the country. he literally called -- >> reporter: to pitch the story? >> right. that is what he would do when he felt there was something that really needed to be exposed. he had his own mission, a purpose. >> reporter: what was that? >> is to expose things. >> reporter: the question do the pictures lie or not and what is the value of ernest withers work knowing what we know. very interesting to hear from others who weighed in on the strategies and tactic at the time it. earle caldwell talked how the phish came to him and he described it as them putting his foot on his neck and say, listen, if you don't cooperate, we are going tell everyone you're cooperating with us. the black panthers who you are trying to report on, they will kill you when they think you are working with us and we will help spread that rumor unless you go ahead and work with us. it's interesting. ernest

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