and apple set to unveil the ipad 2. but the battle of tablets are heating up because other companies are out with their versions, as well. what everyone wants to know, will steve jobs make an appearance today on this "american morning?" it's 6:00, thanks so much for joining us on this wednesday, march 2nd. i'm kiran chetry. >> and i'm ali velshi. >> i was just going to say, congratulations this morning, mine is now obsolete. >> we'll be having an interview later on this morning. we do have important developments out of libya we were telling you about. moammar gadhafi is not going down without a fight. right now violence is erupting in eastern libya 500 miles from tripoli. witnesses say the town of ajdabiya was under control of rebel forces until a few hours ago when pro-gadhafi troops seized it back. now, later today a formal request for military help is expected to come from opposition forces in the rebel-controlled city of benghazi. they don't want our help on the ground, but they plan to formally ask america to declare libya a no-fly zone and assist with air strikes and weapons. right now, the obama administration is considering cutting all diplomat ties with libya, but there's a lot of resistance to lending military assistance to the anti-gadhafi forces. meanwhile, the united nations has booted libya off the human rights council. >> and moammar gadhafi appears to be launching an offensive against rebel-held cities. ben wedeman joins us from the eastern city of benghazi this morning. and sort of just paint the picture for our viewers this morning. what's the latest? what's going on with this offensive? >> reporter: what we understand from witnesses living in this area is that there was an attempt by forces loyal to moammar gadhafi to retake the town. and it's their very large refinery and natural processing plant. we've been told that gadhafi forces briefly had control of the city, but were subsequently driven out by local forces, which are fairly disorganized, but they're obviously very eager to put up a fight because they realize if colonel gadhafi reestablishes control in this area that it could be a very grave development. there were air strikes on the town of ajdabiya, on an ammunitions dump in that area which had previously been a target for air strikes by the libyan air force. we are on our way to that area now. we've seen that the opposition forces are sending reinforcements, including antiaircraft mounted on pickup trucks. obviously this is a serious development because this area by and large is firmly under the control of the opposition forces that clearly the forces loyal to moammar gadhafi are trying to test the perimeter, so to speak. >> i have another question just about who these rebel -- this rebel group is. you know, what are they made up of? and how armed are they? how much power do they actually have to fight a gadhafi regime? >> no military experience. and soldiers have security forces, policemen who -- >> all right, our transmission with ben is a little bit dicey because of where he is right now in this eastern city of benghazi where the rebel forces are currently holding on to their ground. but again, what could be shaping up to be a difficult civil war. >> right, this is a real transition from what we saw in tunisia, egypt, and bahrain where it was protesters against the government with the military on the side or at least on the government's side. here we've got armed rebels now and an armed government fighting against each other. the it is a very serious development and it explains why we're seeing a spike in oil prices, international concern in libya. real different from what we've seen so far. >> and we will continue to cover it this morning. in about 30 minutes, another big story developing is the humanitarian crisis growing awe long the border of tunisia as tens of thousands of refugees are trying to flee libya because of the unrest. and the chaos in libya is rattling investors in the u.s. as we just discussed, oil prices keep on spiking up another 2.7% yesterday. this is the increase in oil closing at just under $100 a barrel here in the united states. it was higher than that last week, but it has been in that area for a while. as a result of that, take a look at what happened in stock markets. the dow took a big hit, down 168 points. we also heard from federal reserve chairman ben bernanke who expressed concern about the economic recovery if the price of oil keeps climbing. also, democrats south of the border in wisconsin still staying away in illinois. and the governor of wisconsin unveiling his new state budget, which includes cuts to schools and local municipalities. and the protests will continue at the capitol. the governor planned to cut compensation and collective bargaining rights for union work sti ers. cnn's david mattingly is live in madison, wisconsin. any movement on either side? is there any hope of resolving this? or are we seeing more of the same today, david? >> well, kiran, we're approaching the two-week mark of that day when 14 democratic senators fled to the state of illinois essentially going into political exile to shut down this political process. and so far, no movement seen on either side. in fact, the governor coming out last night laying out his budget proposals being very clear saying the state of wisconsin is broke and they have to do some big changes to the way the state handles its books and spending in order to get out of the red by the year 2013. he says that he is confident, though, expressing some confidence that they will be able to continue inspite of this stalemate. >> i've been asked a lot over the past few weeks what happens next. well, i'm an optimist. i believe that after our budget repair bill passes, tempers will cool, and we will find a way to continue to work together, to help grow our economy. >> reporter: but right now, that stalemate apparently still ongoing. the democratic senators i spoke to yesterday after watching the government -- the governor's speech, they were saying that they are not willing to budge just yet. everything comes down to that collective bargaining issue. they say the governor does not need to remove any of the rights that the union workers now have that are working for the state. they say as long as that is on the table, they will remain in illinois. there has been some talks with republicans in the senate. there is some optimism being expressed that something will be worked out. but at this point, the stalemate continues. something here, kiran, is going to have to give. the big dramatic question is who will it be? >> all right. well, david mattingly, still as you said the two-week mark and no movement. coming up at 7:10 eastern, we'll be speaking with two state senators. has anything changed? is there any common ground? wisconsin republican glenn grothman and jon erpenbach. >> we'll hear from them and see what the next steps are. other states are watching this carefully. let's take a look at a couple of other states in crisis. california and rhode island. now, in california, more than 400 teachers in san francisco could lose their jobs at the end of this school year. just how many may get laid off. what we won't know until the summer. the city school district stands to lose an additional $27 million in state funding. and that's on top of the $113 million that the district has already lost. meantime, on the other hand, rhode island, the providence teachers' union is fighting back against a plan to fire all the city's public school teachers. they've filed a complaint against the school board in response to the providence mayor's decision to fire more than 1,900 teachers because of a $40 million school budget deficit. he needs to fire them all in order to have the freedom to hire them back. the union plans to hold a solidarity rally at providence city hall today. crews in florida, as we know yesterday, were struggling with that huge wildfire. now trying to get two wildfires under control. they've burned 18,000 acres in two counties. and it's all along the east coast of florida there. a busy part of i-95, which is threatened by the flames has been reopened. but, officials say they may have to close that stretch of highway again today. the flames are only 25% contained and at least one home was destroyed, entire neighborhoods may still be in jeopardy as the winds shift. in texas, fires that were burning through a football field every minute are now slowing down. 21 fires remain about 50% contained. 78 homes burned down since sunday. officials say that smoke from one fire caused a car accident, a deadly car accident. rivers overflow across the midwest. at least 5 inches of rain fell monday. and that is on top of all of the melting snow and ice. >> a lot of this is the weather we've had so far. the melting snow, the ice, and the rain. what can we expect for us now? rob, what's on the agenda today weather wise. >> couple of things. first of all, relatively quiet weather, or dry weather. that's good news for folks battling the floods. but still flood warnings posted from the western great lakes half way down the mississippi. other item up for business is this cold front that's sliding across the great lakes. and a cooldown in places like chicago today. new york's going to be nice, probably break 50 degrees, but tomorrow you'll get your shot of cold air. and the third piece of business is this storm slamming into the west coast, a strong one affecting everybody from san diego up through seattle. and high winds, especially across oregon and washington and heavy snow in through the sierras. we will take that for sure. temperatures as they are typically in the month of march are all over the place. anywhere from 59 degrees in d.c. to 16 in minneapolis. enjoy the warm air today, guys. it's going to get a little chilly. >> winds are going to blow back in. i can't believe 5 inches of rain since monday. that's amazing. >> and it was just really -- really slim layer of it. or a piece of real estate across central and eastern indiana getting into a little bit of ohio. but one spot got it and they're paying the price. >> rob, we'll check in with you in a bit. thanks. did he just misspeak? or did he mean to say what he said? mike huckabee, the former governor of arkansas and a possible presidential candidate in 2012 tells a new york radio station that president obama's views differ from most americans, why? because he was raised in kenya. you'll hear it for yourself. also, apple's expected to unveil the latest version of its ipad. find out why many say the gadget-maker has a lot riding on today. and actor charlie sheen has joined the twitter-verse. what more could he have to say? find out. it's 12 is minutes after the hour. 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>> very odd. i don't know. newt gingrich has his eye on the white house in 2012. the former house speaker is expected to make an announcement tomorrow that he's forming an organization to explore a run for the republican nomination. you see you have to -- his house aides insist this is not an official capacity. comments from another potential republican candidate for the 2012 presidency are raising a lot of eyebrows this morning. this one got a lot of attention. mike huckabee. he ran last time, former governor of arkansas. he claims president obama's view of the world differs from those of most americans. why? because he was raised in kenya. but the president wasn't raised in kenya. he was actually raised in hawaii and indonesia. listen to the comments huckabee made yesterday in an interview with a new york radio station. >> i would love to know more, but what i know is troubling enough. and one thing that i do know is having grown up in kenya, his view of the brits, for example, is very different than the average americans. >> this is a guy with experience of speaking in front of others. we don't hear a lot about huckabee saying things and retracting them. the former arkansas governor did, simply, misspeak and meant to say indonesia instead of kenya. well, again, you know, giving fodder to this whole notion, the questions about the president and is he one of us? >> or is he another? >> yes. again, he said he misspoke. meantime, all eyes on apple this morning. the company is expected to unveil the latest version of its ipad. and we'll find out why it's not only an important test for apple, but some of the other companies trying to get in on the tabloid game. >> a lot of them. and as you mentioned earlier, steve jobs, we do not know whether we will see him today or not. if you think talking and texting while you're driving is bad, wait until you hear that 1 in 5 drivers -- what 1 in 5 drivers are doing behind the wheel. it is 19 minutes after the hour. there are a lot of questions out there about retirement. let fidelity help you find the answers. our investment professionals work with you to help you make the most of your retirement and enjoy the life you've saved for. fidelity investments. where leading companies and millions of people go to get the real answers they need. call today. breaking news right now. you are listening to the voice, we believe of moammar gadhafi. in a room in tripoli. he's holding a press conference of sort. you can see reporters appear to be -- well, appear to be a lot of people gathered around. he doesn't seem to be talking just yet. >> they're saying there are pro-gadhafi supporters in the room, as well, who have also been voicing their support. clapping, dancing, and voicing their support for gadhafi. but again, he was speaking -- at least he has been speaking in this room and invited the press to hear it. >> we've got that. as soon as we get some of what he was saying, this is being brought to us by libyan tv. as soon as we get some of that turned around, we'll bring it to you, tell you what moammar gadhafi is saying. the latest news here is that overnight gadhafi forces were said to be taking back a city about 500 miles east of tripoli using aircraft fire, claiming it back from rebels who had taken control of that city. there's been a lot of activity overnight in libya. >> and this just crossed a second ago. some of the reporting on this according to reiters is that moammar gadhafi is saying his forces now control the airport and sea port of al brega. >> we'll continue to give you coverage on that. we've got our reporters live in libya. meantime, a new study out showing that talking and texting is certainly not the only distraction when it comes to driving. according to state farm insurance, nearly 20% of people admit they surf the web on a cell phone behind the wheel at least once a week. most say they only access the internet when they're stopped at a light or in traffic. >> that does scare me. a whole lot of unnecessary accidents because of that. i have to say, my phone's not off when i drive. i'm trying to curb the habit. >> i try to put it in my bag and zip it so it's not even a temptation. what haven't we talked about this morning? there's something we haven't been talking about. charlie sheen. charlie sheen's been in the media spotlight lately. and if you need more than you've been getting in the last few days, twitter. you're looking at a live shot of his twitter page. >> i'm surprised he hasn't been on this before, but he just. >> now he's got 600,000 followers already. he's been on this thing for about 36 hours he's been on twitter. >> unbelievable. >> here are some of his tweets. >> right. some of them. this picture with his so-called goddesses along with a message, winning, choose your vice. also, he tweeted chocolate milk. >> be clear with me who the goddesses are? >> those are a group of ladies that live with him. >> my sons are fine, my path is clear, and defeat is not an option. that last report may be due to there were reports that police removed his two sons. again, the fact that there are reports that his sons were in the home with him through all of this is a little bit disturbing. >> now that he's tweeting, do we have to talk about him less? >> yes. this story brought to you by kiran. apple's got a lot riding on today. expected to unveil the latest ipad. cue the ipad. kiran's got the ipad. and my great friend christine romans is back with us and has the news on this. >> this thing's obsolete? >> i think the new one's going to be slimmer, faster, might have a front-facing camera. some are saying it'll have a front and back -- >> there are a lot of complaints it doesn't have a camera. >> i like mine too. 1:00 eastern time we're going to learn more about what the new ipad looks like. the ipad has been a game changer in the computer world. they've sold 14.8 million of these in less than a year and this comes out to about 2,300 ipads are sold every hour. this is something that has been been a big driver for apple. but there's a lot of competition now because there are 102 tablets on the market. so yes, apple has the first. but they did a very good job with the first one. now they're going to have to do -- show they are better than all of those other tablets that are either on sale or in development. >> you know, something better. >> i got this august 26, 2010, and it's obsolete. and they're telling you to hold on because by christmas they'll have another version. >> by music players, there were other ones that were cheaper and held more stuff, but the ease of use of what apple does still gets them a lot of customers. >> and one of the big questions now about steve jobs who is on a medical leave from there. are people going to be more or less likely to buy products from apple? if he were out for an extended period of time, what kind of driving force is he at the company? there's a survey that shows that 80% of people say they would not stop buying anything from apple because he's out. you look at twux, that was a different story, really. there were more people who thought he was more of an iconic driver of the company. this company is really showing its chops in terms of -- i don't mean to sound like an apple -- >> no, i've been an apple denier for a long time, but ultimately they really have shown that they are trend makers. >> but there's a lot of competition now. 102 other tablets. they're going to have is to show they're the first mover and keep that first spot. >> we're going to be showcasing some of the other tablets, as well, and talk about the new version of the ipad later on in the show. and one thing i find interesting, people scoffed at this when it first came out and said, what is this supposed to be? i have a blackberry. >> i maintain it replaces nothing. >> it has quickly replaced in some cases newspapers, the kindle, or the readers. and in some cases, you don't really need to bring your laptop. i don't have to bring my laptop. >> the it's harder on your eyes, and it's bigger. i'm just saying. >> i hear you. >> i have one, but -- >> but the numbers don't lie. and how many? 14 million they sold. >> 2,300 every single hour. there is something about it resinating with consumers. >> no question about that. this company continues to amaze me. but you continue to amaze me too. great to see you. >> great to see you too. >> thanks for filling in for me in atlanta. >> you're welcome, and i'll be back for you in about half an hour. a growing crisis on the libyan border. we're talking about the unrest we just heard live from moammar gadhafi, as well. but in the meantime, people are trying to flee the country in great numbers. we're live on the border with tunisia ahead. this is the meeti. we are the company. don't sweat it. i just switched us to sprint, so e-mail, web...on 4g... it's all unlimited. 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[ male announcer ] switch to sprint and get unlimited 4g data on a wide range of devices. sprint 4g, it's business without limits. trouble hearing on the phone? only on the now network. visit sprintrelay.com. got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru. 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. we're looking at new york. live pictures right now. the sun coming up, 33 degrees outside. it's going to get up to 50 today. beautiful day in the city. >> yeah, i love that. unfortunately, then, we're going to be down to 22 tonight. seems like any time we get a nice day, it quickly changes. that's been the crazy winter we've seen. time for the top stories. and the political standoff continues in wisconsin. it's been two weeks since this all happened. the state's governor on top of trying to get that one budget bill out there is introducing a new budget. that spending plan is contingent on passing the measure that would end collective bargaining for most public and employee unions. the state senate can't vote on it until the 14 democrats return to the capitol, something they are refusing to do. >> i posted this on my twitter board this morning, got a lot of response to it. t the assassin will appear before a parole board today. he's now 66 years old, he served nearly 43 years in prison, this will be his 14th parole hearing he's attended since the beginning of his life sentence. moammar gadhafi is fighting back. live pictures where he's actually holding court, i guess you could say at the national celebration in tripoli. he's surrounded by supporters. this is inside of a hall in tripoli where he continued to insist that he holds on to power telling the people you will remain great. his troops used air strikes to try to seize back the power of the town this morning. it's been under control of anti-government forces until hours ago. significant because it is home to a large oil refinery. rebel leaders plan to ask the u.s. to declare libya a no-fly zone and want help with air strikes and weapons. right now, two u.s. warships are making their way to the mediterrane mediterranean. they entered the suez canal a short time ago. the suez canal, that's how you get into the mediterranean. they're headed toward libya. heavy got to go past egypt. let me tell you about those got 13,000 square feet, can also land helicopters and carry helicopters, carries anti-aircraft missiles and missile decoy launchers. it's also got a 600-bed hospital. so the it's a very, very useful ship to have in the area. the other ship, the uss "ponce" carrying similar equipment. the violence in libya is turning into a crisis on the borders. the tens of thousands of people, some with all of their possessions on them, on their backs are trying to escape pro-gadhafi forces into egypt, into tunisia. these are two countries dealing with their own instability. food and water are running out, especially bad on libya's western border with tunisia. tunis tunisian authorities are warning people may be bottled up there for weeks. arwa, what's it looking like there? what's the situation on the ground? >> reporter: well, ali, we're at the border crossing that is not the main border crossing that refugees have been using. it is 60 kilometers away from a small town that was in opposition hands for a few days. this specific border crossing saw the libyan military deserted for around a week before they came in and took it back on monday. a hard core source of pro-gadhafi military. it still remains in the hands of the opposition. however, we have also been hearing reports that military loyals to gadhafi moved in around that town, and that has raised great fears amongst the residents that the military is going to launch some sort of a counterattack. we've been hearing reports that residents have been trying to beef up their defenses, setting upper barricades, really trying to dig this. we've seen a small trickle of refugees coming across here. mostly foreign workers from egypt to bangladesh, some from south korea, as well. many of them saying that they have to flee the violence. as they were coming through, they said they had to navigate a number of pro-gadhafi check points manned by the military or civilians. a number of them said they had to make payments, bribes to get through. really a treacherous journey. what we saw yesterday when we were up north was a much greater influx of refugees and it is there where the united nations is saying there is already a humanitarian crisis underway. one they fear could turn into a humanitarian catastrophe, ali. >> what is in place in order to deal with this? tunisia's got its own issues right now. we know the ships are headed there. it's a 600-bed hospital. what exactly can they do to get food and water and treatment to these people who will need it? >> well, ali, that's really what this very dire situation is all about. and a number of tunisians we've been speaking to have been lamenting and quite angry about the fact that international aid has been so slow in coming, really up until the last few days, it has been largely the tunisian military, the local population rallying together, collecting food, things like bread, water, basic medical supplies to try to alleviate some of the refugees suffering. the military set up a number of tents. the u.n. came in two days ago and began erecting their own tent city to deal with the influx of refugees. they're planning to house some refugees. but in a single day now they're receiving around 14,000 refug s refugees, comes nowhere near to dealing with the scope and gravity of the problem here. and that is is why there are such great concerns. we were hearing from u.n. and other officials is that only 30% of the refugees that are coming across the border into tunisia are being reevacuated to their respective home countries. so the pile-up of people looking for shelter, food, the basics is growing to proportions that tunisia cannot handle at this point, ali. >> arwa day mono, thanks very much. we'll stay on top of this with you. here's an interesting part of a story about some of the big names in the music industry taking heat over the huge paydays they got from the gadhafi regime. we found this out from leaked documents showing beyonce and usher were both paid $1 million to perform for gadhafi's son back on new year's eve in 2009. mariah carey did the same show the year before. and now one singer nelly fertado says she's giving the money away. she tweeted she received $1 million from the gadhafi clan back in 2007 to perform for 45 minutes and she will donate that cash to charity. coming up next on "american morning," a pilot program on the rutgers university campus will let students choose the gender of their dorm mates. we'll tell you what's behind the new housing plan. and the anrant that got a designer fired. or, choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. smart move. ♪ colace capsules stool softener helps ease straining to make going easier. try colace capsules for effective comfortable relief from occasional constipation. save $3 right now. go to getconstipationrelief.com. breaking news this morning. we want to show you these pictures coming to us from libyan state television where moammar gadhafi is speaking right now in a hall in front of supporters insisting that he's still in control, pretty much. it's a rambling, you know, talk that he's giving. and sometimes it was punctuated with them cheering and clapping for him. again, he sort of it seems wanted to come out and insist he's holding power. >> but overnight, there were some developments where a city about 500 miles east of tripoli came under government attack. the government is saying they have seized that city back from rebels. that is unconfirmed. rebels are denying that's the case. but there do seem to have been violent developments overnight. things pushing this further and further into much more clearly a civil war where there is an armed insurrection, armed rebels versus the government using its own force against people. >> the armed rebels asking for help from the international community, as well, when it comes to trying to defend against the regime. >> there should be a formal request from the opposition to the u.s. to declare libya a no-supply zone and help with air support against the government. >> we'll keep following the developments this morning. there are many coming from libya. in the meantime, a tsa worker under arrest this morning. the employee is accused of escorting drug traffickers through security check points and onboard flights. authorities say they've been investigating walker since last summer and she was arrested yesterday along with a suspected drug dealer at the airport. following the suicide of a gay student earlier this year, rutgers university will introduce gender neutral housing giving male and female students the option of living together. 20 to 30 students will be part of the pilot program in the fall. it's believed to be in response to the death of tyler clementi. you'll remember this, he jumped off a bridge after that videotaped sexual encounter was posted online by his roommate. more than 50 other universities have gender-neutral housing. coming up, rob's going to have this morning's travel forecast after the break. and this anti-semitic rant that just got christian diore fired. what happened with john galliano. , uncomfortable skin with skin relief moisturizing lotion. only aveeno has an active naturals triple oat and shea butter formula that soothes, nourishes and restores moisture. women saw improvement in all five symptoms of winter skin in just one day. beauty you can see and feel. that's being comfortable in your own skin. aveeno skin relief. and now get dermatologist recommended relief from severely dry skin with eczema therapy. new from aveeno. discover the power of active naturals 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. it is 47 minutes after the hour. let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines from none other than rob marciano in the extreme weather center. what do you got for us today? anything that's going to cause -- we've had some busy, exciting mornings. what have you got for us? >> nothing more exciting than that dramatic intro. >> we should quit while we're ahead. >> you, sir, should be up for an oscar. what we're looking at is nothing drastic in the eastern 2/3 of the country as far as storms go. that's the good news. the bad news is damage is done as far as how much rain this area has seen and all the way down to the mid south on top of a pretty decent snow pack. pictures from indiana showing a number of rivers up and over their flood stage and have yet to crest, including some of the bigger ones, the ohio river, parts of the mississippi river, and all the way up to the illinois river, as well. and some of these rivers won't crest until friday or saturday night. so slow go of it. and this will be an ongoing story, i'm afraid to say, throughout the spring. spring-like weather across the northeast today. temperatures starting out in the 30s. but notice behind this front, temperatures are dropping in places like detroit, chicago, milwaukee. and that cold blast is to remind you we're still officially in winter. that'll be coming through chicago today, into the northeast tomorrow. big storm from seattle athe way down to san diego today. rain in the valley, snow in the mountains, probably a foot or better across the higher sierra nevadas with snow levels at 6,000 feet. winds, as well, hurricane-force wind warning just off the coastlines of oregon and washington. might see some delays in seattle and san francisco because of that. dry in new york, but breezy at times, pretty warm southwesterly wind, as a matter of fact, and that may slow down some travel in the usual spots, but the southeast, relatively quiet today. you know the weather's not going to help or hurt the fire situation in texas and florida. 68 degrees for the high temperature in atlanta, 32, 16 in minneapolis, still winter, 52 degrees in new york city. enjoy that, much colder tomorrow. >> yeah, we'll enjoy it for a few more days. >> one day. this morning's top stories just minutes away including selling sex on facebook. for so long the emphasis was on craigslist. how about facebook? a new trend in the world's oldest profession. how prostitutes are finding clients on social networking sites. and breast milk for sale on the internet. [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee time. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze. but with zyrtec® liquid gels, i get fast, 24-hour allergy relief. so i feel better by the time we tee off. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. welm, well, an end of an era. the chief designer was fired after a shocking anti-semitic rant. >> now galliano was arrested in a paris bar last week. what a story. >> oh, it's an incredible story. and people who watch fashion say it's one of the biggest stories in fashion history. you know, john galliano has been fashion's bad boy, considered a genius, but also a designer with a dark side. people who know him say there were some warning signs. his right hand on the creative side died recently in the pressure of creating more than a dozen collections a year was immense. but nobody, not even his closest friends could've predicted this. >> reporter: his collections wowed the fashion world, and john galliano had his own signature style. but the designer showman's biggest spectacle to date is this. >> people are like you would be dead today. >> reporter: britain's "sun" newspaper said the event happened in october at a cafe where galliano just last week was arrested for allegedly making similar racist comments. through a lawyer, he's denied the charges. but once the tape emerged, christian dior took steps to fire him. >> john galliano was slightly the charlie sheen of the fashion world. what do you do? >> reporter: christian dior is owned by the largest luxury conglomerate. >> looking at the design talent they have in-house, it's the new york yankees in way. mark jacobs, ricardo tiche designed cate blanchett at the oscars. the company's newest face, natalie portman, did not. >> it's probably one of the biggest stories in fashion history, i would say. this kind of fall from grace is extremely rare in this business. >> can he recover? >> it would be surprising. >> natalie portman, by the way, who is jewish released a statement saying she is deeply shocked and disgusted by the video and says i will not be associated with mr. galliano in any way. what about the house of dior? it's always a highlight. one of the biggest highlights of paris fashion week will go on as planned on friday. the reality is the clothes have been made. and it is a big business. the clothes with or without galliano will sell, it's a billion dollar brand. and the hottest game, a parlor game in fashion right now is who will take the job. who will take over dior? >> it's also interesting, alina, there were a lot of things they'd be willing to excuse, but the anti-semitic rant -- >> and the degree to which. it wasn't something that you might say was misinterpreted, i didn't mean to say this. it was highly specific in what he said. >> that's absolutely right. and the reality is this incident -- the latest incident during which he was arrested last week, that could've ended up being a he said/she said situation, could have been dragged out in court, but once "the sun" newspaper got ahold of the video of the separate incident in october, everyone knew in fashion this would be his end. >> great to see you, thanks. the top stories coming up in two minutes. when your eyes are smiling... you're smiling. and when they're laughing... you're laughing. be kind to your eyes... with transitions lenses. transitions adapt to changing light so you see your whole day comfortably... and conveniently while protecting your eyes from the sun. ask your eyecare professional which transitions lenses are right for you. basic. preferred. at meineke i have options on oil changes. and now i get free roadside assistance with preferred or supreme. my money. my choice. my meineke. striking back, moammar gadhafi forces storm opposition-controlled towns attacking rebel volunteers with tanks and heavy arms. it's a back and forth battle for the future of libya that is quickly dissolving into what some say is a civil war on this "american morning." and good morning to you, it's wednesday, march 2nd. welcome to "american morning," i'm kiran chetry. >> and i'm ali velshi. moammar gadhafi is fighting back hard. new pictures of gadhafi -- live pictures by libyan state tv. this is moammar gadhafi speaking to supporters in tripoli, libya. he is insisting he is still in control of libya. this has been going on for some time, by the way, gadhafi's speeches tend to go on for some time. 500 miles away in eastern libya. the towns are reeling from air strikes overnight. government air strikes. pro-gadhafi forces. we don't know if they're government. they could be militia seized control of an area that is home to a large oil refinery. later today, a formal request for military help is expected to come from opposition forces in the rebel-controlled city of benghazi. they want america to declare libya that no-fly zone and assist with air strikes and weapons. let's go back to those pictures we've been looking at. these are in libya. there are journalists there, but many people in the room are pro-gadhafi. there are gadhafi supporters. this is moammar gadhafi -- i think he'd been speaking, what do you think? over half an hour now? >> what he's saying -- at one time trying to show he's still in control, but then in his words and rambling at times saying he has no real power, that he's not the president. so he really couldn't resign. he keeps saying the people have the power. and he says he does not even have a parliament to dissolve and he's holding no position with which to step down from. >> this is a state. it's important to remember, unlike egypt or even tunisia, bahrain had a weak parliament. a parliament with no authority. in libya, they've dismantled all civil institutions of government. there are very few governmental institutions and ministries that have any authority at all. so he has constantly maintained he's the head of this people's country anyway. so how can the people be wanting back power from the people? and this is part of his logic that makes this a little more complicated to listen to. >> yes, and again, so movement's happening by the moment really in terms of the control of these key oil towns and whether or not there will be more attacks by people, pro-gadhafi forces. we'll continue to follow that today. meanwhile here at home, wisconsin governor scott walker unveiled a new budget with major cuts, $1.5 billion in all targeting schools and local governments. meantime, outside the capitol, the protests continue. two weeks people have taken to the capitol basically living there, protesting the governor's repair bill plan that would cut collective bargaining rights for the union workers. 14 democratic senators fled the state to prevent a vote on the plan. walker took note of the empty seats during his budget address. >> above all, let us not lose sight of the fact that we were each elected to represent the people of this state by participating in our democratic process. i applaud the state assembly and those in the state senate who are in this chamber today for not losing sight of that. >> part of his budget is based on his attempt to reduce the ability for public workers in wisconsin to negotiate using collective bargaining rights. if that is passed, it could have a ripple effect on some workers' wages, not just in wisconsin, but throughout the country. christine romans minding your business talking to us a little bit about why everybody's watching this so closely. there are some people who say to us, why all this attention on wisconsin? >> because it's not just wisconsin. this is starting to ripple throughout this country, as you said. and what started in wisconsin spreading to other states now. and it matters for public employees, taxpayers, and the financial health of these stes.at the heat of the debate gets all the attention. in wisconsin, ending collective bargaining in rights would raise $30 million by july, $300 million over the next couple of years. how? making teachers pay more for their health benefits and contribute more to their pensions. essentially amounts to an 8% pay cut for teachers. they don't want teachers to collectively bargain for their pay raises. they haven't had a raise in a couple of years. is this political or balancing a budget? depends on who you talk to. governors have choices. so what they do reflects their politics. they can try to raise taxes. he does not want to raise taxes. they can cut programs, cut funding to prisons. what we haven't seen before is ending collective bargaining. that's what makes this budget cutting exercise so different. >> and for people who find it outrageous or people who say this is union busting, how would, theoretically, governor walker save money if there were no more -- if he could end collective bargaining? >> because right away -- right away he would make the teachers pay more for their benefits and pensions and immediately that would save money. they have protections in their contracts, in their collective bargaining contracts that limit how much they are contributing. so right away you would say -- >> one piece that gets lost in this whole thing is they would be paying more for their pensions, they already pay for their pensions, but the pensions like so many pensions in this country are underfunded. many public unions, many workers have under-funded pensions. so basically the argument on the union side is you guys miscalculated, so why should we, the workers, pay more? >> it really is a mess and a mess on a lot of different levels. and we've said this before, when the money starts to run out, this is why when you're not making money in the country and running budget deficit, this gets so ugly. all of these choices are very, very tough. and this one, critics call it union busting. say this is union busting. but there are people in wisconsin who say, no, this is about the public sector having to bear more of the burden too. >> tough argument. thanks, christine. coming up in a few minutes, we're going to get a firsthand account of the budget battle in wisconsin. we talk to republican state lawmaker glenn glothman and jon erpenbach still out of the state. today the senate is expected to follow the lead of the house and approve a stop-gap spending bill. the measure cut spending by some $4 billion. the next part for republicans and democrats is much harder, which would be negotiating an agreement on what to spend for the rest of the year. and the assassin who gunned down robert f. kennedy in 1968 will appear before a parole board today. two psychologists insist sirhan sirhan no longer poses a threat to society. this is going to be the 14th parole hearing he's attended since beginning his life sentence. and a little more than three hours, shuttle astronauts will gear up for their second space walk of this mission. today's focus will be to tackle some smaller tasks. they're installing new cameras. and of course, the whole space walk, many of it are broadcast. it's amazing to see, expected to last about six hours. >> do you have any desire to do anything like that in life? >> the run-up to it is a lot of commitment. i don't know if i'd pass them up. i don't know if i'd get through that gyroscope thing you do. we've got icy midwest floods. in indiana, water is pouring out of windows, businesses were flooded as rivers overflow across the midwest. so much snow in the midwest, remember that? it started to melt. at least 5 inches of rain fell on monday on top of all of the melting snow and ice, and that's been complicating things in the midwest. crews in florida are still struggling to get two major wildfires under control. they have burned 18,000 acres in two counties along florida's's coast. we told you about that busy part of i-95 that was shut down. it has since reopened. but officials say that the highway could be closed again today since the flames are only about 25% contained and they're worried about the winds shifting. one home was destroyed and entire neighborhoods are still in jeopardy because of it. so the winds still an issue. i know they got a bit of a break yesterday. they were able to reopen the roadway. >> the wind direction is key in florida. it's a peninsula, so depending on the direction will give you certain levels of humidity and either help or hurt the effort. right now, the winds are now turning more easterly, which means off the water, which will increase the levels of humidity. also pushes the smoke and fire away from i-95. at times it will be gusty today, should help them and disperse some of the smoke. they're not going to get 100% contained today. but it should stay away from i-95. all right, up the i-95 toward new york, you'll see a nice day. cold front making its way aupstate. until it does that, spring-like behind that front is certainly some winter-like temperatures. you mentioned the flooding. a number of major rivers under flood stage right now and that's going to continue for the next few days. some of the bigger ones not expected to crest until the end of the week. 52 for the high this new york today, tomorrow's high will be closer to chicago's today which is right around freezing. ali? >> thanks very much. we'll keep an eye on that with you. next on "american morning," wisconsin's democratic governor is locked over bargaining rights for state workers. neither side is giving up. we're going to talk to lawmakers on both sides of the issue to find out exactly what each side has to gain from preserving or eliminating collective bargaining rights. she's on a bad run of headlines recently. christina aguilera allegedly too drunk to get herself home. ended up briefly in jail. your advertising mail campaign is paying off! business is good! it must be if you're doing all that overnight shipping. that must cost a fortune. it sure does. well, if it doesn't have to get there overnight, you can save a lot with priority mail flat rate envelopes. one flat rate to any state, just $4.95. that's cool and all... but it ain't my money. i seriously do not care... so, you don't care what anyone says, you want to save this company money! that's exactly what i was saying. hmmm... priority mail flat rate envelopes, just $4.95 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. and we can cook out more with friends. my card lets me work out more. ♪ and ours lets us eat out more. aarp helps us do our favorite thing. the new website is my favorite thing. [ female announcer ] with aarp you get so much more out of life. call now to get the latest issue of our award-winning magazine absolutely free and discover the best of what's next. >> woman: good night, gluttony-- a farewell long awaited. good night, stuffy. >> ( yawning ) >> good night, outdated. >> ( click ) >> good night, old luxury and all of your wares. good night, bygones everywhere. >> ( engine revs ) >> good morning, illumination. good morning, innovation. good morning, unequaled inspiration. >> ( heartbeats ) wisconsin governor scott walker has released his budget plan for the next two years. a plan that he says justifies cutting bargaining rights of union workers. the issue has touched off a political fire fight in wisconsin and beyond. so joined now by republican glenn grothman and jon erpenbach is one of 14 democratic senators still in political exile. they're postponing the vote set to cut union bargaining power. let me start with you, senator erpenbach. let's discuss this for a second. what is the issue now? the unions have agreed to many of the concessions that governor walker's looking for. the issue is coming down to collective bargaining rights. why is -- why are these collective bargaining rights so important to preserve for these public workers in wisconsin? >> well, you're talking about the birthplace of collective bargaining for public workers. if anyone is willing to talk to their employer collectively about their job. some people think the collective employees are part of the problem. actually, they're part of the answer. they've offered up every single penny the governor has asked for. we'd like to hear that the governor at least acknowledges the fact that the public workers have given them the money, every single penny he's asked for. >> senator, that's a fact. the governor hasn't really made that point. what do you save in the budget by eliminating these collective bargaining rights? what's the line item you get? what's the win you get for doing that? >> you save a lot of money in collective bargaining. governor walker is a moderate republican. doing is same thing that jimmy carter did when he was president. he took away collective bargaining from federal employees. and president obama and the democrats when they were in charge a year ago, they kept getting rid of collective bargaining rights for federal employees. scott walker is continuing to allow it over wages, but it costs too much to continue to have to bargain over work rules with these public employees. >> senator, let me ask you specifically. because i know you gentlemen are really, really involved in this and we as journalists are really involved. for the rest of the viewers who aren't, what part of collective bargaining is expensive to you? is it seniority, tenure for teachers? what's the thing that actually saves -- it's not expensive to sit and have negotiations. what's the expensive part? >> oh, the expense is you can't tell people what to do. if you want the teachers to meet after school for half an hour, you can't do that. if you want a teacher to watch the lunchroom, you can't do that. here in madison, they're paying overtime to bus drivers. whenever you try to save money and make government more efficient, you have to go through the union. that's very expensive. >> senator erpenbach, let's have a response to that. so few of the members of this country are part of unions. what is the argument here? because the trend is against very, very strong collective bargaining rights for unions. >> well, one of the things at least at the public level collective bargaining represents accountability for taxpayers. it's a lot easier to contract out for those jobs. you can lay off a snowplow driver in wisconsin, it's still going to snow, the work needs to be done. at the very least what taxpayers get out of collective bargaining, again, that everyone understands full well that the public employees have given up that they've given up every penny, collective bargaining gives us accountability. we can hold a public employee directly accountable, you can't hold a contractor publicly accountable. >> john? >> go ahead. >> in this budget you still have civil service protection. civil service protection gives these public employees far more protections against layoffs, or far more protections than most private sector employers. that is not true. they will still have great protections. >> senator erpenbach, are you heading back to madison at any point? when are you guys coming back to the state capital? >> we could be up in madison in a couple of hours and we could vote on this if they would agree to drop the union-busting language that the governor insists on holding to. and the collective language has nothing to do with the money. the money isn't even an issue anymore. the governor has his money. we'd love to come home and vote on this. no, it's not an issue, because he's got the money, glenn. you know that. so we'd love to get rid of the language. >> we'd love for you guys to continue to talk about it and come to some agreement on the whole matter. thank you for joining us to make it clearer to our viewers. thank you, senators. thanks for being with us. we're going to be right back in, well, it's 18 minutes after the hour. we'll be back in a couple of minutes. it's where ethel percy andrus found a retired teacher living because she could afford nothing else. ethel couldn't ignore the clear need for health and financial security. and it inspired her to found aarp. for over 50 years, we've continued that work, to help all americans pursue their best life. discover more of what we do, for every generation at aarp.org. mike huckabee claims that president obama's view of the world differs from most americans because he was raised in kenya. the president actually grew up in hawaii and indonesia, but we want you to listen to some of the comments he made yesterday in an interview with a new york radio station. >> i would love to know more. but what i know is troubling enough. and one thing that i do know is his having grown up in kenya, his view of the brits, for example, very different from the average american. >> again, huckabee is the former arkansas governor and potential 2012 presidential candidate for republicans. he's currently a fox news host. his spokesman says he simply misspoke is and meant to say indonesia and not kenya. christina aguilera held in jail for public sboxification. she was a passenger in her boyfriend's car and given a dui yesterday morning. also took aguilera to jail for her own safety because they say she was too drunk to safely get home by herself. police say they will not be pressing any charges against her. a dramatically slimmer queen of soul. this is aretha frankly last year before she underwent surgery for an undisclosed illness back in december. take a look at her now. she's at least 25 pounds lighter. the gospel legend spoke to "jet" magazine. she says she's cutting down on the quarter pounders, and wants to be a size 16 by her 69th birthday. >> she looks like she lost a lot more than 25 pounds. addiction and mental illness. in light of charlie sheen's erratic behavior, there are many wondering if he's suffering from bipolar disorder and how the illness may be related. and it's the new take on "the social network." prostitutes in new york city allegedly selling sex on facebook. [ male announcer ] the inspiration for its shape was an archer drawing his bow. ♪ could that have also inspired its 556 horsepower supercharged engine? ♪ the all-new cadillac cts-v coupe. we don't just make luxury cars, we make cadillacs. osteoporosis treatment-- no big deal. so i have to wait up to an hour just to eat or drink. i've got time to kill. yeah right! i'm a working woman. and i'm busy. why should osteoporosis therapy disrupt my morning routine? with new atelvia there's no wait. unlike other osteoporosis medicines... atelvia has a delayed- release formulation... so you can take it right after breakfast and help protect your bones. do not take atelvia if you have esophagus problems, low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or cannot sit or stand for 30 minutes. follow all dosing instructions. stop taking atelvia and tell your doctor if you experience difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn, which may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. tell your doctor if you develop dental or jaw problems, as serious jawbone problems have been reported rarely. also tell your doctor if you develop severe bone, joint, or muscle pain... or any hip, groin, or thigh pain... as unusual thigh bone fractures have been reported rarely. with atelvia, the mornings are all mine.. talk to your doctor about new atelvia. some shocking statistics this morning about facebook and prostitution. here's what a sociologist at columbia university found after following prostitutes in new york city for a year. 25% on average of the prostitutes find their clients through facebook. the research found that 83% of the women had a facebook page. and that's raising questions about the responsibility that facebook has to stop it. >> yeah. escort agency is still the top one, but facebook coming in at number two. sunny hostin contributes to "in session." good to have you in this morning. these social networking sites, the oldest profession finding a way to infiltrate the social media. >> it's the oldest profession in the book, in the world. they have found -- the working girls have found facebook. there's no question about it. i will tell you i got on facebook and started looking around and it was shocking. i mean, wow. sex just everywhere. my husband walked in and was like, what are you looking at? it was that easy to find. so i was very surprised that it was there in your face. in fact, the new york daily news did an article on this story and they talked about this woman molly ravish and how she was selling her wares on facebook. here's her facebook page. and what's interesting to me is she says some of her friends with benefits say why does your page get news? she says lol, i know they deleted it because it was solicitation. i will tell you, i then got back on. she now has a fan page. i clicked on her fan page, led me to her web page, she was selling her wares there. it made me blush. so you can imagine. >> facebook did offer this comment. they said we will take down content, disable accounts, and may take further action including escalating illegal activity to law enforcement. we strictly enforce this policy through proactive investigations and response to user reports. and, of course, we saw something like this happening on craigslist a little while ago. they then reviewed their policies and part of the issue is these prostitutes can't find a home on craigslist as easily as they used to be. does facebook need to do this? >> i don't think they need to do it. they want to be good corporate citizens. but there's a federal law saying websites aren't responsible for content put up by third parties. they get 1 billion pieces of content downloaded a day. they get 2 million sort of reports of alleged inappropriate comments put on a week. and so they can't possibly police it, but they try to do it and they're trying -- >> they're not using the arguments that this isn't our responsibility, we're not going to do it. >> they're not. they're taking responsibilities if you look at their terms of service, ali. they say you cannot post pornographic material. but people are doing it. >> but how vigorously they do it is another thing. but it is an interesting -- the other thing when you get into the issue of having to do with minors, that's a whole different story. >> yeah. >> is there an online investigative presence when it comes to these social networking sites? or is it, hey, it's private? >> no, facebook is, you know, they have a security officer, a privacy officer, and they are working. they're on the case. and so i really commend them. but as parents, you know, let me put my mommy hat on and take my lawyer hat off, you have to monitor your children's views. it was so easy for me to get on. these kids know how to get on the internet. they have facebook pages. parents, beware, you've got to monitor. >> thanks, great to see you. >> thank you. it is 28 minutes after the hour. time for your top stories. moammar gadhafi is fighting back. he's holding a news conference now. live pictures from libyan state tv going on for about an hour now or longer. a bit of a rambling speech. supporters and some journalists in there. he's telling them he's still this control of libya. his troops used air strikes to seize two eastern towns overnight. home to a huge refinery, one of them is. looks like the federal government will remain open for business for another two weeks. republican-controlled house was able to pass a stopgap measure to keep the government funded. they call it the continuing resolution. the senate is expected to follow suit today. but it still is a temporary fix. the two parties need to negotiate the long-term spending deal. and the assassin who gunned down robert f. kennedy in 1968 will appear before a parole board today. sirhan sirhan has two noted s h psychologists on his side. he's 66 years old, this is going to be his 14th parole hearing he's attended since beginning his life sentence. charlie sheen's recent erratic behavior has led some to speculate that the actor may have a mental illness known as bipolar disorder. very few people talk openly about this chronic condition. cnn's chief medical correspondent, my good friend dr. sanjay gupta is live in atlanta with some light on some mental illness. this mental illness. sanjay, is it easy to tell if somebody's bipolar? it's an expression used a lot disparagingly. but can you really tell if somebody is bipolar? all right. sanjay's trying to keep it a secret from me. i'm going to try to get him to actually tell us the answer to that in a second. we'll get back to sanjay in a second. stay with us. we'll be right back. but you've got another story coming up. >> yeah, an interesting one. we all know that you're highly encouraged to breast-feed. even the surgeon general made a national call to action about it. we're going to talk a little bit more about this industry crossing up on the internet about buying other people's breast milk. is it safe? and why are so many doing it? if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. it outperforms in the world's toughest industry tests. castrol edge. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. but you can still refinance to a fixed rate as low as 4.75% at lendingtree.com. plus, get the best deal or we'll pay you $1,000. call lending tree at... today. with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual-action listerine® whitening rinse. building whiter, stronger teeth. all right. we've got sanjay back. charlie sheen's recent erratic behavior has led some people to think he may have a mental illness known as bipolar disorder. it's common, nearly 6 million american adults are bipolar. very few people openly talk about this chronic condition. sanjay's with us in atlanta to shed some light on this mental illness. sanjay, it's an expression you use -- one hearses toed around a lot, bipolar disorder. how do you actually know if somebody does suffer from bipolar disorder. >> it's interesting, and an opportunity now to talk about something we don't talk about enough, ali. when you talk about bipolar illness, there are specific criteria, which psychiatrists will look at to try and figure out if someone, in fact, has two sort of different disorders. one being the manic episodes that people go through with bipolar, people feel very euphoric, they have jumpy, agitated behavior, impulsive behavior. these are just general ideas of the way the person may behave. and the other side of the bipolar, the depressive episodes where someone overly depressed, hopeless, loss of interest, change of eating and sleeping. i think sometimes these can seem subjective. how long do they have to last for someone to truly be diagnosed? and thousand do you know if someone is actually benefitting or responding in some way to treatment? and this is really fascinating, ali. and i've i wanted to talk about this for some time. you can get objective measurements. if someone is, in fact, having problems with mania or depression and be able to objectify that. take a look over here on the left. first of all, these brains on the left are normal brains. pay attention up here, the frontal lobe, it is activating. why is that important? the frontal lobe, ali, think of that as the filter. it makes you think about something before you say it, think about something before you do it. now look over here on the right, much less activity in the frontal lobe areas. that's important. the filter sort of off. you can probably guess what this sort of brain is emblematic of. someone in a manic episode. the reason this is so fascinating, ali, you can take brain mris now and get a real sense of how if someone is, in fact, having a depressive episode or a manic episode. this would be really, really bright if someone is having a depressive episode that filters on strongly. everything is sort of thought about, you analyze everything too much and that can be the brain of someone -- >> you know, charlie sheen said in an interview -- in fact, it was with piers morgan where he said, people are saying i'm manic and that means there's going to be a crash coming. he's hitting that part of it head on. how much of that sort of behavior, specifically the lack of filter that you talk about. how much of that is quite likely sociological or psychological as opposed to neurological? >> well, it's hard to say. and again, you know, i don't know anything about charlie sheen specifically here. but this idea that, you know, whatever the reason may be, whether it may be due to a particular chemical change in the brain or something that, you know, is a result of experiences is unclear. this may actually shed some more light on that, as well, but the idea, again, that you can objectify when someone is having one of these episodes and diagnose it in some way. and also importantly, if someone is treated, does it change their brain? you know that the treatment has worked now through some sort of objective measurements. again, it's not available for everybody yet, but this is where it's headed. >> very interesting stuff. sanjay, always a pleasure learning stuff from you. dr. sanjay gupta in atlanta. >> thanks, ali. well, new mothers are not just going online for child rearing advice. they're going online to get breast milk. websites connect mothers with women who have extra breast milk. they connect mothers with extra breast milk to mothers in need of the so-called liquid gold. these websites have doctors concerned saying it's unscreened, passed from mother to mother, it's untested, and it could expose the baby to drugs and infectious disease like hiv. the professor of pediatrics at cooper university. we as new mothers and young mothers have always been told that breast-feeding is quite important. it seems that the pendulum has swung back in the direction that breast-feeding exclusively for six months is truly best for your child. and for some people, that's a lot of pressure. >> it may be pressure, but in our society, more and more women are getting the message that there's no question there's more evidence every day that breast-feeding exclusively for six months and continued breast-feeding for at least a year is definitely the best way to nourish and nurture a baby for the best health outcomes for the baby as well as the mother. so more women in the united states are choosing to breast-feed, 75% or so are at least starting to breast-feed. >> and we will get more back to those numbers, as well, because people that tried initially and are not able to continue it for the recommended time is another issue. i want to ask about this whole nation of getting milk from donors online. first of all, you do prescribe a prescription for breast milk for premature and sickly babies because it's very important. how is that different than what's happening here? >> right. so we say when mothers can't breast-feed or can't produce their own milk for their own babies, the next best choice is donor milk. and the donor milk that we're speaking about is milk that's acquired through recognized milk banks under the umbrella of human milk banking, association of north america. and that milk is treated through apasteurization. also those mothers are screened to make sure they're not using substances such as medications or elicit substances that could be harmful. we do recommend donor milk and it can be life-saving for premature infants to receive that milk. >> so let's take a look at what it would cost, though, because there were people who say i'd love to get it from a milk bank. it can cost $45 an ounce. so you're talking maybe $100 to $150 a day. and some of these women who have been using these non-screened breast milk women they've met online say, look, i can get it for $1 to $3 an ounce, that's why i have to try to explore other options. >> that's true. for a full-term baby, buying milk from one of those milk banks would be cost-prohibitive for those families. so then mothers choose to find mothers milk, donor milk in some other way. and what's been happening is that these websites have popped up all over the internet. >> do you think they're bad? >> we do not recommend this type of casual sharing of human milk. because for many years. primarily because that milk is not treated. so it doesn't go through the method of pasteurization that would eliminate infections. in addition, the milk is not from screened mothers. >> right. >> and there's no quality control of what that product really is that the mother. >> some of the stories you'll hear is i've developed this relationship with this person. understands how heart breaking it is for me that i don't have the extra milk. it's interesting because it's human contact established through the internet has enabled some of these women to feel as though they can trust where they're getting this milk. >> yeah, and i think that speaks to the generations upon generations of women that have used wet nursing throughout the years. and so there has been a culture for many years of recognizing the value of wet nursing. when a mother couldn't breast-feed her own baby. and in fact, in generations past, that was a life-saving way to keep a baby alive and nourished. but now we have new conditions that we're faced with, which is hiv infection. and we didn't have those conditions in the past. so not only do we have new conditions, but we have recognition that some of the harms of things that can transfer into human milk. and i think it's incumbent upon us to be wise and prudent before recommending unscreened -- >> bottom line, are we putting too much pressure on women? you talked about 77% of new moms trying breast-feeding that whittles down only to about 3% who can do it for the recommended six months. at the end of the day, is your kid going to be okay with formula instead of breast milk? >> there's no question there's a difference between the baby receiving human milk versus the baby who is is not. either a combination of breast-feeding or formula feeding. there's no question that the best thing to do is give exclusive breast-feeding. and the question really comes up, why are these internet sites popping up so often? it's because not only 33%, but only 13% of our nation's women are able to exclusively breast-feed for six months. so it's so few women that can actually make it to what our recommendations are for breast-feeding. so we have to ask ourselves why? why is it so many people start out breast-feeding and yet our culture and our society and many pieces of our culture don't support our women's ability to be able to continue breast-feeding exclusively. >> that's another big conversation. we'll have that for another day. thanks so much for joining us. good to get your take this morning. ♪ i have clients say it's really hard to save for the future and they've come to a point where it's overwhelming. oh gee, i'm scared to tell you i've got this amount of credit card debt or i've got a 15-year-old and we never got around to saving for their college. that's when i go to work. we talk, we start planning. we can fix this. when clients walk out of my office they feel confident about their retirement. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. re for4's t wh it comes to securing aouatioyou really shoul this craftan right angle impact drir. it's the right toolor the job. over 30,000 tools. 400 brands. and the expert advice to get it right the first time. the mega tote event is this friday and saturday. fill an 18-gallon tote with as many tools as you can and save 10% off everything in it. sears. home of craftsman. welcome back to "american morning," we are minding your business this morning. a federal judge has ruled that the nfl violated the collective bargaining agreement with the players union. the judge cited the league's renegotiation of network tv contracts which required a $4 billion payment to owners regardless of whether there is a work stoppage or not. now, the players' association claims the owners are using the war chest as leverage in the labor fight. the two sides just completed eight days of mediation. the league's current cba, collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight eastern time tomorrow night. well, now might be a good time to dig through your old o income tax records. the irs says it has more than $1 billion in unclaimed funds for 2007. it's interesting, we talk -- we do this right around tax time every year. if you think you're entitled to the money, you have to hurry because the deadline for making a claim is coming up next month. let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. rob marciano is in the extreme weather center. rob, what you got? >> day two of march, and it's pretty quiet. but the flooding issues will continue on and off throughout spring. pictures in indiana where they got 4 inches to 5 inches of rain, a very short period of time, that on top of a snow pack and still dealing with a tremendous amount of flooding. a lot of rivers, the wabash and the illinois river in illinois and also up to ohio, seeing some flooding. and the bigger rivers, the ohio river, the mississippi river, the larger rivers are not going to crest until we get to thursday, friday, and saturday. meantime, spring-like weather across parts of the northeast. temperatures today will get into the 40s and 50s, but there's a cold front. this one's pretty strong, actually and sliding across the western great lakes. temperatures in chicago may barely get over the freezing mark. and a winter-like storm across los angeles. heavy snow in the sierras, could see over a foot above 6,000 feet. and wind offshore, a hurricane-force wind warning for winds gusting at hurricane force at times. not a good time to be in the shipping lanes there. philly, boston, chicago, same deal with this storm coming onboard, minor delays out that way. as we mentioned, you know, fairly quiet across parts of the south. the weather not really going to help or hurt the fire situation both in texas and florida. no real rain in the forecast for the south for the next couple of days. probably not until friday or saturday. daytime highs in dallas, 73 degrees, 68 degrees in atlanta, 62, new york city, 59 in d.c. but 32 in chicago and 16 degrees in minneapolis. just one more reminder that we are still officially in winter. and tomorrow afternoon, it'll feel like winter across new york city. >> yesterday you said we were in meteorological spring. and we all agreed we were going to roll with that. >> well, we are rolling with that and today it's going to feel like spring. >> and then it turns to winter again. >> we get the best of both worlds. >> thanks, rob. top stories minutes away. also the government is speerpting on prisoners, or the government has in the past experimented on prisoners and the mentally mentally ill and s happened before and could it happen again? we will talk about the new effort to make sure a dark moment of history doesn't repeatityself itself. >> why you may want to book your flight now before prices spike. o really save you 15% more on car insurance? host: does it take two to tango? ♪ ♪ anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% omore on car insuranc an end of an err ra at christian dior. john galliano who was a chief designer is fired after tape showed him an anti-semitic tirade. >> obviously, not his latest outburst. this has gone from an interesting sidebar to a big deal in the fashion world. >> imagine news of his termination, if you will, came on the first day of paris fashion week. you can imagine the fashion world is certainly abuzz and everybody is talking about this story. john galliano has long been fashion's bad boy. considered a genius in the industry but also a designer with a dark side who has long fought demons like drinking and people who know him say there were some warnings signs. his right hand on the creative side died recently and the pressure of creating 14 collecttions a year was immense but nobody, not even his closest friends, could have predicted this. ♪ >> reporter: his collections wows the fashion world. and john galliano had his own signature style but the designer showman's biggest spectacle to date is this. >> no but i love hitler. people like you would be dead today. your mothers and your forefathers would be [ bleep ] gassed. with you, you're ugly. >> reporter: britain sun newspaper said the incident happened in october at a trendy paris cafe. the same cafe where galliano just last week was arrested for allegedly making similar racist comments. through a lawyer, he has denied the charges. but once the tape emerged, christian dior took steps to fire him. >> john galliano was slightly the charlie sheen of the fashion world so it's like what do you do? >> reporter: christian dior is owned by the world's largest luxury conglomerate, lvmh. >> looking at the design talent very simply have in house it's the new york yankees in a way. they have a strong bench. john jacobs and rah card tow tishi. >> reporter: some call tish to be the front-runner to replace galliano. nicole kidman and sharon stone both wore dior but the company's newest face, nat lie portman did not. >> it's probably one of the biggest stories in fashion history, i would say. this kind of fall from grace is extremely rare in this business. >> reporter: can he recover? >> it would be surprising, to be honest. >> reporter: natalie portman who is jewish released a statement she is shocked and disgusted by the video and said i will note be associated with mr. galliano in any way. what about christian dior? the dior show which is always one of the big highlights of paris fashion week will go on as planned on friday. the clothes have been made and the models have been booked and the reality is christian dior is a billion dollar brand. this is a very big business and one of the jewels of lvmh. >> are people going to not buy their stuff because of this? or do they separate this from john galliano? >> i think the smart people in fashion say that christian dior acted swiftly before there was even a hint of taint on the brand, if you will. the big question is what is galliano's future? and who is next in line at christian dior? this is a famous french brand with a rich history. a lot of people are watching the story certainly. >> thanks. >> you bet. we will take a break. home to the lateste depadeal making technology. our highly advanced thingamajigs and whatchamacallits are constantly gathering intelligence on the best deals for you. with name your own price, they're yours for up to 60% off. but we're always looking to improve. for instance, what does this have to do with finding hotel deals? we're not sure. yet. it could be gadhafi's last stand. the embattled libyan dictator launching air strikes on two towns held by rebels and trying to seize back control of the country on this "american morning." good wednesday morning. it is march 2nd. i'm ali velshi. >> i'm kiran chetry. following developments in libya where gadhafi launched an air assault on his own people in a desperate attempt to take back control. witnesses tell us in the last few hours, bombs started falling on two towns held by anti-government forces in the eastern part of libya. al brega and ajdabiya. our ivan watson joins us in tunisia along libya's western border. we showed pictures of gadhafi speaking a short time ago. what he said was he had no real control. he was not really in power. it was the people's power yet, at the same time, we're hearing of these bombings. >> that's right. >> reporter: he was talking an awful lot, a mantra he has repeated about the threat of foreigners, about the threat of al qaeda. now we're to the west of libya in tunisia and you may be able to see. i don't know if we can catch it in time, the refugees that have been escaping from libya, rather than people coming in that are allegedly trying to destabilize his regime, tens of thousands of refugees who have been fleeing libya, fleeing and many of them are telling us, kiran, that gadhafi's forces are robbing them as they try to go to the tunisian border to flee for safety. they are loading here on a navy ship one that has come to evacuate the tens of thousands of egyptian migrant workers who are fleeing and described as a humanitarian crisis. these are poor men gone to libya to work because they can find jobs as construction or steel workers there or hairdressers. they say on their way out libyan soldiers and police robbed them of their cell phones and robbed them of any kind of storage devices, cd roms and people are tired and exhausted after days of dangerous travel and some of them tell us the libyan soldiers are even stealing what few earning they have managed to make during the time in libya, stealing that from them as they come to tunisia and then sleeping in the streets for days, waiting to be evacuated on vessels like this egyptian navy ship. >> what a sad situation that you're highlighting for us. ivan watson on border with tunisia and libya. thank you so much. as we have been reporting, there are efforts to get some international aid there and we are hearing about france and we know we have two of our ships going there as well to the area to help with this humanitarian crisis that is unfolding on the border. >> a real complication. normally which there is a humanitarian crisis and a request for aid, the governments of the world like the u.s. government will be dealing with a government. but this is tricky in libya because the obama administration right now is considering cutting all diplomatic ties with libya this morning. ed henry joins us from the white house. this is complicated, ed, because even some libyan missions around the world have broken with the libyan administration so it's unclear who the u.s. relations are with anyway right now. what is going on? >> reporter: absolutely, ali. it is risky for the u.s. in some ways as well as, because even during this crisis, u.s. officials have had some contact and communication with the libyan government. that has been very important because while the libyan government maybe is not listening in terms of stopping the violence, it has been important to have that channel of communication in order to get americans out safely out of tripoli, for example. the reason why the u.s. now is considering cutting off all diplomatic ties. remember, we have already essentially shut down at least temporarily the u.s. embassy there in libya, is because this could put more pressure on moammar gadhafi. some people may roll their eyes and say why would he care? actually, it matters because it was a big dool for gadhafi a few years ago when the george w. bush administration recognized his government again and gave him some legitimacy on the international stage, and from our own state department correspondent jill dougherty, we are picking up the state department privately are considering cutting off all diplomatic ties to say this is a rogue nation again, pretty much what the president and secretary of state have said publicly and put pressure on gadhafi. it may not matter in the end but i think it shows the u.s. is trying everything and anything to get gadhafi's attention. so far the levers they have pushed has not cut off the violence. the other options may be military action and, in fact, that is very tricky and difficult and it's not clear-cut and would take a lot of work bringing allies along. the bottom line is they are trying anything and everything right now, ali. >> the other quick question, if the rebels who are considering asking for this help with enforcing a no-fly zone, would the united states be on board with that? >> they are considering that as well but that is treacherous for a number of reasons. number one, the u.s. is probably not going to unilaterally arm the rebels. they would want to bring allies along and some allies that may be skittish about arming the rebels. that is one challenge. secondly, perhaps more importantly, the u.s. does not want to add its fingerprints all over the rebels and make it look like the use is propping up the rebels. you remember throughout the crisis and the crisis in egypt before this, president obama has taken great pains so 0 to say we are not pushing the people along and supportive of their peaceful protests but we want to make sure it's organic and not the u.s. is propping it up and pushing it along and that may delegitimatize, if you will, their concerns on the ground there. but -- so it would seem if you start arming the rebels it puts the u.s. stamp all over it. right now, it seems unlikely but a week from now if this humanitarian crisis continues, it may be one of the only options left. >> we may look back and see this as the few days where this changes from protests and unarmed protests into civil war in libya because somehow they are getting weapons. good to talk to you. thanks. >> good to see you. >> the chaos is reverberating here in the united states. oil prices in particular spiking on this news. right now, they are up trading at around a hundred dollars a barrel. >> which you can't see on that chart. there we go. >> there you go. >> obviously, as oil prices increase, so do the prices at the pump. according to aaa gas prices is up more than a penny overnight which doesn't sound like much, given how much gas has risen the last few weeks. the national average is $3.39 per gallon. just wait until you try to fly again. could air fares be doubling in the coming weeks and months? christine romans joins us now. >> that sounds horrible, doesn't it? >> particularly for me because i use airplanes like a bus. i'm a few a week. >> obviously, you have to start biking again. >> from atlanta to new york. >> on international flights you will see that bite there. tom parsons told cnn radio you could see 400 dollar is yosurch on 90% of flights. $400 there. he says if you're traveling this summer, home for a good fare and if you see a good fare, buy it. that is the advice from tom parsons of best fares.com because they are only going up. what we know is american airlines is cutting its plan capacity growth by 1%. what does that mean? fewer seats and maybe fewer flights or different kinds of more fuel-efficient planes. >> which is a trend we have been seeing for years. >> that's right. >> it's complicating something already. airplanes don't like to fly empty seats. >> absolutely right and they don't like to fly the older, more fuel-insef planes. they will be switching to the planes they are sending up in the air are going to be changing. this is something you could see air fares move up. we have seen the big carriers try to raise air fares. it's hard to stick because the low cost air carriers won't go along with it. a third of their cost being oil, it's pretty inevitable most folks say you're going to see air fares maybe doubling. >> i've been looking at fares and talking to people and the numbers coming back are quite remarkable. you are seeing these increases. >> you have been seeing thechlt. >> it's strange. we spoke to a cross-country flight for my hubby and got unbelievable round trip deal and it was just on delta. one of many that were low. maybe it's the calm before the storm for domestic travel. >> best fares is saying if you see something like that, book it now because the pressure for the airlines is pretty incredible. american airlines lost $15 million because of all the storms. that was a revenue hit of $15 million because of the storms in january and february and oil coming up is a third of their cost for the airlines. >> i will become a long distance runner. >> how many places you take a week? three flights a week? >> three or four flights a week on a plane. good to see you. i know you've taken a few already this week. >> google says it's in the process of restoring e-mail accounts that suddenly disappeared over the weekend. the problem affected tens of thousands of users which by the way, in the google world isn't all that much. they blame a glitch in the software update but how did the company lose and find the data so quickly? well, it's a good lesson to you that information never disappears. the answer is google stores all of that data. >> that's right. in big, big computers! >> big computers. >> somewhere far, far away. is your old ipad -- >> it makes you teary to talk about it. >> is obsolete. every six months, boom, boom, something new. should you upgrade or should you wait? an ipad3 coming out well. we will talk to a tech genius on it and other tablets people are competing for this tablet business. >> i want to know how long it is before you get your hands on the next ipad. i don't know anybody who love their ipad as much as you do. mike huckabee is in hot water after saying the president's world view is different than most presidents because of where he grew up. what is wrong with saying that? we will tell you on the other side. we're america's natural gas. and here's what we did today in homes all across america: we created the electricity that powered the alarm clocks and brewed the coffee. we heated the bathwater and gave kelly a cleaner ride to school. cooked the cube steaks and steamed the veggies. entertained dad, and mom, and a neighbor or two. kept watch on the house when they slept. and tomorrow we could do even more. we're cleaner, domestic, abundant and ready now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power today. learn more at anga.us. but you can still refinance to a fixed rate as low as 4.75% at lendingtree.com, where customers save an average of $293 a month. call lending tree at... today. 13 minutes past the hour. a shot of the white house this morning where washington, d.c. is waking up with 37 degrees now. fair, partly cloudy a little bit later today. going up to a high of nearly 60. >> former arkansas governor and potential republican presidential candidate and former republican president candidate mike huckabee claims that president obama's view of the world differs from that of most americans because he was raised in kenya. nothing wrong with being raised in kenya, except the president was raised in hawaii and indonesia. listen to the comments that huck c -- huckabee made yesterday. >> i would love to know more but what i know is troubling enough and one thing that i do know is having grown up in kenya, his view of the brits, for example, very different than the average american's. >> a spokesman for huckabee says the former arkansas governor simply misspoke and meant to say indonesia instead of kenya. newt gingrich is positioning himself for a potential 2012 white house run. former house speaker is said to make an announcement yesterday he is forming an organization to explore a run for the republican nomination. his aides insist this is not an official declaration that gingrich is a candidate for president but they privately expect him to run. chris dodd has been named chairman and chief executive officer of the most picture association of america. the group lobbies washington on behalf of the movie and television industries. dodd says his experience working across party lines will help him in dealing with entertainment executives. legends of music, movies and literature honored at the white house today. the president is giving out his national medal of art to a very accomplished group of people. let's show you some of them that are going to be receiving this award. quincy jones, the man who produced "thriller" being honored for not only his contributions to american music but reinventing it by pop, jazz and hip-hop. harper lee for her ground-breaking novel "to kill a mocking bird." that is resonating within a new generation now. merle streep many say the best american actress of our time. and james taylor who voice and endless song book has influenced music lovers from all walks of life. apple launches ipad2 today. how much better is it. i'm going to be interviewing kiran chetry who knows the ipad better than anybody else about the tablet. actually, we will bring somebody else in the interview after this. homeowners -- rates have been going up, but you can still refinance to a fixed rate as low as 4.75% at lendingtree.com. plus, get the best deal or we'll pay you $1,000. call lending tree at... today. do you see this? throw it in the garbage because they have a new one and it's apparently much better. this is my ipad. >> what is going to be new and better about it? listening to you talk about this a year, a year you've had this? i can't imagine it could get better. >> i know you have one, too. i guess you don't break it out as much as i do. the new one is supposed to have a camera, perhaps two cameras, smaller, lighter and dual operating system so you can do more. is it worth it to run out and buy? what about the other tablets vying to join in this market? good to see you this morning. >> thank you so much. >> we are teasing a lot but you did get to see some folt tows of the ipad2. what makes it much better? >> it's 40% thinner and very thin and has beautiful tapered edges and has a bigger speaker and it will have two cameras. >> two cameras? >> for face time and also to take pictures. a lot of people complained why the heck did they make this first one without a camera? >> i think they couldn't get it right in time but now i think the ducks are in a row. it definitely will be an ipad, too. >> you have a few things in front much you. we always bring you the example there was digital music players and some cases that are more featur features than an ipod did and they never took the ipod on. will these other tablets take on the ipad? >> it's hard to crack the code. there is these three competitors that most of them are -- they are very solid tablets. >> take them through with us. >> this is cool. i don't know what this is and what order you were going to go in but i think this is -- >> very portable. >> you have to work it a little bit. if i had rehearsed i would be able to stick this in my jacket pocket:i get where you're going. this is the smallest of them. >> it's the blackberry playbook and the first tablet from blackberry and business ready. intint with your personal e-mail and corporate e-mail. >> i love you said it's corporate ready and picture of elmo right there. >> sometimes you have to have some fun with some applications. >> does it handle well? >> it's very smooth. people have done a great job with it. it should be out the end of this month or early next month. >> how much? >> it will be competitively priced. >> we don't want to give you all of the news here. >> this is motorola and just came out from verizon. it's extremely fast. runs google's latet operating system and it's cool. you can flip through all of your different screens and go through the browser. you can pull up a site very quickly. and, again, this is the number one competitor to the ipad right now from google. >> can you tell us how much this is going to be? >> this is more expensive than the ipad and probably the second ipad. $600 without contract for the wi-fi version. >> the third one you have, what is that? >> this is the g-slate from t-mobile and lg. this is going to be out probably again the end of this month, next month. what is cool it's smaller than the zune, more portable, thinner. >> it's lighter. a smaller screen and cool because it has 3d camera so you can take 3d camera and tv, if you have that. it's very solid. >> what is your general take? if you've got a few hundred bucks and you want one of these things, what is your thought? >> i mean, definitely wait for today. see what happens with the ipadannouncement. i like the playbook. it's a compelling product but these are also good choices. they may be a little bit confusing for consumers. >> the whole time you've been talking i've been trying to get this in my pocket and i wasn't able to. i need bigger pockets. >> if you have an ipad, do you need to run out and by the ipad, too? >> what she is looking for is permission to buy the ipad2. >> it's a great product but rumors there might be an ipad3 before the holidays. >> that is insulting. >> yeah. >> you could justify buying it because you use it so much. >> good to see you. >> thanks so much. >> it will be interesting to see because as we said, people pan this at the beginning or at least try to make fun of it a little bit and now they have sold 14 million plus so see what happens. jonathan geller with boy genius report.com, thanks so much. >> thank you. is your industry dying out? check this out. we are looking ahead, 10, even 20 years to figure out what the top ten jobs of the future will be. >> this is going to be really interesting and important for those of you looking to change careers and those of you looking to start a new career. coming up a little later, a shocking secret. medical experiment conducted decades ago by the u.s. government on mental patients and inmates. how did the public not know this was going on? and are we sure that it's still not going on? it's 23 minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] unrestrained. unexpected. and unlike any hybrid you have ever known. ♪ introducing the most fuel-efficient luxury car available. ♪ the radically new... 42 mile per gallon ct hybrid from lexus. ♪ welcome to the darker side of green. ♪ christine romans is joining us here. we just promised that we were going to tell you about looking forward. looking ahead. the jobs st future. everybody needs this information so let's not waste our time. let's get right to you. what you got? >> how many times have you heard me talk about s.t.e.m.? >> the future of work the next ten years. new analysis from contrary builders shows ten jobs that you can expect will grow. that you should be looking for and training for in the next ten years. technology. a stimulator engineer and social media manager that is technology. medicine and environmentalism. the three big blocks of the future of work. in medicine, genetic counselor and medical records administrator stem cell researcher and medical coders. those are in big demand. >> this is about billing, medicine coders? >> yes, i think so. >> you say make the transition from electronic records and that is going to be an enormous amount of -- >> quite remarkable how many hospitals still do this on their own and how many doctors do it on their own as we mandate a change to everybody being automat automated. >> a huge growing part of the economy. you want to get in health care the jobs paying the money. not the ones paying $19,000 a year. environmentalism orange food farmers and from career builders analysis they have done, specific kind of jobs. one technology job i thought was interesting social media manager. a lot of companies trying to figure out how to harness social media. the state with the best and worst job growth. >> i'm wading for idaho. >> it's not on the list. some of those states like north dakota and south dakota the commodities boom is good for them but diverse bases for jobs. >> the worst nevada, california, big problem there with real estate, too. and new jersey, believe it or not are the worst states for jobs growth. >> california have been hit hard by the recession so they have a lot of people unemployed. >> it's hard to kind of pivot after you've been doing something for 20 or 25 years but struckive if you're in college and a kid going to college if you're thinking about a career reinvention these are the areas getting all of the buzz. >> i thought more alternative energy. moving past oil and gasoline and trying to sort of -- >> there is bigger growth in traditional energy in oil, natural gas and coal right now. i think there probably is going to be a great deal of job but you talk about s.t.e.m. jobs. a lot of those engineering jobs. if you like alternative energy, take that and combined with the environmentalism and you got that. >> ali is a good proponent of accounting. i don't see anything here that doesn't take a batcher's degree, folks. >> sciences, not arts. >> the bottom line, most jobs in america in the next ten years will require a basic college education, not a high school education so that is worth remembering. >> thanks, guys. >> great to see you. it is 30 minutes after the hour. time to check this morning's top stories. take a live picture of the capitol where the senate will plan to keep the government in business another 14 days. the house passed the bill yesterday to avoid a government shutdown on friday night and saturday morning and cuts $4 billion in spending. republicans say that is only the beginning. assassin who gunned down robert f. kennedy appears again before a parole board hearing. this time two psychologists are insisting that sirhan sirhan is not no longer a threat to society. he is 66 years old and has been 44 since in prison. his attorney claims his client has no memory of the shooting and suggests a second gunman was involv involved. moammar gadhafi is holding a news conference i think is well into its second hour. he is telling journalists and a number of reports gathered in the room in tripoli he is still in control of libya and some things happened overnight that seem to be backing him up. >> he launched air strikes against two towns in eastern libya in an attempt to seize them back from anti-government rebels. albrega and ajdabiy appear cnn's ben wedeman is in eastern libya and joins us on the phone right now. hello, ben. >> reporter: a major battle seems to be brewing here in eastern part of libya near the town of al brega a vital natural gas and oil export facility. we are told this morning by eyewitnesses several dozens pickup trucks full of forces loyal to moammar gadhafi with anti-aircraft guns and mortars came into the edge of town. they seem to be in control of some parts of brega. what we are seeing on the other side is hundreds of people basically volunteer fighters are flocking to this area to prepare for some sort of counterattack. we were at the main checkpoint outside of ajdabiya which is a half hour drive from brega. hundreds of people there were busy assembling anti-aircraft guns and rifles they just got out of a ammunition dump and washing them down with gasoline to get the old grease off. so now we're at this other checkpoint outside brega where more of these fighters are coming and assembling and preparing to launch a counter offensive against gadhafi forces in the town of brega itself. we are told at least two people have been killed in the fighting so far. witnesses say a 12-year-old boy and a 50-year-old man were killed and just where i am, i've watched as several ambulances have gone by with the wounded and also in private cars containing people who were wounded in the fighting. kiran? >> ben, it's ali. let me just ask you something. as we're watching this, we are noticing the difference what happened in tunisia and egypt where you covered both on the ground. where it was protesters and armed government. is this becoming civil war and can you, on the ground where you are, determine who government forces are and who our rebels are? >> reporter: this is very much developing into an armed conflict instead of, as you said, an armed protesters against the security forces of the state. at least in this area. it's very much, it looks like, it's becoming plain out and out war fare. >> ben, thank you very much. we will keep on top of this story. >> as ed henry eluded to as well it's a tough decision for the united states about whether or not they would help enforce a no-fly zone in that region because we have tried to carefully not insert ourself into that situation and appear to be siding now with these loosely -- >> loosely affiliated our positions. there are number of embassies around the world, libyan missions have disassociated themselves with the libyan government so this thing is becoming murkier and murkier by the hour. u.s. government doctors injecting cancer cells into disabled people in new york giving a pandemic flu virus to prison inmates in maryland. this is not fiction. this actually happened. how did it happen? we will speak to amy gutman in charge of studying bioethical issues for the president and also the president of the university of pennsylvania. she is up next to tell us how to make sure it doesn't happen again. not funny. act my age? -why? -why? -why? i love the sun. past sun goddess. every line has a story. 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[ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business. . this morning we want to talk to but one of the biggest vlgs of medical edgeics ever perpetrated on u.s. citizens. it started in tuesday ski gee, alabama. they did not consent to the tests and they were intentionally denied simple treatments that could have helped them. president clinton eventually offered an official apology and a settlement was reached but this week, medical experts and others are meeting to make sure something like this never happens again. leading that effort is amy gutman. she heads the presidential commission for the study of bioethical issues and she is also the president of the university of pennsylvania. dr. gutman, thanks for being with us. this is not a single incident. we have actually had many of these things happen. what is the purpose of your commission? are we worried that these types of things are still happening today? >> ali, we can't know whether these things are happening today unless we have a fact-finding mission and that is what president obama has asked the presidential commission on bioethics to do, to actually meet with experts and ask them what is it today that would prevent these things from happening again. they have happened too many times in our history and we want to make sure and the president wants to make sure that we can assure the american public that if they are part of a scientific experiment or a medical experiment, they will be treated with respect and fairly. >> i think it's fair to say many of us assume that the very important testing that goes on for drugs and diseases should be and that there are rigorous standards for them. what are the basic things that you think need to be established and accepted across the board? what are the basic standards for deciding when you're using people to test medicines or diseases? >> so that's exactly the right question. we should all be able to know that certain basic standards are in place when we agree to be part of a clinical trial. and those include that the trial has some value, scientific value, that it has a protocol that makes the benefits to the risk ratio favorable to the people who are in the trial. we should expect to have informed consent to the trial. we should expect that there be an independent review board that has reviewed the trial for its ratio of benefits to risk, and we also should expect that we will be treated with respect during the trial. so it ought to be something that everybody who volunteers for can expect to benefit from. >> it sounds very logical but let me go back to 1962 to 1966 at the will low brook state school in staten island where an experiment using children who were mentally retarded. they were given hepatitis orally to see if they could be cured with gammaglobulin. how do you deal with than consent issue with mentally retarded children? >> the will low brook case and another case in a jewish disease hospital with elderly people, those are the kinds of cases we want to make sure cannot happen again. how we deal today with children is i call it the mother and child test we should have, which is is if it were your child, would you want your child in this experiment? >> yeah. >> so it is, again, the closest -- the parent or the custodian of the child ought to be fully informed and consent but that's not enough. there also has to be an independent review board that makes sure that these experiments are beneficial on balance. >> i know given your academic history and the rigor you want to approach this you don't want to offer an evaluation where we are right now. tell me this. where is the united states with respect to the rest of the world? are there places in the world that we think this is still going on and that rights are being violated? >> well, first let me say that we heard from experts yesterday in washington and we asked them this very question, how is the united states relative to the rest of the world? and they actually said there are ways in which the united states is not the most favorable place to have clinical trials and part of that is because the cost is so high. remember, this is like a tight rope. you want to make sure you don't have trials that take so long that beneficial medicines cannot be given to people because that saves lives. at the same time, you want to make sure the trials aren't so short that they short-circuit the risks. and so you want to make sure that drugs don't go on to the market where br they are actually safe. so we don't know right now how the united states is relative to the rest of the world and that is why the president has asked me to convene an international test for some experts and those experts are going to sit down with me and we're going to actually discuss how different countries and the united states fare in this regard and we should come up with a report by year's end that can inform the public, as well as the president, of where we stand. >> we know you're having more hearings in may. we will follow this along with you. very curious to see what happens. dr. amy gutmann is the chair for the study of bioethical issues and the president of the university of pennsylvania. we check in with rob marciano coming up. cold air invading the north and snow and rain in the west. he is keeping an eye on it. we will be right back. [ male announcer ] you've climbed a few mountains during your time. and having a partner like northern trust -- one of the nation's largest wealth managers -- makes all the difference. our goals-based investment strategies are tailored to your needs and overseen by experts who seek to maximize opportunities while minimizing risk. after all, you don't climb a mountain just to sit at the top. you lookround for other mountains to climb. ♪ expertise matters. find it at northern trust. ♪ that is the remedy and the remedy to the cold in new york is to be right there in atlanta. beautiful, balmy. a fair 45 degrees, but later on, it's going to be mostly sunny and 69. >> too bad you can't fly there any more. >> no, the air costs but i can run. rob is there. >> he can enjoy is the weather. >> driving home from work yesterday, the pear trees were blooming and the cherry trees starting to blossom. spring comes early down in the south so come on down and enjoy. with spring, we have to deal with the potential for flooding and we just started this ball rolling. rain across the midwest the past couple of days especially indiana through parts of ohio and that coupled with the intense snow pack led to the flooding in these areas and the water filtering into the main rivers, ohio and mississippi and won't crest until thursday or friday or even saturday and the beginning of the spring melt and look for more issues going forward. across the northeast, almost spring-like. some of the trees want to bloom but they feel the pinch today and later on tonight with this front dropping down. we are looking at temperatures that will be much, much cooler tomorrow. it's already cooler across parts of the western great lakes as this air mass drops down to the south we are talking about temps tomorrow across the northeast will be 10 to 20 degrees below average and at least 15 to 20 degrees below where you are today. so be prepared or at least enjoy what mother nature brings you today. bringing storms to the west coast from seattle down to san francisco. down to san diego. this is a strongest, a big storm and wind with it and higher elevation snows and this is slowing down the airport right now at san francisco if you're flying out west, be aware of that. hour delays in san francisco and probably see delays at the new york airport because of that mild southwest wind. it may be just enough to switch up the runways there at laguardia. across the south, texas and florida still dealing with the fires. not weather going to help or hurt the situation there but certainly no rain involved. the bigger story is the cooler air that reinforces a reminder that we are still in the winter season. 69 degrees in atlanta today for a high. bring it on. 74 in dallas and 52 in new york city today. but 30 in chicago today. this air is certainly driving down to the south and east. 16 degrees in minneapolis. i'm not sure when the trees bloom up there in minneapolis. >> it's the perennial snow bush. it's always white and you can't see it until august. >> nobody grows them better than in minnesota. >> exactly. >> perennial snow bush? a little over an hour astronauts on the shuttle will do spacewalk number two today and installing new cameras. the whole spacewalk is expected to last six hours. globs of oil washed ashore last summer appear the bp oil spill. now thousands of gulf coast residents and cleanup workers are wondering what effect it might have had on their health. remember those pickets? 49 minutes after the hour. with aarp we can fly out to see family. and we can cook out more with friends. my card lets me work out more. ♪ and ours lets us eat out more. aarp helps us do our favorite thing. the new website is my favorite thing. [ female announcer ] with aarp you get so much more out of life. call now to get the latest issue of our award-winning magazine absolutely free and discover the best of what's next. of our award-winning magazine absolutely free but you can still refinance to a fixed rate as low as 4.75% at lendingtree.com, where customers save an average of $293 a month. call lending tree at... today. we're getting new and alarming information our libya out of our ben wedeman on the ground in eastern libya. he joins us on the phone now with the latest. you were talking about hearing airplanes overhead and also some potential bombings. what are you hearing? >> reporter: i'm hearing not potential bombings but real bombings. we saw aircraft flew overhead. we're outside the town of brega. they dropped one bomb about, i'd say, about two miles away from us. then the planes made another turn. the plane that made another turn and dropped a bomb probably about 40 yards from where i was standing. nobody was injured. nobody was killed in the bombing, but, obviously, the libyan claims feel free to fly throughout the skies of libya and this is all part of this ongoing battle that's going on in the town of brega which, of course, is critical, given that it has these large oil export and natural gas exports facilities, and we understand that the libyan forces have taken over a university on the outskirts of the village, the town of brega and we have been watching as hundreds of volunteer forces from the opposition side have been gathering in this area making preparations for a possible counterattack against the libyan forces, the gadhafi forces in the town of brega. >> let me know what -- what -- later in the day, we are expecting, ben, been reporting we expect coalition of opposition forces to ask the united states to declare and enforce a no-fly zone over libya. is this what that is meant to counter, the idea that libyan planes are bombing their own cities? >> reporter: that is the desire that some sort of no-fly zone be imposed so exactly this kind of bombing won't be able to happen. as it is, the anti-gadhafi forces don't have much air power at their disposition. as we were, just minutes ago, sort of sitting ducks in a very open terrain. but not all libyans are in favor of foreign involvement in this current rebellion, but increasingly what we're hearing, certainly from people here on the front lines is that they are desperate for some sort of stop to these air raids that could have consequences. >> we hear the sounds above you and behind you it seems as you're even on the phone with us right now. are you currently in danger? and are people around you right now? i mean, what is the -- i guess what is the plan, if any, to stay out of harm's way? >> reporter: it's kind of difficult to tell you that, because, you know, when there is gunfire, you can always hide. when aircrafts are dropping bonks fr bombs 3,000 feet above you, all you can do is hit the ground and hope you don't get hurt. >> you started in tunisia and you ended up on egypt and now on the western side of libya. is it your sense this is the battleground and where it's going to be? eastern libya is the area we understood to be controlled by anti-gadhafi forces and now this overnight -- these raids, these bombs and a show of force by the libyan military. is this where the fight is going to happen? >> reporter: certainly this is where one of the fights is going to happen. this is sort at the very edge of the area controlled by the anti-gadhafi forces, so, inevitably, some sort of conflict and some sort of fighting between the two. but really the more critical action is going on in the western part of the country in towns like misrata and i think more than anything, this is just an attempt to tell the people of the east who have thrown off gadhafi's rule that they are not safe, they are not immune from the reach of gadhafi's air force and ground forces. >> please stay safe. i know you're reporting on a very important and history-making event that is happening right now. ben, thank you so much. ben wedeman in eastern libya where he said, you know, there are bombs being dropped from airplanes. >> he said one was 40 yards from him. >> 40 yards from where they were. he said no one was injured or killed that he could see in that air strike but a show of force by the gadhafi government. we will have much more coming up. we will take a break. ???????????