flying older 737s to inspect them more often. days after a southwest 737 had to make an emergency landing when a hole opened up in the roof. on capitol hill and across the country, a possible government shutdown is two days away. budget talks still at an impasse. nfl owners and players also at an impasse. the athletes antitrust case starts today. the players want the owners to lift the lockout. former congressman curt weldon is in libya with moammar gadhafi. he met the colonel on an official visit in 2004. this time around, his trip is private. he writes our purpose is to meet with colonel gadhafi and persuade him to step aside. i have met him enough times to know it will be very hard to simply bomb him into submission. wech

he says gadhafi's chief of staff invited him and the white house and congress knows about it. let's talk about this with nic robertson. do you think weldon can make something happen? >> reporter: well, this is really what the libyans have been waiting for, some diplomatic contact with the united states. they are very angry with the europeans and have been quite angry with the united states. the record speaks for itself. we have heard from gadhafi. he seems to be toning down that rhetoric now. indeed, we have heard there is a letter coming from gadhafi going to president obama commenting on the fact the united states has pulled out of what he calls the crusader alliance against libya, a reference to the united states planes taking a back seat in involvement in the enforcement of the no-fly zone. so what former congressman weldon is going to be saying is a series of proposal that include a cease-fire, other things the u.n. has called for,

pulling out gadhafi forces and out of key cities. there is also going to be things for gadhafi and the rebels that he could get an honorary title, honorary chairman of the african union. that the leading opposition figure could form a transitional type of government with the prime minister here in libya at the moment. there is a lot that gadhafi may like. of course, all his advisers say the key thing is not to tell him to step down. what we are hearing from former representative weldon, he is going to say, step aside. the language here is so important. there is real potential here. >> interesting. can you talk more about this libyan tv report that claims that gadhafi sent a letter to president obama? >> reporter: well, i think we need to look at that in the context of former representative

well do weldon's arrival here. after all this anti-american rhetoric we have heard from gadhafi leadership, privately we have been hearing that secretly that the leadership here has hoped and believed that they have a better relationship with the united states than they do with the europeans. they have been hoping that relationship would pay off. what this letter essentially is or portrays a situation for libyan consumption if you will. it is that libya or the united states is no longer at war with libya. that creates some diplomatic space here for gadhafi to back away from his rhetoric and make it seem like he is getting along okay with the united states, that he has brought this about and allows that diplomatic space that weldon is going to walk into. >> nic robertson, many thanks as always.

u.s. government engineers are warning that some of the techniques being used to stabilize damaged nuclear reactors in japan could lead to new threats like explosions and ruptures. "the new york times" is reporting that the warnings are part of a confidential assessment report prepared by the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission. tokyo power officials are reporting some good news. they say water is no longer gushing into the pacific ocean from the number two reactor building, in the meantime, japanese fishermen are calling the reactions insulting, incompetent, and unforgivable. the fishing trade group issued a statement hours after meeting with power company officials. finally, the u.s. department of defense is reducing the number of ships and aircraft it is contributing to the japanese response effort. no deal on a federal budget but did you really think there would be one? the two sides can't even agree if there was at one point a

compromised reached between democrats and republicans. a lot of numbers are being tossed around, $73 billion in cuts, $10 billion in cuts, $40 billion in cuts. the most pressing number right now, two, two days away from the first government shutdown in 15 years. brianna keeler on the phone from capitol hill. i understand you got stuck in traffic, brianna. we understand that perfectly. >> reporter: certainly, no government shutdown here. it is very bustling in the capital today. i think when we look at all the different numbers, carol, what's important to remember, there are many different moving parts and it is not just about how much democrats or republicans can stomach in spending cuts, one of the big things on the table is a number of hot button social issues. a number of reforms.

republicans want to defund abortion and the planned parenthood and take on the environment tall protection agency and there are some cuts to head start programs. these are things that are on the table and certainly, house republicans, if they can get more in the way of some of the hot button social issues, they could go with less cuts. you can see how the number is really contingent on those things. >> all of those things add up to what, 1/50th of the budget. we are not talking about that much money. there is so much extreme rhetoric. republican congressman, paul brown, is calling the shutdown a die bol cal plot. you are on the inside there. you are inside the bubble. are there lawmakers in a compromising mood? >> reporter: well, i know, when you talk about congressman brown, i know you are going to be talking with him. i wouldn't say what he says is

representative of the mainstream. what it certainly does show is the difficulty that speaker john boehner has in dealing with a tea-party backed contingent many of whom are his freshmen and having to walk a line between some republicans that would be in more of a compromising mood and some republicans that say, no, we want these hot button social issues and we don't want to fend on cuts. the meeting yesterday between boehner and harry reid, that there was some progress. there is no meeting today scheduled at the white house, carol. democrats are saying that should be taken as a good sign. if you were to boil it all down, the mood up here on capitol hill is uncertainly. when you talk to people that work here and rank and file members, they can't tell you exactly what's going to happen. there certainly is concern there could be a shutdown. >> brianna, stuck somewhere in

washington, d.c. live from washington. as she said, we will ask congressman, paul brown, why he thinks the shutdown is a diabolical democratic plat and if he thinks that kind of language is helping the debate. a new person in charge of the democratic national committee and she has the representation for being a tenacious political fighter. mark preston is here with the details. this is first, mystery-making. >> it is history-making because we are seeing a woman head the democratic national committee. let's tell you a little bit about her. first, it is debbie wasserman. she is a mother of three, congressman, a breast cancer survivor. very tenacious, very good at selling the democratic agenda. she will be the pick, president obama's pick to head the democratic national committee which is a very important job heading into 2012 for two reasons. one, she will be president

obama's top surrogate on the campaign trail. she will also be the top surrogate in washington when president obama needs to look presidential, she can look political. she is also a prolific fund-raiser. she will help president obama reach that goal of $1 billion. we think he is going to raise to try to win re-election. talking about president obama's re-election, he put out his re-election video a couple days ago. republicans are snickering, because they put out a video of their own, the national senatorial committee are in charge of elected senate republicans. they put in a parody video. they are getting a lot of views. this morning, the nrsc received 869,000 views. meanwhile, president obama's video only got 287,000 views. let me say this, in his defense, though, carol, if you look at his twitter feed. president obama has 7.3 million

followers. the nrsc only has 13,000 followers. his facebook page, president obama has 19 million who are following him on facebook. the nrc said they put no money behind this video and they are correct, it just went viral. they will try to win any little battle they can in the race for 2012. >> i can believe that. we will have your next political update in one hour. for all the latest, go to our website, cnn politics.com. new worries as to how al qaeda may take advantage of the middle east. >> there are ways we can get there without relying on a two-bit dictator. >> take a look at how the growing anti-government protest in yemen might hinder america's war on terror. nfl players are still locked

out. what does it mean for the football season and new players hoping to get drafted. the big hearing starts today. we will talk to a former nfl star just ahetd. joochlt fiona, am i crazy or is this a lot of tires? well, mike... don't answer, just tell me what the occasion is. big tire and brake sales event. you say you can beat any advertised price on tires. correct. anywhere. yes. like this price? yes. seriously? yes. what about this one? i'll beat it. this one? yes, i will. alright, i have only one more question for you. is one? yes. buy 4 tires, get a $100 rebate. and that's on top of our low price tire guarantee. 3 million tires, 11 major brands, fiona's kind of nice, i don't know why you're not here. let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk.

a five-month political

stalemate may be ending. they have attacked the country's long-time president. it is looking like he may have to be removed by force. zain verjee is live in london. >> i thought this guy was ready to step down. >> that's what he said. that's what everyone thought. they were negotiating the terms of his surrender and then he decided, hang on a minute, i'm not going to go anywhere. i am the right full president. i am going to stay. he is in a bunker below the presidential palace right now. let me show you the two guys at the heart. on the left-hand side is the man who refuses to go laurent gbagbo and on the right side, the entire world has enforced him and said, you are the right full president. he has basically had it now and he has sent his forces in to

seize laurent gbagbo and drag him out. i spoke to one u.s. official who knows what's going on in ivory coast and he said that the negotiations for gbagbo have closed and this one guy is holding the entire country hostage because he can't admit he lost. >> it is like an episode of 24 but sadly it is real and costing lives. tell us why this country's political ba political walt is so important. >> it is really so important because you have a situation where two leaders are claiming they won an election. this happens a lot particularly in country, especially in africa. this will send a strong signal to other people facing elections all across africa that end up in situations like this. the reason it is important to the u.s. is if there is instability in africa, it will cause problems with trying to fight al qaeda and trying to

deal with trifl. nigeria is going to have an election soon. the u.s. relies on this country, because it is an important oil producer. you don't want any issues in nigeria either. what happens here is going to send a strong signal elsewhere. >> zane vin verjee, live in lon. law enforcement officials telling cnn that the fbi has gun interviewing libyans living in the united states as part of a proactive effort to identify threats. care, the council on american/muslim relations reminds them they are not required to talk to fbi agents without an attorney present. some point to yemen as a more likely source for a potential

attack. counter terror efforts could be severely hampered and al qaeda is ready to exploit the opportunity. chris lawrence has more from washington. >> reporter: a u.s. official says yemen's government is preoccupied with political unrest. little is being done to find captured terrorists. an american counter terrorism official says the government's ability to check travelers, screen cargo and work immigration issues is all in question right now. that shouldn't matter to americans, because the al qaeda group based there is considered the number one terrorist threat to the united states. >> we do believe that they have taken advantage of the insecurity and poor governments in some regions of yemen. >> if the government falls, analyst, james argues that even if it topples the president, the

risk to u.s. interests is somewhat mitigated. >> most of the cooperation is with the military and intelligence services. some of that can continue to go on regardless of who is in charge of the government. >> reporter: last year, defense secretary, robert gates, approved doubling the u.s. military to yemen to $150 million. despite the instability, pentagon owe fufficials say thee not suspended the aid. >> as far as i know, it has not been. >> reporter: they say the embattled president and the u.s. military still have common goals. >> we both still face a threat emanating from yemen that needs to be dealt with. >> carafano says there is a chance that a new government could be better than the present one. >> there are ways we can get counter terrorism operations in the country without relying on essentially a two-bit dictator to get i there. >> the wikileak details revealed

how closely the u.s. has been working with yemen's president. one quoted him as saying he with akeep claiming the attacks on al qaeda from coming from his forces, not the americans. the release of those cables have come back to hurt him politically. chris lawrence, cnn, the p pentagon. locked out nfl players want the season to begin. so they are sending their lawyers, all 11 of them, to court today. we will talk to a former nfl runningback about what it all means to the game. an eight-year-old that got pepper sprayed to police admits he has anger issues. we will hear from him, his mom and the police justs the ahead.

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nfl players get their day in court today. a federal judge could issue an injunction to end the lockout and allow the nfl season to begin as scheduled or not. jamaal anderson is following it all and welcome, jamaal. >> thank you. >> so as a player, you are watching this hearing and the judge could decide, we are going to end the lockout and go back to work and we will reach a settlement later. as a player, as you are listening and watching this, what is going through your mipd. >> it is very tough to football players and you are supposed to be off-season training and preparing yourself to get ready.

guys can't work out. guys can't do anything in the facilities with the football teams. right now, you are kind of just throwing together guys on your own and trying to do things. you just hope this lockout comes to an end. it is interesting. it is the off-season and it is april, so not a ton happens until may and june when you start getting into minicamps and stuff. that's when this lockout is going to get critical. >> i was going to ask you if the lockout ends today, will we see much with the start of the new season, will we see players not really knowing what to do because they haven't worked out with the team? >> it is going to be interesting. if the lockout ended today, guys know, especially veterans now what they have been doing. a draft is going to take place in the next couple of weeks. so that is going to happen regardless. guys have an opportunity. the nflpa is saying, you can go to the draft if you want to, it is up to you. it is true. it is an interesting situation. you can't really ruin players' opportunities to get drafted for

the first time. an experience they will never forget. >> a last question. fans that say, the players' union, dissolve the union. what would you say for fans who are blaming the players for making all this come to this? >> you can't blame the players. both sides tried to negotiate. it is not the players' fault. the players did not opt out of the deal. the owners opted out to get a better deal. the players never did ask for a lockout. understand this is a business and this is a lot of money at stake and both sides want to make sure they are treated fairly and you have to understand it is certainly. you can't blame the players. >> spoken by a player. >> i am just saying. >> i get it. thank you so much. actually, in about 20 minutes, jamal and i will talk about that near fatal beating of a fan at dodgers' stadium on opening day.

we all love each other and love him. it's just been so hard. >> that's an awful story. the family of brian stoke begs for help and parents around the country are left with asking is it safe to take your kids to a baseball game? check the stories making news across the country. a car choice and shootout caught on tape in north carolina. two people police describe as a modern day bonnie and clyde are in custody. they are suspected in four car chiefs and three home invasions. in lakewood, colorado, police use pepper spray to calm a second-grade boy's temper tantrum. the 8-year-old boy admits he was angry and wanted to hurt his teachers. >> i wanted to make something for sharp like if they came out, because i was so mad at them. >> the officers told him to drop it. he wouldn't. >> there have been three times

they have called the police on him. >> our officers had to do something to diffuse the situation in a hurry before someone got hurt. >> i am sure what he was doing wasn't right but he is eight years old. >> in newport beach, california, billionaire, richard branson announces plans to explore the bottom of the sea in i asolo submarine. he and explorer, chris welsh, will take separate trips in the virgin oceanic sub to the deepest parts of all five oceans. fascinating. coming up at the noon hour, suzanne malveaux will talk live to richard branson about his ambitious goals and more. first up, we will talk to a congressman who this is a government shutdown is a diabolical democratic plot. as the economy recovers, so do nips, tucks, and lifts. what some are doing to stay competitive. that story coming up. [ sneezes ] allergies?

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money is cheap these days, after all, interest rates are extremely low. on wall street, talk is growing that the federal reserve could hike rates soon. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. so what are you hearing, allison? >> hey, carol, it has been two years since interest rates fell to historic lows and they have hardly budged since then.

now, with the economy improving, there is a lot more talk that an interest rate hike could happen soon. policy makers are split on the timing. it could happen this year, because inflation is heating up. you take a look at where oil prices are. oil is up 19 per, trading around $108 a barrel, because of all the political turmoil happening overseas in tunisia, egypt, libya and as we hear the opening bell, stocks in the immediate outlook are looking pretty good. we have a higher open. >> this makes me kind of sad. we know it is a tough job market. some people are going to the extremes to try to get hired as in plastic surgery. >> oh, you said it. they are taking their resume, making sure their suit is pressed and they are also getting plastic surgery. mostly older people concerned about getting or keeping their jobs. this coming from the american society of plastic surgeonis

saying there were 13 million performed last year, facelifts are up 9%. the cheaper nonsurgical options are growing faster. botox injections up 12%. look at all that. fat injections up 14%. ouch. what's happening is they are delaying retirement, carol, because of the recession and they are out there competing with younger workers. they are trying to look younger so when they are talking to the hiring managers, the wrinkles aren't right there in the hiring manager's face. you have to do what you have to do. they don't do the lips an get that fish face. >> that's a bad thing. that's worst than getting anything else. >> alison kosik, thanks so much. >> i hear ya. the budget stalemate between democrats and republicans threatens to shut down the government at the end of this workweek. federal agencies are making

preparations and lining up contingency plans and some members of congress are ticking off the seconds until the oba / obama/reid shutdown occurs. congressman brown joins us live. >> thanks for having me. >> thanks for being here. >> do you really think democrats want the government to shut down? >> absolutely. i think they are doing this for political purposes. during the lame duck session, they started trying to figure out how to get nancy pelosi to give harry reid a big majority in the senate and reelect obama next year. since republicans pledged to cut $100 billion in spending, they said, here is the way we will do this. we will give them a few crumbs, look like we are reasonable. we will shut the government down, blame republicans. there will be a backlash against

republicans and we will get all these things accomplished. i think it was a very diabolical plan they put together back last year after the november election. they are carrying it out. a good example is the fact that barack obama has not even been engaged in these budget talks. >> president obama did engage yesterday. i want to play a bit of what he had to say. here is president obama's take on things. >> i think what the american people expect from me is the same thing they expect from every member of congress, that is that we are looking out for the interests of the american people and not trying to score political points. i think what they are looking for from me is the same thing they are looking for from speaker boehner and harry reid and everybody else. that is, that we act like grown-ups. >> your reaction to the act like grown-ups. if you look at the polls, americans are split evenly on who is to blame for this possible government shutdown. >> i have got a challenge for

the president. start acting like a leader. he has been absent. he finally came to the table yesterday. we have been dealing with this for months and months. 46 days ago, the house passed hr-1, a long-term continued resolution to continue funding the government through this fiscal year. the president has been a walwol missing in action, way, way p t pastime for him to come to the table. even the democrats have been bemoaning the fact he is awol, missing in action. this is good circumstantial evidence. >> a lot of americans are concerned about the rhetoric on capitol hill. you have called the president a socialist who doesn't care about the constitution. is it possible when rhetoric like that is going on is it

possible to sit down and have a productive conversation? >> carol, i have worked with democrats on a number of issues, on housing, trying to get our economy going. the thing is the president does-shall. >> why the name-calling and why can't you guys come to some sort of conclusion? >> it is not name-calling. it is just pointing out a fact. the president, harry reid and barack obama believe the federal government should do everything for everybody. they believe in a social is stick, washington controlled government that tells everybody what kind of health care we can have, what kind of light bulbs we could have. >> couldn't you look at it from the other side, like defunding planned parenthood and defunding npr and pbs. some might say the republicans are doing the same thing, telling people what to do with their lives. >> no, ma'am, absolutely not, we don't have constitutional authority under the original intent of the constitution to fund planned parenthood, npr, a

lot of things we are doing, art cal 1, section 8, a list that enumerates the powers of congress to act. we have to find bridges to send the powers back to the people as our founding fathers meant for us to. i believe in freedom and the president and the loo he der ship of the democratic party believes that government needs to control everybody and everything. that's not freedom. all i have done is pointed out the differences in the two parties. we have to get the economy going and start creating jobs in this country. >> i think everybody would agree with you. people are just hoping that the two sides can sit down and talk in a reasonable manner with each other. >> i agree. that's one of the problems we have been trying to do all along. that's what republicans have been trying to do. we have been trying to fund this government and go forward. the president and harry reid have been missing in action.

harry reid has not passed anything. he has been negligent in doing his duties. he has not shown leadership in the senate. put something on the table. our speaker, mr. boehner -- >> we could go on and on. the democrats supposedly did put something on the table. voters are hearing so many things from so many different sides. thank you for giving us your side of the action. pe appreciate it. >> congressman broun, thanks for joining us. >>. >> checking our top stories at half past the hour, a little past that. a little development in the ivory coast between two men who claim to be president. forces loyal to the elected president have attacked the rival's home but have not captured him yet. former congressman, curt weldon, will meet with libyan leader, moammar gadhafi, today to convince him to step aside. actress angelina jolie

visited a border on the edge of tunisia urging the world to continue humanitarian efforts to the people. now, to the fight against moammar gadhafi. it is centered in eastern libya. that's where we find cnn senior international correspondent ben wedeman. >> reporter: yesterday, the rebels suffered a setback being pushed from the outskirts of brega 25 miles towards adjdabia. that's where we are now. what they have done is set up defensive positions around this city of about 100,000 people. they continue to try to hold back the gadhafi forces but what they complain about time and time again is the lack of air cover. nato doesn't seem to be striking at the moment on gadhafi's

positions. right behind me, a tank of what could be done. this happened about 2 1/2 weeks ago when the nato aircraft, french aircraft took out dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers, troop transports that were hit by the french aircraft 2 1/2 weeks ago. it can be done. libyans in the eastern part of the country are asking why it is not being done. nato is saying that so far, they have been able to disable 30% of moammar gadhafi's military capabilities. the other 70% is proving quite lethal and putting the rebels on the defensive. ed wedeman live, thanks. a baseball bans first-ever visit to dodgers stadium ends in a savage beating that has left him in a coma. we will have the latest on his recovery and what is being done to find the attackers just ahead.

congressman broun, you heard him talking about harry reid and not coming to any conclusion on some sort of compromise in the budget battle. harry reid is talking about that on the accept nat flosenate flo. >> once talks begin, republicans ask for $73 billion in cuts.

when we set, let's meet in the middle, they said no. when we said, in the interest of getting this done, we will agree to your number. they still said no. republicans refuse to take yes for an answer. every time we agree to meet in the middle, they move where the middle is. they said, no when we met them halfway. now, they said, it is our way or the highway. that is no way to move forward. taking a look at stories that will make news later, nfl players asked for an injunction to let them go back to work so the season can begin on time. michele bachmann at noon will speak at a rally to call on the government to cut spending. at noon, in california, lawyers for dr. con krad murray will ask a judge for access to

some important medical records. a baseball rivalry goes way beyond the bounds of sportsmanship. there was a giants' fans nearly beaten to death at dodgers stadium. >> to think he came for a game, his first dodgers stadium game and to be attacked senselessly. >> the victim's family hopes the reward being offered will catch the people that did that. with positively radiant spf 30. with active naturals soy, it's now proven to visibly transform all five factors of radiance; tone, texture, blotchiness, dullness and brown spots. so now the definition of radiant skin... you're looking at it. [ female announcer ] positively radiant. and try skin brightening daily scrub, only from aveeno. discover the power of active naturals.

he is in a medically induced coma. his family pleads for his attacker's arrest. a $1,000 reward for information into the near fatal beating of brian stow, viciously attacked outside of dodgers' stadium on opening day. we have the family's appeal for help. >> we all love each other and love him. it has just been so hard. >> the parents and two sisters of 41-year-old brian stow, the giants' fan who remains in a coma fighting for his life after an unprovoked attack at dodgers stadium are struggling to jupd stan why. >> to think he came for a game,

his first dodgers' stadium game and to be attacked senselessly. >> reporter: why on a packed opening day, two attackers shown in these police sketches wearing dodgers attire struck him in the head and after he was on the ground continued kicking him, yelling obscenities about the giants. >> why were they so angry? why? just why? the more i think about it, the more it starts to get really into our heads. >> reporter: his cousin says brian had sent a text to family earlier that night saying the crowd was getting unruly and scary. his family says the irony in the random attack was he was someone who cherished and protected life, a paramedic. >> i remember the first time that he had actually through cpr was able to save a life. the amount of pride that he felt and how excited he was and how much it meant to him as a

person. >> the other great love of stow's life are his two young children. they both will be at the giants' opener this friday for a tribute to their father. >> it will be important for his children to be a part of that. >> we are praying he will get well soon so he can hold them again in his arms. >> at a news conference, stow's family said they want to make it clear that brian, who had ad tended more than 200 giants' games was at the ballpark because he loves the american pastime, meant to bring people together. >> i urge those two men to come forward on their own. i want them to try to make it right. >> reporter: in a show of solidarity, the cities of los angeles and san francisco are pleading for the public's help to catch brian stow's attackers. they and others are offering a reward that has now climbed to $100,000. kara finnstrom for cnn, los angeles. >> i want to talk more about

this with former nfl all pro running back, jamal anderson. you loved your fans as a player. >> absolutely. >> when you hear this, it is not just los angeles. everybody could have a story about this. as a player who loved his fans, when you hear about something through your mind? >> it's astonishingly sad that we are talking about this. the giants and dodgers have a great rivalry. my rival was the cougars. fans are passionate and excited about this thing but the fact we're talking about a guy who is critically jurisdiction from going to opening day baseball game is ridiculous and uncalled for. you should never have to worry about this level of violence or ankle remember from anybody when you go to a sporting event. for a guy to be in a coma is rid clis. >> they say they must have been drunk. i've seen a lot of fights break out between fans who had not been drinking or, obviously, were not drunk.

what is it? >> you know, the giants won the series last year. i grew up in los angeles. dodgers fans get fired up and it's a huge rivalry but none of that matters. the fact that this guy went to a game in los angeles and this type of violence occurred is enacceptable and it is absolutely ridiculous and they should be stopped immediately. i'm happy to see the city of los angeles and i'm happy to see san francisco come together to figure out how they can address this and hopefully, they catch these guys because these are things you shouldn't worry about when you come to a sporting event. you shouldn't have to worry about this regardless of whether it's football or baseball. absolutely. cheering and hopefully your team loses or wins but go home and be safe. >> absolutely. jamal, many thanks. i understand the dodgers are looking into their security measures, which they should, obviously. >> yes. exhibiting experience far beyond his years. we will show you why a rookie

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checking stories across the country now. in florida a rookie quick action caught on his cash cam video

cam. rodriguez found himself in an explosive situation. you can see that he pulled the driver out of that car moments before the vehicle exploded. wow. in rhode island, the woman whose credit card was stolen received a thank you note from the alleged thief but not after he racked up $2,400 in charges on her card and then another $65 was added to the tab for delivering flowers to her home. police have yet to make an arrest. from gotham. marvel comics are teaming up with the new york city firefighters to battle a common enemy, preventable fires. the comic book is chock full of fire safety tips and free while supplies last. we're following developments in the next hour of the "cnn newsroom." let's check in first with brianna keilar. >> two days away from a government shutdown, as senate democrats and house republicans negotiate spending cuts. how close are they to a deal and what are the sticking points? i'll have that coming up.

>> reporter: i'm zain verjee in london. take a look at the newspapers and headlines in asia to see what they are saying about the nuclear power plant disaster in japan. >> reporter: i'm alison kosik at the new york stock exchange where i have new developments in a story that sparks public outrage. transocean a company that made the oil rig that exploded last year in the gulf of mexico, it said monday it would award bonuses because of its stellar safety record and now the company is back pedaling. i'll have details in the next hour. >> thanks to all of you. are. fits are not his only weapons but you need something bigger than that in iraq. boxer oscar de la hoya joins us live to talk about his recent uso tour in the next hour. what? yeah, it's on the label. really? here, there's nothing about juice on the zyrtec® label.

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♪ in last night, texas a&m became very improbable champions of women's college basketball. first-ever national championship game the aggies beat notre dame 76-70. notre dame and their sky schuyler digins had beaten the two-time champions uconn to get into the championship and texas a&m didn't admit women a half century away. steve nash pulled off a spectacular pass between the legs, amazing! carlos boozer to give him to work at it.

take a couple of more looks as nash pulls off a spectacular assist. finally, donald trump has been talking about getting into a race and win. now he will drive the pace car for the indianapolis 500 and not actually a presidential campaign. he is going to find himself turning left a lot. 10:00 a.m. on the east coast and 7:00 a.m. on the west. i'm carol costello in for kyra phillips. a former congressman's return to libya. curt weldon returns to libya. no more negotiations in ivory coast. a final assault on the home of the long time leader. rallying the troops around the flag. boxing champ os ka de la hod os hoya is back from a uso tour in iraq and tell us about it in 20

minutes. no deal on the federal budget but did you think there would be? deadline friday 11:59 eastern p.m. and if they can't make a deal the federal government will shut down. here are a few of the ways you will feel it. looking forward to your tax refund? "the new york times" says the irs might stop sending checks. the national weather service will keep watching dangerous storms but it might not deliver services like the five-day forecast. and you may have to postpone that trip to a national park. they could close along with some museums. passport applications could be held ub, too. the president is telling congress to act like grown-ups but he not the only one talking tough. here is what a republican congressman paul broun told me last hour. >> i got a challenge for the president. start acting like a leader. he has been absent and finally came to the table yesterday. we have been dealing with this for months and months. >> brianna keilar is live on capitol hill.

a lot of finger pointing. what are the major sticking points here? >> reporter: it has to do, of course, with the number, how much in the way of spending cuts are there going to be. another important thing to consider. actually, hot button social issues have come into play. there are policy provisions in what republicans want. for instance, they want to defund health reform. the president's signature legislative item. they want to defund planned parenthood. you see abortion comes into the mix there. they want to target the environmental protection agency, not a hot button social issue but something the republicans don't favor the epa and democrats want to defend it. there are also cuts to the headstart program, something that democrats are saying is, you know, very difficult for them to swallow. so a few moving parts here, carol. >> those are very emotional issues, by the way. are we any closer to a deal at all if those kinds of issues are on the table? >> reporter: well, democratic told us the meeting between speaker boehner and senate

majority leader harry reid yesterday it was going in the right direction. the fact there was a meeting scheduled between them in the white house today should be taken as a good sign but i got to tell you i was just watching the senate floor and we saw reid on the floor really accusing republicans to moving the goal posts in these situations and then mitch mcconnell with them on the sideline. >> what about a stopgap spending measure? like an extension. will the president go along with that? >> reporter: right now house republicans have proposed one week stopgap spending cuts. the six times the negotiations for the past several weeks. they say it's a nonstarter. president obama said yesterday he wouldn't be on board with that or he almost everything but ruled it out. he said he would consider a stopgap measure at current levels if there could be an

agreement on the long-term spending bill and that would just be a way to kind of tide congress over until they could kind of get all of the logistics done on the long-term deal. right now, it's kind of up in the air but he is pooh-poohing what house republicans have proposed. a former congressman is in libya right now meeting with moammar gadhafi. curt weldon met the leader in 2004 but this time the trip is private. he says the following. weldon talked with cnn affiliate wpix before the meeting. >> i'm here to tell it him face-to-face it's time for him to leave, it's time for him to step down, allow the people to take over the government of this country. >> wellon says gadhafi's steve

of staff invited him and the white house knows about his trip. nic robertson is live in trip i tripoli. with weldon really make something happen? >> reporter: they just switched -- >> obviously, nic robertson couldn't hear me. we will try to get back to nic when we have all of the technical issues worked out. sorry about that. cnn national security contributor fran townsend visited high ranking libyan officials last year. they invited her. we will get her take on curt weldon's visit coming up in a few minutes. now for what is new in japan this morning. u.s. government engineers are warning that some of the techniques being used to stabilize that damaged nuclear reactor in japan could lead to new threats like explosions and ruptures "the new york times"

reporting that the warnings are part of a confidential assessment report prepared by the u.s. regulatory commission. tokyo power company officials this morning are reporting good news as these before and after pictures show, water is no longer gushing into the pacific from the number two reactor building. contaminated fish have a lot of people worried around the world. zain verjee is live in london. what are the global papers saying about that? >> reporter: carol, i was just flipping through the china daily and they quote an expert at the chinese center for disease control and prevention and he says this. the radiation level of the discharged water is low and ocean currents will take the water eastward away from china. "the wall street journal" asia edition has this headline. contaminated fish found off japan's coast it says fears of radioactive japanese fish, both at home and abroad, threaten to further hurt an industry already

weakened by the tsunami. a couple of headlines of flavor for you in asia. >> what are the other dangers people are talking about? >> reporter: well, there are quite a few. one of them is the containment of the structures and whether there is too much stress on it. the other issue is things like vulnerability to ruptures, a danger of more explosions. one of the key things people are talking about is the issue with cooling, are they able to cool it effectively enough? because the problem right now is that the water isn't able to get to the nuclear core as effectively so not guaranteed to be working so those are some of the things to keep your eye on. >> we will. zain verjee, many thanks. boxer oscar de la jolla spent time with troops in iraq in companies embracing the cloud-- big clouds, small ones,

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a check of stories making news across the country now. a car chase and shoot-out caught on tape in north carolina. now, two people, police describe as a modern day bonnie and clyde are in cust dane suspected in four car thefts and three home invasions across three straits. next in lakewood, colorado, police used pepper spray to calm a second grade boy's temper tantrum. the 8-year-old admits he was angry and wanted to hurt his teachers. >> i wanted to make something sharp for like if they came out because i was so mad at them. >> the officers told him to drop it. he wouldn't. >> there has been three times where they have called the police on him. >> our officers had to do something to diffuse the

situation in a hurry before someone got hurt. >> i'm sure what he was doing wasn't right but he is 8 years old. in newport beach, california, billionaire richard branson announces plans to splor the bottom of the sea in a solo submarine. he and explorer krit welch will take separate trips in the virgin oceanic sub in the deepest parts in all five oceans. coming up, suzanne malveaux will talk to richard branson about his goals and so much more. we told awe former congressman is in libya meeting with mow a gaammar gadhafi. nic robertson is in tripoli. i talked with him about the visit's significance. >> reporter: this is only something emerging here and quite possible libyans may not know about it. we might see pictures on state television when and when kurt weldon meets with ga dafdhafi h.

gadhafi would like to see it cleared for him to meet with a u.s. representative, although weldon says he is not here representing the white house, not here representing secretary of state hillary clinton. we're seeing that because it appears that gadhafi is sending a message through the state news agency that the united states has, in his words, ended its bombing essentially in libya by removing itself from the coalition crusader crusade as he describes it in a letter that is being reported as being sent to president obama. you can see how gadhafi is making diplomatic space for himself here by saying the united states is no longer essentially at war with us so perhaps i can deal with them.

>> we will see. also on the topic of libya. a law enforcement official tells cnn the fbi is talking with libyans who live in the united states. even though tripoli and new york are more than 4,500 miles apart, the officials are looking out for possible threats to americans. let's talk more about this with cnn national security contributor fran townsend. she was also a member of the cia external advisory committee and visited high ranking libyan officials at the invitation of the libyan government last year, so you know what you're talking about, fran. fran, how real is the threat of libyans living here in the united states doing something or knowing something? >> reporter: the concern, and i think rightly so, is the potential for the libyan government to take action and retaliation for the u.s. participation in no-fly zone. the reason that is a real threat, carol is, one, we know that the libyan government under moammar gadhafi has projected

their power and used as a tool both in the '80s in a bombing and also pan am 103. now, second, threatened to retaliate for the no-fly zone against western powers including the united states. fountain fbi didn't take that seriously they would be irresponsible. it makes perfect sense to me that they are looking to do two things by these interviews. one, to identify any threat. second, you may actually find someone who is willing to cooperate with you who may have access to useful information. >> already some groups have come out, though, fran. you know, groups that represent the muslim community saying, you know, you don't have to talk to the fbi without your attorney present and they are saying this is sort of profiling and unfair to ask libyans living in the united states these questions. >> reporter: it is certainly true to say no one is required or compelled to speak to the fbi under any circumstances and

frankly, the fbi typically, in an interview begins any interview by reminding people of that. so i think that's their comment. no one has to cooperate. but it's not profiling. what you're looking to do is gather information and if there is a potential threat, libya, who else would you speak to but libyans here in the united states who either may have insight into the threat, may be able to cooperate if they choose to do that with federal officials. >> i want to ask you about curt weldon's visit to libya. he is talking with moammar gadhafi and libyan television are saying gadhafi sent president obama a letter. what do you make of all of this? >> reporter: i think his sons -- moammar gadhafi will not be able to remain in power so what is the transition plan. see the same thing in yemen with president saleh. i think with the encouragement

of gadhafi's sons to look for a way out, allows them to remain in some sort of position of influence. remember, a lot of their money has been frozen by u.s. officials. i think they probably are looking to get access to cash. they are looking for immunity from prosecution. the question is can they cut a deal. >> understand. fran townsend, many thanks for your insight. valuable, as always. rallying the troops around the flag. boxing champ oscar de la hoya back from a uso tour to iraq. he is with us live next. a heart. it's my back. it works great for pain. [ male announcer ] nothing's proven to relieve pain better than extra strength bayer aspirin. it rushes relief to the site of pain. feel better? yeah. thanks for the tip.

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spending a week in a war zone isn't your average vacation but that is exactly what boxing champ oscar de la hoya did as part of a uso tour. he and a group of fighters toured iraq to see what soldiers see day in and day out. oscar now joins us live from los angeles to talk about that. welcome. >> good morning, carol. thank you. >> why did you decide to do this? >> well, i believe it was just long overdue. obviously, our troops fight for our country, for our freedom. it allows me to do what i do inside the ring. visiting iraq was just an emotional feeling i had because our troops are there to really protect us and to make sure that we're okay over here and the experiences i had were unbelievable. we went down to the most

dangerous parts of iraq that i requested to visit these troops that really don't normally get much attention like others. and it was, at first, a frightening experience when you land there, when you get there. you're flying over with -- on the blackhawks and you land to these bases, but then you feel safe because these troops really care for your security, for your safety, and, you know, one of the commanding officers there told us a story where just the week before, a young troop was walking down the street and got killed by an ied and those are the stories that sometimes we don't hear about over here. it just really touched me. >> i know you grew close to some of these soldiers. i mean, it sounds like that is surprised you that you were able to really get to know them in a short period of time. can you share one more story with us? >> well, we must have visited

about 8,000 to 9,000 troops. one of the touching stories that really impacted me was one of the -- one of the commanding officers there was very honored and, obviously, he's been on his third term there serving for our country there in iraq. his son was deployed to his base, to his -- where he was in charge, and, you know, he was so thrilled and happy that his son was there with him, but, at the same time, he was telling me of how frightening it is to think that his family, his blood is there with him fighting whenever they have these calls and they are on call 24/7, whenever there's a bomb that goes off, he fears for his son's life and it's very difficult not to get

emotional, he tells me. these are just stories that really are -- i mean, hit home because you hear about these every single day how troops are fighting for our freedom and our country. we must never forget what they do and we must never forget what the families have to go through. just the other day, one of the commanding officers contacted me, if i can contact the family of this fallen troop that got hit by the ied and, you know, we're going to go through the uso and the armed forces to get in contact with the family and just talk to them and console them, because these are tough times. >> that would be so difficult but i'm glad you're doing it because it will mean a lot. you've had an olympic medal hung around your neck. what was it like to hand out service medals to the troops? >> it was such a honor for me to -- in one of the visits to

the camp, they gave me the honor of hanged over medals for soldiers who are ranked, are getting ranked up to a higher division. it was unbelievable. it was such an honor. to me, it was -- winning olympic gold medal for my country in 1992 and representing my country, the usa, was such a big thrill and an honor. but to be there with the troops and experiencing what they are doing, even if it was for a week, was the biggest moment and the biggest thrill of my life. the best experience i've ever had. the most -- the biggest honor, because these soldiers really, they truly believe and they truly, deep down inside, feel that they must and they have to protect our freedom. i mean, what that means to us is -- i mean, sometimes we take it for granted and we must never forget that these soldiers are there risking their lives every

single minute to protect our country. i mean, that's a true hero for you. >> that's terrific. thank you so much for sharing your experiences. oscar de la hoya, we enjoyed the conversation. >> thank you. i appreciate it. >> oscar wrote a special pegs abo piece for his trip for uso. check out the opinion page at cnn.com for a trip that changed his life. actress ankle lean know jolie is drawing attention to the thousands of libyans forcing to flee their country. "showbiz tonight" with more on that and more. >> ankle lean yeah jolie takes her job as a u.n. ambassador seriously. she made a surprise visit in libya at the tunisia camps and toured a camp that holds thousands of libyan refugees and got a chance to meet with many

of them. she did something similar in afghanistan recently. staying involved and helping out wherever she can is very important to her and has been for a long time. but, carol, it does not make her immune from ongoing rumor and speculation. >> oh, geez. >> the latest headline angelina has added a new tattoo some people think she and brad pitt will be adopting another child. something that angelina has denied but she will always put up with that no matter how much good work she does in the world. >> that's true. it sells magazines and blog sites. conan o'brien, who knew he was such a big larry king fan. >> now we know. nice to see that our friend larry king has taken on a new kind of a challenge after leaving his daily show on cnn. let's watch what happened. >> that's why tonight, i am thrilled to announce that larry is back with a brand-new show and here is the best part -- it's going to be broadcast from the rafters of my studio. so, now, live from 30 feet above

me, larry king! larry! >> hey, conan! we're going to take some -- we're going to take some phone calls. steve from grover falls, minnesota, you're on with larry king. >> hi, larry. great show tonight. >> larry, i'm sorry. do you think you could turn the volume down a little. i'm cool with you doing a show, trust me. i've never seen your legs before! >> i guess we learned that larry is not afraid of heights there, carol. it's the first time i believe the audience at large has seen larry king's legs. i got to tell you i've seen them before but i think that america now got to see larry's legs for the first time. >> i've seen him in person and i've never seen his legs either! just kidding. >> you don't hang out in the same places that and i hang out in. i don't know what it means and why i'm saying that. >> i don't either but it was

funny somehow. a.j., thank you. if you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world a.j. has it tonight at 5:00 p.m. eastern and 11:00 p.m. eastern on hln. making amends for the worst oil spill disaster in u.s. history. ahead we will tell you what the executives of the country that open the deep water horizon oil rig are doing to help the families of the 11 workers who were killed. also ahead, warnings from the u.s. nuclear experts about japan's troubled nuclear plant. there could be new threats that linger indefinitely. that's coming up, too. host: would foghleghorn make a really bad boonaor? foghn (stammerg): it was the best of time it was the wor - y worst of times. and by worst i'm talkin athat stuffl yone.ad asau nny' p engineer: ok that was a little... foghorn: you gettin' all this in there son? i just added that last part it's called "adlibbin..."anyway...it was, i say it was... vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurae.

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checking our top stories now. sandbags up and down the red river where warming temperatures are melting snow and creating flood worries down river. the faa ordering airlines flying older 737s to inspect them more often. comes days after a southwest 737 had to make an emergency landing when that hole opened up in the roof. nfl players get their day in court today. a federal judge could issue an injunction to end the league lockout and allow the nfl season to begin as scheduled or not. stock market opening bell rang over an hour ago. we are above 40 points. not bad. not great either. but it's not bad. top executives at the company that owned the deep water horizon oil rig are trying to make amends for the worst oil disaster in u.s. history and

donate $225,000 in safety bonuses for the families of 11 workers killed when that rig exploded in the gulf of mexico. that happened last april. alison kosik is here with more details in today's currency report. alison? >> reporter: carol, just want to dial back and let you know how this began. on monday, transocean came out with a statement saying, quote, in 2010 we recorded the best year in safety performance in our company's history. of course, that is when we had that oil spill in the gulf. and transocean wound up apologizing. the explosion in the gulf was 2010 actually. transocean wound up apologizing later on monday. they are donating their safety bonuses to charities that compensate families of accident victims and so they are donating about $250,000. they put out a statement saying they made this decision they believe it is the right thing to do and nothing is more important to transocean than their people

and it was never our intent to diminish the effect the macondo tragedy has had on the ones who lost loved ones. the press release they say they are voluntarily donating the money. i have a question if it's voluntary and the right thing to do it why not do it in the first place! >> how deaf can you be? >> a big dah, right? i know. duh. they are donating the portion they received where their seller safety record in 2010, 25% of their total bonuses. >> i'm getting nauseous now. >> applaud them i guess for that. i know. >> i i don't applaud them. >> they did such poor pr on this, they are back-pedaling. >> on another topic i hear homeowners are turning their houses into billboards? >> this is creative to say the least. you can turn your home into a giant billboard.

and get your mortgage paid in the process. this is an offer from a start-up company called adzookie. you let the company come on over and paint its logo all over your house in bright colors and you can be the laughing stock in your neighborhood but you'll be laughing to the bank. they wind up paying your mortgage up to one year. what you're seeing there is a mock-up. there haven't been any homes painted just yet. this launched just yesterday. can you imagine in just a few hours the company got 1,000 applicants? in all seriousness here it's another sign, carol, of the dire straits many people are living in and willing to paint their house like this to get their mortgage payments done. >> i can certainly -- >> it's creative. >> it is and i can understand why people would do that, although i'm not sure their neighbors would be very happy, but, hey, whatever you have to do, you have to do. >> like i said, they will laugh all the way to the bank. >> yeah. alison kosik, thank you. president obama has launched

his re-election bid. can he reconnect with a young voters who energized his first campaign? we'll talk about that just ahead. you're sneezing. i'm allergic to you. doubtful, you love me. hey, you can't take allegra with fruit juice. what? yeah, it's on the label. really? here, there's nothing about juice on the zyrtec® label. what? labels are meant to be read. i'd be lost without you. i knew you weren't allergic to me. [ sneezes ] you know, you can't take allegra with orange juice. both: really? fyi. [ male announcer ] get zyrtec®'s proven allergy relief and love the air®.

checking stories across the country now. in florida a rookie sister's kick action caught on a dash cam videotape. take a look. he rolls up on a two-car

accident, drags the driver out of one of the cars moments before the car explodes. this is a rookie. he was calm in the face of danger. and he is a hero today. in rhode island a woman whose credit card was stolen receives a thank you note from the alleged thief but not before he racked up $2,400 in charges. get this. then he racked up another 65 dollar bill that was the tab for delivering flowers to the victim's home! police have yet to make an arrest. gotham, marvel best known crime fighters teaming up with new york city firefighters to battle a conenemy. preventable fires. the comic book is chock full of fire safety tips and free while supplies last. in japan, experts are warning of a new threat at the nuclear plant suggesting some of the same steps used to stabilize things could cause harm.

lasting harm. "the new york times" is reporting the warnings are part after confidential assessment prepared by the regulatory commission. martin savidge joins us with more details on this. fill us in, martin. >> reporter: well, carol, there is really some rather dire predictions coming as a result of these international scientists coming together and talking about what could potentially happen with the fukushima daiichi plant. the reactors have had a earthquake and tidal wave and suffered a number of explosions and tons and tons of water poured on them for weeks at a time. the concern you could have some major collapse structurally that could release heavy form of radiation and vulnerability of rupture the storage tanks they are trying to put the highly contaminated radioactive water. they don't know if they are cracked or leaking or pipes broken and many aftershocks and that could cause a major

problem. possibility of explosion and still a possibility. some of those reactors could produce hydrogen which is highly explosive. tepco are injecting nitrogen in reactor number one containment facility to suppress an explosion. water getting to the cores of these reactors are they keeping them cool? in some cases they don't know at this particular point. it's a whole laundry list of potential things that can still go really bad. >> in the meantime, the people living around that plant making their living around that plant are -- they have to be outraged. what about the japanese fishermen? >> reporter: right. the fishermen are the latest of those who are furious at tepco. we had the farmers and work on land their livelihoods have been changed. now the fishermen the same thing. fisheries association filed a complaint about tepco and livid

with the ooed active water going out and you're killing our hivelihood. no one not even in japan want to eat seafood and outside of japan, many countries will not import it and they were already suffering as thousands of their boats had either been ruined or damaged as a result of the tsunami. they say this is the finishing thing. >> marty savage, live in tokyo, thanks so much. president obama has launched his re-election bid. can he reconnect with the young voters who first energized his campaign? we will talk about it next. we could've gone a more traditional route... ... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪

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re-election bid with a campaign video sent out in an e-mail blast. the technique we remember was reminisce sent of the president's heavy use of social media during 2008 campaign and helped energize younger voters. comedy and writer eric cunningham wrote an opinion piece for cnn.com. we will get you to you, in a second. you think the president may need to up his game to energize the young voters this time around. maybe something more along the lines of this video.

♪ >> basically, we got 80% agreement. >> we got 80% agreement. >> 47 million americans who don't have any health insurance. ♪ >> that youtube thing got more hits than the president's e-mail video blast. you might expect that. does he need to up his game that much? >> probably he doesn't need to autotune himself, i don't think. that video does show something that a lot of young people really like and the autotuning is something that people forward to each other and post on facebook and it's something that is easily spreadable and i think, most importantly, it's just a fun thing that really resonates with young people and i think if obama wants to get young people energized gwynne he needs to show more of that fun side. >> let's face it. the young supporters this time

around, leachch a lot them hav graduated from college and can't find jobs. environmental concerns haven't been met. we still have the two wars going on, plus libya. these are things that young people really want to get taken care of that have, in their view, have not been taken care of. how difficult will it be for the president to reconnect with them? >> absolutely. those are very important issues and think young people deeply care about them but they want to know things are going to be okay. so, for example i think young people do know that obama is working on it. he has all of these teams together. he is not sitting around on the job but they also need to know that obama is enjoying being the -- the president is someone they can relate to. they need, i think, young people really resonate more and connect more when they feel something positive and uplifting so kind

of that 2008 obama as opposed to the 2010 obama which is nmore doom and gloom and we need to know things are going to work out. >> a young politician that young people are connecting with? i think if obama gets back in the spirit people will connect with him. probably mike huckabee is who is having fun out there and he goes off the book a lot and i think that is something that people spread to each other on facebook, they like talking about that kind of thing. >> eric cunningham, many thanks for joining us this morning. >> all right. president obama is beefing up his re-election team. one of the stories hot off the political ticker this morning. we want to get more on that from cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser. were you listening to eric? >> reporter: i was. a big part of the last campaign

in 2008 and as big a player this time around. but, carol, you asked about it. the president, remember it was just monday he announced his re-election campaign so only natural they are beefing up staff. ben le bolt was with the president when he was the senator from illinois and with him in that '08 run for the white house and the white house himself and now he is joining as press secretary for the campaign. another sign out in chicago on grant park they are beefing up at the hq which is only natural, carol. you know, they will be hear more from them the next year and a half. >> we are hearing about the money being raised. president obama supposedly raising a billion dollars for his re-election run. where do things stand now money wise? >> reporter: they are touting initial numbers and no surprise they want to get out the message. the president announced on monday, remember he did it online? since then, the campaign is telling us that in the first 24 hours they raise the contributions 23,000 contributions and most of that they are saying is from

small-time donors. 200 or less in those contributions and donations. it's interesting because you're going to hear a lot from the president or see him a lot in the next couple of weeks at these high profile big dollar fund-raisers but, at the same time, i think the campaign wants to say, wait a minute. average americans are contributing and big amount of money they raise the last time around and i don't think they want that loss there. they want that message out there it's not just big fat cats giving money to the president but small-time donors and see similar money numbers coming from the republican side as well. >> a dollar is a dollar is a dollar. >> exactly. >> paul, thank you. for the political news go to c cnnpolitic.com for more. can you go to bed late and get up early and function efficiently? i admire ayou.

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today's "the wall street journal" writes about 1 and 3% that can function normally on very little sleep. they are called natural short sleepers. the study also finds them to be energetic, outgoing, optimistic and ambitious which explains why i'm not a short sleeper. jeff foxworthy says nothing in life prepares you to be famous. english' prince william was born into it so how does he and his bride to be escape from time to time? max foster says not very easily. >> reporter: when kate and william were students, their social life revolved around pubs. >> you saw the affectionate there. definitely a loving couple. you could tell they were very happy together. >> reporter: they still like pubs. this one is near kate's country home and the landlords even been invited to the wedding. ♪ >> reporter: when they are out on the town, though, in london,

it's all about discretion. kate and william restrict themselves to small select members only bars. like this one in chelsea. >> i think extremely they are careful about the people they hang out with. you know, they really trust their friends. i would say they don't actually have that many friends, understandably, you know, they have got old friends. >> reporter: a close group they are comfortable with? >> yes, definitely. >> reporter: of all their hangouts, this is probably the royal couple's longstanding favorite. it is buge. this is the corner they will often be found sitting in and, of course, lots of privacy from the rest of the club. this is buge's signature drink and vodka-based with passionate fruit and ras perry flavors and topped off with champagne and one of the couple's favorite. william and kate never announce themselves before they come. but when they do arrive, they are whisked in as honorary members.

in other words, they don't pay. no cameras allowed which is why we could only film when it's empty but no protection once they leave. fair game for the paparazzi. >> she was famous for always nipping into the bathroom and checking her hair and makeup before she left because she knew there were photographers waiting outside. >> reporter: kate and william understand all too well how much interest there is in them but they are essentially private people. it won't come naturally for them to be the center of potentially the biggest media event in history -- their wedding. max foster, cnn, london. coming up in the next hour of the "cnn newsroom" richard branson is always pushing the envelope when it comes for pushing to exploration from flying people to outer space and exploring the depths of the ocean, his new venture. that is coming up in the next hour of the "cnn newsroom" with suzanne malveaux.

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this year, southwest music festival has people talking about more than rock 'n' roll. ho here is cnn tom foreman.

>> the austin festival is not just for music hot bed but for innovation. ♪ >> reporter: twitter, and many other text sensations made early big splashes here. so during this year's festival, cnn.com invited innovators from around the country to pitch their ideas during a short ride in a pedicab. >> i'm max mullen and i worked on something called bouncer and you can shorten, share, and protect your e-mail address. >> i'm alison aidal and i'm with fly by miles. booking frequent flyer tickets are a nightmare so we decided to solve that problem by having real-time availability of frequent flyer seats and book it through our site. >> i'm dylan and representing trip relief. we make tourism available to everyone. >> reporter: this is more than just interesting. this town, and a growing number of others have realized the relatively low investment, high return possibilities of tech can

be enormous draws for young talent. >> we have a strong creative sector here and due to the well-educated young work force and large component of arists, musicians, people in the software business jo and those people in turn can fuel real estate markets and push tax revenues and build up many more traditional industries all by starting with one idea at a time. tom foreman, cnn. nice. stories that will make news later today on cnn. alec baldwin in washington to help the fair elections now act and help qualify candidates who need money to run for election, get grants, matching funds and free tv time. at noon, minnesota congressman michelle bachmann will call on the government to cut spending and avoid a government shutdown. at noon eastern in california, lawyers for dr. conrad murray, the man charged in michael