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Moammar Gadhafi Continues Battle to Hold on to Power; Bernie Madoff Calls Clients 'Greedy'; Checking The Truth-O-Meter; Talk Back Question; Prices Heading Up; Marijuana Farmers Market

Aired February 28, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Let's get you up to speed.

The Pentagon announced a short time ago it's repositioning naval and air assets in the Mediterranean region to be ready for an option on Libya.

(CHANTING)

MALVEAUX: Libyan security forces say they have switched sides and joined the opposition in Zawiya. The town is just 35 miles outside the capital, Tripoli, where Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is clinging now to power. Gadhafi opponents now control most cities along the Mediterranean coast except Tripoli and Sirt, which is Gadhafi's hometown.

The Obama administration says time is up for Gadhafi. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Geneva today planning strategy on Libya with her European counterparts. The EU agreed today to put sanctions on Libya following the lead of the U.S.

And a third day of protests in the Gulf kingdom of Oman. Demonstrators set a supermarket on fire and blocked roads. Protesters want government reforms, jobs, and higher salaries. Now, Oman's sultan ordered his government to immediately hire 50,000 people.

And Egypt has frozen all property held by former president Hosni Mubarak. The attorney general's order also bars Mubarak and his immediate family from leaving Egypt. He has been in seclusion at his estate at the Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula.

And protesters at the Wisconsin state capitol defied police and camped out again last night. They're angry over the governor's plan to curb collective bargaining rights for most state workers. The governor warns that layoffs are going to be necessary this week unless the legislature approves his budget.

And despite protests and absent lawmakers, Indiana Republicans will try to move forward this afternoon on a bill banning collective bargaining for many workers. It appears unlikely. Democrats are still camped out in Illinois, bringing the Indiana House to a standstill. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PELATH (D), INDIANA STATE HOUSE: I have never seen such a more committed group of people that believe it's so necessary to stop what they see as a very radical agenda that's transpiring here in Indianapolis. It's really much more expansive than what's happening in Wisconsin. Not only are they trying to dismantle public schools, they're also trying to do away with collective bargaining not in the public sector, but also in the private sector.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Heavy downpours caused a dam to fail today in the Cleveland area. Residents along the Chagrin River are under a flash flood warning for at least another hour.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: A pair of Discovery astronauts are about an hour or so into their long spacewalk. You're looking here at live pictures. You can see that.

They are doing prep work -- that is so cool -- for tomorrow's installation of the new Leonardo module. It is an all purpose room for the International Space Station. Discovery is on its 39th and final flight.

Now back to our lead story, Moammar Gadhafi's battle to hold on to power as the opposition closes in on Tripoli.

Our CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, he is in the Libyan capital.

Nic, tell us what is taking place on the ground right now.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, in the capital here, you could be lulled into thinking it's life is normal. There are more cars back out on the streets. There are more stores opening, although the majority still remain shuttered, closed. There are more people walking about on the streets.

There are, however, still police checkpoints, army checkpoints, small in numbers, around the city. They're carrying automatic weapons. But the image that you get in Tripoli here is that the regime has much, much stronger control here than it had over the past week or so.

We've talked to some people here, anti-government protesters in the city. They're too afraid to talk on camera, and they tell us that they're too afraid now to come out and protest against the government because the government is going to reassert its control here. They feel let down by the international community because they were hoping for more support.

They say they hope to hold a protest on Friday of this week. But really, in the capital, it seems that Gadhafi's regime has sort of been able to reassert its control here -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Nic, in kind of a bizarre twist over the weekend or so, Libya opened up the media, allowed for media to come and take a tour. It was government-escorted. I know you were one of those people. You're a seasoned journalist, you know the difference between a dog and pony show and what's real.

What have you seen?

ROBERTSON: Well, you know, I think a lot of people did -- have set their expectations quite low. I mean, I think a lot of the journalists -- and the government says there's about 130 who have come in here, and they told us we'd be free to report, go where you want to go, talk to whomever you want to talk to. You know, we want you to show the picture of the city and the country as it really is. And I guess that's the image they wanted to get out today, that Tripoli is sort of emerging from several days of fear and violence.

But yesterday they took us to a city they don't even control. They don't control the center of it. And we were able to sort of cross a front line and go into an area where there were anti- government demonstrators.

So I think what we're being able to see in this anti-government protest, wanting to overthrow Gadhafi, wanting more weapons, really showed that we can get out and about. But I'll give you another for instance.

Today, when we were in Tripoli, we heard that there was a suburb where there might have been some violence going on, might have been an anti-government protest, and we managed to get close. And then the people with us said no, you have to go back to the hotel. When we got back to the hotel, we found a few other teams working individually elsewhere that had the same experience at the same time, Suzanne.

So that gives you a picture.

MALVEAUX: OK. Nic, thank you so much. I appreciate your perspective.

Well, get tough and arm the opposition with weapons. That is what two U.S. senators say the Obama administration should do when it comes to Libya.

Which brings us to today's "Talk Back." Our own Carol Costello, right here in Atlanta.

Great to see you, Carol. I know you're getting a lot of folks that are just shooting e-mail off on your Facebook.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, more than 100 comments so far. Sorry we couldn't get to the comments in the last hour, but President Obama was speaking. And I'm sorry, the president trumps.

MALVEAUX: Yes, he trumps you ever once in a while, Carol.

COSTELLO: Every once in a while. That's true.

It's kind of like the same old song, a cruel dictator clings to power and President Obama is criticized for being slow to act. He did say Libya's Moammar Gadhafi must go, but it wasn't fast enough or strong enough.

Even though some say President Obama is treading carefully because there are still Americans in Libya, that's not stopping Senators john McCain and Joe Lieberman, though. Lieberman told CNN he understands why the Obama administration waited, but now we ought to provide the Libyan rebels with arms. McCain said the president should push for a no fly zone over Libya so Libyan pilots can't attack their own people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Get tough. And I understand that the security and safety of American citizens is our highest priority. It's not our only priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well, the president's spokesperson said today a no-fly zone is a possibility. But the idea of arming the rebels, that's tough, because who really knows who is leading the opposition in Libya? Former CIA officer Jamie Smith (ph) says there is no coherent alternative to the Gadhafi regime.

Will the opposition become our friends or turn on us like, say, oh, Saddam Hussein or the Afghan rebels who morphed into what is now al Qaeda?

So "Talk Back" today: Should the U.S. arm the Libyan rebels? Facebook.com/CarolCNN. And I promise I will read your comments later on in the hour.

MALVEAUX: We promise. Obama will not speak again.

COSTELLO: We think.

MALVEAUX: We think.

COSTELLO: Are you listening, President Obama?

MALVEAUX: OK. Thanks. Appreciate it, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A reminder about your chance to "Choose the News." You simply vote by texting 22360.

So, vote 1 for "Marijuana Farmers Market," the first ever in Seattle. Vote 2 for "Stranded in Libya," how thousands of workers are coping as they try to return home to their home countries. And vote 3 for "A Day in Kate's Shoes," what it's like to be princess-to-be Kate Middleton for a day.

And Bernie Madoff, he's been called a monster, a gifted manipulator who has bilked investors out of billions. Well, today we're getting a revealing look inside the mind of the most notorious Ponzi schemer in Wall Street history. Madoff makes some pretty telling comments in a phone interview with "New York" magazine.

Our own Christine Romans, she is here, with us to talk about this.

And Christine, it's nice to see you in person.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Nice to see you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: This is the first interview that he's done since his son committed suicide. There are a lot of things that people find surprising, even outrageous in this interview.

ROMANS: He was talking earlier to a "New York Times" reporter, and this is a "New York" magazine reporter who he called collect at the reporter's home and just started talking on tape about what motivated him and what he thinks about his victims. And he essentially -- he was claiming that he is not trying to justify the fact that he bilked up to $65 billion from his investors, but in a way it almost sounds like he was.

Listen to what he said about his victims' willful denial.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BERNARD MADOFF, CONVICTED FRAUDSTER: All of my friends, all of my -- most of my clients, the individual clients, all are not losers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

MADOFF: So I made a lot of money for them. I was making a 20 percent return for them during all this rise.

Did people lose profits that they thought they made? Yes. You know, but did they lose capital? I'm sure, I'm confident that when this thing is all finished, very few people, if any, will lose their principal.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROMANS: Now, he went on to tell this reporter, Suzanne, that some time after 1987, when the market was going against him, he put his investors' money in two percent earning treasuries, but was giving them 15 percent and 20 percent returns. And he kept having -- he just sort of got into this vicious cycle. But he --

MALVEAUX: Is that how he justifies it? ROMANS: He sort of justifies it that -- he also says, no one ever talks about the good things me and my family did. No one ever talks about the good business moves I made. All they ever talk about is this.

Well, that's because this is a $65 billion scam, the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. And he says he didn't do it to be rich and greedy.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MADOFF: If you think I did this, I woke up one morning and said, well, listen, I want to be able to buy a boat, a plane, and this is what I'm going to do, that's wrong. I had more than enough money to support any of my lifestyle and my family's lifestyle. You know, I didn't need to do this for that. I just allowed myself to be talked into something, and that's my fault.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROMANS: And, Suzanne, he says he is in therapy. He goes to therapy and talks about what motivated him, and he says that his therapist told him he's not a sociopath, although many of his victims will say that he is, or at least a narcissist.

MALVEAUX: And we're going to talk to one of those victims as well.

And since this has happened, the government has put in place a lot of federal regulatory reforms. Does he get into that at all? Does he have an opinion about what has taken place?

ROMANS: He says it's a total joke. He says it's a total joke, and that the government, itself, is a giant Ponzi scheme.

But remember, regulatory reform was not to prevent people like Bernie Madoff. It was to prevent complex derivatives and the motivations for those derivatives.

Bernie Madoff wasn't dealing in complex derivatives. He was just lying to people. He was just stealing money and lying to people, which is the simplest kind of financial crime that there is.

MALVEAUX: And now he is blaming them.

ROMANS: And now he is saying that he doesn't think they're going to lose any money. We've talked to a lot of people who have lost money and are worried that they did lose their principal or their retirements and what they had built. So, Bernie Madoff trying to justify it, what many people say is just not justifiable.

MALVEAUX: All right. We're going to talk to one of his victims.

Christine, thank you so much.

In those "New York" magazine interviews, Madoff's comments and explanations come with a lot of caveats. He blames himself, but also he does blame a lot of the people who fell victim, many of whom lost their life savings.

Ilene Kent, she is one of the founders of InvestorAction.org. She joins us from New York.

And if you could, just take us through this. Your parents invested with Madoff, and they lost almost their whole life's savings. When you saw this article, what did you make of what he said?

ILENE KENT, DAUGHTER OF MADOFF VICTIMS: Sure. I read the first two lines and thought I was physically going to get sick. It's classic Bernie Madoff behavior.

You can't believe anything he says. You know, the one key line in there is that he wanted to set the record straight. If he wanted to set the record straight, perhaps he should be speaking to the criminal investigators. He still has not spoken to the FBI or anybody at the Department of Justice.

You know, he takes no responsibility for the financial devastation he's created and the dreams that are lost. And you've got al of these longer-term investors, and I don't know where he is getting his 18 percent from. No one got anywhere near that.

The people, the innocent investors, the longer-term investors who lost their entire life savings, who have been denied their insurance claims, are now the subject of some very serious clawback lawsuits from the bankruptcy trustee, and it's just unconscionable. And our organization --

MALVEAUX: And Ilene --

KENT: Yes?

MALVEAUX: Sure. Sure. We'll talk about the organization in a moment, but Madoff also says the banks, and sometimes he says the victims, knew or at least should have known that it was a scam. But as long as everybody was making money, it seemed to work out OK.

KENT: I would say that would be the case for the larger institutional investors, the organizations such as JPMorgan Chase, who had the wherewithal, who had the ability to do the true due diligence. Everybody knows the name Harry Markopolos. He was the intrepid fraud investigator who tried to turn the SEC on to Bernie Madoff. And he even says the individual investor would have no way of knowing that this was illegitimate.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: That this is not something that you can blame your parents for. This is not something, clearly, that would apply for your parents in this case.

KENT: No. No, not at all. And I find so many of his remarks so disingenuous and really extremely hurtful, and rather insulting. MALVEAUX: Tell us about that organization that you mentioned, this Network for Investor Action & Protection to help people deal with Madoff's fraud.

KENT: Absolutely, Madoff fraud and victims of investor fraud. There is a huge hole in the safety net for American investors in this country.

When you had the SEC complicity, you had the general counsel of the SEC, who had Madoff accounts -- you've got one congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives now who's had the courage to stand up and do what's right. It's Congressman Scott Garrett of New Jersey, who has introduced HR-757, which we hope will stop the clawback of the smaller, longer-term innocent investors that I spoke with earlier, mostly old, many widowed.

MALVEAUX: Right.

KENT: And also require the trustee to value one's account at what's on your final account statement. There is a very important hearing in the U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd District on Thursday, where our lawyers will be speaking to a panel of judges to tell them why Madoff investors should be allowed insurance compensation based on the final account statement and not the new cash in/cash out that the trustee is using.

MALVEAUX: OK. Ilene, we're going to have to wrap it there. I certainly wish the very best for your parents as well.

Thank you very much, Ilene.

KENT: Thank you, Suzanne. I really appreciate your having me. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

Well, with all the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, there are many experts who are asking, where is Bin Laden?

Our Michael Holmes takes a look at al Qaeda's absence in the uprisings.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Well, it's a question we've asked many times before, where is Bin Laden? While we are seeing radical regime change sweep across the Arab world, many experts are wondering why al Qaeda seems to be sitting out of all of these uprisings.

Our Michael Holmes is here to discuss the revolutions, what they mean for the jihadists, in today's "Globe Trekking."

And Michael, it's fascinating, because at least when I covered President Bush, hearing from Bin Laden was every once in a while an occasional occurrence, a regular occurrence.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly.

MALVEAUX: He would, you know, try to rib them a little bit. We haven't heard from Osama bin Laden, any taped messages from any caves anytime soon.

What do you make of this?

HOLMES: Yes. Deafening silence from him, really.

I mean, the name of course has long been synonymous with chaos in the region, but this Arab spring, let's call it, continuing to bloom across the Middle East, we haven't heard from that guy much, not a word from him. Very little from other al Qaeda commanders either.

Now, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, he has issued three recent statements. You could call them pretty rambling, really, and largely out of touch with what's been going on in the news.

Apparently, he didn't even seem to, from the content of these messages, know that Mubarak had been ousted, which is pretty big when you consider that Zawahiri was detained and tortured in Egypt -- he is Egyptian -- back in the 1980s under Mubarak. You would think he would have been all over this.

MALVEAUX: And these groups, al Qaeda in particular, they were never real big fans to begin with of these governments that are now toppling.

What do we make of their position now?

HOLMES: You're right. I mean, and it's very important to make the point that we haven't heard from al Qaeda yet in terms of actions from them yet, trying to buy in on this. And the reason is, it seems that they were caught of guard just as much as the West was in all of this. But they will be looking for ways to get in on the results of these uprisings as they develop in any way they can. I mean, there is no doubt about that.

MALVEAUX: And they did not want to see these governments. They wanted to see the governments topple, but not through democratic means.

HOLMES: Exactly, not in the way we have. Al Qaeda has long wanted to see governments fall right across the region. Their idea since the 1980s, when Osama bin Laden first partnered up with al- Zawahiri to form al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

The mission statement, if you like, was to wipe the borders out between Arab nations, create an Islamic super state, if you like. But these revolutions, uprisings we've been seeing across the region, it shows a very different Arab world potentially emerging.

You know, we can't get ahead of ourselves on all of this. What we're seeing is a wild reshuffling, if you like, of political and military powers, major instability in a region in the world that still has major issues with poverty and unemployment. Exactly the kinds of conditions that al Qaeda loves and will take advantage of.

MALVEAUX: So how does al Qaeda benefit from prolonged periods of instability?

HOLMES: Well, that's exactly where they can jump in. And you look at places like Yemen, Somalia, the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan as examples of that, places where the jihadists have been able to really dig in.

And where they can jump in to is if there is no rapid move towards reform in some of these countries, particularly talking about Egypt and places like that. Disappointment among the people is going to be something that's going to not all go well for these uprisings.

Seeing al Qaeda sit on the sidelines though while these regimes sort of fall is causing some cautious optimism, if you like, among the intelligence community. Emphasis on "cautious." Early days yet. A lot can go wrong. These things are still playing out.

MALVEAUX: Oh, absolutely.

HOLMES: Yes.

MALVEAUX: All right. Well, thank you very much, Michael. I appreciate it.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: Nice to see you.

Protesters in Wisconsin defy an order to leave the capitol. We're going to go live to Madison for the latest on the state's budget battles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Tight budgets, tough decisions. What to cut? All of that. Budget battles are taking center stage from the state house in Wisconsin to Capitol Hill in Washington. In Wisconsin, neither side is backing down in the standoff over curbing collective bargaining. In Washington, lawmakers are trying to reach a deal to avoid a government shutdown.

We have reporters following the latest developments on both fronts. Our Dana Bash is live on Capitol Hill. Want to start with Ted Rowlands in Wisconsin. Ted, give us a sense of what is taking place there. The governor warns of layoffs unless lawmakers approve this budget bill. Protesters still angry, however, over the efforts to curb collective bargaining, and they're not backing down.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, protesters and Democrats, those 14 Democrats are still in Illinois. Right now there is a standoff inside the Capitol rotunda between the protesters that have slept here overnight -- we are on the second floor up here. You can see it is pretty much vacant except for police officers. The bulk of the protesters left are down on the first floor. Right now, they're having a strategy meeting. Otherwise, it would be very loud with the drumming, etcetera.

Outside the Capitol there are hundreds of people waiting to get in, but police have barred them from coming in until all of these people leave. However, they're not arresting anybody, so it's this wait-and-see game with police. They don't want the images of protesters being led out in handcuffs, so they're basically waiting them out and the folks outside are freezing.

That's what's going on inside. Around the state, of course, as you mentioned, the divide continues to widen. There doesn't seem to be any communication between the governor and those 14 senators in Illinois.

MALVEUAX: And Ted, are there any signs of breakthroughs here? I understand there are some Democrats who think they might have a Republican on their side.

ROWLANDS: Yes, Democrats are pleased. They believe that one Republican senator, a guy by the name of Dale Schultz, has basically come over to their side saying that they expect him to vote against this bill. Schultz says he is not going to disclose what his vote is.

I just talked to one of the Republican senators. They said you know what? That's not big news to us. We never thought we had Schultz with us. But they say the rest of the Republicans are standing together and, he says, there is no way anyone else is going to go to their side.

The governor again today released a statement saying those 14 senators need to come back to Wisconsin or we're going to lose an opportunity to restructure some debts. So, the tension continues to build.

MALVEAUX: And Ted, real quick, how is this playing out over the airwaves? Is it -- are they battling this as well over radio?

ROWLANDS: And television. I mean, you would think there is an election next Tuesday. Both pro- and anti-governor ads are bombarding the markets here in the state of Wisconsin. Both sides are entrenched. But absolutely both sides are very concerned about public opinion, and they are bombarding the airwaves with advertisements. And it looks like, feels like an election is going to happen any minute when in reality they just want people on their side during this public discourse.

MALVEAUX: And Ted, thank you so much. I want to follow up what's happening in Indiana. Republicans are trying to move forward this afternoon on a bill that's banning collective bargaining for many workers. The legislation has triggered protests there, and it appears unlikely it is going to move forward now. Democrats, they are still camped out in Illinois, bringing the Indiana house to a standstill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PELATH (D), INDIANA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: I have never seen such a more committed group of people that believe it's so necessary to stop what they see as a very radical agenda that's transpiring here in Indianapolis.

It's really much more expansive than what's happening in Wisconsin. Not only are they trying to dismantle public schools, they're also trying to do away with collective bargaining, not in the public sector but also in the private sector.

We understand that the people sent the Republicans down there to govern, but we also understand that it's our very important responsibility to deny them the ability to move forward with the very most radical parts of what it is that they want to accomplish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Two Democratic lawmakers are at the state house to keep Republicans from proceeding without the required number of lawmakers.

In Washington the focus is on reaching an agreement to keep the federal government running. Our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash is following the developments on Capitol Hill. Dana, where do we stand now?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: House Republicans, Suzanne, tomorrow are going to vote on a measure that would keep the government running for two weeks, until march 18th. But what that measure has in it are $4 billion in spending cuts.

Now, Democrats who still run the Senate, they have been reluctant to pass anything in the short term that has budget cuts. But the Republicans in the house have done something that they think is rather clever, and that the cuts that they have taken in this measure are from the president's very own budget. So, they believe that that puts the Democrats in a tough position. It makes it hard for them to vote against.

Now, talking to Democrats, Suzanne, it looks like that is true, that it is likely this is going to pass, but I'm also told don't be a hundred percent sure yet because some Democrats in the Senate, they say they want it to be even longer, a month long so that it gives both sides time to negotiate on the really big issue, which is the gulf between the two on a long-term spending measure that would keep the government running for the rest of the year.

MALVEUAX: A very good point. So, even if they work out the short-term compromise, is there still the possibility of a shutdown down the road?

BASH: Absolutely. And that is an important point to underscore. This would be a short-term reprieve. And it would give the two sides time to start negotiating. But they're negotiating on something that is really, really big. A big gulf. Remember, House Republicans passed a spending measure that cuts $61 billion from spending from the current levels, 2010 levels.

MALVEAUX: Sure. BASH: Democrats in the Senate, especially if they don't want to go anywhere near that, they say they will have some cuts but nothing even close to that. So, I'm told negotiations between the two sides are expected to start on that this week. I'm told the White House, as you can imagine, would likely be involved. Interesting, also, political point, also told by administration official that, Suzanne, the White House has absolutely no interest in a government shutdown now at all. They made that pretty clear to Senate Democrats in this back and forth.

MALVEAUX: All right. Dana Bash, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Reminder now about your chance to Choose the News. You vote by texting 22360. Vote one for marijuana farmers market. It's the first ever in Seattle. Vote two for stranded in Libya. How thousands of workers are coping as they try to return to their home countries. And vote three for a day in Kate's shoes. What it's like to be princess- to-be Kate Middleton for a day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: African-Americans didn't always have a huge presence in Hollywood. This month, the film "Mooz-lum" opened with a strong African-American cast and director. It's about a boy raised by a strict Muslim father amidst the September 11 crisis. Don Lemon sat down with the director Qasim Basir to talk about the movie and the state of Muslims in America in his Black History Month edition of "What Matters."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QASIM BASIR, DIRECTOR, "MOOZ-LUM": In an average person's mind who does not know anybody who is Muslim. It's like you se Muslim you think terrorist. You hear terrorist, you think Muslim.

What we're trying to do with this film is separate the two. And get people to realize there are Muslims and there are terrorists. There are extremists. There are people that do horrible things, and then there are Muslims.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPODNENT: Why should I see this movie?

BASIR: Because most likely, it is a view that you have not seen before of Muslims in America. And given what we're facing today, the amount of ignorance surrounding Muslims in Islam, I feel it's necessary for people to see this. And for people to say, like, you know, I've never looked at it that way before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No terrorists here. What are you talking about?

BASIR: Hmm. Let me think about it. Because this ignorance is what creates fear, and fear, there is so much more that happens when that is in the picture. So we're just trying to clear up some of this ignorance. LEMON: So Tarek is a character.

BASIR: Yes.

LEMON: Is he kind of like you? Is it semi-autobigraphical? Did you experience some of the things that he does?

BASIR: You know, yes. The film is actually semi- autobiographical. Most of the situations in the film are true and definitely dramatized for the film but, for the most part, yes. It is basically a true story sort of so, yes. Tarek is me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Looks like a great film.

Well, politicians make a lot of statements they expect us to accept, right, as fact? It's our job to call them on it. The Truth- o-meter is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: There is so much happening in state and federal budget fights. There is a lot being said. So, what is true, what is false? We want to check in, check our Truth-o-Meter with Bill Adair, editor of Politifact.com and Washington bureau chief for "The St. Petersburg Times."

Bill, let's start with this one. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, dealing with huge protests over the budget plan, says most of the protesters in Madison are now from out of state. Is that true?

BILL ADAIR, EDITOR, POLITIFACT.COM: That one got a false on the Truth-o-Meter. And the key thing there was that he used the phrase "almost all of the protesters" were from outside Wisconsin. Our partners at Politifact Wisconsin did some checking. They talked to law enforcement officials on the scene and they actually did a survey of people who were there. Talked to 26 different protesters. Found overwhelmingly the folks were from Wisconsin. So, false on the Truth- O-Meter for that one.

MALVEAUX: OK, Bill, what about this one? This is coming from President Obama. He said that if there's a government shutdown, "people don't get their Social Security checks."

ADAIR: That one got a barely true on our Truth-O-Meter on Politifact. The true part is that, you know, you can't be sure in a government shutdown exactly what would be completely shut down. But if past practices are any indication, checks went out in 1995 during the last big government shutdown. The Social Security Administration has the leeway to send out the checks. So it's most likely they would still go out, so barely true for that one.

MALVEAUX: OK. And, finally, on FaceBook, the Wisconsin Democratic Party posted this claim. The five states that outlaw collective bargaining for teachers all rank below 44th in the nation in test scores, while Wisconsin ranks 2nd.

ADAIR: Yes, that one was passed -- that was said not just there. That got a false on our Truth-O-Meter. That was said not just on FaceBook by the Wisconsin Democratic Party, but by a lot of people who are supporting the teachers in Wisconsin. The truth is that the statistics just don't back that up. The stats that they were using are old and out of date. And when you look at more representative ones that are newer, the numbers just don't hold up. So that one gets a false on the Truth-O-Meter.

MALVEAUX: All right, Bill, thanks for keeping them honest. We appreciate it.

ADAIR: Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Well, you're sounding off on our "Talk Back" question today. Should the U.S. arm Libyan rebels? One viewer says, "why not? I say, help them out as long as we are not the ones who are doing the fighting." We'll have more of your comments ahead, including yours, Donna.

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MALVEAUX: Aid and arms. That's what two U.S. senators want the Obama administration to give to the Libyan opposition. So here's your chance to "Talk Back." Our Carol Costello, she joins us here in Atlanta.

Carol, I imagine there are a lot of people who weighed in on this because they're afraid. They're afraid if, you know, their friends might have to go over and what does this mean for so many people?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of people had strong opinions because they're afraid of another Iraq or Afghanistan. I mean we're having enough trouble in those countries. Why, you know, spread the trouble around? But the "Talk Back" question today, should the United States arm the Libyan rebels?

This from Donna. She said, "no. We need to arm the children of this country with a good education and our own people with what they need, jobs and security in this crazy world."

This from Rob. "I am a Republican true and true and on this one I have to disagree with John McCain. Seriously, it is not our responsibility or our duty to remove other countries' leaders who pose no significant threat to the USA."

This from George. "Isn't there a saying about learning from history so as not to commit the same mistakes? We could be arming the next bin Laden or Saddam Hussein."

This from Heidi. "We need to take action in the Middle East that shows we care about their people more than their oil if we want any kind of anti-American sentiment in the region to dissipate."

And this from Gene. "Can you say Afghanistan?" Well, that's a good point. People are worried about that.

MALVEAUX: Yes. Right. Very strong. Yes, a lot of people worried.

COSTELLO: Of course you never know, the United States could be forced to act in some way in Libya because of all these refugees going to European nations like Italy. I mean, Italy has to pay for all of those refugees. It's starting to now have a problem. And you can bet it's going to put pressure on the United States to act in some way. One defense expert told me that will be the tipping point, our European allies. If they get tired of handling all these refugees, they will force America to act.

MALVEAUX: To get involved. OK. Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

MALVEAUX: Well, you've probably been noticing that prices are going up on everything. We're talking about a gallon of gas to a pound of ground beef. Our Christine Romans explains what's behind all this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Food prices are expected to rise 3.5 percent this year. This according to new projections out this week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Blaming rising fuel prices and the weather. That's nearly double the inflation rate for all the other goods and services we buy. And the fastest prices have gone up since 2008. That means the prices restaurants and grocery stores pay for meat and eggs, fruit and vegetables, sweets and cereals, they're all going up. And restaurant owners, like Frank Karalis, are struggling not to pass those on to you.

FRANK KARALIS, OWNER, EUROPAN: Flour, to produce, to poultry. Between 2 and 10 percent depending on the items. It's just really skyrocketing. It's hard, you know, when you're, you know, we're trying to keep prices down as much as we can, but there's going to come a point where we're going to have to raise them.

ROMANS: Because grain prices have skyrocketed, the USDA says meat overall could see one of the largest jumps. Pork prices in particular could climb as much as 6.5 percent this year. Beef could rise another 4.5 percent. It's not just the meat section. Dairy products could rise 5.5 percent and eggs, cereals, and bakery goods jump 4.5 percent by the end of the year.

Now, you're already feeling gas prices at the pump. Analysts say they could rise another 15, 20, even 30 cents from here quickly. What can you do about it? Well, you can conserve, of course. But you can also check out a couple of useful websites. Gas Buddy helps you locate gas stations near you. You can see their current prices. Then you can find the cheapest station on the road. AAA Triptik mobile has the latest gas prices, maps, and directions. And fuelly.com lets you track, share and compare your gas mileage.

Look, there's so much out of your control, like gas prices, the price of food. But there are things you can control. For more tips on how to do that, you can check out my new book "Smart Is The New Rich."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Thanks, Christine.

Now our producers have been tallying now the last-minute results. We're going to have your "Choose The News" winner up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here are a couple incredible videos from our affiliates across country. D.C.'s metro transit system just released this of an incident that happened last October. You see people running to catch trains right after the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert rallies at the National Mall. All of a sudden they're tumbling down the escalator. One person was seriously hurt and transit officials now say the escalator's braking system failed.

If you didn't need proof before, proof that front row seats at a rodeo aren't always a good thing. This happened in North Carolina. One spectator suffered a broken foot. Another, a bruised leg. Scrambling to get out of the bull's way.

And Seattle is known for having radical ideas. This one, no exception. Dozens of marijuana growers at their own farmers market. Our CNN's Patrick Oppmann was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN ALL-PLATFORM CORRESPONDENT: We're outside Seattle's newest farmers market and it's a little bit different because they only sell one crop -- medical marijuana. It's happening here past this door and we're going to take you inside to take a look around.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Thirty minutes before the market opens, and people are lining up. To get in, all that's required is a recommendation from a health care provider that they take marijuana for a medical condition.

JOHN MUISE, MEDICAL MARIJUANA USER: I'm actually standing upright on my feet today because of cannabis. There's nothing else that I've found in the medical field that would help me with micronic (ph) pain issues.

OPPMANN: Marijuana is for sale -- a lot.

OPPMANN (on camera): Even though this is the first Sunday market for marijuana in Seattle, it's already filled to capacity. Organizers said they did very little publicity, but here you have people from all over the state, hundreds of people packing this room to buy marijuana in just about every conceivable form.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Vendor Ken Bell (ph) grows marijuana and takes it, he says, for back pain and a blood disorder. KEN BELL, GROWER: Well, a lot of people think that it's just a bunch of guys sitting around getting stoned, where it's actually patients. Like I said, most of my patients are in their 60s. They're using it for medication, not the actual effect itself. The euphoric effect, the pain killing effect, and the ability to eat again. A lot of them have real problems with gastrointestinal problems and they just can't eat.

OPPMANN: The growers here operate in a murky legal world. Unlike Colorado and California, selling marijuana for legitimate medical reasons is not legal in Washington. But under state law here, you can use what is called the medical marijuana defense if prosecuted for marijuana possession. Market organizers are pushing for full legalization, citing the tax revenue it would bring.

PHILLIP DAWDY, MEDICAL MARIJUANA MARKET SPOKESMAN: They would plug budget gaps in Colorado with money from medical marijuana.

OPPMANN (on camera): Do you think you can do that here?

DAWDY: Oh, yes. We want to do that here. We want to pay our taxes. We want to be taxed. We want to be regulated and taxed and be like, frankly, any other industry or business.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Organizers say they plan on holding more marijuana farmers markets in Seattle, but next time in a place that can fit more people.

Patrick Oppman, CNN, Seattle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Christiane Romans, in for Ali Velshi.

Hey, Christine.