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American Morning

Severe Weather; Finally Home

Aired April 03, 2006 - 06:00   ET

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


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Tornadoes and high winds ripped through America's midsection. At least 14 people are dead this morning. They're assessing the damage.

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jonathan Freed in Taylorville, Illinois. Tornadoes ripped through at least seven counties in this state. One man is dead. That story coming up.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Severe weather still happening right now this morning. In fact, in a line all the way from Mississippi, Alabama, through Georgia and on up into eastern Tennessee. We'll tell you what that means for your afternoon and your flight conditions through Atlanta. Could be ugly today.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just back from a flight to the U.S. where I was on the flight with former hostage Jill Carroll. I'll tell you what she told me in just a moment.

M. O'BRIEN: And West Wing rumors flying this morning. Who might be next to get a pink slip at the White House?

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome, everybody.

We're going to start with the massive damage and the death toll, too, caused by severe storms across the central U.S. Several states hit by tornadoes, including Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, -- Kentucky, rather, Illinois and Tennessee.

Northwestern Tennessee may have been the hardest hit. At least 11 people are dead there. And overnight, emergency officials are still trying to reach all of the people injured.

There are reports of dozens of people injured in Arkansas as well. The northeast part of the state saw as many as a half a dozen tornadoes. In some places, they had hail reported to be the size of a fist.

The storms are being blamed for two deaths in Missouri. These new overnight pictures are from heavily damaged Caruthersville. That is now under a state of emergency today.

Besides tornadoes, strong winds at speeds approaching 100 miles an hour caused heavy damage in Illinois. Those winds being blamed for one death at a clothing store that collapsed.

Then in Indianapolis, tornado sirens sent thousands of people running for cover. The city, of course, heavily packed due to tonight's college basketball championship game. A tornado reportedly blew out windows in a bank tower, sending glass raining down onto the street from as high as the 32nd floor.

All that brings us right to our severe weather expert, Chad Myers. He's at the CNN Center this morning.

Lots to talk about, Chad, good morning.

MYERS: Hi. Good morning, Soledad.

You're going to hear a lot about the town of Newbern, which is just north and northeast of Dyersburg in Tennessee. A tornado warning was issued there at 7:17 Central Time last night, but the tornado hit about 7:55 p.m., about 40 minutes into that tornado warning. And that warning was still going off and the sirens were still going off as well.

The storms, all of the big red boxes, those are tornado watch boxes, which means you have to watch out for the potential for a storm. When we say warning, that means I'm warning you, there's one out there.

There are no tornado warnings right now, but there are some very significant cells here from Chattanooga, right on back down into Rome, Georgia. There is Atlanta right there. This weather will be charging into the Atlanta metro area here in the next hour or so.

The story, too, will continue down across Mississippi, Alabama, southern Georgia and on up into North and South Carolina. The same line of cells that did so much damage up there to the northwest of where they are now. A little bit of a wider shot. There you see Huntsville, Birmingham and that weather is moving, just charging quickly now into the Atlanta metro region -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Chad. Back with you in just a little bit.

Let's get some more on those high winds and tornadoes that hit Illinois.

CNN's Jonathan Freed is in Taylorville, Illinois. That's just southeast of Springfield.

Jonathan, what's the latest from there?

FREED: Good morning, Miles.

I can tell you that the latest from here is that it is still plenty windy here in Taylorville, Illinois. And behind me over here, you can see some of the main damage that hit this town yesterday evening. You're looking at, in the immediate foreground over there, what's left of some storage buildings behind some homes. There's just a concrete slab left, Miles, and all of these buildings were simply blown, the storage sheds were just blown right on back of those homes there.

The wind is picking up here, almost right on cue, as we -- as you came to us here. It has been windy all morning long. We've been here for about an hour and a half or so, setting up. And I can tell you that tornadoes touched down in at least seven counties, Miles, here in Illinois. There was a severe weather front from north to south on the state. But the most powerful cell was moving along Interstate 72, about 25 miles or so north of us eastward.

Now in Fairview Heights, Illinois, a 54-year-old man, Miles, lost his life when a clothing store collapsed in high winds. Now crews were searching through the rubble. Trees were uprooted, power lines are down, the winds were strong enough to tip over semi trailers and people even lost control of their vehicles.

And let's listen to what one person who witnessed some of this had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONTE DECOUNTER, MCDONOUGH COUNTY, ILL. RESIDENT: I walked out in the garage to get my cell phone out of the truck and I heard quite a racket. And I saw a piece of tin go by the door that I knew was way too big to be going by the door. So I just went to the basement and leaned up against the wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREED: Now, Miles, Illinois' Governor Rod Blagojevich activated the state's Emergency Operation Center. There are representatives from about a dozen state agencies that are assessing the damage, getting in touch with communities trying to find out exactly who needs aid from the state and how much aid they're going to need -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Jonathan Freed in Taylorville, Illinois, thank you very much.

Jill Carroll is home, happy and -- as she puts it -- "feeling alive again." The former hostage now in Boston with her family. She was welcomed by long hugs and joyful tears yesterday, as you'd suspect.

CNN's Paula Hancocks was on the flight from Germany to Boston with her. She's now back in Europe joining us live.

Paula, you're getting the frequent flyer mileage, but you spoke to Jill on that flight. What did she have to say?

HANCOCKS: Well, Miles, she was incredibly relaxed. She was quite chatty, as well, and very happy to talk to us. She looked incredibly well. And I asked about her health, and she said she's never felt better.

All she kept talking about, though, was meeting her family again. She could not focus on anything more. A couple of questions I asked her, she just giggled and said, well, I can't think any time after meeting my family, not a minute after.

And so she also wanted to say that the guys at Ramstein, at the U.S. Air Base, and those that had taken her out of Baghdad, had been incredibly helpful to her. They've been fantastic to her.

And she was with her colleague, Scott Peterson, and they were just chatting the entire flight. I think she probably only got about half an hour's sleep. When I passed by the first class area, all the lights were off, everyone was fast asleep, except for the two of them still chatting ten to the dozen. You can imagine they had a lot to catch up on, but she really did seem very well and she looked good.

M. O'BRIEN: It's nice to see those pictures of her embracing her mother and father.

As she was released, Paula, this tape came out, which we've been talking a little bit about, where she was praising her captors and harshly critical of the U.S. She's made some statements clarifying that that was clearly under duress. Tell us what she had to say with about that.

HANCOCKS: Well, she wouldn't be drawn too much on this, Miles. She said that she didn't want to do an interview. She just wanted to have a little chat, although, when I did ask about the statement, she just said, "I felt it had to be said" and she left it at that.

But the editor of "Christian Science Monitor," who she was working for when she was kidnapped, had a lot more to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD BERGENHEIM, EDITOR, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": During my last night of captivity, my captors forced me to participate in a propaganda video. They told me I would be released if I cooperated. I was living in a threatening environment, under their control, and I wanted to go home alive, so I agreed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: She's also now asked just to have a bit of time with her family and to be left alone for a little bit so that she can just enjoy being free again -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Paula, as far as what's next immediately, she's going to stay in seclusion for a little while, but did she talk about any plans what she's going to do? Is she going to return to reporting? And would she return to Iraq, for example?

HANCOCKS: I did ask her if she'd return to Iraq. And she just looked at me and gave me a wry smile and said, "I can't think of anything beyond seeing my family right now, I'm sorry." So she wouldn't be drawn on anything like that.

But she did have a smile when I asked that question. So she understands that everybody wants to talk to her. She understands that the world really wants to know her story, but she's just not ready at the moment. She says she just wants to enjoy her freedom. She just wants to be with her family.

Scott Peterson, her colleague, also saying that she just wanted a little time just to get used to being free again. We had, in that "Christian Science Monitor," she was just amazed looking out of the window and just seeing blue sky for the first time in almost three months.

M. O'BRIEN: Paula Hancocks in London, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Word of another shake-up at the White House. Coming up, we're going to tell you just who might be getting a pink slip. That's ahead this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Also, a mega merger in the telecom business. We'll look at what it could mean for your phone bill.

S. O'BRIEN: Then later, Scott Peterson, he's on death row. A new development, though, in the case to tell you about. Why is somebody offering a $250,000 reward?

Those stories all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: That's a pretty shot. Isn't it nice? Look at the George Washington Bridge there.

S. O'BRIEN: Beautiful. A little Eric Clapton behind us. What's not to like about this morning? It's Monday, that's it.

M. O'BRIEN: There was something. I knew there was something.

S. O'BRIEN: Then there is that.

Good morning. Welcome back, everybody.

Serious news to get to, weather news. Tornado warnings down south right now. Let's get right to Chad Myers. He's at the CNN Center with an update for us.

Hey, Chad, bad news, really, to report.

MYERS: Yes, it's still going this morning. Typically, very often -- I mean, by the morning hours things have all calmed down, it's cold outside, no storms. But still right here, there's Atlanta right under that word past hour. Past hour: 672 lightning strikes in northwestern Georgia in a line from just east of Chattanooga, down through Dalton where they make all that carpet, and then back down into Birmingham as well.

And there will be more weather across the country today. We'll widen the view a little bit. Tennessee and Kentucky, you're in the clear for now. Have another storm coming up in the middle of the week, but in the clear for now from this storm.

And then here comes the weather into parts of Atlanta, Georgia. And all of this coming in from the west at a very rapid clip. And eventually there's a potential for severe weather all the way from D.C. down to Jacksonville, Florida.

But as I was looking at that picture behind you and New York City, did you notice how dark it was?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, I wasn't going to complain about it, because it's been a little...

S. O'BRIEN: It's -- yes.

M. O'BRIEN: ... probably (ph).

S. O'BRIEN: And you know that's not the picture behind us. We have no windows in our studio, -- Chad.

MYERS: Well neither do we in the weather office. That makes sense.

Daylight shifting time, Miles, as you call it.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you. Daylight shifting time has occurred, but it's actually a little lighter than I actually thought it would be.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it doesn't look as dark as I thought it would be.

M. O'BRIEN: So I'm not going to complain too much.

MYERS: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: Why shifting? Why not just saving?

M. O'BRIEN: Because you're not saving anything, it's just shifting it. And people who are...

S. O'BRIEN: Apparently touched a button on Miles there.

M. O'BRIEN: There's no savings involved here, all right.

S. O'BRIEN: Sorry, that was to Chad, by the way, our weather guru, not to you.

M. O'BRIEN: He agrees.

Chad, you agree with me, right, there's no saving here?

MYERS: I agree, just shifting.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Blah, blah blah. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. And you, too, Miles, our fill-in weather guy.

Thanks, Chad, we'll check in with you later.

MYERS: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: Lots of stories to get to this morning. Let's go right to Carol Costello. She's in the newsroom.

Good morning, -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

More shake-ups at the White House to tell you about. Less than a week after President Bush got a new chief of staff, sources say he could get a new White House press secretary. It seems Scott McClellan may be leaving. Treasury Secretary John Snow could also be out. Officials say the departures are among several at the senior level expected to come within the next couple of weeks.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calling on Iraq to form a new government and do it now. Secretary Rice is in Baghdad for a surprise visit. That's British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in the helmet just behind her if you can see it in that picture. Iraq is calling on Iraqi lawmakers to stop arguing and restore law in the country. It comes amid new car bombings in Baghdad. At lease one person was killed. We'll take you live to Baghdad in 15 minutes.

The Senate set to debate immigration. Two proposals are on the floor. The first votes are expected later today. In the meantime, more immigration rallies are set from New York to Los Angeles. Hundreds of thousands of people marched throughout the country this weekend.

Catholics around the world marking one year since the death of Pope John Paul II. Tens of thousands gathering last night for a candlelight vigil at St. Peter's Square. More events are planned throughout the week. Pope Benedict has put John Paul on the so-called fast track to sainthood. Church officials now checking on possible miracles attributed to the late pontiff.

Road rage on a list of possible motives in the killing of a Hell's Angels biker. It happened on I-95 in Connecticut. A driver simply opened fire on the bikers. State police are on the lookout for a green sport utility vehicle with Florida plates.

And wouldn't you know it, a rain delay in the first game of the baseball season. Last year's champs, the Chicago White Sox, waiting nearly three hours to take on the Cleveland Indians; but, boy, was it worth the wait. Final score 10 to 4. I like that! And as you can see, most of the fans left because it was raining, but who cares?

President Bush, by the way, will throw out the first pitch today when the Reds host the Chicago Cubs in Cincinnati. So I guess that happens around 2:00 Eastern Time, -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Hopefully it won't be a bouncer, right?

COSTELLO: I hope not.

M. O'BRIEN: That first pitch there, it's got to be a little...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, embarrassing.

M. O'BRIEN: He's an old ballplayer, he knows that stuff.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Carol.

M. O'BRIEN: Merger Monday and Carrie Lee is here to tell us about that, boy (ph).

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a huge telecom deal to tell folks about this morning. France's Alcatel, the big telecom company there, is buying Lucent Technologies. Remember this high flyer from the early 2000's?

M. O'BRIEN: I remember the lows more than the highs...

S. O'BRIEN: Exactly, I was going to say.

M. O'BRIEN: ... because I was caught holding that.

LEE: Highs, lows, you and a lot of other people. Well documented.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, definitely.

LEE: Well the two coming together in a $13.5 billion stock swap. And this is a huge deal. What Alcatel is trying to do is capitalize on the triple play of Internet, phone and television packages. They have become very popular in telecom. The company is going to be based in Paris but will serve North America, Asia and Europe.

Now Lucent shareholders aren't going to get a premium here, although some analysts say that the stock will benefit because now Alcatel is going to be taking over Lucent's healthcare and benefits packages. You know that was a big part of Lucent's problem, they had so many employees and they had to take care of them. It was not a good time when the stock was sinking. But Lucent shares have been gaining on expectation of this deal.

And we've seen SBC and AT&T come together, Verizon, MCI. So the latest big telecom merger very big story today.

M. O'BRIEN: All of this consolidation.

LEE: Yes, we're seeing a lot of it.

M. O'BRIEN: What's with the big picture here? LEE: Well, I think what's interesting here is that you know you hear a lot about French companies coming together to kind of boost the French nationalism. It's interesting that they're going outside of France to become bigger. In this case, they probably have to. You know it's becoming more and more of a global economy.

Speaking of stocks, overall, S&P 500 saw the best gains for the first quarter of the year. The best first quarter gains in seven years. S&P 500 up 3.7 percent, basically, because of the growing economy. Of course we have some concerns about rising interest rates, but still a very nice quarter for the S&P 500. Real estate, believe it or not, was the best performing sector, still going strong.

M. O'BRIEN: So the bubble continues.

LEE: Yes, so far.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Carrie.

S. O'BRIEN: Despite all the warnings about the bubble bursting and get out of real estate?

LEE: Exactly. Looking ahead, who knows if this is going to continue, but telecom also up there, as well as insurance and semiconductors. And futures looking up a bit today, the first trading day of the second quarter.

M. O'BRIEN: God bless the bubble.

S. O'BRIEN: I always mark that on my calendar,...

M. O'BRIEN: The first...

S. O'BRIEN: ... the first trading day of the second quarter, and here it is.

M. O'BRIEN: It's in the Palm Pilot.

LEE: So optimistic, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, -- Carrie.

LEE: Sure.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Carrie.

With the deadline just two weeks away, we have some helpful hints in our tax guides. Probably a little late for this year, but you know, nevertheless, listen up. Tax experts will tell us about filing taxes online, deductions.

S. O'BRIEN: Never too late.

M. O'BRIEN: It's never too late.

Some deductions you might have missed, you know if you want to get involved in a little bit of creative bookkeeping maybe, and not that I would do that. And best of all, what to do with your tax refund. Now that's the part we all know, how to spend it. That's Wednesday to Friday this week right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. And Carol has got a look at what's coming up on "Morning Coffee."

Hey, Carol, again.

COSTELLO: Thanks.

I don't have my taxes done, so I'm pretty interested in that segment.

Coming up on "Morning Coffee," it is like a remake of the War of 1812. Well, not exactly, but it is a battle royale between the Brits and an American high school marching band.

And remember Lewis the cat, the cat that's terrorizing Fairfield, Connecticut? Well it seems Lewis cannot stay out of trouble. We'll tell you what happened and why he may die.

That's ahead in "Morning Coffee."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: We're back.

S. O'BRIEN: Good music this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: That was Smokey Robinson.

S. O'BRIEN: Loving that.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, not bad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right.

M. O'BRIEN: Carol Costello has got some coffee for us.

COSTELLO: I do, indeed, and here goes.

There's this big flap over a Florida high school band. It's about the band's trip and it's taking on a life of its own. It all started when a superintendent for a Fort Myers high school nixed the trip for the band to play in a London parade. Like in -- on New Year's on -- in 2007. He cited the threat of terrorism as a reason. So if the band went over there and played, they could be a target of a terrorist attack.

Well British officials didn't take that very well and they're fighting back. They're urging British tourists to think twice about going to Fort Myers. They're even publishing crime rates for Fort Myers, and that could change the minds of the roughly 80,000 British tourists who visit Fort Myers every single year. Florida Governor Jeb Bush is even involved. He says the superintendent may have been a little overly cautious, but that the superintendent, he's not changing his mind. Doesn't want the band to go.

S. O'BRIEN: Who knew 80,000 British tourists go to Fort Myers?

M. O'BRIEN: That's...

COSTELLO: Maybe not anymore.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, maybe not.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow.

M. O'BRIEN: But I'm curious, what would the band be in -- you know how would they be in jeopardy by just going to England?

COSTELLO: Well, the train bombing there, I guess.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, well.

COSTELLO: But you could say that about someone going to New York City, right, that they could be a target of a terrorist attack.

S. O'BRIEN: He just doesn't want them to go and he used the old terrorist attack think.

M. O'BRIEN: That's -- yes.

S. O'BRIEN: I think so.

M. O'BRIEN: The old terrorist attack thing, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, he just said, no, he didn't want them to go.

COSTELLO: Probably true.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. It's a...

COSTELLO: I don't know, but it's a battle royale. We'll keep you posted on that one.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about Lewis the cat. He is now a national celebrity. We're going to get to that in a second.

Lewis' owner may have to leave her home, though, in Fairfield, Connecticut, that's because Lewis got outside while under house arrest and he attacked someone else.

M. O'BRIEN: Really, this cat is serious.

COSTELLO: Well the cat was supposed to be on Prozac so that he would settle down. And he was supposed to stay in the house and not go outside.

M. O'BRIEN: Kitty Prozac.

COSTELLO: Kitty, well, yes, she -- he -- she was ordered -- the owner was ordered to give the cat Prozac.

S. O'BRIEN: I was on vacation when this story broke.

M. O'BRIEN: I missed that one.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow!

COSTELLO: Really, Lewis the cat?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Yes, terrorized a group living in...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I heard.

M. O'BRIEN: I thought it was just house arrest. I didn't know that Prozac was involved, too. Wow!

S. O'BRIEN: Well, well, well.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, so...

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: But anyway, the owner is going to go to court and the judge will decide whether Lewis has to be euthanized. So the cat could be put to death.

In the meantime, you can support Lewis. You can be a friend of Lewis. A couple of people who actually set up a page for Lewis on myspace.com. On it you learn Lewis is a big fan of those Meow Mix commercials and he also has a thing for Halle Berry. After all, she did play Catwoman.

M. O'BRIEN: Lewis was the only one to see that movie, as a matter of fact. But...

S. O'BRIEN: No dissing my girlfriend Halle Berry.

M. O'BRIEN: Sorry.

S. O'BRIEN: Not her finest work.

M. O'BRIEN: I've got nothing wrong with Halle. There's no question wrong with that. Anyway and she's fine. She's mighty fine.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, we'll wait for an update on that story, too.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Lewis...

COSTELLO: Only the hardest news from me.

S. O'BRIEN: A look at the morning's top stories is straight ahead, including all those tornadoes, and the severe weather that's causing some serious damage across much of the country. Chad is going to update us, tell us what's in store this morning.

Plus, a new development in the Scott Peterson case, somebody is now offering a $250,000 reward. We'll tell you who and why just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: I never knew that. It's clear as mud now, though.

Still to come, the latest on those fierce storms in the South and the Midwest. High winds, huge hail, deadly tornadoes. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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