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American Morning

Tornado Damage in Colorado; Houston Building Fire; Captured Sailors: British Diplomats Might See Crew

Aired March 29, 2007 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.
Let's get right to the pictures of our top story this morning. And these are some tough pictures. This tornado, a massive storm front spawning tornadoes from the Rockies to the Midwest.

Powerful twisters were reported in Oklahoma. Two people were killed there in Texas.

In Holly, Colorado, near the Kansas state line, there they had a 600-foot-wide tornado that roared right through.

CNN's Rhonda Scholting has been traveling all night to get there to update us on just how bad it is.

I know really it's still a little dark behind you, but what do you know?

RHONDA SCHOLTING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, this morning a young girl is in serious condition after she and a young boy were literally blown out of their homes into the tops of nearby trees. Of course, they were rescued by rescue crews.

In all, eight people were injured when this tornado rolled through town last night. And, in fact, the tornado sirens did not go off.

The funnel cloud, as you said, cut a path through town, basically cutting the town in half diagonally. Some 30 homes are badly damaged or totally destroyed, and dozens of trees and power lines are down. In fact, right now it is still so dangerous in some areas of town, particularly the north side, where most of the damage is, that only rescue crews are being allowed in that particular area.

Now, the storm hit about 8:00 last night, when many of the families here in Holly were, you know, inside doing things that families usually do after dinner -- maybe watching television. In fact, behind me, if you look at this house, this tree that fell on top of this house collapsing the roof. Inside of that house last night at about 8:00, the couple that lives there was sitting there watching television when that tree fell on to the roof.

Soledad, if it had fallen just about three feet or so to the left, it probably would have crushed them inside.

O'BRIEN: Oh my goodness. That's terrible. And I know as the light comes up, it's going to look a lot worse.

Where is everybody? I mean, you have so many homes, it's a relatively small community. Have they set up shelters? Are people just kind of moving in with their -- their friends and neighbors?

SCHOLTING: That's exactly what's happening. You said it.

Lots of friends and neighbors have taken people in. And there are still homeowners -- in fact, the man that lives in that house was sort of out here with us for a while this morning. I think he is waiting for the sun to come up to really see how bad things really are. But he was in that house last night, so can you imagine what he heard when that tree fell on his roof?

O'BRIEN: That's terrifying. That's got to be absolutely terrifying.

All right. Thanks for the update. Certainly appreciate it, Rhonda. We'll get back to you as the sun comes up and we can see a little bit more of the damage, too -- John.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: In Houston, serious questions this morning after a deadly office building fire. Did the alarms go off? Did the sprinkler systems trigger the fire on the upper floors of the six-story medical supply building.

Firefighters got at least 10 people out. They had to inch their way backwards down a rescue ladder while flames and thick black smoke were pouring out of the building.

Here is Rachel McNeil from affiliate KPRC in Houston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL MCNEIL, REPORTER, KPRC (voice over): As flames ate their way through windows of a six-story office building on the North Loop East, employees gingerly made their way down rescue ladders to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm blessed. I'm blessed.

MCNEIL: James Moore (ph) says he and his co-workers tried to get out using the stairs, but the black smoke made it impossible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The window was right there. We just picked a chair up and just broke it. OK? Because we were getting suffocated.

The smoke was getting real, real thick. It's a miracle. Thank God I'm here. So another 10 -- another 10 minutes, it was in flames.

MCNEIL: For others high above, breaking out was their only option as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They had people breaking the windows just to get some oxygen, some air coming through to the black smoke. And they were leading them down one by one. We were kind of nervous and a little bit afraid and scared. MCNEIL: Bobby Moss (ph) and his co-workers managed to get out OK, but the smoke and the adrenaline-fueled ladder rescue was understandably overwhelming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just pray to God that you're -- it's not your time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: At the half hour we're going to speak with a woman who survived the fire. She had to use a chair to break a window in her office and climb down a ladder to safety. We'll ask her about her experience.

In Chicago this morning, fire investigators say a piece of equipment on top of the roof of this 45-story building turned into smoky fire on Wednesday. The fire department raced to get people outside, but they now say the flames never posed a real danger. No injuries reported in that one.

O'BRIEN: A little bit of good news there.

ROBERTS: Yes.

O'BRIEN: At least in Chicago.

Some new developments to tell you about in the case of those 15 British sailors who are being held captive in Iran. Now, Iran says it's willing to let British diplomats see the sailors, but there's a catch. And it's a big one.

And right now, Great Britain is looking to the U.N. Security Council for some help. The U.N. secretary-general is meeting the Iranian foreign minister at the Arab summit which is in Saudi Arabia this morning.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is live for us in Riyadh.

Good morning to you, Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning.

That catch is that the British government must admit its personnel illegally went into Iranian waters. It seems highly unlikely that the British government will do that. They vehemently stand by the fact that their personnel were in Iraqi, not Iranian, waters when seized last Friday.

Now, we're getting just in the past hour a better sense of what the situation is. You'll recall yesterday we had heard from the Iranian foreign minister that the sole female among this group, Faye Turney, would be released perhaps yesterday or even today. Then he backed up -- backed up against those comments later in the day, saying that a decision about what to do would come soon. We have now heard in the past hour from the secretary of Iran's National Security Committee, Ali Larijani. He has said that the grounds were set to release Faye Turney, but in his words, if faced with a "fuss (ph) from Britain on wrong behavior," that will be suspended and will not take place.

He went on to accuse the British government of turning this situation into a media frenzy, as the British government has contended, was the Iranians' fault for releasing that video. And he has said the cost of violating Iran's sovereignty will not be cheap.

So, it seems that the hard-liners within Iran's government are firmly in control of this situation. Perhaps they had second thoughts about releasing Faye Turney. She had, according to them, confessed to illegally entering Iranian waters. Maybe they felt pressure as to why they were holding the other 14.

And also, we don't know what Faye Turney would say after she was released about the conditions of her captivity and how that would affect mounting pressure on Iran to release the remaining 14 British marines and sailors. Now, Larijani also said he does want a diplomatic solution to this issue, but said that the British government is jeopardizing that with its actions -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. So, there are lots of theories, of course, about -- about why, the real motivations behind what Iran is doing. What is the leading theory?

RAMAN: Yes. We have gone past in 2004 when it was a simple territorial dispute. They were held just for three days. We've now gone well beyond that, almost a week that these British military personnel have been in custody.

A lot has changed since 2004. Iran has just been slapped with another round of sanctions. Five Iranians remain in coalition custody within Iraq.

So, it seems the atmosphere within Iran, especially among hard- liners who seem increasingly in control of the situation, is that because of that, Iran must prolong this investigation. There are still calls for a trial of the British military personnel. Iran clearly feels it's been backed into a corner on multiple fronts, but it feels it has leverage in this situation and is unwilling at the moment to back down -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for us this morning.

Thank you, Aneesh -- John.

ROBERTS: The former chief of staff to Alberto Gonzales is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in just a few hours. Kyle Sampson will answer questions about why eight U.S. attorneys were fired.

Our congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, got her hands on remarks that Sampson is going to deliver today. She's live with us on Capitol Hill.

Dana, what's he expected to say today?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's expected to say, John, that he did start to put together this plan to fire federal prosecutors some two years ago, but he will insist that there was nothing wrong in dismissing those U.S. attorneys.

I will read you a quote from his prepared testimony. He will say, "This is a benign rather than sinister story, and I know that some may be indisposed to accept it. But it is the truth as I observed and experienced it."

But Sampson will also admit that this was very much mishandled when it comes to the explanation as to why the federal prosecutors were fired. And that is really what is making Democrats and even many Republicans very upset here, as you know, John, the fact that they feel that they got misleading, even flat-out wrong information from top Justice officials about what went on.

ROBERTS: So, we know what Kyle Sampson is going to say, Dana. What kind of questioning can we expect? I mean, that's where the real meat of this hearing is going to come in.

BASH: It sure will be. You know, Democrats have said for some time that they think that these eight federal prosecutors were fired because in some cases they were too soft on Democrats and too hard on Republicans.

Sampson says that is not the case. So what Democrats and Republicans are going to ask is, OK, so why were these prosecutors fired? How did you wield down the list from 93 to actually firing just eight? What was process that went on there?

The other key thing to watch for here is Alberto Gonzales. Kyle Sampson, of course, was the chief of staff to Alberto Gonzales. The attorney general has had a couple of different apparently inconsistent explanations for what he knew about what went on. And that is something that lawmakers, senators, especially Democrats, are going to try to use Kyle Sampson to get at, what exactly did the attorney general know?

Not just that, also officials at the White House. Karl Rove, other top officials there, even the president, what did they know, how involved were they?

ROBERTS: And I imagine if it turns out that Gonzales knew a little more than what they've said so far, that this thing is going to blow up yet again.

Dana Bash, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

BASH: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Soledad.

O'BRIEN: President Bush was kind of funny yesterday at the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner.

ROBERTS: Not as funny as Karl Rove.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that's true. We'll get to Karl Rove in just a moment.

This was last night in Washington, D.C. He was -- he had a couple good ones. Here's one of the good ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The press is a lot tougher the second term. It's reached the point I sometimes call on Helen Thomas just to hear a friendly voice.

(LAUGHTER)

No matter how tough it gets, however, I have no intention of becoming a lame duck president. Unless, of course, Cheney accidentally shoots me in the leg.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Funny. He was funny. He was funny. He had a good line or two.

And then there was this -- as they say, now for something completely different. Take a look. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SINGING): Get out his gun because he's shooting quail. That man will never stop. Look at him jumping up and down and ready to hop. He's got the...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: That's Karl Rove doing whatever you call that dance. Apparently, he was sitting -- he was a guest of CNN last night, sitting at the table. They came over and asked him to come up and join them in their performance. And he was, I guess, saying no, no, no. And Ed Henry was among those pushing him up.

The crowd got wild when he got up.

ROBERTS: Yes, Ed is always eager to, you know, let somebody humiliate themselves.

O'BRIEN: Embarrass other people.

But, they said the crowd went wild when he got up there. And it looked pretty darn funny to me.

ROBERTS: That's a completely new side to Karl Rove.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes. ROBERTS: Perhaps one that should have stayed hidden.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

ROBERTS: Coming up, intense fire from a tanker truck crash. So much damage that drivers are going to have to find another way to work today.

More than 100 illegal immigrants storm ashore. No one is there to stop them.

And this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Pretty scary. I'm not going to lie to you. But I was eager to jump up and down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to test the glass, really. See if it worked.

ROBERTS: Four thousand feet in the air and nothing but glass between you and the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

The most news in the morning is on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A massive stovepipe tornado on the ground. I would say it's probably right now 200 yards to 300 yards at the base. Again, we're seeing a multiple vortex tornado.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Wow, look at that. That's a storm chaser capturing some pretty incredible pictures. He's a photographer with our affiliate KOCO in Oklahoma City, took these pictures of what truly is a massive tornado hitting the ground last night in the Oklahoma panhandle.

After it was over, two people were dead. They were in their home when the twister hit. That affiliate, KOCO, reporting that these are the first deaths from a tornado in Oklahoma in six years.

Now let's take you to Holly, Colorado. That's right near the Kansas border. There, they are assessing the damage this morning, waiting really for some better light, too.

A tornado reported to be 600 feet wide roared right through that small community. Several people were hurt. Some of them had to be airlifted out.

A quarter past the hour. Time for Chad and an update on what we're expecting today.

(WEATHER REPORT) .

ROBERTS: A CNN "Security Watch" now.

You saw the pictures. A boat carrying more than 100 Haitian illegal immigrants, it came ashore yesterday in Florida. Police weren't notified until people on the beach called it in. So, five and a half years after 9/11, how did this boat get past the Coast Guard to make it all the way it did?

Joining us now from the Coast Guard marina in Washington is the commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen.

Admiral, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

The first question to you, how did this happen?

ADM. THAD ALLEN, COMMANDANT OF U.S. COAST GUARD: Well, John, you need to understand there's some distinct differences in the maritime border as it relates to land and air borders. We have no national persistent surveillance system, and there's really no bright line border.

We have a 12-mile territorial sea, and through that there is right of innocent passage and freedom of navigation. There are hundreds of thousands of boats in south Florida. We are very good at going out and looking for contacts if we have a search and rescue case, but it is a consistent challenge to take a look at all the boats that are approaching the coastline of Florida and the southeast United States and be able to sort which one presents a threat and which ones are non-compliant.

ROBERTS: Right. Well, this didn't come ashore though on some obscure key off of the southern tip of Florida. This came ashore on Hallandale Beach, which is right there between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, which means it went through shipping lanes, it went along the area where a lot of pleasure craft operate.

How is it that no one saw it until they actually got on shore and a civilian took out, I would assume, their cell phone and called it in?

ALLEN: Well, John, we have two types of resources in the Coast Guard that we deploy. We have units that are ready to respond to search and rescue cases and are ready to launch status, if you will, and then we do have presence and patrols. But the patrols are not ubiquitous.

It's impossible to defend a 12,000-mile maritime border. And if you add in the rivers and bays, it's up to about 95,000 miles. We put the resources we have out there and we do surveillance, but there are times when migrants do get through. ROBERTS: So, if I'm reading you correctly, Admiral Allen, are you suggesting that if migrants could get through, then someone who represented a real threat to the United States probably wouldn't have much trouble getting through?

ALLEN: Well, I don't think any senior leader in this country would represent that we completely sealed our borders. And the maritime borders represent a significant challenge for us. And I would get back to my earlier comment -- there is no persistent surveillance system. We are in the process of putting structures into place that will help us sense who is out there, and we've been doing that since 9/11, but it's a work in progress.

ROBERTS: Right.

You know, the Government Accountability Office found in a study last year that your Operation Deep Water modernization plan, which is going to cost taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $24 billion, was plagued by early mistakes that have crippled your transformation into a front line homeland security force. So, how long can we expect these holes in coastal security to go on for?

ALLEN: Well, we understand there are problems with the deep water acquisition, and we're addressing those. But even despite those problems, we are facing what we would call a patrol boat hour gap as we build new ships.

Back as early as the mid-1990s, we knew that we were going to have cutters ending their service life, would have to replace them. And we're in the process of doing that now, and we're managing through a patrol boat hour gap that does exist right now.

ROBERTS: All right. Admiral Allen, well, I know that you've got some serious problems here. We hope that they get worked out soon, because people are certainly asking a lot of questions provoked by this particular landing yesterday.

Admiral Allen, thanks very much for joining us. Appreciate it.

So, what's next for the more than 100 Haitian nationals on that boat? The Customs and Border Patrol agency is going to decide that question. They're currently being detained and will probably be sent back to Haiti unless they can prove that they will face persecution if they're sent back.

Now, that particular division draws a lot of complains from Haitians, because the same law allows Cuban nationals who reach shore -- it's called the wet feet, dry feet rule -- but not others to stay in the United States -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: There was a very close call at a New Hampshire toll booth. Take a look at this.

A car flips, burns, but there are some quick thinkers right on the scene that save the day. We will tell you what they were able to do. And then this is kind of bizarre. It is also as crazy as it is dangerous. That's a helmet camera. And this is a guy who is skiing down the Tube in London.

Yes, it's not safe. We'll tell you what happened straight ahead.

Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

O'BRIEN: News Corp investors got a really unpleasant surprise when they called the number listed in the media company's latest filing. Oops, wrong number.

Twenty-six minutes past the hour. Stephanie Elam is in this morning.

Good morning.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so imagine you are trying to get some business done, you have some stock in News Corp, and you want to ask some questions, you have some very serious business you need to handle. So you dial the number that's in the proxy, and you find out, wait, this is a sex phone line.

O'BRIEN: Ooh, I knew that was going to be the punch line.

ROBERTS: Ouch.

ELAM: That's a little disturbing, right?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

ELAM: Well, it turns out that it was a typo. Two of the numbers were switched around in the proxy agent's phone number. So the wrong number was answered by an automated woman's voice saying, "Get together with exciting people everywhere."

And then it directed you to a second number. And then that number, eventually they asked for your credit card and asked if you wanted to speak to "nasty girls".

So, yes, quite a surprise for many people. "The Wall Street Journal" was the first to report this on Tuesday, but still, here it is Thursday, and the numbers have not changed.

And it's in two places that it's listed. So the proxy agent says, "We have several other phone numbers for people to call." We wouldn't suggest that investors spend too much time with that other number.

O'BRIEN: I would be curious to know the number -- the percent of investors who, in fact, have just been calling? ELAM: And then think about it -- you're at your desk at work and you're calling. And you're like, wait, I must have dialed wrong. And you call again. Someone comes down to your office. That should be a fear.

O'BRIEN: Or that's your story, at least.

ELAM: Yes, right. That's what happened.

ROBERTS: No, seriously, I was just trying to get through.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Stephanie.

Coming up this morning, those deadly tornadoes causing really a path of destruction. We are live from the storm front, catching up with a storm chaser who caught some pretty dramatic picture.

And questions in Houston today after that deadly office building fire. Could lives have been saved?

Plus, Oprah opens her second school in South Africa, but not everybody is applauding. We will tell you what she's saying this morning.

Those stories all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

The most news in the morning right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Thursday, March 29th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

ROBERTS: I'm John Roberts, in today for Miles O'Brien. Thanks very much for joining us.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to our big developing story this morning. We're talking about the weather. Some huge, deadly, destructive tornadoes, from the Rockies to the Plains. We've got some new pictures coming in. We're going to catch up with a storm chaser on the frontlines straight ahead this morning.

ROBERTS: We're also going to look at an alarming possibility after a deadly fire in Texas. The smoke alarms and sprinklers in this office building weren't working. We'll talk with somebody rescued from the top floors of the burning building, coming up.

O'BRIEN: And a deadly ending to a police chase in Florida. We'll show you what led to this horrific crash.

ROBERTS: Ouch.

First of all, the latest on a developing story out of the Midwest, and that may continue today, extreme weather from the Rockies to the Plains. Reports of 65 tornadoes overnight. One of them up to 600 feet wide roared through Holly, Colorado, near the Kansas state line. At least 60 homes were damaged. People in the hospital, including a couple children.

In the Oklahoma panhandle, just a little further south from Holly, a massive twister on the ground, two people killed in their home.

And in Texas, a funnel cloud caught on camera form nothing a tornado. Take a look at this. You can see how it starts to reach down from the skies and touches the ground, touching down near Lubbock, Texas.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Three people are dead, six people injured, and critical questions this morning about the fire alarms and sprinklers in an office building that caught fire in Houston yesterday, right at the end of the workday. For the survivors, it was absolutely terrifying.

Dawn Herring, in fact, was one of the survivors who had to climb down a fire ladder to safety. The office building is right behind her this morning.

Dawn, thanks for talking with us. Good morning to you.

I want to start by showing everybody some of these pictures, as you guys were making your way down the fourth floor. I mean, these are really horrifying pictures to watch.

Let's roll these, guys.

As people go down this ladder, sort of shimmy down, what's going through your mind as you are making your way with the others backwards?

DAWN HERRING, SURVIVED OFFICE BLDG. FIRE: I was just thankful we were able to get out of the building. I was just ready to get to ground.

O'BRIEN: Did you hear the alarms? Did you hear and feel the sprinklers going off?

HERRING: There were no sprinklers, and I did not hear the alarm. I think the only alarm could have been on the first floor, and I didn't hear it on the fourth.

O'BRIEN: Have you guys done fire drills in the past? I mean, have they ever sort of walked you through so you would know what the alarm sounds like, and you knew kind of the right way to get out of the building?

HERRING: I've only been here for eight months. But in the eight months that I was here, no, there were no fire alarms or fire drills.

O'BRIEN: What was it like inside, Dawn? I know you were in there for quite awhile. I think you said something like 30 or 40 minutes, while that building was on fire, while you were waiting for the fire department to get you. What was happening around you? HERRING: It was horrifying. We tried to get out. We didn't realize there was a fire going on until I heard somebody scream. We tried to get out. The hallways were filled with smoke. There were two stairways. Both of the stairways were filled with smoke. We had no other choice but to go back into the office. We finally broke a window, and we waited and waited, it seems like forever, for the fire department to bring the ladder over to our window.

O'BRIEN: How quickly did they arrive? You know, we've heard reports that it was a guy who was walking by who actually had to pull the alarm, that no alarm went off to notify the fire department. Were you waiting a long time for the fire department to arrive?

HERRING: Once we got back in the office, after we realized we couldn't get out, the fire department was there already. It just took them a while to get to our window. I think they were trying to get others out and, you know, possibly control the fire.

O'BRIEN: Those pictures are terrible. How are you doing? How are you holding up? This has to be one of those horrific experiences you never want to think about again.

HERRING: Actually, yesterday I was fine. It wasn't until I got home and saw all the Internet media coverage, all the media coverage on TV. I didn't realize three people had died until after I read it on the Internet after I got home last night. And it kind of -- it's a wake-up call. Makes you realize, you know, how thankful you are to be alive.

O'BRIEN: A little shaky this morning, huh? A tough thing.

HERRING: Yes, I am.

O'BRIEN: Oh, I bet. I bet. We're glad to see you're OK. Our hearts go out to the family members of those three who did not survive...

HERRING: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... some of the firefighters and others who were injured, too.

Dawn, thanks for talking with us. I know it's -- I know you're feeling a little shaky, so we appreciate you giving us some insight. And of course they're going to look into that sprinkler and alarm information. Did they just not go off at all?

Dawn Herring for us this morning. She's a survivor -- John.

ROBERTS: Very lucky lady.

(NEWSBREAK)

O'BRIEN: Some people say shopping makes them feel better, but what about going shopping as a reward for feeling better? Some Minnesota lawmakers have a plan to try to keep people healthy. That's straight ahead.

And they're supposed to be scary ads, but some people say these anti-smoking ads are a little too scary, especially for kids. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: The Senate could vote as early as today on a war spending bill that includes a call to bring the troops home from Iraq by sometime next year. President Bush vowing to veto any such bill, and the battle lines are drawn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: If Congress fails to pass a bill to fund our troops on the frontlines, the American people will know who to hold responsible.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: I would extend a hand of friendship to the president just to say to him, calm down with the threats. There's a new Congress in town.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The president says if Congress does not pass his spending request, U.S. troops will be in danger without necessary supplies and equipment. But is that true? Not immediately, at least, but over time it could become a problem. According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the money runs out on April 15th. Once this happens, the Pentagon can shift money from other programs towards the war. And the Pentagon may also have to do what many corporations do when the money's tight, and that is delay training and limit new purchases. Both of which could effect the ability to provide troops and equipment for Iraq, and eventually impact military readiness.

Eventually, if the Congress and the president still can't reach an agreement, soldiers in the field would start to feel the pinch. Some Democrats we talked to say, it's only theoretical, would never come to that. But according to the constitution, only Congress can authorize spending, so if both sides can't agree, one day the money will run out -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: An update now on our top story this morning. Tornadoes across the Midwest, happened overnight. There was a huge one; it was 600 feet wide. It touched down in Holly, Colorado.

CNN's Rhonda Scholting is in holly for us this morning, where they are just getting some clear pictures of the devastation.

Good morning, Rhonda.

RHONDA SCHOLTING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

What you're looking at now is one of the tornado sirens here in the small town of Holly. Now it did not go off last night. There was really not enough warning for officials here to actually set the siren off. And of course it would have warned the people who live in this house you see behind me. They were inside their living room watching TV last night, when that tree fell on their roof crushing it. Now they were not injured, but eight other people here in town were, including a couple of children who were blown -- literally blown -- out of their homes by the storm last night. And the rescue crews found them dangling from a tree. The little girl is in serious condition this morning. We don't know the condition of the little boy.

Now, in all, 30 homes were either destroyed or damaged here in Holly because of this tornado last night. It basically tore a path diagonally through town, cutting the town in half. All around town today there are downed power lines. There are also downed trees, dozens of downed trees.

Obviously, Soledad, as it gets lighter and lighter out here, we are seeing more neighbors come out to look at the damage. And in this particular area we're in right now there is some. But on the north side of town where it is the worst we're not allowed to go in there now because it is still too dangerous.

O'BRIEN: Wow. Well, if that's considered the minor damage, that big, giant tree behind you, I hate to see just how bad it got.

All right, thanks, Rhonda, for the update, appreciate it -- John.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: If you ever wondered just how we get these dramatic pictures of tornadoes, I want to show you this. It's video shot by our next guest. His name is Reed Timmer, and he is a professional storm chaser. Will you look at that. These are pictures of a massive twister near Clarenton, Texas. Reed joins us by phone.

Hey, Reed, nice to talk to you again. Give me a sense -- and I'm looking at some of these pictures first in Clarenton, Texas, and later we're going to show Briscoe, Texas. How close do you get when you're trying to get a good shot of one of these twisters?

REED TIMMER, STORM CHASER: Well, we try to get as close as possible, but still be safe. And this particular tornado in Briscoe County was moving rather slow, and it actually paralleled a road, so we were actually able to get fairly close to this one and capture some rather dramatic images.

O'BRIEN: Oh, they're really quite amazing. I mean, you can see a lot of the debris just flying up underneath. Give me a sense of how big this twister was.

TIMMER: This tornado, it was fairly wide at the bottom. This is what's called a stovepipe-shaped tornado. And a lot of times these are the strongest. You can see the rapid motion at the bottom, and it looked like a rather strong tornado. Luckily we didn't see it hit structures. It was over open terrain, and that's really good, because this could have been a very damaging tornado, definitely. O'BRIEN: Yes, when it moves away from open terrain and starts plowing through homes and trailer parks, et cetera, that's got to be not just devastating for the community but dangerous for you, too. Aren't you worried about that?

TIMMER: Well, we're not worried for us. We're more worried for the people in the path, because we know where the storm's going. But the people in the path oftentimes don't, and that's what storm chasers do; in addition to capturing video, we radio in the tornado reports and help the National Weather Service with the warning process.

O'BRIEN: Sometimes people think of you guys -- and I say guys meaning men and women, as a little reckless, kind thrill seekers. That's a mischaracterization, you think?

TIMMER: Well, I can't lie to you. We are definitely out there to seek some thrill and adrenaline. It's incredible seeing tornadoes. I can't explain it. I'm pretty much addicted to it. I'll be chasing for the rest of my life.

O'BRIEN: You will? Alright. Well, definitely stay safe then, Reed, because these are amazing pictures, but we certainly don't want you to get so close that you're injured. Reed Timmer, joining us by phone. He is the photographer who shot some of the really dramatic pictures we've been showing you all morning. Thanks, Reed.

ROBERTS: And apparently not a mischaracterization at all.

O'BRIEN: I know. I thought he'd be a little offended by the question, because sometimes storm chasers are. They say we're not reckless, you know, we're not hot dogs out there, but he says they do -- they like the thrill.

ROBERTS: Definitely an adrenaline junkie, no question.

In Florida, a deadly ending to a police chase in South Daytona. Take a look at this. One person was killed and five others hurt when the driver of this SUV took off after being stopped by police for a road rage incident. The 90 mile-an-hour chase ended when the SUV hit a pick-up truck head on. The driver of the SUV was killed.

"CNN NEWSROOM" is just minutes away. Heidi Collins now at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead.

Good morning, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, John.

That's right. We have these stories coming up on the "NEWSROOM" rundown. Kyle Sampson, the attorney general's chief of staff until a few days ago. In a short while, Sampson tells Congress about the fired prosecutors. His testimony and reaction from one of those prosecutors. David Iglesias is live in the NEWSROOM today.

Also, Houston firefighters trying to nail down the cause of an office building fire. Three people died. And nice house, but it's what's underneath the living room that counts. Meet a man who's pumping oil practically from his easy chair, and what an easy chair it is.

Tony Harris joins me in the NEWSROOM coming up at the top of the hour on CNN -- John.

ROBERTS: All right, thanks very much, Heidi. We'll see you soon -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, we've been hearing about this for quite awhile. I bet you're going to be reading this book, or your kid will be reading this book. Here -- drum roll, please, John. Thank you. The early glimpse of what it will look like. That is the cover of the seventh and final "Harry Potter" book. Officially unveiled -- the cover, not the book -- . "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," hits stores July 21st. The author, J.K. Rowling, series has sold more than 325 million copies worldwide. I think it's what makes her the richest person in Britain, right?

ROBERTS: Yes, absolutely. And remember, that not long ago, she was on what they call the dole, which is...

O'BRIEN: Yes, like an equivalent of welfare.

ROBERTS: Equivalent of welfare.

O'BRIEN: Wow. Wow.

Well, the book's coming, folks.

Still to come this morning, a critical new look at just what your kids are seeing on TV and what it could mean for their health. We've got details coming next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: A new study says that a barrage of customers targeting your kids has a direct effect on their health.

Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more in our Fit Nation report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... and the No. 1 network for African- Americans...

DR. SANJAY GUTPA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's Vicky Rideout's job to keep an eye on advertising that effect our health, especially children. And she's not happy with what she's seeing.

VICKY RIDEOUT, KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION: Kids of all ages in this country are exposed to what, I think by anybody's standards, would be a large amount of food advertising on television every day, thousands of ads a year. GUPTA: Rideout is a vice president with the Kaiser Family Foundation. This week the foundation released its largest study ever on TV food advertising for kids. Of the thousands of ads studied, 34 percent were for candy and snacks, 28 percent for cereal and 10 percent for fast food.

Get this, not one advertised fruits or vegetables, and only 15 percent of the ads showed children in some type of physical activity.

RIDEOUT: I guess I would say that's a relatively small proportion of the ads that that include physical activity now.

GUPTA: And the issue isn't even new. In a report by the Institute of Medicine back in 2005, research showed that there was a direct connection between food ads for kids and childhood obesity. The report recommended advertising companies push healthier products and show physical activity in their ads. So far change has been slow.

MICHAEL MCGINNIS, INST. OF MEDICINE: I think companies are clearly getting it. I think they're not sure what to do yet. But there's no question that they're concerned, as they should be, about the public concern over the increase in childhood obesity.

GUPTA: Corporations are generally motivated by profit. And fatty snacks tend to be popular. Pepsico, which owns Pepsi, Frito Lay and Tropicana, is trying to market more healthy yet tasty items.

NANCY GREEN, PEPSICO: All of the products that we advertised were baked, that were advertised to children, so it's looking at our healthier products.

GUPTA: The Kaiser Family Foundation hopes to impress on advertisers that the childhood obesity problem is not going away until real changes are made.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

ROBERTS: Fifty-six minutes now after the hour. And here's a quick look at what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for you at the top of the hour.

HARRIS: These stories in the CNN NEWSROOM, from the Dakotas to Texas. Residents are on alert for more tornadoes today. A strong, spring storm system has already killed two people in Oklahoma. The look-out for more tornadoes. A strong spring storm system has already killed two people in Oklahoma.

Prosecutors fired. The man who helped orchestrate dismissals goes before Congress. Testimony from the attorney general's former aide, Kyle Sampson, live in the NEWSROOM.

And who says no man is an island. Developers surround a property owner who's holding out.

You're in the NEWSROOM, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We are out of time today.

ROBERTS: We are?

O'BRIEN: Yes, we are.

ROBERTS: Oh, no we're not.

O'BRIEN: We have a moment. OK, sorry.

ROBERTS: Hello, hello.

O'BRIEN: OK, sorry, my apologies.

ROBERTS: Two stories on swimming.

O'BRIEN: It's not funny.

ROBERTS: Now you're out time. Come on, go, go, go, go!

O'BRIEN: OK, don't make me nervous.

An American swimmer is making a big splash in Australia, bringing home some gold, too. We do have time for this. This is Leila Vaziri. She's a swimmer at the University of Indiana, won the 50-meter backstroke at the World Swimming Championship, tied the world record in the process. Good for you Leila. Congratulations.

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