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American Morning
Nasty Nor'easter Sparks Flooding & Cancels Flights; New Order From Muqtada al-Sadr; Gonzales Testimony: Will Say Nothing Improper Occurred
Aired April 16, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: A deadly nor'easter hitting the mid- Atlantic. Record rain, flooding, pounding states from Maine all the way to Maryland. The pictures are unbelievable. There's been hundreds of flights canceled. People have had to leave their homes. And there's been hurricane conditions in New York City. We're going to show you some of the hardest hit areas and which ones actually got lucky.
And good Monday morning to you. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And from Washington, I'm John Roberts.
Good morning to you, Kiran.
As bad as the weather was here in Washington on the way in, nothing compared to what you've got up there. It's just unbelievable.
CHETRY: Flooding in Central Park. A lot of the roads. And New Jersey hit very hard as well.
But I have to laugh, John, because you really came to work early. You were in at 1:00 a.m. to ensure that weather was not going to affect yours first day here at AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. I mean we did not get seven and a half inches of rain like you got in Central Park, but I just wanted to make sure that nothing was going to stop me from being here for my appointed rounds this morning.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Well, it's good to see you.
And we want to welcome everybody to our show this morning. We have a lot going on.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. We have weather up and down the East Coast. Here in Washington, we've got a lot of political news to share with you. Some new poll numbers out right now. A tighter race on the Republican side. John McCain looks like he's back in the game again. And on the Democratic side, former Senator John Edwards, presidential candidate, going to join us live in our next hour.
Overall a big week here in Washington. Congress is finally back. The president's going to be in the Rose Garden this morning, talking about the wartime supplemental. Alberto Gonzales testifying on The Hill tomorrow.
This morning we've got Wolf Blitzer, Suzanne Malveaux, Bill Schneider, part of the best political team on television, all joining us live.
Kiran, it's going to be a great week in D.C. this week.
CHETRY: It sure is. A lot going on and a lot to talk about and we'll break it down with those top-notch guests.
Meantime, we've all been following the condition of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine after that brutal car crash he was in. He's scheduled for more surgery today. He's still in critical but stable condition. And, of course, the news that he was not wearing a seat belt shedding new light on the importance of seat belts. We're going to take a look at how seatbelts can save your life, no matter where you are in the car.
And, also, we have a great interview coming up for you live. General Petraeus from Iraq. He's going to talk more about the increase in the deployment, 15 months as opposed to 12, and the troop surge, as well as some of the violence, including that attack, that brazen attack within the Green Zone. We're also happy, though, because Larry King's going to be here, Christiane Amanpour, as well as Anderson Cooper, who's on assignment in Afghanistan. We're going to hear from all of them this morning.
First, though, we begin with some extreme weather that's hitting right now. Band after band of flooding rain from the mid-Atlantic to northern Maine. In New York right now conditions are similar to a category two hurricane. Did not think we'd be talking about that in the middle of April.
But the storm system blamed now for at least one death. And you can see from the picture, streets are flooded. Some people were forced from their homes. They actually had to take boats. And hundreds of flights are canceled. The backlog is only expected to build as the day goes on.
CNN's Jim Acosta is in Mamaroneck, New York. That's north of New York City. We also have Alina Cho. She's watching flight delays for us from New York's LaGuardia Airport. And Chad Myers tracking it all from the CNN Weather Center. He's going to give us an update on how long we can expect this terrible weather to last.
First, though, we're going to get with Jim.
Flooding a huge concern in many parts of New York, New Jersey and especially where you are in the Mamaroneck. What's the latest, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
Yes, this storm is shattering records across the nor'east, the Northeast. I called it the nor'east because of the nor'easter. Because of this storm that we had overnight. Record rainfall amounts in Central Park. We're hearing now from the National Weather Service, as much as eight inches of rain in Central Park yesterday as a result of this storm.
We're in Mamaroneck, which is having some flooding problems. As you can see behind me, officials here yesterday issued a voluntary evacuation order for this area because this neighborhood behind me, this entire section of Mamaroneck, now looks like a river. Residents, as far as I can tell, are no longer in this area. We see a car behind me that is now almost covered with water. But this is just one of the remnants of that nasty nor'easter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA, (voice over): From the East Coast, to the mountains of West Virginia, this nor'easter is packing a punch. Heavy rain, high winds and tornadoes tearing through towns.
TERRY ANDERSON, SUMTER COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: I walked out the back door and all I seen was a trailer explode all the way on the corner.
ACOSTA: In South Carolina, one person was killed as dozens of mobile homes were tossed around by the high winds. Watches and warnings were posted up and down the East Coast as the Coast Guard warned of waves as high as 20 feet and winds topping 55 miles per hour.
In Prince Georges County, Maryland, apartments were flooded out, forcing residents to spend their Sunday cleaning up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I looked out the window and water all over the ground. I wondered if it's for real. I wanted to go home, go to Florida or somewhere where it's warm and cozy.
ACOSTA: The storm is also giving runners in today's 111th Boston Marathon something else to overcome, other than the famed heartbreak hill.
GUY MORSE, BOSTON MARATHON ORGANIZER: I've been here 22 years and we may be facing some the worst conditions in quite a while.
ACOSTA: Forecast for race time, three to five inches of rain, temperatures in the 30s and winds hitting the runners at 25 miles per hour.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And this will be an inconvenience for travelers throughout the day today. People heading to the airport should definitely check with their airlines. We're hearing about hundreds of canceled flights. As for being out on the roadways, I can tell you from a personal standpoint, that Interstate 95 is a mess this morning because many of the blocked exits throughout the New York metropolitan area and I can talk about this personally, Kiran, because I almost missed this live shot because of those blocked roads.
Kiran. CHETRY: Yes, it's a huge mess out there. And if you're flying, as well, like you said. We're going to be talking a little later to a Massachusetts Port Authority spokeswoman about the tangle because it's sort of a domino effect. One to one city along that Northeast corridor goes down and has delays. We sort of see it happen all over.
Jim, glad you made it and we'll check in with you a little bit later.
ACOSTA: Sure thing.
ROBERTS: You know, Kiran, Jim was mentioning what was going on up at Logan Airport with all kinds of flights being canceled. It's obviously causing major problems at airports from Washington all the way up into Maine. Five hundred flights have been canceled in the New York area alone. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is at LaGuardia Airport right now.
I guess, Alina, there's not much chance of anybody getting out of there today.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, people are certainly hoping to get out, John. We'll have to wait to see if that actually happens.
You know, we should tell you that even with all of the cancellations today, it is a very busy Monday morning here at LaGuardia Airport. In fact, a supervisor for American Airlines told me just a moment ago that the passenger count for today is expected to be 9,500. Just for that airline. And that is slightly above normal. He also told me that because the forecast said the bad weather was coming through last night and this morning, the heaviest air travel is expected this afternoon.
Now yesterday it was quite a mess at all three of New York's three major airports. Six hundred cancellations. And that's a conservative estimate.
Among the people stuck, 40 college students from Iowa. They were scheduled to leave at 1:00 yesterday afternoon. That flight was canceled. Then they were put on a 9:00 flight. That flight was canceled. So they spent the night at the airport instead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very, very bad. My back hurts. I have a headache. And I'm really, really feeling not good right now because I have a layover and I really want to go home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, we're all making the best of it and doing what we can, but I'm sure all of us are ready to go home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just really tired and I'd like to go home. I'm kind of fed up.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHO: Now fingers crossed. Those 40 college students are expected to leave on a flight at 2:00 this afternoon. But they're not going home. They're going to Atlanta. And if they get there, they will spend the night there and hopefully, hopefully be on a flight going home at 7:00 tomorrow morning, John. That's exactly two days late. But one student told me, hey, not such a big deal, they're still missing more school.
ROBERTS: Oh, I'll tell you, Alina, I've done it myself and nothing will screw up your state of mind like a night at the airport.
CHO: I know. They got blankets.
ROBERTS: Thanks very much. We'll keep checking back with you as the morning goes on. Hopefully things will get a little bit better, but it doesn't look like they're going to.
And for what's ahead, what's in store for the weather, let's go down to Atlanta and Chad Myers at The Weather Center.
Chad, is this expected to last throughout the entire day and maybe into tomorrow as well?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Also this morning, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is scheduled for his third operation in three days. This one on the leg that the governor broke in that devastating car accident on the Garden State Parkway Thursday. The SUV he was riding in swerved into a guardrail. Corzine remains on a ventilator in the hospital in Camden, New Jersey. He broke 12 ribs, his collarbone, breastbone. He had surgery on Sunday. They called it routine to remove fluid from around one of his lungs.
And we now know that no charges will be filed against the 20- year-old driver of the truck that may have sparked that. He says that he didn't realize he was involved and that he was moving over to make way for Corzine's motorcade. Police say other charges are possible.
ROBERTS: Wrong place, wrong time. That's what that is.
The state trooper driving the SUV was slightly hurt and the governor's personal assistant riding in the back seat was shaken up but he's otherwise fine. The governor was thrown inside the SUV. His top aide confirmed that Jon Corzine was not wearing his seat belt. Greg Hunter is up in Rockville Center, New York. He's braving the weather up there to get us some more details on what's going on with seat belts.
And, Greg, the governor's lucky to have survived?
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is lucky to have survived. And right now I'm at Mid Island Collision on Long Island, New York, and this place is full of vehicles that have been involved in accidents. You know, a highway patrol once told me, he never cut a seat belt off a dead man. Meaning seat belts save lives, but they can also help you stay safe in a crash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER, (voice over): New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was in a state SUV when it swerved to avoid another vehicle and crashed into a guardrail. The governor was riding in the front seat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does not appear that the governor was wearing his seat belt.
HUNTER: That's right, not wearing his seat belt. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the odds of being killed or injured are greatly increased for people who don't wear their belts.
ADRIAN LUND, PRESIDENT, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: Had he been wearing his belt, his injuries would have been less. How much less, I can't really say because I'm not familiar with the specifics of the crash. But they certainly would have been less.
HUNTER: The Insurance Institute says you're 45 percent more likely to die and 50 percent more likely to receive a serious injured by not wearing your seat belt. For example, look at this video of belted and unbelted crash test dummies hitting a solid barrier at just 30 miles per hour.
LUND: What seat belts do is, they tie you to the vehicle. Without the seat belt, you simply hit something else in the car at 30 miles an hour.
HUNTER: It's easy to see why the belted dummy fared much better than the unbelted dummy in these identical crashes. And don't think that having an air bag means you don't have to wear your seat belt. Air bags work best if you're belted by holding you in the proper position in the seat.
LUND: The seat belts you should always wear. Even if you've got air bags, side air bags and frontal air bags because the air bags to work depend on you being seat belted.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER: You know, many states have seat belt laws. In New Jersey, for example, just the two people in front have to wear their seat belt. But the folks at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety say, listen, if you're in the backseat, you should wear your seat belt. Here's why. Because many accidents are complicated. Somebody swerves to miss something. You get hit. The car spins around. All the while you're bouncing inside that vehicle. And if you're in the back with no seat belt, you can get hurt. So everybody should buckle up when they're in the vehicle.
Back to you guys.
ROBERTS: And let's not forget, Princess Diana was in the back seat of the car as well. Greg, thanks very much. Good advice.
Hey, Kiran.
CHETRY: Hi there.
Well, Madonna, because I know you've been following the latest on her, John, is back in Malawi this morning, along with David. That's the little Malawian child that she's still in the process of adopting. First, it was a high-profile and controversial adoption since David actually had a living father who claimed he was a little bit confused about how things went and not knowing that Madonna was going to keep David forever. She and her husband, Guy Richie, took custody of David last fall. Malawian child welfare officials are still working to finalize that adoption.
ROBERTS: We're staying on top of today's big story, that deadly nor'easter, the one that Kiran is experiencing right now, bringing serious suffering to much of the East Coast. We'll tell you the up- to-the-minute travel delays, and there's a lot of them. If you're planning on heading to the Northeast, give it a couple of days.
Also, our new poll released just moments ago shows a tightening race for '08, and it's not the people - and it's the people that are not in the race, rather, having a surprising effect.
And royal split. Prince William is back on the market again this morning. What went on behind palace doors to lead up to the breakup. There is a lot of speculation.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
A powerful nor'easter moving up the East Coast, across the East Coast. Really it's not going anywhere, as Chad Myers said, for the next 16 to 18 hours. And we are already seeing flooding in many, many counties in many states up and down the mid-Atlantic.
We have new pictures this morning from Milford, New Jersey. Firefighters had to use row boats to move people out of flooded homes and cars overnight. Can you imagine in the middle of the night having to leave your home because of that type of flooding. A real mess.
And if you're traveling, another big mess. Dozens of flights already canceled this morning. And joining us on the phone is Lisa Langone. She's a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Boston's Logan Airport.
And it looks like -- Lisa, thanks for being with us. It looks like Logan's getting hit hard with some of the flight delays. What's the latest?
LISA LANGONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
Yes, Logan -- we're currently open, as well as our concessions for our traveling public, but so far there are at least 40 cancellations this morning at all terminals, across all airlines, with more expected to come.
CHETRY: So what are we talking percentage-wise of how many of your flights are going to leave today?
LANGONE: Gosh, I don't have those numbers right now. It's still too early to give you numbers. Probably in the next couple of hours. But travelers definitely should expect delays and they are encouraged to please check with their airlines before coming to the airport. They can also log on to our website, which is www.flylogan.com. Or they can call 1-800-23-LOGAN and they'll be able to get the most up- to-date flight information from those venues.
CHETRY: OK. So is your advice right now -- I mean if there's any chance that you can delay your travel, should you just try to stay home today?
LANGONE: I would say that's probably a good idea.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks for giving us that update, Lisa. We appreciate it. And good luck today. I know it'll going to be a long one.
LANGONE: You're very welcome. Thanks, Kiran. Take care.
CHETRY: Sure.
John, good thing your -- if you have to come up here, maybe take the train.
ROBERTS: Yes. You know, a lot of people who actually came down here to help us out in our debut show from Washington did take the train yesterday, which is really prudent planning considering the weather.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: So who else might be considering a run for the White House? Democratic Senator John Kerry perhaps? The Democrat's nominee in '04 was in Denver on a book tour when he was asked about his decision to sit out in '08. Senator Kerry responded, it may change over years, it may change over months. That he doesn't consider himself out of the game forever.
Presidential hopeful John McCain trails his two main GOP rivals when it comes to campaign fund-raising. He's spending, though, considerably more. Reports filed by the candidates this weekend show that McCain raised about $13 million, compared to Rudy Giuliani's $15 million, but McCain has already spent about $8 million. He's got about $5 million left in the bank.
Those same financial reports show a shift in support from the Clinton camp to the Obama campaign. At least a dozen major fund- raisers for Bill Clinton now throwing their support to Senator Obama.
Besides cash, other numbers that mean a lot to the people who want to be president are poll ratings. The latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows a tightening race, particularly on the Republican side. CNN's senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, joins me this morning to sort things out.
First of all, let's take a look at the Democrats. What's happening on their side of the equation.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We could have a real race on the Democratic side. Hillary Clinton remains the front-runner for the Democrats with 36 percent support from Democrats nationwide in our CNN poll. But Barack Obama is not far behind her at 28 percent. Obama is the only Democrat whose support has been rising over the course of this year. He's gone up 10 points since January, just before he declared his candidacy. John Edwards, with 15 percent, is the only other candidate whose support is currently running in double digits.
ROBERTS: So that's all registered Democratic voters.
SCHNEIDER: Right.
ROBERTS: Then when you start breaking it down, black and white, Hillary Clinton still leads Barack Obama by 17 points. He can't close the deal with black voters. What's going on?
SCHNEIDER: That's right. Both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama do better with African-American voters, but she does especially better. Among white voters, the top three Democrats are fairly close. But among African-Americans, a majority, over 50 percent, favors Clinton over Obama.
You know the name Clinton remains a very powerful draw among African-American voters. We asked voters all over the country, do you miss Bill Clinton? Do you wish he were still president? Ninety-six percent of African-Americans said, yes, they do.
ROBERTS: So she is still enjoying that -- I don't want to stay riding on his coattails, but she still enjoys the good will that Bill Clinton laid down with black voters.
SCHNEIDER: Yes. His name is magic among African-American voters. And that's one reason why she's got a big lead there.
ROBERTS: Now you call Hillary Clinton the establishment candidate who also has support among uneducated voters. Barack Obama, on the other hand, you say is the anti-establishment candidate who also has the support of more educated Americans.
SCHNEIDER: Well, let's not say uneducated. I wouldn't say America - Democrats who went to college are more likely to support Obama and younger Democrats . . .
ROBERTS: Higher education. SCHNEIDER: Yes, who are more likely to support Obama. Younger, better educated. They're the kind of Democrats who often respond to an anti-establishment message. And Obama has been delivering an anti- establishment message, running against Washington. Hillary Clinton's support is really among traditional Democrats, African-Americans, non- college educated Democrats and older Democrats.
We have seen this split before. We saw it between Gary Hart and Walter Mondale in 1984. Hart was the anti-establishment candidate. 1992, it was Paul Tsongas. 2000, Bill Bradley. 2004 it was Howard Dean. This is a division that's familiar in the party.
ROBERTS: So you're saying historically you don't want to be the anti-establishment candidate.
SCHNEIDER: Because they rarely -- they never win. They never win. But as you saw, a lot of establishment money is now going to Obama. So even though he's got an anti-establishment message and support, he's getting money from former Clinton supporters.
ROBERTS: Way interesting even this far out.
SCHNEIDER: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: And we should mention just before we go, that the tightening race on the Republican side is now John McCain within a couple of points of Rudy Giuliani. Rising from the ashes, Kiran.
Of course, all of the day's political news is available any time day or night at cnn.com/ticker.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good, John. Thanks.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is getting ready to testify before Congress about the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. We're going to take a look at what he's apologizing for and also what he's not.
Plus, could a bathroom have something to do with Prince William's breakup with his girlfriend? There are so many rumors in all of the papers and the tabloids in London. We're going to hear some of them. A lot of people want to know what is behind that royal split, coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, we've got bad weather in the Northeast today. All kinds of politics happening in Washington. But over in Britain, the tabloids there are besides themselves over a royal breakup. Prince William and his longtime girlfriend, Katie Middleton, have parted ways and the frenzied press aren't alone in wondering why. Wondering, theorizing, speculating. The most plausible scenario may be that the heir to the throne just isn't ready to settle down yet, especially after being photographed out there drinking with his pals. The funniest theory that we've heard, though, is that Middleton's mother lacks a certain couth befitting the mother-in-law of a prince. For instance, she called a proper British lavatory a lowly toilet, Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, that's how my first three relationships ended. I mean, it was tough. I mean we just couldn't decide on a name for the water closet and it was over.
ROBERTS: You've got to make sure that you call them what you're supposed to call them.
CHETRY: The lavatory. I will not forget. All right, John, thanks so much.
Well, it's 27 past the hour and Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business."
You said to me in the break, if you don't pay attention to business news any other day of the year, today's the day.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Today's the day. I'm kind of -- and I'm sorry about this because so many of you are paying attention to business this week because you're filing your taxes, and that's not what I'm talking about. I mean, nobody really wants to see more than they need to see. But this is the week to pay attention. There are a lot of things going on.
First of all, take a look at the markets. I have a picture here of how the Dow has done. The major markets in the U.S. are now -- this is over the last three months. Basically that picture is supposed to show you that we're back to where we are before that big drop in February, on February 26th, a 416-point drop. The Dow, the Nasdaq, the S&P 500. So at least your money's back.
CHETRY: If you stayed in, you're OK.
VELSHI: If you stayed in. Which is why I always tell people when these things happen, don't panic because these things come back.
Now this week we have a lot of economic reports. We'll hear today about retail sales. About how much people spent in March. We'll hear about how many houses are being built. How many permits were issued in March for home building. With all those houses out there, why are we building more houses? So we'll hear about that.
We've also got lots of earnings. One-third of the Dow will report their earnings this week. This is important because earnings are the biggest measure of how a company's doing. We think it's stock price, but it's not. It's earnings. If the company's not earning, it's not doing well. We'll start with Citigroup today. They had massive layoffs last week. Let's see how they're doing later in the week. We'll get lots of earnings.
Also, the dollar is at remarkable lows. It will cost you $2 to buy a British pound, $1.35 to buy a euro. So this economic situation is all over the place. We're getting a lot of information this week. This is the week to pay attention and make some decisions about how you're going to do for the rest of the year.
CHETRY: All right. It's also the week to pay your taxes.
VELSHI: And it is also the week to pay your taxes. Tuesday is the deadline. Do it.
CHETRY: All right. You've got an extra day out of it.
VELSHI: You've got an extra day.
CHETRY: Ali, thanks. We'll check in with you a little bit later.
Meanwhile, the top stories of the morning coming up next. We have grounded flights, flooded roads. A nasty nor'easter slams the East Coast and Chad says it's not going away any time soon. We're live from the airports and some of the hardest hit areas coming up next.
Also, you may be putting your kids on a school bus this morning, but do you know who is driving? A lot of school bus divers are not checked out and now the FBI is looking into it.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
And we start this Monday off news of the nasty nor'easter. States across the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic on alert right now. Hurricane conditions in New York City. Twenty-foot waves possible in New England. There are roads closed, flights canceled and power outages hitting Connecticut. And it's not over yet.
And good morning. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm Kiran Chetry, here in New York.
ROBERTS: And from Washington, I'm John Roberts.
Kiran, I can't believe it, seven and a half inches of rain in Central Park yesterday. That's just extraordinary.
CHETRY: It really is. You know, imagine how bad it was for people that were woken up in the middle of the night in some of these places. In Massachusetts and New Jersey, they had to get out of their homes with the help of boats because of the flooding.
ROBERTS: Wow. The middle of the April and the weather is like that.
We're going to be following the weather for you this morning. There's also, a lot of other stories that we've got our eye on, particularly down here in Washington.
Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general, is going to be appearing before a Senate committee tomorrow. It's suggested that it's going to be a make-or-break day for him. Senator Chuck Schumer said do or die, basically, for Alberto Gonzales. Gonzales says both in his testimony that we've seen and in a "New York Times" editorial "I have nothing to hide." Sorry -- "Washington Post" editorial. He said, "I've got nothing to hide."
Also news from Iraq this morning, Kiran. Bad news from Iraq.
CHETRY: Yes, that's right. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordering his ministers to quit Iraq's parliament. Certainly troublesome since there was a lot of common thinking that if they could bring that sect or that group of people into the government, they'd be seeing less of these type of terrorist attacks. So we're going to talk more about that.
We have General Petraeus, David Petraeus, with us in our next half hour. And he's going to talk more about the situation in Iraq for us.
ROBERTS: And here's one more thing for parents to worry about when you send your kids off to school. A recent FBI bulletin is warning some people applying for bus driver positions have connections to known terrorist groups. We're going to check in to what's being done to protect your kids. Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena will be joining us in just a little while, so look forward to that one.
CHETRY: All right.
Meantime, coming up, our top story, and that's the extreme weather this Monday Morning. Right now, a powerful nor'easter pounding the Atlantic coast from Maryland, all the way up to Maine. And Chad's going to fill us in a little bit more but, wow, some of the wind gusts unbelievable.
The storm dropped a record amount of rain in New York City, flooded homes and streets. There you see people -- a good attitude. They're waving as they're getting taken away in a life raft. Some of the people were at the mercy of rescuers on boats. And there's at least one death blamed on the storm from an apparent tornado that hit in South Carolina.
And New England is going to get the brunt of it today -- really high tides, coastal flooding and strong winds.
CNN's Reynolds Wolf is on Cape Cod with a look at what's going on.
And Reynolds, at least we were reading this morning -- and you'll be able to tell us because you're there -- the possibility of 25-foot waves in some areas.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, there's certainly going to be that possibility, especially right along the coast and going out towards Nantucket harbor. It has been just a wild morning.
We've had wind gusts here, Kiran, that have been anywhere from, say, 30 -- actually, winds from 30 to 40 miles an hour. Some gusts have been approaching 60 miles per hour. The gusts have been so strong here at Hyannis Inner Harbor that the lines you see here, the cruise lines that take people out to Nantucket, have been shut down. They're not expecting much business here obviously today.
However, on the other side of me and on the other side of the harbor they have a couple of supply ships that have got to go out to Nantucket, regardless of the weather. That's the lifeline, the artery that brings supplies to that island. So, it isn't a matter of 25-foot seas or not. They've got to make that trip.
Now, the rain here has stopped for the time being. We're expecting that rain to be a little intermittent. We don't see much. Obviously, you at home looking at your screen don't see any falling from top to bottom or sideways across the screen.
The wind still is gusting. In fact, we had a little bit of damage. This came from one of the ships here in the harbor. One of the covers, I suppose, to one of the smaller radars. We're going to try to get this back to its rightful owner. But there is certainly going to be that potential that we could see more damage as we make our way through the morning hours and into the afternoon.
One thing to mention is that the wind is expected to subside a little bit, but it should still be strong enough that when it is combined with the higher tides that are going to come in around 11:00 this morning until noontime, there's still that potential for some coastal flooding. So that is one thing that residents here really have to watch out for.
Granted, we've had some tree damage here in the areas. I've heard some reports from folks back in the hotel that they've heard of some roof damage. Certainly a windy day, and it may prove to get more windy yet as we make our way through the morning.
Let's send it back to you.
CHETRY: Yes. For now, though, you look like you're at least in the middle of a break, which for you is a good thing, for sure, because now you'll have time to try to find the rightful owner of that radar cap.
Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: We'll do what we can. You bet.
CHETRY: You're such a good Samaritan this morning.
All right. Well, coming up at 6:45 Eastern Time, we're going to go severe weather expert Chad Myers. He's going to find out if the worst is behind us or still to come -- John.
ROBERTS: Weather is the big story in the United States, but a major story developing in Iraq this morning, powerful Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr -- you'll remember him -- he's ordering six members of his parliament -- his movement that are in parliament to resign their cabinet posts.
CNN's Arwa Damon is live in Baghdad.
And Arwa, he's done this before. He's doing it again. Does it look like it could have any effect on the stability of Prime Minister Maliki's government?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this move certainly does weaken the Iraqi prime minister's position, and it does weaken his Shia alliance. In the past, the group only suspended its activities within the parliament within cabinet. This time it is fully withdrawing its six cabinet posts, making good on its threats.
Basically, the bottom line is because the Iraqi prime minister is refusing to lay out a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. The prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, said in Japan last week during an Asia tour that the timetable would not be dictated, it would not be set but, however, would be based on conditions on the ground.
Now the political bloc read out a statement by Muqtada al-Sadr, within which Muqtada al-Sadr accuses the Iraqi prime minister of ignoring the will of the Iraqi people and merely acting out the will of the occupation, in his words. That is the will of the Americans here -- John.
ROBERTS: So Muqtada al-Sadr has gotten thousands of people out on the streets of Najaf protesting the American "occupation" of Iraq. Of course, the United States sees it as a stabilizing factor.
What kind of, you k now, impact on security might this decision have?
DAMON: Well, John, in mentioning those protests, again, those protests were largely peaceful. And all of the actions that we have seen over the last few months have been largely peaceful, have been within a political framework.
What is concerning is that when the current Baghdad security plan was being laid out, Muqtada al-Sadr agreed to have his Mehdi militia lay down their weapons and essentially melt back into the population. The concern right now, is that it appears that he is losing his patience with the Iraqi government. So what happens if he loses his patience entirely with the political process and decides to instead of calling for political resistance calls for an armed resistance?
ROBERTS: And, of course, there's also some word that Muqtada al- Sadr is losing control over certain elements of the Mehdi militia, as well.
Arwa Damon in Baghdad.
Thanks very much. We'll check back with you throughout the morning.
Coming up, more of the top stories, include Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He's got a big date with Congress tomorrow. We'll tell you what he plans to say to them. We've got an advance copy of his testimony.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's make-or-break time for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. That's what Congress is saying a day before the A.G. testifies on Capitol Hill. His opening statement has already been released, and some lawmakers are saying that it doesn't answer the most important questions about the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
CNN's White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, is live in Washington. She joins us now with more. And Suzanne, some of that heat is coming from members of the attorney general's own party.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, you're absolutely right. I mean, this is really all about credibility, whether or not he has enough to keep his job.
There are a lot of people in this building behind me who I speak to, as well as well as friends of the White House, Republican friends who do not believe that he has enough credibility to be effective here, that he should resign. We have seen for weeks he's been preparing here for this testimony over the weekend with that Washington op-ed, as well as releasing opening statements for tomorrow. And the bottom line, what he is saying here, is despite what he has admitted, calling his statements imprecise and overboard, he is trying to say, believe me.
I want to show you one particular passage here that he's going to say tomorrow that summarizes it pretty well. He says, "While I firmly believe that these dismissals were appropriate, I have equal conviction that the process by which these U.S. attorneys were asked to resign could have and should have been handled differently.
And, John, he is specifically talking about a lot of those misstatements that he has made, as well as others -- John.
ROBERTS: And it doesn't sound, Suzanne, like he's getting a lot of support from the White House either. Let's take a quick listen to what Dick Cheney told Bob Schieffer on "Face the Nation" yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And this took place inside the Justice Department. The one who needs to answer to that and lay out on the record the specifics of what transpired is the attorney general. And he'll do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Wow, Cheney kind of saying Al Gonzales, who? He doesn't live here. I mean, Gonzales sounds like he's in a little rowboat all by himself out there in Washington. MALVEAUX: You know, John, it is so revealing what the vice president and what the president are both saying. But what they're not saying really speaks volumes here.
They're saying, of course we have confidence in the attorney general, but they are also saying, look, it is up to him to get himself out of this mess. That their support is not unconditional -- John.
ROBERTS: Yes.
All right. Thanks very much, Suzanne. We'll keep checking back with you.
Big news coming up tomorrow with that Gonzales hearing and, of course, big news today with the weather -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, so everyone can get to that hearing.
We have some new pictures coming in right now showing the damage from a powerful nor'easter that's slamming states from Maryland to Maine. In New Jersey, flooding rains caused a wall to buckle into a road, or right there onto the road, as you can see there, overnight. That's the latest in a long list of headaches that drivers are going to be encountering today.
And we want to bring you up to date now at 44 past the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN weather center tracking this nor'easter.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Still to come this morning, the FBI with some new concerns about school buses as a possible terror threat. And also the alarming reality about background checks on school bus drivers.
We're going to show you that story ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Ten minutes now before the top of the hour.
As you send your kids out the door to school today, think about this: do you know who is driving their school bus? Authorities may not know either. The FBI recently warned that terrorists may want to get their hands on school buses.
CNN's justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, is live in Maryland.
I send my daughter off to school every day on a bus, Kelli, and I never gave that a second thought.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, you know, neither did I. And I'll tell you, it's something that most parents probably don't want to talk about on a Monday morning as they're sending their kids off to school, but the fact is that security experts say school buss are soft targets, which means that they're vulnerable to attack.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye, mom.
ARENA (voice over): It's a ritual that plays out across the country each school day.
BOB SENCHUR, BUS DRIVER: Good morning.
ARENA: School bus drivers take off with America's children tucked away inside their vehicles. Drivers like Bob Senchur.
SENCHUR: It's a lot of responsibility, and one that you have to be willing to accept if you're going to be a bus driver.
ARENA: But what if that school bus is driven by someone bent on harming your child, someone like a terrorist? Well, it's not a pie- in-the-sky notion.
Tom Zeminski runs student transportation in Plum Borough in Pennsylvania.
TOM ZEMINSKI, RUNS STUDENT TRANSPORTATION IN PLUM BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA: Sure, what a concern. I mean, it's a grave concern.
ARENA: A recent FBI bulletin warns that some people applying for school bus driver positions have connections to known terrorist groups. Even worse, some of them have expressed interest in explosives. The FBI insists that there's no intelligence suggesting that a plot is under way. But school buses have been attacked in other countries.
ZEMINSKI: A school bus is a soft target. You know? Nobody stops a school bus. You're going down a road, nobody's going to pull you over and do anything, right?
ARENA: Pennsylvania just passed a law requiring FBI background checks for all new school bus drivers, checking for criminal records in all 50 states.
KAREN SAICH, MOTHER: Hi, Matt (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.
SAICH: How was your day?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.
ARENA: Plum Borough resident Karen Saich has three kids who ride the bus.
SAICH: My gut reaction would be, I'm surprised they didn't have to do that as soon as 9/11 took place.
ARENA: Shockingly, 13 states still do not require national checks. Security consultants say there simply is no excuse.
KENNETH TRUMP, SCHOOL SECURITY CONSULTANT: Today's technology allows for a cost-effective quick turnaround for background checks for school bus drivers.
ARENA: Now, it's very possible a terrorist won't have a criminal record, but security experts say that an FBI check is definitely a good start.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: And it doesn't stop there. Security officials say that school officials, parents, even other school bus drivers, need to be aware of anything suspicious that could signal trouble -- John.
ROBERTS: Kelli, we know -- we don't know them personally, but do know our school bus driver by sight. Is it a good idea for parents to, you know, get on the bus, talk to the driver, get to know them a little bit so that they know if something changes?
ARENA: Absolutely. You should know if that school bus driver is going to be out the next day, for example, or taking a vacation, especially when a district contracts out their school bus drivers. Very important to make sure you know what's going on.
ROBERTS: All right. Good advice.
Kelli, thanks very much.
Kelli Arena for us in Maryland.
Kiran, you're a new mom. This is stuff you're going to have to face soon.
CHETRY: Oh, not for a while. I'm still the driver of the bus. It's a stroller, you know. So I don't have to worry for a few more years.
Well, we want to bring you an update, by the way, on Governor Jon Corzine of New Jersey's condition. As you know, he was in a terrible car crash. Aides say he was not wearing a seat belt. And today he is scheduled to undergo more surgery.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to be here to explain what the governor faces today and in the days ahead as he recovers.
Also, the candidates and their money. Who raised it? Where did it come from? And where is it going? We're going to see what insiders are saying.
Also, Larry King, our own Larry King, celebrating a big milestone, and he's joining us to do it. Larry King will be live in our studio coming up in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
The most news in the morning and Larry is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Two minutes before the top of the hour on this Monday morning, and Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business".
You have an interesting bit of news to give us about an unconventional way to make diesel fuel.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have two problems with fuel, obviously. We have the pollution aspect, and we have the fact that we use lots of it and we're running out of -- some say we're running out of crude oil.
So ConocoPhillips and Tyson Foods have come together. They're going to make an announcement today about a new way to make diesel out of animal fat.
Now, ConocoPhillips, the big oil company. Tyson is the big meat processor.
Tyson comes up with 300 million gallons of pork, beef and chicken fat every year. They make soap out of it and things like that. But they're going to make a deal to send a bunch of it to a refinery in Texas where ConocoPhillips will make it into diesel fuel.
And apparently it's easier to make diesel fuel out of animal fat than it is to make it out of vegetables and things like that. The process is much more direct. It uses the same refineries, the same pipelines.
CHETRY: It still is a mental picture, though, 300 million gallons of animal fat...
VELSHI: Animal fat.
CHETRY: ... processed into your...
VELSHI: In your car.
CHETRY: Well, at least we'll do something with it.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Ali Velshi, thanks so much. .
VELSHI: Hey, listen, you got Larry coming on later on?
CHETRY: Yes. Go ahead, show us.
VELSHI: I want to show you, no vest today in honor of Larry King. Suspenders.
CHETRY: In honor of Larry. That's a good look for you.
VELSHI: All right?
CHETRY: You might want to -- you might want to adopt it. VELSHI: I'm going to try it out.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
All right. Well, the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
ROBERTS: Deadly nor'easter. Record rain and flooding pounding states from Maryland to Maine. Roads closed, flights canceled, and a state of emergency just declared in New Jersey.
The weather this morning unbelievable. We'll show you some of the other hard-hit areas and which ones got lucky.
Good morning, and welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
From Washington, with suspenders, I'm John Roberts.
Good morning to you Kiran.
CHETRY: Everyone is on the bandwagon today.
Hi there. I'm from New York this morning. And boy, we are under water. Seven and a half inches of rain flooding really high in parts of Central Park.
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