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American Morning
NYC Crane Collapse; Atlanta Twister: The Damage and the Clean- Up; Vice President Dick Cheney is in Iraq; David Paterson to Be Sworn in Today.
Aired March 17, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Tipping point. The highest gas prices ever getting higher. And moves overnight to stop a worldwide economic meltdown.
Aftermath...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I can't believe that it happened here.
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CHETRY: Driving into a disaster zone. Live on the morning commute in downtown Atlanta on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome. Thanks for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING -- 8:00 here on the East coast.
I'm Kiran Chetry along with Ali Velshi, as well as Alina Cho. Great to see both of you.
John Roberts enjoying a well-deserved break. How about that?
And we have a busy news day this morning. It's St. Patrick's Day, by the way. Vice President Dick Cheney is in Iraq. He's reaffirming U.S. support for Iraqis as they continue down what he calls a "difficult but historic route to democracy."
He flew into Baghdad unannounced overnight and he's meeting with Iraq's prime minister as well as the top U.S. commander, General David Petraeus. Cheney will also visit with the troops.
In New York, the search continues this morning. They want to keep hope alive that they will be able to find three people still missing after a deadly crane accident this weekend. This search continues night and day. They've had search dogs, thermal imaging and anything they can do to try to see whether three people believed to be dead are alive. These are live pictures. We're going to be following that all morning from midtown Manhattan.
Already, we're already seeing green three hours before St. Patrick's Day parade on New York's Fifth Avenue. Of course people are lining up early. Lola Ogunnaike, she inserted an apostrophe in her name just for today. It's going to be getting underway at 11:00. A special treat, a wonderful bagpiper in the studio with us as well. We begin the hour with the story that's issue number one to you, and that's your money. We have oil prices hitting another record this morning, surpassing $111 a barrel for the first time, in part because the dollar is sinking to new lows.
Also, the Federal Reserve last night made an emergency cut in the interest rate on loans it gives to banks. That rate now down to 3.25 percent, and that move is designed to try to help banks cover their obligations. It also comes as JP Morgan swoops into save its crumbling rival Bear Stearns for $2 a share. Last Monday, Bear Stearns was worth $70 a share; a year ago, $180 share.
All that news sent Asian markets sharply lower, same for European markets. When Wall Street opens for business about an hour and a half from now, the Dow could open 200 points lower as well. Ali Velshi is with us to help us put it into perspective today.
Are we rounding a corner when we come to some of these troubles?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's a good question. It's hard to know. Unfortunately, with markets you don't know whether you've rounded the corner until you're on the other side and you can look back at it. But I should tell you there are some good parts to this.
First of all, Bear Stearns was absolutely failing last week and someone has swooped in and bought it. Now a number of you out there and a number of newspaper articles have commented on the fact this buyout by JP Morgan was made possible by a line of credit that was extended by the Federal Reserve, and some people see that as rewarding risky behavior.
Of the major investment banks, Bear Stearns was the one hat was most involved in these bungling of mortgages and selling and dealing with them as investment vehicles. Some people think we shouldn't have rescued.
But on the other side of the equation, what happens if we didn't? There's nothing worse for the psyche than a run on the bank. And that is exactly what happened to Bear Stearns. Number two, we are 24 hours, we're a little more than that, from the Fed decision to cut interest rates again tomorrow.
We're expecting the Fed to cut rates, probably by half a percentage point. They made an emergency move last night cutting the discount rate by a quarter percentage point from 3.5 percent to 3.25 percent. When they can't meet they borrow from each other. If your credit is not good and other banks don't want to lend your bank -- the last resort is is the bank of the Federal Reserve. It's lowered the banks, borrow from them at 3.25 percent.
Now still as we mentioned, Asian markets down, dollar down against major currency to its lowest point against the euro ever and lowest point against the yen in about 13 years. The Dow is looking to open, as Kiran said, probably 200 points lower today. Oil was trading at $111.80. That means gas prices up about $3.28 on the weekend. The highest national average we've had. So all in all it is a bit of a mess, but, yes, it's quite possible we're reaching the bottom of this and rounding a corner.
We're going to spend the day, Kiran, talking about all of these things and how people are meant to deal with this in their own portfolios. What you can expect today, markets lower probably again but there is an answer to this.
CHETRY: Thanks a lot, Ali.
We're praying for a miracle right now amid a mangled mess. Right now rescue dogs, thermal imaging, rescuers searching for three people missing after a crane collapsed in New York City.
The 19-story crane came crashing to the ground in the Manhattan neighborhood Saturday afternoon killing four construction workers and this is new video that we just got from the scene. Again, the tireless efforts of rescue workers trying to do everything they can to get through that rubble and see if these three people missing are still indeed alive.
They did pull people from the rubble throughout the weekend. There are several violations reported at the site. In fact, the most recent filed the day of the accident. City officials say that the broken crane passed inspection on Friday.
CNN's Jim Acosta is at the scene right now with the latest.
Hi, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
And emergency crews are still calling this a rescue operation as they hope to find those three people believed to be trapped in the debris. The missing include two construction workers and a woman visiting New York from Miami for today's St. Patrick's Day parade.
Now overnight, construction workers did safely removed the main section of the crane from the accident site. Officials here still don't know exactly why this frame's top bracing broke loose from a building forcing it to crash down like a fallen tree on top of a townhouse and other building here in downtown Manhattan.
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MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: This is a very tragic but also a very rare occurrence. Whether it was mechanical fault, or human error, we don't know. We think our procedures are adequate, but nobody knows what happened here. It may have been one of those things that no matter what your procedures were, somebody made a mistake.
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COSTA: Now, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg does say now that this main section of the crane has been removed they can now intensify their search for the missing. Meanwhile we should point out there are several residents in this neighborhood who have come forward to say they have long suspected this crane was not safe on this site, and we should also point out as for those violations that have been cited, and reported on here this morning, we're not sure yet as to whether or not they're actually relevant to why this crane came tumbling down -- Kiran.
CHETRY: A lot of witnesses and people who live in the area say that they, for many months and weeks, had registered some of their concerns about the situation, but, again, I mean, very difficult to be living around a construction site like that, especially when you have a crane that high up from the ground. We'll check in with you again a bit later, Jim Acosta, thank you.
From one city that went through a lot to another, this time in Atlanta, where witnesses say it looked like a bomb went off in some parts. People there still trying to get back to normal. A couple of days after a tornado devastated parts of the downtown.
There are brand new pictures this morning. This is the funnel cloud, taken by a Turner Broadcasting employee, a funnel cloud what appears to be a funnel cloud, forming off into the distance. They had reports of tornadoes in several cities across north Georgia. Two people were killed and now a major cleanup effort is going on right now. Tree trunks, smashed cars in homes and residential areas known as Cabbagetown. There you see tree over into a house.
Officials say that a twister with 130 mile-per-hour winds destroyed 20 homes and damaged many more. Downtown skyscrapers had their windows smashed and our home office did not escape, either. Neither did the Olympic torches.
We're covering every angle of the story. Rob Marciano is live near Centennial Olympic Park and Ed Lavandera in the driver seat for the morning commute from Marietta to downtown Atlanta and also our own Veronica De La Cruz in the CNN Center with a behind the scenes look at the damage there and we start with Rob in downtown Atlanta this morning.
Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran.
It's been over two days now since this tornado came through, 9:38 Friday evening, stunning Atlanta here. The first tornado to ever strike downtown Atlanta and now estimates are beginning to pile up. As we're cleaning up, check it out.
Look at this. Car damaged. One of the many, many cars damped, and this one not even bad. Imagine this come tumbling down on you? We are in the core part of Atlanta. Look up there. The building, the Weston, one of the landmarks here in Atlanta. Many of those windows completely blown out. I estimate hundreds, probably thousands of windows blown out from this.
A lot of old, old buildings here in the core of Atlanta. This building completely pulverized. A completely brick building. You can see the exposed staircase there and the exposed beams. Buildings like this strewn across the city.
The center of the twister came right through this area Friday night, transformers down, obviously power lines down and now they're seeing -- there you go. Heavy equipment in there. Cranes not only in this building but across downtown trying to pick up the pieces here, and Atlanta is now trying to get their lives back on track.
It is Monday morning, and traffic is a lot worse than it would normally be, because a lot of these streets here in downtown are cordoned off because they're quite honestly very dangerous. In many areas, looks like a war zone with cars pulverize bide the debris that came here Friday night. I live about a mile away and can see the CNN center from my balcony. I sought storm come through but it wasn't blowing that bad where I was.
Just a small, small storm bought very powerful storm obviously. A lot of people think downtown areas don't get hit with tornadoes. That's not the case. It's a matter of odds. Look on the map, of the downtown city area, just a speck on the map. The odds of it getting shut certainly small. Certainly here in Atlanta Friday night, well, time was up and the odds nailed us pretty bad. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: And you had a chance to see that video shot by a Turner employee. It looks like a funnel cloud in the distance making its way in. It's surreal to see that captured on tape.
MARCIANO: Yes. I haven't seen that yet, but I'll be eager to see that for sure. It was dark, the other thing. Then the next day we had tornadoes rip across near the city again during the daytime. Less than 24 hours after the first tornado came through Atlanta we had two fatalities just north of Atlanta. Certainly a wild weather weekend here across north central Georgia.
CHETRY: I don't know if you can see it right now but when they talk about reporting, Rob when they say reports of a tornado touching down, how do they verify that?
MARCIANO: They'll send a team out typically the next day. The National Weather Service has a survey team. Look at the swath of damage. 200 yards across was the estimation of this tornado. That means when it came through this area, EF-1, winds, 80, 90, maybe 100 miles an hour and strengthened as it headed east towards Cabbagetown, up to EF-2, winds up to 135 miles an hour.
They actually do it on land. Get up in helicopter and take aerial photography and just see what kind of damage there was, and that's how they can estimate what kind of winds ripped through this area and that is, you know, a major -- you can also equate it to what a major hurricane would be. That's pretty much what this was. The core of a major hurricane coming through downtown Atlanta. Unbelievable.
CHETRY: Really is. Rob Marciano, thanks.
Our Alina Cho following other stories new for us.
Good morning.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there. Watching a lot of international news Kiran and Ali. Good morning. Good morning, everybody.
Anew, fresh violence in Kosovo. Pictures just in within the hour of U.N. police and NATO troops firing tear gas and stun grenades while hundreds of Serb protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails, quite a seen there. Twenty-two members of a Polish international police unit were injured. Twenty protesters taken to the hospital. The Serbs were protesting Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia.
News coming in this morning from Tibet as well. Chinese soldiers are patrolling the streets in Tibet's capital city. The "Associated Press" is reporting at least 16 people have died in the violence, but some reports say more than 100 are dead. The Chinese have demanded Tibetans surrender to the Chinese military by midnight, that would be noon eastern time today, all of this just months from start of the Beijing Olympics and weeks from the arrival of the Olympic torch in Tibet.
Vice President Dick Cheney has arrived in Baghdad this morning on an unannounced visit days just before the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. Cheney plans to meet with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki as well as the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus. He will also visit with troops there. It's the start of a ten-day tour of the Middle East.
And Republican presidential candidate John McCain is also touring Iraq today. Senator McCain strongly backs the troop buildup strategy commonly known as the surge and early this morning sat down with CNN's John King. McCain says he wants troops to stay at their current levels in Iraq and explains why he thinks the Democrats' plans to pull the troops out would backfire.
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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The surge is working. So I just think what that means is, al Qaeda wins because they tell the world that, and we fight here again and around the Middle East, and their dedication is to follow us home. All I can say is that this will be a big issue with the election.
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CHO: After Iraq, McCain heads to Jordan, Israel, Britain and France and, of course, Kiran, he says this is not a campaign event but, of course, this is an opportunity for him to show off his foreign policy experience going over there to Iraq.
CHETRY: Right. Campaign season, everything is a campaign event. Isn't it? Alina, thanks.
Still ahead, Bill Clinton lending star power to the rebuilding effort in New Orleans and talking politics with our Sean Callebs. Sean joins us to talk about his sit-down interview with the former president.
You're supposed to be hearing from Ed Lavandera right now. He is making his way right now into downtown Atlanta. We talked about the nightmare left behind that that tornado and a lot of Atlanta city officials saying if you don't have to come in today, don't do it. It's going to about mess. We're going to see how it fared as Ed made his way into the city coming up after the break.
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CHETRY: Well, in just a second you're going to be looking at live pictures, there they are, of downtown Atlanta where crew, trying their best to try to get things cleaned up and back to normal, but it's going to take a while, this after the deadly tornado that hit on Friday, ripping through downtown Atlanta, parts of Georgia, and, in fact, our own CNN World Headquarters found themselves smack in the middle of the story on Friday. They didn't escape the wrath of the storm.
Veronica De La Cruz is in the atrium with the behind-the-scenes look, what it was like and the damage cleanup effort there.
First of all I mean we're on the air, but is everybody up and running there in the CNN Center this morning, Veronica?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, things are -- they're slowly coming back to normal. I mean if you look over my shoulder here this is one of the only business ups and running. This is the Starbucks. Kiran, I know you need your coffee. It appears that a lot of others do, too.
If you look over here, this is the end ever the CNN Center tour. That is going to be closed. Saying probably until Wednesday, and that's because of this. They roped off this area. They're calling this the danger zone because of this gaping hole that's right up in the ceiling.
Now, we just spoke with Turner Properties moments ago and they said when the storm passed through, if you look at the roof, where it comes to a point, the higher roof lifted up, slammed back down and came down like an accordion causing all the holes you see in the ceiling pup see the net there. They've covered up the hole with plywood.
If you work your way down the walls, Kiran, you see all the windows that have been blown out pap total of 100 windows are going to need to be replaced. 65 percent of the roof, Kiran, will need to be replaced and also they're estimating at this point in terms of damage that three to five million dollars worth of damage has been done to the CNN Center alone.
CHETRY: Wow. All right.
DE LA CRUZ: We're still looking at ...
CHETRY: Go ahead. You're still looking at the downtown atrium. DE LA CRUZ: Yes. I'm sorry, Kiran. I'm having trouble with my ISP. But I wanted to say where I was when all this happened in the dotcom NEWSROOM, shortly after the tornado we came into the CNN Center. I came in through the dotcom NEWSROOM, a lot of damage done there.
There's one wall that's made entirely of windows. The entire thing blown out. I was looking down at the street below. And it was amazing to see people just shocked, bewildered but what just happened. People were walking around like zombies, some of them covered in blood because of the glass and the flying debris.
I also saw taxis that were picked up and thrown down the street. There were trash cans picked up from Centennial Olympic Park thrown down the street. I mean there was so much debris and chaos going on, it was amazing that more lives weren't lost.
CHETRY: Is when you look at the pictures including the picture of what appeared to be a funnel cloud we saw also taken by a Turner employee. Veronica, thank you.
Also in the news this morning, he says it's like taking a test without going to any of the classes. David Paterson will take over in a few hours as New York's governor. His swearing in will follow the resignation of Eliot Spitzer who stepped down last week in disgrace. Paterson will be New York's 55th governor, its first African-American governor as well as the first nation's visually impaired governor.
And there are stunning reports out this morning that the former first lady of New Jersey, Dina Matos McGreevey may have been involved in her husband's hidden sex life; in fact, the "New York Post" and "Newark Star Ledger" are reporting allegations from an aide to former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey.
This aide says he joined the couple's sexual relationship from the late 1990s to 2001 ending before McGreevey took office at governor. He's also claiming to the "New York Post" that he actually spilled the beans about this arrangement under oath in a deposition for the couple's divorce battle. Dina Matos McGreevey said a book she did not know that her husband was gay until shortly before he resigned at that now infamous public press conference. CNN reached her lawyer, but he had no comment on this report.
It's also judgment day for Heather Mills and Paul McCartney. A ruling expected London how much money Mills will get in the couple's divorce settlement. Speculation is that the figure could be anywhere from $50 million to $100 million.
We've heard of rivers of green beer of course. How about green pizza? Scotto's Pizza in New Jersey make a special St. Patrick's Day pie. The owner says all he added was the right amount of food coloring and the right amount of imagination. He says he was inspired by his daughter who liked this pizza. Who liked the pizza, half Irish, half Italian. There you go.
This morning about your money, Gerri Willis answering e-mail questions about issue number one, that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
All this week CNN is looking at the number one issue for Americans, the economy. Poll after poll showing it's at the top of the minds of voters as they decide who they'll pick as their next president in the upcoming election. We're going to be looking at various threats to our financial health and trying to offer solutions hopefully.
CNN personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, and the CNN money team will answer your question.
And I know you guys, when you do the show at noon you get a huge response. A lot of people wanting to know what's going on.
We're going to start with our first e-mail question, which is, from Tasmeen: "We found a house we want to buy. My current home won't sell. We can afford to pay both mortgages for three to six months. Should we take that chance?"
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Tasmeen, I got to tell you, this isn't a game I would want to play trying to pay two mortgages for three to six months. Lots of risk and it depends on the market you're in. Some are more volatile than others. At end of the day, be safe rather than sorry. You could be in foreclosure in a few months if you run into problems unloading your first house. I say, stay where you are for right now.
CHETRY: Good advice. Our second question is coming from a viewer in New York.
Let's listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it right for me to invest now in stocks or industry and when the real estate pick up again?
WILLIS: I couldn't hear him but --
CHETRY: He said is it the right time for him to invest in stocks or real estate and want you to get out your crystal ball and asks when will real estate pick up again?
WILLIS: Everybody wants to know the answer to that question. You know what? Let's take these on one at a time.
First talk about stocks. A lot of people throughout see the market dive last Friday. Down 12 percent on the S&P 500 for the year and think, is it time get out of stocks? I say, no. The right question here is how much are you set ago side each and every week, each and every month. Small investors make gains by investing slowly over time, little increments at a time and not responding to what's going on in the market at the tile.
As far as real estate, the best progress not karats I know believe the market will start to flatten out coming this summer, spring and summer. Start to see volumes consolidate here, but prices could continue to go down into next year. So it's really a wait and see game there.
The interesting thing, Kiran, I think in the real estate market, people believe those prices don't turn quickly. They have in fact, and we'll be waiting some time for the turnaround in that market, slower to rebound, obviously, than the stock market.
CHETRY: All right. Gerri, thanks.
Be sure to stay with CNN here. There's advice and information from Gerri, Ali and the CNN money team happening every day this week. Issue number one airs at noon eastern right here on CNN. Boy, with everything going on, you get to go on for hours.
WILLIS: Yes. We've got a lot to talk about. It's going to about great hour.
CHETRY: Thanks, Gerri.
We've been telling you, investment banks JP Morgan is buying Bear Stearns at the bargain price of $2 a share. Getting some help from a $30 billion credit line from the Federal Reserve. It's a move that's designed to remove further panic from Wall Street after Bear Stearns collapsed Friday.
Some market watchers are saying that Bear Stearns is a victim of its own risky lending practices and helped contribute to the mortgage meltdown. "New York Times" echoes that view asking in an editorial, what are the consequences of a world in which regulators rescue even financial institutions whose recklessness and greed helped create the titanic credit mess we're in?
That's one opinion from "The New York Times."
How do you feel? Let us know this morning. We're asking the question, the Bear Stearns bailout: Is it the right thing to do? Does it reward bad behave other?
Six percent say it's the right thing. This has gone up since this morning. Sixty-seven percent rewarding bad behavior and 27 percent think it won't help in the credit crisis at all. There's still time to vote, CNN.com/am. We'll get another tally before the end of the show.
Still ahead, John McCain touring Iraq right now telling CNN's John King how many troops he thinks should be in Iraq. We'll have that for you. You're watching the most news in the morning still ahead.
Also, Senator Barack Obama staging a strong defense after more controversial remarks surface by longtime friend and former pastor. We'll tell what you this senator saying about Reverend Wright's comments and why the church is lashing out at its critics.
Also, teens getting high on household products, a warning this morning for all parents. Maybe some of the drugs that you worry about are not the one your kids are experimenting with and the things that you think are perfectly safe sitting in your cabinet or closet are the ones you need to be worried about. We're going to talk about it coming up.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on this Monday. It's March 17th, happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm Kiran Chetry. John Roberts has the week off. New this morning, we start out with international news. Vice President Dick Cheney making a surprise visit to Baghdad, flew in unannounced overnight.
Here are some of the pictures. He met with Prime Minister Nuri Maliki. He also declared U.S. support for the Iraqi as they travel a quote, difficult, his but historic route to democracy. He also had a chance to visit with some troops. It's the vice president's third trip to Iraq and it's the start of a 10-day tour of the Middle East.
Also, presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain is in Iraq right now as well. He has made the U.S. military effort in Iraq a centerpiece of his campaign.
Overnight he sat down with CNN's chief national correspondent John King and John also joins us from Baghdad with more on what the senator is saying this morning.
Hi, John.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kiran.
Senator McCain says he's more optimistic than ever that the surge policy sending those 30,000 additional combat troops here into Iraq is working and is providing what he calls dramatic security gains across Iraq. Senator McCain says he bases that opinion not only on the briefings from the general he's received here, but also on walks he and two Senate colleagues took on the streets of Mosul, on the streets of Ramadi, on the streets this morning here in Baghdad.
Senator McCain says he is convinced that both in the Congress and on the president's campaign trail he will fight to try to convince the American people, no matter how tired, how frustrated you are at the last five years of the war in Iraq, that finally security progress is being made Senator McCain says and he believes slowly because of that security progress, political progress will be made.
But the senator also knows that the American people are very frustrated with the cost of this war in terms of the bloodshed, in terms of the billions and tens of billions sent here over the last five years and says when he goes home to make his case in the Senate and on the campaign trail, he is not going to say that there aren't any problems in Iraq. In fact, Senator McCain says for all the gain, there are still significant political problems.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I could run down a long list of problems with you. Among them either failure to declare provincial elections, oil revenue sharing. There is still corruption in areas particularly among Shiite parts of the government. There's a couple of people that should have gone to trial that didn't in the last week or two. But when you look at what's happened over the last year in the view of most objective observers, it's a pretty remarkable improvement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: In his meetings with Prime Minister al Maliki, Senator McCain has he urged the Iraqi government to move more quickly, to be more bold and more aggressive in implementing those political and legal reform. But Kiran, he says the bottom line is that in his view, security gains have been made and if the Democrats get their way and the troops start coming out fast, Senator McCain says not only will the political reforms not happen going forward but the security advances will deteriorate as well -- Kiran?
CHETRY: Also, it should be noted, John, as you were telling us earlier, so Vice President Dick Cheney holding a meet with the prime minister of Iraq in one of Saddam's old palaces, as well as John McCain. The two visits not linked, of course.
KING: No. It was not. Imagine, it's quite a remarkable moment. We're in Saddam Hussein's old Republican palace. There are many palaces in Baghdad, but this is the palace where Saddam Hussein used to sit and run the government of Iraq. It is an ornate giant palace. The U.S. embassy offices are now in there now.
While we were sitting down with Senator McCain, we didn't know this, but Vice President Cheney came into the building at same time. So we go downstairs and you see Cheney's security detail going up one corridor of the building to take him into a briefing with General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. Then Senator McCain and his two Senate colleagues moving into one of their own meetings, so for a moment, in the house where Saddam once ruled, it's also like being back home in the United States Capitol.
CHETRY: You're right. John King with John McCain in Baghdad for us this morning. Thanks so much.
Our Alina Cho is here following other stories making news this morning, probably a surreal situation (INAUDIBLE) was saying.
CHO: The two Johns there in Baghdad at this moment. All right, Kiran, watching a lot this morning. Good morning, everybody.
New this morning, more troubles for your money. The Federal Reserve makes an emergency rate cut last night help U.S. banks pay their loans. This come after the Fed helps JP Morgan save troubled Bear Stearns. Like so many other banks, Bear Stearns' problems started with those risky sub-prime loans. Markets around the world are feeling the pains from problems right here in the United States. Stocks in Hong Kong down more than 5 percent and across Europe, markets are lower in Europe as well. When Wall Street opens in about an hour, the Dow expected to open down more than 200 points.
In New York at this moment, rescue crews are desperately searching for three people missing following deadly crane collapse over the weekend. The 19-story crane came crashing down on Saturday afternoon. There you see the damage. Four construction workers were killed. City officials say the crane was inspected on Friday, but no problems were found. A stop work order was issued on the day of the accident. It apparently was not related to the crane.
Back to work in Atlanta this morning after a tornado devastated the downtown area, a rare tornado for a downtown area. These are some of the new, amazing pictures this morning taken by a Turner broadcasting employee as the storm was forming there. Tornadoes were reported in several cities and towns across north Georgia killing two people. A major cleanup effort is going on right now.
Those pictures are just incredible. What appears to be a funnel cloud, tree trunks, smashed cars, homes in the residential area known as Cabbagetown. Officials say a twister with 130 mile-per-hour winds destroyed 20 homes and damaged many more.
Windows were smashed in downtown skyscrapers including right at our home office, CNN center in downtown Atlanta, just incredible pictures of the downtown area. It's rare that you see that there. As you might imagine, it is all making for a confusing morning commute in Atlanta.
We've been checking in all morning long with our Ed Lavandera. He took a camera for the ride from Marietta to downtown Atlanta. There were detours, closures, police filling in for the traffic lights during the 23-mile ride, but we're told he made it OK. Ed joins us now.
So Ed, how was that ride? Oh, you're still driving?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Actually we made it into downtown Atlanta from Marietta, took us about 40 minutes. So all told, pretty decent commute. There were a couple of area that we saw some traffic lights that were out, police pushing traffic through these areas around CNN center as we approached it this morning.
So we had a little bit of extra time and we kind of have been driving around downtown getting a feel of what people are experiencing. We came in a little bit through along interstate 20 on the east side of town. That was pretty congested as well as you get into that edge of downtown where those street closures are the most affected.
Of course, all of this coming at a time when everyone here and around me on the streets here are paying much more for gas. The latest Lundberg survey showing that the average price of regular unleaded fuel, about $3.20 a gallon. AAA service has it at about $3.28.
But all of the surveys agree that in the coming weeks and months ahead as we approach the summertime, we're going to pay much more for gasoline. Many people saying up to an extra 20 or 30 cents, so we could be looking at the $3.50, $3.60 a gallon level here at some point rather soon -- Alina.
CHO: That's the last thing we need. I know you were going to actually do a gas price story. When this tornado happened, now you're pulling double duty for us. So Ed Lavandera live for us. Finally made it Kiran to downtown Atlanta after a long 40-minute drive. I've done that drive before. I think it usually takes about a half hour, so a little longer than usual.
CHETRY: They were telling people to stay home, if you didn't have to or if you could stay at home and do your work at home or take a day off. Ed, of course, got the opposite phone call. Do everything you can to get in so you can see how long it takes you.
All right, thanks Alina.
A warning for parents. There are poisons in plain sight and they've become the perfect inhalant for young teens, cheap, free and available in kitchens and garages around the country. The high from what's called huffing can be deadly. Joining us now for what parents need to know is CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
When you think about having a talk with your kids about drugs, you don't often think of paint thinner as one of the things you need to discuss.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Because parents make the mistake of thinking, OK, the big gateway drug for my 12 or 13- year-old is going to be marijuana. Because that's what it was in our generation. You know what? Marijuana is no longer the number one gateway drug for middle schoolers.
It is these things that you see sitting here right next to me, things that likely are in your house, butane fuel lighter, rubber cement, spray paint, whipped cream. Kids are inhaling these fumes to the point now that one out of 10 eighth graders has used inhalants. That's right, one out of 10.
You might think, how harmful could whipped cream be? Actually, these, inhaling these things can cause damage to the liver, to the brain, to the kidneys. It can cause serious damage.
CHETRY: How can you figure out whether your kid's doing this or not?
COHEN: It's harder than it would be for like a normal drug, so to speak. If you find pot in your kid's room, well, they're smoking pot. What do you do if you find whipped cream? So we have a couple of hints for things that parents can look for.
First of all, if you are suspicious that they're doing some kind of huffing, smell their clothes. If it smells like fumes or paint fumes, then that's something that you need to be thinking about. Also look for paint stains on clothing and look for empty containers.
If your child has six empty containers of rubber cement in his room that could be a problem and also look for anything that's out of the ordinary. If your child doesn't build model airplanes but they have five containers of model airplane glue in their bedroom, that might be a sign.
CHETRY: And just the same way you sat there and talked to kids about things like marijuana. What do you say to your kids about just how dangerous this is?
COHEN: One of the things you have to tell your kids is that other kids may be using these for illicit purposes because the kids won't necessarily get it. Hopefully if your child sees something smoking pot, they know that that's bad.
But it's going to take some explaining that these everyday household products can be used in the wrong way. And for a child, even for us adults, it's hard to put that together sometimes.
CHETRY: Very true. Elizabeth, thank you.
Still ahead, we've been telling you this morning about some banks having a lot of trouble. Coming up, our Ali Velshi along with Polly Labarre will tell us about a couple banks that are doing well and how they're doing it.
Also, call it the luck of the Irish. Will the weather hold for the St. Patrick's Day parade? A live picture from the parade route along with a little taste of the Irish right here in the studio.
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VELSHI: The investment firm Bear Stearns being bailed out this morning, being bought out by rival JP Morgan Chase. Bear Stearns faced a classics run on the bank last week. It sold itself to JP Morgan for the bargain price of $2 a share in order to avoid bankruptcy.
Just last week by the way, Bear Stearns was worth $70 a share, but it was undone in large part by risky sub-prime loans. While a lot of banks are struggling because of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, two banks are actually succeeding by setting themselves apart from the competition.
AMERICAN MORNING's Polly Labarre joins us now. We're talking about ING and a bank called Umpqua which is based in the Pacific Northwest.
Funny name, but it's doing some very very good stuff.
POLLY LABARRE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good news, its refreshing to see banks that connect with their customers in a really deep and meaningful way. So Umpqua is a community bank in its root. And the CEO (INAUDIBLE) said there's no reason to go into a bank branch today and there's certainly no reason to enjoy it.
What if we could create an experience that was so inviting and so compelling that people would not only come in, they would stay. They would browse and spend time. And so they've created an experience in their store they call them, not bank branches, where it's like a high- end hotel lobby meets your own living room.
VELSHI: People like going into a Ritz-Carlton and the folks at Ritz have actually trained these people.
LABARRE: So it's not just the look and feel of it where you have wi-fi and sofas and coffee. It's also the people. So they all go through the Ritz boot camp in service. Every transaction you get a chocolate on a silver tray. These touches are important. They host community events, music events.
They have their own music label, movie nights, a stitch and bitch knitting club. So it really is about a community center as much as a bank and the good news is, they're also selling banking products during this.
VELSHI: I think it sounds like a fantastic idea. I am one of those people who probably would never need to go into a bank anyway. So on the other side of that equation, if you're looking to save money, ING, which has been doing those sort of fancy ads for a long time, but the deal with ING is we associate it with offering a high interest rate if you're saving money. Is anybody even saving money?
LABARRE: Well, this is a bank that's built around that idea, which is a highly disruptive idea in the financial service industry, but we're encouraged that bank too much, bank too little and get really deeply in debt and borrow really heavily. ING directed, built on this idea, how can we bring Americans back to savings?
How about a really low-cost model that's very simple, no frills whatsoever, a couple very simple saving-based products and then we can offer you the highest possible interest rate. Not always the highest, but the highest possible and support you in this mission to save. They are absolute fire and brimstone creatures, everyone inside that bank around how do we help Americans save.
VELSHI: And about the fact that Americans take too much credit and use too much credit.
LABARRE: Absolutely and they really are advocates around this idea. Our (INAUDIBLE) the CEO of ING goes down to Washington to, against all of his peers in the banking business to advocate on behalf of bankruptcy protection and all kinds of issues like that, but the point of this bank is such a simple model, no ATMs, no branches.
So for folks who want to do Internet banking, it's a great solution, but it's also one that really clicks with people, because it's saying, look, we're on your side. We want to help Main Street versus the elite. We want to help people who don't have a leg up in financial services actually, figure out a way to save a little money. VELSHI: When you look at how banks have made money. On one side, they've cut a lot of corners. They've cut a lot of costs. On the other side, they make money from credit. The old-fashioned idea of making money from peoples' deposits or making money or offering services that cost money, Umpqua, you can download music and you said you can get a coffee and chocolate and this kind of stuff.
Why does that make sense for them? How do they figure that that is actually going to be profitable and keep them in business?
LABARRE: I think this is true with almost every industry. Everyone's saying, how can we create an edge through better features, more reliability, making things cheaper, as you say, cutting corners.
I think the real separation in business today is how you create an organization that makes itself more memorable to do business with and that's the strategy that Umpqua is following and ING is following in very different ways but the point is that they're both very different. They're playing a different game than everyone else in the industry and that's why they're winning.
VELSHI: Polly brings a ray of sunshine to all of these things because she actually follows things that aren't just bad news in the world of business.
Polly Labarre, thank you very much.
Be sure by the way to catch Gerri Willis and me at noon today. We'll be looking at what it is that makes the economy and money issues number one for most Americans, issue number one. She'll be answering more of your e-mails. Gerri will be doing that at noon Eastern right here on CNN. Kiran?
CHETRY: CNN NEWSROOM is just minutes away. Heidi Collins at the CNN with a look of what's ahead.
Good morning Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you Kiran.
That's right, we have these stories in the "NEWSROOM" rundown this morning. Investment house buyout, banks get a break and the dollar in the dumps. Wall Street worries and your wallet.
Plus, politics via Iraq. The vice president is there and so is a presidential candidate. Another White House want to be reveals policy plans.
And not back in business in Atlanta, boy that's for sure. Many downtown workers told to stay home as tornado cleanup continues. And as I look around here at CNN center, boy, the trash bins and the vacuuming that is going on, Kiran, it's really pretty incredible.
We're going to have of course, the latest on all of that right here from the CNN center. Join Tony Harris and me coming up, top of the hour right here on CNN. CHETRY: Such professionals. No one would know if you didn't tell us. Right. Just cover your head. Thanks, Heidi.
COLLINS: You bet.
CHETRY: The St. Patrick's parade steps off a little more than two hours from now. Here's a live look down Fifth Avenue. We're live from the parade route and also with one of the bagpipers here in the studio next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Countdown's on. Jus two hours from now, Fifth Avenue is going to be packed with many people out celebrating a New York City tradition, the St. Patrick's Day parade.
Our Lola Ogunnaike is going to be out there with thousands of her closest friends, in fact, more than 150,000 people will be marching alone in the New York St. Patrick's Day, the 247th, by the way, parade and Lola is around the route this morning.
Top of the morning to you, Lola!
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Top of the morning to you, Kiran. I'm here with a whole group that came here from Duman (ph), Texas to be here at the largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world, 150,000 marchers, three million spectators. They came to have a good time.
You guys look like you're having a good time. Thank you!
It starts here on 44th street. It will make its way up to 86th Street. It starts here at 11:00, end at 5:00 p.m. Again, three million spectators, but who won't be here today Kiran, the politicians. Mayor Bloomberg, former Governor Pataki, they'll all be in Albany witnessing the induction of Governor David Paterson and I don't think we'll see Eliot Spitzer either. Who needs a politician when you've got this brave bunch right here?
CHETRY: Looks like the weather's going to be cooperating today. Some years people, rain or shine, come out there and march. But it looks like they're going to get some good weather for the parade this morning. Fill us in on how everything goes, get some great pictures, Lola and we'll look at them tomorrow as well.
Thanks for being with us.
All right. One person who's going to be in that parade today is bagpiper Danny McEnroe. He's a member of the FDNY's Emerald Society pipes and drums band.
This will be what, 12 years for you marching in the parade?
DANNY MCENROE, BAGPIPER: Yes, as a bagpiper. I used to march when I was younger as a kid, but now as a bagpiper. It 's been about 12 years. CHETRY: What's the best part about St. Patrick's Day and the parade?
MCENROE: A good family tradition. My father and my brother-in- law and my family all comes in. It's a good day.
CHETRY: How did you learn the bagpipe? It doesn't look easy.
McENROE: My father beat me at a kid.
CHETRY: No. Besides that, that happens to all of us, kidding.
McENROE: He taught me as a child, I learned it. And then after a few years, play with a band on Long Island and then (INAUDIBLE) and joined the fire department.
CHETRY: We want to hear some of the sounds. So I'll be quiet and we'll listen to the bagpipes. Have fun today by the way in the parade. You got a couple of minutes to play with us and then two hours that you're out there marching.
Danny, thank you. Let's listen.
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CHETRY: Before we leave you, final check of this morning's "quick vote" question. It's about the Bear Stearns bailout, being bought by JP Morgan Chase for a bargain price of $2 a share with the backing and help of the Fed to the tune of $30 billion.
So, seven percent of you think it was the right thing to do -- 68 percent say it's rewarding bad behave and 25 percent of you, it's not going to help the credit crisis anyway. To all of you that voted, thanks so much and thanks for being with us here on AMERICAN MORNING on this St. Patrick's Day Monday.
We'll be back tomorrow.
Meanwhile, "CNN NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins starts right now.
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