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American Morning

Severe Flooding in Texas and Missouri; Baldness Test; Economic Concerns: Worries Over Inflation and Jobs; Filling the Tank: Gas Prices Hit Road Trippers

Aired March 19, 2008 - 07:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Extreme weather.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Buses were stranded. Cars were stranded. It was just a mess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: A foot of rain, raging floods. Live from the storm front.

Issue number one -- the economy, or the war. Is Iraq putting our economy in a quagmire?

Plus, million-dollar payout. Co-workers at a tax office hit the jackpot. But they're not giving up their day jobs on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Welcome back. It is Wednesday, March 19th. I'm Kiran Chetry. We have Alina Cho, Rob Marciano and Ali Velshi with us. John Roberts enjoying the week off.

Yes, that's dedication. The people who won the lotto. They're tax workers in the County Tax Office in West Virginia.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

CHETRY: They're saying it's a busy season. We got to show up and help these people out.

MARCIANO: People are counting on them. Kudos.

CHETRY: How about it? Love it?

Well, for those who didn't win powerball, we're watching Wall Street today after a 400-point rally. Ali Velshi has some encouraging news as we follow issue number one for Americans. Still not out of the woods yet.

Remember the story also, that we told you about last week. This was a college gossip site called juicycampus.com, where students go on and post what they want about their classmates. A lot of people reporting terrible and vicious rumors written about them that basically destroyed their college experience. And they've been told there was really no legal access, or nothing they can really do legally to stop it.

Well, maybe that may not be the case any longer. There's an investigation that has been launched in one state. We're going to tell you about it coming up.

We begin, though, with extreme weather. Rain and floods from the Midwest into the northwest. A look now at the radar picture. You can see just how many cities and towns across many states hit. Torrential rains in Tulsa, Oklahoma, causing a pavement to simply cave in. When we take a shot of it, you'll see it there. Really a massive sinkhole, and just incredible to see.

Also, deadly rains and dangerous winds slamming north central Texas and much of the heartland. Nearly six inches fell in Dallas. Flash flooding closed streets, stranded drivers and forced hundreds out of their homes. Emergency crews say they're still searching for a 14-year-old boy that witnesses say may have been sucked into a drainage pipe in Mesquite, Texas, near Dallas.

Thousands of people had to spend the night at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after hundreds of flights were canceled including every American Airlines flight out of Dallas. In fact, a control tower had to be briefly evacuated. They spotted a funnel cloud. More delays are expected this morning. Airlines nationwide are backed up from this storm system.

Also, a foot of rain fell across parts of Missouri in a town of Ellington, 120 miles southwest of St. Louis, hit very hard. At least two people killed in storms and flooding in that area.

An SUV swept off the road in southern Missouri and this shot of a rescue caught on film. The driver pulled to safety by two guys in a FedEx truck. There you see him being pulled to safety, and he was not hurt.

CNN's T.J. Holmes is in Ozark, Missouri this morning. This is just south of Springfield. He joins us now. And when we last checked in with you, I know you were on the road all night. When we last checked in with you, it was still raining there this morning. What's the scene now?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the scene now is a welcome one. It's not raining right now. And if this can hold, that will be a welcome sight for a lot of folks because they don't need things like the Finley River behind me becoming any mightier than it is right now. It's usually not as mighty as you're seeing.

You see that shed behind me there. Of course, not usually submerged in water on a day to day basis, but you could tell the Finley River and other rivers across the state are having these kinds of problems. They have risen and have caused people all kinds of problems. We'll go to some video here from around the state.

You were mentioning Ellington where at least two people died. We're told that three people statewide have died because of this flooding. But Ellington was one of the hardest hit. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated from their homes.

We're also getting word that some 50 rescues had to happen. Water officials across the state, water patrol officials telling us some 50 rescues they had to participate in across the state. Most of those turned out well. Also, one still actively going on right now as we know.

Now, again, as I say, if it can stay like this and there's no more rain, things will be just fine. Hopefully, the water will begin to recede. But everybody is on edge and the reason there's still on alert, high alert right now, is because the anticipation that more rain could fall in some places across Missouri today, raising some of those rain totals to 10, 12 inches as you mentioned. And that is exactly what they do not need right now.

So still everybody on stand by. The whole pattern right now at least the rain has stopped where we are, Kiran. But we traveled across the state from St. Louis, 250 miles southwest to here south of Springfield where we are now, and it rained on us the entire 3 1/2- hour trip. Just to give you an idea of how much rain was blanketing the state.

So the rain has been touching just about every part of the state. But if it can hold off, it would be welcome news around here.

CHETRY: For sure. And as we heard from Jacqui in the weather center, a slow-mover, too. And that's the last thing they need when they're dealing with that much rain. Thanks a lot, T.J.

MARCIANO: Well, this morning, President Bush will address the nation as we head into the sixth year of the Iraq war. The president is expected to acknowledge the high cost of the war and American lives, but will say the challenge ahead is to consolidate gains made since the buildup of U.S. troops.

Well, a brand-new CNN/Opinion Research poll shows opinions have shifted since the war started. Back then, 68 percent said the war was justified. But now, just 36 percent say that. Nearly 4,000 soldiers have lost their lives. More than 29,000 have been wounded. Today, hundreds of vigils, protests and rallies will take place across the country. Protesters say they've organized large rallies in major cities like Washington, New York, Miami and Los Angeles.

CHETRY: Well, Barack Obama is in North Carolina this morning delivering a speech on the Iraq war a little later. And it follows his big speech on race which is generating some powerful reaction today. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is in Philadelphia where Obama made that speech yesterday. Good morning, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. It was a very important speech, and it was a very ambitious speech. Barack Obama taking on the sensitive issue of race relations in this country, talking about black rage, white resentment. How some of this is expressed in the black church. He also tried to answer some questions about his relationship with his pastor, his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Some of the more controversial comments that have been made by his pastor criticizing the U.S. government.

We heard Barack Obama once again repudiating some of those comments, but he also tried to explain his relationship to the religious leader, a relationship that has lasted nearly 20 years or so. And he described it in a very personal way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother. A woman who helped raise me. A woman who sacrificed again and again for me. A woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world. But a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are part of me. And they are part of America. This country that I love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Kiran, the whole idea behind the speech, obviously, to try to put the racial controversy behind them, to talk about issues that they want to talk about and hopefully that voters will be paying attention to the economy, as well as the Iraq war today. But they also say, too, that they realize they don't think this is going to go away anytime soon. He may have to continue to answer some questions.

And they also say that Barack Obama essentially is embracing the notion now that perhaps there is a need to discuss race in this country and that if he is the person who is uniquely suited to do it, if he's forced to do it in his campaign, then he'll put it forward and he'll try to keep this dialogue going -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux for us in Philadelphia this morning. Thanks.

Also, the Michigan primary do-over in limbo right now. State lawmakers say they will not move forward unless they get Barack Obama's support to hold another vote. Now, Hillary Clinton is going to Detroit today to press the case for Michigan's delegates to be counted. The Obama camp says a new vote is not going to make a difference in the delegate fight.

And a bit of history with the last vote. Again, Michigan penalized for moving up its primary date. Barack Obama actually removing his name from the ballot. Hillary Clinton winning in that state.

MARCIANO: Hard to believe there's more news other than weather, politics and issue number one.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

MARCIANO: But Alina Cho is here to share us that.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, including big news out of the FAA, guys. Good morning. Good morning, everybody.

New this morning. The FAA is stepping up efforts to make sure you are safer in the air. The government agency has ordered its inspectors to reconfirm that all airlines are complying with federal regulations. Inspectors have 10 days to make sure the airlines are following 10 so-called air worthiness directives. The move follows revelations that Southwest Airlines flew more than 100 planes without mandatory checks.

The White House has three days to explain why it doesn't have to keep e-mails. The order comes from a federal judge in a suit brought by two groups saying, the White House didn't archive e-mails. They should have. The White House has acknowledged it's possible as many as five million e-mails may have been lost. Those missing e-mails were discovered as part of the investigation into the leak of former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson's identity.

A new report gives the San Francisco Zoo a mixed review for its handling of that deadly tiger attack on Christmas Day. The report says the zoo's overall response was impressive. But it did criticize a staffer who at first did not believe two brothers when they reported the escape. The brothers were injured in the incident and their friend was killed. The report, by the way, was conducted by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Two British newspapers are printing rare front-page apologies to the parents of missing 4-year-old Madeleine McCann for suggesting the parents caused her death. The move comes after the McCanns filed a lawsuit against those several newspapers. "The Daily Express" and "The Daily Star" say there's no evidence to suggest the parents were involved in their daughter's disappearance. Both papers have also made substantial donations to the Madeleine fund. The 4-year-old was snatched from her bed in the middle of the night during a family vacation last May in Portugal. She was never found.

Here's a follow-up to a story we first told you about on Friday. New Jersey prosecutors want records from the controversial Web site juicycampus.com. The Web site that lets college kids post comments about each other. Often hateful things that may not be true.

Our Sunny Hostin spoke with a student who said she was called a racist on the site.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNNY HOSTIN, AMERICAN MORNING LEGAL ANALYST: What would you say if you could say something to the founder of juicycampus.com?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for screwing up my freshman year and making everybody think these things about me, and they've never even met me. Because, obviously, it's going to taint the next four years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: New Jersey's attorney general says Juicy Campus may be violating the state's Consumer Fraud Act because it says it doesn't allow offensive material, but it does nothing to enforce the policy.

Well, the Illinois corn flake is back. Have you heard about this? Ebay had pulled the auction for a corn flake in the shape of the state of Illinois. You can see what its size is in relation to the dime there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clearly.

CHO: But anyway, the two sisters who are selling it are trying to get around that rule by re-listing the item as a coupon good for the Illinois corn flake. OK. Bidding is up to 116 bucks. Several imitation flakes are also for sale, including one that claims to resemble Virginia. And apparently, there's another one that resembles Hawaii. Must be several little ones.

MARCIANO: And a bowl of milk.

CHO: But -- and a bowl of milk.

CHETRY: Can we just pay the 117 bucks so it's over with. Please. Pool our money.

CHO: I mean, I can think of -- yes, exactly, 116 different things that I'd like to buy other than that corn flake.

MARCIANO: Who's looking at their corn flakes to figure out what state they look like either?

CHO: I mean, they got a lot of time on their hands.

MARCIANO: That's right.

CHETRY: Just say no. All right. Thanks, Alina.

CHO: You bet.

CHETRY: Well, if you want to find out if the man you're dating is going to have hair in the future, one company claims that it has the answer for men who are concerned about baldness. Uncovering the baldness gene. Then once you do, what are you supposed to do with that information? Well, we're going to talk about it with Elizabeth Cohen coming up.

Also, a huge rally on Wall Street yesterday. In fact, the best in more than five years. But will it continue? We're going to talk with Ali Velshi about that.

And we continue our extreme weather watch across several states. A look at the radar picture right now, updating the forecast and the travel delays. Plus, a look at some of the areas hardest hit by the severe rain and flooding coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: What are the odds that you'll go bald before you're 40? Well, there's a simple test that I guess can tell you. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is at the medical update desk in Atlanta. Elizabeth, tell us about this test, and is it all accurate?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rob, we talked to folks who said that it's not accurate. But the company that says that they are the first to offer a baldness genetic test claims that it is useful. They say -- are you afraid of hair loss? Well, come talk to us. We can give you a test to see if you will go bald in the future.

And certainly, a lot of people are going to be interested in hearing about this; 40 million men in this country are bald, and they spend $3.5 billion on hair loss products. But we talked to geneticists, and they said, no, we don't think this is going to work. In fact, one from Emory University said, "You'd be throwing money down the drain if you bought this test."

And the reason they say, look, this test does test for one gene that says whether or not you're going to go bald, but they said there are many, perhaps even 100 genes that predict baldness. So they said, it really isn't very useful to test for just one -- Rob.

MARCIANO: I want to take this. What do I do? I got to get a blood test. How much does it cost? I have to go to the doctor's office?

COHEN: Right, the way that these tests usually work is that you scrape the inside of your cheek and you test it that way. So these aren't all that expensive. So they're actually relatively easy. They're not ridiculously expensive. But still, what you have to think about is, are they useful?

MARCIANO: Are they? I mean, what do you do say if you test positive? What's next?

COHEN: Right. Exactly. If you test positive, it doesn't absolutely mean that you're going to go bald. And the doctors we talked to said, look, there's not a whole lot that you can do about it. I mean, you can take a drug, for example, you could take Rogaine at the first signs of hair loss. But you're not going to take Rogaine with a full head of hair. So, you know, there's not a whole lot you can do.

So there's Rogaine. There's another drug called Propecia. So those are drugs that you are going to take when you start balding. You're not going to take it when you're, you know, 20 and have a full head of hair. So there's not a whole lot of options, which is one of the things you want to think about before you do genetic testing. What am I going to do when I get the results of this test?

MARCIANO: Well, there's another option, Elizabeth, and you might agree with me on this. Take camera three. Bald, beautiful. Embrace it, baby. COHEN: There you go. We're looking at it. Embrace it. And what a good looking guy. I mean, why would you want to avoid that? That's what I don't get.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Find out that it's going to happen and your life just kicks in.

MARCIANO: Makes for a good medical story, nonetheless. Ali, thank you. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

CHETRY: And do you know how much easier it is for Ali to get ready?

VELSHI: And I don't spend any of that kind of money on products. So the best thing about me is my hair cut is 11 bucks, so the guy gets quite a tip.

(LAUGHTER)

MARCIANO: Looking good, baby.

CHETRY: All right. Thanks, guys.

Well, Wall Street rallies after the Fed rate cut, a key interest rate cut. And Ali Velshi is back "Minding Your Business" this morning.

VELSHI: There was a quota for bald people at CNN that's why I was able to get this job.

The Dow was up 420 points yesterday. That was the best gain in 5 1/2 years. Nasdaq was up. S&P 500 was up. Futures are down today, and that's to say that, you know, what these markets have been all over the place, that Dow was over 14,000. So we mustn't get too excited about a one-day rally.

This is after the Fed cut rates by 0.75 of a percentage point, wildly expected that they were going to do that. They are trying to shore up the economy. It is going to be causing inflation. But right now, the Fed is saying shoring up the economy is more important than fighting inflation. However, to Americans, inflation seems to be the biggest problem.

We have a new CNN/Opinion Research poll that was released yesterday. We're having a new one ever day, and here's what this one shows. The inflation rate is the biggest concern of Americans at 65 percent. All economic concerns. The unemployment rate is 59 percent of Americans are concerned about that. The drop in home values concerns 48 percent of Americans. And the drop in the stock market concerns 40 percent of Americans. And that's actually interesting.

What you learn is that, for those who are wealthier, the stock market is where more of their money is invested. So they are more concerned about the gyrations of the stock market. For those at the lower middle end of the income scale, they're not as concerned. They don't associate the stock market with their wealth as much. They associate inflation, gas prices and home prices and jobs with their success. So those are the issues that are concerning most Americans right now. Baldness is not on the list.

MARCIANO: Does baldness equal wealth?

VELSHI: Well, not in my case yet, but we're working on it.

MARCIANO: We're working on --

Ali Velshi, thanks.

VELSHI: All right.

CHETRY: Hundreds of billions of dollars have gone to the Iraq war over the past five years. So what would all that money have done here at home? An interesting look ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: It is issue number one for almost every American. So we sent Ed Lavandera out on the road to gauge the impact high gas prices are having on families traveling this spring break.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're going to kick off our road trip experiment here in Atlanta, Georgia. And the idea is to mimic what a family might do on a vacation for spring break and drive to the Atlantic Coast. So we're going to take the old Suburban here and go from Atlanta to Charleston, South Carolina.

So as we leave Atlanta, we were able to fill up the tank and we paid about $3.19 a gallon, which is right at about the national average.

We're with CNN and we're talking to people about gas prices. I don't mean to surprise you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I don't want to talk about that. Man, I can't talk about that gas.

LAVANDERA: You can't, too depressing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man.

LAVANDERA: Tell me about your gas price experience these days?

DON WESTLAND, DRIVER: It's not a good one. It's through the roof, as far as I'm concerned.

LAVANDERA: So we left Atlanta along Interstate 20, came in this way into South Carolina into Columbia. Then, we're going to drop down Interstate 26 down into Charleston. According to this map, that's about 286 miles. RANDY JONES, SEATTLE VACATIONERS: We're from Seattle.

CAROLEE JONES, SEATTLE VACATIONERS: We landed in Atlanta, and we're driving down to Charleston. And it's been great and the gas is wonderful.

R. JONES: It's cheap.

LAVANDERA: You realize you're the only person in about a 15, 20- state area who would say that, right?

C. JONES: All right.

R. JONES: I saw it for $2.99 today.

C. JONES: Yes, I know.

FURMAN POSTON, DRIVER: It irritates me. You know, just cut an arm off and leave the prices where they were at. You know, take a leg. That's about what you're going to have to do.

LAVANDERA: So we're about 45 minutes outside of Charleston, South Carolina, now. And the Suburban that we've been driving here, we got about 250 miles and used up about three-quarters of the tank. So the rest of the gas that we have in there should be able to get us there just in the nick of time.

The good news is we're in Charleston, South Carolina, now. The bad news, the tank is almost empty and it's time to fill up again. We paid $3.13 a gallon for a grand total of $74.01.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: If you think about that if you're flying a family of four, let's say from Atlanta down to Charleston, where you would pay an airline ticket is much, much more than in the $150 or so for round trip and the gas. So that is the upside.

But you know, there are a lot of Web sites out there for people to go if you're really into the intensity of driving the state and be as economical as possible on the way you use gas. There's a good number of tips out there in order to reduce the amount of time you spend idling in the car, try to go the same constant speed. So when you're on the roadway, you know, use the cruise control. A lot of Web sites out there that can really help you. It's the only way you can get down to the nitty-gritty on that, Rob.

MARCIANO: Ed, you showed that couple out of Seattle that were celebrating the cheaper gas here in the southeast. Was there anybody else that was happy to talk about this topic?

LAVANDERA: No. You know what, we were actually completely stunned that we ran into these folks. And they're actually doing the exact same trip we were. And they were, you know, genuinely, oh, I don't understand what people are complaining about. It's like -- so obviously, people down here in the southeast, what is high to them is very different from the high of the people on the west coast. So, you know, it's just a matter of, you know, your vantage point and what you're seeing and when you're seeing it. But those people were the only ones that we found were generally OK with it.

MARCIANO: Definitely painful for just about everybody. Ed Lavandera, thanks. That's not a bad spot to end your trip either, Charleston, South Carolina. Enjoy it. Bye, Ed.

LAVANDERA: Bye-bye.

CHETRY: He ends at the one bright spot weather wise today as well.

MARCIANO: Yes.

CHETRY: He deserves it after his rough road trip.

MARCIANO: That's right.

CHETRY: Well, you're watching the "Most News in the Morning." Severe weather across much of the nation. As we said, that look in Charleston this morning is probably a rarity. Most of the country, a least a big swathe of the midsection, all the way from Texas on up to Pennsylvania dealing with some bad weather. Torrential rains caused that road to crumble in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And heavy rains and high winds possible for many, many other parts of the country today, causing trouble in the air. And we're also getting word of tornado and flood watches issued for parts of Tennessee. Jacqui Jeras tracking all of it for us coming up.

And they crunched numbers all day in a tax office. Six lucky numbers changed their lives. The ladies who hit the latest powerball jackpot join us ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are going at it again today. But this time, it is over something different than what it has been in the past. This is the Michigan primary do-over, and whether or not it's going to happen at all. It comes after voters react to Obama's speech on race yesterday, addressing the controversy surrounding his former pastor and spiritual adviser, Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive. Divisive at a time when we need unity, racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve the set of monumental problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joins me now from Washington. Candy, good to see you this morning. You know, before this speech, much was made of the fact that the Obama campaign was trying to sort of avoid bringing race issues and bringing race to the forefront of any part of their campaigning. This certainly changed that. But what do you think the impact is today?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the impact, we have to wait and see. What's funny about this particular story is, we never were really able to measure how much the Jeremiah Wright comments were hurting Barack Obama. Now, we're trying to measure whether or not he's able to undo the hurt. I don't think we're going to know this until we get into the Pennsylvania vote on April 22nd when we look at the white working class, in particular male vote and how that goes.

Certainly, this is something that the campaign wanted to get off the plate. This was obviously damaging, if only because it was taking him so off-message. But it was more than that, and they knew that in the Obama campaign. They looked - they always thought they'd probably have to make a speech about race. It was more seen as a general election time thing, that were he to be the nominee, then there there might have to be a speech about race. But this was damage control. So they took a smaller incident and made it into kind of a larger subject matter, race in America.

CHETRY: Another issue that's going on right now is what to do about two of the big early states that voted early and got penalized for it. Hillary Clinton is going to Detroit, Michigan this morning. Her spokesman tells CNN that the senator will press for a revote of the primary there in Michigan. And they're also seeming to blame the Barack Obama camp for holding up whether or not this is going to happen. Because the Michigan lawmakers did say that both campaigns have to sort of sign off on this for it to happen. So what's the latest with Michigan and any possible revote?

CROWLEY: Well, they're still working at it. The problem is, everybody, both Florida, which has now given up on the thought that they can have a revote, and Michigan, are up against time crunches. They have to do this by June 10th under party rules. It takes a certain amount of time and a lot of money to put it in place. And it takes this kind of Balkan peace process in order to get everybody onboard. Because you have the state governor, then you have the state parties and the national party and both campaigns. And obviously what the Clinton campaign wants is a revote in Michigan. She won there, he was not on the ballot. So, she is pressing very hard against this.

Now, the Obama campaign says they're not holding it up. That, you know, there are certain things that Michigan has to go through. But, you know, the politics of voting, what can I tell you? This is going to be -- we're going to see this now for the next couple of weeks while they try to figure out whether this is actually going to be a revote. Or whether like Florida, they're going to the rules and conventions committee of the Democratic party.

CHETRY: Also, coming up a little bit later today, the national archives is going to be releasing, I think, it's 11,000 pages of Hillary Clinton's schedule as first lady. There's been a lot of talk of wanting more transparency, and here's what the senator herself said about it yesterday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think I'm probably the most transparent person in public life. I think, what, 60 books -- 60 books have been written. I mean, you know, I feel you know a lot more about me than you know about anybody else. Much of it untrue, but nevertheless, it's all out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: What will we learn, if anything new, possibly from this release of her schedule as first lady?

CROWLEY: Well, a couple of things. As you know, she has said, particularly when it comes to foreign policy that she was instrumental in some ways in the Clinton era in meeting with foreign leaders. In helping, for instance, with the northern Ireland peace process. So perhaps there will be names that we recognize that would shore up that claim. Perhaps will have been meetings with big contributors. I mean, you never know what you're going to get. I mean this is we're talking about names and dates here. We are not talking what about went on in the meeting. But there will be some clues there as to what her role was as first lady. Whether it was beyond what we knew in public. And whether as she has claimed that there are, perhaps some foreign policy meetings.

Now, she also says that she did a lot of that overseas. So, this is about White House meetings. So, we'll have to see. You never know what you're going to get. But it is reams and reams of material. So much this will be a several-day story.

CHETRY: All right. Candy Crowley, good to see you as always this morning. Senior political correspondent. Thanks for being with us.

CROWLEY: Thanks.

CHETRY: It brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. We talked about the topic of Barack Obama giving a speech on race. And we asked the question what do you think of it? 31% of you say you think he has more to explain. 69% say he was able to put the matter and the controversy regarding his longtime pastor behind him. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. And we'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN, ANCHOR: Kiran, we continue to watch extreme weather this morning. Powerful and deadly storms hitting Texas and really much of the nation's heartland. Nearly six inches of rain swamped the Dallas area. With floodwaters spilling into the streets and the roads. The storms cost American Airlines to cancel 75% of its flight our of DFW. The airport has now just resumed normal operations.

Well, a foot of rain fell across parts of Missouri, at least two weather-related deaths reported there. Ellington, Missouri, about 120 miles from St. Louis was one of the hardest hits. Severe flooding caused roads and forced people from their homes. And we'll take a look at these hours of torrential rains across Tulsa, Oklahoma, causing a section of road simply collapsed and creating a major sinkhole. Look at that. My goodness. It just looks awful out there. Jacqui Jeras is tracking all of it at the CNN Weather Center. Jacqui, any break? A lot of green on the map. That's never good.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I know. Water, water, everywhere. And what's up with those guys in that video looking at that Tulsa sinkhole, just walking up to the edge of it and looking over? Not a good idea. Not a safe thing to do. And don't drive over it, by any means. If you're out there traveling today, there are literally, you know, well over 100 roads that are closed across the country here today. so, don't drive over them. Find another way. Take the extra time, your boss will understand if you're a little bit late today.

All right. Check out all that green we're talking about here from Texas all way into New England today. The dark green, that's the warnings. And the light green, where the watches are in place. The heaviest of rain really focused here across the nation's midsection. 6 to 12 inches. Not uncommon across parts of Missouri. Look at some of these numbers, Cape Girardeau, 11 1/2 inches, that's about a foot of rain. And Springfield had about 6 1/2 inches.

Severe weather on the southern side here. Tornado watch, just a sliver. But look at the strong convective line. It's going to be moving over in parts of Alabama for today. And what a travel headache for folks into the northeast today. We already have delays at La Guardia, and also Philadelphia, expecting to see Boston to get on the list later on today. So, over an hour there. And you could see New York City, only 35 minutes, but you know, that's going to be going on the up-up, isn't it, Rob?

MARCIANO: It certainly is. This things as you said, slow- moving. So, can't wait for it to be over and spring to be here, early summer maybe.

JERAS: I know. Hey, tomorrow.

MARCIANO: That's tomorrow, right?

JERAS: Yes, like 1:00 a.m. or something like that.

MARCIANO: Something to celebrate.

JERAS: I'm sure you'll stay up for it.

MARCIANO: Yes. Absolutely. Thanks, Jacqui. We'll check back with you.

CHETRY: The calendar may say it, but Alina and I are still wearing turtlenecks. It's that cold.

MARCIANO: Well, it's very stylish and flattering as well. You look gorgeous. CHETRY: Thank you. Thank you.

Well, Ali Velshi is here "Minding your business" as well. And updates and positive news to talk about after the Dow making a pretty good rebound yesterday.

ALI VELSHI, CNN, SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm only talking about good stuff today. It's all good. The Dow is up 420 points. It was the biggest gain in 5 1/2 years after the Federal Reserve cut rates by 0.75% rate. That is one thing that can be done to boost the economy. It makes money cheaper and it makes people go out and spend. The other thing that theoretically makes people spend is the stimulus package that the government came up with. They said the checks are going out starting May 2nd. It will take a while to get everybody their checks. It will be between $600 and $1200 each to people who qualify for them. And that will come to about $106 billion that's going out.

The National Retail Federation says some $40 billion of that will actually get spent in the stores. And guess what, the stores are already competing for your money. Lowe's, the home improvement retailer is talking about allowing you to come - I got that right -- didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Lowe's is talking about allowing you to take your rebate check and cashing it in the store like it was a gift card. You can just go and spend it.

At the store, JC Penny is considering at same thing. Home Depot apparently not considering letting you cash your rebate check at Home Depot but somehow encouraging you to spend that money on renovation or home goods that will allow you to be more cost effective. So, get more out of the money that you spend by buying, you know, sort of a campaign to buy energy-efficient light bulbs and things like that. You're going to start seeing a lot more of this competition for your money because those checks start coming out in the first week of May. And people will get creative to get that from you.

MARCIANO: It's taking a while. We need those.

VELSHI: A lot of people have said it, it was very interesting how the Federal government was able to work out a bailout plan for Bear Stearns in a matter of hours.

MARCIANO: Right.

VELSHI: But these checks are still going to take months. It's a good point.

CHETRY: Very true. Thanks, Ali.

The cost of war measured not just in dollars spent. Fear that a trillion-dollar tab could suck us into an economic black hole. Our Alina Cho took a look at that issue. And she's going to show us what she found. Coming up.

Also, they are eight co-workers and they're still co-workers, even though they hit it big. They're suddenly millionaires but they're still showing up for their job at the county tax office in West Virginia. For how much longer though? We're going to talk to them after they won the big Powerball jackpot coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. The economy is "Issue number one" for Americans and the war in Iraq issue number two. Estimates now put the total cost of the war at more than $500 million, and some say it could balloon into the trillions. Our Alina Cho has been looking into the question has the war led to the slumping economy. I'm very curious what the answer to that is.

ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, nobody really knows. It's the big question, certainly a factor. You know, many of the smart minds on Wall Street do not believe the war in Iraq is directly linked to the recent economic downturn. But a new book is out that disputes that. The big question did the war cause the economic slump? It's the $3 trillion question.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): Five years ago, it was shock and awe. Today, it's a different kind of shock. Americans are feeling the pinch. The housing crunch. Pain at the pump. A weakening dollar. And more people out of work. It's issue number one on the campaign trail. But some say the economy and the war in Iraq are not two issues but one.

LINDA BILMES, AUTHOR, "THE THREE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR": There is no question that the money that we have spent on the war and the way that we have chosen to finance it by putting ourselves in an enormous amount of debt, that those two factors contributed to our economic weakening.

CHO: Linda Bilmes, is the co-author of the "The Three Trillion Dollar War" says this is the first time in U.S. history that we've concurrently cut taxes and increased spending during wartime. This war is so costly, she says, it's also forcing cuts in other areas like health care and education. Money that could have been used possibly to save college administrator Timothy Dazinski's job.

TIMOTHY DAZINSKI, COLLEGE ADMINISTRATOR: I'm calling to check on a couple of these positions here.

CHO: The 56-year-old has been out of work for a year.

DAZINSKI: The money's not here to spend domestically for the industry which I spent 30 years. Where is the money? The money is directed to that war.

CHO: Others call that argument an easy out. Saying the real reason the economy is lagging is reckless lending practices. And a housing bubble that finally burst.

ROBERT HORMAT, GOLDMAN SACHS ECONOMIST: The war is not a significant cause of the current recession. It's negative for the economy but not a significant cause of the current recession. BILMES: The average American understands that we are trying to conduct roads and bridges which keep being blown up in Iraq. But we don't have the money to construct roads and bridges which have a positive effect on the economy here at home.

Now, Bilmes argues that even if the war ended today, we're going to be paying it for years, possibly even generations. Think about it, nearly $600 billion spent so far. About $12 billion a month. And some say that's just the operating cost. The burn rate of the war. Add in other factors like ongoing health care for vets. Interest payments. Of course, the money is borrowed for the war. That's how you get to that $3 trillion. The congressional budget office. Rob, is quick to point out that the figure is lower, not $3 trillion, but more like a $1 billion to a $2 billion figure. But still a lot of money. Listen, to put it in simple terms, it's costing a U.S. family of four, 16,$500. If the war go on ten more years, $36,900. A lot of money.

MARCIANO: You know, some people will say wars sometimes help the economy. Certainly, when you draw it out this long, it may very well hurt it. We don't have the clear answer to that. But if we were to take some of that money and pour it back into the U.S., what would we save?

CHO: That's right. I mean, a couple of things. You know for the cost of four days of the war, we could screen all passenger planes for explosive. For the cost of 10 days, 15 days rather, we could vaccinate every child in the United States. Listen, those on the other side will say, you cannot put a price tag on security, on freedom and that the price is well worth it. No question about it, you're looking at a lot of money.

MARCIANO: Tough to get your head around those big numbers in there.

CHO: That's right.

MARCIANO: Alina Cho, thank you very much.

CHO: You bet.

MARCIANO: CNN is all over "Issue number one, the economy." Join Ali Velshi, Gerri Willis and the CNN money team today and every day this week noon Eastern right here on CNN.

Well, eight co-workers from West Virginia, they're not going to flash their mill million-dollar smiles after claiming the powerball lottery jackpot. There they are but the new millionaires, they're going right back to work. We're going to hear why when they joined us after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well lady luck certainly struck in West Virginia. Eight lucky ladies, in fact, co-workers in a county tax office. There they are. Celebrating winning the big one, that's the $276 million powerball jackpot. After taxes, they take over $12 million each.

MARCIANO: I'd be smiling, too. Joining us now live from Morgantown, West Virginia, Linda Fominko, who bought the winning ticket, plus Amanda Pugh, Allecia Priore and Judy Gapen. Congratulations to everybody! I know, you probably hadn't had a whole lot of sleep.

Linda, let's start with you. I mean, you bought the ticket, tell me, because I'll probably never know, what goes through somebody's mind when they have the winning ticket in their hand?

LINDA FOMINKO, POWERBALL JACKPOT WINNER: Well, disbelief. And then absolute shock. And thank goodness I didn't actually have the real ticket in my hand. I only had a copy of that ticket in my hand.

CHETRY: Right, because she would have split -- no, I'm kidding. Yes, there were eight of you. Do you guys go in a lot together on this? I mean, is this a regular thing that you guys do, Amanda?

AMANDA PUGH, POWERBALL JACKPOT WINNER: Usually, when it's over 200, we try to pitch in and get a shot at it.

MARCIANO: All right. So how often, Linda? I mean, you guys -- what did you do? You went around the office? And how awful are the ones feeling that didn't participate in your $5 donation?

FOMINKO: Actually, they have been extremely gracious. They told us they were happy for us. And we hopefully have been just as gracious back. They came to work the next day. Pardon me?

MARCIANO: But will you be generous? Is that why they're being so nice?

FOMINKO: No -- no, actually, the tax office girls -- ladies, have all been always have been fantastic. I couldn't have better people working for me. And I am thrilled with them.

CHETRY: It does say a lot. Because you guys did go back to work and you said it's a busy tax season. So, how long are you planning, because you're taking home about 12 million bucks each after taxes. How long are you planning to stay in your jobs?

FOMINKO: I've worked there 35 years. I wouldn't have stayed there if I didn't like it. And I love my job. And I really like my job. So, I will be there for a while. I wouldn't leave anyone in a lurch.

MARCIANO: I'm getting more and more impressed with you, every answer you give us. Mandy, 12 million bucks, you know, you could put that, you could give a couple of million away. You know, 3%. That's like 300 grand a year. I mean, what are you going to do with that money?

MANDY: We can get by on that.

MARCIANO: Yes. What's the plan? FOMINKO: All of us haven't had a chance to talk a lot as a group. But every one of us is going to take care of their family. I think everybody in the state of West Virginia that's ever been wanted to win the powerball, that's your first thought. And that's what we're going to do.

CHETRY: That's right. And you want to do a little bit of traveling as well, right? What are some of the places you've dreamed of being able to visit?

FOMINKO: Mandy?

MANDY: Oh, gosh, I can see me zipping on the line in Costa Rica. Or I want to run with the bulls with my Dad. I don't know. It's endless.

CHETRY: That's funny, John Roberts didn't win $12 million and I think he's zipping on the lines of Costa Rica as we speak.

MARCIANO: Well, listen, even if you're a multi-millionaire, you still like the value that Costa Rica has to offer.

CHETRY: Of course. Of course, well, listen, congratulations to all of you.

FOMINKO: Thank you.

CHETRY: A once in a lifetime opportunity for sure. Enjoy it. Have fun. And you know, please, save some of it. Because you know what falls, a lot of times when people come into a huge windfall, is goes pretty fast.

MARCIANO: Oh, and Ali says put some back into the economy. Spend a little bit of that to help us, you know, help us a little bit here. Congratulations, ladies.

FOMINKO: Oh, we will.

MARCIANO: Thank you very much.

FOMINKO: You're welcome.

CHETRY: How about it? Rock on, 12 million.

MARCIANO: They seem so sweet.

CHETRY: They do.

MARCIANO: I'd be jealous and upset otherwise. But I'm actually genuinely happy for them.

CHETRY: I am happy for them as well. Congratulations. Also, we're going to continue our extreme weather watch this morning. It was a big storm system. It has flooded parts of Texas and the heartland and it's moving east. Jacqui Jeras with all the latest on the forecasts and the travel delays. And there's some new video from the protests in Tibet. An Australian tourist is capturing all on it on tape. We're going to show you some of the chaos. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Homes flooded, cars floating and travelers left waiting at many airports. We are tracking extreme weather this morning.

And fight or flight? We're talking about five years of the Iraq war and the candidates at war over whether or when we should get out.

To the mattresses. Well, as a bank nearly goes bust and mortgages melt down, where is the safest place to put your cash, we're going to talk about it today on AMERICAN MORNING.

And welcome, we're glad you're with us. It is Wednesday, March 19th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

MARCIANO: Good morning. I'm Rob Marciano. John Roberts has a well-deserved week off.

CHETRY: And we begin with extreme weather in the mid section of the country right now. All of the states in green on the map. We're going to take a look at in a second. There you see it. Under the gun today, very heavy hit, Dallas, Texas.

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