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American Morning

Pirates Vow Revenge After Daring Navy Rescue; Cheaper and Stronger Heroin Grips America's Youth; First Family Getting Portuguese Water Dog; Where Do Those Tax Dollars Go?

Aired April 13, 2009 - 06:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: (AUDIO GAP) on America's drug addiction and how it's fueling the violence that's been flowing over the border. This morning in an in-depth interview, we're going to be taking a look at heroin's growing clutch on children. It's cheaper and in some cases even easier to get.

(AUDIO GAP) pet and they finally decided on one. It is a black and white Portuguese water dog. We're going to tell you where this pup came from and what the Obama girls have named him.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this morning though with developing news.

Relief and a warning after the U.S. Navy kills three pirates and saves a U.S. captain. Right now, plans are in the works to get American Captain Richard Phillips back home. Here he is, a picture of him safe on board the USS Boxer.

Just hours earlier, the Navy says there was an AK-47 pointed at Phillips' back and his life was in danger. That's when Navy SEAL sharpshooters were ordered to act and in a single burst of gunfire took out three of the four hijackers, each with a bullet to the head ending a family's five-day long nightmare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISON MCCOLL, PHILLIPS FAMILY SPOKESPERSON: They are all just so happy the entire crew is safe. They're overjoyed that the entire U.S. Alabama crew is doing so well. So, of course, they're very happy about Richard. They're also very happy it's a happy ending for everybody involved.

Andrea spoke to her husband earlier. She was laughing while she was on the phone with him. She was saying his trademark sense of humor is still very much intact, and he's in great spirits. And if you guys could just -- could have seen her light up when she talked to him, it was really remarkable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: All right. We want to take you live now to Mombasa, Kenya, where there's a press conference under way. Members of the crew of the Maersk Alabama are giving a press conference.

Is this live or is this taped? It's taped. OK, this is taped event just a little while ago. These are members of the Maersk Alabama who were in Mombasa. Let's listen in to some of what they have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Could we hear about when the one hostage was taken? Could we just hear about the incident when the one hostage was taken?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Can you characterize...

QUESTION: Can you tell me when is your birthday?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two hundred years ago.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look it up. Look it up. June 12th, 1975.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, guys, thanks very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're going back. We're going back to America, and we're going to see all our families and friends, and we want everybody to celebrate. It's going to be a party. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's private. It's still private. We can't talk about that right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't talk about that yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: There you go, some crewmembers from the Maersk Alabama talking in Mombasa, Kenya just a few minutes ago. That's tape just feeding in to CNN. We'll take a more extensive look at that in the course of the next few minutes and we'll bring you some of what the crew members had to say.

There's obviously a celebration in Mombasa after Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama, was rescued yesterday in that dramatic sniper activity. And SEALs onboard the Bainbridge took out three of them, one of them apparently shot through a window.

CNN's Chris Lawrence is live at the Pentagon this morning.

Chris, that daring rescue mission seems to be what everyone is talking about this morning.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, John, and it all happened just about 18 miles from shore. This morning, we're going take you inside that rescue from the back deck of the ship where the snipers stood to the White House situation room where President Obama received more than a dozen briefings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): President Obama authorized lethal force on Friday night. Just 13 hours later, he issued a second order to an additional set of U.S. forces who would join the rescue.

VICE ADMIRAL WILLIAM E. GORTNEY, U.S. NAVY (via telephone): The authorities came directly from the president.

LAWRENCE: The Navy had been using a boat like this to bring supplies to the lifeboat. But as Saturday wore on, the pirates became more agitated. A defense official says shots were fired, and the pirates were demanding ransom.

GORTNEY: And to make their point, they were threatening throughout to kill the captain.

LAWRENCE: Out of fuel, the lifeboat was now being towed 90 feet behind the USS Bainbridge. Early Saturday night Eastern time, one of the pirates was shuttled to the Bainbridge for medical treatment. He'd been stabbed during the initial scuffle with the Maersk Alabama's crew.

GORTNEY: And we were working with him in the negotiation process.

LAWRENCE: Captain Phillips was tied up in the lifeboat, but in one of their last communications, the Bainbridge crew read him a letter from his wife.

GORTNEY: The note said, "Richard, your family loves you. Your family is praying for you."

LAWRENCE: At one point, a Navy SEAL team had parachuted in and took up positions on the back deck of the Bainbridge. As the weather got rougher, negotiations broke down.

GORTNEY: And the sniper's position on the fantail of the Bainbridge observed one of the pirates in the pilot house and two pirates with their head and shoulders exposed. And one of the pirates had an AK-47 leveled at the captain's back.

LAWRENCE: The on-scene commander believed the pirate was about to fire, so the Navy snipers shot first. The Defense official says each pirate was shot in the head. Then the special ops team shimmied along a tow rope to the lifeboat, made sure the pirates were dead and took Phillips back to the Navy ships nearby.

CAPTAIN RICHARD PHILLIPS, RESCUED MERCHANT CAPTAIN, MAERSK ALABAMA: Thanks, guys. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Yes, that was Captain Phillips after a hot shower, a medical checkup and a phone call from President Obama himself. As for the one pirate that's still in custody, a Defense official tells me that he may be as young as 16 years old -- John.

ROBERTS: And the big question now, Chris, what to do with that young pirate? But wow, just an extraordinary operation.

Chris Lawrence bringing it to us this morning, moment by moment. Chris, thanks so much for that.

CHETRY: And this morning, the crew of the Maersk Alabama as we just saw moments ago, cheering the safe return of their captain.

And right now, they are safe in Kenya's port city of Mombasa. We're still waiting for details on when they're going to return home, but yesterday a dozen sailors celebrated on the Alabama's upper deck including second in command Shane Murphy, who you see there on the left with the water bottle. He's in the family business and earlier, we spoke with his father about this whole ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. JOSEPH MURPHY, SON ON MAERSK ALABAMA: I'd like to thank Captain Phillips and his family for his courage and his personal sacrifice. He's made a tremendous sacrifice for his crew. Just incredible courage. We're very, very thankful. He's done everything that he could possibly do, and he has saved our son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And right now, the FBI is treating the Alabama as a crime scene in its investigation of this pirate attack.

Well, Hollywood couldn't have scripted anything like this. And now, the makings of a sequel with the fourth suspect now in custody and the pirates vowing to get the last word.

CNN's Zain Verjee broke the rescue story yesterday. She joins us now from London this morning.

And, Zain, one of the developments this morning is that the pirates are now saying that they're going to get revenge against America. What can you tell us about that?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, this is definitely a dangerous development to occur on the high seas in the Indian Ocean. The pirates are saying that they want to retaliate. They want to hunt down, find and kill U.S. citizens on the high seas. One pirate chief put it this way, "America will be the one mourning and crying."

Now, experts have said that the successful operation could actually lead to more violence and more bloodshed and higher stakes on the Indian Ocean. You know, Kiran, in the past, you've had pirates that have captured hostages, but they have not been violent. They've done things like roasted goats and they've shared it with the hostages. They've passed their cell phones around to hostages so they can speak to family members, things like that. At worst, it's just been beatings of hostages.

So, this really does raise the stakes and is a potentially dangerous development for any U.S. citizen out in this area.

CHETRY: Yet, at the same time, I mean, it's their threat of violence that is allowing them to get away with getting these huge ransoms. I mean they're armed clearly and they're ready to attack if they have to. So it is a tough situation as we try to figure out how best to handle this growing threat there.

And what about the pirate now in custody? What's going to happen to him?

VERJEE: Well, no one really knows what the U.S. is saying that they're going to be looking at all options including the possibility of bringing him to the U.S. and prosecuting him in the United States.

So, one of the key things to note, too, is that this is the first time ever in modern history the U.S. has in custody a pirate that carried out attacks against U.S. citizens, so it remains to be seen what will happen. And no decision we understand has been made but is a sensitive issue.

At the end of the day, Kiran, this is a situation where pirates can make a lot of money. They've earned millions of dollars just in ransom, being able to operate in a lawless area. So they're not likely to give that economic benefit up very easily.

CHETRY: True. All right. Zain Verjee for us this morning, thank you.

We're also getting a lot of comments on our viewer hotline about this dramatic rescue, and also how to stop piracy off of the coast of Somalia. Here's just a sample.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: Going to the country, find a family of those people and execute every one of them, it would stop. We're allowing too much nonsense in the world to take place.

CALLER: These Somali pirates need to really rethink what they're doing. They're affecting their own economy.

CALLER: The pirates have had to come from a mother ship of some kind because of the size and distance involved. I'd like to know what's being done to find these mother ships. (END AUDIO CLIP)

CHETRY: A lot of good thoughts this morning from our callers. We want to hear from you on the story and whatever else is on your mind. Call our hotline AMFix, 877-MY-AMFIX, and you can make it on air today.

ROBERTS: Of course, the dramatic rescue of Captain Phillips is what's topping our news, but there's lots more happening this morning. Here's a quick look at some of the other stories that we're following including breaking news overseas.

Thailand's prime minister declaring a state of emergency as anti- government protests grow more intense. This morning in Bangkok, soldiers fired shots hoping to disperse the crowd. The thousands of protesters are demanding the prime minister step down saying the four- month old government is not democratically elected.

An instant classic at Augusta. Argentina's Angel Cabrera is the new Masters champion. He beat Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell on the second hole of a three-way playoff to win the coveted green jacket. Perry had led by two shots with two holes to go but, oh, the wheels started coming off, started leaking oil, suffered a major meltdown forcing the playoff. It's Angel Cabrera's second major title. He won the 2007 U.S. Open.

And from Washington to Europe, the president has been dogged by the promise that he made to his daughters on election night, and that was the promise of a new dog. Now the wait is over. A first look at the new first pooch coming up.

It's 11 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 13 minutes after the hour. Let's fast forward now to the stories that will be making news later on today.

At 10:00 a.m. Eastern, President Obama and the first family play host to some 30,000 people for the traditional White House Easter egg roll on the South Lawn. All kinds of celebrities participating this year as well.

A town full of Bernie Madoff victims getting its day in court. Fairfield, Connecticut claims that it lost tens of millions of dollars in employee pensions in his $65 billion Ponzi scheme. A judge will decide whether to lift the freeze on assets of investors who allegedly served as feeder funds for the scam.

And at 1:00 Eastern, a lifeline from the tax man. IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman delivers a speech at the National Press Club highlighting the agency's new plan to help taxpayers in financial distress. It allows IRS employees to adjust or defer tax payments for people having trouble paying their taxes.

Guys, this is the new kinder, gentler, more friendly IRS.

CHETRY: That's right. They're still taking your money though. But going about it kinder, gentler.

ROBERTS: Wouldn't it be a lot easier if you just, you know, took the campaign plans of some of the candidates from last year's election and just get away with it altogether?

CHETRY: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

Well, anyway, it is going to be a big week on Wall Street, a big day and a big week. Can they keep up the positive news? Christine Romans is here now.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I know. If you hadn't noticed, it's been a pretty great four or five weeks for stock market investors. The stock market up some 20, 23 percent over the past few weeks and that is the best performance since 1933, but can it last?

Well, we've been telling you a lot about the earnings seasons. This is when companies come out and show you their books, what it looked like in the quarter. And that's going to make it a little bit difficult probably because we're going to be listening, hearing what Citigroup has to say, JPMorgan has to say and a lot of different other companies, a lot of different industries. It's going to let us know just kind of how difficult the environment is and it's expected to be a difficult environment.

CHETRY: We also talked about this a little bit on Friday. But the potential for ray (ph), as they call it, surgical bankruptcy possible for GM?

ROMANS: That's right.

CHETRY: First of all, is that possible and what would it be?

ROMANS: Well, you know, it hasn't been done before? Bankruptcy can be a very messy process. "The New York Times" is reporting that actually the Treasury Department and the Obama administration are directing GM to prepare bankruptcy, you know, a bankruptcy procedure ahead of time here.

And that an interesting thing in this, "The New York Times" story is that its sources, who it does not name because of the sensitivity of the matter, its sources say that they're preparing something that would take two weeks or less to get this huge company in and out of bankruptcy.

That sounds fast and surgical to me but clearly there would be people I'm sure, bondholders and the like who have been a stake in how it works, who wouldn't want to see it happen that quickly because they don't want to just have their interests evaporated in a bankruptcy filing. But, you know, every day we're hearing a little bit more about this.

And again, "The New York Times" saying that having some new details over the weekend about how they think this would look, but the company has said that it wants to do this outside of bankruptcy if possible.

CHETRY: All right, Christine Romans for us, thanks. Check in with you a little later.

Meanwhile this morning, the U.S. captain held hostage by pirates is freed after a daring Navy operation. The Navy SEALs acting in quick and heroic fashion, and now we're learning new details also about the pirates involved.

Dr. Bob Arnot has been in Somalia. He's met face-to-face with pirates, and he's going tell us what he's learned.

Also, we're kicking off our new series on America's insatiable demand for illegal drugs, the addictions fueling the alarming spike in border violence.

It's 17 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

President Obama is traveling this week to Mexico, and we're also kicking off our new week-long series about America's drug addiction and how it's helping fuel the violence that's been spilling over the border.

This morning, we're taking an in-depth look at heroin. It's a drug that once plagued poor urban areas. It's now attracting a new generation of users far outside of the city limits, and our CNN's Carol Costello is live in Washington.

I don't know about you, but growing up, that was just considered the worst thing you could ever delve into and people who did it were destined to die.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. You know, you remember pictures of the hard core junky shooting up. Well, it's not like that anymore, Kiran.

I mean, remember when Hillary Clinton said it was in part our insatiable appetite for illegal drugs that's fueling the Mexican drug trade? Well, she's right. The appetite for illegal drugs like heroin is hitting middle America's children hard. And before you say not my kid, please listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): It's easy to close your eyes. If you believe drug-related violence in Mexico could never affect you, not if you live on the East Coast of the United States in a safe middle class neighborhood, but it does.

DOREEN CIAPPA, MOTHER: It makes me angry that they don't see the young lives they're destroying.

COSTELLO: Doreen and Victor Ciappa's eyes are open wide. Last May, their 18-year-old daughter Natalie survived an overdose on a drug they told police they'd never seen before.

D. CIAPPA: I started screaming, actually. Because I had showed him the packets because they said we can't do anything if we don't know what it is. And we had found these little empty packets. I had spent hours on the Internet trying to figure out what they were.

COSTELLO: Those little white packets turned out to be heroin, much of it smuggled through Mexico and marketed to teenagers. No need to shoot up anymore. You can smoke it or snort it, and it's cheap.

JOHN GILBRIDE, SAC, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN. NY: Unfortunately today, a bag of heroin can be cheaper than a six pack of beer.

COSTELLO: And unlike a generation ago, this heroin is very pure, upwards of 70 percent. Teenagers are getting hooked faster and overdosing more.

GILBRIDE: Try heroin once, and you may not have the opportunity to try it again.

COSTELLO: Law enforcement officials say heroin use has spiked in the northeast. More than half of heroin arrests nationwide happen here, and twice as many heroin users seek treatment than all other regions combined.

On Long Island, it's luring middle class kids like Natalie.

D. CIAPPA: She was, you know, something else.

COSTELLO: A straight "A" student, a cheerleader -- kids like her can be attracted to this cheaper heroin because they don't think it's as dangerous as the heroin you shoot into your veins.

DET. LT. PETER DONOHUE, NASSAU CITY, POLICE DEPARTMENT: I think we skipped a generation in education. The young kids don't see the perils with heroin.

COSTELLO: After that first overdose back in May, Natalie promised her parents she would stop but she didn't. And weeks later, she died.

D. CIAPPA: This is today's heroin art. This is what they look like. They look like everybody's kid.

COSTELLO: The Ciappas are on a mission to save those other kids. They helped pass Long Island's Natalie's Law requiring officials to post information about heroin arrests on the web so other parents can learn from their painful lesson. VICTOR CIAPPA, FATHER: She had everything to live for and I just never wonder because I don't think it was an issue. I never thought a kid like that would ever dabble with something as scary as heroin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The Ciappas are so brave to speak out about this. They say Natalie was introduced to this drug, heroin, by a drug- dealing boyfriend. He has now been convicted of dealing drugs to someone else, and yes, Natalie's parents will be at his sentencing hearing. They believe the dealers and suppliers killed their daughter by introducing her to this very addictive drug -- Kiran.

CHETRY: That's such a tragic story and it highlights what we're going to be talking about this week as well. Carol, thanks so much.

We're going to be looking for solutions. Are there solutions to America's drug addiction? Coming up at 7:00, we're going to be talking to two guests including one who says that all drugs including heroin should be legal.

We want to hear what you have to say about this and all of the big stories. Call our hotline, 877-MY-AMFIX. Or head to our show page CNN.com/amfix. Your thoughts could be on the air today -- John.

ROBERTS: New developments in that rescue at sea, U.S. Captain Richard Phillips is safe this morning but the waters off of Somalia remain a dangerous place. We'll talk with Dr. Bob Arnot, who's gone face-to-face with the thugs who ruled the waves and lived to tell about it.

And the first family attending services at a church that's been popular with presidents past, leading to more speculation about which house of worship the Obama's will decide to call their own.

It's 25 minutes now after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

A live look at Charlotte, North Carolina right now. Thanks to our friends, WCNC. Fifty-two degrees right now, going up to a high of 55. Rain in the forecast as well, so keep an eye on that if you're traveling today.

What is up with the weather? I was in Pensacola with my daughter last week on spring break and there was one day it was in the low 40s.

CHETRY: It's -- well, you guys got a real cold snap down south. There was one morning, I think it was Thursday, it was cold. The high temperature in Atlanta was actually colder than the high temperature in New York and Chicago.

ROBERTS: Unbelievable. Last Tuesday, we were fortunate enough to go for a tour of the Blue Angels and watch a practice show and all that and get to meet the guys and go behind the scenes, but it was so cold. It was amazing.

CHETRY: You got a tan somewhere, though, so it must have been nice a couple of days.

ROBERTS: There was one day of that sunshine.

CHETRY: All right. Well, it's 28 minutes past the hour. We're following developing news this morning.

The daring, heroic and near-perfect rescue mission to free U.S. Captain Richard Phillips. This morning, he is safe on board the USS Boxer after Navy sharpshooters took out three of his pirate captors.

Military officials say that the standoff came to a head yesterday when one of the pirates was seen pointing an AK-47 at Phillips' back. A fourth pirate already had come aboard the USS Bainbridge. He was injured and he was participating in talks with the Navy. Now in military custody, and fellow pirates say they're vowing revenge.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, says that new violence could delay, force a delay in the troop withdrawal timeline, but it will still be up to the Iraqi prime minister to make that decision. U.S. troops are scheduled to pull out of all major cities by June 30th. In an exclusive interview, CNN's John King asked General Odierno about his relationship with the new commander in chief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: General Odierno, you are the father of the surge strategy. You pushed for it when even many of your commanders wanted to get troops out of Iraq. How hard is it to develop a rapport with the president of the United States who thought your strategy was a reckless escalation?

LT. GEN. RAY ODIERNO, CMDR. MULTI-NATIONAL CORPS-IRAQ: Well, first off, he's our commander in chief and as the commander in chief, we take direction from him. He has in all the meetings I've had with him, he's very attentive. He's very -- he listens. He's incredibly intelligent. He talks through the issues and we discuss it.

He makes a decision and then we execute those decisions, and that's all you can expect out of your commander in chief. And I've been very pleased with the interaction I've been able to have with him.

KING: Has he ever said, hey, General, you know, Ray, you were right, I was wrong about the surge?

ODIERNO: I don't think we talked about that ever.

KING: Let me ask you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And the general says that President Obama understands there is still a lot of work to be done in Iraq.

Gas prices pretty much holding steady. AAA reporting the national average price for unleaded regular, $2.05 a gallon. It's down a tenth of a cent from yesterday, but the price of gas has jumped 13 cents over the past month. Twenty-eight states and D.C. now have gas prices of $2.00 a gallon or higher - John.

ROBERTS: And returning now to our developing story this morning. Pirates in Somalia are vowing revenge this morning, saying that they will get back at America for Navy SEALs shooting and killing those three pirates that were holding merchant Captain Richard Phillips.

Joining me now is Dr. Bob Arnot, a former network news correspondent. He's been covering Somalia since 1991, and has met with Somali pirates and still continues to travel the globe, going to hot spots and finding out the stories.

Bob, you talked with Somali government officials about the four pirates, the three who are dead who were holding Captain Phillips. Who were these guys?

DR. BOB ARNOT, FORMER NETWORK NEWS CORRESPONDENT: They weren't anything but just kids. They were local fishermen.

What actually happens, John, is, it's interesting. At these pirate bases, there are few really hardcore pirates. They're no more than gangsters. They're ex-Somali marines and navy. Very, very hardcore.

The vast majority of people that go out to take the ships, they were simple fishermen. What they do is they capture a mother ship. They don't own any mother ships. They sneak past the international coalition. And because the Indian Ocean this time of year is so incredibly calm, they can go two, three, four hundred miles off shore.

When they go to attack, they are on these small skiffs. They shoot RPGs and bazookas into the air, which would scare anybody, use grappling hooks to come up over onto the ships. Then what they do is they call back to the pirate bay, to back the aid, and then professional negotiators there and in London begin to talk about the price. Captain, about $2 million because they know that's what the insurers will pay.

ROBERTS: So these guys weren't pros, if you will. They were just out there trying to make a living, you say, doing one thing, couldn't, so they tried to do another?

ARNOT: Well, what's so interesting is they really don't have much in the way of arms training. They're not very good. These particular ones were sort of under-armed, not well trained.

The basis of this is that the Somali waters, they had red snapper, tuna and what-not, over-fished by foreign fishermen. Lots of toxic waste and the local fishermen said, let's get back. So they started to take the trawlers as revenge. Then they found out that they could get money for this and then that was the escalation of the pirate business.

ROBERTS: You know, Bob, on the topic of revenge, we're hearing a lot more from Somali pirates in the last 24 hours about taking out revenge on Americans that, you know, maybe step up piracy of ships that would have American crew members on them as a result of what happened yesterday regarding these three pirates who were killed by Navy Seals snipers. Is that a threat that they could really make good on or is that just so much bluster?

ARNOT: I think it's bluster. Look, the whole pirate business really counts on the fact that they don't kill the hostage. As soon as they do, they destroy their own business. Also by May, the seas start to roughen up. It should be very hard for them to go offshore. It would be hard to execute.

The other thing that's really important, John, is that these are tiny towns. I've been in Bosaso, which is sort of the lead town. Harardere and Idhan are tiny towns. I mean, to shut these down with some kind of a blockade or even to put troops around those is a very easy thing do. The heart of it is to go to these village leaders and say, enough is enough, it's over, and to get them to cooperate.

ROBERTS: But as you know, Bob, from being there several times, that there's not much of a government to speak up in Somalia. So who do you really talk to about shutting down these operations?

ARNOT: Well, what's interesting here is that in 2006, the UIC, Union of Islamic Courts, shut down the pirates completely. Took them, put them on TV, put them in jail, destroyed their infrastructure. They could do it again.

Who you talk to is the business community. There are Americans, German, French, most of them foreign nationals with, of course, Somali heritage. They are the ones that really control the show. Going to them, giving them the resources to be able to really strengthen this government and having them go over the long-term solution is the way to fix this.

ROBERTS: And the question a lot of people ask is you've got the navies of 17 countries out there, including the most powerful navy in the world, the U.S. Navy, and these pirates seem to still act, if not with impunity, with near impunity out there on the high seas. How do they do it?

ARNOT: Well, the simple thing is, remember, most of these navies are in the Gulf of Aden, small space, lots of attacks there. So these guys are not stupid, they go, well, there's a million square miles of Indian Ocean, let's go out there. And because the waves are very small this time of year, they can take small boats, go two, three, four hundred miles offshore, attack with impunity because there's nobody out there.

Also, when you look at them, they're fishing, they don't look very suspicious. And in seconds, they're suddenly speeding towards you. They have the grappling hooks. They're up over onto your ship. And there's nothing you can do if you're not armed. ROBERTS: All right. Interesting insight this morning. Dr. Bob Arnot, good to see you this morning.

ARNOT: Great to see you, John, as always.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Bob - Kiran.

CHETRY: President Obama has picked the First Dog, but now he has another big decision, where should he go to church? We're taking a closer look at why this may be as political as it is religious.

Also, dangerous weather right now marching across the southeast. There's a strong chance of winds and hail. Our Rob Marciano keeping an eye on all of it for us at the weather center.

It's 35 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

When it comes to finding a house of worship to call their own, the Obamas are weighing their options. On Sunday, the First Family attended Easter services at St. John's Episcopal Church, just a short distance from the White House. It's been a go-to church for many presidents, including George W. Bush. But the Obamas are being actively lobbied by numerous churches in the nation's capital.

And joining us now from Washington, David Brody, White House correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network, also a CNN contributor.

David, thanks for being with us this morning.

DAVID BRODY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks, Kiran.

CHETRY: So, yesterday was Easter Sunday. This was the first time the Obamas have attended Sunday church services since inauguration day when they also went to St. John's. But they've been actively searching for a new church home since they moved to Washington.

How important is it in terms of the Obamas religion to be able to find a church to regularly worship at? Is that something that they want to make sure is part of their family routine?

BRODY: Well, I don't think there's any question about it. They want to make it part of their family routine, and folks close to them will acknowledge that in a very serious way. I think, though, there's a political dilemma here, Kiran. And that has to do with exactly where they go to church is going to be scrutinized big-time. I mean, look, Jeremiah Wright was Obama's kryptonite, if you will, in the presidential campaign.

So as you move forward, they're going to have to think long and hard about the vetting process here and get this one right. There are no do-overs here because this could be, if he doesn't pick the right church, it could be somewhat of a PR nightmare for him and why is that? Well, because it could be a distraction to the legislative process and that is a concern.

CHETRY: Right. I mean, when you're president, every decision is not just personal, it's not just religious, it has to get political as well. Of course, it's the nature of the office.

You mentioned Jeremiah Wright, and just to remind people, during the presidential campaign, then candidate Obama strongly criticized for his ties and for belonging to Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, home of Reverend Wright who had a reputation for what many called inflammatory sermons. And we have a little bit of a listen to a sermon that he gave in 2003.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. DR. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: And you want us to say God bless America? No, no, no. Not God bless America. God damn America. That's in the bible. They're killing innocent people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And Mr. Obama was eventually forced to leave Trinity and also to distance himself from Reverend Wright, who even married him.

So when we talk about that, what is the vetting process now like to make sure something like that doesn't happen again?

BRODY: Well, it's a slow-go, Kiran. And I think what you're going to see, as a matter of fact, a source told me this morning, this is a source with knowledge of how the White House thinks here, is that the president indeed will visit a few more churches before making a final decision.

And I think that's important to know that -- I think it's safe to assume that no decision is imminent. This is going to be a slow process. I think you'll see more of these as you see on your screen there, photo ops of the president at different churches.

Look, a White House source even telling me this morning that they want to make sure this is not an imposition for church goers...

CHETRY: Right.

BRODY: ...where will the president go. So this is very important to the president.

CHETRY: But in terms of making sure that, as you said before, this doesn't turn into some sort of a liability, are they going to go back and check through all the sermons that were given? I mean, look at every parishioner? I mean, what is the vetting process going to be like? BRODY: Well, I think, first of all, those details are definitely under wraps, but having said, look, it's tough to go through every sermon and it's not just every sermon, it could be everything this pastor has done in his life. And so, you know, where does the vetting process end? This is not like a Tom Daschle tax problem or a limo problem. I mean that can be -- you know, maybe you can make a mistake on vetting there, but it can go away at some point. This is much different, much wider net here, Kiran.

CHETRY: Right. And also he credits African-American religious tradition for encouraging him to embrace his Christian faith. Is he leaning toward an African-American church?

BRODY: Well, he has said in the past that he enjoys the African- American church experience especially as it relates to worship. I think you'll see him look at some of those churches. There's no doubt about it. But I can also tell you that there are just a wide variety of options on the table right now. You can imagine, no church name is being mentioned specifically right now, obviously, for reasons that go unnamed.

CHETRY: All right. David Brody, White House correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network, CNN contributor, thank you.

BRODY: Thanks, Kiran.

CHETRY: John.

ROBERTS: Well, just a couple of days now left to settle up with Uncle Sam. This morning, we're taking a look at where your tax money actually pays for.

It's 43 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It is 45 minutes past the hour. We're going to fast forward through some of the stories on tap for the rest of the day.

At 11:35 Eastern time this morning, President Obama and Vice President Biden will be speaking at a Transportation Department event, highlighting road and infrastructure projects that were paid for by the stimulus money. The focus is a $68 million project in economically-depressed Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Investigators in New Hampshire sifting through the ashes, trying to figure out what sparked a massive fire that burned through dozens of summer cottages at a Christian center. High winds fanned the fire which broke out yesterday. Fortunately, no one was injured.

And tonight, the New York Mets christen their brand-new ballpark City Field. The Mets will host the San Diego Padres in the first-ever regular season game at City Field. The bailed-out financial giant Citigroup paid $400 million for the naming rights, which has, you might remember, created quite a controversy at the time. ROBERTS: Twenty million dollars a year for 20 years. That's a big whack of change particularly if the company is in much trouble like Citi is. My goodness.

It's coming up now on 47 minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano is tracking extreme weather for us. He's at the weather center in Atlanta.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: Got some pictures coming in to us this morning. Now this is -- I'm told this is Ridgefield; Ridgefield, New Jersey. And this is a water main break there. The local municipal workers and the fire department -- it's only ankle deep at this point, but they've got the boat out there anyway. It's courtesy of WABC, these pictures.

So we'll keep following that and monitor any potential problems that this might have in term of what it will do for the traffic. But it looks like it's fairly localized to a residential area and won't be causing a whole lot of problems. But making some work for some people this morning there out there in Ridgefield, New Jersey.

CHETRY: We'll keep an eye on that.

Meantime, taxes are due Wednesday, and this morning, a look at where your money actually goes. We're on the money trail.

And President Obama delivers an important campaign promise. He delivers on it. It's the new puppy. We have a first look at the most famous dog in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, good things come to those who wait. President Obama has been dogged, I guess you could say, by reporters for months about when, when, when are you getting your girls that long-promised puppy? And also what breed is it going to be? Looks like dad finally came through. Carol Costello joins us now with details.

You know, he got himself in trouble because he put a time frame on it. He said when we get back from the NATO Summit, then we're getting the dog.

COSTELLO: Well, they have the dog now, or at least they'll officially have the dog on Tuesday. But it's not a pound dog. I mean, the identity of the first dog as you said has been unleashed. And believe me, it's been a state secret. Here he is. These are the very first pictures of the first dog. Malia and Sasha Obama will get a Portuguese water dog named Bo. And as I told you, Bo's grand debut is set for Tuesday. But with so much of the Washington Press Corps champing at the bit, so to speak, the dog's identity was leaked out a little early.

People were fighting for this exclusive, Kiran. We didn't get it. Actually, "The Washington Post" was supposed to get it, but TMZ.com broke it. And "The Washington Post" was not happy.

Anyway, the Post is reporting that the girls named the dog Bo after Michelle Obama's father who went by Diddley, as in Bo Diddley. These pictures were snapped during a covert visit to the White House a few weeks ago. And they show that Bo is black and he has white feet, and he arrived wearing that colorful lei around his neck. The trip was a closely guarded secret. A meet and greet for the dog with the family.

Now the 6-month-old dog is a gift from Senator Kennedy who himself is a big Portie fan. "The Washington Post" says Bo had been living with another family, but it wasn't a good fit, so the Kennedys adopted Bo and trained him for the Obamas. Translation -- that means the puppy is supposedly house broken. So here's to hoping there are no accidents, you know, in the Oval Office.

Anyway, animal rights types are not exactly ecstatic the Obama's didn't keep that promise to get the dog from the pound. A little cute Bo was definitely pedigreed. But to smooth things over, the Obama's are making a donation to the Humane Society of Washington, D.C. and the people there are said to be quite happy about it.

In fact, Kiran, if you go to their Web site, they have a whole page on the presidential dog. And how important it is to adopt a dog that, you know, is not exactly from the pound.

CHETRY: Right. And they said what was tripping that up is that their daughter has allergies so they needed to find a hypoallergenic dog, and they needed to - you know, there was a lot of stipulation, but both adorable.

COSTELLO: That's true. Apparently, there are no mutts who are hypoallergenic.

CHETRY: I guess there are some, but harder to come across. I got it, Carol. You should have tried a little harder in Carol's opinion.

All right. Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

ROBERTS: Good looking dog, particularly wrapped in those leis, huh?

CHETRY: Cute, yes.

ROBERTS: Your tax money, where does it go? What does it pay for? We're taking a closer look at that this morning with the 15th looming.

And developing this morning, a heroic captain freed, thanks to another group of heroes, the U.S. Navy. His crew speaking and celebrating this morning. We'll have that new tape for you.

It's coming up on 55 minutes now after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: He's coming for you.

ROBERTS: I'm frantically trying to finish here.

ROMANS: 4868 is the form you need for an extension. 4868, remember that number.

ROBERTS: It's 4868.

CHETRY: I already got my refund.

ROMANS: Nice.

CHETRY: I love it. You can just do it all, you know, online now.

ROMANS: I know lots of people do.

CHETRY: Online. Fast.

All right. Well, welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Tax filing deadline is just two days away. And this week, we're following your tax money.

We all want to know what happens to all that hard-earned cash, right? When it comes right out of your checkbook. What does it actually pay for?

And Christine Romans is following them for us.

ROMANS: Look, as we are a nation founded on a revolt against taxes.

CHETRY: Right.

ROMANS: So April 15th is the day of the year we love to hate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (voice-over): The price of admission to the most dynamic economy in the world is your federal income tax. And among other things the money withheld each week from your paycheck paves road, provides health care to children, buys tanks and fighter jets and pays the interest on America's mounting debt. It comes out of every paycheck, and you have until Wednesday to settle up the bill with the government. You might get a refund or you may owe more. LEN BURMAN, DIRECTOR, TAX POLICY CENTER: Generally, you end up paying more if you have additional income. Like for example, you get some consulting fees or something like that, or you take on a second job, you earn more money or you get a big raise.

ROMANS: So, we thought you'd like to know exactly how your hard- earned money is being spent and where.

The largest portion goes to fund Social Security, after that comes defense programs, followed by Medicare. The remaining money supports programs such as food stamps, retirement and disability.

But some of that money goes towards something you'll never see. About eight percent is paying the interest on the country's mounting national debt, which totals more than $11 trillion. The 2012 projections put it closer to $16 trillion.

BURMAN: We'll have more spending on interest than we spend on discretionary programs other than defense. That's a lot of money. Over time, the federal interest cost is going to get to be a serious problem, and it really worries tax and budget experts of both parties.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Also, worrying tax and budget experts of both parties, health care costs. They are the fastest, growing, large spending category, eating up an ever greater share of our tax dollars. The income taxes are just one chunk of what you pay. Payroll taxes for Medicare, social security. Excise taxes for gas and cigarettes, sales taxes, state and local taxes. Tomorrow, we'll tell you who pays the biggest share of taxes, and how we compare with the rest of the world -- Kiran and John.

CHETRY: All right. Very interesting stuff. Christine, thanks.

ROMANS: Taxes.

ROBERTS: Looking forward to that. I want to see how we stack up in terms of other countries around the world.

ROMANS: Yes. Sure.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.

CHETRY: And thanks so much for joining us again on this AMERICAN MORNING. It's Monday. It's April 13th. John is back.

ROBERTS: Yes. Good morning. Welcome, too. It's good to be back this morning. I missed getting up at 2:00 in the morning for the last week.

CHETRY: I'm sure you did.

ROBERTS: Yes. It's been terrible. Every morning when I would wake up at 7:00, I'd say, gosh, if only I had (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Wake up at 7:00. You sent a couple of e-mails to us at 5:30 in the morning. I said he's up anyway. He can't help himself.

ROBERTS: You get up from time to time. And you, oh, I got to respond to this. It's not an obsession or anything like that.

CHETRY: Right.