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American Morning
Volcano Ash Cripples Air Travel; View from the Volcano's Epicenter; New Plan for Iran; Goldman's "Moral Bankruptcy"; When Will It End?
Aired April 19, 2010 - 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: And welcome. Happy Monday morning to you.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
CHETRY: It's April 19th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ACOSTA: I'm Jim Acosta. John Roberts is off today. And it is Monday.
CHETRY: It feels like a Monday, isn't it?
ACOSTA: And we could feel it.
CHETRY: Especially if you're a stranded traveler trying to get across the pond because of this volcanic ash.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. It feels like Groundhog Day, not Monday for those travelers. We've got a lot to tell you about this morning. Here are the top stories we'll be telling you about in the next few minutes.
As the cloud of ash from the volcano in Iceland spreads, the question is whether this travel nightmare will only get worse. Airports across Europe remain closed. Flights are canceled. But this morning, the airlines are starting to push back saying the ash is not a threat. So are the skies about to get a little more friendly? We are live across the globe this morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: And journey to the epicenter. We have an amazing look inside of the erupting volcano, images taken from just a few hundred feet away. That's about as close as humanly possible. We have a live report from Iceland just ahead.
ACOSTA: And the plan for Iran. Sources say the Pentagon is updating military plans to strike Iran's nuclear sites, giving the president fresh options in case it does not come to that. We are live at the Pentagon.
And of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation right now. We want to hear from you about anything in the news, whatever is on your mind. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX. We'll be reading your comments throughout this morning. CHETRY: First, though, a glimmer of hope for the countless passengers stranded by that drifting volcanic ash that's crippled air travel across the globe. This morning the frustration is mounting and transportation ministers from the European Union are going to be holding an emergency meeting to open more airspace. They say they're hopeful 30 percent of all flights may take off today.
The decision to open the skies once again comes after test flights. No passengers on board. They flew out yesterday into restricted airspace and the initial results indicated no problems during flight and also no damage to the jet engines. That's good news to the airlines.
In the past five days, more than 63,000 flights have had to be canceled. A real headache for passengers as well who've been left stranded, and it's also costing the industry more than $200 million a day.
ACOSTA: As the volcano in Iceland is causing all the trouble, it is still spewing ash and massive clouds of ash now stretch across England, Austria, France, Germany and parts of Russia.
This morning we're covering the story with the global resources of CNN. Our Gary Tuchman is live in Iceland where residents are asking how much longer this volcano is going to keep rumbling. Rob Marciano is live in the CNN weather center with the ash forecast. Yes, we have one of those. And Sasha Herriman is live in Heathrow Airport in London.
Let's start with Sasha this morning. What's the scene like out there.
SASHA HERRIMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the scene here is basically not a lot is happening as you can tell from the picture behind me here at Heathrow. Planes are still -- the only planes we've seen moving today are the ones that are being pulled across the runway by trucks. Nothing is basically flying.
As you mentioned earlier, in Europe, they're expecting only about 30 percent of flights to actually take off today. And that's if they're lucky. There is going to be a meeting of those European ministers today, transport ministers. They're going to decide whether any more flights can be actually taking to the skies later on.
Here in the U.K. at the moment, no flights are going to be taking off until around about 1:00 a.m. tomorrow. And that, of course, is subject to any kind of revision. There's also been an emergency meeting of what's called the Cobra team here in the government. They're trying to deploy Royal Naval ships. And in fact, two Royal Naval ships should be going to pick up at least some 150,000 to 200,000 estimated British people who are abroad and who need to get back to the U.K. shores. So those should be deployed according to Gordon Brown, according to the latest cobra meeting. So that ban until 1:00 a.m. on flight here.
As far as the rest of European aspects goes, there has been some shifting in Scandinavia. Some flights are being allowed and in France and in Spain as well. And the suggestion for British people abroad is get yourself to Spain and from there on you can make the journey home either by road or by rail or, indeed, by boat if the Royal Naval ships will come to get you from Spain. Back to you.
ACOSTA: Thank you, Sasha. Appreciate it.
CHETRY: All right. And the Iceland volcano is still erupting which makes the images that we're about to show you even more remarkable. They're taken from a helicopter just a few hundred feet away from the volcanic activity. Our Gary Tuchman was able to do a flyover this weekend and he joins us from the base of the volcano. Now, we're about to see some fascinating pictures. Is it dangerous to do that, to go up there in helicopter?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, here's what's amazing. You know, with all this travel chaos throughout Europe, we were able to fly within 300 feet of the volcano, which is right over my right shoulder right now. And the reason we were able to do that is because we are on the correct side of it. The wind was blowing to the east. We're on the west, so we are right next to it. And it was just awesome just looking at it. Also frightening at the same time, we saw boulders shooting out. We saw glass shards coming out of it. We saw lightning bolts. And it was incredible thinking about how thousands of miles away in Europe there's all this travel chaos. People cannot fly. We were flying just a few hundred feet away from it.
And that's something to keep in mind is really amazing here in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. There have been no delays at all at the airport. I mean, flights have been canceled to Europe but you can fly between the United States and Iceland. No problem in the last few days because the Reykjavik airport is to the west of the volcano and the winds have not been blowing to the west. As a matter of fact, you could fly to the United States to Europe via Iceland Air. That's one of the little secrets a lot of people don't know about. They don't have a lot of planes and not everyone who wants to can do it. But they've had flights from the United States to Reykjavik, from Reykjavik to Norway and back. They have been able to do that the last couple of days.
One thing though, the wind is expected to shift tomorrow for the first time since the volcano erupted. It's supposed to go to the west and that could affect the airport and the capital city here in Reykjavik. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Gary, the other interesting thing, how common are eruptions for this volcano? A lot of people are saying, well, why is it causing so much trouble now?
TUCHMAN: This volcano, Kiran, has not erupted since the 1820s. And back in the 1820s when it erupted, it lasted for about two years. That may have lasted two years, this time no. Nobody knows. There's no way to predict. The volcano eruptions have weakened since yesterday. But there's no real rhyme or reason to predictions. It could weaken further. It could also get stronger. CHETRY: Amazing. And the pictures are amazing, Gary. Thanks so much. Gary Tuchman for us.
Again, the worldwide resources of CNN on display there. Gary in Iceland for us this morning.
Well, a lot of people are wondering, is there going to be any relief for the travelers? Many of them have been stranded by this volcanic ash overhead in Europe. We're looking at satellite images showing the view from space. There it is. It's a massive cloud that simply blanketed the atmosphere.
ACOSTA: That's right. And Rob Marciano is tracking weather developments for us this morning.
Good morning, Rob. And when you look at those pictures, it's hard to imagine anything flying anywhere near that any time soon. But I guess eventually something will have to give.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, well, we're seeing some dispersions of it but it looks so dense and so thick that cloud of dust and ash, unlike other volcanoes that may be throwing up a lot of steam. This one just looks to be a lot of junk that is very dense into the atmosphere. So a little bit of dispersion.
Here's a satellite picture taken last night. You see the ash up towards the north there, but that's difficult to see. Let's breakdown the forecast as far as what we expect to see here going forward with the winds.
West to east flow of the upper levels but it has deep down to the south and that's what has brought a lot of that action into Europe and that is expected to continue. What's surprising and interesting and for the folks who live in eastern Canada, not all that welcome is that some of the surface winds and the mid-level winds, and Gary kind of touched on this, they'll be shifting, they have been shifting a little bit going the other way, going from east to west.
And this is the forecast from the U.K. office in England. And this is showing that the surface to 20,000-foot winds are kind of directing this a little bit farther to the west. Actually getting us close as Newfoundland, Canada. And there have been a couple of flights that have been canceled out of St. Johns because of that.
So we don't expect this to get all the way to the rest of North America into the United States, but it just goes to show that some of the winds at least at the lower elevations are bringing some of that light ash over towards North America. Looks like this is going to be an ongoing story throughout the week. We'll try to update you as best we can here from the CNN severe weather center. Back to you guys.
CHETRY: All right. Good stuff, Rob. Thanks.
ACOSTA: Thank you, Rob. And coming up at 6:30 Eastern, Europe is drenched in ash. Thousands of flights canceled. How long will the volcano continue to erupt? We'll talk to a volcano expert and hear his predictions later this morning.
CHETRY: Also, if you're trapped because of this, share us your travel horror stories on our live blog, CNN.com/amFIX. We'd like to hear what you're doing, what the plan is and whether or not you think you're going to get up in the air. As they said, 30 percent of flights may --
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: -- may start up again today. So fingers crossed.
ACOSTA: And there are some passengers out there who are on Facebook. They're Skyping. So folks are using all the resources to get what they're going through out there.
Now, there's much more to come on the Most News in the Morning. United States is updating plans for Iran. Is this a sign of things to come? We'll break it down for you later on in just a few minutes. Stick with us.
It's eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Little John Mellencamp there. It is 6:11.
CHETRY: Peaceful world. A peaceful world.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. We'll take it.
CHETRY: Yes, we will.
ACOSTA: The segueway here. And welcome back to the Most News this Morning.
As sanctions and diplomacy fail, then what? That is what the Pentagon is trying to figure out right now regarding Iran. Sources say military leaders are updating plans to strike Iran's nuclear sites.
CHETRY: Yes. It comes as Iran showed off its hardware in a military parade that took place over the weekend. Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claiming that Iran is so powerful today that no country would dare attack it.
Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon this morning. And, Barbara, the defense secretary issued an extraordinary statement last night. Explain it in the context of what he was talking about and what it could mean for our relations or dealing with Iran.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kiran, Jim, the secretary of defense normally doesn't speak publicly about these matters. But yes, last night, late last night, an extraordinary public statement from Secretary Gates acknowledging that he wrote a secret memo to the White House in January outlining the steps that he believed needed to be taken, the decisions that the administration had to make in order to be ready just in case there needed to be military action against Iran.
The secretary saying that this was coming because of the so- called pressure track the U.S. is on right now to ratchet up that diplomatic pressure against Iran to give up its nuclear program. The secretary saying that the U.S. is ready to engage in any contingency if it came to that. So what we know now is that for the last several weeks, the Pentagon, the U.S. Central Command all updating their military plan against Iran.
So, they are ready if and when President Obama was to come to the military and say I have made up my mind, there will be a strike against Iran's nuclear targets. The military ready to go with the freshest information, the most comprehensive planning, selecting weapons against specific targets, all the contingency, all to be ready just in case the president says that that is the decision he's taken -- Kiran, Jim.
ACOSTA: And, Barbara, are there new concerns about Iran's military? We know Ahmadinejad can talk tough. We've heard these sorts of statements and bluster from them before, but are there new concerns?
STARR: Well, you know, the Iranians it turns out have been reorganizing their military just a bit. Back late last year, they established a new air defense command in Iran. What does that mean? That means they are now focusing their air defenses, radars, missiles, other anti-air military weapons around those nuclear sites. They are focusing their military effort to a large extent on protecting key nuclear strategic sites. That's not something that has escaped U.S. notice -- Jim, Kiran.
ACOSTA: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Thanks very much this morning for that. Barbara, appreciate it.
CHETRY: Well, other stories new this morning. At 14 minutes past the hour, Toyota's faulty gas pedals bring on the largest fine ever imposed to the auto industry. Today, the automaker is expected to agree to pay the government more than $16 million for waiting four months before reporting its accelerator problems. Officials say that the fine will not protect Toyota, however, from criminal or civil lawsuits.
ACOSTA: And you'll love this. Five major airlines backing off plans to charge passengers for carry-on bags. Spirit Airlines recently announced a $45 fee to store bags, yes, in the overhead bins.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer personally got involved. He says he got American, Delta, JetBlue, United and US Airways to promise they will not follow suit. Schumer says he is meeting with Spirit's CEO tomorrow.
CHETRY: Yes, we actually had him on the show and he was talking to us on Thursday about that whole thing.
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: Christine also did a little breakdown of what you're getting when you fly these days but --
ACOSTA: Unbelievable.
CHETRY: Oh, I know.
But we're not talking about that. We're talking about Goldman Sachs and the SEC accusing --
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
CHETRY: -- this huge bank of fraud.
ROMANS: A fraud charge for Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs, the company, of course, that has minted money over the past 15 months, a company that took bailout money over a year ago, now charged with fraud by the SEC.
This story is just getting started. The drama just started to unfold. I'll tell you what Goldman Sachs means to you and what happens next in the Goldman Sachs fraud -- fraud case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, it's about 19 minutes past the hour. Time for "Minding Your Business."
Christine Romans is here, and, boy, we're talking about Goldman Sachs. We --
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: -- thought (ph) -- Goldman Sachs -- the SEC -- I'm sorry. I can't even spit it out.
I'm obsessed with the story, because --
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: -- we had talked so much about how they emerged unscathed by this recession and what --
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: -- what rule did they play in it, if any, and now --
ACOSTA: The guys there are going "whew."
ROMANS: Yes. No, I'm not sure they were ever going "whew." I think they were always trying to see what was around the corner because the -- the reputation problem that Goldman Sachs has had for the last year has been just unparalleled on Wall Street.
And now the SEC is charging Goldman Sachs with fraud. This charge came down on Friday and -- and still, the ramifications and the drama have been building all weekend, a lot of people wondering what does this mean? What's next for Goldman? Are there more deals like this at Goldman and elsewhere that the SEC is going after?
So first, let me tell you what the -- what the Division of Enforcement for the SEC said about Goldman. They said that Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in investment portfolio while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party.
Essentially, Goldman standing in the middle, getting fees from a big client hedge fund and from investors who were buying something, something designed by the hedge fund -- designed by the hedge fund to fail because that hedge fund wanted to, according to the SEC, wanted to bet against the mortgage market.
Goldman's response, a terse one line, the SEC's charges are completely unfounded in law and in fact and we will vigorously contest them and defend the firm and its reputation.
But Gordon Brown this morning in the U.K. saying he will launch a probe there. He called Goldman Sachs in this whole case morally bankrupt. He is hopping mad because, guess what? Among the --
ACOSTA: There's a little election going on over this.
ROMANS: There's -- well, yes. And one of the customers of -- of this whole debacle, this CDO, this complicated derivatives instrument that's at the core of this, one of the customers is the Royal Bank of Scotland which was bailed out by British taxpayers and had to turn around and pay Goldman Sachs a bunch of money to unwind from this whole thing, so --
ACOSTA: That's the amazing thing about this entire process we've been through since 2008. We've propped up these banks with -- with bailout money, with taxpayer money, and now we're going to go back and charge them with fraud.
ROMANS: And now, the -- the thing that is rattling Wall Street and rattling investors is is the game rigged? I mean, that's the question everyone's asking now.
Wait a second, if these big banks are staying in the middle and making money no matter what on -- on both sides of every transaction, who's out there --
ACOSTA: A lot of Americans have already made up their minds on that.
ROMANS: Well, that's true. Who's out there protecting investors? And then, does this go to the core of what our financial system is all about?
CHETRY: I have two big questions today, and I'm sure you can help me with some of these.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: One, how many more banks are going to follow? I mean, how many more banks is the SEC going to go after along with this?
I mean, there's talk of possibly a few others, right? Deutsche Bank, UBS?
ROMANS: It depends. It's -- it will be interesting to -- to see what happens and it will be interesting to see if the SEC is going after Goldman Sachs because so many people have been screaming about Goldman Sachs the past year. It would be interesting to see if the SEC has the resources.
More than a few people told me, I wonder whose lawyers are paid more and I wonder who has more lawyers, the SEC or Goldman Sachs? I mean, who -- Goldman Sachs is going to fight this. They are really going to fight this.
The -- and I want to just point out something. You know, Goldman took I think $10 billion in initial bailout money, right? On Friday, the market took $12 billion away from Goldman's market cap. You know, slammed the stock.
Sp the market is saying something here. The market has really punished this company on Friday, and futures are expected to be lower again this morning. That's really rattled -- it's really rattled Wall Street, all of this.
CHETRY: My second question, which we'll probably answer a little bit later, basically is would -- would any regulation stop this and -- and will this help with the Obama administration trying to push their current --
ROMANS: The answer to the second part of that question is yes.
CHETRY: All right. We'll talk more (INAUDIBLE) on that today.
Christine, thanks so much.
ACOSTA: And we do have a Romans Numeral this morning, but we'll get to that later as well.
ROMANS: OK, good.
ACOSTA: Keep everybody in suspense.
CHETRY: Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, we'll introduce you to a group of soldiers, a law enforcement that believes their allegiance to the Constitution is what's front and center, most important, a number one priority, not necessarily the -- their allegiance to the president.
ACOSTA: I think I know something about that story.
CHETRY: You did the story.
ACOSTA: Yes, I did.
CHETRY: What did you call them? The -- ACOSTA: The Oath Keepers.
CHETRY: The Oath Keepers. Fascinating group.
ACOSTA: They're -- and it's a -- it's a group that founded itself on April 19th, which happens to be today.
CHETRY: There you go.
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: All right. We look forward to seeing more about that.
Twenty-two minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-six minutes past the hour.
All that drifting ash that has European transportation officials using words like unprecedented, unsustainable when describing air travel across the continent.
ACOSTA: And that's just the short-term view. There is also a very real threat of more eruptions in Iceland.
To help us understand how unpredictable the situation is, R.B. Trombley joins us live from Phoenix this morning. He is the lead volcanologist and director of the International Volcano Research Center.
Good morning to you, R.B.
R.B. TROMBLEY, VOLCANOLOGIST, INTERNATIONAL VOLCANO RESEARCH CENTER: Good morning Jim and Kiran. It's nice to be with you. Thanks for having me.
ACOSTA: And it doesn't look like we have any volcanoes behind you there, but we appreciate you making time for us.
I guess the big question that a lot of people have this morning is essentially, you know, how long is this going to go on? I mean, this -- this could go on for a while.
TROMBLEY: Well, that is the magic question, isn't it?
Most volcanoes, when they erupt, will erupt for a day or two, some erupt for a week or two, others for a month or two, and this particular volcano has erupted -- last erupted in 1821, on December the 19th and has stopped erupting on January 19th of 1823. So that was two years, basically, that this one lasted. But I don't think that it will erupt that long in this particular case.
CHETRY: So, you know, we've been talking a lot about the fact it sort of hit the airline industry very hard right now. They're losing hundreds of millions a day as traffic has stopped in the air across the continent.
But they're eager to get their planes running again and they say that they've run these test flights without passengers and that they've been fine.
What are some of the hazards of the volcanic ash that these planes go through, and do you think that these test flights will show that it is OK to continue air traffic?
TROMBLEY: To answer your last statement first, the answer is yes. I think the test flights are -- are good. I'm an ex-pilot myself, so I m used to listening to these type of scenarios.
But the -- what happens, the ash gets into the turbines of the engine, and sometimes it's made up of particulates and rocks and small particles and so forth and it clogs up the engines and, with the heat, sometimes even forms a little glassy nature in there and it will actually shut the engines down.
It happens -- it's happened a few times. Fortunately, they've been able to restart the engines. But that's basically what happens with respect to aircraft.
And then -- then, you can have effects from agriculture and animals and even people from air -- from the ash in the air and so forth.
ACOSTA: So, R.B., in your mind, the precautions that are being taken right now are not over the top, are -- are not unwarranted?
TROMBLEY: No, not at all. In fact, I think they're erring on the -- on the side of passenger safety, as it should be. And, no, I don't think they're going over the wall at all.
In fact, I just -- I was watching CNN a little earlier today and they said that the test flights did turn out to be OK and that they are probably going to increase the flights to about 30 percent, maybe, today.
CHETRY: Right. And so, you think that's a good move?
TROMBLEY: Yes, I do. You know, it's -- I understand their need for precaution on the safety side, but as things look like they're OK, then I think they can resume the flights.
And I would predict within a week or so, maybe even a few days, it will be back up to full scheduling.
ACOSTA: And the other thing that is so fascinating about this is just the shear scope. I mean, we've seen photographs from space and it's just unbelievable to see nature at work here. I guess, what do you think when you -- when you look at this and, I guess, you're just in awe?
I mean, what do you take away from this particular eruption and how much -- I mean, you don't want to be impressed by how much havoc we have from all of this, but I mean, it is unbelievable what Mother Nature can do.
TROMBLEY: Oh, yes, it is. And this particular eruption is not really that big of an eruption per se, but they are spectacular. There are a -- volcanoes are very much like people. By that, I mean everyone is different. They all have different eruptive patterns and they have eruption lengths and so forth and --
ACOSTA: Especially when I haven't had my coffee in the morning. That is true.
TROMBLEY: Yes. That is true. Yes, I know exactly what you mean.
CHETRY: You should see the ash he spews in the morning.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: It's a health concern for everyone here.
ACOSTA: Thank you. Thank you, Kiran.
TROMBLEY: But at any rate, yes, they are all different. I've been working on volcanoes for about 45 years now. And we actually do a lot of forecasting is the main forte, and our real concern right now is not necessarily the ash, although it is problem-some for the airlines right now. But we're really more of kind of keeping an eye on the volcano next door, which is Katla.
CHETRY: Right.
TROMBLEY: That's one we're kind of keeping a very close eye on.
ACOSTA: And 5 bucks if you can pronounce the volcano that's erupting right now, sir?
CHETRY: Yes. Go ahead. Give us the pronounce, sir.
TROMBLEY: It's called --
ACOSTA: Oh, no, you can't read, sir.
TROMBLEY: I'm not. I'm just remembering -- just kind of got my Icelandic down a little bit.
CHETRY: There you go. Eyja is the beginning.
TROMBLEY: Eyjafjallajoekull.
CHETRY: That's it?
TROMBLEY: Eyjafjallajoekull.
CHETRY: It took up the whole page on ours. We got the wrong pronouncer.
All right. Well, it was great to talk to you this morning.
ACOSTA: I feel much better now.
CHETRY: Me too.
ACOSTA: I could say that.
CHETRY: That's not that bad.
TROMBLEY: Eyjafjallajoekull.
CHETRY: All right. Well, thanks for being with us this morning.
ACOSTA: Thanks, R.B.
CHETRY: Fascinating stuff for sure. Thanks.
TROMBLEY: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Volcano humor. It's OK at 6:30 in the morning, right?
CHETRY: There you go.
Thirty-two minutes past the hour -- time for our top stories as well.
The Pentagon is updating plans for a possible military strike against Iran. This comes after Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote a classified memo to the White House back in January about whether the U.S. is ready if diplomacy fails.
ACOSTA: And the shuttle Discovery is scheduled to come out of orbit in about 75 minutes and land at 8:48 Eastern. People across the country could catch a glimpse of the shuttle. The crew will fly over Montana, the Dakotas and the Southeast on their way to the Kennedy Space Center.
But because of bad weather right now, conditions are a no-go. NASA will make a final call on whether to land in the next hour. And, of course, we'll have that information for you.
CHETRY: Also this morning, there's new hope the Europe's travel nightmare could improve slowly but surely. European authorities, as we talked about, are trying to figure out whether it's safe to get back in the skies, holding emergency talks. And they say they are hoping to resume at least 35 percent of all flights today.
Not to nudge authorities, European airlines conducted their test flights, no passengers onboard and they did them yesterday, to gauge whether or not the ash is disruptive. They say that the skies -- and these test flights showed air travel to be safe.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. I mean, that is -- as our guest just mentioned a few minutes ago, I mean, you have to take the precautions, you know? You can't -- you can't play around with something as serious as air travel. And it appears that's what they've been doing all this time and the test flights are showing some promising results. So, that's a good thing.
CHETRY: There you go.
Well, also, the nation today is observing the Oklahoma City bombing remembrance. Fifteen years ago today, a bomb killed 168 people in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. It remains the worst homegrown terror attack ever on American soil.
ACOSTA: And, Kiran, across the nation, there's a growing backlash against the government. We've been reporting that for several months now. Former President Bill Clinton told our Wolf Blitzer: the current climate reminds him of the days leading up to the deadly Oklahoma City bombing. A lot of that anger is being directed at President Obama.
And we found one group that says their allegiance is to the Constitution, not the president. Many are military veterans and police officers. They call themselves the Oath Keepers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Just a couple of miles off the Las Vegas Strip, inside this casino ballroom -- dozens of men and women are taking the oath, an oath they say is to the Constitution of the United States.
CROWD: So help me God.
ACOSTA: Not, they say, to the president.
RICHARD MACK, FORMER ARIZONA SHERIFF: If we're going to watch while our country dies and think that there's nothing we can do about it, we're wrong.
ACOSTA: They call themselves the Oath Keepers, and last fall, they held their first national conference.
STEWART RHODES, OATH KEEPERS FOUNDER: Our forefathers flew this flag.
ACOSTA: The group's founder, Stewart Rhodes, former Army paratrooper and staffer for Congressman Ron Paul, says his members recite a revised version of the oath that's used for enlistment in the armed services. But they exclude this phrase, "I will obey the orders of the president of the United States."
RHODES: Our role is not to be obedient to who happens to be the leader. Our role is to defend the Constitution and the republic.
ACOSTA (on camera): The Oath Keepers aren't in Vegas looking for gamblers. They're seeking out police officers, sheriff's deputies, military veterans, even active duty members of the armed forces. If you've taken an oath to protect this nation, the Oath Keepers want you.
(voice-over): The group's Web site features pictures of veterans and active duty soldiers who say they've become Oath Keepers. The patch on this military uniform bears the group's name.
(on camera): Is the Oath Keepers a militia group?
RHODES: No, we don't need to be. We're the military and police.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ACOSTA (voice-over): The Oath Keepers call on members to disobey any orders, as they put it, "to disarm the American people" or "to force citizens into detention camps." It's a pledge Rhodes recites in an anti-Obama DVD called the "Fall of the Republic."
RHODES: I will not obey orders to impose martial law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will not obey.
ACOSTA: Mark Potok, who monitors extremist groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center, says the Oath Keepers are exploiting false rumors found on fringe Web sites.
MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Many of the Oath Keepers are people who believe that martial law is about to be imposed at any moment. It is right around the corner.
ACOSTA (on camera): Do you think President Obama is plotting to build detention camps in this country?
RHODES: I don't know. Do you think President Bush was plotting to do that? Who knows, you know? The point is --
ACOSTA: But you don't have any evidence of that?
RHODES: No.
ACOSTA: There's no evidence of that.
RHODES: I have no evidence that he's doing that.
ACOSTA (voice-over): But Rhodes insists his group is not anti- government and not anti-Obama.
(on camera): So, who's talking about taking anybody's guns away?
RHODES: So, we have to wait until someone talks about it before we can say we won't do it?
ACOSTA (voice-over): Brian McGough, with the Democratic- leaning veterans group, VoteVets.org, worries soldiers in the Oath Keepers will pick and choose which orders to follow, disrupting the chain of command.
BRIAN MCGOUGH, VOTEVETS.ORG: All they're doing is hurting the unit. All they're doing is hurting the military and all they're doing is hurting their friends. And they should really think about that.
ACOSTA: Critics say the Oath Keepers simply vindicate this report last year from the Department of Homeland Security that warned, "Right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans." The DHS declined to comment for this story but Rhodes blasted its report at the founding of the Oath Keepers earlier this year.
RHODES: Across the ocean, it's not even their (ph) country, they are considered heroes. But when they come home, now they are considered potential terrorists.
ACOSTA: The group was founded in Lexington, Massachusetts, the site of the first shots fired in the American Revolution.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Founded on April 19th, in fact, Kiran. And we just want to point out, there are no proposals coming from the White House or Democratic leaders in Congress for new major gun control laws. Also, the Department of Homeland Security told us repeatedly last November when we were reporting on this originally, that they have no comment on the group. They basically don't want to touch them. No.
CHETRY: So, you didn't get any -- well, you didn't get any indication whether or not they view them as a potential threat?
ACOSTA: No. No. I mean, this is one of those things where -- and, obviously, you know, when we were talking to them in Las Vegas, they were exercising their rights to free speech --
CHETRY: Right.
ACOSTA: -- and were not calling for any kind of overthrow of the government or anything of that nature. So, the feeling was, is that they are not doing anything that is against the law. They are saying what they want to say. They have the First Amendment right.
CHETRY: Right.
Well, coming up on the next -- on the Most News in the Morning next, mom and dad stuck in Europe. The kids are back home. They thought they were just going on a week-long vacation, but they are trying to cope now with being separated because they can't get back due to this Iceland volcano. What's life like when the kids are home alone?
Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
The worldwide travel crisis continues as we begin a new week, but this morning, successful test flights are offering hope for thousands of passengers stranded by a volcanic cloud and that they could be on their way home today -- at least we hope so.
For so many families, it has been a struggle, Kiran.
CHETRY: You know, it's also interesting, according to the Associated Press, Britain is sending their Royal Navy warships to rescue some people that are stranded across the channel --
ACOSTA: Unbelievable.
CHETRY: -- this morning. And they're just blasting transportation officials, saying that there's not a lot of coordination right now going on with this.
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: But, you know --
ACOSTA: The contingency plans for a volcanic eruption, probably not on the shelves there.
CHETRY: Yes. I guess they weren't in place since this hasn't happened since the 1800s. But it is amazing. We will be following it all morning. We'd love to hear you weigh in as well if you're stuck in the middle of this because of what's going on in Iceland.
Meanwhile, it's been especially hard for one Virginia couple stuck in Amsterdam. They have four kids all under the age of 9 years old and they're all at home waiting for mom and dad to get there.
Sarah Lee has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARAH LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What was supposed to be a few days in Europe to visit family is now going on two weeks. Sadness, separation, and a lot of Internet Skyping -- for the Pattersons of Midlothian, Virginia. Parents Jen and Steve are among the millions stranded overseas because of the Icelandic volcano eruption.
STEVE PATTERSON, STRANDED FATHER: Our flight tomorrow is canceled because the stuff in the air is just too dangerous.
JEN PATTERSON, STRANDED MOTHER: I'm just dying to see you guys. This is the hardest thing mommy has ever done. So, you guys are the bravest kids in the world. I love you so much. I know that you're being that so loved and taken care of there.
LEE: A grandmother had been watching the children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look, mommy is making a funny face. Can you make a funny face to mommy?
(LAUGHTER)
LEE: But now, friends are pitching in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're good on milk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can be (ph) right here today, you know after your mom gets here. And John is going to mow the grass this afternoon. It's getting a little long.
S. PATTERSON: How is it looking?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little rough.
LEE: Even rougher for them, the anxiety of being apart. The family spends a lot of time online sharing laughs.
S. PATTERSON: Little comedian like you.
(LAUGHTER)
LEE: Shedding tears but also making plans.
J. PATTERSON: What's the first thing you guys want to do when we come home?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Go to the zoo.
S. PATTERSON: I think I might kiss the ground when I get home.
(LAUGHTER)
LEE (on camera): Could you share with us again, just how you're dealing with this and how you're coping?
J. PATTERSON: It's hard. Lots of tears. Not a lot of sleep. I mea, I'm a stay-at-home mom. I don't get out a lot. I'm not an adventurous person. This was a hard enough thing for me to do.
KIDS: Bye.
LEE (voice-over): Sarah Lee, for CNN, Midlothian, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Wow.
ACOSTA: It seemed like a good idea at the time --
CHETRY: Yes.
ACOSTA: -- to go to Amsterdam.
CHETRY: Until you couldn't back home. Oh, God bless.
All right. Well, coming up at 8:30, we're going to talk to Tod Brilliant. He's a passenger stranded at London's Heathrow Airport. His wife is seven months pregnant.
He started a survival guide actually on Facebook for people like him who are stranded. I mean, hey, he's got the time and he's got the computer.
ACOSTA: Better do something. At least they're not away from the kids, you know? And --
CHETRY: Right. She's traveling with the child.
ACOSTA: Yes, you've got to feel for that family.
CHETRY: Poor things.
ACOSTA: Well, it is 6:44. Rob will have this morning's forecast right after the break. Stick with us.
CHETRY: Yes. And also, in 10 minutes, you wouldn't drink fat, would you? That sounds pretty gross. Well, Jeanne Moos shows us a health campaign aimed at trying to stop people from pouring on the pounds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Good morning, Nashville. It is 44 degrees there in music city, USA, 68 degrees later today and always good to take a look at Nashville. There is Carrie Underwood.
Kiran, did you know she was named Entertainer of the Year last night at the Academy of Country Music Awards? This is the second time she's been given that honor. That has not happened with any other woman in history.
CHETRY: No, it is usually Kenny Chesney.
ACOSTA: That's right.
CHETRY: But, good for her. You know, from "American Idol" to star of the country world. Good for Carrie.
It is 48 minutes past the hour right now. Time to get a check on this morning weather headlines, our Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center this morning. Hey there, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Yes, gorgeous weather across the Tennessee Valley and through Nashville. The sun will come up today and it will look pretty nice. We have a couple of showers that we'll be dealing with in the southeast. Other than that, no huge storms, except for the Pacific northwest, maybe some showers rolling in there.
Temperatures will be pleasant with a gorgeous weekend across many spots. Sixty eight degrees for the high temperature expected in Memphis. This little shower will bring its way over towards the east. That's not going to pose too much of a problem, maybe some rain in Memphis south towards New Orleans.
The bigger problem I think is going to be across parts of Florida where the showers continue today. That will be an issue because we have something called the space shuttle trying to make a landing across Kennedy Space Center at about 8:48 later on today.
A rare descending node approach, meaning it will come across north America and make its way down, which means if you live in Seattle, at 5:13 local time, you'll be able to see this thing streaking across the sky about 200,000 feet quickly descending across the plains of St. Louis and then arriving down across the Kennedy Space Center at 8:48.
But if there are some showers around there within 30 nautical miles, they're not going to do that. So we'll have to watch this closely. If all goes according to plan, they'll be landing here on "American Morning" towards the end of the show.
CHETRY: It sounds cool. All right, Rob, thank you so much.
Well, this morning's top stories just minutes away, including the great wait. Close to 7 million travelers affected by the volcanic cloud over Europe. Will there be any relief today? They put out some test flights and we're watching the skies.
ACOSTA: And 15 after, hope you packed your (fedora) looking at how the volcano is forcing travelers to go out at it the old fashioned way, maybe trains, ferries, ocean liners.
CHETRY: Also, at half past the hour, accused of profiting from your pain. Goldman Sachs now facing serious charges for their part in the financial meltdown. Could your bank be next? Are they already doing it again? Will regulation make a difference?
Those stories and much more at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Time now for Most News in the Morning. Health officials are worried about America's growing weight problem. But now they aren't just asking what you should watch what you eat.
CHETRY: No, they think that you got to worry about what you drink as well, and that means those sugary sodas and energy drinks. They say that can ruin your diet, but as Jeanne Moos tells us, that's exactly the point of what some are calling a really gross new ad campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Watching someone pour a soda, why would that make folks make these kind of faces?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Disgusting.
MOOS: It's the latest campaign from the New York City Department of Health. Drinking one can of soda a day can make you 10 pounds fatter in a year. The American Beverage Association calls it a sensationalized video that inaccurately portrays our industry's products. Products that are fat free, but full of sugar that will put on the pounds says the Health Department, but we have lots of no- calorie soda too says the industry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like the government is trying to micromanage everything here. I mean, there's a lot of stuff. Look, I smoke, but I take what comes with it.
MOOS: But everyone else rated the "don't drink yourself fat campaign."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say horribly effective.
MOOS: Even more horrible are the guys on YouTube who are actually do drink pure fat on a dare, fat from a George Foreman grill, chicken fat, good apparently to the last drop. The drinking fat viral ad is what has people saying --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
MOOS: Jay Jacobs can relate. Look what he sells.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to touch it?
MOOS: Mypetfat it's called.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my goodness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five pounds of anatomically correct body fat. It's a medical model.
MOOS: And to deter the owner from eating. Jay weighed 400 pounds when he started marketing Mypetfat five years ago. In his own personal battle against weight, Jay says he finally had a face to his foe. When he first used My Pet Fat, Jay lost 150 pounds then gained it back. Now he lost 30 on what he calls the Smart Phone Diet using Mypetfat as his wallpaper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I upload images of whatever I'm eating that day.
MOOS: On a Japanese game show, contestants were asked to guess what Mypetfat was. One answered a sex toy. Actually, you're supposed to put it near your food supply.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You put one right inside the fridge -- five pounds of fat in a fridge works every time.
MOOS: We don't know if you'll drop pounds, but you'll drop 150 bucks. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And we should point out, when we spoke with the New York City Health Department, they say it's too early to tell.
CHETRY: What are you eating right now?
ACOSTA: I'm eating some of that yellow blob that Jeanne was talking about. It looked delicious.
CHETRY: It did look delicious and you know, you can't be picky at 7:00 a.m.
It's three minutes at the top of the hour, your top stories coming your way. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
