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American Morning
Catastrophic Oil Rig Explosion: 17 Workers Injured, 11 Missing off the Louisiana Coast; Obama to Meet Wall Street's Elite to Push Financial Reform; Obama on Wall Street; Schools Warn of Deep Cuts; $100 Bill's High-Tech Look; Search for Survivors
Aired April 22, 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: Good morning to you, welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Thursday, April 22nd. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us. Here are this morning's top stories.
A race against time to find 11 missing workers after a spectacular explosion on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana. About 100 people rescued from the burning rig made it back to shore overnight. The latest on the search for survivors and answers just ahead.
CHETRY: President Obama pushing hard for financial reform. He's going to be making a big speech in Lower Manhattan today with Wall Street elites looking on. A Senate vote is likely next week. And while the president has the backing of the American people, he still has a tough sell on his hands. We're going to get a live report from the White House in a moment.
ROBERTS: The crisis in America's schools, shrinking budgets, dramatic cuts and layoffs, and our kids caught in the middle. So what's the solution? Another bailout? Or are the layoffs necessary to cut what some might say are overstaffed schools? We'll hear from both sides this morning.
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 the morning.
CHETRY: And we begin with a desperate search and a rescue operation off the Louisiana coast this morning. Eleven workers are still missing after a huge explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. It happened on Tuesday night, some 50 miles offshore. The Coast Guard says 126 people were on a platform when it suddenly bursts into flames. The massive oil rig continues to burn. About 100 people who are rescued from the inferno made it back to shore safely overnight. Coast Guard crews have been scouring the gulf waters all night for any sign of the missing workers.
David Mattingly is following the developments for us. He's live in Atlanta. And let's start with the rescue efforts. What is the latest with that?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, so far, the Coast Guard covered 1,700 square miles and so far no sign of the missing 11. That search has been going on for over 24 hours and through the night. As soon as the sun comes up, about an hour and a half from now, the air search will resume. In the meantime, the fire is still burning.
Just look at the video that we have. They've been pouring water on it constantly since early yesterday morning. The platform is leaning, or listing, pretty badly to one side but they don't think it's going to capsize. A hundred twenty-six people were onboard at the time of the explosion. Many of them were reunited privately with their families a few years ago who have been waiting anxiously for a phone call.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARROL MOSS, WIFE OF OIL RIG WORKER: The only thing that I was thinking is how am I going to tell my kids, you know, that their dad's not coming home. And the worst goes through your mind. So we were just blessed that we did get a call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: In all, 17 were injured. Three listed as critical. The search for the missing 11 is the primary mission right now. And the Coast Guard says there is still the probability someone could be found.
Search conditions are excellent. Calm seas. Calm wind. Visibility about eight miles. Under conditions like this, a life raft would be easy to spot, but they don't know if any of the missing were able to get to one of those rafts. The water is 67 degrees. I asked the Coast Guard about hypothermia, but they wouldn't speculate about that only to say that there is the probability that someone could still be alive out there, Kiran.
CHETRY: Any details on what caused that explosion?
MATTINGLY: Well, no actual details on what -- how this all started but this is looking like what the industry calls a blowout. That's when oil and gas under pressure erupts from underground. And these drilling operations have equipment that's supposed to keep explosions aboveground from happening in this event. Transocean, the company that owns the operation, says they were having some problems right before the explosion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADRIAN ROSE, TRANSOCEAN LTD.: There's undoubtedly some abnormal pressure build-up in the marine riser which comes from the seabed, from the blowout to prevent the stack to the rig. And obviously, hydrocarbons under pressure, gas or oil got into the riser and as it came up the riser expanded rapidly and ignited.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Now, most of the oil that's spewing up right now, we're looking at about 13,000 gallons an hour. When the fire's out, they'll have to find a way to cap the well under water to prevent that oil from pouring into the gulf. If they can't cap it right away, Kiran, we'll be looking at another layer to this disaster with a large oil spill.
CHETRY: Well, all right. We'll be following the developments. There are some who say that perhaps even if they did fall out of the rig without a lifeboat that they could perhaps last 40 hours in the water temperatures. We're going to be talking to some Coast Guard rescuers about that probability today. David Mattingly, thanks so much.
ROBERTS: President Obama comes face-to-face with the rich and powerful on Wall Street today. And he's going to tell them it is time to change their ways. Financial reform, a big focus in the White House right now. The president traveling to New York not only to pitch his plan but to urge the big banks not to fight it.
Our Jill Dougherty is live at the White House this morning. And what does the president hope to accomplish today, Jill?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this is another big deal for the president passing reform legislation, financial reform legislation, is a major objective of President Obama. And he's back in New York, at the same place that he spoke two years ago. And in pushing for this legislation, he is indicting what he's calling a failure of responsibility from Wall Street to Washington.
And here are some of the points that the White House says the president is going to try to make today. He will make the case that the bill draws from bipartisan ideas. He's going to urge Wall Street to join him in reform, not fight it. And he's going to push for passage of the bill that protects consumers, ends "too big to fail" and brings transparency to the derivatives markets. That's the complicated financial instruments.
And the White House also released a little preview of a quote from the president. Here's one of the things he's going to say. "I believe in the power of the free market. I believe in a strong financial sector. It helps people to raise capital and get loans and invest their savings. But a free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get however you can get it."
Now that financial reform bill has actually passed the House and there's another one that's working its way through the Senate. And, John, you could say that this maybe an easier argument for the president to make with the public than let's say, health care, because after all it's not a love from Wall Street right now.
ROBERTS: Of course, Jill, he's got to get 60 votes in the Senate if he wants to get financial reform passed. Any indication on how many Republicans may come over to his side? DOUGHERTY: Well, you've got at least one. And it is something that they could find difficult to oppose because after all, the mood among the public really is anti-Wall Street and what happened during the financial meltdown.
ROBERTS: Jill Dougherty for us this morning. Jill, thanks so much.
President Obama's Wall Street reform speech begins at 11:55 Eastern this morning. And as always, you can catch it live right here on CNN or on CNN.com.
CHETRY: Well, a chokehold on air travel is over this morning. Flights across Europe expected to return to 100 percent today after a volcanic ash cloud kept 100,000 flights grounded over the past week. Airlines are trying to fill the vacant seats with some of the travelers who've been waiting for days to get out, but the window could be short because scientists say they're now watching another nearby volcano in Iceland. This one's big brother that could blow and create a worst-case scenario for the airline.
Well, here's the silver lining on all the mess. It's possible that the dark cloud of volcanic ash could have actually helped the environment. Meteorologists say the skies over Europe have been particularly blue in part because of the regular weather but also because there was no jet engine exhaust blanketing the continent.
ROBERTS: So you're trading jet engine exhaust for volcanic ash.
CHETRY: Yes. Right.
ROBERTS: All right.
Also new this morning, Iran says war games are underway this morning. State television says the country launched a series of military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz. A very strategic waterway is the only way out of the Persian Gulf. It would be like putting a cork on 40 percent of the world's oil supply if Iran ever tried to block it.
CHETRY: Check out this amazing play at the plate. It was at the bottom at the eighth inning. Fordham University versus Iona College, and Fordham's Chris Walker hits it to center driving in two runs. Then thanks to a fielding error out in center, Brian Kownacki takes off from first heading home. And the throw clearly has him beat at the plate. So Kownacki takes off again. This time, he flips over the catcher -- we'll check it out again -- and with his hands right on home plate to score the run.
See it again? He's called safe. Iona's coach argued with the umpire. It was all part of a nine-run rally and Fordham ended up winning it, 12-9.
So when you combine cross training baseball with gymnastics --
ROBERTS: There you go. What a leap. That was -- you know, I don't know what the opposing team's coach's argument was? He's not allowed to fly. You can't fly in baseball, I guess.
Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center for us this morning.
Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You sound like Tom Hanks. There is no flying in baseball. And he stuck the landing. That was --
CHETRY: Yes, I know.
ROBERTS: Beautiful.
CHETRY: Could you ever -- could you ever do that when you play?
MARCIANO: Oh, you know, back in the days, Kiran.
CHETRY: You should do it.
MARCIANO: That's small potatoes for what I was capable of.
The storm track today across the Midwest and the plain, that's what we're looking at, the threat of seeing maybe some tornadoes. We have one report yesterday, one the day before. And I think the threat will increase as we go on through the next 48 hours.
A pretty big storm and cold storm system across the intermountain west will be ejecting into the plains today, released from Saturday and then marching eastward into more populated areas. So a widespread severe weather event over the next 48 hours is likely, so we'll be tracking it step-by-step here at the CNN severe weather center.
All right, guys. Yes, I wish I could do a flying leap like that there. I would break several bones, no doubt about that.
CHETRY: You never know. Pretty cool though. All right, Rob. Thanks.
Well, still to come on the Most News in the Morning, big trouble for Big Ben. The NFL comes down hard on Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He's been suspended for as many as six games, but it could be actually shaved down to four if he agrees to do something. We'll explain coming up.
Ten minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up now to 13 minutes after the hour, and other stories new this morning.
A civil liberties coalition is threatening legal action if the government does not suspend the TSA's full-body scanners. More than 30 privacy groups signed a petition claiming that the scanner's ability to take and store in test mode 3-D human images is a violation of the Fourth Amendment rights. They also say the program is costly and ineffective. Fifty of the 1,000 machines are already in service at airports nationwide.
CHETRY: The NFL suspending Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the first six games of next season for violating the league's personal conduct policy. Last month, a woman claimed she was sexually assaulted by Roethlisberger at a Georgia bar. Prosecutors say they charged him because they couldn't prove a crime had been committed, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ordered Roethlisberger to undergo a comprehensive behavioral evaluation by medical professionals and to follow their recommendations to, quote, "help him make better decisions." Now if he complies, the suspension could be cut to four games. If he doesn't, the league says it could be extended.
ROBERTS: Well, the CEO of Facebook calls it the most transformative move his company has ever made. It's called open graph and it launches today. Now here's what it does. Listen to this.
The program gathers information about all of the Web sites you visit, plus the news, music and sports teams that you like, and then shares all of that information with your Facebook friends. "The New York Times," ESPN and CNN.com are teaming up on the project providing the content.
CHETRY: Well, if you've spent some quality time yelling at your computer for the past 24 hours because it wouldn't stop telling to reboot, we can tell you why. A security update from McAfee which is a virus software thought a regular file in your Windows software was actually a virus, the so-called false positive. The company said it has posted an update to fix the problem. And to download it, you just go to their Web site, mcafee.com/us.
ROBERTS: All right. All of you tequila fans out there, listen up. The plant that is used to make tequila might also have some surprising health benefits. Mexican researchers say an ingredient from the agave plant was effective in treating both diabetes and osteoporosis in rats. They haven't tested in human yet, in rats.
But, here's the catch, all right? You've got to have the ingredient from the agave plant because they say drinking tequila doesn't give you the same health benefits.
CHETRY: There you go.
ROBERTS: But --
CHETRY: There's always a --
ROBERTS: I'm willing to try anyway.
CHETRY: There's always a "but."
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It makes you feel better -- for a minute.
CHETRY: Yes, and then an hour later the hangover sets in.
ROBERTS: If you've got arthritis, drinking a shot of tequila may in fact make you feel better.
Hey, coming up on the Most News in the Morning, the president calling for big changes on Wall Street, pushing the financial reform bill.
Our Christine Romans is here with a preview of what she's got for us this morning. Hi.
ROMANS: Will it make a difference for your money? Will it protect your money? Will it prevent us from having to bail out big companies again and your taxpayer dollars being at risk?
That's the big question, and the president, after calling them fat-cat bankers not too long ago, comes to New York City to give a talking to to the bankers. I'll tell you what he hopes to get and whether he can get it in Wall Street reform.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Nineteen minutes past the hour. We're "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Christine Romans is here now, breaking down a little bit more about what this health care reform bill as it stands now, what it could eventually be -- means to all of us.
ROMANS: The financial reform bill. We passed the health care one.
CHETRY: Oh, woah! I'm sorry.
ROMANS: I know, but let me just say --
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) have a heart attack there.
ROMANS: No, but let me just say --
ROBERTS: No, we're not going back there, are we?
ROMANS: I don't want to do health care again.
CHETRY: Sorry about that.
ROBERTS: Don't make me do health care again.
ROMANS: But you're right, because the health care reform passage has given some wind at the back of the administration to try to get its financial reform bill --
CHETRY: That was very kind of you, but go on. Go on. Financial reform.
ROMANS: Look, the president is coming to Wall Street. He's going to go to Cooper Union to give a speech today, and in the audience will be many of the people who not too long ago he called them fat-cat bankers, remember? Now, the president is really pushing for regulatory reform.
This is what he wants. He wants new rules for too big to fail. TBTF, as we -- as we like to call it in the biz. What that means is big companies, that we have to go in as taxpayers and take apart because there's no system to make sure that if they take apart -- they fall apart, they don't hurt the whole economy.
Limits on bank risk-taking, not allowing them to do some of the really complicated things that they've done that -- again, Citigroup is a good example of this. We had to go in and bail out Citigroup. A transparent derivatives market.
We have derivatives but they're traded on exchanges. That's not the problem here. It's -- it's big bets. And when you think of derivatives, just think of them as bets, bets between really rich people, that something is going to go up or down and on a little piece of paper they say if this happens, you give me "X," if this happens, I give you "X".
And those bets are unregulated. There are hundreds of trillions of dollars. The derivatives market that is not regulate is much, much bigger than the stock market, much bigger than the stock market, and this is something that's completely out there in no man's land, and they want to get -- bring that and make that either through clearing houses or exchanges, make it more maybe more transparent.
And they want stronger consumer protection. They want this agency that will be housed at the Federal Reserve that's supposed to protect us.
CHETRY: Right.
So what is the concern -- I mean, it's funny that the cover to "The New York Post" today says Don't Kill -- Dear Pres -- "Mr. President, Don't Kill the Golden Goose." Why is there so much concern that if this is regulated or if some of these measures are in place that it will hurt Wall Street?
ROMANS: Well, that's -- one thing -- I mean, even Mayor Bloomberg has said, you know, he's worried about going too far on some of this stuff because you don't want to kill the growth in the --
The financial products -- financials have been a big driver of the global economy. But they've also been a big driver of the almost demise of the global economy, right?
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: So there have to be some better rules of the road, according to the Obama administration, and they seem to have the wind at their back on this now. I mean, Republicans, to a person, I think, in the Senate, right, have come out and said, we're not going to support this, you know, we're not -- ROBERTS: No, no. They're getting more support out there (INAUDIBLE). Yes.
But on this too big to fail thing, you know, Chris Dodd says, yes, this ends too big to fail. Austin Goldsby at the White House says it ends too big to fail. Robert Rice says, no it doesn't. Elliott Spitzer say, no, it doesn't.
ROMANS: Right.
ROBERTS: Who's right?
ROMANS: I don't know who's right. I don't know who's right.
What we do know is that there has to be a way to have a bankruptcy -- and this is how the president has put it. There has to be a way to have a bankruptcy process for big companies that you can -- that you can take them apart without actually destroying them and -- and having all the collateral damage from them.
It just shows you how big and complex some of these companies have become. I mean, they are huge, complicated companies, and some of these products, like these derivatives, these bets, are so highly financially engineered that I'm not sure that there are regulators who could look at them.
CHETRY: And -- and figure it out.
ROMANS: And figure it out.
I mean, there are people in the company -- there's like, you know, there'll be one guy in a trading desk who comes up with a great idea, and they start marketing it and selling it. It's -- and, you know, the collateral --
ROBERTS: Lots more to talk about this morning. Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" this morning.
ROMANS: Yes. I'll be back.
ROBERTS: And we're going to be talking about the crisis in education, 300,000 teachers across the country potentially facing layoffs in the next couple of years. What to do about it? We'll find out.
It's 23 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-five minutes after the hour and your top stories coming your way in five minutes.
Right now, though, the battered economy is devastating school districts nationwide. Faced with shrinking budgets, many schools say they have no choice but to lay off teachers. In fact, Education Secretary Arne Duncan is warning that we are on the brink of an education catastrophe.
The latest example of our schools in crisis, Illinois where yesterday thousands rallied at the state capital to protest deep cuts.
Joining me now is Dan Montgomery, an English teacher in Skokie, Illinois. He was at yesterday's rally. And Lindsey Burke. She's a former teacher and education policy analyst. Good to see you folks both this morning.
Dan, let's start with you. How much are budget cuts affecting schools there in Illinois?
DAN MONTGOMERY, ENGLISH TEACHER, NILES NORTH HIGH SCHOOL: Well, it's huge here in Illinois. I mean, we've got -- they're projecting 20,000 teachers and support staff cuts in this year, 7,000, possibly, in the city of Chicago alone. Elgin, which is the second largest district, is looking at 1,000 teacher layoffs.
So Arne Duncan's right, except I would say we're not on the brink. The catastrophe is here.
ROBERTS: Right. And, you know, Lindsey, the secretary is -- is predicting that as many as 300,000 teacher jobs could be lost in the coming months and maybe the next couple of years. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa is proposing a $23 billion education bill bailout -- educational bailout bill.
Is that the right thing to do?
LINDSEY BURKE, EDUCATION POLICY ANALYST, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Definitely not.
You know, it's always painful when we have to make budget cuts. It's painful in our personal budgets, it's painful for state budgets. But raising taxes is ultimately not the solution.
And what -- we know, we really know what works in education, and we know what would reform state budgets. Reforming hiring and firing practices, reforming tenure, reforming pension programs, all of these things we know would work without substantially raising taxes.
ROBERTS: You know, Dan, you're a proponent of raising income taxes to -- to try to offset these teacher layoffs, but, you know, we're really caught between a rock and a hard place here.
Revenues have declined at the federal level, the state level, the county and -- and the city level. If you raise taxes, you put more pressure on families who are already feeling the pinch, potentially stifling an economic recovery.
How do you get around -- you know, how do you -- how do you make the calculus work if you're to raise taxes?
MONTGOMERY: Right. Well, it depends where you are. I mean, in Illinois, we're actually a low-tax state, and the -- the State Senate passed a -- a bill, House Bill 174 last year, that would have made a pretty moderate adjustment in Illinois income tax, and, also, given property tax rebates.
So we have high property taxes here, but low taxes overall, and I think that would move us if that bill passes to about 39th out of 50 American states in tax burden.
And, you know, there's huge inequity here in Illinois. You have districts -- some districts that spend 20,000 a student and some that spent 7,000 a student. So that's something that we need to address, and we can do it through this bill that was proposed, and it's reasonable.
And, more than that, you -- you've got this crisis, which is really affecting kids, which we have to remember that it's -- it's what's happening in classrooms every day.
ROBERTS: Well, Lindsey, what do you say about Dan's argument there, that at least in Illinois, it's a fairly low-taxed state that people could afford to pay more. I mean, you get to some place like New York City, maybe, where they're also threatening layoffs and the taxation rate is already so high it would be difficult to add any more to that.
Buy, you know, some states, maybe they could handle it. What do you think?
BURKE: So, first of all, we know that spending has no correlation with academic achievement, so I would contest the premise.
But, secondly, you know, even Illinois, if it has a low tax rate, yesterday thousands of teachers, public sector employees, showed up to this rally, chanting "raise our taxes", and I just don't think that that's something that would comport with most American families, families in Illinois and families across the country.
ROBERTS: OK, but, at the same time, the U.S. is falling behind compared to other countries in the world in education.
You know, they are cutting teachers which will raise class sizes. They're talking about shortening the school day, the week, or maybe even the year when not too long ago we were talking about should kids be going to school all year to try to compete internationally.
So, you know, what do you do? You mentioned a couple of things, but, you know, how -- how do you -- how do you maintain the level of teachers necessary to teach the kids, and, at the same time, try to deal with these budget shortfalls?
BURKE: Sure.
Well, I think if we look at historical increases in the number of staff there in schools, we know that since the '60s student enrollment has increased about seven percent. But, at the same time, staff in schools has increased 83 percent.
And so, what that means is we've had lower and lower student/teacher ratios. In the '60s, it was about 27 to one students to teachers. And now, it's all the way down to 15 to one. So, what that really tells us is that more teachers are teaching fewer students.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, I do know that in some school districts, it's not 15 to one. It's more like 30 or 35 to one. But, obviously, some tough choices are going to have to be made here. It's a story that we'll keep following because it's a very important.
Dan Montgomery (ph) and Lindsey Burke, thanks so much for being with us.
BURKE: Thank you.
CHETRY: We're crossing the half hour right now -- time for a look at our top stories.
President Obama is paying a visit to New York this morning, talking about finance reform. He'll be making a big speech before noon, drumming up support for financial reform bill. His party's bill appears headed for a Senate vote next week. It calls for a greater oversight of hedge funds and derivatives, cracking down on risky trading practices, also setting up a system to dismantle troubled financial firms before they collapse.
ROBERTS: Skies open over Europe this morning. Flights across Europe are expected to return to 100 percent today after a volcanic ash cloud kept 100,000 flights on the ground over the past week.
CHETRY: And the Coast Guard will resume its aerial search this morning for 11 workers still missing after a massive explosion on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana. About 100 workers who survived the explosion and fire are right back on shore overnight, greeted by their very relieved family members.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID SNEATHERN, NEPHEW OF OIL RIG WORKER: I worked offshore, you know? I know what it's like for family to wonder, you know? And this is one of those things that you just hope and pray that everybody is all right. Honestly and truly, the amount of lives that have been saved, you know, is -- it's just, you know, it's amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And the cause of the oil rig explosion is under investigation. We're going to be getting new details coming up after the break with a local reporter in Louisiana, following the latest.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame's 2010 graduation will be unlike any other in the university's 168-year history. The class' valedictorian's resume might actually sound a little bit familiar -- a 4.0 grand point average, aspiring to be a doctor, mentoring young people. But Katie Washington is different because she's the first African-American valedictorian.
And I had a chance to chat with Katie about her reaction to the news and her plans for the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATIE WASHINGTON, FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN VALEDICTORIAN AT NOTRE DAME UNIV.: I was extremely overwhelmed and excited. But, at first, I really couldn't grasp exactly what it meant. I had to call my family. And then, through their excitement, I was able to really start to get settled and start to think, OK, wow, this is a big deal.
And even today, the more I hear people talk about it, the more excited I'd get, the more grateful I am. And the more -- I guess I'm just happier just to be able to be a representative of such an amazing university that has done so much for me.
CHETRY: You know, teachers at the university said that they can't verify because they don't keep records of race of students, but they believe you'll be the first African-American valedictorian in their history. What does that mean to you on a personal level?
WASHINGTON: Yes, this is very personally relevant to me just because I can't really start to think about the historical significance in terms of all of the sacrifices that people who have come before me have made -- and then just thinking about my family and my teachers and all of the people who have supported me personally and directly throughout my life.
CHETRY: It's also interesting when you take a look at the makeup of the school. I mean, there are not that many black students. Actually, according to our records, only about 3.6 percent of the student body at Notre Dame is African-American.
WASHINGTON: Right.
CHETRY: What do you think in terms of diversity? I mean, in large part, nearly 75 percent of the school is Caucasian?
WASHINGTON: I think, on one hand, we do want to increase the number of students from different backgrounds who are able to benefit from a Notre Dame education. But at the same time, we want to make sure that, you know, we're willing to have a focus on the community that Notre Dame has worked to build and on the relationships and on engaging people from different backgrounds. And I think it that is what diversity is all about.
CHETRY: Right. And just a little bit about you, you're from Gary, Indiana.
WASHINGTON: Yes.
CHETRY: You have a history of medical professionals. Your dad's a doctor.
WASHINGTON: I do.
CHETRY: Your mom's a nurse. Your brother's a doctor. And your sister is a nurse. And so, that, sort of, you're just following the family track. As we understood, that you got accepted to all the universities you applied to.
WASHINGTON: I did.
CHETRY: But you're going to John Hopkins, and you're going to get a dual degree. You're going to get a medical degree as well as a doctorate. That sounds like a huge challenge.
WASHINGTON: My parents and my family definitely have influenced me and influenced my decision to pursue a career in the medical field. But I think they have also just really encouraged me to find my gifts and find my talents and to explore my interests.
So, now, going forward, I'm really excited about the opportunity to do the dual degree training because I think it will provide me with a unique skill set to address problems in health care in a unique and different ways. So, I'm really excited about it.
CHETRY: And it's interest when you go talk about problems in health care. I mean, we're just talking about the uninsured. We're talking about health care reform, the bill finally being signed into law.
What do you think moving forward? There's a lot of talk about doctor shortages down the road. I mean, a lot of people aren't going into primary care anymore. What do you see as some many things that we need to change as a nation to provide better health care to all of our citizens?
WASHINGTON: I think, nationally, the first thing that we need to do is remember that, you know, health care, we have an ethical, moral imperative to do medicine, and to do medicine the right way -- remembering that we're providing a service to people. And if, you know, the patients and the people who are in need of the medical care aren't being well-served, then we're not doing our jobs.
CHETRY: I got you. Well, you got that big valedictorian speech to work on. I'm sure a lot of pressure. Good luck on that, by the way. And congratulations on becoming valedictorian of this year's graduating class at University of Notre Dame.
WASHINGTON: Thank you so much, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: It's really a shame. She's such an underachiever, right?
CHETRY: Yes, right. Sweet girl. And, boy, she said -- I think she's seven years of schooling ahead of her for the dual degree program. Studying to be a doctor, hard enough. Studying to get a Ph.D, defending your thesis, hard enough. She's doing both at John Hopkins, no less.
ROBERTS: That's amazing. Good for her. Wow.
CHETRY: Yes. Wish her the best.
ROBERTS: Still to come on the Most News in the Morning: we're covering that massive oil rig explosion off of the coast of Louisiana. Eleven people are still missing this morning. We're going to have a live report from Louisiana in just a moment.
Look at those pictures this morning.
Thirty-six minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Search is still under way for 11 people missing after that as may have oil rig explosion yesterday. A hundred and twenty- six people on board, 115 have been rescued.
Joining us now live from Kenner, Louisiana, with more on all of this is reporter Chriss Knight. He's with CNN affiliate WGNO.
Chriss, what's the latest from where you are?
CHRISS KNIGHT, REPORTER, WGNO: Well, I can tell you, there are a lot of relieved and happy families down here in Kenner, Louisiana right now. Some of those workers who are on that oil rig last night that exploded are now back home and are now safe.
If you look behind me, you can see that some of the families are walking into the Crown Plaza Hotel here in Kenner. That is where they're staged this morning. They arrived around a half hour ago.
And I did talk to one of the brothers of one of those crew workers. He didn't want to go on camera. But he did tell me that he is so relieved that his brother is home. And it has been a crazy 24 hours for him and his family.
He said that he has talked to him through text messaging. And he hasn't actually talked to him one-on-one yet. He's looking forward to giving his brother a big hug.
And, you know what, I'm sure so many families in there right now are excited to do the exact same thing.
Now, these workers, they arrived in Port Fourchon earlier this morning. They arrived on to a work boat out at sea until around 1:00 this morning, when they arrived at Port Fourchon, and they're now back here at Kenner which is around an hour away or two hours from Port Fourchon. They're with their friends and family.
Later this morning, they will be leaving. Hopefully, we'll get to talk to them at that time. But you know what, I'm sure they're so relieved to get back home, back safe on land.
Back to you guys in the studio.
ROBERTS: All right, Chriss.
CHETRY: And, Chriss, what about -- have you gotten an update on the fate of the other 11 that they're searching for, what they are looking for and the progress of that search this morning?
KNIGHT: Well, as you know, the Coast Guard is continuing their search throughout the morning, throughout the night. They're doing their search by air, by boat, just searching for these missing 11 workers.
There were reports that they were possibly on a lifeboat. And if that is the case, they're searching for that. But right now, no word yet on those 11 workers. But, hopefully, they will be found soon.
CHETRY: All right. Chriss Knight for us from our affiliate WGNO out of Kenner, Louisiana, this morning -- thank you.
ROBERTS: Rob Marciano has got this morning's travel forecast -- right after the break.
CHETRY: Also, in 10 minutes, would you jump more than 800 feet from the top of a building in Vegas? Who in their right mind would? Well, Jeanne Moos found several people willing to take that leap.
Forty-two minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Good Morning, New York. The sun is shining today. Beautiful. Forty-nine degrees. Just cloudy in spots, right there. A little later though, 67 degrees, and it's going to be bright sunshine in the Big Apple.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Sometimes, those darn meteorologists don't, you know, look out the window. It's a good day today. American classic gets a high-tech modern makeover. The new $100 bill features a 3D ribbon and a color shifting bell in an inkwell. The secret services denote raises the bar in the fight against counterfeiting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN LARGE, U.S. SECRET SERVICE: With the high-speed computers and good technology, people can counterfeit on demand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The government says the improved $100 bill makes it much easier to spot a fake. It does cost slightly more to print, though. You're going to see it in circulation next year. Didn't we just get a new 100?
CHETRY: I thought we did.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: I haven't seen many lately. ROBERTS: It actually was 1996. How time flies. Let's get a check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano who always takes a look out the window for us is in the Weather Center in Atlanta. Good morning, Rob.
CHETRY: And always had the pocket full of C notes anytime you see him --
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, usually one, and it's on the outside, you know, of a bunch of singles. Yes, that's the way we do here in the ATL because it's all about flash. Hey, listen, a couple of showers across parts of the northeast, mostly offshore. This is the leftover of some what was across the Delmarva and the mid- Atlantic yesterday and that's rolling up towards the Massachusetts and Cape Cod. And then back right here, this is the leading edge of a pretty weak cool front and that will slide across the I-95 corridor. Just a slight chance of seeing an afternoon or shower of thunderstorm pop.
As we get through the lunch hour, this thing kind of passes the I-95 corridor. Just be aware. That shouldn't last long and then it'll usher in drier or even more pleasant weather. All right. Not so dry and in spots not so pleasant especially from California in through Colorado, this is a slow moving storm system that's going to infiltrate the rest of the eastern two thirds of the country over the next few days in a way of some rough weather.. Definitely cold coolly (ph). You'll see some snow wrapping around the parts of this.
Even some showers and some windy condition as far south as San Diego, this is slowly propagating towards the east across the I-70 corridor, snow in Western Colorado and then some thunderstorms that at least earlier this morning were severe, just south of I-70 in Kansas. You see this cluster moving off towards the northeast about 25 miles an hour, these contain some hail, but they'll probably be diminishing as we go through the morning hours and then redevelopment expected especially south of this area later on this afternoon.
Here's your highlighted area for severe storms today. I think lesser chances today when you compare it towards tomorrow and then again, I think, on Saturday, as this whole mess makes its way off towards this, but you see most of the east coast looks to be okay for much of the day today.
If you are doing some travel, though, a little bit of wind and maybe an afternoon thunderstorms slowing things down in New York, D.C., metro, some fog, Dallas-Ft. Worth, also some afternoon thunderstorms possible, and Denver some morning fog. Eighty degrees expected for high temperature in Dallas, going to be 82 degrees in Memphis. Once you get out of the fog in D.C., it'll get up to 75 degrees so kind of a murky start across parts of the mid-Atlantic today.
And then again, over the next 48 hours, this storm system will propagate off towards the east to Mississippi River and then across Dixie (ph) into the Tennessee Valley and a couple (ph) of severe weather will last right on through Saturday. John and Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right, Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: See you, guys.
CHETRY: This morning's top stories just a couple minutes away, including the coast guard working through the night trying to find 11 oil rig workers missing after a catastrophic explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. That blast sending a fireball into the sky. We'll update you on the search.
ROBERTS: Twenty-five minutes after, an AM Original, a homeless teen with dreams of going to Harvard. Now, he may get that chance, thanks to an NFL star with an all-pro heart.
CHETRY: And 40 minutes past the hour, from protecting Pandora to saving planet Earth, Sigourney Weaver, she's going to be joining us to talk about why she is testifying on Capitol Hill today on this Earth Day. Those stories and much more at the top of the hour. Forty-eight minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Fifty-two minutes after the hour. Time now for the Moos News in The morning. It's the adrenaline rush living on the edge.
CHETRY: Yes, only without the risk of going splat. Would you do it, by the way, leap off a perfectly good building?
ROBERTS: I leap off of a perfectly good bridge once, but I don't know I don't know if I'd leap off a building.
CHETRY: Well, it's bringing some thrill-seekers to Las Vegas for the latest adrenaline rush. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you jump, jump from the height of 108 stories! You're your face will tell a story, too. She was one of the first to try the sky jump Las Vegas at the Stratosphere Hotel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one -- go!
MOOS: Guinness proclaimed it the highest commercial decelerator in the world. Guy wires make it basically a controlled free fall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoo!
MOOS: At around 40 miles per hour. Local reporters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go!
MOOS: Like KTNV's Tina Patel lived to tell.
TINA PATEL, KTNV REPORTER: Yes, that's me, taking the plunge.
MOOS (on-camera): You'll notice it's not me. The only plunge I'm taking is in an elevator to my office.
MOOS (voice-over): Whoo! Unlike me, Tina landed on her knees.
PATEL: Everybody told me that it was that letting go that was going to be the hardest part, and it was.
MOOS: Sky jumpers have to suit up and get weighed before they jump. Those over 275 pounds need not apply. Probably the biggest danger is a pinched private. At 829 feet, sky jump Las Vegas beats out the Macau tower sky jump in china. This kid was pretty fearless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa.
MOOS: Many jumpers refuse to let go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wait, give me two seconds.
MOOS (on-camera): At least, I saved 100 bucks by being a coward. That's how much the new sky jump costs.
MOOS (voice-over): Though the hotel is called the stratosphere, there will be an attempt to jump from the actual stratosphere, from a balloon, 23 miles up later this year, trying to break the old record of 20 miles. Felix Baumgartner will be wearing a space suit. Talk about putting the fear in stratosphere, a cast member from the Elvis Terran radio show ended up wearing a chicken shirt. He was supposed to jump but supposedly ended up in tears.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, all right.
MOOS: So, an assistant took his place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go!
MOOS: At 829 feet. It's no wonder they get cold feet.
Jeanne Moos --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!
MOOS: CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sweet!
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: That would be a thrill.
CHETRY: No way, and I was starting -- I'd get the chicken shirt immediately. There's no way.
ROBERTS: The hardest part is letting go.
CHETRY: Right. I mean, even on roller coasters or other thrill rides, I don't mind being jostled all around, it's the flying down that hurts my stomach.
ROBERTS: When I jumped off the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand, and I can tell, I still traumatized by -- can't even remember where it was, and I felt like somebody had nailed my feet to the bridge. I just could not get off the bridge.
CHETRY: And then so how did you finally do it?
ROBERTS: They could do a countdown and think I'm going to look like a real wimp here.
CHETRY: There you go. All right.
We want to show you this video one more time. These people loved this. This is the Iona/Fordham game, and there was some pretty fancy footwork going on by one of the players. There you see. You're watching them around the bases here. This player --
ROBERTS: How to avoid the -- watch this.
CHETRY: Oh, yes. Here it comes --
ROBERTS: Here comes the throw, oh, there's a catcher. Oh, where did the runner go?
CHETRY: You're safe. Actually, Iona tried to contest it and no doing. He basically just did a flaunting hand send (ph) and he tagged the base with his hands.
ROBERTS: Here he comes, bing.
CHETRY: Pretty fancy footwork. I don't think they teach you that while you're practicing, but wow. There you go. Fordham ended up winning the game, by the way. Pretty cool shot, though.
ROBERTS: With moves like that in a lot of games. Watch this one more time. There's the spring board. Ching! Over here.
CHETRY: A perfect ten. We're going to have your top stories coming your way right after the break. We're back in two minutes.
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