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American Morning
Burning Oil Rig Sinks: 11 Men Still Missing; Crisis in the Gulf: Authorities Fear Major Oil Spill; Storm Pounds the Plains; Mystery Space Plane on a Secret Mission; "Join Us, Don't Fight Us"; The Fort that Time Forgot; South Park Versus Free Speech
Aired April 23, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks very much for joining us on this Friday. It's the 23rd of April. So good to have you with us. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Here are the big stories we're talking about, the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico this morning.
Well, there are new developments. The burning oil rig sank into the sea. The missing 11 workers are now feared dead. And this morning, authorities have major concerns about the crude oil at the rate of 336,000 gallons a day spilling into the gulf. We're live in New Orleans with new details on the search and rescue and also what's being done to protect the environment.
ROBERTS: Twisters caught on camera, touching down in Kansas and Texas last night. Part of that powerful storm system that is carving its way through the plains this morning and showing no signs of letting up. Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center for us. He's going to let us know where it will be a washout this weekend.
CHETRY: And it looks like the space shuttle but there may be a resemblance but that's where it ends. The Air Force now sending an unmanned spacecraft into orbit last night. It was a top secret mission. Could it be the first step toward having weapons in space? We're digging deeper on the military mystery.
And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running this morning. We'd love for you to join the live conversation. Head to CNN.com/amFIX and weigh in on anything that's going on in the news today. We'll be reading your comments throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: We begin this morning with the human tragedy involving 11 men that could now become an environmental disaster. This morning, there is little hope the missing oil rig workers will be found alive now that the burning platform has sank beneath the surface. It sank yesterday off of the coast of Louisiana. Now the Coast Guard estimates 336,000 gallons of oil could spill into the Gulf of Mexico each and every day.
Our Ed Lavandera is live for us in New Orleans this morning. And, Ed, what steps are being taken to prevent a major spill here? ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to British Petroleum, which is the company that has been leasing this oil rig off of the Louisiana coast, they have moved in a flotilla of vessels to help the cleanup efforts here this morning. More than 30 vessels, some of them will include cleaning up and have the capacity to clean up the crude oil mix, which is the machine that is being seen out there on the Gulf of Mexico. But under the water is where officials are still trying to determine the extent of the environmental damage.
There's really two things they're concerned about this morning, exactly how much oil might be coming from that well that was drilled under the water there, and whether or not that is spilling. And if it is spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, at how much, at what rate? As we mentioned, the 336,000 gallons or barrels of oil potentially, but there were also 700,000 barrels of diesel fuel on the platform which sunk into the Gulf of Mexico yesterday. They're not exactly sure if that diesel fuel has already burned up, which is what we saw essentially on flames over the last couple of days, or if that is still intact under water. They are still trying to assess that at this point.
That was the latest information we had from yesterday afternoon. But right now, that rig can no longer be seen above the water out in the Gulf of Mexico. But what you can see is a one mile by five-mile sheen of what officials described as a crude oil mix across the Gulf of Mexico.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR ADM. MARY LANDRY, U.S. COAST GUARD: Right now, we have observed from the air a one mile by five mile sheen of crude oil, crude oil mix and light sheening, rainbow sheening. This is not a one by five mile concentration of crude oil. This is a rainbow sheen with a dark center that we presume to be crude oil mix. And skimmers are on the scene already working to collect this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: So as officials begin to try and collect that sheen off of the top of the surface of the water, of course, the main concern here for coastal communities is whether or not this spill will affect the Louisiana/Mississippi coastlines as well. So far from every state agency that we've spoken with, John, they say that they have seen no effects of this oil spill entering state waters, but they will continue monitoring that closely throughout the day and into the weekend -- John.
ROBERTS: And, hey, Ed, just to clarify here, in terms of amounts, it's 336,000 gallons a day?
LAVANDERA: Barrels, I'm sorry.
ROBERTS: Oh, it is barrels?
LAVANDERA: That's my understanding. That was what I heard yesterday coming from the press conference that officials here in New Orleans, Coast Guard and company officials have mentioned.
ROBERTS: OK, great. Thanks, we had our information wrong here then. Thanks, Ed Lavandera, so much for us this morning.
CHETRY: All right. Now as we mentioned, the sinking of this oil rig raises fears of a major oil spill. Our Christine Romans joins us now with more on the fallout. I mean, obviously, the explosion in itself a tragedy.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.
CHETRY: But now it could have far-reaching consequences.
ROMANS: Look, we haven't seen a disaster like this in 20 or 30 years. This is incredibly rare to have a high-tech drilling platform like this sink into the ocean. This was just a nine-year-old platform owned by Transocean leased to BP. And what this underscores I think everybody is that we have a voracious appetite for crude oil. This is still the stuff that runs the American economy. And as high tech as all of this petroleum engineering is, it is still incredibly low tech. It is using pressure to drill into the crust of the earth thousands and thousands of feet down under the ocean to get this stuff out, to get it to refineries and to get it into your car or to power our economy.
There are 380,000 workers in the oil and gas extraction business in this country, and it is considered seven times as deadly as any other kind of profession. So it is really important. It drives the economy and yet at the same time it's incredibly dangerous.
Also interesting time-wise that President Obama recently announced they were going to be expanding offshore drilling.
ROBERTS: Right.
ROMANS: This will clearly and certainly add fodder to environmentalists and others who say, look, we should not be expanding at a time when this is so deadly and so dangerous for the environment. Also the timing just a couple of weeks after that coal disaster, again, a reminder, we have a voracious appetite in this country for fossil fuels. This is the stuff that runs -- this is the stuff that runs our economy.
CHETRY: As you pointed out, very rare.
ROMANS: Very rare.
CHETRY: We haven't seen something like this in three decades?
ROMANS: It's very rare to have -- I mean, look, there have been incidents. Usually it's a refinery fire or helicopter. You know, when the helicopters come in, it's a very kind of dangerous combination. Really incredible and high tech safety measures on all of those rigs. But to have 11 people potentially perish, we don't know yet with search and rescue, and to have an oil rig sink is rare.
ROBERTS: Yes. Tragedy all around here.
ROMANS: Right.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans, thanks so much.
Coming up at 7:30 Eastern, by the way, we're going to be talking with Rear Admiral Mary Landry about the Coast Guard's plan to contain the oil spill and clean it up.
CHETRY: Also, a large powerful storm pounding the plains and working its way through America's heartland right now. Thunderstorms, hail, even tornadoes all in the mix with this system and we have pictures to show you right now of a twister.
This one is a mile wide. It touched down last time in Lakin, Kansas. No damage done miraculously. No injuries reporter either. Also in parts of Texas, there was so much severe weather that storm chasers were actually running into one another. Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that chaser right there next to it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're outside -- they're nuts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see us. I see us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That was exciting video. Three tornadoes in all reported in Texas. The storm is not done either, not by a long shot.
Rob Marciano in the weather center this morning. And it could mess up a lot of weekend plans here, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It could. It's going to traverse across the southeast corner of the U.S. And boy, those storm chasers have been chomping at the bit for the past couple of months. It's been quiet year severe weather-wise so far for 2010 and we're starting to ramp things up beginning yesterday.
Thirty-two reports of tornadoes. They'll whittle that number down a little bit, but certainly active across the Texas panel. Now everything moving off to the east. Take a look at the radar and how big this storm is. It is stretching across parts of Texas all the way back towards the northeast. And with this, we're looking at severe weather to break out mostly east of Dallas today.
Take a look at where the close-up shot is. Oklahoma City towards Dallas. And I think Texarkana area into Arkansas and northern Louisiana, that's where the moderate risk for severe weather is today and that's a strong indication that we'll see more of what we saw yesterday this afternoon and this evening and then looking ahead towards tomorrow.
Here's your Saturday's forecast now. The southeast, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and parts of Georgia under a moderate risk as well. And the red continues all the way in the western Great Lakes and trying to stretch up towards the northeast. So Saturday not looking too good for a lot of folks. We've got to get through today, though. I think this afternoon and this evening will be another rough one. We'll talk more in about 30 minutes -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks so much.
While the president was in Manhattan talking about financial reform, Vice President Joe Biden was across town on ABC's "The View" explaining his potty mouth. Biden said he had no idea that anyone but the president heard his curse at the health care bill signing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And the limo to go over to another event. And he was laughing like the devil. I said what's so funny? I don't see anything funny about this. And he said, well, he said Katie (ph), my secretary told me when you said that to me, everybody could hear it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That's the latest in a string of embarrassing gaffes. It was a big hit on YouTube, of course, and networks across the country. Biden said he's just glad that his mother was not alive.
CHETRY: Which leads into another one of his gaffes where he said, what, to the prime minister of Ireland, God bless your mother's soul. Oh, she's still living.
ROBERTS: Oh, she's still alive.
CHETRY: He goes, well, then, God bless her soul.
ROBERTS: And then there was the funniest thing ever -- ever in the history of politics was that 2008 campaign event where he's up on the platform and he says, come on, Chuck, stand up and let everybody get a look at you and, of course, Chuck is in a wheelchair.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Oh, God. God love you. God love you, Chuck.
CHETRY: But you know --
ROBERTS: Poor guy.
CHETRY: He's refreshing as well and he --
ROBERTS: Unvarnished, shall we say.
CHETRY: Yes. He did a great job on "The View" yesterday. ROBERTS: Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, no, this is not the space shuttle. It's the launch of a new top secret spacecraft that just looks like the space shuttle. We've got an update on all that coming up next.
Nine and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 12 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It's a big mystery this morning that people are hoping to get more information on this morning. An unmanned space plane operated by the Air Force circling the globe. And the mission is top secret.
ROBERTS: Yes. The spacecraft, which is dubbed the X-37B lifted off last night from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Military officials say the launch was a success, but they will not say much else. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is following the story for us.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, the launch into space from Florida is the first for the secret Air Force project.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): It's a military mystery. What is this? Is it an aircraft? Is it the next generation space shuttle? And why is it such a secret?
This is the X-37B, a classified Air Force project that's never been fully explained by the Pentagon but it hasn't stopped the speculation. Some worry this is the beginning of military operations in space, that the plane might someday carry weapons to shoot down enemy satellites.
VICTORIA SAMSON, SECURE WORLD FOUNDATION: They're also concerned it may be used as a quick response sort of vehicle, where it could be used to be launched very quickly, descent over the planet to dangerous spot very quickly and then release weapons at that point.
STARR: In a recent meeting with reporters, a top Air Force official said no way.
VOICE OF GARY PAYTON, AIR FORCE DEPUTY UNDERSECRETARY FOR SPACE PROGRAMS: I don't know how this could be called weaponization of space. Fundamentally, it's an updated version of the space shuttle kind of activities in space.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift off.
STARR: Unlike the reusable space shuttle, the X-37B is unmanned, but it's much smaller and it's controlled from ground stations. It can stay in space for 270 days, but the Air Force won't say how long it's staying up this time or what exactly it will be doing other than testing out its high-tech systems. The Air Force won't even say how many billions of dollars it's spending on the program.
SAMSON: We don't know why it's so classified. You can't find how much it is in the budget.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: The Air Force has been interested for years in developing some kind of space vehicle that it can send up into orbit, bring back down to earth and use over and over again. It just doesn't want to say what it's going to use it for -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: A lot like a space shuttle, but a lot smaller as well.
CHETRY: Right. And you put it out -- we're just talking about it. So they -- they use the shuttle to put military things into space, right? Satellites and such, so maybe they're discontinuing that?
ROBERTS: Yes, I haven't -- to the best of my recollection, they haven't done it recently, but during the early part of the shuttle program, probably through the '90s, there were a lot of classified military missions where secret things were going up in the sky. So maybe just another way to get them up there.
CHETRY: There you go. All right.
Well, the creators of "South Park" are speaking out this morning about the controversy surrounding their show. We brought you story earlier in the week, an episode involving the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Well, Trey Parker and Matt Stone telling "The New York Times" that Comedy Central substantially edited the dialogue in their show this week, it was sort of a part two, bleeping out the prophet's name and also a speech from the character Kyle about intimidation and fear at the end of the -- of the episode.
It comes after the show was threatened by a radical Islamic group revolution Muslim for last week's episode that also dealt with Muhammad.
We're going to be speaking a little bit more about this free speech battle that's shaping up over a cartoon. Independent analyst John Avlon joins us ahead on the Most News in the Morning.
ROBERTS: Right. You know, we saw Salman Rushdie, what happened with him, and then Van Gogh, the fellow who was killed back in 2004, so obviously a lot of sensitivities here and some people making decisions that they think are in their best interest and may be in the best interest of the nation but are upsetting other people.
So (INAUDIBLE) around a little bit.
CHETRY: That's right (ph), cnn.com/amfix to weigh in on that this morning.
ROBERTS: Yes. Tell us what you think about it all. CHETRY: Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, we have a reaction to President Obama after he brings his message of reform to Wall Street. We're "Minding Your Business" still ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, don't let history repeat itself. That was the message from the president yesterday, calling on Wall Street and calling for more government reform to regulate banks, trying to get bankers and Republicans on board.
ROBERTS: Last time many were allowed to escape with a bailout and a golden parachute, but that may be about to change. The new measures could come up for a vote in the Senate as early as Monday.
Our Allan Chernoff joins us now. He's been looking into all of this. Good morning, Al.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And I think the president yesterday really was speaking to the converted because a lot of Wall Street executives do expect now that there will be financial regulatory reform. They're simply trying to make the best of it, while some of their clients believe reform is all for the better.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Veteran investor Barry Mann believes Wall Street is out of control, an opinion based not only on the ups and downs of his portfolio but also on his years as a corporate salesman for Tiffany, where he often dealt with securities executives.
BARRY MANN, INVESTOR: It's left to the devices and desires of their own hearts. They will take it all and run, and it's nothing new. It's always been this way, and now it's time to change that.
CHERNOFF: What Wall Street wants to change is its public perception, especially after the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman Sachs with fraud last week.
So Tim Ryan, chief executive of Wall Street's lobbying and trade group the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, says he welcomes new regulation.
TIM RYAN, SECURITIES INDUSTRY AND FINANCIAL MARKETS ASSOCIATION: Wall Street needs reasonable reform. Everybody in the industry is in favor of getting something done.
CHERNOFF (on camera): That change of position is historic. For decades, Wall Street successfully fought off efforts to impose more oversight over the securities business. Industry executives said self-regulation works just fine.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): But the financial meltdown turned Wall Street topsy-turvy and President Obama told executives to face the new political reality. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to urge you to join us instead of fighting us in this effort.
RYAN: We know reform is coming. We'd like to see it be responsible.
CHERNOFF (on camera): And the way that the bill stand now, can you live with them?
RYAN: We'd like to see change. I mean, we're close.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): The industry supports the mechanism to ensure the orderly liquidation of failed firms to avoid the near catastrophic chaos caused by the Lehman Brothers collapse, independent directors on compensation committees to determine executive pay, more oversight of investment contracts known as derivatives that often trade between firms but not on official exchanges.
But the industry remains opposed to a plan from former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker to limit the kinds of investments security firms can make.
RYAN: The biggest concerns are we -- we don't think the Volcker rule really makes any sense.
CHERNOFF: That means the battle is not over. Wall Street will be lobbying intensely in the coming weeks to ensure reform is not too burdensome.
And for people like Barry Mann, even new regulation wouldn't make Wall Street appealing. He says bailed out of the stock market three years ago and is never putting a dime back in.
MANN: Things are not good, and that's it. I'm glad I got out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Of course Wall Street hopes that many investors will feel quite differently, that new oversight will actually restore confidence in the financial markets. That of course remains to be seen.
ROBERTS: So what kind of a fight do you think this is going to really provoke?
CHERNOFF: Right. I mean, Wall Street's not going to give a free pass here. I mean, Wall Street wants desperately to be able to hold on to the business of being able to invest wherever they want to invest, and that Volcker rule would prevent that.
So that's -- that's something that has been the source of lots of profits, also lots of risk taking as well. I think that's going to be the focus of the battle here on in.
CHETRY: All right. Also, the whole notion of too big to fail and is -- does this regulation really allow that to continue? CHERNOFF: Right. I think on too big to fail, people are saying, you know, there have to be changes. What happened with Bear Stearns, Lehman, you know, we cannot allow that to happen again.
Where's the funding going to come from for this liquidation fund?
CHETRY: Right.
CHERNOFF: Well, that's also an issue that has to be discussed. Is it on the bankers? A lot of politicians are saying, look, if the banks pay, then it's not a taxpayer bailout.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: Allan Chernoff this morning, breaking it down for us. As always, great job. Thanks, Allan.
Next up on the Most News in the Morning, stimulus dollars being used to rebuild an aging fort out there in the keys, literally brick by brick. Ed Lavandera with an "A.M. Original" coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We're 26 minutes past the hour.
Right now, an "A.M. Original", something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING takes us to Gulf of Mexico, about 70 miles off of Key West, Florida, at the end of nowhere, where you'll find Fort Jefferson.
ROBERTS: Right smack there in the middle of the Dry Tortugas.
Some call it America's most inaccessible national park. Its history dates back to the 1800s, but time has not been kind to the outpost.
John Zarrella joins us now live this morning with the effort to restore this unique and beautiful monument. Good morning, John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John, Kiran.
You know, if you're looking for a place to go, a couple-day getaway, Fort Jefferson is spectacular. The snorkeling is out of this world, and, while you're there doing all of that, you can watch your stimulus dollars at work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Suddenly, it is there, ahead in the turquoise weather, Fort Jefferson, its 8-foot thick walls rising 40 feet out of the Gulf of Mexico, 70 miles west of Key West.
Along one section of the massive walls, a cocoon of mesh and scaffolding. Behind it, men labor against the ravages of time and the elements. They are restoring, rebuilding the crumbling brick and mortar of this historic site, and more than $7 million in stimulus money is making it possible.
It's grueling, but for Dennis Wood, a mason from Massachusetts, it's work he's glad to have.
DENNIS WOOD, MASON: Things are slow today though. I got a job offer down here to come work for the winter (ph), so we took it.
ZARRELLA (on camera): Otherwise, what would you -- if it wasn't for you working --
WOOD: I'd probably be laid off right now.
ZARRELLA: Really?
WOOD: Yes.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): The seven masons and eight support workers on the wall were unemployed before this job. Others have benefited too.
KEN URACIUS, PROJECT MANAGER, ENOIA CONTRACTING: There's probably 100 people affected by these seven people laying brick. I have boat captains, I have people, you know, running the boat that brought you out here. I have brick makers, I have cement makers.
ZARRELLA: Fort Jefferson, part of the Dry Tortugas National Park, was built in the mid-1800s to protect shipping and deter pirates, but it was never finished. For a time, it was a prison.
This was Samuel Mudd's cell, the doctor who treated President Lincoln's assassin.
KELLY CLARK, EXHIBITS SPECIALIST, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: If we lose Fort Jefferson, that's it. There are no other Fort Jeffersons.
ZARRELLA: Work has gone on periodically for the past 30 years, but without these stimulus dollars, park officials say now they would literally be dead in the water.
ZARRELLA (on camera): Now, take a look at this. This is called front three. Over the years it's been beaten up by one hurricane after another, and clearly, you can see no restoration work has been done, and right now there's no money to do it.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): They need about $13 million more.
The prime culprit in the fort's deterioration are these iron shutters, an engineering marvel for their time. They'd open, allowing the cannons to fire and then shut automatically. Over time, the iron rusted and expanded, crumbling the brick around it.
CLARK: It really changed how these forts were designed and constructed. I was a big part of that. And unfortunately these are the same things that are destroying the fort today.
ZARRELLA: Even if the park service gets the money it needs, there will be many years of sunsets over the Gulf before the last brick is laid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now, if the work is ever completed and they finish that other wall, by the time they're done, these masons will have laid 200,000 new bricks.
Now, the fort was constructed, John and Kiran, out of 18 million bricks. Imagine that -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: It's such an amazing place. How did you get out there and where do the masons stay?
ZARRELLA: They are actually -- and we stayed there overnight as well. There are quarters. National Park service has quarters out there. There's a chef who cooks for them. Food is really good.
And you get out on a catamaran that takes them about 150 people every day out there, and you can actually stay over night and camp right there by the beach if you so choose. So, it's just a spectacular site in -- literally, in the middle of nowhere.
CHETRY: Wow. What a tough assignment to do for you down there.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: It looks great. Thanks, John.
ZARRELLA: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, 30 minutes past the hour right now -- time for a look at our top stories.
Hope is diming this morning for 11 missing oil workers aboard that burning oil right that sunk into the sea yesterday. The Coast Guard has expanded the search area now, covering 3,000 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico. And there's also a big environmental concern this morning. Officials estimate up to 336,000 gallons of oil could be leaking into the sea every day.
ROBERTS: Plenty of action last night for storm chasers in Texas. This tornado in the tiny town of Goodnight, it was one of three that were reported in the Texas Panhandle. The system is not done yet. A lot of weekend plans could get washed out. Rob Marciano is tracking the extreme weather for us -- just ahead.
CHETRY: Also, a developing story this morning. Eleven suspected pirates are on their way right now from East Africa to face prosecution in the U.S. Five of them were captured after an attack on the USS Nicholas back in March. The other six were captured two weeks ago after they allegedly fired at the USS Ashland and bailed from their burning skip. Jeanne Meserve is going to be giving a live report for us at the top of the hour.
ROBERTS: A new challenge to President Obama's citizenship and a school budget fight getting Tony Soprano ugly in New Jersey. Wingnut stuff if ever we saw it, according to John Avlon.
CHETRY: Yes, this morning, our independent analyst naming two more people to the ring of dishonor, his wingnuts of the week. John is a CNN contributor and an independent analyst, and he joins us now.
John, great to see you.
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
CHETRY: So, we start with what's going on in New Jersey. I got a chuckle when I read your blog, when you said, "It's Tony Soprano ugly." A nasty environment all that having to do with potential cuts in funding for schools.
AVLON: That's right. The new governor, Republican governor, Chris Christie, is trying to close a $10.7 billion budget gaps. And among the cuts he's proposing are significant cuts that would amount to around 5 percent per school district. Not surprisingly, the teachers union is unhappy about this. But it's the way they've been unhappy that brings them to our list today.
Bergen County president of the teachers union, a guy named Joe Coppola, sent around this email message to 17,000 members on his list, saying, "Dear Lord, this year you've taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor."
CHETRY: There you.
AVLON: Classy.
CHETRY: Right. So, he went on to say it was a joke.
AVLON: He did. He said, look, it was a joke and bad taste. You know, you can argue the bad taste on a couple of levels there. But he really -- you know, he said it was meant to be seen by anybody. Well, hey, welcome to the world of the Internet, pal. You send an e- mail to 17,000 people -- nothing is private.
CHETRY: And then even more disturbing is the responses when it made its way to a Facebook page about this, protesting the cuts. What did you see on the blog?
AVLON: Right. You know, and we've seen a lot of heated rhetoric and political debates. A lot of ugliness. People comparing, you know, President Obama to genocidal dictators. Well, on the teachers union protest Web page, the Facebook page, this was a sample quote I found, outer limits stuff.
Marlene Brubaker, who was Camden County biology teacher, posted this, "KingKrisKristy is copying from another famous dictator, Pol Pot, who got rid of teachers and intellectuals and turned the population against them. New Jersey has its own Khmer Rouge, it's your legislature."
You know, sense of perspective here, folks. Again, we keep going back to this in the wingnut segment, you know? Hitler is Hitler. Pol Pot is Pol Pot. A tough budget fight is a tough budget fight. But once we start bringing genocidal dictators in, and it's especially worse because teachers are paid to set an example.
ROBERTS: All right. What about the wingnut on the right? The birther movement is alive and well in Arizona, and legislators are getting in on it.
AVLON: That's exactly right. This week, the Arizona House of Representatives passed bipartisan margin a bill that would require any presidential candidate in, you know, to get on a ballot in Arizona to present their birth certificate, a birther bill, in effect, passed along partisan lines. And that's why they are in the ring of dishonor. Representative Cecil Ash is representing the whole crowd there.
ROBERTS: He was on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" earlier this week. And Anderson had quite a spirited interview with him, if we could say that. And Representative Ash was trying to defend introducing the birther bill.
Let's just take look at that a little bit of that because it was quite interesting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CECIL ASH (R), STATE REP., ARIZONA: I think there's been a lot of controversy over the issue. It's created a division among a lot of people in the United States. And for better or worse, many people don't believe he's a U.S. citizen. They believe he has loyalties, divided loyalties, I suppose you could say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Anderson kept coming back at him and just say, "Well, what do you believe?" He says, "Well, I believe that he was born in the United States." But he said, "But I haven't looked into this."
But is it incumbent for a leader to look into something before they propose legislation?
AVLON: Yes. And this is easily verifiable, folks. You know, this, again, we've been through this over and over. The Obama administration put the birth certificate on the Web site (INAUDIBLE). It's been verified by PolitiFact.
But, you know, and it's especially dishonest when a member of the legislature who puts forward the bill or votes for it, says, well, you know, I don't know or I personally might not think. You know, have the courage of your convictions.
The real tell on that statement was the phrase divided loyalties because that really gets to the heart of this. There are some folks who are -- what this has become a proxy for is a feeling that somehow President Obama is un-American.
CHETRY: Right.
AVLON: That's why this is so ugly. That's why this is so unforgivable. That's why you get to keep stamping it up whenever it pops its head up.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll bring you back in just about 10 minutes to talk about another controversy brewing, and that is the whole issue of the threats issued against the creators of "South Park" after the cartoon depicting or at least talking about the Prophet Muhammad.
AVLON: That's right.
ROBERTS: And don't forget, too, that for more on John's "Wingnuts" picks, you can read his blog on our Web site, CNN.com/amFIX.
Thirty-six minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.
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ROBERTS: Thirty-nine minutes after the hour.
As the economy crashed and banks ran wild, SEC employees were surfing for porn on the Internet. An internal investigation obtained by CNN shows 33 Securities and Exchange Commission workers and contractors cruise adult Web sites on government computers on government time, most in just the past 2 1/2 years -- right when the biggest financial meltdown since the Great Depression was happening right into their noses. And then there was Bernie Madoff.
At least one supervisor right clicked and saved those images on his SEC hard drive, apparently to the point where the drive filled up and started burning them on CDs and DVDs.
CHETRY: All on government-issued computers. Do they not think people are going to find that out?
ROBERTS: And mostly, too, on government time, you know?
CHETRY: Yes, not too bright.
ROBERTS: Do it at home.
All week, we've been following the huge controversy over a two- part episode of "South Park" and the Muslim prophet, Muhammad. This week's episode was heavily censored, with any mention of Muhammad's name, along with large chunk of dialogue at the end of the episode. But now, the show's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, say they didn't do the censoring, the network that airs it did.
CHETRY: Right. And, you know, people are sort of deucing a lot because Comedy Central isn't saying exactly why they did this. But the network and show's creators were threatened by a radical Islamic group -- as we told you that earlier in the week -- Revolution Muslim, after last week's episode dealt with the Muslim prophet.
And now back with us to talk more about this is independent analyst John Avlon.
Part of -- I just want to show people just for perspective what was bleeped out of the episode. I mean, we are talking about a cartoon but it raised a lot of controversy. And let's just see a part of the episode that was censored.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARTOON CHARACTER: See, I learned something today (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. So, this was the part where Kyle sort of gets up like he does in many of the episodes and it was -- apparently, it was supposed to be an explanation of, you know, being intimidated and having free speech rights and not being fearful to say what you think. And the entire thing was bleeped out which Matt Stone and Trey Parker said, "We delivered our version to Comedy Central. They made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn't some meta-joke on our part" -- meaning that they didn't do that.
AVLON: Yes.
CHETRY: "Comedy added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn't mention Muhammad at all, but it got bleeped too."
AVLON: Ironic but not funny. Yes.
ROBERTS: You did a column on all of this.
AVLON: I did. I got a new column up this today, saying, "Stand with 'South Park,'" because this is actually important. I mean, this is a joke, this is a cartoon, but, you know, sometimes free speech fights show up where you least expect them. And the open society, we live in this to be defended. And this is a fault line in that fight -- especially the letter that was sent to them, the threat from this group, Muslim Revolution, which showed graphic images of the Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh who was one murdered by Islamist supremacists, you know, a few years ago.
This is something to take seriously. And we need to take a clear strong line in defense of free speech. And we can't just have a sort of a free speech zone every place, except in one fear-fueled area where people are effectively intimidated into talking. And the guys took great care not to show an image of the Prophet Muhammad. But they were raising the issue, and that should always be legitimate and deeply defended.
ROBERTS: But, you know, there are obviously sensitivities here.
AVLON: Sure.
ROBERTS: The network has got sensitivities, doesn't want to inflame the Muslim community. And when you look at what happened with Theo Van Gogh and Salman Rushdie who had to go into hiding for years after he wrote "The Satanic Verses" -- is it right to err on the side of caution?
AVLON: I think it's just cautious but arguably cowardly. I mean, we need to take a strong stand against intimidations and threats and threats of violence, especially in this larger struggle between, you know, we got free people and violent religious extremism. America is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world and that's a positive thing. But we need to make a stand that this -- our strength comes from pluralism. Our strength comes from religious freedom.
And if you start allowing free speech and free rights in an open society to be abridged out of fear, that is the slippery slope that we need to stand against. So, that's why this is an important fight.
CHETRY: You know, and what makes people upset, you know, who talk about this -- they talk about the double standard in some ways. I mean, this show has made fun of people with disabilities. This show has made fun of Christianity many times.
ROBERTS: Yes. They made fun of Christ and Buddha.
CHETRY: And -- but in other episodes as well, and it wasn't censored. In fact, I think they had an episode where they used the N- word and it wasn't censored.
AVLON: Yes, these guys are equal opportunity offenders, no question. And that's part of the show. I mean, that's the point of this. They are pushing the boundaries. They are, you know -- and it's a comedy show. But they are smart, they hit left, they hit right, they hit everybody.
And the point of this episode, ironically, was there's one person you can't talk about.
ROBERTS: Yes, I'll never forgive them for the whole blamed candidate.
John, great to see you, thanks.
CHETRY: It was an actually an Oscar nominated song the year, the "South Park" movie came out.
AVLON: Yes, it was.
CHETRY: Robin Williams sang it pretty well. Sorry about that. Sorry to Ann Marie (ph), too.
All right. Well, we want to read your comments this morning.
Bob in Houston writes: "Any group that threatens violence in response to speech that they don't agree with is cowardly. Revolution Muslim resides in New York City. If a radical Muslim group can threaten violence near Ground Zero, bin Laden has lost. Despite the terror of the past 10 years, America remains a land of liberty and is stronger than ever."
ROBERTS: All right. I got another comment here. Rob says, "As a fan of 'South Park,' I love the no holds barred approach to touchy topics, but when it comes to religion, the Muslim faith is the only one that states an image of the prophet is illegal. Maybe they could layoff of this one subject. Free speech is a right but should be used with an involved sensibility."
You can join the conversation, too, right now at CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: All right. And right now, we're coming up on 45 minutes past the hour. Tornadoes touched down overnight in the plain states. We have some amazing video that storm chasers captured. And Rob Marciano is going to be along to tell us where the storm system is headed -- next.
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ROBERTS: We got a very good morning in Atlanta, 57 degrees and clear right now. Later on today, 82 degrees and sunny but that may not last too long this weekend.
CHETRY: No, we got a lot of weather blowing in unfortunately. Forty-eight minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano is keeping track of all of these storms. Tracers (ph) busy yesterday with some of that amazing video in the plain states of a lot of storm activity.
MARCIANO: Yes, we had 32 reports of tornados touching down. That number will be whittled down most likely. Take a look at some of the video coming out of goodnight (ph) Texas. There were two tornadoes just south of town. This one crossing the road. The storm chases all over this, just chomping at the bit to get out and chase some storms up out there, very quiet to start the 2010. This was a perfect chase scenario because it's in northwest Texas, Texas panhandle, Western Kansas, and Eastern Colorado, very wide open spaces, so not a whole lot of damage but fantastic video there happening about 6:15 last night.
All right. Here's where the storm is the center of still over the panhandle, a little back side of it getting some snow across parts of Colorado. We got winter storm warnings that are posted, 1 to 2 feet of snow expected above 8,000 feet. It's a heavy wet snow of the wind loaded as well. So, avalanche watches have been posted. If you're doing any back country action this weekend, be aware of that.
All right. The storm watches have been dropped for now as this ban of storm begins to weaken as it passes across Dallas, Texas, plenty of energy with this. If anything, today and tomorrow, the atmosphere looks to be even stronger and more potential for seeing severe weather today and tomorrow as this thing propagates itself to the east pretty slowly. So, under the gun today. Northern parts of Louisiana, pretty much the entire state of Arkansas, pretty good chance of seeing only severe weather, but tornadoes like we saw yesterday and then tomorrow, everything pushes off to the east, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and parts of Georgia.
It's going to be a rough Saturday, and then the less-shaded red into western parts of the Great Lakes and stretching into parts of the mid-Appalachians, they'll see some rough weather as well. So, still, after one day of seeing many tornadoes touch down, today will be another day and then tomorrow as well and then Sunday is not going to be a picnic for you, folks, across the northeast. John and Kiran, back up to you.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks so much.
This morning's top stories just minutes away now, including suspected pirates from lawless waters to a U.S. courtroom where the prosecution be a warning shot to others off of the coast of East Africa.
CHETRY: At 7:25 Eastern, bad girls. Are there too many in TV, in the movies, and in the media, in general? Why is trashy seeming to be hot now, and what do you do if you're a mom?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Moos News in the Morning with Jeanne. It's not the first time and it probably won't be the last time that the first dog steals the show.
ROBERTS: It happened at the Take Your Child to Work event yesterday at the White House. Jeanne Moos tells us how Bo's behavior led to his banishment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was first introduced as --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A special guest.
MOOS: And then upgraded to --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very special guest.
MOOS: By the time he arrived, he got the rock star treatment.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Want to say hi?
MOOS: It was almost as if the first dog thought he was taking questions.
OBAMA: Do I like living in the White House? And yes, it's fun living in the White House
(BARKING)
You can't live life without vegetables, right? You got to have vegetables. All right. Let's get another question. Let's get another question, Bo.
MOOS: No wonder he thinks it's his press event. This is a dog who's on a first named basis with celebs so famous they go by their first name, too. But when Bo --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Um --
MOOS: Couldn't keep his paws off the first lady, when he couldn't keep his trap shut --
OBAMA: What a clown. (BARKING) Shhh. Quiet. They never been anybody in my race who has been -- (BARKING) Why now? All right. You're going to have to go.
MOOS: Oh, no, Bo's in the dog house, but his expulsion led the kids the near mutiny.
OBAMA: Are you ready to go?
MOOS: Even when he was handed off and escorted out, many of the questions were still about him.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: What's Bo's favorite toy?
MOOS: A big rope.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Do you spend more time with your dog or with your kids?
MOOS: The kids.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Does Bo bite?
OBAMA: Yes, but you know, did he bite you?
MOOS (on-camera): So far, the only incident we've actually seen involved Bo attacking mics.
MOOS (voice-over): Be it a foam wind screen on a TV camera or a furry one, but over the holidays, Bo looked like he would love to sink his teeth into Santa.
OBAMA: Bo is Santa. Shhh. He hasn't seen Santa before. Quiet. Quiet.
MOOS: The quiet was broken at the Bring your Kids to Work event, but the kids actually chanting for Bo's return. Bo was allowed back. Before the kids left, he worked the room. His fans swarmed around him, grabbed at him, occasionally blocked by the first lady herself. Bo mania breaks out when you bring your dog or bring your kids to work.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ROBERTS: Remember when the first family was thinking about a dog and what type of dog to get and what they were saying about the Portuguese water dogs?
CHETRY: What did they say? Really hyper, right? Hard to control.
ROBERTS: It's crazy, yes, got their own personality, just do what they want to do sort of thing.
CHETRY: Yes. They're sort of living that now.
ROBERTS: Living the dream.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: Top stories coming your way right after the break. Don't go away.
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