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American Morning
Oil Spill Worse Than Believed; Senate to Begin Debate on Financial Reform Bill; Florida Governor to Announce Senate Run as an Independent; Trouble in Paradise; Downsizing Detroit; NASA's New Mission to Search for Life; Not So Happy Meal; 200,000 Gallon a Day Spill
Aired April 29, 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. Thanks for being with us on AMERICAN MORNING. It's Thursday, April 29th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us today. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about coming up in the next 15 minutes.
A catastrophe looming off the coast of Louisiana this morning. A new oil leak has just been discovered and the amount of crude now gushing into the gulf five times worse than anyone initially thought. Officials now are predicting a huge menacing oil slick could reach the coast by tomorrow.
CHETRY: Well, let the debate begin. The Senate agrees to take up the Wall Street reform bill after Republicans backed down and dropped their opposition. Now comes the hard part, though. Both parties still need to work out their differences. So how close are we to changing the way Wall Street does business? We're live in Washington with new information this morning.
ROBERTS: Should we phone E.T.? NASA announcing a new mission to search for life in our solar system. But one of the smartest men on our planet says that may be too risky. That aliens could be more like predator and less like Alf. We'll talk about it with the director of NASA's planetary science division coming up in about a half an hour.
The amFIX blog is up and running this morning. Join the conversation going on 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 start the hour now with some troubling news off the coast of Louisiana. The Coast Guard is now confirming that the amount of crude oil that is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico is five times worse than they thought. It means more than 200,000 gallons of crude could be pouring into the ocean each day. A slick now measuring 600 miles around and just 20 miles from shore.
The discovery of the new leak at the site of last week's platform explosion complicates the situation. Oil is now spilling from three locations. President Obama has been briefed on the situation. He's offering the services of the Defense Department to help with the cleanup and containment. And while officials were able to successfully attempt to control the burn on part of the slick, it may be too little too late.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY LANDRY, U.S. COAST GUARD: While BP believes and we believe in establishing 1,000-barrel per day estimate of what is leaking from the well, no experts believe the output can be as much as 5,000 barrels. At this time, we will be evaluating what this means to our current plans and activities. The secretary of Homeland Security has briefed the president just a little while ago about this new information. The president urged out of an abundance of caution and mindful of the new information that BP must position resources to continue to aggressively confront this incident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, Reynolds Wolf is live in Venice, Louisiana, this morning. And some of the officials were saying that they believe this slick could actually reach the Louisiana coast by tomorrow, somewhere near the Mississippi Delta. What are the options right now to help contain it?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, there are plenty of options. One option that Governor Bobby Jindal is asking for this morning is to put 50,000 feet. That is 50,000 feet of that barrier, that protected boom are in parts of the states most sensitive, environmentally sensitive areas.
You notice over my shoulder you can see a barge with some of that. (INAUDIBLE) will be sent out and we do this around the clock. Also new information that we have for you is that the oil now, they say, is within 16 miles of the mouth of the Mississippi River Delta. So that is certainly, something they've got to be really on on guard about. The boom that you see behind me is just one of the many weapons they're using to stop the spread of this oil.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (voice-over): At first glance, you would never know this warehouse contains vital weapons to combat the spreading oil slick.
CHIEF PETTY OFFICER ROBERT BIRDWELL, U.S. COAST GUARD: They're staging areas set up from Venice, Louisiana, all the way to Pensacola, Florida. So what's going on here in this staging area is going on likewise in different locations all around the gulf coast.
WOLF (on camera): Now, Robert, what is this stuff we're seeing right here?
BIRDWELL: Reynolds, what we're looking at here, these are -- these are oil skimmers so these will be deployed into the water, into the pockets of oil. Oil sticks to the surface of this roller. WOLF (voice-over): Skimmers, barriers, oil-absorbing booms stacked ceiling high for the effort. It's the traditional way to fight the spill. But with an estimated total of 5,000 barrels leaking from three different areas each day, other methods are being tested.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We successfully completed our first (INAUDIBLE) test burn.
WOLF: Official experimented with burning off the thicker areas of crude in the controlled fire Wednesday. And engineers are fabricating a new idea. Building this dome, they hope will capture the leaking oil under water. Every effort an attempt to protect the gulf coast.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: We think it's best to hope for the best while we prepare for the worse. And I think that's the best way to approach this oil spill and the potential impact on our state's coast.
WOLF: And as this barrier is loaded up to spread along parts of the Louisiana shoreline, still, one sobering fact remains, not every inch can be protected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is just simply not enough boom to cover the amount of miles of coastline that southern Louisiana has. So what we're doing is trying to cover specific areas, key areas that will help minimize the overall impact if there is any kind of shoreline impact of the oil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Now, we have been told that the United States military has been placed on standby in case there are any requests from the state of Louisiana. That is certainly a possibility. Of course, this new information that came out last night, again, just mind-boggling. We're talking about three different leaks jetting out 5,000 barrels per day. That is amazing. Again, just to translate that equates to 210,000 gallons into the Gulf of Mexico every day. Just mind- boggling.
Back to you.
CHETRY: It really is. Hopefully, they will be able to try something else today that works. And of course, you'll keep us posted and we'll be following it throughout the morning. Reynolds Wolf, thanks.
ROBERTS: The Senate Republicans and Democrats and can finally begin debating major changes to the rules governing Wall Street. The breakthrough, after Democrats kept the pressure bringing their bill forward three times knowing that they didn't have enough votes. But yesterday afternoon, Republicans dropped their opposition.
Our Brianna Keilar live for us in Washington this morning. And is this a sign that the two parties are going to try to work together at least for now, Brianna? BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes and no, John. Because both Democrats and Republicans say that it's a priority for them to regulate Wall Street. And before finally agreeing to bring this bill to the floor last night, they were able to find agreement in some areas.
For instance, remember that $50 billion fund that would have been paid for by a tax on Wall Street firms and then used to cover the cost of winding down a failing company. Well, that is gone. And there's also agreement on how to wind down one of these big firms should it fail. But there is still huge outstanding issues here. Democrats and Republicans disagree on how to regulate derivatives. Those complex financial products that were very much at the center of the financial meltdown and they're currently traded in the dark.
And there's also an issue over this consumer protection agency that is in this bill. Republicans saying that its authority, John, will just be too far-reaching and that it's going to be interpreted so that it impacts not just large firms but smaller companies as well.
ROBERTS: So, the next step here is debate. Do we have any idea how long that's going to last and when we might actually see a vote on legislation? We've got to go through a long amendment process, right?
KEILAR: Oh, a very long process. This whole thing could take weeks because Republicans and also some Democrats will be trying to change this bill on the Senate floor.
ROBERTS: All right. Brianna Keilar for us this morning. Brianna, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Sandra Bullock is headed to divorce court. The Oscar- winning actress filed papers in Texas. She said there's no way her marriage to Jesse James can be saved after nearly five years. The couple separated in March after James reportedly cheated.
Bullock also told "People" magazine that she adopted a baby boy from New Orleans. The magazine says the couple brought the baby home in January, but decided to keep the news to themselves until after the Academy Awards. And since the split, Bullock will be raising the baby as a single parent.
For his part, James tells "People," quote, "Sandy is the love of my life, but considering the pain and devastation I have caused her, it would be selfish not to let her go."
ROBERTS: Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center for us.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. A chilly day again. To start things off across the northeast in spots, we have frost and freeze advisories. But all in all, it will be a little bit warmer today than it was yesterday. Here's a look at the map. Everywhere east of the Mississippi, for the most part will be dry and a bit warmer. And then that menacing storm is beginning to roll out of the Rockies now into the plains. So we will have a threat for seeing severe weather in the highlighted red area. Eastern parts of Kansas, in the typical spots. A little farther north will be the trajectory of this storm as opposed to what came out earlier in the week and last week. But a lot of wind. We had a tremendous amount of wind through the great basin and the intermountain west yesterday, and we'll have the same thing today as this thing rolls into the plains.
Eighty-six, that will tap into some warmer air in Dallas. It will be 79 degrees in Atlanta and 68 degrees in New York City. Also, a lot of snow with this storm. We'll show you that video coming out of California and a look at the nation's weather in more detail a little bit later on in the program. John and Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right. Rob, thanks so much.
Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, facing a tough nomination battle. Florida Governor Charlie Crist is expected to announce today that in his Senate run, he's going to try to be an independent as opposed to a member of the GOP to opt his chances. We're going to be talking that with our independent analyst John Avlon. Is this the right move and what does it mean for the Senate race in Florida?
Eight-and-a-half minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Today is the speculation. The best political team on television has learned that the GOP is losing one of its biggest names. When Florida Governor Charlie Crist runs for the Senate this fall, he is not going to do it as a Republican.
CHETRY: That's right. Today, Governor Crist is expected to announce that he will run as an independent. For more, let's bring in our own independent analyst, CNN contributor and senior political columnist for "The Daily Beast" John Avlon.
This is something that Charlie Crist has been flirting with for a while after the polls swung wildly in the wrong direction for him. Marco Rubio who, at one point, he had what? Like 30 percent lead over, he's now losing to in those GOP primary polls.
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's exactly right. And that's why today Charlie Crist figures the day declaring his independence at an event in St. Petersburg. It really is a smart move when you look at he wasn't going to have much of a chance in that close partisan GOP primary. But it has a lot of implications.
You know, Crist is riding a national wave of independents, the largest and fastest growing segment, the electorate. In Florida, however, only around 20 percent of the electorate. A huge growth curve that has grown from around 400,000 independents 20 years ago to 2.5 million in Florida today. But it's an uphill climb. And it does mean, whoever wins this race, it's going to be tight. They're going to win with around 35 percent of the vote.
ROBERTS: There's not a huge track record of independents in the U.S. Senate. You know one from a very independent state. You can see why Bernie Sanders got elected.
AVLON: Yes.
ROBERTS: And Joe Lieberman, he ran for vice president in 2000. You know, he's been a Democratic stalwart. Of course, the party turned against him. But what are Crist chances of running as an independent?
AVLON: Look, I mean, it is an uphill climb. But it's certainly better than winning that close GOP primary. And part of what's happening is the centrist feel like they're being forced out of the GOP and they've got a better chance in the general electorate than they do in that -- appealing to that base. Rubio, however, is in a pretty strong position. He's been running essentially as a fiscal conservative, downplaying social issues. And that's something that can really help them connect with independent voters. So it's by no means, you know, a slam dunk for Charlie Crist. It's a bit more of a Hail Mary.
CHETRY: And what about the factoring in the Democrat Meek. Is he a good candidate? Is he somebody that's going to help Crist win by not being that strong? Or how is this playing out?
AVLON: I mean, he's really been written out of the narrative to date because the big drama has been in the GOP line up.
CHETRY: He's pulling about 10 percent below the other two.
AVLON: That's exactly right. But, you know, come the general election, if the Democratic voters are motivated, he can be counted on to get roughly a third of the vote. Crist has appealed with some centrist Democrats, so that's what really Crist is going to be trying to do. His veto of the merit pay bill which was really seen as disloyal and unwise by many Republicans and even some centrist, really appealed to the teachers union and some Democratic constituents.
ROBERTS: He still has some appeal with Republicans, though, and Republican leaders look like they're going to just bash him mercilessly between now and the general election trying to keep Republican voters from going with Crist and staying with Rubio? What do you expect to hear because already it's getting pretty ugly?
AVLON: Yes, I expect more unmerciless bashing. This is going to be ugly, folks. This is going to be very interesting. It's going to be high intensity. They're going to be a lot of attack ads between now and November, so keep your seat belts fastened. It's going to be a bumpy ride into November in Florida.
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: John, great to see you this morning.
AVLON: Thank you.
CHETRY: We'll be joining you in about 15 more minutes with our wingnuts for the week. Your wingnut picks.
ROBERTS: That's the one (ph).
AVLON: That's one.
CHETRY: All right. Fine.
ROBERTS: Coming up on the Most News in the Morning, huge national debt. Check, big financial headaches. Check, it's happening in Europe right now. But does this all sound familiar? Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning. She's here with the preview.
Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And yes, it does sound familiar. We're looking at your European debt problems, and this is something that one European official likened to a financial Ebola virus in Europe.
Are we worried about contagion? He said no. Contagion is here.
What it means for the economy. What it means for you. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right. It is now 18 minutes past the hour.
Time for "Minding Your Business" and Christine Romans is here to talk about some of the financial problems, for once not in our country but in other countries around the world and how that could actually affect us here --
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: -- in Greece as well.
ROMANS: We're talking about Greece and we're talking about some other European countries, as a European official who called this the Ebola virus. The debt problems in Europe, he said, are like the Ebola virus. So this is why we're concerned about --
ROBERTS: Bleeding money from every orifice --
ROMANS: They are, and that it's spreading that and it's something that other people can catch, you know.
So this is the real problem here. This is why the credit rating agencies have slashed the credit -- of the debt, rather, ratings of Greece to junk. They've cut Portugal, Spain. What does that mean, they cut the credit ratings? It's just like you. If you run up too much debt, if you have too many financial problems, your credit score goes down, right? Dramatically? And then, if you need to borrow money or even the marked money you've already borrowed, your interest rates go up and it becomes even harder for you to pay your bills and harder for you to get your financial house in order.
That's what's happening in Europe, and it's a real problem for the Euro. It's a real problem for some of these countries, especially little countries on the periphery of the E.U. We're seeing there their interest rates go up and just have -- they're having a hard time running their economies.
So here's what we're worried about. The domino effect in Europe, a very weak Euro, that European currency that could be a hit for U.S. exports, U.S. growth and U.S. jobs, right? Because as the dollar gets stronger, that makes it harder for to us sell stuff. Germany already having a little bit of -- of a better -- better export effects because of the weak Euro.
And also, will the U.S. ultimately have to help pay for some kind of a rescue of Europe?
That's some of the concern of -- specifically of Conservatives here who say if the International Monetary Fund has put up big money loans to rescue Europe, well, there's a lot of American money in those big money loans and what -- what will the Americans have to do to come in there as well.
So a couple of different ways to look at it. One, think of it as your own finances. You know, we've got companies in these country who had to be bailed out. We're talking about entire countries that might have to be bailed out in Europe. Their -- their borrowing costs are going to go up. It's going to be harder for them to dig out of their problems because their credit score had been a hit because of -- of all the financial troubles they've gotten themselves into.
And then also, when you're looking at countries who have big spending, big debts and lower tax receipts, who does that feel like? It feels like us, something that Nouriel Roubini, Dr. Doom, warned about last night. He said we need to look at Europe to the prism of other big countries, like the United States and our own debt problems. It shows we have to get our own fiscal house in order, too.
ROBERTS: People have been worried about a double dip and, you know, maybe it's going to come from Europe.
ROMANS: You know, this is not a good time to have fragility in your --
ROBERTS: Yes. You got a "Romans' Numeral"?
ROMANS: Yes, 9.9 percent of GDP.
CHETRY: This is how much has been lost in Greece? ROMANS: This is the -- Greece's debt to GDP. Budget deficit as a percent of GDP is 13.6 percent, which is just unsustainable. Ours? It's 9.9 percent.
ROBERTS: Yes.
ROMANS: That's a little too close for comfort, and that's what people like Nouriel Roubini and others, Ben Bernanke and others are all watching.
ROBERTS: It has been over 10, though, hasn't it?
ROMANS: It has. It has. Yes.
Nine point nine percent, dramatic improvement!
ROBERTS: So, things are getting better.
Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
CHETRY: Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, Detroit is moving forward, but the controversial plan to actually tear down parts of the city. That would mean maybe one or two homes still standing in these areas, and some of the people inside say I'm not moving.
We're going to talk about why this is turning into such a big issue in the Motor City.
Twenty-two minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twenty- four minutes past the hour. Time for an "A.M. Original", something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
Hit hard by the recession, the once proud city of Detroit is now a shell of its former self. There are parts of Detroit that resemble a war zone. The mayor has a radical plan to try to save the detained Motor City by shrinking it.
Jim Acosta is following that for us this morning, live from Detroit. And when you say a radical plan, it really is, and not everyone's on board yet.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is.
That's right, and it's hard not to pull for Detroit, Kiran. I mean, consider this, the city of Detroit once had a population of 2 million people. Now, it's about half that, and much has been said and written about Detroit's decline.
Now, the city is doing something about it. It's -- it's downsizing. Not its city workforce, but the whole city.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): These images may look like postcards from the Great Recession, but, for Detroit, it's more like the great reckoning. After decades of decay, the city is doing something dramatic.
MAYOR DAVE BING (D), DETROIT: I am unveiling a plan to demolish 3,000 dangerous residential structures this year, and setting a goal of 10,000 by the end of this term.
ACOSTA: The goal of Detroit's grand demolition plan? Bulldoze one quarter of the city's neighborhoods.
The blue dots are slated for demolition.
ACOSTA (on camera): All right, Kurt. Let's take a drive.
KURT METZGER, DATA DRIVEN DETROIT: All right.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The plan wasn't pulled out of thin air. Kurt Metzger led a team of land surveyors that measured how much of the city's neighborhoods is vacant.
METZGER: Look at all the boarded up homes right here.
ACOSTA: Metzger's group found one-third of the city's residential areas are empty. That's roughly 45 square miles.
ACOSTA (on camera): This is going to require some of the folks in some of these neighborhoods to move.
METZGER: Exactly. I mean, what the -- what the idea is, and nobody's got the final plan, and certainly nobody's done it at this -- at this magnitude, but it's trying to come up with how do we start to densify the population.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Densify by moving residents out of failed neighborhoods that will be demolished and into healthier communities.
ACOSTA (on camera): The city wouldn't have much of a fight on its hands when it comes to leveling this house. It's obviously vacant and there's nobody home.
The problem is when there is somebody home and they don't want to go.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Brigitte Pearson doesn't want to leave, even though she lives right next to a vacant, burned out home.
ACOSTA (on camera): So the City of Detroit comes over and knocks on your door and says, ma'am, I'm sorry, but we'd like you to move. What do you say?
BRIGITTE PEARSON, DETROIT HOMEOWNER: I say no. ACOSTA: You say no?
PEARSON: I say no.
REV. HORACE SHEFFIELD, NEW GALILEE BAPTIST CHURCH: The city that put the world on wheel may have run out of gas, but that ain't the end of the story.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Detroit's civil rights leader Reverend Horace Sheffield wants to stop the bulldozers in their tracks.
SHEFFIELD: Unbelievable, man.
ACOSTA: Even though the house he grew up in is in ruins.
SHEFFIELD: Well, I know my grandmother and grandfather are probably turning over in their grave. This was the first piece of property that my family ever owned in the United States of America.
ACOSTA: He says the residents whose homes are targeted for demolition are more than statistics.
SHEFFIELD: It's almost like a form of ethnic cleansing. I call it poor cleansing.
ACOSTA: But there are other voices in Detroit, sounding strong support for the demolition plan.
ACOSTA (on camera): Why is it a need, do you think?
JOHNNIE BASSETT, DETROIT BLUES ARTIST: Because the people are tired of seeing the city, you know, explode.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Johnnie Bassett started playing music in Detroit a half century ago, when Motown was king, long before the city was singing the blues.
BASSETT: You can't go back to what it was. You have to move forward and make it better.
ACOSTA: Tired of the same old song, the Motor City could use a new tune.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: They sure could. And city officials argue shrinking the size of Detroit will make it easier for police and firefighters to keep residents safe, but what happens to all of that city land that's been demolished?
Well, there are plans to turn much of it into what's being billed as the largest urban farm in the world, Kiran. They're talking about going from V-8s to vegetables.
CHETRY: Also what -- I mean, for people that ultimately decide they don't want to move, what happens? ACOSTA: Well, there's such a thing as, you know, as eminent domain, and what they're hoping is that the folks can be convinced, who are in these neighborhoods, of taking some kind of buyout and moving. But, in the end, if there are folks who don't want to go and can't be told to go, they will be asked to go through the process of eminent domain.
It's going to be a very difficult and painful process, and so they know it's going to take some time.
But this is a -- this is a process that's going to take years, Kiran. You know, this didn't happen overnight in Detroit. It's not going to be fixed overnight either.
CHETRY: Very true. Amazing picture, though, Jim. Thanks so much.
ACOSTA: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, we're crossing the half hour right now. Time to look at the top stories.
Five thousand barrels a day. That's the new estimate for the amount of crude oil now gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. Coast Guard officials confirming the leak from last week's platform explosion is actually five times worse than they thought.
And despite a successful controlled burn on part of the slick last night, some officials believe that it could hit the Louisiana shore by tomorrow.
We're going to get a live update from the scene, also talk to the Coast Guard at the top of the hour.
A breakthrough in the partisan gridlock of the Wall Street reform. After three days of opposition, Republicans agreeing to start debating the bill. The GOP says they want some major changes in the legislation, but they still plan on making even more changes in the process of amendments to the bill.
President Obama praised the deal, saying, quote, "We're going to get this done."
And military prosecutors seem to be indicating they'll seek the death penalty in the case of Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan. Hasan's defense attorney received notice that a key factor for the army is that more than one person was killed in the assault.
Military experts say that's essentially the army's way of saying that they want to send Hasan to death row.
ROBERTS: It's a question that science fiction writers ask long before man could ever fly. Are we alone? And if we're not alone, are we in trouble?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came here to give you these facts, but if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned out cinder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, that was the 1951 film "The Day the Earth Stood Still," the story of a humanoid coming to Earth with a warning not to bring our conflicts into space or we will be annihilated. Well, with slightly more intricate research than that, the cosmologist Stephen Hawking is issuing a similar warning in a new documentary saying that we are not alone, that there may be other hostile life out there. They may be hungry and we should be careful about going out looking for them.
But NASA just announced that it is going to go ahead with a new plan to search for extraterrestrial life. It includes sending a Lander to Mercury and exploring the moons of both Jupiter and Saturn.
Joining us now from Washington is the director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, James Green.
James, great to see you this morning. So, what --
JAMES GREEN, DIRECTOR, PLANETARY SCIENCE DIVISION, NASA: Good morning, John.
ROBERTS: What do you think this morning about Stephen Hawking's warning? Should we be worried about probing the universe for fear of what we might find out there?
GREEN: Well, Stephen is, indeed, one of the deep thinkers of our times. He has some outstanding opinions and theories that we do need to consider. However, we are a long way from contacting intelligent life. In fact, what we're doing right now in the planetary division of NASA is really searching for signs of life in our own solar system. We won't find complex life like humans, but it is our first step in understanding life beyond Earth.
ROBERTS: So, what exactly is it that you're looking for?
GREEN: Well, take Mars for example. For the last 10 years, we've been following the water. One of the things that you have to have for life is water, we believe. And with the many missions that we have, we now know there are signs or evidence of water on Mars that's all over the place. And in fact, we've discovered some layers of water underneath the soil. It's an ice form, but it's a major first step in looking at whether now life can exist on Mars which will be our next step, this next 10 years.
ROBERTS: In terms of the life that might be discovered out there, you said we're not looking for complex organisms. And, you know, complex organism could be considered to be a frog because it's fairly complex. Are you looking for bacteria? Are you looking for single-cell protozoans, amoebas? What are you looking for out there?
GREEN: Well, in reality, we're looking for all of those because there could be fossil records that could be found, that could indicate past life that was a little more complex than just microbial. So, there is a variation there, and what we have to do is develop the experiments and the instruments to be able to make the measurements that enable us to really understand how life could exist in other worlds.
ROBERTS: The National Academy of Science in its decadal review of the search for life has proposed about 28 missions to go out there and look for life. NASA has got about 12 planned.
And I want to go over with you, Jim, with you, some of the best targets for potentially finding life. And one of those might be Jupiter's moon of Europa. Tell us a little bit about that.
GREEN: Europa is just a gem of a world. It's a water planet or rather water moon. We believe there's more water on Europa than there is in the world, on Earth. And so, consequently, that water which is being harbored underneath the ice shell may indeed contain all types of life.
So, we're anxious to go there. We're anxious to study it. And we're anxious to see how that life could survive over these billions of years.
ROBERTS: Another potential target, a little closer in, Saturn's moon of Titan. What can we find there?
GREEN: Well, Titan is another fabulous world. It's got a hefty atmosphere. It also has -- it's the only body in the solar system beyond Earth that actually has liquid on its surface. It has lakes maybe even as large as seas of methane. And in fact, I can tell you, we're observing rain of methane going on right now in the southern hemisphere of the Titan.
It's a fabulous world that we want to study. We believe it's a lot like what early Earth would be, and we're quite interested in seeing much more about the hydrology and the seasons on Titan.
ROBERTS: So, you're looking for who may have taken residence in some lake-front property there on Titan?
(LAUGHTER)
GREEN: Well, if they're there, we'll find them.
ROBERTS: You know, what about a mission -- we sent lots of robots to Mars. We're thinking at some point of sending humans to Mars. But nothing's come back from Mars yet. It all just kind of goes there and then stays there.
There's a mission that may be planned to bring something back from Mars?
GREEN: One of the things that we've been talking about for quite a few years and we're getting more and more serious is sample return. The key to that, of course, is finding the right material, the right things to bring back. Sample return is absolutely essential on planetary science because we have the laboratories and the extensive techniques that we've developed here on Earth to be able to take samples and analyze them for many years.
Now, those samples will tell us about the origin and evolution of that particular body. It will also tell us if perhaps the world had been habitable in the past, and whether they could harbor life. So, samples are important.
ROBERTS: So, Jim, with all the budgetary problems and pressures that we have here on this planet, why should we be reaching out to the planets, and potentially the stars, looking for space bugs?
GREEN: Well it's all about priorities. It's all about what do you want to do in terms of exciting our next generation. What do you want to do in terms of understanding our place in the solar system, how life originated here, and how might we benefit with that knowledge of going into the future. It really is all about our future.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, Jim Green from NASA, thanks for joining us this morning. And I always wonder, is there somebody else out there besides us. We don't know yet.
GREEN: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Thanks -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks. Still to come -- I choked up about the thought of it.
Still to come on the Most News in the Morning: The first lawsuit filed the Arizona's tough new immigration law -- Shakira, singer-musician, also joining the fight.
Thirty-six minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Thirty and a half minutes after the hour.
New this morning, the first lawsuit challenging Arizona's tough new immigration law is expected to be filed today. It claims the law violates due process by allowing police to stop anyone they suspect may be in the country illegally.
Phoenix mayor, Phil Gordon, was telling CNN last night that he may sue to try to stop it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR PHIL GORDON, PHOENIX: Besides being a hateful and just totally bad policy, it also is so vague that there's no way that anyone could follow it and not violate some type of law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: There's plenty of pushback in Washington, too. One lawmaker is calling Arizona the "show me your papers" state.
CHETRY: Also, Grammy-winning singer and songwriter, Shakira, is heading to Arizona. She's going to be there to campaign against the new immigration law. The Colombian-born pop star will meet with the mayor of Phoenix and families who are being affected.
Also, the new law is dividing state officials in Arizona. Tough words from the sheriff of Pima County that includes the city of Tucson, he's calling the law, quote, "stupid and racist" and says he won't enforce it.
ROBERTS: OK. To your "A.M. House Call" now and stories about your health.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health say there's no sure way to prevent Alzheimer's disease. They say supplements like Ginkgo Biloba or fish oil and mental exercises do not slow down the onset of Alzheimer's. A panel says it's possible that a Mediterranean diet which is rich in olive oil, nuts and fish, healthy omega 3s may improve your brain's health and that could help your risk but nothing really to prevent it at this point.
CHETRY: It's good for you, though, in other way. And also does a good laugh count as a workout? We all wish.
But the study says, a preventative care specialist in California says that repetitive laughter can affect appetite hormones the same way that moderate exercise does. Researchers say when you're laughing, everything is moving and you're starting to burn calories. It doesn't mean you can skip the gym. So cracking up while watching "Seinfeld" reruns is not considered a substitute for sit-ups.
ROBERTS: Although, I do see a lot of people laughing in the gym.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Usually when they're watching me work out.
CHETRY: It's a happy place.
ROBERTS: Rob Marciano is going to have this morning's travel forecast right after the break.
CHETRY: Also in 10 minutes, an embarrassing controversy for prime minister of Britain, Gordon Brown, caught on mike insulting a potential voter. Jeanne Moos with his blunder and the multiple apologies that followed -- next.
Forty-two minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, New York City, where it's just gorgeous out. A little chilly right now, though, 43 degrees but plenty of sunshine. Later on today, plenty of sunshine, high of 66. But hang in for Saturday, it's going to be 88 degrees in New York City. Fabulous weekend shaping up.
CHETRY: Yes, you can head right outside to the park and laugh as your exercise.
ROBERTS: And this is Friday eve, you know, I like to try to get a jump on the weekend, so you know, get those good vibes going.
CHETRY: Of course, well, welcome back. Right now, it's a sad day, though, for happy meals in Santa Clara, California. Officials are banning restaurants from including toys with kids' meals that have too many calories and too much salt. They say the childhood obesity is a huge problem, and the toy shouldn't be used to entice kids to eat junk food. So, restaurants can actually be fined up to $1,000 if the food police catch them giving out toys with meals that don't meet nutritional standards.
ROBERTS: Wow. Forty-five and a half minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather and headlines. Rob Marciano down there in Atlanta where you're expecting a pretty good weekend, too, with some thunderstorms maybe?
MARCIANO: Yes, maybe later in the weekend, we'll see some thunderstorms, but this area of high pressure which is bringing nice weather to the east coast, albeit, a little chilly this morning, it's pretty strong. And it's going to be holding off at least temporarily this storm which is also pretty strong that's moving across the nations mid section. A lot of wind with this thing. We've had wind watches and warnings posted for the good chunk of the intermountain west in the past couple of days, and now, it's merging into the plains.
Kind of northern part of it, it's got a little more kick to it, and that's where think we'll probably see some severe weather later on today across parts of the plains and then that will slowly traverse eastward. If you are traveling today, the winds across the east will be an issue at the New York metro areas, Boston and Philadelphia airports, Chicago as well. The first glance you see of rain, you have to get all the way up to Minneapolis. It's not a whole lot here, arcing around towards Denver where turning into a little bit of snow in the intermountain west and lots of snow through parts of Sierra.
Check out some of this video. It's almost May 1 and folks trying to get up over I-80 over towards Silver Springs, California, and over towards the Tahoe Area, if you have changed (ph), you have a problem. So, Caltrans is out there policing and directing and trying to get people where they need to go, but that's whiteout conditions across parts of California. All right. How about Vermont. We talked about this yesterday. Here are the totals, two feet plus in Jeffersonville, Vermont, North Underhill seen almost two feet, can you believe that, Mount Washington 22 inches, that's in New Hampshire, and that's one of the highest peaks there. It gets some nasty when up here, but Pleasant Valley, off and pleasant, 20 inches of snow there.
So, late-season, heavy, heavy wet snowstorm. It'll begin to melt, though. Sixty-one degrees up in Boston, 86 degrees expected in Dallas, and 67 degrees in Los Angeles. Do you want to talk about what's going on with the gulf with the oil spill. Right in this area, of course, just 16 miles offshore, winds are changing just a little bit today. And even though the ocean currents are fairly complicated, I think, today, especially tomorrow, and then going on through Saturday, the winds are going to be strong enough to really take over and the ocean currents are going to be less of an issue. And the winds are going to be more of an east and then eventually southeastern direction.
And that will probably drift the oil slick a little bit closer to shore, if not, get it to shore, sometime over the weekend. As a matter of fact, just to add insult to injury, the National Weather Service has issued a coastal flood watch not because of the oil slick, just because they expect to see coastal flooding because of the high winds and waves and also the astronomical high tide. So, not exactly getting help from Mother Nature as far as keeping this oil slick offshore. We'll have much more with Reynolds Wolf on the top of the hour.
John and Kiran, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it, Rob. Thanks so much.
All the comments coming into our live blog this morning about a number of different topics. Let's take a moment here to look at a couple of them.
Matti writes just to say, this is about Florida Governor Charlie Crist apparently announcing today he's going to become an independent. Way to go, Governor Crist. About time he stops letting a party choose the policy instead of the people.
CHETRY: Al Mackenzie writes, maybe the oil spill is the reason they kept the drilling platforms so far from the coast in case of a spill, maybe drilling too close to shore is not such a good idea. Even with all of our modern technology, we can't guarantee those spills won't happen. And I'm very curious why BP's rig failed. A lot of people have been asking those questions and wondering how this is going to affect the offshore drilling announcement that the president made as well.
ROBERTS: It certainly, certainly will give a lot of fuel to environmentalists who are saying, see, this is exactly what we were talking about.
CHETRY: Right. Exactly. You can join the conversation. We'd love to hear from you. Go to our blog, CNN.com/AMFix.
Also this morning's top stories just a few minutes away, including, as we were just talking about, Independence Day for Florida Governor Charlie Crist. He sees the writing on the wall when it comes to the senate race. So, what it could mean for the GOP, win or lose, if he jumps ship.
ROBERTS: Twenty-five minutes after, something that you will not believe, health care that works, where doctors take their time, patients aren't rushed and both aren't going broke. And by the way, it is in the United States.
CHETRY: Fifty-five minutes past the hour. How do you top a sandwich with fried chicken for buns? How about whipped creams and strawberries? Need IHOP's new cheesecake-filled pancakes. Those stories at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: That's a little humor this morning. It's 53 minutes after the hour which means it's time for the Moos News in the Morning. And if there's one guy the British Prime Minister might want to call right now, it's Vice President Joe Biden.
CHETRY: That's right, because Gordon Brown was also caught in, I guess you could call it a hot mic moment. He had a microphone on, didn't realize it when he let loose. And Jeanne Moos shows us it is a big bleeping deal.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An open mic opens a can of worms. But first, it was a little like the time then candidate Obama crossed paths with the guy who became known as Joe the plumber.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a plumber.
MOOS: Only in this case, the leak came from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Brown was campaigning when he came upon Gillian Duffy who gave him an earful on taxes, the deficit, and immigration.
GILLIAN DUFFY, BRITISH VOTER: Don't say anything about the immigrants because you're saying that you're -- well all of these Eastern Europeans will come in.
MOOS: Brown was all smile since they parted, but once he got in his car, he forgot he was wearing a wireless mic.
GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: That was a disaster. You should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? It's justridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did she say?
BROWN: Ah, everything. She's just a sort of a bigoted woman. She said she used to be Labour.
MOOS: Watch Gillian's eyes when she's told the Prime Minister called her bigoted.
DUFFY: Oh! Very upsetting.
MOOS (on-camera): You think she's upset, watch the Prime Minister's body language when he has to listen to his own gaffe played back to him during a BBC interview.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone has just handed me the tape. Let's play it and see if we can hear it.
BROWN: You should never have put me with that woman, whose idea was that?
MOOS: Is this thing on? Anyway, of course, the Prime Minister apologized.
BROWN: I talked to Gillian. I've apologized to her.
MOOS: And apologized.
BROWN: I apologized profusely to the lady concerned.
MOOS (voice-over): The prime Minister even went to her house for a face-to-face apology that lasted 40 minutes.
BROWN: I've just been talking to Gillian. I'm mortified by what's happened. I've given her my sincere apologies. I misunderstood what she said.
MOOS: There was speculation the gaffe could sink the Labour party's campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a disaster for Gordon Brown.
MOOS: Now, Brown joins other illustrious victims of the open mic. From Prince Charles ranting about a reporter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These bloody people. I can't bear that man.
MOOS: To then President Bush at a summit.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this (EXPLETIVE WORD) and it's over.
MOOS: To Jesse Jackson complaining about Barack Obama --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Talking down to black people on this faith based. I wan to cut his (EXPLETIVE WORD) off.
MOOS: If you're going to cut something, cut the mic.
Jeanne Moos --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was sorry.
MOOS: CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: I don't know. I like it better when they just, all right, I said it and I meant it. Why did he apologize for 40 minutes at her house.
ROBERTS: My favorite part is, I misunderstood what she said.
CHETRY: Right. She said, what are you going to do about all these Eastern Europeans because he misunderstood.
ROBERTS: It's the way you characterize it, not the understanding on it.
Coming up on 57 minutes to the top of the hour, our top stories coming your way right after the break.
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