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American Morning

Oil Spill Worse Than Feared; Mine Workers Trapped in Kentucky; Crist Crossing Party Line; Trouble in Paradise; Happy Doctors, Satisfied Patients

Aired April 29, 2010 - 07:59   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. Glad you're with us on this 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.

Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about, coming up in the next 15 minutes.

The oil spill off of the coast of Louisiana, five times worst than originally feared. More than 200,000 gallons of crude now gushing into the Gulf of Mexico each and every day from that damaged wellhead and a potentially devastating slick could wash ashore by tomorrow.

CHETRY: A governor leaving his party and a Senate seat in play. Florida's governor Charlie Crist will announce today that he's running for the Senate as an Independent this fall.

We're going to talk more about what it means for the balance of power in Washington, and also the governor's political future ahead. Our independent analyst John Avlon joins us.

ROBERTS: And bringing their demands to the president's doorstep -- meet some Miami students who aren't just talking about immigration reform. They have collected tens of thousands of signatures and walked 1,500 miles over four months from Miami to Washington, D.C. to deliver their message. They'll be joining us live to tell us their story.

And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation going on right now. We want to hear from you about what's in the news this morning. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX and we'll be reading some of your comments coming up in the next hour.

CHETRY: We begin the hour, though, with grim new developments off the coast of Louisiana this morning. An oil spill more than 50 miles from shore is now much worse than anyone thought. The Coast Guard is confirming more than 200,000 gallons or 5,000 barrels per day of crude are pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. That's five times more oil than anyone feared.

And there's new complication this morning as well. A third leak at the sight of last week's platform explosion has now been discovered a mile beneath the ocean surface.

The threat of an environmental disaster now is so severe that the president is offering to send more help, the military, the Defense Department, in to help.

Reynolds Wolf is live in Venice, Louisiana, this morning with the latest.

And, is any plan taking shape of options moving forward?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I tell you, the latest plan that we've had is just more of the same, and they're going to redouble the efforts and to certainly some extent, knowing again that the number has gone from essentially 1,000 barrels a day, now, the estimate is going up to 5,000.

I can tell you, from this exact location, we're currently at a port here in Venice. You can see one of the two boats right behind me. They have had these boats coming through and loading up all night long. And as the boats are loaded up, they go right up this channel and then out into the Gulf of Mexico where they deliver the supplies.

Now, when I'm talking about supplies, what I'm referring to are these floating booms and that's almost like a floating barrier, a fence that helps hold back this oil. And they're not doing it just here in Louisiana, but they're also doing it to other parts of the Gulf Coast, back over to Florida and Mississippi and Alabama.

You have to remember how crucial putting these booms up is not just to the environment. We've been talking about how this oil can be threatening not to people but, of course, many animals in the area. You got an estuary not far from our specific location.

We got the Delta Wildlife Refuge. That is about 20 miles just south of our exact point. And in that area, you got over 400 types of animals protected that may be threatened by this oil.

Some other things that might be threat n threatened, the economy, in terms of seafood. You have to think about people who are harvesting the oysters, getting (INAUDIBLE), red snapper, another fish that could be affected by this oil.

But then, you have to also consider the dollars that could be lost in terms of tourism. Not necessarily here in Louisiana where many of -- much of the water here is brackish from the silt of the Mississippi River. But in places like Alabama and then back over to Florida, especially, you have those crystal clear waters. They're referred to that area as the emerald coast. Well, with oil coming up on the coastline and getting on that beach, that is something, of course, that might keep tourist away and certainly hurts the businesses.

CHETRY: And what happened, though, yesterday, with the controlled burn? And are they going to be attempting to do that again today?

WOLF: I'm sorry. Can you please repeat that? I think you -- we have a boat that just came by (INAUDIBLE).

CHETRY: Yes, no problem.

WOLF: The controlled burn?

CHETRY: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

WOLF: The one yesterday -- the one yesterday actually worked pretty well. They were originally planning on doing several. They only had one. It was really a practice burn.

And what's interesting is that it was originally scheduled for about 11:00 local time. They pushed it back closer to about 4:00. The objective was to try to burn at least 50 percent to 90 percent of the oil that they have been able to pull away from the original pool of oil sitting out in the gulf.

And by all accounts, things were fairly successful. But the problem is, they aren't going to be able to continue that today or through the weekend. As Rob has been showing us all morning long, we're going to see the prevailing winds come mainly from the south which could push, if they were to burn it, push a lot of that smoke back on land, back in this direction -- certainly the last thing they want to do.

CHETRY: So, is their best bet right now, the booms you were referring to, try to at least contain the surface oil?

WOLF: Absolutely. And I'll tell you, one of the things we're going to be dealing with some of these booms, Governor Bobby Jindal has actually asked for 5,000 more feet of those booms -- rather 50,000 feet of those booms to actually help protect parts of the Louisiana coastline. But he's really focusing on those environmentally sensitive areas that we're talking about moments before, the estuaries, the place where you have those endangered animals.

The animals, so far, they look like they've been dealing with it pretty well. A lot of the birds, a lot of the water fowls, the Great Herons, they've actually seen some whales in the area, too. Five, I believe, sperm whales actually just south of our exact point and they appear to be doing pretty well despite the oil.

(INAUDIBLE)

CHETRY: We are having a little trouble hearing because of the boat activity behind us. Thanks so much.

ROBERTS: The Gulf Coast is bracing for a greasy mess as the oil slick closes in on the coast of Louisiana. Let's get the latest from Rob Marciano at the extreme weather center.

So far, conditions have been favorable to keep it offshore, Rob. What's happening now there in the Gulf?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we have pretty strong winds that were pushing things offshore. And now, winds are beginning to shift. You know, the currents there are fairly complicated but I think the winds over the next couple of days are going to be strong enough to really supersede any sort of ocean current, at least at the surface.

We've got high pressure that has brought the clear weather to the southeast -- also brought those strong offshore winds. But, now, with its center over Pensacola, we are getting more of an easterly and southeast flow. So, that's going to begin to affect that surface waters and bring in some waves along this wind.

As a matter of fact, the National Weather Service has issued a coastal flood watch for the entire Mississippi Delta. Not because of the spill, just because of the wind and waves that will be pushing all this water up into the Mississippi Delta. And the high tides also because of the full moon are going to be higher than normal.

So, this oil slick will be inching closer to the Mississippi Delta here over the next day, day and a half, and will -- at this point, we do think it will get close if not onshore sometime over the weekend.

John, Kiran, back up to you.

CHETRY: All right. Rob Marciano for us -- thanks so much.

We have some breaking news this morning out of Kentucky. Rescue teams trying to make contact with two miners at a mine called the Dotiki Mine in western Kentucky. The coal company is saying that the roof of mine unexpectedly fell and trapped these two workers in Hopkins County in the western part of the state. Rescue efforts began immediately but they have not made contact with those two trapped workers.

ROBERTS: And we're learning a lot more this morning about a close encounter at sea between Iran and the United States. The military says an Iranian surveillance jet came within 1,000 yard of the aircraft carrier, the USS Eisenhower, bussing the carrier just 300 feet above the water. It happened as the Iranians were conducting war games in the area.

In our forces in the gulf are always being reminded to avoid being roped into conflicts in these situations. The military says this sort of thing happens quite frequently. And it was not considered to be a threatening action in the part of the Iranian pilot.

CHETRY: Also new this morning, the Navy is expected to announce a policy change that would allow women to serve on submarines. Now, women joined the crew of the Navy surface ships back in 1993. But officials back then said that privacy was a big issue, the close quarters as well on the subs and it would be very expensive to reconfigure the living quarters.

ROBERTS: Well, just in case you were wondering, there are not anymore Haitians trying to reach the shores of the United States after the devastating earthquake there than there were before. The Coast Guard says it has intercepted some boats, but the number is not that much higher than historical levels. Coast Guard commandant, Admiral Thad Allen, says, one of the reasons may be because there is so little food and water available to take on the long journey.

CHETRY: The U.S. women's gymnastic team gets the bronze a decade later. The IOC stripped China of the medal from the 2006 Sydney Games after one of China's athletes was found to be underage at that time. Of course, there were so many questions -- the same questions asked about the Chinese team when they hosted the Olympics back in 2008.

ROBERTS: It's independence day for Charlie Crist of Florida. What does it mean for the Republican Party? We want Candy, and we got Candy Crowley coming up next.

It's coming up now at nine minutes after hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHETRY: There has been a lot of speculation over the past few days about what Charlie Crist would do, the governor in Florida. Well, now, the best political team on television has learned that the GOP will be losing one of its biggest names. When he runs for the Senate this fall, Crist will not be doing it as a Republican.

ROBERTS: Instead, today, he's expected to announce that he's going to run as an independent.

For more, let's bring in our chief political correspondent and the host of CNN "STATE OF THE UNION," Candy Crowley. She is live in St. Petersburg, Florida, where Charlie Crist is from.

Is this a smart move? There are only two independents in the Senate, Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman. Does he have a shot of winning particularly there in the Sunshine State as an independent?

CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Well, in the end, I think the way the Crist campaign looked at this, at least the way the candidate looked at this was that it might have been the only move. He was being beaten pretty roundly by Marco Rubio, a sort of a newcomer to the national scene, but certainly not here in Florida. He was down -- Crist was down more than 20 points.

So, he looked around -- again, CNN is told by sources that he will decide to go ahead and run as not affiliated with any party. The problem I think, really, when you look at, it's going to be money. Now, when you look at some of three-way race poll numbers, Quinnipiac had one recently, does show Crist up by about two points, like 33 -- 32-30 or something.

So, you know, there is some indication number-wise that it's a better move than being down 20. But you have to have the kind of money that the others have in this race in order to get your message out there. And I think one of the big question marks here is, what about all those people that contributed to Crist prior to his deciding that he wasn't going to run for Republican -- as a Republican.

And what about the people who he was counting on to raise money for him from here to November? Are they still all in if he doesn't have an "R" by his name?

CHETRY: Yes. And when you talk about what type of implications? There are also implications for the Republican Party, many have said these RINO, Republicans in name only -- what does it mean for the party?

CROWLEY: Well, I think there's going to be a lot of talk. I mean, there are other races out there where you see Republicans thought of as moderate who are being challenged on the right in the primary process. Sometimes we forget that that's what the primary process is about, it's pitting Republican on Republican, or Democrat on Democrat.

But there are, this year, most of the challenges are coming from the right. Many of them are fueled by people known as tea party activists, which, in general, tend to be conservative Republicans. There has been this push and pull since they lost in 2008 to President Obama within the Republican Party -- do you want to go conservative, do you want to right of center, and stay true to principles -- you know, zero deficit, lower taxes, smaller government -- or do you want to kind of broaden the party and welcome in moderates?

And when Governor Crist who was elected in 2006, when he -- a very popular governor here -- but when he started to moderate, some thought to the left of center, he began to lose his base. It's very hard to run as either a Republican or a Democrat if your base is angry with you.

CHETRY: All right. There you go. So, a tough situation, certainly getting a lot of national headlines today. And we look forward to hearing what he says about it. So, that can't be a bad thing.

All right. Candy Crowley, great to see you.

CROWLEY: It could be fun.

CHETRY: Thanks so much.

CROWLEY: Thanks.

CHETRY: Well, be sure to catch Candy, by the way, on "STATE OF THE UNION" this Sunday morning, at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

HOLMES: And if you want more Candy, join us this time tomorrow when Candy pays her weekly visit to us.

Well, now, it's all about the European debt crisis. Fears growing. But what does it potentially mean for the United States? Well, "Minding Your Business" is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Sixty years old today. Jay Leno is 60 years old today, and I heard very unhappy. And you think, really? On your birthday you'd be unhappy?

Apparently is. You know why? He wants Conan's birthday.

(LAUGHTER)

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Dave Letterman, not letting that one die any time soon.

Well, Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business" this morning. She joins us now.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I love this show because I can't stay up late enough so I get all the good stuff --

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: Yes, exactly.

ROMANS: I get all the good stuff.

CHETRY: We bring you the tidbits if you can't stay up.

ROMANS: Look, I'm talking about a financial crisis in Europe. And a lot of people have been asking me, why do we care what's going on with Greece or Portugal or Spain? Because it seems so far away. We've got our own problems. We've had our own company bailouts.

Well, we're talking about countries being bailed out. And that's a -- that's a really big deal. It's also a big deal because there's one European official who likened this to the Ebola virus.

And his meaning of that is that, look, you can't just say this is in one country, it doesn't affect everybody else. They are worried that it's going to affect a lot of Europe and then that could spread around the world.

We saw in 1987, Asia had some problems. It spread very quickly and it hurt everyone. So that's what they're really watching here.

Here is the latest on this. You know how you have a credit score? If your personal books aren't up to snuff, if you've got a lot of debt and you haven't been paying your bills, your credit score drops. And when your credit score drops, you have to pay more in interest. You can't borrow money. That's what's happening to these countries. The credit rating agencies have cut Greece's credit score, if you will, to junk. They have downgraded Portugal and they've downgraded Spain.

Now Greece, OK, so it's relatively a small country, right? It's the size -- a fifth of the size of California, for example, but when you're starting to talk about Spain -- Spain is a very big country. It's got a $1.2 trillion economy.

That is a big deal. They are worried about the domino effect around Europe starting to affect some of these bigger countries. They are worried that's going to hit the European currency, the euro, and that would hurt U.S. exports, U.S. growth, maybe even U.S. jobs if the dollar is too strong here.

They're worried about the market psyche. Look, it's fragile overall. And who else has too much debt? Ding, ding, ding, the United States. And what about Europe's rescue? Who do you pay for it, I mean, if you really have some tough going there?

So this is why it matters to you. Fortune -- I'm going to call it -- I wrote a great piece called "My Big Fat Greek Blood Bath" which really kinds of weighs it out very nicely. For months we've been talking about this and I can remember someone saying to me, oh don't worry, Greece isn't Europe's Lehman Brothers.

And I went -- I don't even want to -- don't put those two things in the same sentence. We don't need another Lehman Brothers. That just shows you the kind of -- the kind of nervousness there is there.

ROBERTS: Years ago, we called it the Asian contagion. What do we call this?

ROMANS: I don't know. That's an interesting question.

ROBERTS: EU flu?

ROMANS: The EU flu. John may have just coined a phrase.

ROBERTS: Talk amongst yourselves. Come up with a good one.

ROMANS: Yes, tell us, tweet us.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.

Well, after years of being surrounded by hobbits, elves and wizards, the Oscar-winning writer and director of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is now a real knight. Peter Jackson knighted during a ceremony in Wellington, New Zealand. Jackson is currently working on a two-part version of "The Hobbit" which is the "Lord of the Ring's" prequel with Mexican director Guillermo del Toro.

CHETRY: He just looks so different. He lost all that weight. He looks completely different. Congratulations to him on the knighting, though. Well, the students demand immigration reform. They are four Miami students that took a trip with many others 1500 miles from Miami to D.C. to make their voices heard about how they feel about the immigration issue.

Twenty-one minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-four minutes after the hour. Your top stories just about six minutes away now. But first, an "AM Original," something that you will see only on AMERICAN MORNING.

CHETRY: Just imagine a medical facility where doctors are not overworked, there is no waits in the waiting room. They're not jammed to capacity and patients are actually thrilled with the quality of care they're getting.

ROBERTS: It's an experiment that leaving some health care critics literally speechless in Seattle.

Elizabeth Cohen now with the final installment of her special series, "Prescription for Waste."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ERIC SEAVER, GROUP HEALTH FACTORIA CLINIC: Good morning.

Good morning, Dr. Seaver.

SEAVER: Hi. Well, it's very nice to meet you.

COHEN: I'm Elizabeth. Hey, nice to meet you. This is not how most doctors come to work, right? This is kind of unusual.

SEAVER: This is -- yes, kind of nice.

(LAUGHTER)

SEAVER: It is.

COHEN: Kind of nice. Well, this is not your usual practice. So can you come on in and show me what you do?

SEAVER: Very good.

COHEN: All right. Let's go.

SEAVER: Let's go see our medical home.

COHEN: So the first thing you do every morning is sit down and answer patient's e-mails.

SEAVER: Mm-hmm. I go through my inbox and answer e-mails. Patients love it. The patients love it. It's the best thing in the world.

COHEN: Now do you go see your patients in your biking clothes?

SEAVER: No, I get dressed.

COHEN: OK. So, Doctor, the next part of your day?

SEAVER: See our first patient.

COHEN: OK. I'll see you when you get out.

SEAVER: OK. Very good.

COHEN: OK.

SEAVER: Mr. Banks, good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

COHEN: He is still in there with his patient. It's been almost half an hour.

So, Mr. Banks, what do you think, a 30-minute appointment. Is that nice?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm making another appointment. So great.

COHEN: So how many patients do you see a day in a normal day?

SEAVER: Normal day? Around 12.

COHEN: And --

SEAVER: Face to face.

COHEN: So 12 patients face to face. In other places where you work, how man patients have you had to cram in a day?

SEAVER: Usually 20 to 24.

COHEN: Wow. And what kind of a difference does that make?

SEAVER: It's a night and day difference. I am able to get t know my patients, and able to provide a personal care to the patients, and able to answer patient's questions and help them, engage them in their health care.

COHEN: Thanks, Mr. Banks. Bye-bye. Good luck.

So Mr. Banks is going to go get his X-rays. And while he's getting his x-rays, can you show me his medical record?

SEAVER: Of course. We can pull up his chart.

COHEN: So you have 13 years worth of data on Mr. Banks in here. Can you pull off like, let's say, I want to see his cholesterol from about three years ago.

SEAVER: Three years ago. It's right here.

COHEN: There it is. You can just click and it's there. Do you think you can do that out of this?

SEAVER: In a couple days.

COHEN: That is my file from my obstetrician. I've had four children. How does my doctor find anything in there?

SEAVER: I have no idea.

COHEN: Now I have to say having spent the morning with you -- electronic medical records, seeing fewer patients in a day -- this really sounds expensive.

SEAVER: Well, I think Group Health has found that it pays for itself. And patients and staff and physicians all think it's a win/win situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Elizabeth, I love you standing outside the door there and you say, wow, he's been in there for half an hour.

(LAUGHTER)

ROBERTS: This look of incredulity on your face. But -- so you've got better care, lower costs. How is that possible?

COHEN: You know what? They build efficiencies into the system. That's what they do, John. For example, you saw Mr. Banks go to get his x-rays. That was down the hall. His doctors had the radiologist report about 15 minutes later. So this is just much more efficient. Everything is in one building. All the doctors, all the specialists.

And yes, they had to invest money to make that happen but they said that they've made that money back and then some.

CHETRY: And explain that whole thing. How is the clinic successful when they're seeing less patients?

COHEN: Right. Actually, we got an e-mail recently from -- or just like a couple of minutes ago from a doctor that said, wait a minute, this guy is seeing half the number of patients that most of us see. How can they make money?

He can only bill perhaps a number of patients. And the reason why is that they build -- again they build these efficiencies into the system. They get to see these -- you know, patients for 30 minutes, they get to do preventive care, and they can actually charge for doing that preventive care.

And then later on, the patients don't get as sick later on requiring more costly care. So again these are all built into the system so that they can make money and spend more time with their patients. ROBERTS: So -- and we have actually seen similar systems to the smaller clinic that you were at replicated in very large places, like the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic. Is it working well for them?

COHEN: Right. It is working well for them. And those are two other good examples. They're two basically the same kind of thing that Group Health does. And you'll see these clinics sort of popping up around the country.

And during the health care debate, a lot of people pointed to places like Mayo and Cleveland and Group Health as models. It takes work to do them. You have to invest in some serious infrastructure like electronic medical records. You have to make a commitment that doctors are going to see half the number of patients.

But slowly, you do see it happening more and more.

CHETRY: Well, it's great to see where it works. And we can all hope that, you know, it spreads because it looks like it's a great system.

COHEN: That's right.

CHETRY: Elizabeth, thanks.

ROBERTS: Coming up to the half hour now and a developing story. Right now rescue teams are trying to make contact with two trapped Kentucky coal miners. This is at the Dotiki coalmine. It's in the western part of the state.

The coal company says part of the roof of the mine fell in and trapped them. Rescue efforts began immediately but no contact has been made with the trapped workers.

CHETRY: And now we're also updating our story out of Louisiana where 5,000 barrels of crude a day now spilling into the Gulf of mix co. Five times more oil than they originally feared was spilling into the water.

Now the U.S. military might be setting up a supply base along the gulf coast to help out the Coast Guard with clean-up and containment.

That oil slick measuring 600 miles around is now threatening the Louisiana coast. It could hit by tomorrow.

ROBERTS: And the first lawsuit challenging Arizona's controversial new immigration law is expected to be filed today in Phoenix by the National Coalition of Latino Clergy.

The law empowers the state's police to question any one who raises a reasonable suspicion of being illegal.

The Justice Department is also considering filing suit to overturn it, but Sheriff Joe Arpaio says all the finger-pointing will not stop him from doing what he has always done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE ARPAIO, SHERIFF, MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ: Nothing to worry about. I'm an equal opportunity guy. I lock everybody up that violates the law. I don't care what color the skin is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: President Obama says Congress may not have the appetite to deal with immigration reform right now and he is not prepared to force the debate any time soon.

KIRAN CHETRY, ANCHOR: A group of undocumented immigrants hoping to have a voice in the immigration debate. They just walked 1500 miles from Miami to Washington, D.C. hoping to publicize and stop the deportation of young undocumented families and students living in the United States, and they call their journey, the trail of dreams.

Felipe Matos as well as Gabby Pochako and Carlos Roa as well as Juan Rodriguez, all taking their message to the White House on Saturday and they join us this morning from Washington. Thanks so much to all of you for being with us this morning.

CHETRY: Felipe, I want to start with you. Three of the four of you were currently undocumented, meaning that you are not here legally and you actually risk being deported by publicizing your illegal status. Why is this so important to you that you would risk that?

FELIPE MATOS, WALKED FROM MIAMI TO D.C. FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM: Our lives are so unbearable. We can work legally. We have to pay out of state fees, even though, we lived here most of our lives when we want to go college. We can't get a driver's license. We can't do anything.

And worse than everything else, we'll have to live in fear of one day being torn apart from the only place we know, the only community we love and the country we will feel we are a part of.

CHETRY: Gabby, your family actually is currently in deportation proceedings? Explain what your family situation is like and what it has been like for you to be going through this?

GABBY PACHECO, WALKED FROM MIAMI TO D.C. FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM: Unfortunately, what my family is going through is something a lot of families in the United States are going through. It's desperation of not knowing what the future entitles.

After living in the United States for 18 years, this is a place we call home. We have property. My parents have established themselves here. We love this country. Just knowing that one day we might have to leave really hurts us.

CHETRY: There are many who understand what you are going through and who stand with you. There are just as many who don't and say, the bottom line is, you are not here legally. So if you were provided a path to citizenship, it is rewarding breaking the law. What do you say, Felipe, to those that argue that? MATOS: Well, I would tell them that is that well, like for example, Carlos came here when he was only two years old. This is the only place he knows. If he was to be deported back to Venezuela where he was born, he would not know how to get around. He barely knows Spanish.

You know, in this country, we have heard of many unjust laws in the past. Women couldn't vote 100 years ago. African-Americans could not even walk on the same side of the street not too long ago in the south, places that we walked through.

We had those laws changed. We feel this is an unjust law. We really believe that the American people will see that we are human beings and all we are asking is to be treated with dignity.

CHETRY: Gabby, you guys have certainly had your share of challenges. You are going to school. You're trying to get an education and at the same time you can't do something that many of us would take for granted, like take out a library card. How is you being here illegally made it harder for you to achieve what you were hoping to achieve?

PACHECO: Well, it's definitely has been difficult and even though we have had those difficulties, we have excelled. All of us are in college, you know, I currently has three degrees, one of them is a bachelor in special education.

One of the challenges, even though I want to be able to contribute to the society, I want to be able to teach autistic kids and be in the classroom and help them out and try to be the voice for them, I can't. Those are some of the challenges that all of us here go through. We can't legally drive. We can't even be able to contribute to this country we love.

CHETRY: Felipe, what would it be like, those who argue, if you are deported, go back to your home country, apply for citizenship and can you come back? Explain what that would be like for you if you went that route?

MATOS: According to the current law, I wouldn't be able to come back. I'll be banned for 10 years to come back to the U.S. even though this is the place I have roots, I grew up, I went to school here. I was anyone to achieve academically.

I was top 20 student in the whole United States and top in the whole state of Florida. All I want to do is teach because I believe that education is the only way out of poverty. I want to be able to contribute to this country. If each one of us were able to stay and achieve and contribute, this country will also benefit so much from our talent.

CHETRY: Gabby I want to ask you something that's been in the news lately, this new law saying that police are required if they suspect somebody is here illegally to ask for their identification. If they can't show, it they would be taken in. What do you think of those laws where they said they had to do this because of so many border violence?

PACHECO: I believe that's a horrible thing. I think that's the wrong way to go about things. All of us know we want to be safe in our country. We don't want people to be committing crimes, but at the same time, why should it be a crime to be walking in the street being brown or not having an i.d.?

I just imagine people not being able to call the police, crying, been unnoticed because people don't trust the police. I could imagine a U.S. citizen forgetting their wallet and going to school to pick up their child after school and being picked up by the police, not being able to show identification and then being detained and deported, and leaving their child in the school by themselves.

CHETRY: Well, you guys are going to take your message to Washington, to the president tomorrow. You guys are supporting the dream act and your web site, "From the Trail of Dream." I want to thank all of you for giving your perspective this morning and best of luck to you.

MATOS: We are trying to -- we wanted to be able to talk to President Obama we've been trying to get a meeting with him. Unfortunately, he is still unresponsive, but we are going to keep trying. We walked 1500 miles to deliver that message to him. Thank you so much.

CHETRY: Thank you and good luck.

ROBERTS: Coming up now at 37 minutes after the hour. Right now, mourners are gathering at the National Cathedral in Washington for the funeral of civil rights activist, Dorothy Height. President Obama will deliver a eulogy there. He has called Height the godmother of the civil rights movement. She worked along side leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and for four decades she lead the National Council of Negro Women. Dorothy Height died last week at the age of 98.

Detroit considers downsizing to survive. How do you downsize a city? We'll look into it and we'll tell you coming up next.

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ROBERTS: Good morning, Detroit, Michigan where it's sunny and 48 degrees right now. Later on today, it's going to be mostly sunny with a high of 66. Well, Detroit hit hard by the recession. The once proud city is now a shell of its former self.

Parts of Detroit resemble a war zone and the mayor has a radical plan to save the decaying motor city by shrinking it and turning it back into, his talking head is saying, farmland. Jim Acosta is following the story for us. He's live in Washington. Jim, what's this all about?

JIM ACOSTA: Well, John, consider these numbers. The city of Detroit once has a population of 2 million people now it's about half of that and much has been said and written about this city's decline.

Now, Detroit is doing something about it. As you mentioned, it's downsizing and we're not talking about city work force, talking about 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. The plan wasn't hold out of thin air. Kurt (Metzger) lead a team of land surveyors that measured how much of the city's neighborhoods is vacant.

(Metzger)'s group found one third of the city's residential areas are empty. That's roughly 45 square miles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to require some of the folks in some of these neighborhoods to move.

KURT METZGER, DATA DRIVEN DETROIT: Exactly, I mean what the idea is and nobody's got the final plan. Certainly nobody has done it at this magnitude, but it's trying to come up with how do we start to densify the population.

ACOSTA: Densify by moving residents out of their neighborhoods that will be demolished and into healthier communities.

(on camera): The city won'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.

(voice-over): Bridget Pearson doesn't want to leave even though she lives right next to a vacant burnt out home.

(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?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll say no.

ACOSTA: You say no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The city to put the world on (inaudible) may have run out of gas. But that ain't the end of the story.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Detroit civil rights leader, Reverend Forest Chefield wants to stop the bulldozers in their tracks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable.

ACOSTA: Even though the house he grew up in is in ruins. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I know my grandmother and grandfather probably (inaudible) grave. This was the first piece of property that my family ever owned in the United States of America.

ACOSTA: He says the residence who homes are targeted for demolition are more than statistics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's almost like a form of ethnic cleansing. I called it poor cleansing.

ACOSTA: But there are other voices in Detroit, sounding strong support for the demolition plan.

JOHNNIE BASSETT, DETROIT BLUES ARTIST: Because the people are tired of seeing the city, you know, explode.

ACOSTA: 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 it what it was, you have to move forward and make it better.

ACOSTA: Tired of the same old song the motor city use a new tune.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: It sure could. Now 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 after it's been demolished. Well, there are plans to turn much of it into what's being built as the largest urban farm in the world.

So they're talking about going from VH to vegetables, John, and I said it once and I'll said again, we were just really blown away by how many nice people there are in Detroit and they just, you know, welcomed us with open arms in talking about they want to do to save their city. It's hard not to root for Detroit - John.

ROBERTS: VH to (VH) juice. Can they really do that? Can they could have productive farmland there?

ACOSTA: Yes, they can. They actually feel that the soil - you know the state of Michigan has a lot of agriculture going on. And, you know, before Detroit popped up there, there was agriculture going on on that very land. So, you know, it is not going to be easy. It's going to take time. They got a lot of houses to clear away there. And soil issues undoubtedly, in some of those spots. But they talk about vegetables. They talked about growing crops, and having farm to market tight produce available for the residents of Detroit -- the new Detroit about ten years from now. So, we'll have to wait and see.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Interesting idea. Jim Acosta for us this morning.

Jim, great piece. Thanks so much. ROBERTS: Kiran?

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, still ahead, you know, we were talking about how it is going to be 80 degrees or more over the weekend here in New York and other parts of the country. Meantime, they are putting chains on the tires in parts of California getting major snow in April.

Rob is along with all of the forecast from thunderstorms with hails, high winds and possible tornadoes.

Forty-five minutes past the hour.

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CHETRY: Beautiful shot of Atlanta today. Touch of gray, maybe. Partly cloudy. 51. But a little bit later, sunny, 78 degrees in Atlanta.

ROBERTS: Lots of gray across the western part of the country today.

Rob Marciano is here with us this morning.

Not only gray, but a little bit of white as well.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: It is going to make a huge mess. No question.

Rob, thanks so much.

Well, first, we head to KFC, double down. IHOP can top that. Wait until you see what they are offering up, coming up next.

Nine minutes now until the top of the hour.

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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It is 54 minutes past the hour. Time for your "AM House Call," stories about your health.

Abusing the organic label. An industry watchdog has called out three brands, including Newman's Own Organics, saying that their foods are not as pure as the labels would lead you to believe. They are now calling for the USDA to crackdown on that labeling.

Well, can a good laugh be as good for you as a sweaty workout? A study by preventive care specialist in California suggest that repetitive laughter can affect appetite hormones the same way that moderate exercise does. It can also cut down on the stress hormones, making it easier to burn calories. Researchers say that when you're laughing, you are burning calories, but they don't say it means you can skip the gym. They say that cracking up while you're, let's say watching "Seinfeld" re-run on your couch is no substitute for sit-ups. You all probably knew that one, though. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health say that there is no sure way to prevent Alzheimer's disease. They say supplements like Gingko Biloba or fish oil and mental exercises do not slow down the onset of Alzheimer's. The panel did say it is possible that a Mediterranean diet, which is rich in olive oil, nuts and fish may improve your brain's health, and that could help reduce your risk for possibly getting the disease later. It is always good to eat the Mediterranean diet, of course, because it is good for you.

ROBERTS: Absolutely. And it is tasty, too, you know. Olives, grape leaves, you know, lots of fish. Very, very tasty.

Well, speaking of tasty, move over sandwich with fried chicken as buns. There maybe a new, undisputed gluttony champ. Meet IHOP's new pancake stackers. Few gloves of cheesecake fillings surrounded by two buttermilk pancakes, lots of syrup. Strawberry is on top, right? So it's a little healthy. You want to make it a combo, though, with eggs and bacon on the side. IHOP says the entire combo meal will load you up with about 1250 calories.

CHETRY: Actually, I accidentally had this this week. We were at IHOP.

ROBERTS: What? Accidentally.

CHETRY: Meaning that my husband ordered it, so I took a bite.

ROBERTS: I accidentally ate a double whooper.

CHETRY: It finds its way into your mouth, somehow. No, but the thing that's so ironic about this is I had the salad, so you think, oh, Kiran's eating healthier. But my salad, which was with, you know, fried chicken, you know, all over it. You know what I mean? Chicken strips, and the ranch dressing was also 1200 calories. It just doesn't look as bad. You look like you are really trying to be, you know, healthy.

ROBERTS: So you might as well have had the --

CHETRY: As well had the cheesecake.

ROBERTS: Cheesecake. Exactly.

It's 57 minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.

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ROBERTS: Continue the conversation on today's stories go to our blog at CNN.Com/AMFIX.

That will do it for us today. Thanks for joining us. So much. And we'll see you back here again tomorrow morning.

CHETRY: Great. It's Friday. Meantime, here's "CNN NEWSROOM," with Kyra Phillips.

Hey, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, guys. Good morning.