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American Morning
Nashville Under Water; Authorities Say Terror Suspect Made Errors; Interview with Tennessee Governor; Tennessee Flooding; Facebook Privacy Snafu; Politics and Sports Collide; BP prepares to cap oil leak in Gulf of Mexico; Interview With a Most Influential Ricky Gervais; Dr. Gupta Answers Your Questions
Aired May 06, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Thursday morning to you. Thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning on this 6th of May. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Here are the big stories we're telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
A major American city rich in history under water this morning. People in Nashville still reeling from the epic flooding.
We're going to get a live report on the muddy mess in Music City just ahead.
ROBERTS: Terror error. New information this morning about the accused Times Square bomber. Authorities say he made a dry run the day before, planted a getaway car in the city and then left the keys to it with the bomb that didn't go off.
CHETRY: Oops. We're going to have much more about some of the details on that that are emerging today.
And a Facebook glitch opens up private conversations to a whole lot of people online. The glitch was fixed, so is it just a bug or does Facebook have another privacy problem?
Our Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business" this morning.
ROBERTS: And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation going on right now. Go to CNN.com/amFIX.
We begin, though, with the massive cleanup ahead in Nashville after epic flooding. Much of the city is under several feet of water this morning and the power is out all across downtown. One million people have been flooded out of homes and businesses. Nashville's mayor expects flood damage will cost the city more than $1 billion.
Martin Savidge live in Nashville for us this morning.
And, Marty, what does it look like where you are?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's still a very big problem, John. The good news is that most of the water -- at least in the areas that the tourists would see -- has receded. It doesn't mean that the problems have gone away. In fact, what you're having here is now you go from that adrenaline-pumping couple of days where people were rescuing and surviving and to now as you got the recovery. And that's really hard slug.
We took some pictures of what's going on down here. The drone in the background is the sound of generators and sounds of pumps. They've been going nonstop for 24 hours.
There's no electricity down here because of the obvious, water got into the wires. And until they check them out, they can't turn the power back on. They hope to do that either today or tomorrow.
In the meantime, the water in the basements, the Cumberland River, you may not see it but it's still here. It's underground. And there is a lot of water in all of these buildings.
And due to something called hydrostatic pressure, the water keeps pouring into the basements no matter how many times they pumped them out. Now, that's a real problem, because, say, for Country Music Hall of Fame, all the artifacts in there, the humidity could do great damage to them. Right now, they say they have kept humidity levels down. Thanks to the fact of hard work.
Across the street, you got Symphony Hall, 18 feet of water in the basement there. That could distort the building and change the whole acoustics.
And that's just two examples, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Martin Savidge for us this morning in Nashville -- Marty, thanks so much.
CHETRY: And Nashville's Cumberland River, as we've been talking about, is finally receding. But when will the flooding actually end? And is more rain on the way?
Reynolds Wolf joins us from the CNN Center with the latest developments.
Good morning, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
Nashville needs a stretch of good weather. And it does appear that's going to be what's coming in in the coming days, and certainly today and tomorrow.
Take a look at what we've got for you. Going from sunny skies, as we take this, highs around the 80s. But as we make our way into tomorrow, some breezy conditions, maybe a few scattered showers.
But in terms of heavy rainfall, that's not going to be the picture for Friday. Saturday, same story. Sunday is basically the same deal. Monday, a chance of thunderstorms. The rain that those thunderstorms should bear will not be anywhere close to the magnitude of what caused the flooding in the first place.
Meanwhile, let's show what's happening around the rest of the country. In the northeast, rain could be a big picture. You see this frontal boundary, getting close to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington -- all spots that maybe dealing with delays later on. This storm is not severe for the time being. But that could come into the afternoon.
Meanwhile, out west, it's not rain we're talking about but rather snowfall that could be especially heavy in parts of the central and into the northern Rockies. Now, that snowfall we can expect, it could be very heavy. Some places up to a foot of snow believe it or not.
And then what we're going to be dealing with is that boundary right in the middle of the country, right across parts of the Central Plains. We could see some storms in places like Kansas City by late afternoon, some of those maybe severe. Certainly, keep that in mind.
And also out in the Gulf of Mexico, where they're going to be dealing with the leak. Of course, the biggest leak, they are going to try to contain that -- seas running two to three feet. So, things should be picture perfect out of the water. All things considered.
Let's send it back to you guys in New York.
CHETRY: All right. Reynolds Wolf for us -- thanks so much.
ROBERTS: In just a few minutes' time, by the way, at 10 minutes after the hour, we are going to talk with Tennessee's governor, Phil Bredesen, about the flooding disaster and the big job cleaning it all up. It still lies ahead.
CHETRY: All right. Well, four minutes past the hour.
Also new this morning, traffic is back to normal on New York City's RFK-Triborough Bridge after in bomb scare overnight. The bridge connects three of New York's five boroughs: Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx.
And police are searching for a man who abandoned his U-Haul truck near a toll booth on that bridge and then fled. According to witnesses, a toll both operator then reported the smell of gasoline. Bomb squad examined the truck and found no explosives.
ROBERTS: A new picture is emerging this morning of a bumbling, angry, confused Times Square bombing suspect. Authorities believe that Faisal Shahzad made a dry run the day before in what was supposed to be his getaway car. But he still made some pretty serious basic errors along the way.
CHETRY: The fact he's not being able the bomb to work, he had another problem. He left the keys to the getaway car in the SUV that was supposed to explode.
Susan Candiotti has been following this since day one. And she joins us now to walk us through what happened, both the dry run that happened the day before -- according to your law enforcement sources -- and also some of the errors and mistakes that thankfully prevented this from exploding.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's for sure, thankfully. But, I mean, the more you hear about this, the more you say, what the -- you know? But a good thing it didn't work.
Anyway, here is what we are hearing about the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, and what he is telling investigators. This is from a law enforcement source. He is saying that on Friday, that Shahzad drove an Isuzu from his home in Connecticut down to New York City.
And he scoped out Times Square, drove through it, looked around a little bit, and then parked the Isuzu, which was to be his getaway car, several blocks away -- it's unclear exactly where. Then he took a train back to his home in Connecticut.
Now, it's the next day. It's D-Day, it's Saturday. He takes the Pathfinder that is now filled with explosives.
He drives into New York City, southbound along the FDR Drive, which runs along to the East River, to the 49th Street exit. It's a wide area. He's able to pull over. And he reaches into the rear compartment of that SUV, in the Pathfinder, to set in motion the process needed to set off that bomb.
Then, he continues along his way. He goes into Times Square. And then, he turned right on to 45th Street. It's completely a random event. He picks that street because he saw a spot and he grabbed it. Hard to find in New York.
But he accidentally left the keys in the Pathfinder. So, when he gets out, he realizes he can't go back. The car is now smoking. People are starting to notice it.
So, he's got to make a run for it. So, he takes -- goes to a train station, hops on the train. There is a ticket that's even stamped 7:00 p.m., about a half hour after the call was made to authorities about to investigate this car. And he gets on a 7:00 train back to Connecticut.
ROBERTS: So, what eventually happened with the Isuzu then?
CANDIOTTI: Well, we don't know exactly how this happened, but he must have had a spare set of keys for it back at home because he did retrieve back in New York. And then, that is the car that when he did make his escape.
ROBERTS: On Monday night.
CANDIOTTI: On Monday night, out of JFK, that's the car that he drove.
CHETRY: But that still wasn't necessarily pivotal in them catching up with him. It was that they were able to find that VIN number off the engine block of the SUV that didn't explode, lead it back to the original seller, right?
CANDIOTTI: Sure. That's one of many clues.
They also found out that the cell phone that he had used, they were able to trace that phone number, the phone he had called the person that sold him the car, well, they were able to trace that phone record, in their records, their immigration and customs records, and that's how they were able to get his name. So, that was another way that they tracked him down.
Fascinating stuff. And this is what happened.
ROBERTS: But, again, we get lucky. It just -- it didn't work. That's twice in a row.
CANDIOTTI: That's right.
ROBERTS: All right. Susan Candiotti this morning -- Susan, thanks.
CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.
CHETRY: Well, there's been a major disaster declaration in Tennessee. They think $1 billion in flood damage and the Nashville area is hit so hard. What is the outlook for people living there? We're going to be speaking with the governor of the state of Tennessee. He's going to be joining us life -- next.
ROBERTS: And he's proof that good things come in small packages. Ricky Gervais named one of "TIME's" 100 Most Influence People in the World. How he does it and what he's got in store for the future -- coming right up.
It's eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
As the floodwaters start to recede, people in Nashville are getting the first look at the utter devastation there. A million people have been flooded out of homes and businesses.
CHETRY: Yes. And Nashville's mayor expects that this will cost his city more than $1 billion to repair the damage. Across the state, 19 deaths are blamed on the flooding. At least six Tennessee counties have been declared major disaster areas.
Joining us this morning from Nashville, Tennessee, is the governor of the state, Phil Bredesen.
Thanks so much for being with us this morning, Governor.
GOV. PHIL BREDESEN (D), TENNESSEE: Thank you.
CHETRY: I know it's a difficult time. Thank goodness the floodwaters are starting to recede. But now, you guys are actually getting to see the damage firsthand and see the scope of the damage.
What is your assessment right now of how much work lies ahead?
BREDESEN: There's an awful lot of work. Nashville, obviously, had been hard hit, and it's a well-known city. But there are so many other counties in the state and the areas in the general area that were hit very hard as well. A lot of people didn't have flood insurance because they never thought the floodwaters will ever come anywhere near their home. I mean, they're looking at, you know, a total loss of their home at this point.
So, it's very, very tough on a lot of people right now.
ROBERTS: So --
BREDESEN: Right now, we're really just trying to reach out and help those people.
ROBERTS: So, Governor, how great is the need going to be in your state and what is the need going to be? Can you quantify it for us at this point and qualify it as well?
BREDESEN: Well, I don't have numbers. I mean, we are doing assessments right now. We are working with FEMA.
FEMA has done a good job coming down here. They were down when the first drops started falling. And the administration has been in touch with us through all this.
But what we're trying to do right now is get a handle on the amount. Obviously, for people who didn't have flood insurance, there is no amount of help that's going to make them whole again. So, it's very -- it's a very tough time.
But, you know, we are through the part now where the first responders have done, you know, just a great job in saving lives and now starts the cleanup and figuring out where people go from here.
CHETRY: So, when you say that you think these first responders have sort of been able to make their way through and make sure no one else need rescuing -- how many died as a result of this flooding?
BREDESEN: We have counted right now 21. And there are still some -- we still have some missing people. So, that number could go up just a -- just a little bit from here. The problem --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: That's in the state of Tennessee alone?
BREDESEN: -- excuse me -- been enormous. Pardon?
CHETRY: And 21 in the state of Tennessee alone?
BREDESEN: Twenty-one in Tennessee, yes. And it's broader across the -- across the south. I don't have the updated numbers for the entire region that was affected. But it's been 21 in Tennessee.
We now have 10 counties that the president has been declared as disaster areas. We applied for 52. And I suspect that many more are coming along. They're just processing as fast as they can.
ROBERTS: You know, Governor, a moment ago, we saw some of these aerial pictures of entire neighborhoods that have just been inundated with floodwaters, 10 feet, 12-feet deep in some cases. But, of course, you know, Nashville famous for its country music landmarks. And the Grand Ole Opry hit very hard.
What's the situation at the Grand Ole Opry?
BREDESEN: Well, I mean, as best I know, they were hit very hard with the floodwaters. I don't know and I'm not sure they know at this point how long they'll be offline. They've relocated kind of back downtown here from where they went 30 or 40 years ago.
And -- so, they're going to keep -- they're going to keep going and broadcasting. But the old Opry hall that people have seen has -- had a lot of water in it, a lot of water around it. And there's a lot of cleanup to do in that whole area.
CHETRY: And for the thousands of people who had to be evacuated from their homes, are people now able to go back in to actually be able to survey the damage. And if not, are there areas that are off limits now that could be opening up within the next day or so?
BREDESEN: Yes. There are -- obviously, the waters are starting to go down. And that's very passe, as you might imagine. But there are -- a lot of people are getting back into their homes to survey what they have and figure it out.
And, of course, you know, the flood waters, they are dirty. You don't know what's in them. It's muddy. So, I think, a lot of them are really -- probably a lot of people are coming to grips right -- you know, right now with what they really have to deal with and face in the weeks ahead.
But we're trying to help in every way we can. And we've got a good partnership going between the city here and the state and the federal government. We're going to get through. This is a very resilient state.
ROBERTS: There's also an unofficial partnership, Governor, between the city and country music stars who call it home. You know, we saw a lot of stars -- Keith Urban, Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, they all lost a lot. But they do have the power, though, to get out there in public and raise a lot of money. Vince Gill, I understand, is doing some sort of benefit concert tonight.
Do you expect that the country music community is going to bond together to really to, you know, help Nashville get back on its feet?
BREDESEN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, Nashville is by the nature of what it does country music, and really also gospel music here. There is a lot of very well-known people who live here, some of whom have been -- I mean, we have had neighbors and friends affected by this and they are pulling together to get money into people's hands through these benefits.
You know, a lot of times, we can't help if somebody has lost their entire home. That's not going to help that. A lot of times people need walking-around money. They need the ability to buy pumps and get cleaning equipment and clean things out. They can help with that.
CHETRY: So, you know, you are talking about a lot of these forces for good and there are many out there, people trying to help one another during this tough time. But sadly, there are bad people out there as well. You gave a warning about some con artists maybe trying to prey on people that are desperate right now.
What do you want people to be aware of if they are indeed somebody whose home has been affected or their community has been affected and they are approached about repair work?
BREDESEN: Well, there is unfortunately always people who will try to take advantage of these things. I have suggested to people, I have seen it before here, where people come in, they particularly prey on elderly people who may have some problem with their home that they can't deal with themselves and cannot get around.
I have said, first of all, ask them to see a contractor's license. If you are a Tennessee contractor and have a contractor's license. There is a lot more capability we have to right anything that's wrong. If you need some help looking at a contract or something, give us a call. We will try to find somebody to help you.
There is also something new now I have not seen before, which is identity theft. People will go around and say, I am from the state or I am from FEMA, even though they are not, and ask for information like, give me your name, your social security number and your mother's maiden name and all those kinds of things and people will get scammed with that.
We just have to be very careful.
ROBERTS: It is just disgusting how people prey on people at a time of need like this.
Governor, thanks so much for joining us. Really good to see you this morning. I know you are very, very busy.
BREDESEN: Thank you. I appreciate the way you are handling this and the attention you are giving to it. Thank you very much.
CHETRY: Of course, we are all pulling for you guys and everyone is wishing you the best of luck. Thanks so much.
Also, tonight on Anderson Cooper, he is going to be reporting from the scene of the devastating floods in Nashville as survivors go home, try to reassess their lives. Also, two of country music's biggest stars, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, are going to be joining Anderson tonight, it's on "AC 360" live 10:00 right here on CNN.
ROBERTS: OMG, another Facebook bug. Have you ever accidentally hit reply all when you try to send somebody a personal e-mail. Well, Facebook did that for you. Christine Romans with the details coming up next. Eighteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON: Here is some car news. Nissan is recalling 135,000 Infinity G-35 to address an air bag problem. When Toyota heard that, they were oh, crap, air bags. I knew we forgot something, air bags.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: They are probably not laughing at it over at Toyota, but, it's sad when it hits close to home. 20 minutes past the hour. Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business." And she joins us now. No Toyota news today.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No Toyota, but I did hear something funny this week, though, one of the, kind of the worst unintended slogans. Toyota's last year, was moving forward or something, moves forward?
ROBERTS: Moving forward rapidly.
ROMANS: Just one of those things we people laugh about. But we are now laughing about a Facebook bug yesterday that has privacy experts and people concerned about privacy howling again about Facebook, in some of the new features on there. What happened yesterday was for some people, you were suddenly able to see the private conversations of your friends and friend's requests as well. Hmm. This is if you were using the preview my profile feature. Facebook quickly, when they heard about this, shut down that chat feature and said that essentially it was a glitch, a software glitch and that they are fixing it. A software error that allowed people to view their friend's private conversation sounds like pretty much your worst nightmare. Another reason, don't put anything really sensitive, even if you think it is private on Facebook. I have been saying this forever, and I tell young people who I talk to about this all the time.
CHETRY: They don't listen.
ROMANS: Be very, very careful.
ROBERTS: I make it a rule, no private conversations just nude photographs.
ROMANS: There you go.
CHETRY: That is right, with no captions.
ROMANS: No one is watching this anymore. They have all logged on to see John on Facebook and his nude photographs.
ROBERTS: That would be a scary thing.
ROMANS: Look, you breakfast folks.
ROBERTS: People are trying to eat, come on.
ROMANS: Earlier this month, Facebook added features that allowed you to see what products or what kinds of things you are reading online. If you pushed the like button, that has some concerns as well, about how much are we sharing.
CHETRY: And how much are they monitoring your other activities outside of being on Facebook.
ROMANS: Exactly. Exactly. So, this is something that people are asking the FTC to look into. They are asking Facebook to sort of tamp down all of the stuff about -I mean, look, if you think that things that you are talking about --
ROBERTS: You know what I love, I love the fact that the network community loves the internet because they say it gets us away from big brother. But in some ways, it is inadvertently becoming big brother.
ROMANS: I mean, don't you think that there are millions of companies and people out there who want to know what you are looking at and what you are talking about so they can make money off of you. I mean that is at the bottom of a really everything. So, Facebook has to be very careful about protecting your privacy and protecting the thing that makes Facebook so great. And at the same time, never have to make money eventually too, right?
CHETRY: Terrible for the people it happened to. But a good reminder again that anything you put in an e-mail on Facebook, anywhere is not private. You do it from a computer that is not yours either.
ROBERTS: Got a Romans numeral for us this morning?
ROMANS: I do. 130 is the number.
CHETRY: The average number of friends people have on Facebook.
ROMANS: Yes, you know that you share 70 pieces of information every month. I don't think I share that many every month. And I even talk everyday on Facebook. Do you share 70 pieces of information every month?
ROBERTS: I share nothing.
ROMANS: I thought you said you shared nude photos.
ROBERTS: I was kidding.
CHETRY: That's not information. That's entertainment. Sorry, John. ROBERTS: Actually, it's comedy. Thanks, Christine.
CHETRY: Still ahead, there are new reports that the oil has gotten past the buoys, Coast Guard now sending crews to try to confirm some of these unconfirmed reports. They are going to be scouting that. In the meantime, this barge carrying what could be, fingers crossed, the solution to at least temporarily capping the spill is now heading closer to the scene. We are going to have a live report next. Twenty-four minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: Tonight the Phoenix Suns demonstrate their support for the Latino community by temporarily renaming their team, they are playing an NBA playoff game against the Spurs. And they renamed, first, I guess the plan was for the players to wear sombreros during the game, but that made it harder during the game to dunk. Instead, they renamed the team Los Suns, which is something I guess. I don't know what it says. But, here in L.A., the Clippers, even though the Clippers didn't make the playoffs, they are also showing their support. They are now, the Los Ers. They dropped the clip out of the middle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The world of politics colliding with the world of sports over Arizona's controversial immigration law. Last night, there were more protests at the Arizona Diamondbacks game and as Jimmy Kimmel just mentioned, the Phoenix Suns, were the Los Suns, in solidarity with Latinos.
CHETRY: Yes, both the controversy and the overlap with sports came up during President Obama's remarks about Cinco de Mayo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES: I know that a lot of you would rather be watching tonight's game, the Spurs against Los Suns from Phoenix. Today reminds us that America's diversity is America's strength. That's why I spoke out against the recently passed law in Arizona.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So, divisive politics is everywhere, even on the playing field. Our Carol Costello is here with a gut check this morning. A lot of people fired up about the situation in Arizona. There were very mixed reactions to the Suns' show of solidarity.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There were. The question this morning, should basketball or baseball or any sport for that matter get involved in politics? The Phoenix Suns wore jerseys that read Los Suns, in protest with Arizona's tough new immigration law. Their look was met with both protest and some support. A group was led by Al Sharpton who wore a Los Suns jersey as he led a march to Arizona Steakhouse where hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil.
Back at the basketball arena, there weren't many protesters and the Suns' guard did not flinch. Steve Nash said wearing the Los Suns uniform was important and so was jumping into the political fray.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE NASH, GUARD, PHOENIX SUNS: We have a lot of love for our Latino friends and Latino players on both teams. Unfortunately, that's the group that seems targeted by this bill. It's a shame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He had a good night; the Suns won, by the way.
The Arizona law is designed to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants and allows police officers to ask people for papers, proving legal residency. Critics say it will lead to racial profiling.
In case you are wondering, according to the Phoenix Business Journal, Arizona's baseball team is not taking a political stance, despite the fact the managing partner, Ken Kendrick personally opposes the law. Some politicians thought nationwide all of baseball would take a stand. New York Congressman Jose Serrano wants Major League baseball to pull the All-Star Game out of Arizona in 2011.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOSE SERRANO, (D) NEW YORK: You can't on one hand talk about the diversity in baseball and celebrate it and we should celebrate it and then say that you can discriminate against technically 40 percent of the organized players in baseball and then show up in a state where they are not welcome in so many ways.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: No comment from major league baseball, but sources tell me that eventually Bud Selig will say something about it.
Two hours ago an AMERICAN MORNING we asked you to post some comments on our blog, and they came pouring in. I have a couple of them. This is from Bellen, John and Kiran. He says, "Of course, Los Suns should use their games to express their views political or otherwise. Don't we always say sports stars have a responsibility as role models?"
And then there is this one from Sherry. "Baseball players have a job to do. That job does not include political debate. They play baseball not only to fulfill their own dreams but to entertain the masses as well. After their day is done and over and their jobs are done, they are free to go home and get involved as individuals if they so choose."
So I don't think Sherry would be happy if any baseball player would have anything on their uniform in protest of this law in Arizona.
ROBERTS: A little controversy -- should sports teams stay out of it, keep themselves apolitical or get in there with solidarity?
CHETRY: We have 70 comments on this, Carol. People fired up with their issue. A spirited debate is always a good thing. We love for people to keep the comments coming.
Thanks, Carol.
By the way, should sports team get involved in politics? Head to our blog, CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: As we cross the half hour, your top stories. He forgot his keys. New information about the accused Times Square bomber, how he prepared to attack New York City and escape. Authorities say he made a dry run the day before, planted a getaway car in the city and then, oops, left the keys with the bomb that didn't go off.
CHETRY: Traffic back to normal in New York City this morning. But there was some scary moments overnight. The RFK Triborough bridge was shut down after a bomb scare. Police are searching for a man that abandoned his U-haul truck and fled. A toll booth operator smelled gasoline. No explosives were found.
ROBERTS: Floodwaters receding finally in Nashville, much of the city still under several feet of water, and 1 million people have been flooded out of homes and businesses. The Nashville mayor expects it will cost his city $1 billion to repair the damage.
Across the state of Tennessee the flooding has now been blamed for 21 deaths.
CHETRY: Right now a Coast Guard rapid response team is checking to see whether oil has breached the containment booms along the Louisiana shore. They are indicating the spill has made it to the Mississippi delta and the environmentally sensitive Chandelier Islands.
David Mattingly is live in Venice, Louisiana this morning. You have been in contact with the coast guard. Any update?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No updates yet. They haven't confirmed that they actually have those boats in the water yet. But, it is going to be something that they have to check out to get visual confirmation to see if the oil has actually touched the ground of these environmentally sensitive islands.
In the past couple of days, we knew that oil was pooling up on the booms that were surrounding some of these sensitive areas. We now are hearing from fisherman that some of the oil may have gotten past the booms. We are waiting for the Coast Guard to get out there, look at it and tell us if that has actually happened.
If it has, they will have teams ready to go to go out there and mitigate whatever damage might have been caused. But we keep calling these environmentally sensitive islands, it is all because the brown pelican, the Louisiana state bird, one of the great environmental success stories brought back from the brink of extinction after so many years of exposure to DDT, those are the nests areas for the brown pelican and this is nesting season.
So everyone is very sensitive about protecting those islands and that ecosystem that protects those birds.
CHETRY: And also, David, this concrete dome we have been keeping an eye on this morning about to be deployed, they have to lower this 100-ton device a mile down. How is it going to work?
MATTINGLY: It's going to work very, very slowly. They've got only one of these vessels. If it gets broken or if it doesn't work, they don't have a backup ready to go and it could cost them weeks.
So what they are going to do once they have it secured at the site where they are going to lower it down, they are going to have a barge that's going to be on a GPS stabilization system to keep it located exactly in the same spot as they lower it down for 5,000 feet to the bottom of the ocean.
This is going to go over the largest of the two remaining leaks. And once it is over that leak, they hope it will contain 80-85 percent of the leaking oil that's been going into the Gulf of Mexico every day now for two weeks.
CHETRY: Well, we are going to keep our eye on that. We'll be checking in with you. Thanks so much, David.
ROBERTS: Well, Ricky Gervais has an effect on you. He is one of the 100 most influence people in the world according to "Time" magazine. We will ask him how the heck he does it. He is coming up next. Stay with us. It's 36 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Its 38 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It all started out with a British TV show called "The Office" and it's turned into a worldwide phenomenon.
ROBERTS: The original British version has been watched in some 90 countries, spawned seven different remakes. Here is a sample.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call me when you get in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, Mike.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: The man behind it all, Ricky Gervais, has now been named one of "Time" magazine's "Most 100 Influential People." Ricky joins us this morning from London.
Good morning to you. Thanks for being with us.
RICKY GERVAIS, ACTOR & COMEDIAN: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: So the little paragraph on you was written by your friend and fellow comedian Karl Pilkington, who said of you, "Me calling Ricky 48 influential would be like Einstein's mum calling Einstein a genius. I doubt she ever did. I bet she just said she was proud of him but wished he would comb his hair."
I guess with friends like that, you have no problem staying grounded even though you've been bestowed this tremendous honor.
GERVAIS: That's exactly right. Nothing can go to my head because I have friends and family that just bring me down to earth immediately.
Not only am I one of the most influential people in the world, that's clear --
(LAUGHTER)
GERVAIS: -- I'm also live on CNN via satellite from London with an ear piece and everything. It's like I have got really important breaking news. This is a dream come true.
ROBERTS: You do. We have the global resources to bring it to the world.
CHETRY: You are in every airport in the entire country this morning. You talk about being grounded. You did declare that May 1st would be World Gervais day. How is that celebrated?
GERVAIS: It's not taken off like Christmas, but, I mean, it took a long time for Christmas to really take hold. So I'm hoping in a few hundred years that it will be a much bigger day. I also like the fact that as you introduced me as one of the most influential people in the world, you show a clip where I am basically dancing like a crab.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: That was good.
GERVAIS: Yes. I like to think it was because I created a world famous show, but I think it's because I insulted Mel Gibson at the Golden Globes.
ROBERTS: You are not afraid to take on sacred cows. You talked to the Golden Globes about Mel Gibson's drinking. You made fun of Paul McCartney's divorce. You talk about all the people in Hollywood who get plastic surgery forcing the show's producers to quickly cut away from a picture of Meryl Streep to a wide shot. Have you always been a troublemaker?
(LAUGHTER)
GERVAIS: Well, look, if you can't have a go at some of the most famous, richest successful people in the world, who can you have a go at? You know, I'm making fun of people more fortunate than myself, so I can sleep at night. They know it is not bad. They can take it. The A-list is the finest. The B-listers, they don't take it so well.
CHETRY: You're right. And the d-list, you don't want make them mad. You have to lock your doors. But the bottom line is you have enormous influence. You set the Guinness Book of world records for the most shows downloaded. "The Office," this show, people love it across the world. But it started out as just British humor.
GERVAIS: Yes. Firstly, getting in the Guinness Book of world records, you can get in that with running backwards with a bottle of milk on your head. Let's take that off the list.
The success of "The Office" is about recognition. Everything I have done is a labor of love. I used to make up little story to make my nephew laugh. If you are passionate about something and you really mean it, you have won already.
I don't think I ever try and get more famous or bigger or richer or any of those things. They are byproducts of what you do. This is fun. I talk about my work until the cows come home. But I know how privileged I am. And the privilege for me is that I can get up in a morning and have an idea and try to put that into practice. That's the fun for me.
ROBERTS: It's a good thing that you have a terrible sense of balance, otherwise, you might be in the Guinness Book of world records for running backwards with a bottle of milk on your head which would be nowhere near as lucrative.
GERVAIS: Or just growing my hair and nails. Literally, for doing nothing, not even basic hygiene.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: But what you have done, Ricky, is that you have given everybody who has dreams of a second chance, a career, something to hang on to, because you didn't start comedy until age 40. And literally everything you have touched since then has turned to gold. What is it that you have got that taps into what people want?
GERVAIS: I don't know. But if I could at all be inspiring to anyone, that would be the greatest goal, really.
I suppose -- I thought about it recently that I did start very late. I am living proof that you can start late. I didn't get into this business until I was 38, "The Office" at 39, 40. I just started getting fit shape at 48. So it's never too late.
(CROSSTALK)
I still have my own teeth, though. I still have got my own teeth.
ROBERTS: If you are as successful as getting fit at the age of 48, you are going to turn into the old version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Do us a favor. Can you hang in past the break? We want to chat with you a little more.
GERVAIS: I would like that too.
ROBERTS: We will be right back with you.
It's 45 minutes past the hour.
GERVAIS: Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And we are back with Ricky Gervais, he's just been named one of the "100 Most Influential" at "Time" magazine.
I just want to ask you a question. Because there is such a dearth of good shows out there and people just cling to them when they are finally out. "The Office" is one of them, of course, that people love here but your "Office" as well, you chose to end it after two seasons. You don't want it to get to fail. Do you ever think, "Maybe I should have kept going with it?"
GERVAIS: No, no, I don't. I -- I'm -- luckily for me, my laziness is sometimes mistaken for integrity. So that -- that's the story I'm sticking to.
No, we did it all ourselves. I mean, we don't have writers. Or you know we sort of write and direct and produce everything. And it's intense. You know that was -- that was three years of my life.
And it's never over. I still manage the estate of "The Office" every day. We've got the original, you know, clips. We own the format and for remakes. And the one we are most involved with apart from the original was the American one with Steve Carrell.
ROBERTS: Yes.
GERVAIS: And so it's not over. And it still exists, but it exists in a very sort of perfect and finite form. But when I say perfect, I'm not talking about my own work being perfect. I mean perfect for me. That's what you try and do as an artist. And you try and please yourself.
And that sometimes sounds arrogant. It's not at all. What I mean is, I don't care what anyone thinks about what I do, as long as it turned out exactly as I wanted it, you know, you are bullet proof.
ROBERTS: Well, you do seem to be perfectly in tune with the tastes of an awful lot of people around the world. I'm wondering who is the comedian who you really respect and appreciate?
GERVAIS: Well, you know, the obvious ones, the reason I did standup, like you know Jerry Seinfeld and Billy Connolly. At the moment I think the best stand up in the world is probably Louie C.K. He's incredible. I do a little piece in his new show which I actually can't wait called "Louie". And you know I was brought up on the greats like Laurel and Hardy.
ROBERTS: Yes.
GERVAIS: I learned so much from Laurel and Hardy; they taught me what comedy is about and comedy is about empathy. Comedy is about empathy, you know, full stop.
ROBERTS: And we should mention too, you've got a couple of standup shows in New York coming up. Is it next week?
GERVAIS: Yes. I am playing WaMu, Madison Square Garden on the 12th and 13th.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: It's a shame you couldn't find a big arena to play in.
(CROSSTALK)
GERVAIS: And then I'm off to L.A. I'm playing Nokia on the 15th and 16th. You know the NBC jet that they bought me for all the success.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: Very nice.
CHETRY: Also you're --
GERVAIS: Yes, right.
CHETRY: -- got some new show on HBO, "The Ricky Gervais Show" that's also starting up as well so people can look forward to that on Friday nights.
GERVAIS: Yes, that's happening. I haven't even seen the money for the syndication yet if NBC are watching.
CHETRY: The check is in the mail.
ROBERTS: I'm sure you will.
Ricky, it's great to talk to you this morning. Thanks so much. Congratulations and continued success.
GERVAIS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: All right. Appreciate it.
CHETRY: Take care.
ROBERTS: What a great guy.
CHETRY: He's such a great guy.
ROBERTS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers your questions that you've got for him this morning in his mailbag. Will the oil spill affect our health? The doc is coming right up.
Ten minutes to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning. It's 54 minutes past the hour now; time for your "AM House Call", stories about your health.
ROBERTS: Every Thursday, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us live to answer the questions that you want to know about.
Sanjay, the first question comes from Twitter. First, it asks, how will the oil spill affect our health?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it is interesting, there is a couple of ways to think about this.
First of all, for the vast majority of people who don't live in this area, one of the things we have been getting a lot of questions about is with regards to food, Gulf seafood for example. The short answer as to whether it will affect health or not is probably not, at least not in the short-term, the reason being is as you may know, fishing has been halted in that area. And the existing Gulf seafood on shelves was there before the spill. It was harvested before the spill.
Now, oil can bio-accumulate in fish for some time. The FDA is going to have to be really diligent about inspecting Gulf seafood from this area for some time to come.
Something else people think about is the fumes that people breath in. First responders, for example, may be breathing in fumes. They may be breathing in the fumes from the dispersants as well. People who have asthma and emphysema and chronic bronchitis, they're going to be more at risk. But again, that's short term stuff. The EPA is going to have to monitor the air quality in the longer term.
CHETRY: And Sanjay, the next question is from Susan in Virginia. Her 15-year-old son suffered a concussion during a soccer game. She asks -- she says his CT scan came back ok but wonders if he is at greater risk of having another concussion?
GUPTA: You know. There are only three things to remember about this. And I think about concussions all the time because this is part of my area. But one thing is firstly, you don't need to be knocked out to get a concussion. That's a myth. The second thing is that your brain changes as a result of the concussion, making you more vulnerable to a second concussion for a period of time.
And third of all, a second concussion, is not just additively worse, it can be exponentially worse, so a lot of emphasis on trying to prevent the second concussion.
Good rules of thumb, usually four to seven days, you want to wait after a first concussion before allowing someone to play again, especially if they are playing a contact sport. And also, make sure they don't have any symptoms. And again, they can be mild: headache, dizziness, blurry vision, trouble remembering; those types of things. Even if they seem like things that don't seem that far off, I would keep those players off the field until they are back to normal.
CHETRY: All right. Good advice. Really scary, though, you know when you are dealing with that and you don't know when your kid can actually go back to playing. You don't want them to get hurt again.
GUPTA: That's right. And it happens at the high school level as well. People think about this in college athletes and boxers but high school as well.
ROBERTS: All right Doc. Great to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.
GUPTA: See you.
ROBERTS: We've got about three and a half minutes to the top of the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, there you go. That's going to do it for us. Thanks so much for being here on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. And meanwhile, continue the conversation on today's stories by heading to our blog, CNN.com/amFIX. ROBERTS: The news continues here on CNN with Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM". Good morning, Kyra.
