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American Morning
How Big is the Oil Spill?; New Times Square Arrests; Upcoming NASA Launch; Ivy League On The Cheap; Japanese PM's Fashion Disaster; Deadly Face-Off in Thailand; Worrying Yourself Sick
Aired May 14, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Friday, May 14th. I'm Christine Romans, in for Kiran this morning.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
ROMANS: Happy Friday.
ROBERTS: Yes. Good morning.
I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for joining us in the Most News in the Morning. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about, coming up in the next 15 minutes here on CNN.
One expert questioning BP's numbers. He's claiming that the amount of oil leaking into the ocean right now could be 14 times worse than the company is admitting. If he's right, the spill is now six times bigger than the Exxon Valdez disaster and growing, but BP sticking by its numbers of 5,000 barrels every day.
ROMANS: Breaking news, a battle zone turned more deadly by the hour. Anti-government protesters in Thailand retaliate as troops take aim. We've got a team of reporters live on the ground and - and we'll bring you the latest information.
ROBERTS: And FBI raids in the Times Square bomb plot. New arrest as a new scare shuts down a different neighborhood in New York City. All the details just ahead.
And, of course, as it is every morning, the amFIX blog is up and running. We'd like to hear what you're thinking about any of the big news stories of the day. Just logon to www.CNN.com/amFIX.
ROMANS: All right. Serious doubts this morning about the true size and scope of that oil spill in the Gulf. It could be a larger disaster than BP admits.
How much crude is really leaking from the ocean floor into the ocean, you know, every day? It depends on who you listen to.
ROBERTS: Now, for weeks, BP has been telling us that that number is at about 5,000 barrels a day. And just in our last hour here, they said, yes, we are sticking with that number.
But an engineering professor from Purdue University believes that it could be 14 times worse. His calculation based on looking at the pictures, 70,000 barrels a day.
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we asked BP's chief operating officer about all those claims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG SUTTLES, COO, BP: We've said from the beginning, it is highly uncertain the exact number.
ROBERTS: So -- but you are sticking with approximately 5,000 barrels a day?
SUTTLES: I think that's a good range. I don't know the precise number, but I think it's somewhere around that number. And that's been both our estimate and that of the unified command, the government agencies we are working with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: -- Wolf is live from Gulfport, Mississippi, with the latest.
And, Reynolds, BP, they have a new plan to plug this leak. You know, what are they going to try to do now?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: OK. Now, let's try to wrap our minds around this. This is going to be a really interesting thing that they are going to try today. What they are going to do is get a six-inch pipe, six inches wide, try to put it into the biggest part of the leak and siphon it up to the surface.
Now, this is going to be a very tricky endeavor. We're talking about something that -- imagine this as being like a giant fire hose going off at full blast and trying to pull away some of the flow by using a drinking straw. It's going to be very similar with that -- a very tough and very tricky endeavor.
To do that, what they're going to use will be submersible robots. And robots would put that -- that, again, six-inch pipe into the leak, siphon it to the surface 5,000 feet up to an oil containment vessel and then take that oil and bring it back closer to shore. That's step one.
If that fails, option number two will be the containment dome, the top hat, that is actually on the ocean floor but it's set aside. If they have to, they will maneuver that over that and that will be option number two.
The third one is going to be what we refer to as the junk shot. They are basically taking pieces of junk -- we are talking about tires, pieces of rope, golf balls. They are going to fire it like a giant shotgun into the leak itself hoping that's going to stop it up.
Then they're going to take a layer of mud and then on top of that, a layer of cement, almost like a compress. If you have a cut on your arm, that's they're going to try to do, is compress the leak, stop it all together.
And if those all fail, well, then, I'm sure, they'll have some other ideas. They are certainly thinking outside the box.
Let's send it back to you.
ROMANS: All right. Reynolds Wolf -- thanks so much, Reynolds.
And the president is going to be holding a meeting with his cabinet members and senior officials this morning to discuss that spill and what to do next? You can see that. He's going to have a news conference right after it at 10:50 Eastern. We're going to see it live here on CNN.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ROBERTS: We are also following breaking news out of Thailand this morning. The sound of gunfire is echoing through the streets of Bangkok as security forces and anti-government protesters are going toe-to-toe. At least two have been killed and more than two dozen -- more than a dozen injured, including a Canadian journalist.
Today's violence comes a day after a government opposition leader was shot in the head. The army denies any part in that shooting.
Our Dan Rivers is on the ground. We're going to go live to him for the very latest in about 30 minutes time.
Well, now, to an "A.M. Security Watch" and a follow up to a story that we've been watching for the last -- more than a week now, but some more developments overnight. Take a look at this video that came into us from just outside Union Square in downtown New York.
Late last night, that was the NYPD bomb squad blowing out a parked cars windows near 14th Street and proximately about University, Fifth Avenue, that area. That's about 30 blocks south of Times Square. The NYPD blocked off several streets and evacuated an apartment building after someone called in a report of a suspicious car that was parked with some gas cans in the back of it.
It turns out that the guy who owns the car cuts lawns for a living. That's why he had the gasoline. And he was at a nearby concert for the evening.
ROMANS: The interesting part about that story is when the boom goes off, the police didn't even flinch.
ROBERTS: Sort of a little bit of a delayed reaction.
ROMANS: Yes. And, of course, the heightened sensitivity of all this comes after the Times Square attempted bombing. The fed has been able to follow these tentacles, follow the money ever since. That led to a number of new raids last night.
ROBERTS: Yes, there were raids just outside of Philadelphia, in New Jersey. There are also raids in New York, Maine and in Boston. These are people who investigators believe may be peripherally connected to Faisal Shahzad through a money trail.
Our Susan Candiotti has been watching all of this, checking with her sources overnight. And she's here now with the very latest. Good morning.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to both of you.
You know, it appears it didn't cost all that much to put this bomb plot together. If you add it all up, including the car, explosive ingredients -- oh, let's see -- his rent and the plane tickets, it totals maybe about $7,000.
And Attorney General Eric Holder says that the three men that were arrested yesterday may have played a role, knowingly or not, in filling Shahzad's pockets with cash. The news came following a series of FBI raids to follow the money and much more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Following the accused would-be bomber's money trail took investigators to Massachusetts, where two Pakistani men were taken into custody near Boston while most people were sleeping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard a man. He said, "FBI, hold your hands up, get your hands up."
CANDIOTTI: Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent say the men are charged with overstaying their visas. But do they know more about possibly funneling money overseas to accused Times Square plotter, Faisal Shahzad? A home was searched for clues that sources say may involve couriers called hawaladiras (ph). There's usually no paper trail and couriers seldom know what the money is for.
Following more leads, agents also hit a gas station outside Boston and searched a car there. Another team focused on Long Island, New York. But no arrest there.
The tentacles also touched southern New Jersey where the FBI raided a print shop in Camden and the home of a man who owns it in Cherry Hill. Two brothers were questioned but not taken into custody.
MUHAMMAD FIAEZ, CHERRY HILL RESIDENT: Just talked about me and my brother. (INAUDIBLE) Maybe some common name has surfaced. That's why they come here. They just asked me a couple of questions.
CANDIOTTI: A federal law enforcement source says agents are tracings who Shahzad talked to, met with, where he went -- every step he allegedly took to build a car bomb is being documented. Prosecutors say some of the information is provided by Shahzad himself and the accused terrorist hasn't clammed up yet.
PREET BHARARA, U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN NEW YORK: Faisal Shahzad is still cooperating. He is being interviewed and questioned by agents and has been since the day he was taken into custody. CANDIOTTI: And more bonus, when President Obama met Thursday with New York police investigators, an official photo was taken.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: If you zoom past the president, we get our first look at the suspect's presumed getaway car that he couldn't use. Here is its key that sources say the forgetful suspect left behind in his smoking bomb SUV in Times Square and the VIN number from that SUV that helped track him down in 53 hours.
And in just 13 days after that bungled plot, it appears investigators are making a lot of progress.
ROMANS: All right. Susan Candiotti -- thanks, Susan.
ROBERTS: All right. Susan, thanks.
ROMANS: NASA fueling space shuttle Atlantis for its final journey and no rookies allowed. Live in the Kennedy Space Center next.
ROBERTS: And the terror plot in Times Square is creating a lot of stock market swings. You know, the economy is in bad shape. So many people are out of our. Are you worried sick?
Oh, well, how to break free of that. We got somebody with some good tips coming up for you.
Eight and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: Welcome back to the Most News on this Friday Morning.
In about six hours, the all-veteran six-astronaut crew of the shuttle Atlantis is slated to blast off for a 12-day mission. No cocktail there, I'm afraid. NASA says the weather looks good for the 2:20 Eastern launch.
There are three space walks planned during this trip to the International Space Station. Those are live pictures there, as a matter of fact. After this mission, there's just two more before NASA retires the entire shuttle fleet -- which means this will likely be the last launch for that beauty Atlantis.
ROBERTS: Yes, nice day for it, too -- it looks like. You can bet the one person that will be watching as Atlantis takes off is A.M.'s own astronaut, Cady Coleman. We've been counting down Cady ahead of her mission to the International Space Station later on this year.
ROMANS: Cady was there in person when the shuttle Discovery went up last month. And she had two VIPs with her: her husband and her 9- year-old son.
Joining us live for this Space 2010 update, there he is -- our John Zarrella.
Hi, John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Christine. How are you doing?
You're absolutely right. Beautiful weather here today for the launch of Atlantis, somewhat is likely the last time the orbiter Atlantis will ever fly. They just have about finished fueling the giant external tank, countdown has been terrific, just smooth as silk.
No, you mentioned Cady Coleman, our own astronaut, getting ready to fly next December to the International Space Station on board a Soyuz Russian rocket.
(VIDEO GAP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): For astronaut Cady Coleman, it's kind of appropriate when the stars line up just right.
(on camera): It's so great to have you live with us, Cady.
(voice-over): A break in training came just at the right time - -at the same time, the shuttle Discovery was set to launch. Cady was our guest astronaut. But far more importantly, just off camera stood husband, Josh, and 9-year-old son, Jamie.
CADY COLEMAN, ASTRONAUT: I did my two launches before he was born. And we talk about what it was like, but I think there's nothing like the enormity of a shuttle launch, I mean, in person.
ZARRELLA: Yes, that's about right, Jamie.
For Cady and family, with time together becoming more infrequent, they squeeze in and soak up as much as every precious second allows.
After launch, the Saturn V Center to see an old moon rocket.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the final stage.
CADY COLEMAN: You know what? I think our Soyuz is smaller.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jump -- jump a little. OK, shout. Can you hear it coming back at you?
ZARRELLA: Then, a trip over to Launch Complex 34. Most people don't get to see this place. It is not on the tourist tour. It probably should be.
CADY COLEMAN: They were breathing pure oxygen. It was a lot easier to have a fire. ZARRELLA: Astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee died here, Apollo I, 1967. There's a withered writ and a plaque -- that's it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They give their lives in service to their country.
ZARRELLA: A flash fire in a command module during a test.
CADY COLEMAN: When you come out here to the Apollo I pad and then you think of the comrades that we've lost and the lessons that we've learned, it puts it into perspective. They are risks attached that, you know, I accept and my family accepts as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the kind of thing where you can wake up and worry about it. Although, if you do that, if you go to that place, it's -- it doesn't -- it's not a good place to be. It doesn't get you anywhere.
ZARRELLA: Of course, this old launch pad has some cool spots to explore.
CADY COLEMAN: I don't think anybody could be here during launch.
ZARRELLA: And great climbing places for a kid. Astronaut moms think just like any mom.
CADY COLEMAN: I don't think we should go for the top.
JOSH COLEMAN, HUSBAND: That is pretty high, and it's pretty slippery.
ZARRELLA: A large part of the focus for Cady and Josh is keeping Jamie's life constant, going to school, playing ball, doing chores.
JOSH COLEMAN: He does the dishes and clears the table.
ZARRELLA: It is about building a strong foundation so even when mom is flying, Jamie will stay well grounded.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now, sorry about that little glitch at the top there. You know what I always say, we can put a man on the moon but -- anyway, Cady is spending the next five weeks in Russia. Talked to her this morning. She is there, she is going through some training, she has got one more visit out there later in the summer before she actually flies next December -- John, Christine.
ROBERTS: You know, actually, John, we can't put anybody on the moon anymore. So your problems actually aren't too bad. So what's the story with the remaining shuttle mission coming up?
ZARRELLA: Yes, you know, it's a mess right now. The NASA had planned to fly the last mission in September. A July mission and a September mission. That was going to be it. The July mission is not going to be ready. That may slip all the way until next February. The September mission will slide back maybe to October and if NASA decides to add a mission, they can add one. They might fly shuttles all the way out until next year at this time. So, still possibly three left. All that up in the air -- John, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. John Zarrella, thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Thanks, John. As we keep counting down Cady, you can read even more about her training and her mission on our site. Cady's also written some exclusive blog entries too.
Just logon to CNN.com/amFIX and click on "Counting Down Cady".
ROMANS: All right, so coming up, how to make Ivy League more affordable, maybe even more affordable than state university. Princeton's no loan financial aid program grants that students will never have to repay. Some important information for you middle-class people with bright kids but cannot afford the Ivy Leagues. Coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST, THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART: We're power washing the Gulf of Mexico with oil. I thought we put that thing out with a giant concrete dome and sealed it all up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The giant dome experiment ended in a giant failure.
STEWART: What? Putting a dome over something you want to forget didn't work. It worked so well for Detroit and the Lions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Carol Costello would love that.
ROMANS: Oh yes.
ROBERTS: Little orphan Annie can start counting her tomorrows because after 86 years, Tribune Media Services is taking the comic strip off of the newspaper funny pages. Annie's last indicated strip will appear on June the 13th.
ROMANS: It could be a real life Cliff Hanger for the crime series "Law and Order." A new report says NBC may cancel the show after 20 seasons. That would be just shy of surpassing "Gunsmoke," the TV's longest running drama. The network will announce its fall lineup on Monday. We will find out for sure.
ROBERTS: If you sell it, they will come. Iowa's field of dreams made famous in the 1989 movie is now on the market. The owners say they love the ball field built on an Iowa corn field but they are ready to retire. The asking price if you are interested and the ball field also comes with 193 acres of farmland, is $5.4 million which seems a little high, because we were checking in 2006, Iowa farmland was going for $3,200 an acre.
ROMANS: I don't know what it is going for now but a lot has happened.
ROBERTS: Well, I don't think it has gone up, like ten times.
ROMANS: But they built that in four days. Did you know that? The movie people built that it in four days, and since then it has been lovingly tended by this couple. Interesting. Okay, now, you can get your gold to go. Check out a new ATM kiosk at the Emritz Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. You feed it cash and you get small gold coins or gold bars in return. The machine actually monitors gold prices in real time. The manufacturer says soon it is going to be able to take bank cards too.
ROBERTS: Now, for an A.M. Original, something that you will see only on AMERICAN MORNING. Admission to one of the country's elite colleges may seem like a pipe dream for many students.
ROMANS: But, no-loan aide program are giving new hope to families in need. Stephanie Elam is following this for us. Good morning, Stephanie. This is fascinating. Some of the elite colleges are doing this. They are promising packages for families that you won't have to pay back. It is grants and work study.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is really amazing. We went and profiled a student at Princeton University to find out more about this. Imagine, you think coming out of school, my family makes less than $60,000 a year. I'm not going to be able to afford a school like Princeton. But then, there are these programs to really help people out. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM (voice-over): For Berenice Jimenez, it is basic math. $47,000, that is the sticker price for tuition, room and board at Princeton University. But her family only makes about $50,000 a year.
BERENICE JIMENEZ, GRADUATING SENIOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: It is just amazing, just how much everything -- how expensive it is.
ELAM: Clearly, the college senior needed a lot of help.
ROBIN MOSCATO, DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL AID, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Students from families that have incomes under $60,000 are generally what we describe as our highest need students.
ELAM: And that help came in the form of a no-loan grant from Princeton.
JIMENEZ: The grant I have is about $40,000, which covers most of the tuition. That leaves about my family contribution about to be a little over $5,000, which is still a pretty big hit to my family, to my parents, especially. So my federal work study is $3,000. That basically pays for my school books, the clothing that I need to buy and all the little miscellaneous items. My parents then have to pay for me, $2,000, which is way better than $45,000.
ELAM: In 2001, Princeton was the first university to offer no- loan aid packages. Now 43 universities across the country have followed suit. That's according to the Institute of College Access and Success. Hundreds of Princeton's undergrads are getting help, just like she Jimenez.
MOSCATO: You are talking about 400 students in each graduating class with a full tuition grant, it really makes the atmosphere on campus feel much more reflective of the country as a whole rather than of an elite, private type of atmosphere.
ELAM: As for Jimenez, who is eyeing medical school, she knows her days of being loan free are limited.
ELAM (on camera): And when you come out of Princeton, just to be clear, you are coming out of here debt free, right?
JIMENEZ: Absolutely. When I hit medical school, I know I am going to get hit and I am going to get hit hard. But, for now, at least I don't have the undergraduate debt to pile on top of that. That is absolutely gone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM: So, imagine that. You come out of a school like Princeton and you didn't think you could afford a school, and then you come out with no debt at all. What's interesting here as well, is that they say a lot of these Ivy League schools point out that if you are able to qualify for a no-loan program like this, that you actually might find it is cheaper than going to your State University or college. That's what's really making the huge difference here.
ROMANS: And the hard part is getting in. You know, it once was, you know, the real hard part was getting in. And then the harder part was paying for it. Now, they are trying to find a way so that kids who do get in, who deserve to have this great education, can get it. But who pay for it in the end?
ELAM: That is the thing. This grant money has to come from some place. And it is really an amalgam of places that this money is coming from. You are talking about endowments, you have got annual giving, you have got scholarships, you have got some federal grants as well and operating funds and Robin Moscato who we talked to there at Princeton, told us that this is actually for this year, a pool of $102 million that will be reaching out to 2900 undergraduate students to help them get this money and get these grants. So, that's really what's amazing about this.
ROMANS: Endowments, that's interesting. Because a lot of people may give a lot of money back to the school. They say, hey I want this to go to specifically to help kids pay for this program. I don't want this to go to a building -
ELAM: Exactly. I want it to go directly here. And the other interesting thing about this too is that, people are looking to get to school. You have got to do your research and contact the financial aid department at these schools. You might find out more. Princeton has said they have had to reach out more to find these students, to bring them on there, to get this economic diversity on their campus. Because so many students just automatically go, well, there is no way I can afford that education. And really, they could.
ROBERTS: All right, Stephanie Elam with a great story this morning. Thank you.
ROMANS: Okay, once you start him up, he will never stop. Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, they are re-releasing an album and they have a new documentary.
ROBERTS: Front man Mick Jagger sitting down with our own Larry King to discuss the band's decades of success.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: How do you account for the longevity of the Stones as a success?
MICK JAGGER, THE ROLLING STONES: Well, I think these guys are very lucky. You always need a lot of luck. And I think that they were in the right place at the right time and we -- when we work, we worked very hard. So you need all those things. It is no good just being hardworking. But you've got to be hardworking on your game and be lucky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: They have been doing that for nigh unto five decades now?
ROMANS: Playing pretty hard, too.
ROBERTS: Good for them. Yes, from time to time. You can see the prime time exclusive with Mick Jagger next Tuesday. It will be only on LARRY KING LIVE. Bad scene in Thailand. Troops fire on protestors near U.S. and Japanese embassies, we have a live report from Bangkok coming right up. Stay with us. Twenty-seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Thirty minutes past the hour. Time for this morning's top headline. Serious doubt this morning about just how much oil is really spilling into the gulf. BP has been saying it is 210,000 gallons a day. But one expert claim -- it's not even close -- he says more like 2.9 million gallons a day is more accurate. If he is right, this disaster is six times worse than the Exxon Valdez oil spill -- John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: All clear, after another scare in New York City. The bomb squad sent a robot over to a car and blew out the windows to check out gas containers inside. People were rushed out of blocks surrounding Union Square, which is about 30 blocks south of Times Square. But it turns out that the car's owner cuts lawn and simply had the gas there for his lawn mowers.
ROMANS: More arrest in the case that began all these jitters -- the attempted Times Square bombing. Three Pakistanis who the Feds say helped get money to the man who drove the Pathfinder packed with explosives. Raids conducted in at least four states. ROBERTS: And we are following breaking news this morning out of Thailand. Protests in Bangkok are growing more violent this morning. The military is trying to push back the crowds with bullets and tear gas. Now the violence really started to escalate after the opposition leader was shot in the head yesterday.
Our Dan Rivers is live in Bangkok.
And, Dan, what is it looking like where you are?
DAN RIVERS, CNN BANGKOK CORRESPONDENT: It is looking pretty awful actually. There has been sustained gunfire for much of the day, loud explosions echoing through the city. We have confirmation from one local emergency center. More than 50 people are now confirmed injured. One person confirmed dead, but we are getting video in here that seems to show that one assumes it is the army. Although, we can't prove that. But protestors are saying they have been fired upon by government soldiers, pretty indiscriminately into the crowd so a large number of casualties. And also reports within the last few minutes of gunfire at the main stage of this protest from an overhead railway.
Again, we are not clear who is firing, but the army is engaged in a massive operation to try and seal off these protests and stop people coming and going pressuring them to go home.
ROBERTS: A couple of questions, Dan. We saw a person being -- who was shot there lying on the ground in a dark T-shirt. We have some understanding that might have been a journalist. And, also, this general who was shot yesterday.
Can you describe a little bit about who he is and what his shooting might do to inflame the situation further? And has anyone been found responsible for that shooting at this point?
RIVERS: Let's look at that video again if we can of the guy in the black T-shirt lying on the floor clearly injured. That is Nelson Rand from the French network France 24.
Actually, if you watch that closely, you can actually see him being hit for a second time. He was shot once in the hand, it looked like, and once in the leg before he was dragged away. He yelled out help me to people around about and is finally dragged away. That just underling how dangerous it is here for journalists reporting the story. There are bullets flying around all over the place, and it's very difficult to know where it is safe, and where it is not safe.
But as for the shooting of one of the red leaders, this is the so-called red commander Seh Daeng. Khattiya Sawasdipol is his real name. He is a renegade, major general in the Thai army who has led the more radical faction of the red protesters. He was shot through the head while giving an interview to "The New York Times" just down the road from where I am talking to you. Again, highlighting how dangerous it is out there, and how volatile the situation is. He remains in hospital in a critical condition. But his shooting has really inflamed the situation here, and has led to very, you know, furious scenes between the red shirts and soldiers. Lots of stone- throwing and responses with tear gas and bullets as well.
ROBERTS: Dan Rivers for us this morning in Bangkok. Dan, thanks so much. We don't need to say it but we will anyways. Stay safe through all of this.
ROMANS: Suspicious packages, a failed terror plot in Times Square, the stock market, a complete roller-coaster, you're worried about your kids and texting.
ROBERTS: There is a lot to be anxious about.
ROMANS: Are you worried? Are you worried sick? How do break free, and not let it control your life?
Right after the break.
ROBERTS: Got some good tips for you. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Don't worry about a thing. Easy for some people to say, but these days, it's harder than ever to ignore that gnawing feeling inside waking up at 2:00 a.m. in a cold sweat. Feeling like doom and gloom. And this little cloud is hanging over your head.
ROMANS: John, are you speaking from personal experience?
ROBERTS: No, don't know what you are talking about.
ROMANS: You know, there is plenty to -- I mean, it's not as if we're making it up out of thin air, either, right? There's anxiety- causing terror attacks, unemployment almost 10 percent, crazy swings in the stock market. Every time it moves, you are looking at your own retirement wondering, do I have to work for two more years? It's enough to make you sick, literally.
Our next guest wrote "Worried Sick," a new book about breaking free from chronic worry. Author Karol Ward joins us now.
Welcome to the program.
KAROL WARD, AUTHOR, "WORRIED SICK": Thank you. My pleasure.
ROMANS: You see, it's an interesting time because we have this convergence of all these things that are -- I mean, rightfully so, there is a lot to be worried about.
WARD: Exactly. We have international worry, we have domestic worry, we have personal worry going on in our lives. It's a very particular time right now. And people are feeling that intensity. ROBERTS: You know, I'm thinking that I should probably get your phone number after the show because I'm a chronic worrier.
ROMANS: You are?
ROBERTS: I go to bed probably about 8:00, 9:00 at night. I wake up at 11:00, two hours later, and I'm worried about this and I'm worried about that. Go back to sleep. Wake up another hour or later.
How many people are coming into your door these days because of the current state of the economy, the threat of terrorism as Christine was saying, all of that?
WARD: My numbers have increased. And you are in good company. 56 percent of Americans are lying awake at night with their minds full of worry. I mean, there are things to worry about. So it is not about not worrying. In fact, having someone like you on a camping trip is a great thing.
ROBERTS: I'm going to keep everybody up.
WARD: Yes, you will keep everybody up. You'll pack all the waterproof matches and make the tents in place. The only problem is, once we get there, then you will start to worry about something else.
ROBERTS: Now, you know what, I don't do logistics very well.
WARD: No, you're not?
(CROSSTALK)
WARD: OK.
ROMANS: What do you need to do to yourself if you feel this is happening, too. If you feel like you are too overwhelmed by these things that you really don't have control of.
I mean, there are some things you can worry about that you have control over and some that you don't.
What is your advice to people? How do they shake off that worry or at least trying live with it?
WARD: I give them the three step process. One is the three C. So it's about getting into a state of calmness, because we're worried we're physically tense. We can't even think straight. So doing something, some form of physical exercise, walking your dog, pushing the baby in a stroller, going to the gym, going for a run, releasing that physical tension.
The other thing is to get mental clarity. So whether that is deep breathing in your office so that you can think straight, creating a plan of action and figuring out the steps that you need to take. And the third thing is tapping into your community. I mean, when we are worried, we need people to support us. So whether it is your literal community, your neighbor, your church group, your online community. You have to find people that can help support you during these times.
ROBERTS: You know, I am smiling through all of this thing because people say, what you need to do is you need to relax. You need to take some of the stress out. You need to meditate. So I close my eyes. I try to clear my mind of it. There's just too much crap in my mind.
WARD: That's right. That's what happens.
ROBERTS: I can't get rid of it.
WARD: You are one of those people that maybe those things won't work. You have to stop that worry thinking by taking yourself to a movie by literally doing something that has your mind focus on something else. You fall into that camp. Because you're right, some people can't slow down enough to breath.
ROBERTS: All right. Look, we're being bombarded every day, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, texting, yada. I get 500 e-mails every day.
ROMANS: Well, you're in the news business. You have to know about all the things that are going on, too.
ROBERTS: But it is not just me. It's everybody.
WARD: Everybody is experiencing that. So I tell my patience, shut off the computer for a while. Believe me, if there's something happening, you're going to find out. Somebody has got to call you.
ROMANS: Let me ask you about money, because this is something that kind of a -- people always worry about money. And couples always worry and fight about money. But has money moved in here over the last couple of years as something that's on top of people's list?
WARD: Totally. 67 percent of Americans again are falling into the camp of worrying about money. Eight out of 10 Americans are worried about the economy. I mean, these are high numbers. So, yes, worry is a major factor. And, again, it is important to remember, it is not about eliminating worry, because worry is a signal that we need to pay the attention. It is not having worry take over our lives. So you need to pay attention to your finances. Find out someone you can trust and get good information.
ROBERTS: Well, there is a difference, too, between being concerned about something and worrying about it, right?
WARD: That's right. There is the chronic worrier, the person who looks at the world and says worst case scenario all the time, and how do I take care of it. And then, there are situational worriers. Meaning, people who have to deal with the situations they are going on outside of them. The economy, their personal health, the health of others. So two different camps of worry.
ROMANS: John, my mother-in-law always says, honey, don't worry about it, what gets you in the end is not what you laid in bed thinking about?
ROBERTS: That's true.
WARD: It is really true.
ROMANS: Makes me off the worry.
ROBERTS: It is a poem by -- I don't know if it's either Haffeys (ph) or Rummie (ph), which says, now that all this worrying has proven to be such a fruitless experience, why not find another job.
WARD: That's right.
ROBERTS: I need another job.
WARD: That's right. It's very, very true. Where does it get you in the end.
ROMANS: Karol Ward.
ROBERTS: Karol Ward, great to see you this morning.
WARD: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Thanks so much.
We got heavy rain, strong storms heading east. There's something to worry about. Reynolds Wolf coming up next.
Forty-three minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: And good morning, New York City; it's cloudy, 59 degrees. Scattered thunderstorms I'm told later -- John.
ROBERTS: Those guys are going to Six Flags after they tip a couple -- music.
Speaking of Reynolds Wolf he's live in Gulfport, Mississippi this morning where it's -- it sort of looks like partly cloudy with a chance of sludge.
WOLF: Yes, I'm telling you, it's pretty -- it's pretty rough offshore, no question, talking about the oil slick. But here onshore, the weather is pretty nice. It's picture perfect for some events taking place along the coast as the video will show.
As your getting ready for your day, they're getting ready for The Hangout Musical Festival from Gulf Shores of Alabama clear over to New Orleans. They've got a couple of music fests. And tonight, things are going to get under way with Sheryl Crow.
It should be a lot of fun, no question. Everything going -- all the benefits for the conservation of the coast itself certainly taking on new meaning with the oil slick.
Well, if you have a chance to head out there, that's fun. If you're just trying to get out of the door and go to the airport, here is what you're going to face out there, a few delays.
Let's go right to that very quickly and we're going to show you where the delays are going to be out there. Some places, as you expect, with rough weather moving in, it's going to stack up. In New York, also Chicago, Minneapolis, could be waiting up to an hour there and D.C. Metro and Philadelphia, well, we have some issues there too.
Driving is going to be tough in parts of the Show Me State in Missouri. You see all the -- the reds and the greens on the screen. And those are flash flood watches warnings, certainly a flood threat today. And the reason why is because we've got that front that's drifting on through.
The results, scattered showers, storms, heavy rainfall could cause that water to stack up on those roadways. Certainly, a lot of ponding, so please be careful.
Southern plains, same story, back in Texas and we even have a -- a severe thunderstorm watch that will be in effect at noontime today for parts of Mexico -- New Mexico rather and back into West Texas including the Davis and the Apache mountains.
If your travel plans take you a little bit farther, like high in the sky, mainly, a space shuttle, well, your conditions today should be fairly nice. You've got a 70 percent chance of launch. Skies mostly cloudy but a few rays of sunshine coming through.
All things considered should be very nice if you start off your weekend.
All right guys. Let's kick it back to you in the studio. Watch out for those raindrops in New York, thunder boomers possible into the afternoon hours.
ROMANS: All right, Reynolds Wolf. We can hear those sea gulls. Doesn't that sound cool?
ROBERTS: That's very peaceful there. Thanks Reynolds.
ROMANS: Coming up next, a fashion disaster of a political type. Japan's Prime Minister in a world of hurt all because of a shirt.
ROBERTS: Oh wow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Most people can't stand on a surf board for more than a second on two legs but our CNN hero of the week is catching waves with one. And he is using the ocean to show others like him that the -- the horizon is the limit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DANA CUMMINGS, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: When I learned to surf, it was amazing. You feel such a powerful connection with the earth and the water.
I'm a veteran. I served in the Gulf War. I came back without injury. In 2002, I was in a car accident and lost my leg. When you become disabled, you feel trapped. And when I felt that first breath of freedom of riding that wave, I was like, this is so good. It was so inspiring. So I wanted to share that feeling that I had with others.
I'm Dana Cummings. I started an organization to help people focus on their abilities, not their disabilities with surfing. We work with people with disabilities. A lot are veterans. We just want you to feel the rehabilitative power of the ocean and surfing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I got hurt on my way home in the Navy. I remember waking up in the V.A. hospital and not being able to move my legs.
CUMMINGS: It has been amazing the recovery he has made. Because he was told he would never walk again. Now, he's suffering.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I owe a lot to Dana and Amp Surf and what it does physically for me and what it does emotionally and mentally is priceless.
CUMMINGS: This way, buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am a little nervous but once we got started, I wasn't scared anymore. It is really great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually got up on the first wave. Definitely coming back to do this again. This is awesome.
CUMMINGS: We always want to give our participants the power and the passion for life that we have. They've got to push themselves to the best of their ability. And if we can give them that self- confidence that is a gift that no one can ever take that away from them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Well, how about a fashion faux pas for the ages. Wait until you take a look at what Japan's Prime Minister was wearing the other day. Ouch oh my, it's like he stole every tablecloth off of every Italian restaurant New York City.
ROMANS: And they can be like 500 guys are getting ready to work this morning and hey, wait a minute I just took that shirt on, what's just wrong with that shirt, John?
ROBERTS: Let's hope not.
Fifty-three minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: That's three; I'm counting. It is three and a half minutes to the top of the hour.
It's time for the "Moost News in the Morning". Plaid, whether it is on shirts or shorts, you either love it or hate it.
ROMANS: But it seems everyone can agree when Japan's prime minister wore it, it was a big fat fail. Jeanne Moos takes a look at this particular fashion faux pas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the plaid shirt seen 'round the world, featuring a total of five --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hideous.
MOOS: -- different --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!
MOOS: -- colors --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's ugly.
MOOS: -- of plaid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's horrific. Horrific!
MOOS: And most shocking of all, that's a prime minister wearing it. Japan's prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, wore it while hosting a Japanese barbecue. And some thought it resembled --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bad tablecloth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are no circumstances where I would wear that shirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Not even for free.
MOOS (on camera): Well, what era do you think that is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Depression. It's pieced together.
MOOS (voice-over): One little sartorial slip, and you're the talk of the Web, being compared to a box of crayons, though it might be good if you're looking for attention.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something called peacocking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That'd be a great shirt to wear because they'd be, like, What's up with your shirt?
MOOS: And speaking of peacocking, remember Bjork's swan dress?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love your dress. Tell us about that.
BJORK, SINGER: Yes, my friend made it.
MOOS: At least Bjork knew she'd laid a fashion egg. And while we're on birds, the Japanese prime minister does a mean pigeon imitation. Lil' Kim's pasty outfit was another famous fashion faux pas that Diana Ross couldn't resist tweaking. And we recall tweaking President Obama for what some called the "mom jeans" he wore. But can you imagine if Barack Obama showed up in this? Not that politicians don't wear plaid.
Senator Lamar Alexander walked across the state of Tennessee in a plaid shirt when he was running for governor. And Bill Clinton wore a plaid shirt that looked like pajamas in the Oval Office. Some wearing plaid approved of the prime minister's shirt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, maybe he's just fashion forward. Some people are just, like, fashion forward. He pulled it off very well for his --
MOOS (on camera): I see you're wearing plaid.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
MOOS: And I'm wearing plaid.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You and I would be perfect together, but we would have to leave him at home.
MOOS (voice-over): Hey, the outfit could have been worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fat bastard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm gonna eat ya! Get in my belly!
MOOS: Prime Minister Hatoyama's shirt could be a political plus.
(on camera): What do you think the message of this is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm my own person. I'll wear what the hell I want.
MOOS: He's the prime minister of Japan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Nice to meet you, Mr. Prime Minister!
MOOS: The prime minister of plaid.
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sayonara!
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: It was a barbecue.
ROBERTS: First thing that should have gone up in flames was that shirt.
Continue the conversation on today's stories; go to our blog at CNN.com/amFIX. That's going to wrap it up for us. We'll see you back here bright and early again on Monday morning.
We're going to join the boys for a cocktail.
ROMANS: Yes, I think so -- well, not me.
ROBERTS: It was only water. We're just kidding.
ROMANS: "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now.
