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American Morning

Hurricane Earl Targets North Carolina; Food On The Honor System; Islamophobia In America; Earl Strengthens on Approach; Birth Rates Plunging

Aired September 02, 2010 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It is Thursday, September 2nd. I'm Ali Velshi in for John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry.

We certainly have a busy morning, especially with the tracking of Hurricane Earl. We're getting new updates on where it's going. Hurricane Earl, big scary for many and steaming right towards North Carolina right now. It is a category 4 storm and it could make landfall by midnight. There's a look now. There are hurricane watches and warnings now in effect from the Carolinas. There's tropical storm warnings and watches extending much further. We're talking from North Carolina, all the way up to Massachusetts.

Here's a live picture right now from Raleigh, North Carolina. And this is where we are waiting for an update. The emergency management officials are going to be briefing us all on Hurricane Earl and we'll bring you any of that new information in this hour of AMERICAN MORNING.

VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And the story we are following a lot overnight. It is all clear this morning at the Discovery Channel after yesterday's hostage stand-off that ended with police killing the gunman. James Lee had a history of gripes against Discovery. Police spent the night sweeping the building for explosives.

CHETRY: Also, from sea to shining sea, mosques under attack in America? Well, the hostility is growing and it's troubling to many Muslims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You would never hear any mainstream commentator say, do you think another Christian sect could open a mosque? Do you think Jews should be allowed to open their synagogues anywhere they want? But we have mainstream news presenters just asking the questions bluntly, do you think Muslims open -- should be allowed to open mosques anywhere they want?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Our Deb Feyerick takes a closer look at Islamophobia in America. That's just ahead.

VELSHI: And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation right now. Just got to CNN.com/amFIX.

CHETRY: Well, right now, this is pretty much a monster of a storm. It's named Earl and it's threatening to carve up the Carolinas some worry, especially in those outer barrier islands. Hurricane Earl now category 4 storm, packing 145-mile-per-hour winds.

VELSHI: Earl is bearing down on the East Coast, setting its sights on the outer banks of North Carolina, which, as you know, from a map, sort of jets out into the Atlantic in an unusual fashion. Emergency management officials are ordering more evacuations overnight. A state of emergency is now in effect in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.

CHETRY: Right -- and Delaware as well.

And we are tracking Earl from the CNN hurricane center. Reynolds Wolf will be joining us in just a moment.

But, first, we are checking in with Rob Marciano. He is live in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

And, I can see by your shirt, winds are whipping up much more than last time we checked in with you. I know they are telling folks to evacuate. What's the latest?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they are. The winds and waves are starting to pick up, the waves are picking up, but -- and the clouds increasing somewhat. The sun is still trying to break through at times. But there is no doubt that there is a storm approaching.

Here in the Kill Devil Hills, in the outer banks of North Carolina, it's been a while since they've seen a sort of storm of magnitude, since 2003 when Hurricane Isabel raked this coastline.

It's different from the Gulf of Mexico. You have a lot of the dunes that protect the areas and the shoreline is different as well. So, storm surge is not as much of an issue. But the waves -- the waves can get big and they're getting larger now. We could see 20, 25, maybe 30-foot waves later on today and in parts of this -- the outer banks where the road is slim and there's not a whole lot of land, that can wash out roadways. That can cut people off from the mainland.

So, those are the main concerns here. There have been evacuations ordering for Dare County and parts of Hyde County as well.

It feels dry right new. That's good news.

Let's take a look at the satellite picture, category 4 storm, 145-mile-an-hour winds. This thing is a beast, but it is running into a little bit dry air, a little bit of interference at the upper levels. So, we are hoping that it knocks down some of the strength certainly here over the next few hours. If it doesn't and it shifts west, then this area is in a heap of trouble. The forecast track is to keep it just barely offshore, as a category 3 or 4 storm, brushing by the outer banks later on tonight and early tomorrow morning, and then making a run at eastern New England tomorrow night and possibly into Saturday morning. Any deviation on that track, Ali and Kiran, will mean a world of difference. If it shifts 20, 30, or 40 miles to the west, then you're talking about the core of that eye wall hitting and raking this coastline and that will do serious damage to the structures and the people that live here.

If it stays just offshore, or a little further offshore, then we won't get much of anything. And the answer to what it's going to do, there's a lot of uncertainty in that. And that's the scariest part of it.

VELSHI: All right. We are staying on top of it. Thanks very much for that, Rob.

Let's bring in Reynolds Wolf in the CNN hurricane headquarters in Atlanta -- Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It is amazing to see what's been happening along the coast. Just perhaps in the storm with this magnitude, we want to take a shot from high above, from the space station. It is mind-boggling view.

This is an immense storm. In fact, if you were just to measure somehow the outer bands of this, all the way to the outflow, you can stretch from one end of Marshall, Texas, all the way to El Paso -- nearly covering the Lone Star State. It is that big of a storm.

Let's show you something else. You got that shot from Texas -- that shot of a storm that is nearly as big as Texas. We're going to show you the Atlantic basin. We've got our producer, Angela Fritz, back.

Angela, if you could help us may be enlarged one of these images that shows a shot that we have of the Atlantic basin. You're going to see folks -- we've got three different storms out there. We have Earl. We also have Fiona. And we also have Gaston. We got three big storms that are forming out there that are just tremendous.

The first, of course, is Earl, is going to be your biggest one. But the ones right behind it, Fiona and Gaston. This is really not unusual. This is a time of year when things really begin to percolate and very minimal sphere in the Atlantic at this time. The water is very warm.

And I can tell you, as Rob was mentioning earlier, if you look at the path of this storm, specifically, going right along the Eastern Seaboard, even if the storm were to stay a little bit out to sea, if it was going to stay out on the cone of uncertainty and stay a little bit deeper in the Atlantic, still, because of this huge wind field, because of the enormity of the storm, you're still going to have widespread power outages along the Carolina coast, along the Virginia coast -- perhaps even into Maryland and then as it surges northward into Delaware, past places like, say, back into New Jersey, it's going to be something that's going to affect millions of people. Not only heavy waves, but at the same time, you are going to have the immense surf.

We've got so much more to talk about. We're going to be following thing hour by hour, day by day, as the storm pulls its way to the north, affecting so many Americans.

Let's send it back to you, guys.

VELSHI: Reynolds, thanks very much.

We, of course, are going to be with you guys all morning, all afternoon, all evening following this storm. This is not even one of those you just know is coming in directly one place as Rob said. Twenty miles either way could make a big difference to who this affects.

CHETRY: Right. And the longer it goes on, the longer it takes to make the turn.

VELSHI: That's right.

CHETRY: They want to see, the more at risk these areas especially in North Carolina are. So, of course, we're going to be following it.

And as we said, within this hour, we expect to get an update from emergency management on what they're thinking when it comes to this storm.

VELSHI: Obviously, this is going to lead or could lead to some chaos at airports on such a heavy travel weekend, Labor Day weekend. The big carriers: Delta, Continental, American, I saw AirTran -- they're all telling CNN they do not expect huge delays or cancellations. Hopefully, this thing will pass before most people decide to get out.

But check your flight status online. You might be able to change or reschedule your flight without extra fees, generally speaking, if there's been a schedule change or if they're anticipating one. But call the airline ahead of time.

You know, as you said, Kiran, it's just a lot easier than showing up and getting it wrong and sitting stranded at an airline.

CHETRY: Especially if you make one and you don't make your connection and you are stuck at an airport.

VELSHI: Yes. By the way, we're going to cover this completely, as you know. We always do. It's you're hurricane headquarters. But when you're away from your TV, CNN.com is your online hurricane headquarters. Latest information or if you have pictures and video you want to share with us, go to CNN.com/weather.

CHETRY: Well, police in Silver Spring, Maryland, giving the all clear this morning to the Discovery Channel's headquarters. They spent the night sweeping the building for explosives after police shot and killed James Lee. Lee took three workers hostage yesterday.

What you are hearing there is exploding ordnance that went on late into the night yesterday. Lee with a long history of gripes against the Discovery Channel's program.

VELSHI: The White House is -- by the way, that's the police that were exploding those things -- the White House today is touting a new Pew Research poll that shows the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States has been declining since 2007. The poll says the most recent figures from 2009 show that there were just over 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, an 8 percent decline from the peak of 12 million in 2007.

CHETRY: America's top seeded man in the U.S. Open crashes out on day three of the 14-day tournament. Andy Roddick, who won the grand slam here in New York back in 2003, was taken out by Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, who is ranked 44th, by the way. So, it was considered an upset. I think Roddick was ranked ninth.

VELSHI: Ninth. Yes.

CHETRY: One of the most heated moments came when Roddick got a call for a foot fault with his right foot while serving. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY RODDICK, TENNIS PLAYER: Have you ever seen me go like this ever?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

RODDICK: Have you ever seen me move my right foot ever in my career?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Not in my matches. But she called it.

RODDICK: I don't move my right foot. It's impossible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: There you go. You can see it. It's the right call, the wrong foot. Roddick's left foot hit the line during the serve which, by the way, that serve would have been an ace.

VELSHI: Hmm. Ouch.

CHETRY: You don't know what to make of that, right?

VELSHI: Yes. I'll tell you, the other story I don't know what to make of is those miners in Chile. I am fascinated, as I think so many people are. We got riveting new video that shows the raw emotions of the trapped Chilean miners and they get their first hot meal in more than three weeks. Boy, the stuff we take for granted. I got an amazing update about this when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Developing this morning, new video released of the 33 miners in Chile trapped half a mile under the earth. It's 23 minutes long. I guess these guys have time on their hands to make the videos. I appreciate that they're doing it.

In it, we see how they're getting medicine, camping beds, and their first hot meal in more than three weeks -- fascinating because they've only got a four-inch diameter hole to do this in. The men are surprisingly in fantastic spirits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Greetings to Mr. Minister. Mr. Minister, this is the seminar room. Here we have this office for messages coming from above and messages that go down below.

In here, we have a complete inventory of everything that's coming in. We are happy. Very happy to have water. Food is being consumed according to the plan they have upstairs.

We are very happy. We can't tell you how happy we are. Now, my co-workers want to say bye. Thank you, Mr. President.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: It's amazing, though, that their spirits are as high.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: All we can do is hope and pray that it stays this way. This is 28 days.

VELSHI: They seem to be really good about getting on with each other and supporting each other. I just hope this is true and that it continues.

CHETRY: Yes. And the drilling started on the rescue tunnel. It could take, unfortunately, as they've said, three months or four months. However, they are, of course, frantically looking at backup plans, other options, whether they can tunnel through the side.

VELSHI: I got a lot of e-mails about, why can't they do -- why couldn't they blast through? Well, you can't blast through because there's guys there.

CHETRY: Right.

VELSHI: You can't put an explosion in there. You can't collapse that. But it's a tough one.

Tough economic times, by the way. Russia's finance minister is asking everyone in the country to smoke and drink a little bit more.

CHETRY: Alexei Kudrin -- is it Kudrin?

VELSHI: Kudrin, yes.

CHETRY: Says that the government badly needs the tax money generated by tobacco and alcohol sales. That's going to be interesting because then they're going to need to pay a lot of money in health care costs, as we know. We call it the sin tax here, right, because things that are bad for us end up harming us.

VELSHI: Do you go out after the show? Like you go out that much?

CHETRY: No. I just actually, you know, go into a cot right there --

VELSHI: Right.

CHETRY: -- you know, in the office and then come back here for the next show.

VELSHI: You may want to rethink that because ladies night lives. An appeals court shooting down claims by a Manhattan attorney that ladies nights are unconstitutional because women get to pass the velvet ropes for free or half price. The court ruled states have no control over nightclub pricing policies.

CHETRY: And every guy in the world is like, "Please don't cancel ladies night. Please! I'm single and looking for a honey."

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: Anyway.

Well, food on the honor system at Panera Bread. You pay what you can afford. What you think the meal is worth.

VELSHI: Very interesting little project they got going on there.

CHETRY: It was a social experiment, I guess, you could say with Panera Bread, on human nature works. And we're going to talk to Ronald Shaich -- he's the chairman of Panera Bread -- about how this experiment is working out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Very interesting little project. He's got going on there.

CHETRY: Well yes, he's got a social experiment, I guess, you could say with Panera Bread on how human nature works. And we are going to talk to Ronald Shaich, he's the chairman of Panera Bread, about how this experiment is working out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: you play this while I'm not here? Because I feel like that's my song.

CHETRY: your thing.

VELSHI: I love it. It is so good to be back with you.

CHETRY: It is nice to have you here, too. Especially when the hurricane to talk about. You lived one through yourself.

VELSHI: Yes, I've lived through a couple. Welcome back to the most news in the morning. It is -- we are following this hurricane very closely by the way. That's what you are looking at in the bottom right corner.

CHETRY: Yes but time for business though. We are "Minding Your Business," this morning. And Salt Lake City restaurant has been using an unusual payment method. They are saying hey, you know what, order what you like and pay what you think it is worth.

VELSHI: Yes and when we saw when they were doing, the head of Panera Bread decided he, too, wanted to give back to customers who had fallen on hard times. The idea essentially uses the honor system. Joining us from West Newton, Massachusetts, to explain how this works. Ron Shaich, he's the executive chairman and founder of the Panera Bread Company. A place familiar to many of us all over the country. Ron, good to see and you thank you for being with us.

RONALD SHAICH, CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF PANERA BREAD COMPANY: Good morning Ali. How are you?

VELSHI: Very well, thank you. I don't know what the wisdom is of talking about food like this in the morning. This is making me hungry. Ron, tell us about this. What was this experiment? Why did you decide to open up or pile a store that had to pay what you will policy.

SHAICH: Yes, Ali is very simple. Panera has been the most successful performing stock in the restaurant universe the last ten years. We have done that because we have been part of the communities in which we live. And it was very important for us to continue to try to find ways to make a difference in these communities. We give $100 million a year in donations. We want to do something more. I heard about this idea in Salt Lake City. I said you know what, these guys spent years trying to get this restaurant open. We opened two restaurants a week. We operate 1,400 restaurants. We know how to do this. Maybe we should take a shot at it. Step up and do something.

CHETRY: It is interesting because you said that the verdict two or a month later is that people are essentially good. Because for the most part, what, I think 60 percent to 70 percent of people just paid --

VELSHI: They pay more or they pay the same --

CHETRY: Yes it's close - 60 percent to 70 percent of the people paid, you know, the same. And then you had a small percentage of people paying more and a small percentage of people paying less. How did you view the result?

SHAICH: Exactly right. I mean, you have to understand how it works. You walk in and first we have to explain to you how does this work. Because most of us have had tens of thousands of experiences in restaurants where the prices are what the prices are. We have to explain to you it is a cafe of shared responsibility. From there, people have to -- are given the suggested retail price. And then they make the choice what they want to leave. They go over to a donation bin and put the money in. We don't look at it. We don't know what they put in. It is up to them. The interesting part, the most interesting part, is as you said, it is 60 percent of the people leave the suggested amount, 20 percent leave more than the suggested amount. And 20 percent essentially leave less and often much less. But to tell you THE truth -- go ahead.

VELSHI: Are you going to open more of these?

SHAICH: We are, yes. We don't know quite yet where. We will announce that in the next couple of weeks.

CHETRY: It's interesting, you tell the story about a family barely getting by. They were able to treat themselves out to a night out, you know, them and their kids which was a rarity for them. I mean is that sort of the point here as well? You know, as you talked about, just being able to provide a little bright spot for people, even though, you know, just a place to eat.

SHAICH: Well, you know the truth of the matter is one out of six Americans today have food insecurity. One out of ten are unemployed. We are not going to cure poverty with this. But we do make a difference in serving the Panera experience with dignity to lots of different people. Let me be clear. This isn't a soup kitchen. You don't know who is who. We have all kinds of people mixed in. It is a wonderful human experience.

VELSHI: Great conversation, Ron. Good on you and your company for doing that. Thanks very much for coming to talk to us about it.

SHAICH: Thank you, Ali.

VELSHI: Ron Shaich is the founder and chairman of Panera Bread Company.

All right, this monster storm we are tracking hurricane Earl, it is churning closer to the North Carolina coast. Evacuations have been ordered. Some people are not leaving. They are hunkering down. We always have this discussion. We are going to talk to the FEMA administrator, Craig Fieldgate (ph), live coming up. It is 23 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Two Yemeni men who were detained in the Netherlands after a flight from the United States have now been released. They were held as possible terror suspects after concerns were raised about items that were found in their checked luggage. U.S. officials found no evidence of any terrorist plot and the Dutch government agrees with them.

CHETRY: You know it was a strange story. As you know, you were here when it was happening as well, bottles, empty bottles, --

VELSHI: Taped with medicine - cellphones yes.

CHETRY: Taped with cell phones, box cutters, knives.

VELSHI: There's a story there we just don't have all the information just yet.

CHETRY: But again, the Dutch authorities releasing them now saying there is no evidence of a terror plot.

Meanwhile we have an "A.M. Original." Something you will see here, only on AMERICAN MORNING. We talk about attempted terror attacks aimed at the U.S. and most of the time they come from Muslim extremists born outside of America. Well there have been a few of course, like the Fort Hood shooter, Nadal Hassan who were born in the United States. While America's Muslim community has been quick to warn law enforcement about the potential threats.

VELSHI: Though why does it appear more and more that all Muslims are being portrayed as potential terrorists? Deb Feyerick joins us now for a closer look, Deb.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDNET: Well you know, even before the ground zero mosque controversy what is known as the ground zero mosque controversy, more than 40 percent of Americans admitted feeling some prejudice towards Muslims. Experts agree that there is a great deal of misunderstand when it comes to Islam, add on politicians now spreading rumors Sharia law, Islamic law is coming to the United States simply because a group of Americans wants to build a mosque. It's time to ask what's really going on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop that mosque! Stop that mosque!

FEYERICK (voice-over): The Islamic center and mosque to be built near ground zero is not the only mosque drawing fire. About a dozen others across the country are also under attack. From angry protests and suspected arson in Murphy's Burrow (ph), Tennessee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you forget 9/11 so fast?

FEYERICK: To Tumecala (ph), California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's sorry to come of anything.

FEYERICK: American mosques in some cases being portrayed as monuments to terror or terror training centers.

JOHN ESPOSITO, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: It's open season on hate towards Muslims and Islam. FEYERICK (on camera): Why now? Especially since the majority of Americans have resisted the urge to escape Muslims in the year since 9/11. Despite negative images in the movies and other news.

(voice-over): John Esposita is a religion and Islamic professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C..

ESPOSIT: People feel under siege. They feel threatened by the economy and by terrorism, etcetera. The risk is Islamaphobia will become the kind of new form of discrimination. You know, like anti- Semitism, like racism towards blacks.

FEYERICK: Conservatively figures show estimated 5 million Muslims in America. And intensifying hostility and rise in hate speech is alarming to many like these clerics who we met at a recent Islamic summit in Houston.

YASIR QADHI, ALMAGHRIB INSTITUTE: You would never hear any mainstream commentator say do you think another Christian sect could open a mosque? Do you think Jews should be able to open synagogues anywhere they want. But we have mainstream news presenters just asking the question, bluntly. Do you think Muslims should open, should be allowed to open mosques anywhere they want.

WISAM SHARIEFF, BAYYINAH INSTITUTE: What changed the game, 19 people changed the game? How did that happen? Because we have been your doctor, we've been your x-ray tech, we've been your accountant. We have been serving you slushies a long time. So what tipped the scales?

FEYERICK: Wisam Sharieff and Yasir Qadhi and other prominent American clerics say American Muslims are under siege both by Islamic extremists and some U.S. conservatives.

QADHI: You have radical Islamic clerics, right, preaching from abroad saying you cannot be an American and Muslim at the same time. Well lo and behold on the far right, you have quite a number of famous prominent its Islamaphones who are saying the same message.

FEYERICK: The ground zero mosque as some call it, has whipped up national debate, fuelled in part by misinformation and fear- mongering. Yet anti-Muslim feelings have been simmering. Since last year this YouTube video has been viewed more than 12 million times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world is changing. It is time to wake up.

FEYERICK: Islam has become a political wedge issue with politicians like Newt Gingrich comparing Muslims to Nazis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH: You know Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the holocaust museum in Washington. There is no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: In fact, the Duke University study finds rather than fuel terrorism in America, contemporary mosques prevent it. National security experts and American Muslims like Siraaj Mohammad fear that there is a lot at stake.

SIRAAH MOHAMMAD: The more they speak and the more they incite people, they themselves are a concern to be dealt with. And they have to be told you have to stop this rhetoric. It is hurting American security.

FEYERICK: Right because it is creating hatred.

MOHAMMAD: Yes, it is creating a lot of hatred.

FEYERICK (on camera): The latest 2008 FBI statistics of hate crimes against Muslims don't reflect what's going on now. But experts believe that despite what happened after 9/11 could repeat itself.

(voice-over): In New York recently a cab driver was stabbed after his attacker allegedly asked if he was Muslim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slowly but surely we will counter this Islamaphobia. Everybody had it. The Irish had it, the Catholics had it, the Italians had it. Now it is just the time of the Muslims.

FEYERICK: How long it will take to counter is anyone's guess.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now, Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf of the Islamic center has been traveling with the State Department and he is going to be back in New York City sometime today. He says that just as American Catholics were crucial in pushing reform in Vatican II, he believes American Muslims, western thinkers, will be indispensable in bridging a chasm that now exists between and those Muslim countries.

VELSHI: Let's hope that doesn't all get lost in this conversation.

FEYERICK: Hopefully it won't. So many allegations, so many things are being said right now that I think it is incumbent upon us to peel back the layers and see what is truth and what is not truth.

CHETRY: And I know you are working on getting a sit-down with him to talk more about this, so good luck with that. Great stuff. Thanks, Deb.

VELSHI: Time now for this morning's top stories. A new round of Mideast peace talks set to begin in Washington today. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with face off at the State Department with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton moderating.

The government's go-to man on the Gulf oil spill, retired admiral Thad Allen says crews plan to remove the capping stack on BP's ruptured well this afternoon. Then they will begin recovery of the blowout preventer that failed to stop the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

CHETRY: Also, hurricane Earl now a category four storm gathering some strength, bearing down on the California (ph) coast, packing 145- mile-an-hour winds. There is a look at the satellite. It could make landfall in the outer banks of North Carolina by midnight tonight. Hurricane watches and warnings, though, extend far out from the Carolinas all the way up north to Massachusetts.

VELSHI: A mandatory evacuation order is in effect for everyone visiting Dare County, North Carolina. Hurricane earl bearing down on the Carolinas right now, threatening the entire east coast with its powerful winds and pounding rains.

CHETRY: President Obama is putting the Federal Emergency Management Agency on notice to prepare for a worst case scenario.

Joining from us Washington now this morning, FEMA administrator Craig Fugate.

Craig, great to talk to you this morning. I know you're busy, but part of that is getting the word out.

What message should people be hearing today if you are living along the east coast and any of these areas?

CRAIG FUGATE, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: The time of preparing is over, the time of action is now. Particularly in the Carolina outer banks, North Carolina, this is a time that you guys, there is not much more time to get your plans done if you're evacuating. Don't wait for the next forecast.

Today is the day of action. We have been talking about getting ready for this storm in North Carolina, auto banks. It is action time. We are getting ready. President Obama last night declared an emergency at the request of the Governor Purdue to support her response efforts.

So we are getting ready for this storm no matter what happens over the next couple of days.

VELSHI: Craig, one of the changes since hurricane Katrina is that FEMA does not have to wait for a declaration of a state of emergency to prepare in other places. We just do not know where the storm is going after North Carolina. And some of our worst case predictions have it, you know, somehow affecting major cities, major population centers, all up the east coast. What sort of preparations are you doing or advising people of the east coast to be dealing with?

FUGATE: Well, again, the message for the public is the same thing -- you know, make sure you have a plan. Heed any evacuation orders coming from local officials.

But we couldn't take a chance. We don't know which states will get impacted. So from North Carolina to Maine we have had teams ready go in and support those states. We are moving supplies into the New England states as well as into the southern tier of this response.

Again, we are prepared from North Carolina to Maine irregardless of what areas were impacted to support this response at the local and state level. So the lesson of Katrina is you just can't wait to find out how bad it is and know for sure who will get impacted. You have to be ready to go across the entire threat area.

CHETRY: You know, the other question is for people who perhaps aren't used to this. When we were reading some of the areas where hurricane force winds could stretch, we are talking New Jersey, places that people may not be used to, having an evacuation planner quite knowing what do in this case. What's your advice to those who are not veterans of dealing with hurricanes?

FUGATE: First thing is find out what your community plan is and if you are in an evacuation zone, and if you are, where you would go if the evacuation order is given. If you are down there visiting, I think in many cases that's going to be the first group that will be asked to leave for the tourists to go back to the main land, go back home and get out of the areas.

And for the residents that live there, take the steps to make sure you are ready. If this storm track comes further west, you may see additional evacuation orders as we move up the coast.

VELSHI: Craig, thanks very much for joining us. Appreciate your good and strong and direct advice on this, Craig Fugate of FEMA.

We will get the latest track on the hurricane from meteorologist Reynolds Wolf in just a moment.

But first, Mideast peace talks begin in Washington today, a unique perspective from people really affected by these talks coming up next. It's 36 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 38 minutes past the hour right now.

We have new video in of Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Afghanistan. He made this surprise stop there arriving in Kabul about two hours ago. There you see him shaking hands with U.S. troops. He is scheduled to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He's also going to be meeting with top NATO commander General David Petraeus. And Secretary Gates will also take time out to visit with U.S. troops serving there.

The surprise trip comes just a day after he presided over the change of command ceremony in Baghdad, marking the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq. Ali?

VELSHI: Kiran, after announcing the end of those combat operations, President Obama is now shifting his focus to the thorny issue of Middle East peace. Direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians -- haven't seen those in the last couple of years, set to resume today in Washington and in Tel Aviv this morning.

We are joined live by Merav Michaeli. She is a columnist with the "Ha'aretz" newspaper in Israel, and in Ramallah, Elias Zananiri. He's a veteran Palestinian journalist, once a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority. Thank you to both of you for joining us this morning.

Merav, I want to start with you. There has never been a successful outcome to conversations, peace conversations between Israel and Palestine that has not involved the United States. Yes, someone pointed out quite clearly to me yesterday there's never been a successful outcome that has involved the United States.

So what is the feeling on the ground as to the role the United States can play in actually achieving some progress in these peace discussions?

MERAV MICHEALI, COLUMNIST, "HA'ARETZ" NEWSPAPER: I think some people have a lot of hope in the involvement of the U.S. But generally speaking there is not a lot of hope as to the outcome that can come out of these talks generally speaking. So it's not like people don't sort of count or don't count on the U.S., if you see what I mean.

VELSHI: I understand what you're saying.

Elias, Let's talk about something else. This is an area that the Israelis and Palestinians have in common, and that is whether or not the U.S. is neutral observer or they are on one side or the other. There has been decades of thinking that the U.S. may have favored Israel, and then there have been times in the last number of years where Israel fell that the U.S. has not been as strong an ally.

What -- as we go into these negotiations, where do Palestinians see the role of the United States in these negotiations?

ELIAS ZANANIRI, PALESTINIAN JOURNALIST: In fact there has been some deterioration in the U.S. stand vis-a-vis the Arab-Israeli conflict or the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian. One of reasons is when President Obama first took office, he declared openly and clearly Israel should freeze all the settlement activities, including the so called natural growth.

But then he backed down, and for the American presence to back down on issues, crucial issue such as settlements, that was something seen as very negatively by the Palestinians and the perception of the Palestinian public. The U.S. administration is not as honest a broker as it was supposed to be, especially after the president backed down.

But yet the chance is still there. There are lots of hopes among the Palestinians. But there are also, I would say, skepticism, because people are worried what may happen in Washington not necessarily today but the days after, weeks after, would be some kind of what happened back in the year 2000 when there were lots of expectations and frustration was high as the expectations were in the beginning.

It all depends not on what the leaders in Washington are saying today but many will depend on what will they do when they come back, mainly on Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. We know he has the very difficult coalition. I don't know whether he can go ahead with what he promised yesterday to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians once and for all when he continues to sustain a coalition like this one.

VELSHI: Let's talk about that for a second.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Merav, it does occur that Benyamin Netanyahu is, as Elias says, in a tougher position.

MICHAELI: I don't know about the tougher position. I know, first of all, my friend Elias is still speaking for the Palestinian Authority. But it is always good to hear him speak about.

You know, it is -- about the hopes, regarding the U.S. involvement, I think there's a limit to what the U.S., no matter what the president is heading it, there is a limit to what they can make the parties do. I mean, you definitely know that it was up to President Obama he would definitely make them get, you know, signed peace treat or, you know, some kind of settlement.

But really it is about -- up to the parties. I mean, it is good. This time it is not only the U.S. but President Obama, I think, very wisely brought also King Abdullah and president -- the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, which wrote a very, very smart piece today in "The New York Times," saying it's a psychological thing that both parties have to get over and get to the bottom of things and reach an agreement.

So really, I mean the three leaders are there. It is up to Netanyahu and Abbas and whoever has the influence on them to really do what they have to do.

VELSHI: You've both have given us a very thoughtful perspective on this. We are all hoping that some peace emerges or process for peace emerges from this. But you probably the two of you hope for more than we do because you are both in it. So thanks very much for some thoughtful conversation about this. Thank you for both for joining us. Kiran?

CHETRY: Ali, thanks. It's 44 minutes past the hour right now. We are on alert. Hurricane Earl churning closer to the Carolinas today. It is a category four. It is strong, and there are people that will be affected from the North Carolina coast all the way up to Maine following the very latest. Reynolds Wolf, we'll check in with him, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: You see this is the thing. You look at a shot like this, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. It's gorgeous.

VELSHI: Right. And you're wondering, what's the problem?

CHETRY: It's gorgeous.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: You see the sun shining. You see the beautiful waves out there --

VELSHI: You know from covering hurricanes, though, before they hit, the world looks like a perfect place.

CHETRY: Oh, yes. And after that, of course, as we heard from Craig Fugate, he's our FEMA administrator, he gave a completely different reading (ph) -- the time for preparations, that's over. And now it's time for your action plan.

VELSHI: That's right.

CHETRY: Especially if you are there, because the hurricane is going to --

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: -- swipe this area.

VELSHI: And for everybody else, he says just stop speculating. Find out what your local community's plan is and if there are shelters, or what -- what the roads to get out are. That was 79 degrees there in Kill Devil. It was Kill Devil Hills, was it -- that we're just looking at.

CHETRY: Yes.

VELSHI: Reynolds Wolf is in the CNN Hurricane Headquarters first with an update on where the storm is going and what it looks like -- Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's crazy though, how great things happen looking at Kill Devil Hills. I can tell what you though, that what they're going to be experiencing very soon, is they're going to be having I would say, within the next couple of hours the winds will be picking up, tropical storm force winds will be moving through that part of the world.

And then by this evening, that's when the hurricane force winds, will be coming right in.

Here is a look at the latest that we have for you: winds at 145, gusts of 175, it is a Category 4 storm. If you look at the outflow, it is nearly the distance from, say, El Paso, Texas, all the way to Marshall, Texas. Nearly, as wide as the state of Texas and it is expected to continue its track to the north and veering off to the northeast in the coming days, as we get into Friday morning and then to Friday afternoon. It should weaken as it's going to move into an area with slightly cooler water and then as we fast forward into Saturday, winds of 100 miles per hour, gusts to 120.

But keep in mind this is one of the most densely populated parts of the country the Eastern Seaboard. And with a storm this wide it doesn't even have to make a direct hit onshore to causes all kinds of damage. And one of the ways that people are going to impacted first and foremost is going to be with those strong winds and, of course, widespread power outages.

That's a given. Millions of people could be without power by the time the storm finishes up. And already along the coast we've got warnings, watches that are in effect. All the way from the Carolina coast clear up here to Maine.

What we do anticipate with the storm also, in the short term, some bigger waves are moving along the coast. Wind gusts topping 80 miles per hour; some gusts of winds from 25 to 30 feet. There will be stronger waves that will be hitting the shoreline by later this evening.

A storm surge at two to three feet, it is going to be the same massive system trying to get through places like Virginia Beach, up the Jersey shore, eventually for places like Martha's Vineyard and even Nags Head (ph). This is going to be a rough time. No question about it.

We have a live image that we had earlier that was just spectacular that was taken from the Space Station. It's hard to believe something this immense just turning its way through parts of the Atlantic. We've got many other storms right behind it on the Atlantic. We've got Fiona, even Gaston.

This is the time of the year that we see these things really begin to pop up. It is the season and if this storm passes you by, you have to be lucky. Be prepared of what may be coming with Fiona and with Gaston.

Guys that is the latest; let's send it back to you in the studio in New York.

VELSHI: Thanks Reynolds.

Wolf: You got it.

VELSHI: If Gaston becomes an issue, we have to cover it. I'm going to do it, like, with a total French accent.

CHETRY: You're not going to sing.

VELSHI: It's going to be Hurricane Gaston.

CHETRY: Gaston.

VELSHI: I have to come back for that. Hey, listen, we try and be honest generally speaking in the news. We try to. Sometimes I say something that I just don't think is -- I think it might be an outright lie.

Because when we come back, I'm going to tell you -- look, we all know garlic breath is -- it can kill a date or am important business meeting. I'm supposed to tell you that there might be an easy remedy. We're going to talk about it on the other side.

I simply don't believe that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: I heard something about Hawaiian shirt Thursday.

CHETRY: That's what it is. The crew, you know they have lot of camaraderie around here.

VELSHI: Yes, absolutely.

CHETRY: One thing is on Thursdays -- because it's only a day away from Friday -- there's Doug in his hibiscus, beautiful. And then you go a little further out, Phil with the traditional Hawaiian shirt. Look at that -- and that's a lot of shirt, isn't it?

VELSHI: That's a lot of shirt.

CHETRY: And every Thursday, rain or shine.

VELSHI: You didn't tell me.

CHETRY: You would have worn one, right? How are you going to fit a Hawaiian shirt under the vest?

VELSHI: I have a Hawaiian vest.

CHETRY: We would have loved to see that one.

All right.

Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Fifty-four minutes past the hour.

You're A.M. House Call -- stories about your health. We talk a lot about the economic downturn and how it affected us as a nation. One is a stunning drop in the U.S. birth rate. They say deliveries are down 2.6 percent last year. It's the lowest level in more than a century. Lot of Americans are deciding this is a recession; it is too tough of a time to add another mouth to feed. And it's certainly a stark turnaround from really a baby boom in 2007 when babies were born in the United States more than any other year in the nation's history.

VELSHI: I only half believe it. I think just lots of people work -- there's two working families and just --

CHETRY: Well, there's a lot of uncertainty. If I had another child, do we need a bigger house? We certainly can't get a mortgage right now and afford that. And so -- how am I going to pay for college?

VELSHI: Right, right. That's big.

All right. Here's a possible breakthrough for migraine sufferers. Scientists from 40 medical centers studied the genetic profile of more than 50,000 people and discovered an inherited genetic link that appears to trigger the most common form of migraine headaches. And that is boosting hopes for the creation of new, more effective treatments for people who suffer from them, it couldn't come soon enough.

CHETRY: You're right.

VELSHI: Here's the story that I think --

CHETRY: Ok, you don't believe this. We're going to actually have --

VELSHI: I want to know what -- yes -- I would love to know what our viewers think of this one.

CHETRY: We're going to have to do a test here. I'm going to bring in some garlic tomorrow. We'll see if this works for you.

VELSHI: Let's don't and say we did.

CHETRY: They say if you are a garlic lover, you should drink some milk. Researchers at the Ohio State University -- great school -- they say milk is the cure for garlic breath. Whole milk appears to work best. I know, it's your stomach.

VELSHI: You are just going to have garlic milk breath.

CHETRY: They say it reduces --

VELSHI: That's going to be a charmer at the bar.

CHETRY: Right. Exactly. They say that -- you know, Listerine and things like that don't work for garlic breath.

VELSHI: Right.

CHETRY: They don't help at all.

VELSHI: I have heard that the chemicals in milk can neutralize -- but again, they're going to have milky-garlic breath or just milky breath.

CHETRY: Because if you eat spicy food they say milk, too, right? Drink some milk. Water doesn't help so much. They say that lattes, ice cream and other dairy foods work well. Yummy brie cheese.

VELSHI: This, of course, does not apply to people who are lactose tolerant. It is 8:56; 56 minutes after the hour. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: That's T.J. warm-up music coming up. Listen, you've got to see this video before we take it over to T.J.

Check this out. This is the Florida Marlins, Washington Nationals game, first pitch of the 6th inning. Watch what happens, watch that. Takes his helmet off -- oh.

Big clear -- everybody gets into this one. Look at that, everybody is into this.

CHETRY: Look at this. Let's watch it again in slow motion. There you see, boom, (INAUDIBLE) he doesn't care, he approaches the mound rather. And then here he comes, here he comes. Close line.

I mean this literally looks like a WWE, you know.

VELSHI: Yes. No, they were waiting for that. That thing had been coming on. It went on, by the way, it ended up being a 16-10 game, the Marlins beating the Nationals.

Now if that doesn't get T.J.'s adrenaline going --

CHETRY: Wait, wait, wait. Who got in trouble? Someone ought to get --

VELSHI: Yes, there's trouble.

(CROSSTALK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": You bring up -- that's an excellent point. Excellent, excellent point, Kiran. Nobody's going to get in trouble.

VELSHI: He looks very impressive but I don't hear a thing.

HOLMES: You can't hear me. Ali can't hear. Ali --

CHETRY: We're totally with you but we can't hear you.

VELSHI: He looks good. If you can't be heard, just be --

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: I should say bad things about those guys while they can't hear but I'm not going to do that.