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American Morning
Gas Prices Up; Libya Conflict Threatens More Carnage; Wisconsin Budget Battle; Tennessee Teachers Joins Fight; Let the Good Times Roll; Snuggie Pub Crawl; Chris Paul Leaves on Stretcher; NHL Player Punches Official; Inside a Hockey Tough Guy's Brain; Romney's Achilles Heel; Bloody Battle for Libyan City; Kate's Royal Wedding Dress; How to Drive Down Gas Prices?
Aired March 07, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: On this AMERICAN MORNING, you're going to be paying even more to get to work, to get the kids to school. This morning gas prices making their second biggest jump ever. Is it time the White House stepped in? And is there anything they can do to stop the surge.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Also, they are protesting the hearing on radical Islam. A congressman saying Al Qaeda is influencing young American Muslims, but he's being accused of putting Islam itself on trial.
CHETRY: He was one of the toughest players to ever hit the ice, never afraid to drop the gloves. He died at the age of 45. Now doctors say they found evidence of a degenerative disease in Bob Probert's brain. What could be a wake-up call for the NHL.
HOLMES: Also, some gorgeous pictures of nature's wrath. This is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet giving us all right now a reminder that it's there. It's all on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The power of nature on display. Dramatic pictures from Hawaii this morning. That's Mt. Kilauea erupting. And some of the experts are saying a bigger eruption could be on the way.
HOLMES: Also, thousands continue to protest in Wisconsin. It doesn't look like it's going to weaken any time soon. And there's one more they can add to their growing list of protesters, one Hollywood director and activist by the name of Michael Moore.
CHETRY: Also, gas prices continue to head up. They also set a record in the process. But what if anything can be done to get them under control? We're going to talk about it on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome, it is March 7th. We welcome T.J. back.
HOLMES: Good to be back.
CHETRY: You had a nice week-long vacation.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: You look, tan, rested and ready.
HOLMES: Well, thank you. I am tanned, yes. Ready? Who knows? But we'll see.
CHETRY: And because your flight was delayed four hours, you're certainly not rested, but you're here.
HOLMES: Not at all. No, good to be back with you guys. I was able to watch you while I was gone last week. But good to be back. And looks like not a lot has changed in some ways. We are still, went up a while, we're talking about gas prices. Once again, we're talking about gas prices.
This is what you need to know. It's going up now at record levels. Stuff we haven't seen before really.
Prices rising again overnight. They're now at $3.51 a gallon. Some places, as you know, even higher than that, like California. Some places on the East Coast seeing $4 and plus a gallon. In the past two weeks, though, the prices have jumped some 34 cents. That would make it the second biggest two-week jump in the history of the gasoline market. And now the White House chiming in and maybe feeling some pressure to do something.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL DALEY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: The issue of the reserves is one we're considering. It is something that only is done -- has been done on very rare occasions. There's a bunch of factors that have to be looked at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, our Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business" this morning. So a lot of factors that we have to look at, could one of them be tapping oil reserves? And really how much of a dent would that make?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it sounds like the chief of staff is raising that possibility. And, of course, this option is always on the table for the U.S. What is the strategic petroleum reserve? It's this huge collection of crude oil that the United States keeps stockpiled. We've been doing this since 1944, believe it or not, emergency supplies of crude. How much do we have? Seven hundred twenty-seven million barrels. Where is it? In underground salt caverns, believe it or not, along the Gulf Coast.
The reserve has been tapped twice. Once during the first Persian Gulf War and once during Katrina. So the chief of staff saying that we could do tap this if we wanted to but a lot of people think this is the administration trying to show that we could do it and trying to drive prices down a little bit. The options we have are rolling back the gas tax. You know, every different state has all of these different taxes. You could roll back the gas tax, that could help people out a little bit. They tried this in the '80s, just really didn't work.
The government price controls, you could do that. We tried that in the '70s. That obviously didn't work, as well. So do I think it's possible that they could tap the strategic petroleum reserve?
No, it's usually something like in times of war if you were to see Saudi Arabia's -- Saudi Arabia's supply come off the market, which is a real outlier in terms of all the risk out there. And remember, gas prices are still below $4 a gallon. A lot of economists you guys are telling me that above $4 a gallon, sustained above $4 a gallon, that's the real concern for American consumers.
CHETRY: But I think what has a lot of people worried right now is that it's March.
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: And we're coming up this high. So what does it mean for the summer driving season?
ROMANS: Well, if demand goes down, I mean, one thing we can all do is conserve, right? So what if you have demand going down, people driving fewer miles because of the high cost of gas? You could have people buying fewer cars. That would, of course, hurt the economy. You could have people may be trading in or spending their money on more fuel-efficient cars, which I guess if you're in the market for a used SUV would be good for you.
You know, there are a lot of different things that could happen. Deutsche Bank this morning saying that you would need to see crude oil prices above $125 before you'll get gas above $4. But crude oil prices have topped $106. So we'll keep watching the language out of the White House on this. No options ever off the table. How likely it would be that they would tap the strategic petroleum reserve? They rarely do. Only twice.
HOLMES: You said flat-out no it's not going to happen. Is this just maybe to put this out there to look like the appearance, at least, that they're on top of things or looking at enough right now?
ROMANS: Yes, yes. I mean, it could happen. It could happen. Every analyst I've talked to said they would not today tap the strategic petroleum because things would have to deteriorate very quickly and significantly before that would be a possibility.
HOLMES: Christine, thank you so much.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
HOLMES: We'll talk to you again plenty throughout this AMERICAN MORNING.
Also, I want to turn now, listen to this, ominous warning we're getting from the U.N. about the conflict in Libya. They say the threat now is of even more carnage in the days ahead. This comes as the bloody fighting now less than 200 miles away from the capital there. And our crews, CNN crews reporting they're seeing new air strikes in the country.
Now, both sides are claiming victory right now in the all-important town of Misrata. That is the third largest city in the country and it's an important economic hub. Rebels have been fighting Gadhafi's forces. But again, both sides saying they have won the battle for that important city. Both sides reportedly paying a bloody price there. Opposition forces reportedly though holding their own with machine guns and sticks and anything else they can use to go up against militias that are battling them with tanks and heavy artilleries.
CHETRY: Well, tension is already building over a congressional hearing planned for later this week. The focus is radical Islam and its role in the rising homegrown terror threat. It's already being called anti-Muslim. And hundreds of protesters were out in Times Square saying that it's wrong to single out one religion. The chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Peter King, wants these hearings. He says that the threat of homegrown terrorism is on the rise and American Muslims are not doing enough to stop it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER KING (R), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE CHMN.: This is Al Qaeda, internationally, is attempting to recruit within the United States. People in this country are being self-radicalized, whether it Major Hasan or whether it's Shahzad or whether it was Zazi in New York. These are all people who are identifying in one way or another with Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. So it's an international movement with elements here in the United States. And to me, that is a real distinction. But there's always going to be isolated incidents, isolated fanatics, isolated terrorists even. But an organized terrorist effort to me is different, which requires an investigation into itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, the White House is already working out -- is already out working to reassure the Muslim community that this is certainly not a war on them.
So is it reality or is it racial profiling? We're going to have a debate about this coming up in our next hour with Dr. Zuhdi Jasser (ph). He is the president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. He's going to be testifying at the hearing, as well as Eboo Patel (ph). He is the founder of a national movement promoting interfaith religious cooperation.
Seven minutes past the hour right now. Also new this morning, shades of the BP oil spill. An oil rig catching fire in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday. Happened about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The Coast Guard rescued two workers. They used a life capsule to escape from the fire. Company officials say the production platform had been shut down. They believe that no oil has leaked into the gulf.
HOLMES: Also, it seems like we see these scenes all too often. But look at this one. Once again, a dry cleaners, surveillance camera, and boom, someone comes barreling in. Now what you saw there right before it barreled in was a woman working at that counter. Did you see her?
Well, this was in Hinesville, Georgia, at a dry cleaners. The woman only suffered a broken leg. This was at a dry cleaners again. And they say the man who actually was in that vehicle is a regular customer, they all know him. And they said, hey, he did not mean to do this. Of course, he's a good guy. He just -- apparently his foot slipped of the break, hit the gas, and he barreled through. A lot of the customers now coming through now and saying they want to continue to be customers and help them rebuild that store.
CHETRY: Wow. Hopefully they have insurance.
Well, two brands of Skippy peanut butter being recalled because of possible salmonella contamination. Skippy's reduced fat creamy and reduced fat super chunk brands have been pulled from store shelves in 16 states. The parent company, Unilever, says salmonella was discovered during routine sampling. The recalled products are sold in 16.3 ounce jars and have use by dates of May 16th, 21 -- May 16th through the 21st, 2012 on the top.
HOLMES: All right. Let's turn to some weather now. The eastern third of the country is taking a pounding right now from winter storms. We've got heavy rain causing a lot of flooding in Indiana, flooding a lot of homes. You're seeing how people are trying to get around here. Some of the roads impassable in parts of Shelby County that's outside of Indianapolis. More rain in the forecast for this week.
CHETRY: And in Louisiana, they're cleaning up from a weekend tornado that caused widespread damage. The twister being blamed for the death of a young woman and a young mother in Rayne, Louisiana. The storm caused a tree to fall on to her house.
HOLMES: All right. Ten after the hour now. Let's turn to Rob Marciano. He is keeping an eye on all things weather-related in our extreme weather center.
Good morning to you, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Across southern Louisiana, very rough FTEF-2 (ph) with winds of at least 110, probably 120, 130 miles an hour. Twelve injuries, and we have another bout of severe weather that will be coming across the area today or later on this week.
The problem with March is not only you get severe weather, but you get snow, as well. And across Minnesota they have that. And, you know, folks in Minnesota certainly can deal with snow, but this one had some decent moisture content with it. So in St. Cloud, rough go of it along some of the interstates there.
All right. We do have snow across parts of the northeast today. Parts of upstate seeing about 10, 11 inches of it. Last night, the winter storm warnings are still posted from Syracuse up through northern parts of New England, in through Burlington, Rutland, and heavy snow likely today across parts of Maine. Also some rain behind this. So the larger cities from Philly to New York to Boston have seen mostly rain with this. And some of it has been pretty heavy. As a matter of fact, some reports have seen some flooding, just up the Hudson and in through parts of northern Connecticut and flood warnings and watches still posted for this part of the world. So it will be slow drying process. Drying out down across parts of the south, but definitely some chilly air behind the system. Forty-six degrees for the high temperature in Chicago.
Fire danger high across parts of Texas. We'll be watching that, as well. And this next storm to come into the plains, guys, is going to -- it means business. We'll be talking about that certainly over the next couple of days.
HOLMES: OK. Rob, we do appreciate you. We'll check in with you, as well, plenty throughout the morning.
CHETRY: We also have some amazing pictures from one of the world's most active volcanoes. Over the weekend, the Kilauea volcano on the big island in Hawaii sent lava shooting as high as 65 feet into the air. Scientists say it happened when part of the crater floor collapsed. No homes were threatened and no campers were injured. But park rangers closed a number of trails and a camp ground over fears of toxic fumes and other concerns that parts of the volcano, other parts could collapse without warning.
HOLMES: Always amazing to see those pictures of the one of the world's most active volcanoes.
I'm going to turn now to Wisconsin. New developments there. That budget battle. Guess who is joining the fight now? Michael Moore. Yes, that one, he calls it a war against the middle class. Also, we'll give you an update on whether or not those state Democrats could finally come back to the state.
CHETRY: And analyzing a hockey tough guy's brain. Doctors finding troubling evidence that all of those hard hits may have led to his early death.
HOLMES: And I have to say, I always take it personally knowing that I am coming to work and a lot of people are just getting in from the party from the night before. That is the case right now. It's Mardi Gras time, folks.
It's 11 minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, quarter past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING. We have been watching protests take place in the state of Wisconsin. People protesting what Governor Scott Walker is doing there. Well, he's got some people out, some demonstrators supporting him, as well, about 500 people supporting his plan.
Of course, the governor there wants to close a budget gap. He says he wants to do that by forcing state workers to pay more of their pension and health care costs and also wants to take away most of their collective bargaining rights. So the state fight goes on.
CHETRY: And someone who's joining that fight is director and liberal activist, Michael Moore. He actually felt the need, he said, to get out there and help the protesters and to come out against Wisconsin's proposed budget cuts. Saying that the shrinking American middle class is being robbed of more decent job, here's a little bit of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER/ACTIVIST: It's starting right here in Madison. I'm so encouraged by what I see.
CHETRY (voice-over): He actually says he wrote a speech and decided to go to Wisconsin to deliver it. The "Wall Street Journal" says those democratic state senators on the lam for weeks by the way are planning to return soon.
The newspaper says the senators have decided to allow the bill to pass because they believe the standoff has caused major political damage to the governor and his fellow Republicans.
HOLMES: Also, take a look at this scene. They are starting to play out in a lot of state capitals. These are starting to look familiar, but yes, these are teachers, thousands of them in Tennessee this time rallying at their state capitol.
They're fighting as well to try to hold on to some of their collective bargaining rights. Also, there are some proposed changes in that state that would change the time it takes teachers to earn tenure from three to five years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, it wasn't a good time to roll in New Orleans after some wet weather on Saturday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY (voice-over): Thousands of Mardi Gras partiers hit the streets yesterday and the party's only going to get bigger today. The big bash ends at midnight on fat Tuesday.
HOLMES (voice-over): They know how to party in San Francisco, as well, lived out in this area for a few years. I saw some things I couldn't tell my mother about, but this is one of the latest things they do out there. This is what they call their "Snuggie pub crawl." You heard me right.
It's their second annual "Snuggie pub crawl." You get the idea, you get to go bar hop and if you come with a Snuggie on, you get a discount on your drinks. Now some people weren't that creative with their Snuggies. They got a little more creative actually. They just put on a robe backwards, covered up in something to get the discount, but they've been doing this a couple years now. San Francisco, love them. Love them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That's probably the most covered they are at a bar crawl, you know what I mean?
HOLMES: You ain't lying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY (voice-over): Well, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, the man famous for dropping the gloves on the ice, the late Bob Prober. His family donated his brain to science. Now doctors are warning today's hockey players about taking too many shots to the head.
HOLMES: Well, on that note, as well, hockey related talking about taking shots. A fight taking place at one game and the wrong person got hit. The linesman is not supposed to be taking a blow to the chin. We'll let you know what happened here. It's 18 minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 21 minutes past the hour right now. Some scary moments on the court in Cleveland.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY (voice-over): New Orleans Hornets all-star guard Chris Paul nearly knocked out and had to be carted off on a stretcher. You can hear the smack down on the court.
Paul drove the lane, lost control and collided head to shoulder with Ramon Sessions of the Cavaliers. He was put in a neck brace. He was taken to the hospital. The team said he did suffer a concussion and Paul will be missing tonight's game.
HOLMES (voice-over): Let's turn to hockey now where fighting as you know is often applauded, celebrated, it's allowed, but the ref is not supposed to get hit. Did you see that?
That is Jason Damirzo, San Jose, he clocks the lineman now accidentally. He was trying to get in the middle of the scuffle between the San Jose players and the Dallas players. He apologized to the linesman immediately. He was not penalized for that punch. He was given two minutes for roughing. Poor guy, though.
CHETRY: I'm surprised this doesn't happen more because they're right in it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: They let them do their thing and finally jump in there, but yeah, he caught one there.
CHETRY: Well, the NHL, hockey, probably one of the most physical sports where players lose teeth, they get stitches and they never even miss a shift.
HOLMES: However, now, we're talking about the death of one of the sport's most famous enforcers. These are the guys that go out there and retaliate, if you will. His death has doctors worried about how much brain damage all of this could be causing. Jason Carroll is looking into this. It's amazing to watch a hockey game sometimes to see what is allowed. This is brutal.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it's an argument that some people go just for the fights itself. So you know, this has got a lot of folks concerned about this. You know, you probably heard about it happening to football players and to boxers, now research shows it's happening to hockey players, as well.
Researchers at the University of Boston have found a brain degeneration disease in two former NHL players most recently in Bob Probert who died last year at the age of 45 of heart failure. In hockey terms, Probert was called the type of player known as an enforcer because he was known for fighting opposing players.
The result, years of blow to the head. Head trauma is what causes chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. The co-director of Boston University's program says the NHL has taken some action, but he says it does not go far enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last fall, the NHL stepped up, put a foot forward and said you can't blind side hit the head anymore. That's one step forward. Now they have to put the other step forward and simply say that all purposeful hits to the head need to be taken out of ice hockey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: For now, you can only determine if someone has CTE after death. The news about Probert has deeply concerned some current and former NHL players.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you start hearing things about Bob Probret and other guys that played in other pro sports, you really start to think about it. And you look back and go, I wouldn't have changed anything I did. I lived my dream, played in the NHL, but at what price?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Well, both the NHL and its players union are aware of the research, but when we reached out to them, they declined to comment on camera. Telling us the findings are interesting and certainly something we'll add to a much broader body of knowledge, but we're not going to react or make changes based on findings related to one player.
Dr. Cantu says he hopes to study more NHL players soon, especially those skilled players, the kind that would not have taken that type of abuse that the enforcers do. Some of these researchers still trying to find out, is it the fighting, the game itself? But clearly more research on the way.
HOLMES: They take a lot of other hits. It's not just the fighting and some of the star athletes don't ever take a punch --
CARROLL: And you know the other point they're trying to get to here is it happening during the game? Because a lot happening during these practices, as well that's what we saw in the NHL, as well so a lot of research to be looking at, but some scary findings.
CHETRY: Yes, absolutely. Jason Carroll, thanks so much.
HOLMES: Well, still ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING. A pirate attack on the high seas and the U.S. Navy responds to it. How did this end?
CHETRY: Also, the race for 2012 is heating up already, and there are six potential Republican candidates that will be in Iowa today. Mitt Romney is one of the perceived front runners. We're going to have more on who is in the field and who may be able to challenge the president come 2012.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Good morning. Beautiful shot in New York City.
CHETRY: Finally the rain stopped, right?
HOLMES: Just in time. The rain did stop. I'm not sure the forecast today. I don't know how the rain is going to work out, but Rob Marciano will be along a little later this morning to let us know how things will play out.
Good morning to New York and all places around the country on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: Hopefully it's clearing out of here. Time for a look at our top stories this morning. Defense Secretary Robert gates making a surprise trip to Afghanistan. He arrived earlier this morning, scheduled to visit U.S. troops and meet with Afghan leaders. Also Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that too many civilians are being killed by NATO air strikes.
U.S. Navy coming to the rescue of a Japanese oil tanker under attack by pirates. This happened Saturday off the coast of Oman. A special unit from the USS Bulkley has been there, climbed aboard the vessel and captured the four pirates without any gun shots being fired. Officials say that they're deciding now what to do with the pirates.
And if you're again feeling the pinch of rising gas prices, you're not alone. The national average for a gallon of regular now $3.51. That's up about a penny from yesterday. The highest gas prices are still in California where it's now $3.90 a gallon on average in that state. T.J.
HOLMES: Well, Kiran, for Republicans considering a challenge to the president next year, it begins right now. There a couple of big events happening in Iowa and South Carolina this week and Mitt Romney who many believed certainly is going to be running, the health care plan he approved as governor of Massachusetts may be coming back to haunt him.
Let's say good morning to our Jim Acosta who's in Washington, D.C. for us.
Jim, good morning. It's kind of tricky to try to criticize something called Obamacare when there is a Romneycare floating around out there.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And this wasn't a big issue back in 2008 because Obamacare wasn't even passed at that point yet. So -- but you're right about one thing, T.J., the race for 2012 is heating up this week. Potential candidates are hitting early battleground states.
And the man who's expected to be one of the front runners for the GOP nomination, Mitt Romney, was in New Hampshire over the weekend. It was Romney's first real attempt for 2012 GOP primary voters to soothe tensions over the health care law he got passed while governor of Massachusetts.
The president and even a few of Romney's potential rivals have dubbed Romneycare a model for Obamacare mainly because it includes an individual mandate that requires people to get health insurance.
Romney told this crowd up in New Hampshire over the weekend that the law was not perfect, it was designed only for Massachusetts, he says, not the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR: The states are the place where health care programs for the uninsured should be crafted just as the Constitution provides. Obamacare is bad law constitutionally. It's bad policy. It's bad for American families, and that's one reason why President Obama will be a one-term president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And Romney also went on to say that he would repeal the bill if he were president and he would sign it out of existence. Romney is not the only GOP contender by the way who was out on the trail. As you mentioned, T.J., there was a big GOP gathering in Iowa tonight where Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, Buddy Roemer are all expected to address social conservatives. Tea party favorite Ron Paul will be in a different part of Iowa and an aide to -- get this -- Donald Trump, the Donald, is making a trip to the state, as well.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will be down in South Carolina on his book tour. So, he may get asked about some of those questions that came up last week about some of his comments when he mistakenly suggested that the president grew up in Kenya -- T.J.
HOLMES: You would swear the election is just a couple of weeks away with all we've got going on. Let's get back to Romney here for a second. We know he has that business background. So, has he found a theme, a message he's going to try to go with? And will that be a part of it?
ACOSTA: Yes. And you teed it up right there, T.J. It is going to be about the economy. Mitt Romney was talking about something he described as the Obama misery index.
Mitt Romney's message to GOP voters at this point is two things. One is: I can beat Obama. The other is: I can fix the economy. And that is going to be a tough message to beat going into this primary season in the next six to 12 months.
The only thing that's holding Mitt Romney back as we were talking over the last couple of minutes is this health care law. It is not in keeping with the Tea Party movement that has really created a lot of excitement and enthusiasm inside the Republican Party. Mitt Romney's no Tea Party guy. He's going to have to overcome that as we get closer to 2012, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Jim Acosta for us in Washington, D.C. -- Jim, good to see you as always. Thanks so much.
ACOSTA: You bet.
HOLMES: All right -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Getting closer to a full-blown civil war. The fight getting more violent in Libya as the opposition moves closer to Tripoli.
Nic Robertson is going to be joining us live from Libya's capital next.
It's 33 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, there's more fierce fighting going on in Libya as the country edges closer to civil war.
We want to take a look now at the magic wall to show some of the key developments over the weekend. This is the port city of Ras Lanuf. It's a major oil facility. In fact, we have a CNN crew there where they're reporting that rebel fighters appear to be in control of this city. They say they've been able to repel several attacks by six-wing aircraft and helicopters.
A little bit farther west is this coastal town of Bin Jawad. This is where troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have attacked rebel troops, pushing them east and stalling anti-government fighters headed for Tripoli.
And again, a little bit further west is Tripoli. Libyan government spokesperson claimed that Tripoli is 100 percent under control of the government.
Well, I want to take a look at the city of Misrata. This is where one of the largest battles is being fought. This is a city about 120 miles from Tripoli. And, right now, witnesses say that 42 people have been killed, that 17 from the opposition killed, and that pro-Gadhafi forces also 85 wounded.
A doctor at the central Misrata hospital said all of this fighting has forced close to 200,000 people, a majority of them foreign workers, to flee the country going to other places like Tunisia and Egypt, trying to get away -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Well, Kiran, let's turn now to our Nic Robertson who is live for us in the capital of Tripoli.
Nic, hello to you once again. Can you help us all get a better handle on just what parts of the country are under government control, what parts are under opposition control? Because the two sides are putting out conflicting reports.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are. And it's not clear why the Gadhafi government here is being so ambitious in what it's telling its people.
I'll just give you a couple of for instances here to break them down. They said they controlled the city just to the west of the capital here, Zawiya. They said they now control Misrata; that they now control Ras Lanuf.
As we know from independent accounts, Zawiya is still -- the government is still battling with rebels. Misrata, the government is still taking on rebels there. Ras Lanuf, we know there's no government forces inside that city.
So, the government is claiming things that just are flatly untrue. And a large proportion of the government supporters here buy into that 100 percent. They believe what the government's telling them.
The reality is that there are many parts of this country that we can't get to. So, we don't have an accurate picture. But the government pretty much all of the south is on its side. We've seen for ourselves that a majority of the west is sort of in the government's camp. The government controls pretty much all the way up to Ras Lanuf and then the whole of the east from beyond there is in rebel hands.
But why is the government making such ambition, bold claims? It appears that they're trying to make sure that they keep the backing of very important large tribes in the country who are the ones that are going to have the real influence down the road. They'll sit there and they'll wait to see who's going to win, who's going to lose, and they'll likely jump to the side of the winner. And the government seems to be kind of trying to make their claims look bigger to keep those influential tribes on its side, T.J.
HOLMES: Nic, one last thing -- we keep hearing all these reports of opposition getting closer and closer to the capital of Tripoli. Does it appear that the government, at least, is in 100 percent control of Tripoli? And also, what would that mean if opposition forces do make it to the capitol?
ROBERTSON: Well, the government does seem to have a pretty much firm lockdown on the capital. The best test of that was on Friday. There were only tiny anti-government protests.
There aren't many anti-government protesters. But they're put down very quickly and effectively by the regime here. We've had several weeks of them going around arresting people.
The reality is the rebels are still hundreds and hundreds of miles from the capital here. They've got a lot of young teen recruits and some older people helping them out with more military experience. They don't have the supply lines.
They don't have the ammunition dumps and bases that they can use along the run to the capital. And with faced at the moment opposition from the army unit being where they are from the capital. And also risk being encircled and having the air force attack them from behind on those 100 miles of open road that they would have to drive.
So, the opposition faces huge difficulties. The real key test is how long does the army stay loyal to the regime? Because that's really the only thing. And the air force, as well, is going to block the rebels moving towards the capital.
At the moment, the government seems to have the lock on the capital and appears to have the loyalty of army between the rebels and themselves -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Nic Robertson, we appreciate you as always from Tripoli this morning. Thanks.
CHETRY: All right. Still to come this morning: Rob's going to be along with our travel forecast. Looks like some of the rain moving out of the eastern part of the country. But, boy, we have some tough weather out west. We're going to hear from Rob coming up.
HOLMES: Also, it is the segment that all the fellas have been waiting for this morning. Who will Kate Middleton be wearing on her wedding day? The segment is coming up and a live report from Buckingham palace.
It's 41 minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Pretty shot this morning as the sunrises over the nation's capital. It's 34 degrees right now. A little bit later, 49 for a high today in D.C.
HOLMES: All right. About a quarter of the top of the hour here on this AMERICAN MORNING. Let's turn to our Rob Marciano, keeping an eye on all things weather-related for us in the extreme weather center. Rob was telling us a little earlier, we saw that lot of rain, a lot of winds.
I certainly experienced that last night trying to fly into New York as literally, Rob, was one of the worst landings I have ever had. And I'm not exaggerating there. It was -- it was brutal up here.
MARCIANO: And delays coming in and out of LaGuardia were like 2 1/2 to 3 hours. So, yes, glad you make it there. It was a rough storm, the back end of which is coming through now.
But decent amount of snow across parts of upstate New York in through northern New England, 6 to 12 inches of snow in parts of Syracuse up, say, Watertown, 12 to 18 potentially across northern parts of Maine. But the I-95 corridor has been holding on to some mild air. So, for the most part, it has been wet and breezy at times, which would make for very turbulent flight certainly if you were flying in last night.
This thing is kind of slowly heading out to sea. So, it's going to take its time. There is some chillier air coming in behind it. So, maybe, some of the suburbs in the Tri-State are might have some slick spots this morning, but for the most part, it's been wet, and some of this rain has been heavy enough to cause some flooding.
We have some flood warnings out for parts of Connecticut, the Hudson Valley and in through Massachusetts and southern parts of New England where it's warm enough for rain. We have another system that's coming in into the plains. This is just a little piece of energy. Actually kind of hangs back and team up with more strong system that's coming in to the west coast, and those two will gather strength, and I think it's going to create a decent storm here across parts of the midsection of the country as we go through tomorrow and then again on Wednesday.
Midsections of the south, on the chilly side, but dry for Mardi Gras festivities. As these storms kind of gather strength and get together tomorrow, there may be a shower or two for fat Tuesday, but the larger concern will be the threat for severe weather, I think, including parts of Louisiana, which don't need it after what they saw over the weekend. New York metros, you will see some delays, although, I don't think there'll be as long as yesterday, but certainly 30 to 60-minute delays maybe a little bit longer than that because of the winds on the backside of this system.
Same deal in D.C., metro areas, and through Philly. Denver seeing some visibility issues. Dallas and Phoenix and Las Vegas also seeing some wind. Daytime highs today will be 70 degrees in Dallas, 68 degrees in (INAUDIBLE) is not bad, 59 degrees in Atlanta, and 46 degrees up there in New York City. So, a bit of a blustery day. You will be drying out after a stormy afternoon yesterday for your arrival. Glad you made it up there and looking forward to a good week with you. T.J., Kiran, hack up to you.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Do appreciate it, rob. Thank you, sir. We'll talk to you again here shortly.
MARCIANO: Sounds good.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
A first for Miley Cyrus, hosting "Saturday Night Live." The singer and actress played Lindsay Lohan. She played Fergie. She had a variety of sketches. That looks like she's playing the Biebs. Her best performance, Justin Bieber. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: JUSTIN BIEBER, did you cut your hair?
MILEY CYRUS, SINGER/ACTRESS: Yes, you know, it's just an image change. I also do the middle finger now, so --
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, you're growing up like me doing salvia. Did you know I smoked salvia?
CYRUS: There's no reason why you wouldn't because it's totally legal, yo.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES (voice-over): Is he really -- is he going through an image change right now just because of the haircut?
CHETRY (voice-over): Well, he cut his hair. He also his purported girlfriend is the couple of years older, Selena Gomez, who's 19, and apparently, his mom has let him live in his own pad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (on-camera): He's 16 or 17?
CHETRY (on-camera): Yes, he's 16 going on 17. So, growing up. Growing up in the limelight.
HOLMES: Do your thing, young fella.
CHETRY: Not easy.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Coming up your top stories. Also, as you know, and I'm going to tell you, gas prices going up at historic levels now. How much more expensive has it gotten for you? This morning, how much more expensive can it be? And can the White House do anything about it?
CHETRY: Also, she said yes to a dress. Who will Kate Middleton be wearing when she becomes part of the royal family? This is a big deal. People love to know about the bridal fashion.
HOLMES: Oh, don't make me wait.
CHETRY: Of a future queen.
HOLMES: Don't make me wait --
CHETRY: Find out. No, you're going to have to wait. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: About eight minutes till the top of the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. You know your big deal. Whoever you choose to make your wedding dress actually upsets some people. This is the big deal. We're talking about Kate Middleton here. Some reports that she did pick somebody to make her wedding dress, but why would people be upset about that?
CHETRY: Yes. You know, remember what Michelle Obama would wear to the inauguration was a huge deal, as well. I mean, it's a fierce competition in the fashion world because it basically launches you into a different stratosphere if you get pick for something like this. So, who will Kate Middleton be wearing when she walks down the aisle before an audience of hundreds of millions, probably, because it is going to be televised.
CNNs Mark Saunders is live at Buckingham Palace for us this morning. Good to see you, Mark, royal biographer. There are some reports out about who it may be. So, tell us a little bit more about what you're hearing.
MARK SAUNDERS, CNN ROYAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, well, it appears that it's going to be the house of Alexander McQueen. Sarah Burton who is the creators director of McQueen has appeared been picked to design the dress. Now, this story comes from "The Sunday Times," a big splash yesterday, which set off a media frenzy. I must emphasize Buckingham Palace have refused to comment. They haven't confirmed, they haven't denied.
Now, "The Sunday Times" is not a tabloid. This is a major newspaper. It plays in the same league as the "Washington Post" or the "New York Times," indeed, CNN or the BBC. They don't speculate and they very rarely get this sort of thing wrong.
HOLMES: But the choice -- if it is correct, what are people saying about that choice, so far? Is this a surprise? Is this a disappointment? They're excited about it?
SAUNDERS: It is a little bit of a surprise because everybody expected -- myself included -- that we -- that Katherine Middleton would go with an unknown British designer in the same way that Princess Diana did 30 years ago. She went with David and Elizabeth Emanuel which immediately catapulted them into absolute mega stardom in the fashion world. Now, Katherine did attend a wedding about five years ago where an Alexander McQueen dress was worn by Sara Buys who married Tom Parker Bowles, the son of Camilla Parker Bowles. And Camilla and Katherine were heard discussing that dress about four weeks ago in a hotel here in London. So, I think that these -- I'm honoring (ph) that on the side of this is right.
They've got this right because, as I say, "The Sunday Times" don't normally get this wrong. Buckingham Palace refusing to deny. I think they got it right.
CHETRY: It's interesting because just an example of sort of the high stakes nature of all of this. You had been saying that if there was actually a picture of Sarah Burton from the house of Alexander McQueen coming or going from the royal palace. That could be worth a half million dollars in itself.
SAUNDERS: Well, I've been sticking to some of the paths (ph) here. They're saying a photograph of Sara Buys is going into any royal residence now to confirm this story. We're probably talking maybe $100,000. Now, as a rule of thumb, you should triple those sales on the foreign market. I mean, we all remember the problems of the paparazzi in the past. After the death of Princess Diana, the circus did leave town, but it appears that the paparazzi may still own the site.
CHETRY: All right. We'll just have to wait and see, but of course, as you said, a huge splash and a lot of excitement over exactly who she's going to pick to even make the dress. I can't even imagine when we possibly get to see what the actual dress looks like. All right. Mark Saunders for us. Thanks so much.
Just going to remind people we're going to be covering a lot of this because AMERICAN MORNING is heading out there. We're going to be there for the royal wedding. So, a lot of exciting.
HOLMES: Which one of the two of us would you guess they're sending?
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Yes, Kiran will be covering that for you when that all happens.
We're on the topic of weddings. You know, forget your fancy designers. What you say McQueen something?
CHETRY: Alexander McQueen.
HOLMES: Yes, that thing.
CHETRY: Vera Wang.
HOLMES: Yes. You don't need all that stuff. You need to get your wedding dress Costco. The wholesale club teaming up now with designer, Kirstie Kelly, selling six exclusive wedding dresses. What do you think? What do the shoppers think? (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WENDI HRONRICH, WEDDING PLANNER: Getting your wedding cake there or maybe your flowers to save some money is one thing, but your dress?
MARY HALTINER, COSTCO CUSTOMER: I doubt it plays next to the hamburger (ph), but, I don't know, they sell coffins online, so why not wedding dresses?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, why not? Now, they don't, Costco, sell them in bulk like they do everything else. You're only getting one wedding dress. These things are not cheap either. They go from $700 to $1,400. So, hey, Kate Middleton, head over to Costco.
CHETRY: There you go. I mean, you know, there are a lot of places that are doing this. I mean, J. Crew has a whole line now you can buy wedding dresses. So, pretty cool. one-stop shopping. Get your cake, get your dress.
HOLMES: Get your toilet paper.
CHETRY: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Top stories coming your way after the break.
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