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American Morning
Your Tax Refund on Hold?; Is the U.S. Prepared in the Event of a Nuclear Crisis?; Gates Defends Libya Intervention; Bound and Beaten in Libya; The Royal Wedding Route; Hands Free Not Germ Free; Drinking on the Pound
Aired April 01, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): City under siege. CNN takes you inside Misrata, the alleged scene of a massacre in Libya. The people have fled, and the rebels are outgunned. The closer look at this war than you will see anywhere else right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us on this Friday, April 1st on this AMERICAN MORNING. And it is fascinating to get these pictures. We hear so much about that fighting that was taking place. And our Frederik Pleitgen got to see it firsthand.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Real concerns about what's going on in Misrata and avoiding something terrible in Benghazi, but now what's happening in some of these other towns.
Also new this hour, Defense Secretary Robert Gates saying Washington should not be responsible for training the Libyan rebels, let other countries handle that. This comes as some members of Congress are asking why the U.S. just doesn't go in and bomb Gadhafi. We're live at the Pentagon with that story.
VELSHI (on-camera): Also, a possible cement graveyard for the nuclear plant in Japan. They did it in Chernobyl. So, the question this morning, will it work and will it stop radioactivity from leaking?
CHETRY: And you remember the promotion. Sign up for satellite TV, get a gun. Well, a Radio Shack's owner standing strong this morning. The company asking him to stop with the promotion, and he says no way.
ROMANS: We begin this hour in Libya. Gadhafi's forces have the rebels on the run since last weekend. And publicly the Libyan dictator says there's no reason for him to leave. But a report this morning says a senior adviser to one of Gadhafi's sons is in London for secret talks. Could an exit plan be in the works? CNN's Nic Robertson knows the Libyan envoy. Nic, the adviser really part of Gadhafi's inner circle, right? What do we think he could be doing in London?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He could be doing any number of things. But the fact he is there at this time. The fact he's chosen to step away from the side of one of Gadhafi's sons to go to London is an indication there is an effort to open some sort of channel of dialogue. We don't know what it is.
This is a man who I've known for ten years, who I've known to be a very, very trusted lieutenant of Gadhafi's regime and in particular his son Saif al-Gadhafi. This is a man who has sacrificed a lot in his life for the regime, so unlike the foreign minister who we're seeing defecting in London. This is a man who one would expect to be continuing right now to work for the regime.
What exactly is he doing? And what is he discussing? We don't know. But there does seem to be a sense among the leadership here that Gadhafi's view has always been that he wants to continue to unify and basically sort of tidy up the problems in the country. But they've been talking for a long time that there is a scenario in the future that doesn't involve Gadhafi. Is that what he's there talking about at the moment? We don't know for sure, Christine.
ROMANS: What do we know about his sons and the influence they may be having on his thinking right now? What do we know about who is giving him counsel and whether he's listening to anyone?
ROBERTSON: Well, Moussa Koussa, the foreign minister who defected, was very probably someone who was giving him counsel who may have well been in conflict with the sons. The sons are people Gadhafi has tried to give more influence and power to over the years. But his old guard, his security chiefs like the former foreign minister have been viewed somewhat as people who tried to stop the sons getting power to sort of continue to control the country in their own way as they've done with Moammar Gadhafi. The sons have tried to sort of change the country, bring it in from the cold, if you will.
So Gadhafi's likely to listen to some of his sons, but some more than others. Some have direct influence over the military, some don't.
ROMANS: Nic, thanks so much. We see the players begin to change in the story. Thanks, Nic.
VELSHI: This morning, for the first time, we are seeing some of the fighting between Gadhafi forces and rebel fighters on the battlefield. You can see it to the east of Tripoli, the third largest city in Libya.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen had remarkable access to the opposition forces who are still fighting in that city. He's just left Misrata. He's now at sea in the Mediterranean and joins us live. What did you see? What is going on in Misrata? FREDRIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ali. Yes, it's a very difficult situation for the anti-Gadhafi forces in Misrata because they're encircled deep inside Gadhafi-held the territory. You're talking about people with makeshift guns, Molotov cocktails up against a Gadhafi army with tanks, artillery, heavy weapons. It's a strong, harsh battle going on there. Let's listen in to what we saw.
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PLEITGEN: Weeks of urban combat have taken their toll on Misrata, badly damaged buildings, streets littered with wreckage. Libya's third largest city, the final position stronghold in the west is under siege by pro-Gadhafi forces.
PLEITGEN (on camera): We're extremely close to the front line right now. We're with a couple of fighters from the opposition forces. There's a lot of destruction everywhere. Most of the buildings here have some sort of damage to them. There's a lot of destroyed cars in the streets, as well. And we can also see that the people we're with, the fighters we're with are very, very tense at this moment.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): A celebration on a destroyed armored vehicle, a step too far for pro-Gadhafi forces nearby, and the scene turns ugly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you see, that all is destroyed from Gadhafi's forces. Building, gas stations, schools, restaurants, police station, even fire station, they destroyed it.
PLEITGEN: Most residents have fled downtown Misrata as pro- Gadhafi forces have positioned snipers on tall buildings. The anti- Gadhafi fighters badly outgunned fight back with the few weapons they have. They provided us with this video saying it shows a man disabling a battle tank with a rocket-propelled grenade.
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PLEITGEN: And, Ali, when I say most residents have fled downtown Misrata, they have no place to go. They're going to the outskirts. About 8,000 families have fled the downtown area, and about 6,000 foreign workers still in that area somewhere in no man's land between Misrata and the port of misrata. They have nowhere else to go, as well. And they see these constant artillery barrages and constant fighting going on, so a very traumatizing and dangerous situation for those people in that place.
VELSHI: Fred, I want to ask you a question. Who are these rebels? You got to see them. You spent time with them. Are these people who have ever taken up arms before? Do they know how to use this weaponry? Are they organized? Give me some sort of sense of what you saw.
PLEITGEN: By and large they are people who have never taken up arms before, they don't know much about the standards of doing a military operation. There are some commanders that they have who have some military training. Some of them have training. But the fighters are people who now have picked up a gun. They are not very well organized as they go into battle. And their weapons are rudimentary, some of them have air guns they're trying to make more high-powered to fire at someone and shoot that lethal shot.
No, they are not very well organized, don't have military training. What they do have, however, is a big heart. And one of the things to see, 40 days into this, they're still managing to hold on to the larger part of Misrata. One of the interesting things they do, is when tanks roll at them, they'll put carpets on the streets and fill those carpets with oil and set that on fire. So they're managing to hold their own as far as the strategy, I really didn't see much of one, Ali.
VELSHI: Thanks very much for this very, very exclusive inside look at rebels.
CHETRY: Eight minutes past the hour right now. And we have some breaking news out of Yemen this morning where there are rival mass demonstrations happening right now in the country. Here are some pictures to look at, thousands of people packing the streets of Yemen's capital city of Sana'a.
Now, this comes as there have been violent protests rocking the gulf nation for weeks inspired by the protests and uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. President Saleh is now vowing to defend his people, not clear exactly what that means. The president offered to step down at the end of the year, but then changed his mind when political talks broke down.
ROMANS: To Japan now where some of the largest cement pumps in the world are headed to help cool off the overheating reactors at the Daiichi power station. This is what they look like. They're remote controlled. Their booms can reach over 200 feet in the air, four of them coming from the U.S. and Germany, and one being deployed at the crippled plant. It has a camera mounted on it giving us this close-up view of the devastation. Eventually these pumps may be used to entomb the reactors in concrete.
The nuclear disaster is crippling Japan's economy. Domestic sales of new cars, trucks, and buses there down 37 percent from last march. The earthquake and tsunami last month has disrupted production and created parts shortages, Toyota taking the biggest hit. Their sales are down nearly 46 percent.
VELSHI: And remember, while we talk about Europe and the U.S. being mature auto markets, Japan is part of that. Japan is one of these big markets. When Japan suffers it hurts on all sides.
All right, extreme weather, strong line of storms stretching from Florida to Maine. Some dramatic pictures we saw yesterday. One of our intrepid CNN iReporters surveyed the damage. The storms also did heavy damage in Tampa. Powerful winds ripped off a roof of a gas station and brought down some power lines. Now, the northeast, the long, white winter isn't over. Dramatic live pictures we have this morning from parts of -- from parts of the northeast. Looks a little less dramatic with the sun up, but --
CHETRY: That's north of Boston.
VELSHI: Here in New York we're getting away with just rain, but let's find out what's going on in the rest of the northeast.
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VELSHI: Still to come on "American Morning," the clock is ticking on a possible government shutdown a week from now. If that happens, does that mean your tax refund could be delayed?
CHETRY: Also, a Radio Shack owner in Montana is defying corporate orders to end a gun giveaway for customers who sign up for satellite TV.
ROMANS: And beat high blood pressure with a bowl of cereal. We'll tell you which kind is best for you. It's 12 minutes past the hour.
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ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. When the news becomes the news, A TV crew on the way to the final four in Houston saw a car slam into a wall right in front of them. They pulled over and the photographer pulled a woman out of this car right before it burst into flames. Another driver pulled over and pulled a man out of the window. It happened just 20 miles north of Houston. The couple was hospitalized, but are expected to be OK.
CHETRY: Well, the RadioShack owner in Montana doesn't care what corporate says. He says he's going to continue his gun giveaway for customers who sign up for satellite TV.
Steven Strand has been offering gift cards for a $125 pistol or $115 shotgun along with a free background check if you buy two years of their Dish network packages. He's been doing it since October. Corporate officials from RadioShack called him on Tuesday ordering him to stop the promotion. Right now, Strand is refusing and he says now he's looking for a lawyer.
VELSHI: OK. Two things, RadioShack, not the fastest company to move on things. They've been doing it since October. The reason that they told him on Tuesday is because we the media have been covering it. And secondly, if you're a franchise, you play by the rules. As simple as that. If you're Chick-fil-A, you can't open on a Sunday, which upsets me when I'm looking for Chick-fil-A on a Sunday. But those are the rules.
CHETRY: We'll see what happens with that. We'll follow it for you.
Meantime, though, we have an update for you on the bacterial infection that killed nine people and sickened 10 others in six Alabama hospital. Now according to the state health officials, they say that they have found that same bacteria in a pharmacy in Birmingham. I.V. meds prepared the intravenous solutions that were given to all the affected patients. Now the same bacteria found in the victims' blood was discovered on a faucet at the pharmacy and an I.V. bag. Again, according to Alabama health officials, they say it rules out the possibility that the I.V. bags became contaminated after they left that pharmacy.
VELSHI: Kansas City, Kansas, will soon have what is believed to be the fastest Internet in the country. After a year-long search, Google announced it plans to build and test a new super high-speed network in the city just 60 miles east of Topeka. The new service is said to be 100 times faster than what you have at home. It will be free to the city's public schools and available to residents there for what Google says are competitive prices.
And Time Warner Cable pulling several channels from its popular app that lets customers watch live TV on their iPads. The channel includes MTV and Comedy Central and TLC. The network say Time Warner has no right to distribute live TV to a portable device. That is unless they get more money. Time Warner continues to maintain it has, quote, every right to carry the programming on their iPad app.
CHETRY: All right. Well, the nuclear crisis in Japan is widening. It had a lot of people in the U.S. and a lot of actually local officials say are we prepared if something were to happen here.
Allan Chernoff is going to be joining us. He explains what the evacuation plan would be for one nuclear plant just outside of New York City. And it's little comfort to the millions who live nearby.
ROMANS: And the four "New York Times" journalists captured in Libya never expected they'd survive their ordeal. One of them will join us live to tell her harrowing story.
It's 18 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. There's some good news for you if you're still working on your taxes. You'll most likely get a refund. The IRS is saying that the average federal refund is about three grand and that your odds of getting one are not too bad either. According to the IRS, of the 75 million returns processed so far, about 65 million of those qualified for a refund. And they say the best way to get it, file your return electronically and then have the refund deposited directly into your bank account. Which I just checked, Carmen, because -- sorry -- and it's here.
And I only filed like three weeks ago.
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: OK. I hope it's not a very big refund, because then we've got to talk.
VELSHI: Right. That's a bad thing. ULRICH: You don't want a big refund.
CHETRY: I know, I know. I didn't do --
VELSHI: And by the way, as you said, the odds are getting good.
ULRICH: Yes.
VELSHI: There's no real odds to it. You got a refund because you overpaid your taxes.
ULRICH: Right. You overpaid, my friend. It's a free loan.
VELSHI: Carmen's got good stuff for you here.
ULRICH: Well --
VELSHI: There you go. I'll just hand it over.
ULRICH: She says you're in luck. However, if you have not filed, you may not be in luck.
VELSHI: Yes.
ULRICH: If you're waiting for a refund -- well, if plans to halt government spending are not averted on or by April 8th, the IRS may slow down tax return processing.
In Washington this week, Douglas Shulman, commissioner of the IRS, said this in testimony. "We've never had a government shutdown in the middle of the filing season before. And the closer we get to April 15th, the more consideration and factors are at play."
ROMANS: Wow.
ULRICH: Now, what would happen? Well, government agencies have been instructed to not talk about contingency plans. But under previous plans for potential government shutdowns, payments to the IRS, of course, your payments, of course, are processed. But tax returns would not be processed.
VELSHI: Oh, my goodness.
ULRICH: And no tax refunds would be issued.
ROMANS: This is very interesting.
VELSHI: Wow. OK. So all of a sudden, Carmen --
ULRICH: Yes.
VELSHI: -- now there are millions of more people who are interested in whether or not there's a government shutdown.
ROMANS: That's right. ULRICH: All of a sudden, which is why we're doing this story because, yes, and you should be paying attention. I'll get you updated on that.
You know what, morning market check here. We have mixed, mixed, mixed, mixed market yesterday. Dow down at 31 points. NASDAQ up four-and-a-quarter. S&P down 2.4 percent.
And let's give you a quick, bright and shiny recap for this quarter. Fantastic. Dow up 6.4 percent. That is the best Dow performance since 1998.
VELSHI: Yes.
ULRICH: Lots of growth after recessions, we know that historically always happens.
CHETRY: OK. You guys are the numbers people. If we only have 17 days or 15 days to get your taxes and only 75 million have filed their returns, I mean, we're a nation of procrastinators --
VELSHI: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Yes.
ULRICH: Well, you have until the 18th this year.
CHETRY: Right.
ULRICH: Because there's this funky little holiday going on.
VELSHI: Right.
ULRICH: So the 18th.
ROMANS: And one other thing about the government shutdown, if you need a passport renewed or something --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- just do this very quickly, please. And rush it because that's the other thing you don't want to get stuck in the --
VELSHI: For congressman and senator.
ROMANS: Exactly.
VELSHI: Not have a shutdown.
ULRICH: Don't shut it down.
VELSHI: All right. Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, your top stories including Defense Secretary Robert Gates calling on other countries to step up their role in the Libyan intervention. We are live at the Pentagon with the story after the break.
ROMANS: And how prepared are we if a nuclear crisis like the one in Japan were to happen here. Allan Chernoff is on the case.
It's 24 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Twenty-eight minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
So we're talking about the nuclear crisis in Japan. And, of course, we know we rely on nuclear power here in our country. And a lot of people have been wondering, could this happen here?
ROMANS: Especially in a city where there's a nuclear reactor right next door.
VELSHI: It's pretty close. Allan Chernoff gives us an exclusive look inside New York's Indian Point nuclear power plant. He did that last week. Now this morning, he's checking into the evacuation plan in case the unthinkable were to happen -- Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Ali, unfortunately, we do have to think about the unthinkable. Have a look at the map here.
Sixty-four nuclear facilities in the United States. The one that really stands out being right near New York, Indian Point Energy Center. Let's have a closer look.
Within a 10-mile radius, 300,000 people live. Spread it out a bit, 50-mile radius, you're talking more than 20 million people. New York City's right here. The Tri-State area, New Jersey, New York State, Connecticut. Of course, the chances of a nuclear accident are very, very slim. Nonetheless, we have to consider them. And also, state and county officials, they have been considering this issue for a long time. And they've got evacuation plans in place. But would those plans work?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF (voice-over): In the event of an accident at the Indian Point nuclear power plant, some nearby residents fear they'd be stuck, unable to flee.
MIKE CRAWFORD, PEEKSKILL, NY RESIDENT: I don't think that we would be able to evacuate sufficiently.
CHERNOFF: By law, Indian Point is required to have an emergency planning zone, a 10-mile radius from the plant. Westchester County where the plant is located would try to evacuate residents gradually.
ANTHONY SUTTON, COMMISSIONER, WESTCHESTER COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES: The evacuation may initially be for the people living in a two-mile ring and a five-mile downwind span.
CHERNOFF (on camera): The direction of the wind could determine who needs to evacuate. Since Indian Point is located right on the Hudson River in a valley between these hills, the wind tends to blow downstream towards Manhattan.
(voice-over): In Japan, U.S. authorities are urging Americans within 50 miles of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to evacuate. For Indian Point, that radius would encompass New York City, which is just 25 miles away.
(on camera): Rush hour in New York, heaven forbid there's a nuclear accident near here. There is no way everyone is evacuating quickly. It would be nuclear gridlock.
Practically speaking, we couldn't really evacuate New York City.
JOSEPH POLLOCK, VP OPERATIONS, INDIAN POINT ENERGY CENTER: Well, there's not a scenario we have where the dose rates or the radiation that would go out would require an evacuation of New York City. That's been at least identified up until this point.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): The county's chief executive says they're well prepared for a 10-mile evacuation, but if a 50-mile evacuation were ordered --
BOB ASTORINO, WESTCHESTER COUNTY EXECUTIVE: It's a complete game changer. We would have to go back to the drawing board tomorrow and work day and night with multiple agencies, multiple jurisdictions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Indeed, Astorino said the county has been asking lots of questions of the NRC after the NRC called for that 50-mile evacuation in Japan. And he's not alone. More than 20 reactors in the U.S. are within 25 miles of a large metro area. So this is something that concerns many cities.
CHETRY: Yes, there was a lot of people that said, wait a minute, we're not going to have a tsunami. Indian Point wouldn't have to face 45-foot tsunami, so perhaps it's different.
CHERNOFF: Not a tsunami, but there can be other accidents. I mean, they actually plan much more for a terrible hurricane at Indian Point. Now, we certain don't anticipate anything like what happened in Japan happening over at Indian Point. They have so many plans for containing damage, for making sure the radioactivity does not leave the plant. But nonetheless, that's why you have these emergency plans. Just in case. And we hope, hope they'll work.
ROMANS: Allan Chernoff.
VELSHI: Thanks very much for that.
All right. Top stories now. Concrete pumping trucks have been sent to the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan. They're going to be used to douse water on the overheating reactors, and officials are considering the possibility of using trucks to entomb the entire plant in cement. The Chernobyl plant was encased in cement after its meltdown. And is Moammar Gadhafi looking for a way out. A new report said the Libyan dictator sent an envoy to London for secret talks. British officials are said to be meeting with a senior adviser to one of Gadhafi's sons. Some sources believe Gadhafi may be looking for an exit strategy. U.S. and British officials are calling on Gadhafi to resign.
Violence breaks out between political rivals in the Ivory Coast, forces loyal to the president attack the home of the disputed incumbent who won't step down. A spokesman for the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo appeared on state-run television yesterday to say he will not leave the presidential palace. The president's forces took control of that TV station this morning.
ROMANS: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants other countries to step up their role in the Libyan intervention effort. He promised the U.S. will not send ground troops to Libya. The U.S. plans to reduce its role in the military action. Gates says other countries should take the lead now in training the Libyan opposition.
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ROBERT GATES, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The truth is in terms of providing that training, in terms of providing assistance to them, frankly there are many countries that can do that. That's not a unique capability for the United States and as far as I'm concerned somebody else should do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: CNN correspondent Chris Lawrence joins us live now from the Pentagon. This is consistent with what the administration has been saying that they want to minimize the U.S. role. But at the same time, the administration also putting on the pressure to Gadhafi to get out of there.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christine. Everybody's looking for an end game. You got to take a look at this because at one point Senator Lindsay Graham poses this question that honestly some Americans will find abhorrent and even illegal, but it's something that a lot of other Americans probably asked themselves as they've watched this over the past couple of weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): The U.S. is calling off its missiles and jets that have been bombing Moammar Gadhafi's tanks.
GATES: We would not be participating in the strike missions.
LAWRENCE: U.S. senators say America has holstered its most effective weapons right when they're needed most in Libya.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The fact is your timing is exquisite. LAWRENCE: Senator John McCain say Gadhafi is (INAUDIBLE) the rebels right now.
MCCAIN: That's when we announced that the United States is abdicating its leadership rule and removing some of the most valuable assets.
LAWRENCE: The fight is over these A-10 and AC-130s used to attack Gadhafi's forces in and around cities.
They fly low, closer to the target and shoot machine gunfire instead of just dropping bombs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've pulled them off? They're not flying, and there's no --
GATES: No, I haven't pulled them off.
LAWRENCE: Bad weather in Libya grounded the gun ships the last few days, and in that gap, Gadhafi's forces regrouped. The planes will fly for just a few more days until NATO takes entire control.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: And the idea that the AC-130s and the A-10s and American air power is grounded unless the place goes to hell is just so unnerving, I can't express it adequately.
LAWRENCE: Senator Lindsey Graham argued the U.S. needs to do more, not less.
GRAHAM: Would it be unlawful for some nation including ours to drop a bomb on him? To end this thing?
GATES: Well, President Reagan tried that.
GRAHAM: Well, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try again.
GATES: I don't think so because I think it would probably break the coalition.
GRAHAM: Who would be mad at us if we dropped a bomb on Gadhafi? And why would they be mad?
LAWRENCE: And then there's the rub. There doesn't seem to be agreement on exactly what the allies want -- does Gadhafi have to be killed, hauled before an international court, or as an incentive to stand down, given sanctuary in another country?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't see how this ends.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: It's a big question. You know, but some of those special gun ships the U.S. is putting on standby, the NATO commander can call on them if the situation gets rough enough. But Gates has been arguing that even a reduced role is going to cost American taxpayers about $40 million a month. And with U.S. troops stretched over Iraq, Afghanistan, and even Japan, there's not just not enough money and resources to go around. Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Chris Lawrence. Thank you, Chris.
LAWRENCE: Yes.
VELSHI: Christine, four "New York Times'" journalists were held captive by Gadhafi's troops in Libya for nearly a week. They are all home safe now. Photographer Lynsey Addario was one of them. The group was beaten and threatened with death. Lynsey was sexually assaulted.
But she is here now. She joins us this morning along with her husband, Paul De Bendern, who is the bureau chief for Reuters in India. They have become friends of mine. You've become friends and family to so many people during this thing.
Lynsey, a warm welcome home to you.
LYNSEY ADDARIO, PHOTOGRAPHER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Thank you.
VELSHI: You and I talked a few months ago on TV, but Paul and I spoke twice while you were being held captive. And you didn't waver a little bit in your absolute view that you were going to see Lynsey again and you were going to hug here and you are going to get to be together again. He didn't waver a little bit in that. You went through a harrowing experience. What was going through your mind while we were talking about you?
ADDARIO: I think the hardest part is knowing that your family doesn't know and Paul didn't know whether I was alive. You know, there were three days when there was no information about our whereabouts. And for us, we were in survival mode and al of us were really just trying to maintain our composure.
And the hardest part was just knowing that there had been no information given to them. And, in fact, the day we arrived in Tripoli, they brought us to Tripoli and they didn't realize that we -- CNN was actually on the TV. And we saw on our own pictures on TV.
VELSHI: Oh wow.
ADDARIO: And we were with all these foreign ministry and defense ministry guys. And it was this sort of, they were giving us tea. And we had just arrived in Tripoli, and we saw our own photos on TV. And it says the Libyan government can't ascertain their whereabouts. And I started crying. I said, "Don't you have children? How can you do this to our families?"
VELSHI: Right.
ADDARIO: "Don't you have husbands and wives? Can't you let us make one phone call?" So for me that was the hardest part.
VELSHI: Well, I don't know how you felt, Paul, the rest of the time, but you seemed to be very confident that you are married to somebody who, by the way, has been through this similar instances before and her colleagues who are a tough group they were going to come through alive. It wasn't entirely of their own doing but did you waver in your doubt -- in your confidence?
PAUL DE BENDERN, INDIA BUREAU CHIEF, REUTERS: I always had a feeling that she was fine. She's been through a lot, she's very smart, she knows how to handle difficult situations. But, of course, as time went by not knowing anything, there was a moment when I kept calling her and her phone was ringing, but there was no answer.
VELSHI: Yes.
DE BENDERN: And then at one point, the phone was somebody was hanging up.
VELSHI: Right.
DE BENDERN: So the not knowing for a long time was definitely -- and as time went along, of course, there's the worst thought that you don't want to think about.
VELSHI: Sure.
DE BENDERN: Have their car been attacked? Are they dead? But I was always putting that aside and thinking of a positive because I felt that it was fine, but, of course, three days went by and those three days, you know, minute-by-minute and hour-by-hour was the worst experience of my life.
VELSHI: And we're glad that you're back, but we can't minimize this. You guys were put on the floor, you were face down, you were told -- you had heard someone saying shoot them. You were assaulted by somebody who was rubbing your hair and saying you're going to die tonight. Tell me what these low points were like to you.
ADDARIO: I think, fortunately, I was with my colleagues because I think for me, there were moments of complete -- not desperation -- but you go into a sort of shock where you just say "look, I can handle anything that they're doing to me now," but the hardest part was the fear of what's to come. How long were they going to keep us? Are they going to keep beating us every day? Are they going to -- is it going to be worse when we get to Tripoli?
So I was trying to stay in some sort of survival mode and when it got really bad, fortunately, my colleagues would say something to me. "Look, there are people who love you. The "New York Times" is working very hard to get us out." And even though we didn't know that, we hoped they were. To hear those words, I'd be crying and they'd say -- you know, Tyler would reach over even with his hands bound, he managed to hold my hand.
VELSHI: Wow.
ADDARIO: Those moments were essential. VELSHI: Lynsey, this sort of thing has happened to you before and it has happened to some of your colleagues who were taken with you. When we talked last year, we talked about the things that you -- the influence you feel you have by taking these remarkably moving photographs and letting the world know about the perils, particularly of women, but of people who are in danger. Is it worth it?
ADDARIO: It's a hard question. I mean, certainly in the middle of this when I was blindfolded and bound and getting punched in the face. I said, why do I do this? Who cares about Libya? Why do I care about Libya? You know, these are questions I asked myself repeatedly. I do it because I believe in it, I do it because I think our policy makers need a firsthand view of what's happening on the ground to make informed decisions. I think it's very important. But is it worth my life? Is it worth doing this to the people I love? It's a difficult question.
VELSHI: We are very, very happy to have you back.
ADDARIO: Thank you.
VELSHI: You're both very, very brave people. Thank you for being with us. Lynsey Addario and Paul De Bendern, we will speak to you again under better circumstances.
ADDARIO: Thank you.
VELSHI: Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much, Ali.
Well, we want to bring you up to date right now on some news breaking out of Libya. We showed you those pictures that our Frederik Pleitgen was able to get from Misrata. Well, now a rebel spokesman is telling Reuters that pro-Gadhafi forces are now attacking the Libyan city yet again, in Misrata, using tanks, mortars, and rocket propelled grenades. Again, this is coming from rebel officials there in the city. They're saying that they're attacking shops and homes in this key, strategic city of Misrata. Again, by pro-Gadhafi troops.
So we're going to continue to bring you the latest on what's going on in Libya after a short break. "American Morning" will be right back. It's 42 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Well, we're all very excited about the upcoming nuptials, just 29 days now until Prince William and Kate Middleton exchange their vows. We have a unique Google earth image of London. So if you're not there to make it, we want to show you -- we're going to be bringing it to you. We want to show you a bit of a preview.
This yellow line shows the route that they're going to go on their way from all of the little activities that are taking place that day, but let me show you first of all. The first stop is going to be Clarence House, this is the royal residence. This is where the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince William and Harry live.
So they're going to go to Clarence House and from there, this procession is going to travel through the mall. This is really the center of the celebration, this where they expect a million people to gather along the mall to get a great look.
They then head -- this is awesome -- to St. James Park, this is the oldest of the royal parks and this features a lake. They have a bridge there and this also said to be one of the prime viewing spots to check out Buckingham Palace.
Next, we'll take you to the horse guards parade, this is a site of an annual of what they called "trooping the color" to commemorate the monarch's official birthday, former headquarters as well for the British Army.
Next stop will be White Hall, the main artery from parliament to the Trafelgo Square. Fountains, monuments and museums will be head there and then, of course, the big deal, Westminster Abbey. This is the beautiful church where they've selected for the ceremony, the official church of the royal family.
Medieval architectural masterpiece, it holds 2,000 people and then after the ceremony, they will then make their way back to Buckingham Palace where Prince Charles will be hosting a dinner party for Will and Kate, the official home of British royalty since 1837.
Obviously, it's going to take a lot longer to get there. We just wanted to show you the fast forwarded version. But if you can't make it to the royal wedding, we'll be there for you. AMERICAN MORNING is going to have complete coverage of the big event in the week leading up to the big event and of course, the day of, as well.
You could be there actually. You could win a trip to London to cover the excitement as one of our I-Reporters. If you think that you are the ideal wedding I-Reporter for this royal engagement, submit your I-report, ireport.com/royalwedding.
The contest last until April 10th so good luck on that. We're going to take a quick break. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.
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ROMANS: It's 10 minutes to the top of the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center. And the Extreme Weather Center is right here in the northeast.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Where I am, it moves with me. I'm glad to bring it with me to you today. Good to be here in New York. We do have some weather in New York across the northeast, but we also had some severe weather for the second day in a row across parts of Florida. I want to show you this video out of central Florida from Hillsboro County especially hard hit. There were six reports of tornadoes yesterday. Widespread damage, so this is the second day on the road.
The same areas got hit with pounding rain and obviously some heavy, heavy, winds and some hail as well. All right, the storms across Florida will be diminishing today, but the storms across the northeast are just getting cranking.
Check out some of these snow totals for the northeast already a half a foot in some spots, in Maine, Massachusetts, Worcester seeing 5 inches and these totals will come up as we go on through the morning because it's still snowing in these spots.
Radar highlighting just out that especially upstate New York and parts of northern New England showing quite a bit of white on the radar scope. Notice that the white starting to sneak in to some of the major cities. So New York back to Philly looking for colder air to move in.
But by the time it really gets here, most of the moisture should be gone so dusting, maybe an inch of wet snow in spots on this April 1st that's a pretty big deal. It's going to cause some travel delays that's for sure especially across the New York metro airports.
As this system moves off towards the north and east, the next one comes in, but this one doesn't have a whole lot of punch to it. So I think it will move rapidly down to the south without a whole lot of fan fare.
Over now delays expected in New York. Boston, the snow this morning won't taper off really until later on this afternoon so a 30 or 60-minute delays potentially there and Philly and D.C. also some rains and wet snow moving in on the back of this. And Raleigh, 15 to 30 minute delays.
Temperatures today are going to be 15 and 20 degrees below average in some spots, but above average and maybe record-breaking places like Phoenix.
VELSHI: You put Phoenix on? That has a 99 on it.
CHETRY: Wow.
MARCIANO: Warm you up there. Warm the loins up a little bit.
ROMANS: I think there is a happy medium. It can't be spring any more.
VELSHI: We don't need 99.
CHETRY: And we don't need 47.
ROMANS: Poor snow birds are leaving Phoenix and leaving their nice places in Arizona and coming back and having to put their snow boots back on.
VELSHI: It's the way it works, you know, keeps us in business.
MARCIANO: That is right.
ROMANS: Thanks, Rob.
CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, live from the major league baseball fan cave. For a lot guys out there, this is truly your dream job.
You basically watch every inning of 2,430 baseball games not including the playoffs and you live in this beautiful, beautiful man cave and you get paid for it. It's 52 minutes past the hour.
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ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. An AM House Call now. Another reason breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A new study says eating breakfast cereal especially whole grain cereal can keep men's blood pressure down.
Researchers out of Boston say men who started off every day with a bowl of whole grain cereal, cut their risk of high blood pressure by 20 percent. No word if those little marshmallows covered in sugar helps anything.
CHETRY: But last week, you and I split a gyro and some French fries. That's probably isn't the best --
VELSHI: I went to a friend's place over the weekend and he starts his day with cereal and he introduced me with this new cereal and I've been eating it since then.
CHETRY: It's not new.
VELSHI: So it is new to me.
ROMANS: We know whole grain cereal is good for you.
VELSHI: On the box says go lean, I need go lean. That's all there is to it.
OK, hands-free, you would assume that hands-free everything means germ free, right? Certainly not, a new study similar to the one you just told us about says that those hands-free sinks actually have more germs than the ones we actually touch.
I find this hard to believe, but researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital says that about half the sinks with an automated faucet tested positive for bacteria compared to 15 percent of the old school ones.
The reason, doctors say the hands-free sinks have more complicated plumbing with more places for bugs to hide. Doctors say the germs they found should not pose a risk to a healthy person.
Now, again, I said it earlier, I'm going to say it again and I have to read the study myself because I think that this means don't lick the sink. I can't imagine how not touching it and getting water out it and not touching anything is worse.
CHETRY: I think I figured it out because they never work so you hold your hand under there and no water comes out. You give up and leave so you never actually wash your hands.
All right, 1,100 calories a cup, "Men's Health" magazine rank to the worse fast-food shakes. Hold your ears, Christine. I'll tell everyone else. McDonald's triple thick chocolate shake, this is based a 32-ouncer, 1,160 calories, 27 grams of fat, 16 grams of saturated fat and 2 grams of transfat.
That should be more than half of your day's caloric and saturated fat intake and that's 168 grams of sugar as well, the equivalent of 13 of McDonald's apple pies.
ROMANS: Do not have your morning bowl of cereal with a McDonald's shake.
VELSHI: No, but honestly, they are talking about a 32-ounce shake. The three of us are pretty big eaters, but that's a lot of shake.
CHETRY: It's a whole lot of shake. For this and all the latest on your wellbeing, go to cnn.com.
VELSHI: All right, we got top stories coming your way in two minutes. Stay with us.
ROMANS: I think I just wrote on your shirt! I'm sorry.
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