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American Morning
Obama Enters Budget Battle; Oil Tanker Heading To Libya; End Of American Apparel?; Good News on Overdrafts; Opera Star's Song of Hope
Aired April 05, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Tornado alert. Watches enter effect across the south this morning.
I'm Christine Romans.
Severe storms sweeping all the way up the east coast affecting 70 million people this morning across dozens of states and the threat isn't over yet.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi.
We could be headed for a government shut down at the end of the week, which could delay income tax refunds. Talks between House Republicans and Senate Democrats have broken down. Now, President Obama is summoning congressional leaders to the White House.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
A powerful fashion mogul flapped with a scandalous teen sex lawsuit. Allegations of assault, of extortion. He says, all of it, lies. And he says he has the photo evidence to prove it on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: And good morning, everybody. It's Tuesday, April 5th.
A lot of international news, but also, a lot of different developments of news that matter to you this morning as you're getting out.
CHETRY: Yes. You called it intensely boring but intensely vital, right?
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: We're talking about the budget. Will we actually be facing a government shutdown by the end of the week? We're going to tackle that.
VELSHI: We got a couple of things to worry about. Before the end of the week, though -- first, almost the entire East Coast on alert for some potentially dangerous weather this morning. There are fresh tornado watches in the Southeast where a violent storm blew transformers and lit up Atlanta last night.
High winds being blamed for at least three deaths in Georgia. More wind, rain, hail, twisters are all possible this morning. There are reports of damage and more than a dozen people injured across the at least four states, thousands of people without power. Three possible tornadoes have already touched down in Tennessee.
Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center for us right now.
Rob, what's it looking like?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Guys, we had over 900 reports of severe weather yesterday, over almost 800 with wind damage reports. You saw some of the effects there. Several states are reporting tornadoes, 20 in all, as you mentioned -- damage, injuries and now reports of fatalities.
This entire system is pushing off to the East. And as it does so, it's bringing this severe weather threat with it. It will soon be offshore for most of the Eastern Seaboard. But for right now, we are still looking for a threat across the Carolinas especially, and down into the South and to Florida which had its fair of severe weather just a week ago.
Look at this line moving through central Florida. Gainesville getting it, Jacksonville, and St. Augustine. Daytona is about to get hard. And Orlando, back to the lakes and in through Tampa -- these are all areas that are under the gun over the next couple of hours. Severe thunderstorm warnings have been posted. There was a tornado warning earlier for St. Augustine. That has been allowed to expire, thankfully. But you get the idea of what we're looking at there.
Up towards the Northeast, there were strong storms that were moving into Jersey. They have since diminished in intensity. It's good news for the New York area. But nonetheless, you're looking at a wet go there, and that's going to slow down some travel.
But the main treat over the next 12 hours will be across the Carolinas and then across parts of Florida. Behind the system, will be dryer and somewhat more calm air. But the fire threat will continue across parts of Texas.
Guys, we haven't seen this active of a day in five years as far as the number of severe weather reports that we received yesterday over such a widespread area. It was very impressive storm system and a scary, scary one for a lot of those folks out there, including me. Atlanta got hit hard last night. There are still tens of thousand of people in the Atlanta metro area without power this morning.
CHETRY: Right. In Butts County and that suburb as well, saying that two were killed, a son and his father, when a tree fell on their apartment. So, deadly consequences to this storm as well.
MARCIANO: Yes, just with straight line winds. You know, we didn't have that many tornadoes. But when you get winds in excess of 60, 70 miles an hour, big old trees with a saturated ground, hundreds if not thousands of trees came down with this event. And that was the most dangerous thing about it.
ROMANS: Thank you, Rob.
VELSHI: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, police in New York are now scrambling to catch a serial killer. Eight bodies discovered out on Gilgo Beach. This is out on Long Island. Three found just yesterday. Police are still conducting searches, looking for other possible victims.
You know, all of this started with the search o for a missing New Jersey woman, 24-year-old, Shannan Gilbert, who vanished in May. She was soliciting sex services on Craigslist, according to authorities. The hunt for Gilbert ended up leading to the discovery of other bodies. Meantime, Gilbert is still missing.
Capitol Hill police is trying to find out who sent Congressman Peter King a bloody pig's foot with an anti-Semitic note on it. The note reportedly mentioned King's controversial hearings on Muslim extremism last month. The package never actually made it to the congressman's Washington office. It was intercepted by security screeners.
ROMANS: If Republicans and Democrats can't find a way to compromise on a new federal budget by Friday, the government could come to a screeching halt. You are looking at a live picture of Capitol Hill. The lawmakers are feeling the heat this morning. The clock ticking and there's a lot at stake for millions of Americans.
Dana Bash is joining us live from Capitol Hill this morning.
Diana, what's the -- or Dana, rather, what's the latest?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest is that it's not so much problems over how much to cut at this point. It's what to cut. What exactly these negotiators can agree on in terms of spending programs and agencies. That is really where they are at odds, according to sources I have talked to in both parties who have been negotiating.
That is why the top negotiators, the House speaker and Senate majority leader are going to the White House and President Obama, in the little more than two hours, is going to get personally involved in this in the first time, really, since this rollercoaster of a spending fight has begun in January.
Now, through all the fights, Christine, House Speaker John Boehner has said publicly and privately there will not be a government shutdown. That tune changed, we are told, last night. He was in a private meeting with his fellow House Republicans, and he said to them, be prepared for a government shutdown. And he even directed the chairman of the House Administration Committee to do such a thing, to prepare actually the people here on Capitol Hill and personnel for what a shutdown would mean.
Now, in case, they can't find agreement, we are told and we actually can see it now on the Web site that House Republicans are preparing, a one-week stop-gap spending bill that would just keep the government running for a week after the money expires this Friday. They say that's just an insurance policy if they can't come to an agreement.
I'll tell you, Democrats I have talked to, they basically laugh at that. They say it's just a political move and that Republicans are having problems, which is true. Both sides are having problems within their caucuses. But Republicans are because conservatives are saying that they don't want their leadership to compromise, even in the short-term, Christine.
ROMANS: Dana, while the two parties work on this year's budgets -- later this morning, House Republicans are going to release their plan for next year. What do we know about that? I mean, it's got some pretty dramatic changes in there.
BASH: Dramatic changes. I mean, here we are talking about a f fight about over whether it's $33 billion or $61 billion to keep the government running now. We are talking about trillions with a "T" that House Republican leaders, in particular, the House budget chairman, Paul Ryan, is proposing to cut from the budget over the next many years. And also, he says to help with the deficit.
Let's take a look at what we're talking about. Six trillion dollars in spending cuts over 10 years, major, major overhauls of the Medicare program, health care for seniors, and Medicaid for mostly low-income Americans -- changes that they say will not only help save the programs but help the deficit and the debt in this country.
Also, tax cuts for individuals and corporations. Christine, I know you have been reporting on this. But part of what they say that they want to do in this budget is to reform the tax code so things like G.E. -- you know, G.E. not paying taxes at all, that will basically not be allowed to happen.
This is just a blueprint. That is what budgets are here. It will not go to the president's desk. But it certainly sets the terms for the political debate and shows what House Republicans are going to fight for over the next couple of years.
ROMANS: I mean, it's a really good point, Dana. And quite frankly, there are some companies where they have as many people in the legal department, their tax and legal department, as they do in research and development department --
BASH: Exactly.
ROMANS: -- because they are trying to figure out how to go and navigate all these millions of loopholes to figure out how to pay the lowest tax bill. The tax code used to be one of those rail, third rail of politics. But maybe there is more.
BASH: They are touching all of those -- entitlement, corporate loopholes. They are trying -- they are trying to touch them all here.
ROMANS: Dana Bash, thank you so much.
BASH: Thank you.
ROMANS: For more details on how the budget battle might affect you, head to CNNMoney.com.
VELSHI: The FAA is ordering new inspections of older model Boeing 737s for hidden signs of metal fatigue. This comes after a tear -- take a look at it right there -- tear in the fuselage of a Southwest Airline 737-300 plane forced an emergency landing in Arizona. Similar cracks were detected on three other planes.
The inspection order affects about 80 737s, and they are 300 series, 400 series and 500 series planes registered in the United States -- many of them operated by Southwest. The airline canceled dozens more flights yesterday while inspecting its 737 fleet.
CHETRY: A mid-air emergency on board a United flight from New Orleans to San Francisco taking place shortly after the plane took off. Passengers say the plane was rocking back and forth, and then the reading lights stopped working, and as the pilot was making an announcement over the public address system, it cut him off mid- sentence.
There were also some reports of smoke. That's when the pilot turned the plane around and radioed air traffic control. Here is some of that exchange.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PILOT: Four-ninety-seven, we are declaring an emergency. And please roll the equipment for our landing, please.
A hundred and six souls on board. Fuel remaining, 32, 400.
Four-ninety-seven, we've lost all our instruments right now. And we are going to need a PAR.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Aircraft is off the runway.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. So, they cleared the runway so that this plane could land. It landed safely with the nose gear off the edge of the runway but, still, no one was seriously injured. They are now investigating what went wrong on that plane.
VELSHI: This ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: Another bloody violent civil war going on right now in Africa getting pretty hot. You may not know much about it. But, now, the world is involved there, too. Air strikes might be bringing the battle in the Ivory Coast to an end this morning. We'll tell you about that when we come back.
ROMANS: Plus, the Libyan woman who was arrested and dragged out of a hotel after she made abuse allegations against Gadhafi forces. That woman is now free to some degree and she's speaking to CNN about her ordeal. That's next.
It's nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: There are new developments this morning in a civil war in the West African nation of Ivory Coast. The definite sound of shelling. U.N. and French troops have joined the fight, launching air strikes on the home of longtime leader Laurent Gbagbo. And also, two of his military base is.
Gbagbo is now reportedly seeking refuge at the residence of the French ambassador. Ironic since the French are involved in the bombing. They are negotiating a surrender apparently. His army reportedly is standing down.
Gbagbo has refused to give up power to the man who won democratic elections in the Ivory Coast last year. Fighters loyal to the democratically elected president, Alassane Ouattara are now saying that they are close to capturing Gbagbo.
CHETRY: Well, her story has riveted the world. A woman who escaped from Gadhafi's forces in Libya burst into a hotel room and screaming about what had happened to her, telling foreign journalists that she was raped by his troops and attacked and assaulted. Take a look again at how the scene unfolded.
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CHETRY: She was quickly muscled out of the room as you see from these pictures. At one point, the staffers -- waitresses at a place threw a jacket over her head and undercover government agents pulled her out of that scene as Western journalists protested. But she did get her story out to the world.
That, in fact, she called into "A.C. 360" last night. Some of the details are very graphic. We're not going to play it all for you.
But here she explains why she took the chance she did.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "A.C. 360": When you were in the hotel room trying to talk to the journalists and other -- and Libyan government thugs were attacking you, trying to silence you, what was going through your mind?
EMAN AL-OBEIDY, ALLEGED LIBYAN RAPE VICTIM (through translator): I was not thinking anything when I came to the hotel. I heard about the existence of the fact-finding organization. I came here because I knew that the Libyan authorities won't respect my rights or talk about this issue. I could have been jailed and nobody would have heard my story.
I was just looking for my rights to be returned. I came even though I knew that the Libyan government would not leave me alone and would try to silence me. I knew that they could imprison me and that no one may ever know my story. Even when they were hitting me and trying to cover my face so that I would not tell people the truth, I was not afraid. I have reached the end of my tolerance for this as a human.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS (voice-over): And Iman al-Obeidi says she is still in hiding and still being harassed. She talks about being rearrested several times, and as our Zain Verjee told us, she says she's virtually a prisoner in her own house. She feels her phones are tapped. And she said many times she leaves, she gets beaten.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Meanwhile, also, Libya may be back open for business. A tanker now reportedly on its way back to the key port of Tobruk to pick up the first oil shipment from the rebel-held part of Libya in 18 days. The tanker is able to carry about one million barrels of oil, and we know that there are rebels who are in charge of one of the oil companies there, still drilling, still pumping, trying to get the oil out so they can get the money in to continue their fight.
The battle raging on. Fresh air strikes in Libya this morning. NATO jets hammering Gadhafi's forces near the eastern oil town of Brega. Rebels still locked in a fierce battle, but reportedly pushing back into the city under artillery fire.
Ben Wedeman is on the ground in Brega right now. Ben, what can you tell us has changed since last hour? You said there was an awful lot of action in the past hour as these rebels were being pushed back?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Well, what we've seen an intense artillery bombardment. We are fairly close to it, and now, there's a general retreat. I know it sounds similar to what you heard before, but now, we're well away from Brega. It's maybe 40, 50 kilometers, 35 miles away from the city. And every time the opposition forces move back where they think they're out of range of Gadhafi's artillery, it opens up again and sends them even further back.
At this point, Brega is a very long way away under these circumstances, and well, there's a very good chance they may have to pull back to the gates of Ajdabiya because it -- they are losing lots of territory very quickly. We know there was a NATO air strike in Brega this morning that hit a convoy of Gadhafi loyalists, but that doesn't really seem to put any break on their ability to fire this artillery and send the opposition forces running for cover, and running is the operative word.
ROMANS: Ben, I want to ask you quickly. I mean, it sounds like they're, you know, really into the battle at this moment. Maybe, they're not telling you much about this, but the news overnight that perhaps states the son of Moammar Gadhafi may be negotiating to take over power. Would that make a difference to these rebels if Moammar Gadhafi's son were running the show?
WEDEMAN: No, not at all. And that's been made clear by members of the transitional government in Benghazi as well as the fighters themselves who've made it very clear that they don't want any Gadhafis in Libya's future, not the father, not the son. They've made it extremely clear. They did offer several days ago this cease-fire, but they stressed at the time that their ultimate goal is regime change in Tripoli, not regime modification.
ROMANS: Well-put, very well-put, Ben Wedeman. Thank you so much, Ben. Stay safe there. This is pushing back about 30 kilometers outside of Brega now.
VELSHI: That's quite something saying that they might go back to Ajdabiya which is now getting into the territory that the rebels held, in the first place.
ROMANS: That's right. And again, these port cities are key.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: All along, these port cities are key because they're trying to -- the rebels want to get control of this oil infrastructure so they can get some funding.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: There's a ceasefire. There's a no-fly zone, but they need money.
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: Well, we're going to continue to follow that, and of course, we're also bringing you the latest on this growing scandal for American apparel CEO. It appears to be getting worse now. He's accused of many things by some former workers. The company, though, was firing back this morning. In a television exclusive, Jason Carroll joins us next. It's 19 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-two minutes past the hour right now. A retail giant embroiled in a teen sex scandal right now. American Apparel CEO, Dov Charney, is now facing a $250 million lawsuit, allegations of extortion, assault. He claims that these are false, and he has the photo evidence to prove it. Charney spoke exclusively with our Jason Carroll who had a very candid interview with him. What did he tell you.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very candid. You know, he's confident, first of all, financially, that his company is going to turn around, but he does have a legal battle in front of him. You know, Charney says he is unorthodox but not unethical. And he says, the attorney who is accusing him of sexual assault and those victims who are out there are only out there for one thing and that is money. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOV CHARNEY, CEO, AMERICAN APPAREL: We lost our stride a little bit.
CARROLL (voice-over): Dov Charney is still struggling to hit his financial stride, but the CEO and founder of fashion giant "American Apparel" faces another problem, calling two lawsuits totaling $250 million alleging sexual harassment and assault extortion
CHARNEY: I've never assaulted anybody in my entire life.
CARROLL: Five former employees are suing him. Kimber Low (ph) says Charney forced her into taking revealing photos at his home.
She says she was afraid to say something. That's why she allowed the pictures to be taken.
CHARNEY: You know, I think these pictures speak for themselves.
CARROLL: The attorney representing the women spoke on their behalf.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was alone with Dov Charney. Every time she tried to stop his advances, he became more and more aggressive with her.
CARROLL: Another former employee, Irene Morales (ph) alleges, in 2008, after her 18th birthday, Charney demanded sexual service in exchange for continued employment.
Do you think it's appropriate for a man of, I don't know, even 40 to have a relationship with a young woman of that age?
CHARNEY: I don't think -- I'm not qualified to make an opinion of that kind. You can accuse someone of sexually assaulting them in April of 2008, but then, when you send them provocative e-mails soliciting sexual relationships in the years 2009 and 2010.
CARROLL: Charney provided text messages from Morales saying, "I miss you." A 2009 e-mail from her saying, "Daddy's got a little naughty girl." Another in 2010, "I don't want your money. I just love this company and want to work for you."
There are text messages, explicit e-mails coming from your client which seem to suggest that your client she was reaching out to Dov Charney.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was victimized. She lost all her self- esteem, and the result of that, she saw herself as nothing more than a sex object. This explains why she would send photographs and e-mails.
CARROLL: Charney has been celebrated for supporting workers rights but demonized for some of his racy ads. He's faced allegations of sexual harassment before. You talk to some people about you, and they really see you as a champion for workers rights, and then, you speak to people from another camp who say, this guy is a pervert.
CHARNEY: It's not accurate. I'm a caring person.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (on-camera): Well, he says not only is he a caring person, but Charney points out that none of his alleged victims ever went to the police. He says he'll continue to fight the allegations through arbitration. As for his financial troubles, Charney expects his company to turn around this year. They've hired 1,500 new employees. They say that will help with production and help meet some of their deadlines.
VELSHI: What's the distinction here with arbitration? Nobody has gone to the police, so it's not a criminal investigation.
CARROLL: And then, also, you have that Charney points out that both of these young women, you know, signed agreements that if something -- ever did come to something like this, they would go to arbitration. And you know, I did ask him. I said, do you think you bear any sort of responsibility for what has happened here? And he says, look, I've learned to be more cautious.
ROMANS: When you look at the pictures, the pictures of his advertisements, sometimes, if somebody e-mailed you that picture, you would be taken back. I mean, those are employees, too. Those are employees who model for him.
CARROLL: That's part of the culture.
ROMANS: Right.
CARROLL: Exactly. You know, a lot of these young women who come in here, who see these ads, they're actually employees.
ROMANS: Right.
CARROLL: The young women, the young men there, and he says, look, he says, I am the type of manager, when I'm trying on a pair of jeans, I will drop my pants in the middle of a meeting and try on a pair of jeans, but he wants this type of sort of free wheeling culture, but it looks like it's come back to bite him.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: The CEOs of most companies don't --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Keep your jeans on at work. Thanks.
ROMANS: Is your smartphone spying on you? The government put in one popular app under the microscope, and it could be worse than you think.
VELSHI: Plus, redefining the legacy of Malcolm X. He's considered to be one of the most influential and controversial civil rights leaders in America. Now, a new biography is said to have startling new information and insight into his life and controversy around his death. Twenty-seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We're crossing the half hour right now. We want to bring you update on some top stories.
New tornado watches across the south this morning from the Gulf Coast to the Carolinas. Now, the region slammed by heavy winds and hailstorms last night, as well. Several tornadoes reportedly ripped through parts of Tennessee, killing at least one person there. And high winds blamed for at least three deaths in Georgia. Over 100,000 people in Georgia right now are still without power.
New air strikes in Libya this morning. NATO jets hammering Gadhafi forces near the eastern oil town of Brega. Rebels still locked in a fierce battle but reportedly pushing back into the city as they face heavy artillery fire. All this comes as the first oil tanker in 18 days is due to arrive in a rebel-controlled part of Libya.
Well, Japan is now dumping millions of gallons of radioactive water into the Pacific and fears about the safety of seafood there spreading. The government has now set new radiation levels for seafood. The plant reported radioactive contamination in nearby seawater, measuring several million times the legal limit last weekend. But officials insist that it will disperse quickly in the Pacific and pose no immediate danger.
Also now, some people living near the nuclear site in Japan are getting a tiny payout for their troubles. The company is saying it's going to start making ceremonial payments to people and farmers whose lives and livelihood have been gravely affected by the crisis. But one local official says, basically, it amounts to $12 a person in American dollars in his town.
In less than two hours, the president will meet with congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle. He's trying to hammer out a new budget and to head off a government shutdown. House Speaker John Boehner is proposing a one-week extension that would keep that from happening.
VELSHI: All right. It got a little easier for some folks to avoid the heavy overdraft fees.
Alison Kosik is minding your business for us this morning.
I am all ears about this.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is in no way a recommendation that it's OK to just keep your -- you know, your balance at the flat line, so you're always kind of expecting to bounce a check. But this is really going to help people who really live check to check because, now, Citigroup is the first major bank to clear the smaller checks first that will minimize how many overdraft charges that you get.
So, the way banks process checks now, they process the largest to the smallest.
So, try to follow me on this here.
So, if you have $100 in your checking account and then you have several checks that need to be processed, what happens is you get dinged on an overdraft fee on multiple checks, because that first one already bounced.
VELSHI: Put you into overdraft, yes.
KOSIK: Exactly, put you into overdraft.
So, the new way that Citigroup is going to do this, it's going to process the smallest checks first and then the largest, and then you'd only have to pay that fee on one of the checks, the biggest check.
VELSHI: Right.
KOSIK: So, this is going to help kind of buy time for people that live check by check. This is going to go into effect on July 25th. But don't expect other big banks to follow, big banks like Bank of America, no plans to do this.
And Wells Fargo also says it's doing more of a customer check by clearing the bigger check first, because it makes certain that those bigger expenses like your mortgage and your car payments, which they consider more important, they are cashing those first and pushing those through. So, they're not going to change a thing. But Citigroup is taking a step and doing this.
VELSHI: That's interesting.
ROMANS: The Fed is making them do it when it's a debit card, but not necessarily when you're just paying your bills and writing your check. So, the debit card thing, they're trying to shut that down. But the banks have been under criticism for not doing this one for the checking account.
KOSIK: Exactly. Exactly.
VELSHI: Very good. Alison, thanks very much.
KOSIK: OK.
ROMANS: I would love the story about the beating (ph) the bank, finding some way I'm not going to spend $3.
Federal prosecutors are looking into whether some smartphone applications are snooping on their user. The Internet radio Pandora says it received a subpoena related to a grand jury investigation into how your personal information is gathered and shared. Pandora says it's not a specific target and said any new privacy restrictions would limit its ability to offer users personalize music and other content and advertisements.
CHETRY: All right. Well, she drew lots of criticism for her take no prisoners parenting style. But her claim that Chinese mothers are superior, remember that, it seems that tiger mom, Amy Chua, may actually be getting the last laugh. She appeared on AMERICAN MORNING with me and she talked about -- what she said was supposed to be more a confessional end journey, not a how-to parenting guide. But her oldest child, Sophia, in fact, did make it into Harvard.
Now, back in January, you'll recall, her book, "The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom," sparked a national debate about Western parenting, whether Asians parent better, whether we're too permissive here in this country. Bottom line: at the end of the day, though, her daughter, Sophia, has been accepted to Harvard.
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: And that was the goal.
VELSHI: She stirred up a lot of controversy.
ROMANS: There were people who read her accounts of how she wrote her kids and just said, that's just not --
VELSHI: What was it -- you two parents, what do you think? Is she too harsh?
ROMANS: I learned that I am not a tiger mom. That's what I learned.
CHETRY: And I learned, I mean, I grew up with an Asian parent, with one Asian parent.
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: So, I know when you come home with a report card that is all A's and a B, it's not good job. It's, why did you get a B?
VELSHI: Yes, interesting.
It's a good read. If you hadn't read what she's written already?
Hey, who killed Malcolm X? Forty-six years after his assassination, the mystery has never been solved. Now, the new book suggests -- a new book suggests who may have been responsible. The controversy is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We are following some breaking news for you right now regarding Southwest Airlines. This is the information that we are getting that's just into CNN right now. A spokesman for Southwest Airlines is saying that after inspections, four aircraft have been found to have sub-surface cracking and will need repairs.
Now, these are inspections that took place last night on the 737-300s. You may It was Friday that one of these exact model planes had a hole rip into the fuselage in mid-air. So, the situation, they say, will not have effect today on Southwest Airlines schedule. I'd still call ahead if you are planning on flying Southwest. But they say that, again, they are going to take these out of commission, repair the cracks and get them back into service. And they are awaiting recommendations from Boeing on how to best address this problem -- Ali.
VELSHI: Thanks, Kiran.
Remember the assassination of Malcolm X? Startling new claims about the assassination of the civil rights leader. He was shot down 46 years ago and to this day, we still don't know who pulled a trigger.
Well, a new biography hopes to unravel the mystery. "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention" was released yesterday. Here's the interesting thing. Its author, historian Manning Marable, who worked on this for 10 years, died on Friday. His lead researcher on the book, Zaheer Ali, joins me now to talk about this.
Zaheer, thank you for being here. Our condolences, first of all. You worked with Manning for a long time on this book.
ZAHEER ALI, LEAD RESEARCHER, "MALCOLM X": Yes. Thank you. First of all, I want to say -- I come here with a heavy heart --
VELSHI: Sure.
ALI: -- because I lost not only my adviser, my mentor, my friend and my teacher. And on behalf of myself and all of the students who worked with Professor Marable, we want to offer our condolences to his family. That being said, I'm also very honored to be able to represent what was a labor of love for him for well over a decade.
VELSHI: And he got it done.
ALI: He got it done. That's right.
VELSHI: I mean, it's a big, thick book. How is this different from the autobiography that Malcolm X wrote along with Haley all those years ago?
ALI: Well, the autobiography and the nature of autobiography is that when someone is telling their own story, there maybe lapses, there maybe silences. The autobiography is a literary text. It's a memoir. It's not a historical text that uses historical evidence.
And when Malcolm was telling his story, there were things he just didn't know. He didn't know how deep and wide the FBI was surveilling him. He didn't know what the bureau's special services was doing.
He didn't know that there were agents among his own entourage. He didn't know that there were people who may not have been completely loyal to him. These are things that he would not have known. So, that story has not been told in the autobiography.
VELSHI: One of our floor directors, Bruce, was telling me that when he first read the autobiography, what stuck out to him, and what sticks out to a lot of people when they read about Malcolm X is that his life -- he transformed himself several times. Lo and behold, this book is called, "A Life of Reinvention, Malcolm X."
What was -- what did you find in researching this book about that transformation, starting from his youth, his younger years where he was thought to be real street tough?
ALI: Right. Well, I think, first, you know, even with the more literary than historical basis, the autobiography is still a powerful text.
VELSHI: Sure.
ALI: And there are many people who were transformed by reading it. And so, that doesn't take away from the larger truth that the autobiography speaks to in terms of the condition of black people in America. With doing the work on this text, we deconstructed the autobiography and we begin to look at certain aspects of Malcolm's life that may have been exaggerated. For example, his time as Detroit Red, the street hustler, was probably, more likely, exaggerated to --
VELSHI: To give him more credibility.
ALI: -- to give him more credibility. But also, to reemphasize the redeeming power of the Nation of Islam.
VELSHI: Right.
ALI: When he set out to write the autobiography, he set out to write a text that would demonstrate the power of the Nation of Islam and the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. And so, he heightens the contrast between the before and after.
VELSHI: Look, we can't do much about an almost 600-page book in the time we got. So, I want to ask you about his death.
ALI: Yes.
VELSHI: From the book, it says, "Law enforcement agencies acted with equal reticence when it came to intervening with Malcolm's fate. Rather than investigate the threats on his life, they stood back, almost waiting for a crime to happen."
ALI: Yes. There are many questions that this book raises, and I think quite persuasively about and unanswered questions about Malcolm's assassination. We know that the police detail that was usually stationed in the Audubon Ballroom were pulled back. We know that they had at least two agents who were informants or one was a bureau of special services agent, who was in his security detail who would have spotted potential threats against his life. We know the standard security detail around Malcolm when he was speaking had been altered.
So, there were many questions that had to be answered. Four hours after the assassination at the Audubon Ballroom, there was a dance, a party taking place. And a crew came in and cleaned out the evidence.
These are important questions that need to be asked. And I think one of the things that Professor Marable was dedicated to doing when he worked on this book was he hoped that people would begin to ask these questions and move towards reopening the case on the assassination.
VELSHI: And, of course, the New York Police Department has responded to say that those assertions made in the book are not true. There are also some things in there about who actually killed Malcolm X. I'm not going to give away the book. Those people who want to see it, they're going to read it.
Thank you for being with us, Zaheer Ali, lead researcher on "A Life of Reinvention: Malcolm X," by Manning Marable -- Christine.
ALI: Thanks.
ROMANS: All right. Hundreds of damage reports this morning, thousands without power after severe storms pummeled the South. Rob Marciano is up next with the latest tornado threat.
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ROMANS: Good morning, Washington, D.C. If you are getting up just now and getting out the door, please don't forget your umbrella. It's cloudy and 61 right now, this is as good as it's going to get in D.C. It's going to be bringing some showers later today.
CHETRY: Yes. A lot of areas are dealing with this threat of severe weather today.
We saw power outages still in the south. They're still trying to clean up down there. Rob Marciano with a look at where this is headed, the pretty severe weather we are dealing with. Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: Very much so, guys. We have had over 900 reports of severe weather in the past 24 hours. That may very well be irregular; certainly more than we've had in the past five years.
A widespread event, no doubt about that. We have had injuries across parts of the mid-south. Now, reports of fatalities with these storms that came through with straight line winds across Georgia. Hundreds, if not thousands of trees down because of this event. All right. We are still looking at threatening weather across the East Coast, especially across the Carolinas and down towards Florida where the roughest weather is going to occur over the next two hours.
Half (ph) of Orlando, we're going to have this line of thunderstorms; definitely have some gusty winds with it and frequent lightning and definitely some heavy rain. And right now there is a severe thunderstorm warning out that's posted for the Orlando proper. So Mickey Mouse and the gang there are going to get banged around a little bit as this front moves a little bit closer to them and then eventually through the area.
Obviously, travel is an issue. We've got a ground stop in Orlando. We have two-hour delays right now in LaGuardia. And Philadelphia is seeing 30-minute delays. So we're not even halfway through the day yet and we have delays piling up.
One of the reasons we have severe weather is record-breaking heat across the East Coast yesterday. Richmond, Virginia saw 87; Baltimore, 86; Martinsburg, West Virginia, 85 miles an hour; in parts of West Virginia they saw wind gusts up to 80 miles an hour. Parts of Louisiana saw wind gusts and Metairie, 90 miles an hour, very potent system with a lot of upper air energy. And look at that D.C., seeing an 85 degree high temperature yesterday.
All right. As far as what we can expect later on today once we get this front offshore, it will be cold and wet across the northeast for a good chunk of the day with even some snow mixing in from time to time, especially upstate and through parts of Pennsylvania.
And then we will get into some quieter weather here. May be a fire threat with high winds across parts of the plains. And the next system coming from the Pacific northwest we'll deal with that in a few days.
53 for the high temperature in Chicago. It will be 59 degrees in New York and certainly cooler in D.C. but it's going to be wet and that's going to be the main core thing.
You know, good news for the northeast. The storms that look pretty potent as they were crossing the Delaware weakened fairly dramatically. So really, the roughest weather has been from Philadelphia south down to Florida. New York, for the most part, has been spared with this one.
Guys, back up to you.
VELSHI: Would it make that much of a difference? Does it have anything to do with the fact that the storm weakens across the river? I would have figured with Mississippi or the Missouri that happens.
MARCIANO: No, no, that doesn't really affect it too much.
CHETRY: He is just giving you a landmark.
VELSHI: You're just giving me a landmark.
MARCIANO: Just giving you a landmark. Yes.
VELSHI: I thought we were talking high science here.
MARCIANO: I like that. I like the curiosity.
CHETRY: He was very curious.
VELSHI: Next time, give me like word -- you know, a secret key word if we are switching into science mode.
MARCIANO: OK. You got it.
VELSHI: See you, Rob.
CHETRY: Bye, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
VELSHI: All right. This morning, the UConn Huskies basking in the glow of their third national championship. Butler, again a bridesmaid. The Huskies beat the Bulldogs.
CHETRY: It's bad enough that they've (INAUDIBLE) but you call this group of hard-working young men bridesmaids.
VELSHI: I know. I know. I shouldn't. They are really -- they're impressive. They're Cinderella twice.
The Huskies beat the Bulldogs, 53-41 in the NCAA title game. The game was some say ugly. I think that is mean. I am a low- scoring fan. Both team especially Butler -- I like soccer games.
ROMANS: They just said there were no highlights to cut. Butler made three two-points.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: When you've been watching an entire final game and you say there's no highlights. Come on.
CHETRY: Why are they always showing us some hugging at the end if there's not highlight.
ROMANS: I defer to Kiran on all things basketball. Does it mean -- the low scores, does that mean that they are so evenly matched that they're just like --
CHETRY: Well, I don't know if you could call -- I mean poor Butler, they only had, what did they have, 20 unanswered points or something insane.
VELSHI: Poor Butler made it to the finals.
CHETRY: Yes. And they lost.
VELSHI: In the end, it was a thing of beauty for UConn, however and its fans. The victory kicked off, as you can imagine, an all- night celebration for students in the campus in Storrs, Connecticut.
Check this out, the UConn huskies are "Sports Illustrated" cover boys. SI -- due to hit the stands tomorrow.
CHETRY: Top dogs. So that's how that happens. All right. Fifty minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Check your freezer. 55,000 pounds of frozen turkey burgers are being recalled because of possible salmonella contamination. The recall involves Jennie-O Turkey Burgers that are sold exclusively at Pam's Club. They are being linked to salmonella cases in 10 states now. They're packaged in cartons of 12 and are individually wrapped in one-third pound patties. The use by date on the effective packages is December 23rd, 2011. Remember, always cook your meat, especially ground meat to the appropriate temperature -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, two decades ago, she found her voice and then went on to become a world famous opera singer. Two years ago, Jang Chow was diagnosed with lung cancer. The disease threatened, not only her career but her life. She decided to fight.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta has her story in this morning's "Human Factor."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANG CHOW, OPERA SINGER: When I am on stage, there is just me and the music. Pure me and the music and the words. Life couldn't be simpler.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Some call Jang Chow one of the finest mezzo-sopranos in the world. Twenty-three years ago, she left her native Shanghai, came to the United States to pursue her dream to perform music. She didn't have much to call her own.
CHOW: $45 and two big suitcases.
GUPTA: Chow won a scholarship to study music and fell in love with the opera.
She has performed in operas all over the world. Her performance as Ruth in "The Bone Setter's Daughter", changed her life.
CHOW: Opening night, I fell off stage and this pain in my back lingers for a long time. The next day, the doctor called. My doctor called me and he said, we have a shadow on your lung. I said, that's ridiculous. I've been singing, I said no problem.
GUPTA: Chow was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, even though she has never smoked. CHOW: Realistically, how long do I have? She said, well, look at six months.
GUPTA: The cancer had spread all over her body. The largest tumor was located behind her vocal cords. They also found 24 separate brain tumors.
CHOW: Even when I find out about 24 tumors, still, I think I have this like blind faith.
GUPTA: Chow decided to fight. During her treatment, Chow fell in love again. This time, though, with the doctor who saved her life.
CHOW: The person who went through the trouble to save my voice is now, that person is my husband.
GUPTA: She never gave up hope or her desire to sing.
CHOW: It has been an incredible, unbelievable journey.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Nice music choice. One down -- no two down, one to go. We have been watching and watching and watching over a week for three bald eagle eggs to hatch. There is a camera sitting high up in a cottonwood tree streaming from the eagle's next. Streaming from the eagle's next to the world -- is this in Iowa?
ROMANS: This is in Iowa. That's right.
VELSHI: Two of them came out over the weekend. Take a look.
Take a look.
ROMANS: There they are. Look, look, look.
VELSHI: Oh, so cute.
ROMANS: They are a conservation success story, isn't that wonderful.
CHETRY: They sure are and look at how cute they are. They're so little and fuzzy at that age.
VELSHI: They are on YouTube. You may be able to catch the third, by the way, which is likely to be born within the next -- or hatched whatever you call it, within the next 48 hours.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: They're so cute.
VELSHI: You can go to Ustream, by the way. That's where you look at it.
CHETRY: They're so cute. It won't be long before they are clutching that unsuspecting bunny right out of --
ROMANS: I know. But that is unfortunately the way of nature. I try to gloss over that stuff.
VELSHI: We are going to leave you with the rendition of the "Circle of Life".
CHETRY: That is going to do it for us. We'll be back here bright and early tomorrow.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: Carol Costello has not been afflicted by this whatever is going on here. She actually has some news for you right now with "NEWSROOM." Hey, Carol.
