Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Government Shutdown Looming; Playing For His Country; Former Lawmaker in Tripoli to Persuade Gadhafi to Leave; Tackling America's Education Crisis

Aired April 07, 2011 - 07:58   ET

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


ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi.

No deal on a budget. Late night talks failed to get an agreement that means the federal government could shut down just 40 hours from now.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans.

The president and leaders of both parties insist no one wants to see the government come to grinding to a halt. So, why are some members of the Tea Party saying, bring it on?

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

If there is a government shutdown at midnight Friday, it could hurt our troops the worst. The Defense Department is now preparing our soldiers to fight without pay. The latest on that on this AMERICAN MORNING.

VELSHI: Good morning, it is Thursday, April the 7th. Friday, April the 8th may go down as a day that we all remember if there isn't a deal on the budget.

ROMANS: That's right. We begin with this countdown to a shutdown right now. Just about 40 hours remain. If Congress can't compromise on a budget by midnight tomorrow, the money dries up, the federal government stops operating and hundreds of Americans face the prospect of losing their paychecks.

CHETRY: That's right. And the president was up late last night. He was trying to hammer out this budget agreement. He had Senate majority leader there, he had House speaker there, but they didn't get it done. Sounds like everyone agrees that there was some progress made.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I remain confident that if we're serious about getting something done, we should be able to complete a deal and get it passed and avert a shutdown.

SEN. HARRY REID, SENATE MINORITY LEADER: I have confidence that we can get this done. We are not there yet.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE SPEAKER: No one wants the government to shut down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is live on Capitol Hill this morning. She's got a busy day ahead of her. House speaker, John Boehner, Brianna, is now saying that the president has failed to take the lead on these budget talks.

What do you make of that?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, if you were to ask the White House about that, they would say no. You know, we heard from colleague, Ed Henry, earlier. He was saying that they feel the president got involved in an important time. But that is certainly a criticism that Republicans have been lobbing at the White House.

Let me tell you what happened after that meeting last night. That was very late when that wrapped up. But even later than that, you had top aids to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner who continued to talk into the wee hours of the morning.

They're going to be at it again today. And we're going to be watching for any signs that they could be coming to an agreement.

In the meantime, House Republicans are planning to put on the floor a stopgap measure that would fund the government for one more week, to buy a little more time.

But here's what's so interested about this. It has $12 billion in spending cuts. In the last several weeks, Congress has been funding the government at the rate of $2 billion in cuts per week. This is six times that, very difficult for Democrats to swallow.

And here's the other issue. It also would fund the Defense Department through the end of the year. The point is that House Republicans are calling this a troop funding bill. In fact, in the name of the bill, it says that.

So, they're really kind of daring the Senate to not take this on, guys, because, as you know, we have been talking about the real effects of a government shutdown. I think, probably, one of the worst once, visually, will be military men and women who won't be getting paychecks after Friday. And that's something that Democrats and Republicans are both very sensitive too.

ROMANS: And, Brianna, we know that some of these big issues they are stuck on are policy issues. It's starting to more politics than necessarily math.

VELSHI: The math.

KEILAR: That's right. And, you know, the math is playing into it. We have talked a lot about that as well. The number of spending cuts, how many billions of dollars. But you are exactly right.

There's also this issue of policy provisions. You have many House Republicans who say they are not going to vote to fund the government through the rest of the budget year if it doesn't include a provision to defund health care reform, which, of course, is the president's number one legislative achievement. He is not going to go for that, he said as much.

And also, another one that would defund Planned Parenthood. Republicans are saying the point here is to make sure federal laws don't go to pay for abortions. Democrats are saying, already, federal dollars aren't going to pay for abortions.

But these are some hot button issues that are also on the table and also one of the moving parts in these negotiations.

VELSHI: Brianna, thanks very much. We'll stay on top of this with you. And I know you're going to be working hard on it all day.

There are staffers. There are members of Congress all sort of devoted to keeping the government running.

But some members of the Tea Party movement are publicly rooting for a government shutdown despite the pain it's going to cause. At a rally outside the capital yesterday, Tea Party supporters chanted, "Bring it on," meaning bring on a government shutdown.

Listen to what Republican Congressman Mike Pence told the cheering crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: The liberals in the Senate would rather play political games and force a government shutdown instead of accepting a modest down payment on fiscal discipline and reform. I say, shut it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. If there is a government shutdown, our troops will stop getting paid. Federal tax refunds will be delayed. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed.

CHETRY: Yes, and our senior -- and one of our contributors, John Avlon, is here with us.

While all the pain in the offing, the Tea Party is saying that, you know what, maybe this will teach a lesson.

Did we learn anything in 1995 when the government shut down?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, apparently from the Republican side. I mean, Republican revolution basically ended during the government shutdown in 1995. Americans blamed the Republicans two-to-one over President Clinton as a result of that shutdown. And many folks say it helped ease his re-election.

So, people know the stakes. Responsible Republicans know the stakes. John Boehner doesn't want this shutdown. He realizes it's not in his interest, the nation's interest, or the Republican Party's interest.

But you have some folks on the far right who are cheering for a shutdown, to take this nation over the cliff right now.

VELSHI: Let me show you a Gallup Poll that was taken on April 5th. It shows that of those who want to compromise -- of those who are looking at this bill, 53 percent want to compromise, about 33 percent say, no deal, hold out even if there's no deal found.

This is on everybody. When you look at Republicans, they are split.

AVLON: Yes.

VELSHI: Some of them want a deal, and some of them want a holdout.

AVLON: Yes. And independent voters overwhelmingly want them to find a way to work this out.

Look, politics is the art of compromise, right? And that's what we're not seeing these days.

ROMANS: Right.

AVLON: Compromise seems like collaboration to some of these folks. And if it's all or nothing absolutist crowd that says, no, a $30 billion cut, which is on the table as a compromise, which would still be the largest dollar per dollar cut in American history, they want the full thing, plus the policy riders, which have nothing to do with fiscal responsibility and everything to do with social conservative politics. That's why we're here today.

ROMANS: So, where are the moderates in this discussion?

AVLON: The center is trying to hold. But they're having a hard time because the extremes have been hijacking our political debate yet again, not just rhetorically this time but with real results. They are taking the government to the brink.

At the end of the day, people realize, I think Congress is going to have a hard time explaining why they're going to keep getting paid but American troops in the field are not.

CHETRY: But the thing is, and Christine brought this up and so did some of the Tea Party people we talked to, they said, wait a minute, they didn't get a budget passed ut when it was all Democrats in power.

AVLON: That's a fair point. But the point also is the government kept running. And there's some pretty nihilistic about rooting for a government shutdown. Fundamentally, it becomes a symbol of Washington's culture of dysfunction. And, in fact, most Americans at home are saying, you know what, get it done, do your job. Do your job.

ROMANS: It's not just proving a point, you are saying? It's not bigger than proving a point?

AVLON: And not only that. It's really stupid. If you care about fiscal responsibility, if you care about dealing with the deficit and the debt, which is the excuse on this, you don't focus on this comparatively small piece of the pie. You live to find another day about entitlement reform. This would doom the Paul Ryan budget from the get-go because it would overshadow it and (INAUDIBLE).

ROMANS: Wait until we really do have to start worrying about the 2012 budget.

VELSHI: I hope the moderates think as loudly as you do, John. Thank you very much for that. Good to see you.

AVLON: Thank you.

VELSHI: New developments from Libya this morning. A deadly airstrike near the town of Brega in eastern Libya. Now, you understand that is area that is largely opposition controlled. But there have been some dislodging going on of opposition forces there.

At least five were wounded. You're looking at pictures. Ten others -- five people killed and 10 others wounded when an opposition convoy was attacked. Now, it is not clear whether that airstrike came from pro-Gadhafi forces or mistakenly from NATO aircraft. That happened earlier in the week.

And our Ben Wedeman is there trying to get to the bottom of this.

ROMANS: Explosions also have been reported in the skies over Tripoli. Witnesses report seeing two allied warplanes overhead as they launch strikes against Gadhafi positions in the capital.

CHETRY: We want to also get you up-to-date on the latest in Japan as they try to go with their nuclear crisis.

Now, they're saying that radiation levels have fallen in the seawater around that badly damaged nuclear plant. They were as high as 7.5 million times the legal limit over the weekend. Plant officials say that it has now dropped to 280,000 yesterday morning. That reading was taken before they managed to plug one of the leaks that was dumping highly radioactive water into the Pacific.

The plant's operator, TEPCO, has said that levels will be greatly diluted as they go out to sea. But they are still warning that the fight is far from over.

ROMANS: Also, the body of a second American now has been found in the wreckage from Japan. His name was Monty Dickson. He was 26- year-old from Alaska. His local paper says he was part of a Japanese exchange program and was teaching English at schools there.

VELSHI: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will go to Japan next week. She's expected to meet with Japan's prime minister to talk about how to deal with the ongoing nuclear crisis and also recovering reconstruction efforts along the destroyed coastline.

CHETRY: Still ahead, a soldier in Iraq wants to know, are we going to get paid or not? The defense chief, Robert Gates, is bringing some good news and bad news to soldiers on the front lines.

ROMANS: He even reportedly had his own pillow and blanket. I'm not kidding. Another air traffic controller found asleep on the job and this time, it was on purpose.

VELSHI: Forecasters are calling for a big and bad hurricane season. How many are expected to find land? We'll tell you on the other side of the break.

It's eight minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: An A.M. security watch now:

He's accused of trying to set off a bomb hidden in his underwear on a flight to Detroit, 289 people on board. The so-called Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, he'll be in court today, representing himself in a pre-trial hearing. He's charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and the attempted murder of everyone on that flight.

CHETRY: Well, another air traffic controller busted for sleeping on the job. The FAA says that he actually did it on purpose. He was reportedly found even under a blanket and a pillow.

It happened at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee. He apparently took a five-hour nap while his co-worker landed seven planes alone. It happened back in February but it was revealed yesterday during a congressional hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM LATHAM (R), IOWA: There have been other instances of the same thing happening?

RANDY BABBITT, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: Yes, sir. We actually disappointed to say in our investigation, we did find another incident different from this one.

LATHAM: Just one?

BABBITT: Yes, sir, just one. And it was, unfortunately, willful. And we are in the process of disciplinary proceedings which will terminate this employee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: The FAA is also weighing and releasing a statement saying that they will not tolerate this type of unprofessional behavior. And, of course, news of this comes after the incident at Reagan National Airport while one controller -- there's only one there on an overnight shift and fell asleep, and two pilots had to land planes on their own.

VELSHI: I don't want to start talking about hurricanes in April but, in fact, we've got some forecasts that I want to tell you about for the 2011 hurricane season. Let me start, though, with the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season.

Believe it or not, it was the second busiest hurricane season on record. We didn't feel it as much because not a lot made of these storms landfall. But check this out -- there were a total of 19 named storms, seven of them were name -- were storms, twelve of them were hurricanes. And five of the hurricanes were a total of a category three or higher, which makes them major.

A hurricane is considered major if it's category three or higher. That means it's got sustained winds of greater than 110 miles per hour. That's important to note that although there were five hurricanes, none of them made landfall in the United States.

Let me take you over now to 2011 as we head into the season. Colorado State University is predicting an above-average season with 16 storms, nine of them becoming hurricanes.

Now, what are the odds of these hurricanes actually making landfall this year? Let me show you what the numbers say. First of all, there is a 72 percent chance that a storm. At least one major hurricane, category three or higher, will make landfall on the U.S. coastline. The East Coast has a 48 percent chance that a major hurricane will hit it, and the Gulf Coast, a 47 percent chance down there.

So, that's how it's shaping up for the year. Seventy-two percent chance of one storm, one category three or higher, 110 miles per hour or higher, will hit the United States -- 48 percent that it will hit the East Coast, 47 percent that it will hit the Gulf Coast, which, of course, affects oil production. And we're going into the season with already very high oil prices and gasoline prices.

Let's take it over to the extreme weather center. Bonnie Schneider will be busy with this if we get to hurricane season and we do see any of these. But, right now, she's busy telling us what it looks like here in the United States today -- Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Ali, we are talking about fire danger today once again for Oklahoma. Very strong wind gust, dry condition, all that comes together for red flag warnings in place for Texas and Oklahoma today. Gusts will climb all the way to 45 miles per hour.

It will also be very windy across the Southwest, including Las Vegas today. Look for scattered showers across Kansas and to Oklahoma, west Texas.

And as we head to the Northeast, we are tracking some more wet weather for, you guessed it, New York -- especially eastward into Long Island.

Temperatures are cool, holding steady in the 40s this morning. They will warm up. It's in the mid-30s in Boston area, also upstate. And Washington, D.C., you're in the mid-40s right now. We will look for some snow popping up into the mountains of Pennsylvania.

Across the country, we have some mild conditions throughout much of the Southeast today. But temperatures will actually get much warmer in the days ahead. Even here in Atlanta, we are looking for highs in the mid-80s by Saturday. That is unusual. Also, Chicago will climb to near 70 by Saturday. So, if you could just stick around, the weather will get better.

Now, on the West Coast, we're still looking at some wet weather for San Francisco and that will impact your travels. So, anticipate some airport delays there due to wet and windy conditions in San Francisco, windy weather in Vegas also. But the slowdowns will mainly give out 30 to 60 minutes. So, not so bad.

Looking at high temperatures for today, they look pretty good. It's hot once again, though, unfortunately through much of the southwest. Dallas all the way up to 86 degrees. Sixty-eight in Washington, 53 in New York City, and 53 in Boston. So, we're starting to really feel more like spring. It will feel like summer, though, across the eastern half of the country this weekend. Back to you.

CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

CHETRY: Well, this one is so cute. I love monkeys to begin with.

VELSHI: This is an extremely cute situation.

CHETRY: A very cute.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: A very cute. This is actually not a monkey, it's an ape. Take it that wrong.

VELSHI: Right.

CHETRY: So, monkeys have tails, apes -- anyway, it's a baby orangutan at the Houston Zoo, getting some TLC after -- how could the mom abandon this adorable - look at -- OK. That baby was born last month, rejected by its mother. So, 50 zoo staffers, basically, have to work around the clock as surrogate moms because when orangutans are little like that, they cling to their moms, either on their backs or on their bellies for the first year of life. So, that's why they need 50 of them to help out. The zoo, by the way, is inviting the public to name the newborn.

VELSHI: Have you thought of any names? We've been talking about this for a few times this morning. It's just too cute.

ROMANS: I'm still trying to name that snake.

CHETRY: I like Mia for the snake.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Very slow out on the orangutan.

VELSHI: Well, listen, while we're talking about primates, at 8:40 eastern, we're going to talk world renowned primatologist, Jane Goodall. You'll know her. Her life is a subject of a great new children's book. It was really fun read, actually. I read through it this morning.

ROMANS: Also ahead, he's the talk of the Master's Golf Tournament, and he's just 19 years old, a Japanese Star Athlete plans to donate all of his earnings back to his homeland for the entire year. "Morning Talkers" are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Is there a reason we're playing this song? Sometimes, we have a theme. Something to do with the Masters.

VELSHI: Good question.

ROMANS: All right. "Morning Talker" time.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: What's that green jacket got to do with the Masters?

CHETRY: We all wonder that, but people may say it's not the cutest in terms of fashion, but you know what, every golfer in the world wants to wear it at least once.

ROMANS: And the Masters is underway right now in Augusta, Georgia, this morning. A couple of fellows named Nicholas and Palmer got things started earlier this morning about an hour ago.

VELSHI: But a lot of media attention has been focused on this rising young Japanese star who's playing this week with a pretty heavy heart. Patrick Snell joins us live from Augusta with that story this morning. Patrick, good morning.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. Welcome to Augusta. As you say, play is just underway. You're talking about 19-year-old Ryo Ishikawa from Japan. And you know, at his tender age, he's already taking up for a third time here at the Masters. He has quite a resume as well. Ten career victories to his name, so far, but not one is yet on U.S. soil.

I'm sure it's only a matter of time. Now, if he can breakthrough here this week at Augusta, it's the people back home who'll be benefiting in a big way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNELL (voice-over): Ishikawa was playing in Florida when the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan last month. Stricken with grief, he quickly decided to donate all of his winnings from the season to relief efforts. That would be more than $2 million if he has as much as success as he did last season.

RYO ISHIKAWA, MAKING THIRD MASTERS APPEARANCE (through translator): I see that how those people supported me. Now, it's my turn to support those people who are in need. And I believe that it is my responsibility. And, as I recognize that as my social status in Japan is getting higher, but I believe that that is one of the responsibility to provide those people who are in need.

SNELL: The Tokyo team will also throw in extra cash for each birdie he makes, and he hopes there'll be plenty of them. Anything to brighten his countrymen's outlook.

ISHIKAWA: I would like to emphasize the power and energy that sports can create for those people to encourage them. And also, it's my intention to play really well. That it will be the best way to encourage people in Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNELL (on-camera): Ryo Ishikawa has yet to return to Japan for the first time since the catastrophe, but there's no doubt he's already earned the huge respect of the people back home as well as the whole golfing community here, the fans here, the patrons as they call him. Everyone is certainly wishing this young so well.

And now, of course, he's looking to earn huge sums of money as well so that those back home who are very close, very dear to his heart, they are the ones who will benefit from this. The well wishes of everyone here with Ryo Ishikawa as I send it back to you.

VELSHI: All right. Patrick, thank you so much. And enjoy the fantastic weather you're going to have for the Masters. With all the uncertain weather around the southeast, it's going to be very nice for the Masters.

CHETRY: Yes, they got lucky.

ROMANS: Right. Thanks, Patrick.

CHETRY: Well, budget battles, military paychecks, hundreds of thousands of our troops are wondering if their paychecks are going to get cut off as the debate goes back and forth in Washington and a shutdown of our federal government looms. We're live at the Pentagon next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Who would that be on the streets of New York?

CHETRY: This is right outside of our building, actually.

VELSHI: Water?

CHETRY: You know, you're right. What I love is there's a million taxis out there. When it rains, one drop, you can't get one to save your life. Forty-two degrees and cloudy. More showers if you're living here in New York and some other places in the northeast. Mid-Atlantic today, you're still dealing with it. Fifty-three degrees and showers. At some point, we will know what it's like.

VELSHI: To have sun.

ROMANS: Really nice weather. Meanwhile, there's this delusion in your inbox, right?

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: These companies are telling you that your e-mail address may have been breached in a massive security breach. I've had four or five of this already. And this morning, Verizon J. Crew, Chase, Victoria's Secret are all -- are learning their customers, rather, that their e-mail addresses may now be in the hands of scammers.

You're going to remember last week, Epsilon, one of the world's biggest e-mail marketing firms, said hackers broke into its computer system, stole an unknown number of names and e-mail addresses. Unknown numbers, but I'm going to venture, I guess, that it was a big, big number.

VELSHI: Unemployment rates are falling, believe it or not in a majority of American cities. It makes sense because we've seen our national unemployment rate dropping. Alison is here with more on that. Good morning, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. But it is the national rate that always gets the most attention, but now, for once, we're talking about jobs and not going to be debby (ph) downer here. Yes, we're finding out that unemployment rates in big cities and little cities across the country, they're coming down. The great thing here is it's not limited to just certain regions.

In February, we saw more than 300 areas. Their unemployment rates fell compared to a year earlier. Now, in 52 other cities, we did see a rise. Also, giving more perspective here, some of these rates are still in the double digits, but the good news is we're moving into right direction. These unemployment rates are coming down.

Another good sign here for the job market. We're seeing job gains happening -- hiring happening across the country in hundreds of cities. These job additions, take a look, in L.A., there are 53,000 jobs at it, New York, 18,000, Miami, 16,000. All this coming from the Department of Labor. It's good news. It shows that things are getting better, although, we can't forget we got 13 million people out of work to go.

ROMANS: All right. Alison Kosik. Thanks, Alison.

Top stories now. At least five people are reportedly dead, 10 others wounded following an air strike on a rebel position near the town of Brega.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS (voice-over): Right now, it's not clear whether this attack was carried out by pro-Gadhafi forces or by NATO aircraft.

There is still no agreement on a budget. The president met late last night with the House Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader, but they could not get a deal done. If one can't be reached by midnight Friday, the government will shut down. If that happens, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will see their jobs furloughed, and our troops will have their paychecks cut off.

And news for your budget. For the 16th day in a row, gas prices jumping again overnight. AAA says gas went up another $0.2 a gallon to $3.73 per a gallon of regular. Gas prices up 20 percent over this time last year.

And Robert Gates making what could be his final trip to Iraq as Defense Secretary. He met with U.S. soldiers and military leaders overnight. He plans to meet with Iraqi government officials later today. Gates is expected to retire some time this year -- Kiran.

CHETRY: We've been talking a lot about what would happen if the government did shut down. If the parties can't pass a spending bill by Friday midnight, the money basically stops flowing, but what exactly does it mean? We wanted to take a look at what's going to stay open and what is going to be affected.

First of all, one of the things that we talk about is the IRS, tax time right now. A lot of people waiting on those refund checks will have to keep waiting because processing of any type of tax return, paperwork and refunds will stop. However, electronic filing and those refunds will continue.

What about people worried about Social Security checks? Here's the good news. Social Security payments, they're going to stay. Medicare payments and claims, they will stay. And this is what has some people a little bit exasperated is that Congress, they're going to actually keep their paychecks as well.

OK. Let's take a look right now at the other screen. What is going on when it comes to troops? Will they continue to get paid? Well, this is interesting. If the government shuts down for an extended period of time, what is going to happen is the Defense Department says that troops, including those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan will actually not get paid on time, and that could be devastating.

Also small businesses, struggling homeowners, when you take a look at processing of loans, small business loans in particular, those, as well as government-backed loans, those will stop as well. If the government is still making sure some kids don't go hungry, that is going to continue to happen. Here is the good news when it comes to that. Federal school lunch programs, those continue even though the government may shut down.

But again, government-backed mortgages, those also will end. A lot going on when it comes to how much we will feel the impact on main street if members of Congress can't come to an agreement.

Meantime Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Iraq right now. Troops there are finding themselves in the middle of the battle in Washington. Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon. This is the type of water you don't want to wade into in terms of politics and government shutdown could mean active duty troops stop getting paid.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Kiran. It was one of the questions that Bob Gates got right when he met with the troops. They know what's going on. They wanted to hear from him. He acknowledged if the government shuts down and it goes on for several days, the troops will not be paid. There will be catch up pay after everything is sorted out. But for some period of time, they will not see a paycheck. The secretary said he regretted that. He offered a bit of gallows humor about the whole thing. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: As a historian, it always occurred for me that the smart thing for government was always to pay the guys with guns first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: A little bit of gallows humor as we said there. If it does come to this, it will be everybody in the U.S. military in uniform, everybody from General David Petraeus on down to a private first class in the army who may make very little more than about $20,000 a year. Of course these young troops live, many of them, paycheck to paycheck. Their families need the money. This is not an option for them. Yes, it will even include the wounded still lying in their hospital beds. Kiran?

CHETRY: Unbelievable. Barbara Starr for this morning, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Donald Trump is rising in the polls for president. A new NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll has the Donald tied for second with Mike Huckabee. They are trailing Mitt Romney by four points. Has anybody declared their running?

CHETRY: President Obama.

ROMANS: Donald Trump is getting a lot of headlines by questioning President Obama's birth place, saying that people on the ground investigating this issue. Just how serious is Donald Trump. We are going to ask him this afternoon. Don't miss the Donald live on CNN Newsroom at 12:15 eastern.

VELSHI: Jane Goodall is considered to be the world's foremost expert -- that will be Donald Trump we are looking at, but Jane Goodall is the foremost expert on chimpanzees. And her lifelong passion started when somebody gave her a stuffed animal. And she has a new children's book with a message for children, follow your dreams, even if they are wild ones.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: The words "living legend" should be used sparingly, but they certainly fit our next guest to a tee. Jane good tall has redefined the way we look at primates. Perhaps best known for her work with chimpanzees in Tanzania, Goodall has been a tireless advocate for animals and the environment. And now young children can learn how her fascinating life took shape in a new book titled, "Me -- Jane." It is a great pleasure to have Jane Goodall with us this morning. Welcome, first of all.

JANE GOODALL, AUTHOR: Thank you.

VELSHI: This story is a children's book. It is beautifully illustrated. It reads like a fairy tale. It is really your story of how you got involved in decades worth of work dealing with primates.

GOODALL: That's exactly right. It is amazing. It almost is as though my story was kind of created to say to kids, follow your dream.

VELSHI: The legend has it that your father gave you a stuffed animal that others thought would be a little bit scary for a little girl to have. That's not necessarily what got you involved in your worked with primates, but you've loved animals since you were a little girl.

GOODALL: Absolutely. That's why he gave me a stuffed chimpanzee. He is about this big. When I had him, he was all covered in hair. I took him everywhere, so he is now almost naked and very fragile. He is 74 years old, 75 years old.

GOODALL: Wow. And your life's work has been devoted to working with animals. The interesting thing is you have got a Ph.D., but you didn't study as a researcher initially and you made your way to Africa and started working with Lewis Leakey. And ultimately you started studying animals different than traditional scientists did. You changed some of the things we used to think. Tell me some of the things you discovered that we didn't know.

GOODALL: When I got there, it was very obvious that each chimpanzee was as different one from the other as we are. It was very obvious that they had little minds that could think and work out problems. It was very obvious they had emotions, happiness, sadness, fear. I named them all. I have named all my animals all my life.

VELSHI: Which is not how scientists do things.

GOODALL: No. I went to Cambridge University, because Lewis said I had to get a Ph.D., no time for a BA. I was told I did it all wrong. Animals could have numbers and not names. I could not talk about personality, mind, or emotion because those were unique to us. I already knew that that was wrong because I had a wonderful teacher when I was a child, my dog, Rusty.

VELSHI: You knew they had personalities. By the way, you went to Africa working as a secretary. You just wanted to get there and be closer to animals an you worked your way into becoming a researcher and one of the preeminent researchers in this field. The other things that we didn't know about chimpanzees is that they use tools.

GOODALL: Tool users.

VELSHI: We thought only humans used tools.

GOODALL: Man, the toolmaker is how we were defined. Lewis said we have to redefine man or redefine tool or accept chimps as humans.

VELSHI: Did you ever want to get up and say, I'm kind of done with chimps, I want to study dolphins?

GOODALL: I would love to study all animals. Lewis Leakey suggested chimps, but of all the animals they are the most like us. They helped me to persuade other scientists and to some extent religious people that there isn't a sharp line dividing us from the others. It is a blurry line. Chimps are so like us biologically as well that you can't really argue against it.

VELSHI: I want to just ask you about Roots and Shoots. This is an organization that helps kids connect with animals and wildlife.

GOODALL: Yes. Roots and Shoots began in Tanzania with 12 high school students have the idea was, choose projects to make the world better for people, animals and the environment. At that time, they weren't teaching about the environment in Tanzania.

So from that little group of 12 high school students, we now have about 16,000 active groups with an average of 30 per group, roughly, in 126 countries, ages preschool all the way through and including very strongly university. But also, normal adults want to form groups. The main message, every single one of us makes a difference every single day.

VELSHI: You have made a difference for decades. The book is a very easy read. It is the kind of book you cherish. It is beautifully illustrated and it is your life's story condensed, highly condensed into something that you can read in 10 or 15 minutes. Thank you for being with us, because your life can't be told in such little time. It is a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for being with us, Jane Goodall.

GOODALL: Nice to meet you. CHETRY: Severe storms moving into the Midwest and tornadoes possible. And right now there is a threat of grass fires in the south. Bonnie Schneider is following all of that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Joining us now from Tripoli is Curt Weldon. He was a Republican representative from Pennsylvania from 1987 to 2007. He has met with Moammar Gadhafi, joined by a former staffer in Vice President Biden's office. They are here to tell us exactly what message they have delivered to Moammar Gadhafi and what exactly Gadhafi has said.

Congressman Weldon, thank you so much. You met with Gadhafi. How did that meeting go? What did you talk about?

CURT WELDON, FORMER PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN: First of all, we have not yet met with Gadhafi. The meetings we have had have been with all of the key staffers. We just left a two-hour meeting with the Prime Minister Mamudi. We spent yesterday and the day before meeting with the chief of the staff and we've met one of the sons, Saif Gadhafi. We are still waiting for the meeting with the leader.

ROMANS: What did they say?

WELDON: Well, we have brought them over some suggestions. We are here on a private delegation only because I have met with Gadhafi more than any other American on three official congressional delegations.

I know the man and I wanted to basically have the chance to confront directly the issues that are important. We are here in support of President Obama and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden.

We are not here with a different agenda. We are not here to do any type of negotiation. We are here conveying a message. I have worked Libyan issues, both in Congress and I have been to Libya after I left Congress. A total of seven times.

ROMANS: What is the message, Congressman? What is the message?

WELDON: The message is that there are certain steps that have to be taken. They were outlined in the op-ed that I had run in the "New York Times" on the day we arrived here, yesterday, which are very succinct and clear.

They are the message that Hillary Clinton again repeated yesterday in her press event. We're not deviating from that. There is no separate agenda. It is to reinforce the importance of an immediate cease-fire monitored by the U.N. on both sides.

With the Libyan army pulling back in all the cities in distress and the rebel forces stopping their forward movement so that we can protect the people. I understand there were other people killed today.

ROMANS: Do you have any indication --

WELDON: The leader had to step aside.

ROMANS: We a little bit of delay so you and I sort of talking over each other with a little bit so I apologize for that. Do you have any indication from the people you have met so far, the officials, including one of the sons of Moammar Gadhafi, that he is hearing this message.

He delivered a three-page rambling letter to a president telling the president of United States to stop an unjust war. It is a very different position that what you're delivering to his government. Are they hearing you?

WELDON: Well, they have no choice, but to hear me and us because I'm meeting face to face, which is the reason I came here. Oftentimes, you can't convey the same intensity or emotion unless you're in person.

That's why I made this trip. No one is paying me to be here. I have not made any money from any of my work in Libya. I am here to avoid war, to avoid Americans from being killed and to avoid innocent Libyans from being killed. As we've seen on the daily news broadcast, they are listening.

They are receiving and we have given them suggestions, numerous. Our hope is that they p accept some of the suggestions but, more importantly, to fully understand the gravity of the situation. Time is running out.

The world is very concerned about what's happening in Misrata. I have been to Misrata. The world is very concerned about what's happening in Benghazi and all of the communities. We don't want more Libyan people to die.

ROMANS: The question is, is Moammar Gadhafi going to hear this message? You met with him more than any other official in the United States. That is true, but this is someone who has again and again defied the west, been openly confrontational with the west and his own people.

After a three-page rambling letter to the president yesterday, how do you think you are going to be able to push him in the U.S. direction and not just you yourself find yourself on state television as a prop for him showing that he is big and important and the west listens to him?

WELDON: Well, I'm not a prop for anyone or I wouldn't have written the op-ed that appeared in the "New York Times" yesterday on the day I arrived. I don't think anyone would tell me that that op-ed was an attempt to apiece anyone. It was very direct.

I did that because in my first meeting with Gadhafi. When I chaired a bipartisan delegation in 2004, he said to me, Congressman, why did it take 25 years for someone from your country to come and sit down with me.

And tell me from my face you thought I was a criminal and then bomb me. You didn't do that. You bombed me first. I said, it is time for me to come over and ask to meet with him personally and tell him, it is time for us to resolve this conflict.

And these are the simple steps necessary to move this to a point where the president and the secretary of state can send an official envoy to interact with them directly and to do the actual negotiation. We are not doing any negotiation. We are here to reinforce the message of the Obama administration.

ROMANS: Do you think you will be meeting with Gadhafi today? Will you meet with him or just his aids? Is it clear you will be able to tell him, deliver this message in person?

WELDON: Nothing is clear. There's a lot of uncertainty here. I know there are a lot of concerns about the security of Colonel Gadhafi because of all the turmoil. Outside of our hotel last night, we saw traces of weapons fire and there are some planes that flew over in attempts to shoot them out of the air.

We heard some rifle shots. There is uncertainty here. They are concerned about security. In my previous meetings with Gadhafi, you never know until the last moment that you are going to have the meeting. We are here and we are available for the rest of tonight and into tomorrow. So there is no other excuse now. We are here to give a message face to face.

ROMANS: All right, Congressman Curt Weldon, thank you so much. Also, Brian Ettinger, a former staffer. Thank you so much both of you for your time and best of luck to you in your mission.

CHETRY: Interesting stuff. We will keep following that of course.

Meantime, at this very moment, America's future is at stake. Students today simply don't have the skills to tackle some of the high-tech jobs of the future.

VELSHI: So how do we motivate high school students to push themselves to learn more? Well, coming up next, one of the lowest performing schools in Boston attempts to turn things around. It's 51 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: We have a crisis in American education. The race is on to transform terrible schools into top performers.

CHETRY: And this is, of course, no easy task. President Obama is talking about taking drastic steps. His administration wants to shell out millions in funding to try to fix the country's worst schools.

VELSHI: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux visited a school in Boston that is receiving some of that money. Officials there say their once bad school is now on the path to excellence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thirteen-year- old Eric Hall is in the seventh grade at Orchards Gardens, one of Boston's poorest performing schools. He has seen a lot since he started in kindergarten.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have seen different teachers and different principals. I'm seeing students come and go.

MALVEAUX: But this year is different.

ERIC HALL, SEVENTH GRADE STUDENT: Now there's gym, writing, reading, math. I am pretty much enjoying all of my classes.

MALVEAUX: That's because Orchard Gardens is one of 5,000 schools around the country getting millions of dollars from the federal government to turn around. The goal, to become a top-performing school. We first visited principal, Andrew Bott last September.

ANDREW BOTT, PRINCIPAL: We need to do something bold. We need to restart Orchard Gardens.

MALVEAUX: He hand-picked his staff to replace the 80 percent he fired. The turnaround rules mandate he replace at least half. He also has $3.7 million in grants to help him over the next three years. Seven months into the year, with standardized test season in full swing, we checked back in.

BOTT: I did not imagine we would be this far. I know that within three years, we can have over 90 percent of our kids proficient or advanced and on a college track.

MALVEAUX: These could be monumental gains when you consider only 10 percent of the students were proficient in years past.

BOTT: Now, we are anywhere from 35 percent to 50 percent proficient in English and anywhere from 15 percent to 75 percent proficient in math.

MALVEAUX: These are projections. Official scores from state tests won't be available until this summer. Justin Cohen works to improve failing schools. He calls Bott's goals ambitious and cautions against declaring early victory.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens is schools that have achieved fragile gains can often slide right back into underperformance once resources are taken away or attention is distracted.

MALVEAUX: At Orchard Gardens, the improvements go beyond test scores.

BOTT: Behavior, night and day.

MALVEAUX: Eric Hall thinks his school is doing something right. HALL: There were headaches every day. They actually made it fun.

MALVEAUX: Reporting for "In America," I am Suzanne Malveaux.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: The promise is, how do you expand that out on a bigger scale? I mean, when you do take the time with these individual kids, they really surprise you.

Good thing. How can America compete if our kids don't have the skills they need to excel? Soledad O'Brien is looking into this as well. She's examining our public schools in a special report "Don't Fail Me, Education in America." It airs May 15th 8 p.m. Eastern time.

All right, it is 56 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Or I guess you could say hatched in the USA. We are talking about the eaglets, watching them for a week, up in a cottonwood tree. Is it Tennessee?

ROMANS: Iowa.

CHETRY: They are up in Christine's homeland. I'm sorry. Yesterday evening, the third and final baby bald eagle hatched. This one, he waited. He was the big star. He was the final act.

He actually hatched right there live on camera with a non- profit group that perched these cameras high up in these trees at the Decora Fish Hatchery in Iowa.