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American Morning

6.6. Magnitude Quake Hits Northern Japan; Government Bracing for a Bigger Budget Battle; Twisters Tear Through Midwest; Schwartzel Wins the Masters; Tea Party Express Blasts Budget Deal; Big Paychecks for CEOs; New Budget Battle; Burqa Ban in France; Ashley Judd's World: Bitter And Sweet

Aired April 11, 2011 - 06:00   ET

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


ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: On this AMERICAN MORNING, the federal government is open for now. An 11th hour budget agreement avoided a shutdown. But the fight isn't over. Another budget brawl is already starting. The Tea Party is right in the middle of it.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking news this morning from Japan. They've been hit by yet another earthquake, exactly 30 days after disaster first struck. Officials now widening the evacuation zone as dangerous radiation levels spread well beyond the crippled nuclear power plant.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Here at home, extreme weather as well in the Midwest. A tornado packing 165-mile-an-hour winds, wiping out most of a small town in Iowa. The governor declaring a disaster area as they prepare for a major cleanup.

VELSHI: And Tiger roars for nine holes then purrs down the stretch at the Masters. That's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Good Monday morning to you. I'm Kiran Chetry. A lot happening overnight. We want to get you caught up.

First of all, the federal government open for business this morning. But if you think the budget battle ended with the last- minute deal that averted a shutdown Friday, well, think again. A much bigger fight, we're talking trillions, is just ahead and we're live in Washington with the latest.

VELSHI: I'm Ali Velshi. Moammar Gadhafi reportedly agrees to a roadmap to peace. This as NATO air strikes blast his forces out of a key city. But does the roadmap show the dictator the door?

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Severe weather in the nation's heartland. A storm system spawns dozens of tornadoes, including one that wiped out more than half of a small town in Iowa on this AMERICAN MORNING.

CHETRY: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Glad you're with us on this Monday. It's April 11th. When we last left our viewers, we weren't sure if we were going to be --

VELSHI: Open for business.

CHETRY: -- the government is in business. Now they've averted that crisis, and they're fighting again.

VELSHI: But there -- yes. And there are two more crises on the horizon. But first, more news out of Japan.

ROMANS: That's right. Breaking news this morning from Japan. A 6.6 magnitude earthquake has just rocked the northern part of the country. It comes exactly one month after the earthquake and tsunami that has now killed more than 13,000 people and triggered a nuclear crisis. Kyung Lah is live in Tokyo this morning.

Kyung, what can you tell us about this latest quake?

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we can tell you is that it wasn't just one earthquake, Kiran. We saw a series of earthquakes in a very short period of time. According to the Japanese meteorological agency, there were four earthquakes just within the span of 20 minutes and the big concern is that all of those earthquakes were very close to the crippled Fukushima nuclear facility. This is a nuclear plant that has been the focus of the world about radiation concerns going into international waters but also contaminating the land all around it. From what TEPCO tells us, the company that owns this nuclear plant, they had to evacuate all the workers. They lost critical external power to reactors one through three. These are already damaged reactors. They also could not cool the reactors for approximately 55 minutes because they lost the power. They also could not pump the water on to those reactors.

Now all of that has been restored, but certainly this is a concern. Seismologists say that over the next year, we are still expecting in Japan aftershocks of up to 7.0. So when you throw the nuclear crisis in with the unstable ground here that Japan is expecting, certainly trying to get ahead of this crisis is going to be very difficult -- Kiran.

ROMANS: Kyung, so one, through three lost power for a period of time. But you say power has been restored to those reactors and they are now back on the job trying to cool them?

LAH: Yes. Absolutely. And workers have also returned to the facility and they're trying to continue to cool those reactors. TEPCO says that they don't envision any sort of long-lasting impact from having lost power and not being able to cool those reactors for approximately 55 minutes and they hope to, again, try to get ahead of this emergency. But, you know, when you mix in these aftershocks with a crippled nuclear plant, that's a huge challenge here.

ROMANS: Certainly for so many people who are just fighting for basic necessities as well, it's just nerve-racking and as you said, seismologists say this could go on for the next year. Kyung Lah in Tokyo. Thank you. CHETRY: Well, in Washington, one fight to rein in spending and pass a budget may be ending, but another bigger fight is just beginning. It took $38.5 billion in spending cuts to avert a government shutdown. Well, now Democrats and Republicans have to deal with a $14 trillion question about raising the debt ceiling. That's the amount of money the country can legally borrow and we're about to hit our limit.

Brianna Keilar is live in Washington for us. Just when you thought everyone is holding hands and getting along after Friday's big deal, we have a whole week of fighting ahead.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I know. It seemed like a crazy week, but if you're a runner, that was kind of a stretch. That was kind of the warm-up, and here we go, Kiran.

Just take a look at week ahead of us. Of course, we have to tie up some of the loose ends from last week. We're going to be seeing that budget. The deal that was struck on Friday night is going to be filed tonight. What does that mean? We're going to see exactly what the cuts are. Something we haven't seen yet. Then, members of Congress will have the chance to read the bill through today, through Tuesday. Wednesday, we'll see the vote on this in the House. We expect the Senate to follow suit on Thursday. And then, if you can believe it, we'll be dealing with the 2012 budget vote in the House.

This is a budget that was proposed by the chairman of the budget committee in the House, Paul Ryan, and it's very controversial. It's backed by Republicans. It actually aims to turn Medicare from a government-run insurance system into a government subsidized system. Major changes to Medicaid as well making it into block grants, basically divvying up the money to states and having them deal with it. This isn't ultimately expected to see the light of day in the Senate, Kiran, but this is going to be a big rhetorical fight and we're going to see that beginning Wednesday, Thursday, going into Friday, Kiran.

CHETRY: And speaking of that rhetorical fight, you're also -- I mean, Republicans have indicated that they're not going to give a, quote, "clean bill" yes to the debt ceiling without getting some assurances, perhaps, on some policy issues.

KEILAR: Yes. Just like we saw with the -- with the last bill to fund the rest of this budget year, the debt ceiling is going to be a gigantic fight. The Treasury Department says they expect the U.S. to hit its debt ceiling, which is just under $14.3 trillion, by mid-May, by May 16th. And what you need to know is that the last couple weeks of April, Congress is on recess, so this is really something that they're going to have a couple weeks in May to deal with.

You have conservative Republicans, Michele Bachmann, for instance, who say they are not going to vote to raise the debt ceiling because it gives Congress the license to spend. But the fact is, Kiran, Congress has obligations to make some payments and they're going to hit the debt ceiling no matter what. If the debt ceiling was not to be raised, you're looking at the U.S. defaulting on loans, which is something that would affect all of us. It would increase interest rates. It would be, really, a bit of a financial disaster. So it's a battle that has to pull through Congress but it's not going to be pretty.

CHETRY: Brianna Keilar for us in Washington this morning. Thank you.

VELSHI: Moammar Gadhafi reportedly ready for a cease-fire. The Libyan government and the African union saying they've got a deal on a roadmap to peace, their words, that ends fighting, allows humanitarian aid to be delivered and starts talks with rebel leaders. That's unclear whether that agreement means that Gadhafi will step down, although the rebel army has insisted on that. A long-time dictator has called for unilateral cease-fires before, only to continue attacks against his own people.

NATO strikes help the Libyan rebels regain control of a key city. Gadhafi's forces were pushed back when nearly a dozen tanks were destroyed in Ajdabiya. It's considered the gateway to Benghazi, which is Libya's second largest city and home to the rebels.

ROMANS: OK. If you filled up your tank recently, it's not going to come as a surprise to you that gas prices are climbing. This morning, up for the 20th day in a row. According to AAA, the national average now for a gallon of regular is $3.77. That's just 34 cents from the all-time high of $4.11 a gallon set in July of 2008.

VELSHI: Wow. Although gas was a lot higher back then. Gas was up to $147.

ROMANS: Oil, yes. That's right. That's right.

CHETRY: Well, powerful storms in the nation's heartland. A small town of Mapleton, Iowa, taking the biggest hit. A tornado hit this town. It was packing 165-mile-an-hour winds at the time. That's what they were clocked at.

VELSHI: Look at that.

CHETRY: Literally flattening half the town. Iowa's governor has now declared a disaster declaration for the county.

Meantime, check out this video. This was shot by a storm chaser and it shows that huge funnel cloud. Look how wide out it goes into the sky as well. This is over Mapleton. The tornado was about a quarter mile wide. That's what witnesses say. Several other tornadoes were also spotted across the state, but despite all of that damage, they say no deaths were reported.

ROMANS: Thankfully.

VELSHI: Out of control wildfires are raging across Texas. Officials say one might be the worst in the state's history. It's burned 71,000 acres so far. Texas firefighters were able to get the upper hand on six other fires yesterday. But still, they say over a dozen more are spreading. More than 70 homes have been destroyed and more may burn down. Texas isn't alone in this. By the way, red flag warnings are up in six states. Oklahoma declared a state of emergency after fires there forced evacuations.

ROMANS: Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center. You know, Rob, amazing pictures from that Iowa tornado yesterday.

VELSHI: Wow.

ROMANS: Is that storm system still spawning tornadoes today or is that petered out?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's moved to the east. It hasn't lost all of its energy. A lot of it has moved down to the south as far as the tornadic activity. And that would be down across parts of Texas where they're still a tornado watch in effect for parts of east Texas and the Texarkana area. But as this thing moves off to the east, we're looking at it to take the severe weather threat with it. So Texas will be out of it here in the next couple of hours.

Folks in Iowa, Wisconsin, also got hit hard Sunday night. There was multiple tornadoes that touched down there with some damage and some injuries, and this is a round of storms will be pressing off to the east. We don't have as high of a risk today of seeing tornadoes, but the severe threat will be widespread from St. Louis back up through Detroit and this will be pushing east into the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys throughout the day today and the afternoon, obviously, and evening will be the times that we have to watch most carefully.

I think most of the east coast, at least for today, will be dry. Tonight and tomorrow will be a different story as this front pushes off to the east. But look at the warm-up. Eighty-five in Atlanta. We have some record highs across Georgia over the weekend. Eighty- eight degrees expected for the high temperature in D.C. So all this warmth buildings on the eastern coastline will only add fuel to the fire when this line of storms gets to that area tonight and tomorrow. So we got a good couple days of here with some rough weather to deal with. It is April and this is what happens. And it was a rough weekend for folks in the Midwest.

Guys, more details throughout the morning. Send it back to you.

ROMANS: OK. Rob Marciano, thanks, Rob.

VELSHI: Thanks Rob.

CHETRY: Well, I don't know if you guys watched the final round of the Masters yesterday. It looked like Tiger maybe was regaining some of his old mojo again, but in the end it was the son of a South African chicken farmer who ended up winning -- or wearing the green jacket.

26-year-old Charl Schwartzel is the 2011 Masters champion. He birdied the final four holes at Augusta yesterday to win by two shots over a couple of Australians, Adam Scott and Jason Day. But for a brief moment, it did look like Tiger might be taking home his fifth green jacket. He started the final round seven shots back, but then made a charge on the front nine and had a share of the lead for a moment, but he faded down the stretch. It's been 18 months now since Tiger's last victory.

VELSHI: It's fun watching though. The weather was fantastic for the Masters.

CHETRY: Beautiful for them.

VELSHI: Good to watch.

Up next, the Tea Party Express. Changing the game on Capitol Hill, preparing for another big battle now against the president.

ROMANS: Then a little later, a serious lapse in security at an airport. A female passenger breezes through security with a man's boarding pass for a different month.

VELSHI: Ouch.

ROMANS: Find out how this happened.

It's 11 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: You know, if you thought we were done talking about money, you are out of luck. The battle over the budget came down to the wire on Friday night. It was a fight over billions of dollars with a "b." Now we're talking about trillions with a "t." The real fight, the one that's getting started is over the country's debt limit. By law, the amount that the U.S. can carry, the amount of debt that the U.S. can carry is $14.294 trillion. It's a credit limit that Congress sets. Now, that's what they can borrow.

Here's where we stand right now. The actual current debt of the United States, $14.208 trillion. The difference between the two is $86 billion. Now the U.S. is going to exceed this limit by May the 16th, based on current spending. The government can pull a few tricks and get away with being over the limit until about July 8th. But not increasing this credit limit is going to create some problems.

Now, there are two scenarios for what could happen if Congress doesn't raise that debt limit by May 16th. Neither of them are good. The government can cut spending or it can raise taxes. They need to raise $738 billion to keep the country running until the end of the fiscal year, which is September 30th.

But Democrats oppose cuts and -- oppose increasing taxes, so if they don't do that, the U.S. could default on its loans. That could create a big problem. That could send the dollar plummeting. It could send oil prices higher. It could hobble an already delicate economy, which is why this -- this debt ceiling, is going to become the focus of our intentions for the next month, Christine.

ROMANS: Is it -- it means we can't borrow any more money -- VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: -- to pay for the country to keep going.

VELSHI: This is the same as you running up against the top of your credit card, calling up the bank saying, hey, I need you to increase my credit limit, the bank saying no.

ROMANS: Except you are the bank --

VELSHI: Except you are the bank.

ROMANS: -- and you keep raising the credit limit every single time.

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: All right. Ali Velshi, thanks.

Republicans eventually agreed to $38 billion in spending cuts to get a budget deal done, not nearly enough according to the Tea Party Express. They're calling the deal a disaster and criticizing House Speaker John Boehner for buckling in the heat of battle.

Jim Acosta is live in Washington. Jim, the Tea Party made its mark on this budget process and it sounds like they've only really just begun here, right?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Yes. You can certainly say that disappointment is brewing inside the Tea Party over this budget compromise, Christine. Many of the conservative movement's most prominent leaders from Michelle Bachmann to Rand Paul, not to mention the new Tea Party backed members of Congress, believe the cuts don't go far enough.

Then there are the leading groups of the Tea Party Movement. Take the Tea Party Nation which blasted out a series of nasty e-mails over the weekend to the members of its organization, slamming this budge deal, including this quote. Take a look at this. From the Tea Party Nation, "The almost universal opinion of Tea Party members is the agreement reached Friday night between John 'White flag of surrender' Boehner," their words, "and the Democrats is nothing short of a disaster."

And meanwhile, Tea Party backed members of Congress were a little more restrained but still disappointed on the Sunday talk shows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: The House Republicans needed to pick a fight and I think -- I think John Boehner fought the good fight. I think he drove a hard bargain here. I want to see the details, but from what I know, it sounds like John Boehner got a good deal, probably not good enough for me to support it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: Not good enough for Mike Pence and many other Tea Party members in Congress who are going to vote against this compromise later this week.

Meanwhile, we should also note Tea Party groups are already planning to carry this message of big budget cuts right into the race for 2012. Members of the Tea Party Express, have set up a new political organization called the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama. The group plans to start running ads in 2012 presidential battle ground states already and here's a sneak preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We, the people, are fighting back for fiscal responsibility, a return to constitutional principles, with greater individual liberty and less government regulation over our lives. We deserve new leadership that serves with honor, integrity and decency, join us on-line at CampaignToDefeatObama.com.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So the Tea Party groups are not taking a break from the political activity when it comes to budget issues. And this ad will certainly put Republicans on notice as well. They remember how the Tea Party got behind conservative challengers instead of the GOP backed candidates across the country in last year's midterm elections.

And, Christine, if you thought this budget fight over the 2011 budget was something, wait until, as Ali mentioned just a few moments ago, the fight that's to come over the debt ceiling --

ROMANS: Yes.

ACOSTA: -- and the 2012 budgets. What happened over the weekend was just a sneak preview of coming attractions.

ROMANS: And we're not done talking about money for -- and politics -- and politics.

ACOSTA: Not by a long shot.

ROMANS: All right. Jim Acosta. Thanks, Jim.

VELSHI: Is there something wrong with talking about it constantly. Like I know money is a thing that runs our government, but there's something wrong when that's all your discussion is about.

ROMANS: Well -- but it's the wait to the 11th hour, it's such a big issue.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: Shouldn't they be doing this kind of politics every single day, so they don't get to that point.

CHETRY: Well, they do -- I mean, they have debates. I mean, they have voted over and over again to raise the debt ceiling.

VELSHI: Right.

CHETRY: It's an election year and there are two very different factions now vying for, you know, control of how we spend our money. So that's why it's an issue this year.

VELSHI: We're all becoming MBAs out of this.

CHETRY: Yes. Well, she had a boarding pass. But it was for a different flight, a different time. Oh, it was for a guy, but she still was able to get on the plane.

A serious lapse in security at Memphis International Airport. What happens was, like as I said, she was able to get on the plane with the wrong pass. Her name is Kathleen Beard. She said what she did is she printed out an Air Tran boarding pass for her friend's old flight and no one at the airport noticed until just before takeoff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN BEARD, BOARDED WRONG FLIGHT: They came on the plane, asking for my friend's name, and I said, "He's not on the plane, but I know him." And they said, "Where is he?" I said, "He's at the office." And the two of us were perplexed equally as well because he couldn't fathom how I got through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, so far, no one at the airport or the TSA is commenting on the incident.

VELSHI: Did she do that by accident?

CHETRY: Yes. She said she accidentally did it. But, the thing is, I mean, in the end they -- I mean, she -- she wasn't going to take off on -- on the plane, but she did get on the plane.

VELSHI: Right. It's interesting.

All right. Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING, it pays to be the top dog. CEOs see their pay go up big time. How does that compare to what you're bringing home? I bet you have an idea about how it compares.

Well, we'll tell you. We're "Minding Your Business" after this break.

ROMANS: What's funnier than a pie in the face? How about 700 pies in the face? College kids go for a messy world record.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-four minutes past the hour right now.

China's rapid growth and rising price of food, energy and other goods pushing the country's trade balance into the red, and this is the first time this has happened in seven years. Imports outweighed exports by more than $1 billion in the first quarter. That is compared to a $13 million surplus during the same time last year.

China is the world's top exporter.

VELSHI: Well, it pays to have the corner office. CEO pay -- surprise, surprise -- is on the rise. Carmen Wong-Ulrich is "Minding Your Business" for us.

CARMEN WONG-ULRICH, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: You know, I don't think I'm telling you anything too new here, but you'd be amazed just how much it's gone up because corporate profits are up 29 percent last year. That is the biggest jump in 60 years.

Alongside with that, the average top pay for CEOs last year, an average of almost $10 million. Now, that's up 12 percent from the year before, while the wages of the average U.S. worker have gone up two percent, the year before that a little over one percent.

Now, take note, 23 years ago, CEO pay, compared to the average worker, was 191 to one.

VELSHI: Wow.

ULRICH: Well, now, CEO pay is over 1,000 times that of the average worker.

Now, however, new study results seem to show that many Americans are just happy to have a job. This survey found that 60 of Americans say, you know what? My pay is fair. Almost 40 percent say they are underpaid.

And then, not too big a surprise, men versus women come out a little bit different here. Thirty percent of men say they're underpaid while 43 percent of women say they're underpaid because, you know, women still make an average of only about 75 cents to the dollar of men, so we feel a little differently.

VELSHI: Right.

CHETRY: And the two percent that said they were overpaid, those are the CEOs.

ULRICH: Maybe not, actually, because the -- most of them say I need to make more money. But it's a big boom year for them.

ROMANS: Carmen Wong-Ulrich, thanks.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: I'll take a dollar. I'll take a dollar for my salary (ph).

ROMANS: It's not an NCAA Championship, but, you know, this picture is still sweet. Students at Drake University broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest custard pie fight. About 700 students let them rip on Saturday.

But it wasn't all that -- you know, it wasn't all for fun. Students also raised money too -- for the Peak of (ph) Poverty, a charity that helps kids with -- in Africa with HIV and AIDS.

CHETRY: So it was for a good cause.

I feel like every couple of months we have a -- they try to break the world record for and never do.

VELSHI: Right.

CHETRY: But this time they did it.

ROMANS: I want to find something really obscure.

VELSHI: Well, I think a -- a big custard fight on a college campus --

ROMANS: We're trying to break the world record for sitting next to Ali Velshi for the most consecutive hours.

VELSHI: That's right.

ROMANS: It shouldn't be hard to make that.

CHETRY: That was -- that was the case on Friday, as you guys were waiting for the (INAUDIBLE) budget decision to come down --

VELSHI: Oh, that's a long day.

CHETRY: -- before you could finish your show. So, wow.

Not Christine, she was off. It's a good day.

VELSHI: We enjoyed that.

CHETRY: All right. Well, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, think the budget battle in Washington is over? Not by a long shot.

The most pressing issue now is the soaring national debt and whether or not they're going to run up against another game of chicken about whether or not to raise that debt limit. We're going to be speaking with South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn, coming up.

Twenty-six minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: We're crossing the half hour right now. Time to get a look at your top stories.

Round one of the budget fight is over, but a much bigger, new battle is taking shape. Congressional Democrats and Republicans are now preparing to wage war over the soaring national debt.

President Obama's expected to unveil his plan for reducing the deficit on Wednesday, which may include cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

On the 30th anniversary -- 30 day anniversary of Japan's deadly earthquake and tsunami, the northern part of the country rocked again by a 6.6 magnitude earthquake as well as some other temblors. These forced workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to evacuate again.

The number of dead now over 13,000 and there still are more than 14,000 people missing.

And a tiny town in Iowa becomes a target for a monster tornado. Sixty percent of Mapleton, Iowa, wiped out by this twister. The governor has declared a disaster area. Thankfully, no deaths have been reported there. The severe storms that ripped through the Midwest are now headed east.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: As we just mentioned, the next battle for Congress is, front and center, bringing down the country's $14.28 trillion debt.

President Obama is going to unveil his deficit reduction plan on Wednesday. Meantime, he's asked Congress to raise the national debt ceiling. That is something that typically has to be done.

House Speaker John Boehner says, not so fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOHENER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: There's no plan to deal with the debt that we're facing. And I can just tell you this, that there will not be an increase in the debt limit without something really, really big attached to it.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn is assistant minority leader in the House. He joins us this morning from Providence, Rhode Island.

Congressman Clyburn, thank you very much for being with us.

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Thank you so much for having me.

ROMANS: What kind of strings do you think should be attached to raising the debt limit, if any? I mean, John Boehner said there would have to be some very big strings attached. What do you think you would -- the Republicans would attach to that?

CLYBURN: Well, I don't know what they've got in mind, but I think what the president is going to lay out for the country, I think it's on Wednesday, I think that would be a good starting point. I believe he's going to propose a comprehensive approach to bringing down our debt and going to eliminating these deficits and he will have an approach that will deal with the revenues as well as expenditures. And so, that may be a good starting point to latch on to the debt ceiling.

CHETRY: Well, Congressman, it's interesting. Republicans have signaled they will again, like they did with this budget for 2011 that came down to the wire on Friday, fundamental changes, perhaps, in health care policy and the environment, over the abortion debate again, in exchange for their support on raising this debt ceiling. Are you -- are those concessions a reality for Democrats, that you might have to make these concessions in order to get this done?

CLYBURN: Well, I would hope that the Republicans would stop all this raid, dealing with these riders or these idealistic approaches to governance, and let's get to the issue of bringing down the debt, eliminating these deficits, and putting our house on fiscal sound footing. That's what the people would like to see of pus.

We can have all of these ideological debates at some other time and some other way. None of that should be tied to the budget. We should be working on getting people back to work. Here we are, 100 days now, come April 14th, and they have not brought forth one single jobs -- job creating piece of legislation. So that's what we ought to be doing here. People don't want us arguing over what should or should not be their moral underpinnings.

VELSHI: Congressman Clyburn, the Republicans will say, however, that by stopping the government from spending, by trying to control the debt, John Boehner said it Friday night, when they had that deal, they said this is good for jobs. Now, you said that you think the president's going to be dealing with expenditures and revenues. Revenues, the Republicans hear that as code for tax and they say this is not a revenue problem. This is a spending problem.

I know you're not going to agree with that. But the reality is, we can't be going down to the wire like we were on Friday night every time you -- the Democrats and Republicans and the Tea Party don't agree. So, what's the plan going forward?

CLYBURN: Well, my plan going forward would be: let's get rid of these subsidies for big oil companies. That is $40 billion to $50 billion revenue there. Let's get rid of these tax breaks of people who are creating jobs overseas. That's another significant $25 billion to $30 billion, if I believe all the experts.

So, that would be revenue. And that's revenue that people would like to see us bring into our coffers. If we are still arguing about tax rates, 35 percent corporate tax rates, so what does it matter if it's 75 percent if you've got 30, 35 corporations that are paying zero taxes?

So, that's what I mean by comprehensive. I think that's what the president is going to be talking about when he talks about revenues and expenditures. He's going to be talking about closing these loop holes.

ROMANS: Right.

CLYBURN: He's going to be talking about getting rid of these subsidies and putting our fiscal house in order.

ROMANS: The truth is the debt ceiling is $14 trillion. It takes a lot of $50 billion cuts to get there, and you still have to fund the government. I mean, that debt limit is what we have already spent. If it's not raised, we can't borrow more money to keep ourselves going. And in a global capital market, very big concerns about the image that the United States is projecting here. We've just raised it and raised it and raised it and raised it.

Are you saying that you think there's bipartisan support to figure out how to stop doing that?

CLYBURN: Yes, I do -- I am saying that. I was there under the Clinton administration when we did, in fact, eliminate the deficit and we did, in fact, started growing the revenues and he left office with this $260 billion surplus. So, I know it can be done. I was there, and a part of doing it before. And it has been done before.

ROMANS: A booming economy sure helps, doesn't it? It sure helps when the economy just booms gangbusters. That helped in the Clinton administration and we can only certainly helps --

CLYBURN: Well --

ROMANS: Yes. Finish your thought, sir.

CLYBURN: We are going gangbusters -- we aren't going gangbusters yet, but we've created 1.8 million new jobs in the last 13 months. I think that's moving in the right direction. As opposed to 2.1 -- I'm sorry?

CHETRY: No, just to get you on the record, if Republicans do try to bring in health care, the EPA or abortion this time, will you vote against the bill to raise the debt ceiling?

CLYBURN: Well, I'll look at the bill in a comprehensive way. I'm not going to vote to eliminate health care reform because we didn't just vote to eliminate health care reform. We pushed -- deficit reduction is in that plan as well.

And we should not go back to discriminating against people with preexisting conditions and to getting people kicked off their health insurance policies as soon as they get real sick. That's not what a compassionate government ought to be about.

CHETRY: All right. Well, it's good to get your thoughts this morning, Congressman James Clyburn. Thanks so much for joining us.

CLYBURN: Thank you so much for having me.

VELSHI: We should remember that while this new budget that we're talking about has to be in place by October 1st, this debt ceiling, this problem, will happen on May 16th. That's right in front of us.

ROMANS: Stuff the government can do --

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: -- the Treasury, but not much.

ROMANS: Thirty-seven minutes past the hour.

VELSHI: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: A controversial ban on burqas begins today in France. Anyone caught wearing one or forcing someone else to wear one could face fines or even jail time.

Zain Verjee live in London.

Zain, how do French authorities plan to enforce this new law?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what they're doing is saying essentially effective today, if anyone is out on the streets with either the burqa, that's full veil with the mesh that covers the eyes, or a niqab which is also a full veil but it leaves the little slit open, they're going to fine them up to $200 or there's jail time that they face. They also suggest that they may also do community service and take classes on French values and things like that.

You know, guys, France's self-image is really very secular and France has always been pretty uncomfortable with any kind of religion in your face kind of in the public sphere. But this is a real sensitive one.

CHETRY: It's interesting, because I mean, they're already, the ACLU and others, have said that this is not fair, that is actually a violation of human rights. But to be clear, they are allowing women to wear other head scarves like the hijab which covers less and also just a plain head scarf. They're saying that that's sort of header are getting away with this not being an attack on a specific religion.

VERJEE: Yes, that's right. That people can wear near hijabs so it covers the neck and the head, but the face is open. And the chador as well, which leaves the face open.

The other point to make here, guys, is that in the Islamic world, a topic like this is also interpreted differently. There are about a billion people that follow Islam around the world. In France, you have people that say on the one hand, this is awful. You know, we should have the right to express our religion and do whatever we want, basically.

And then you have another group of Muslims that say, you know what, we don't believe that the state should have legislated this, but what you could have done, they say, is persuade and convince people and cajole them to see the French point of view here.

ROMANS: It's interesting because the French motto is legality of opportunity and liberty or some combination of that, and one of the things that they're trying to do is saying that this is not inherently French, that it doesn't promote equality among all people if you have some women, some cases, being forced to wear this by their husbands or fathers.

Is that sort of the French point of view here?

VERJEE: It's totally the point of view. They say this is the national value of France. It's in the constitution. Equality of the sexism and that's what this is about.

We're talking about, you know, about 2,000 women in France, apparently, that wear either the niqab or the chador. There's a poll that was done, and 80 percent of people in France thinks that this is OK and it's consistent with the constitution.

CHETRY: And it's amazing, because in America, two-thirds believe that it's wrong to ban burqas. So, the public opinion is split and there were Muslim women who were saying they are defying this in France regardless of the fines or fees. Thanks so much, Zain.

VERJEE: Right.

VELSHI: Watch Zain every morning at 5:00 a.m. Eastern on "WORLD ONE," right here on CNN.

ROMANS: Coming up, Ashley Judd's painful past. The actress's new memoir reveals how traumatic events in childhood called her to a life of social activism. She sat down with our very own Alina Cho.

VELSHI: It's 43 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day:

The White House says President Obama is working on a plan to shrink the soaring national debt and will unveil the details on Wednesday to counter a Republican plan that's expected to include reform of popular but costly programs, like Medicare and Medicaid.

A 6.6 magnitude earthquake has rocked northern Japan. It comes exactly a month after the killer quake and tsunami of March 11th. Moments of silence are being observed throughout the country today as officials widen the evacuation zone around the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

Dangerous weather in the Midwest. A major tornado nearly reduced the small town of Mapleton, Iowa, to rubble. Sixty percent of that little town leveled. Those storms are now moving east.

Gas prices up for the 20th straight day. This morning, the national average for a gallon of regular: $3.77, this according to AAA. That's just 34 cents from the all-time high set back in 2008.

And 26-year-old Charl Schwartzel is the 2011 Masters Champion. Tiger Woods made a charge on the front nine and had a share of the lead, but the South African made birdies on each of the last four holes. He earned the golf's coveted green jacket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. We got pictures here of some North Carolina hail damage. Wow! Look at how big those are. Rob was talking about this storm that was moving from the Midwest, that big storm that hit Iowa now moving east.

CHETRY: Look at that. Windshields are shattered everywhere. They say it took out cars. Wind gusts were so strong. I think they clocked 164-mile-per-hour winds at one point. This is all again in that small area of Mapleton, Iowa. 20,000 people lost electricity, and that's just days after another storm caused 200,000 power outages.

VELSHI: Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center with more on this. Hey, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. And we also had just yesterday, a lot of the storm damage from Saturday, but just yesterday, several reports of tornadoes across Wisconsin and that whole section of storms, as you mentioned, is moving off to the east. Here it is. Your threat for today, pretty much across the Appalachians, the Allegheny Plateau sliding through the Tennessee Valley and the Ohio River Valleys down to the south.

This is all moving in to some pretty warm air. Look at the high temperatures from yesterday, 106 in Laredo, Texas, Jacksonville 92, parts of Georgia seeing temperatures up and over 90 degrees and 90 degrees in parts of Arkansas, and we had a slew of records across other parts of the country. So, this front will move off to the east. Here's your severe weather right now. This strong line of storms is getting a little bit more strong down to the south.

We do have reports of power outages across North Texas because of the storms that rolled through a couple of hours ago. Still have this tornado watch that's in effect for the next couple hours, probably let this expire, but there's a couple strong cells that are moving just east of Dallas now. So, watch out for that area. St. Louis up through Indianapolis, this is where the northern edge of the line is, although, not as strong right now.

We're going to see a slew of travel delays today because of that. Most of the east coast, including New York won't see rain from this until tomorrow, but it will be toasty temperatures in the 70s and 80s across parts of the I-95 corridor.

VELSHI: What is that, three days without rain in New York? Thank you, Rob?

(LAUGHTER)

MARCIANO: You got it.

ROMANS: Morning's top stories just minutes away. Also, your feedback came pouring in after our story about parents protesting a little girl's peanut allergy. They say the school is going too far to protect one single student. Her father is here, live next hour, to tell us how the family is doing and what this policy means for their family and other students. It's 48 minutes after the hour.

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ROMANS: In a very frank new memoir, Ashley Judd reveals details of her painful childhood including incest, abuse, and thoughts of suicide.

CHETRY: She also revealed how that experience led her to a life of humanitarian work. Alina Cho had a chance to sit down with Ashley Judd. This came as a surprise for a lot of people. She seemed to be the one Judd who had it all, who had it altogether.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And some are now calling her the forgotten Judd. You know, we all know Ashley Judd as a famous actress from the movies. What is less known is that she also spends a great deal of her time traveling around the world, doing humanitarian work. She was horrified by what she saw, abuse, neglect and violence, and then, she realized that she had experienced some of the same things in her own life.

So, she started a detailed diary back in 2004. It turned into a book. It's called "All that is Bitter and Sweet." And it is, because in her words, she was wholly unprepared for the attention being given to her personal story. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASHLEY JUDD, ACTRESS: Well, I didn't necessarily want to talk about it. It was never my intention. Some folks I really trust encouraged me to become willing to share part of my story, because, otherwise, it doesn't necessarily make sense why I love visiting -- and it sounds peculiar to say but why I love and it's important to me to spend time in brothels and refugee camps and slums and holding the dying who, for 25 cents, could have not gotten a preventable disease or for $5 could have been cured.

CHO: Meaning, there was something about your childhood that shaped you and wanted you to give back. So, what was that?

JUDD: In my strange capacity for emotional extremes, my strange tolerance for emotional extremes, and I grew up in some really extreme situations. And that's why.

CHO: You do talk about being diagnosed with depression earlier on in life and you talk about in the book, that you used to play with your mother's gun, pondering whether, quote, "it would be worth it to shoot myself." How old were you when you thought about suicide?

JUDD: I am so uncomfortable right now, I can't even see straight.

CHO: We don't have to talk about this if you don't feel comfortable --

JUDD: I think it's a distraction.

CHO: OK.

JUDD: I mean, I feel like --

CHO: But you wrote about it in the book.

JUDD: I did. And happily so, and the book is 400 some odd pages and that stuff is like 40 or 50. So, really, the book to me is the 350 pages which is about what's going on in the rest of the world, not necessarily how painful it was growing up in my household.

CHO: But people are very, very interested in this and your childhood because you haven't spoken about it, really, before.

JUDD: And I've been wholly unprepared for it. I really have been.

CHO: Let's talk about your work, then, because obviously, your childhood as Nick Kristof said in the "Forward" shaped your philanthropic work. What do you get out of taking those trips and spending so much time in country, if you will?

JUDD: I get out of myself which is one of my favorite places to be, and into relationship with other human beings. I get to live my spiritual values and principles and faith. No one is disposable. Everyone matters. I'm very honored to be entrusted with the sacred narratives of people, who for whatever reason, just open up to me and tell me everything. And I get to hold them, literally, and metaphorically. I had the opportunity to let them know that they're not alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: Ashley's mom and sister who we know as the Judds, of course, Naomi and Wynona, have spoken out too saying, quote, "We agree to disagree" but, quote, "we are allowing each of us to have a voice and it's Ashley's turn. For her part, Ashley Judd says she loves her mom and sister, and she has written is not the truth, but a truth.

It is her reality and, of course, her sister and her mother, may have a different version of that personal story, but the one thing that she wanted to get across in the interview is that she feels like the message is getting lost because everyone is so focused on her personal story. Obviously, people are interested, but what she wants people to know about is her humanitarian work.

She is a goodwill ambassador with Population Services International. She's traveled to 13 countries, and she plans to go to the Congo this summer as part of the Clinton Global Initiative as well.

CHETRY: Right.

CHO: So, she is very committed to her humanitarian work. As Nick Kristof said in the "Forward," her personal story, however, did arm her with empathy.

CHETRY: Right. It's also interesting there are so many people who write very candid books about their life and then say, it was only a small point. I didn't really expect to get this much attention, but, I mean, when it's put out there, of course, you have to ask about it.

CHO: That's absolutely right. You know, she will point out that it's just 10 percent of the book, but it's 10 percent that the public -- the 10 percent that the public is interested in.

ROMANS: If you don't want to be asked about it, I mean, the reason why she has fans, they're not fans of her humanitarian work, they're fans of her and her public image, and they want to know details of her personal life.

CHO: That's absolutely right, and I couldn't agree more, Christine.

CHETRY: All right. Thank you so much.

CHO: You bet.

VELSHI: All right. Top stories coming your way after this break. It's 57 minutes after the hour.

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