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Interview with Rep. Eric Cantor; Interview with Sen. Jeff Sessions; Face-Off Over Facebook; Obama's Deficit Reduction Plan; President's Half-Sister Writes a Children's Book; Britain Prepares to Celebrate Upcoming Royal Wedding; Eastern Market Rises from Ashes; 28 People, 1 Busted Elevator

Aired April 13, 2011 - 07:58   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. The tax cut debate. It's back. In just a few hours, President Obama lays out his plan to reign in our country's spending, and it could cost you.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. A six-year-old girl endures a full body pat-down by a screener in an airport in New Orleans, triggering cries that the TSA has gone too far this time, again, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

CHETRY: And good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us. It is Wednesday, April 13th. Just a couple more days to get in your taxes if you're somebody who hasn't yet.

ROMANS: I know.

CHETRY: Know anyone like that?

ROMANS: I'm doing it today! I'm mailing them today. Ali Velshi is off. Maybe he's doing his taxes today. I'm not sure.

Up first, trying to stop our spending ways. President Obama will lay out his plan to tackle massive, mounting deficits and the national debt. This in a critical speech today.

CHETRY: Our Dan Lothian is live for us at the White House this morning. Again, we're talking about the Bush-era tax cuts for the rich - or the top income earners, $250,000 or more. Changing some of these entitlement programs as well, like Medicare and Medicaid. What's changed about this debate?

LOTHIAN: Well, listen. The bottom line here is that the White House is trying find a way to boost revenue in order to eat away at the deficit, but this is no easy task because there's criticism coming from both sides. The Democrats are concerned about possible cuts to entitlement programs. Republicans are saying, "Listen, don't even put tax increases on the table. It is a nonstarter."

So, the White House is saying that the president will lay out his vision today, which will include four points: keeping domestic spending low, finding savings in the defense budget, reducing health care spending, which is likely to include cuts to those entitlement programs, and, of course, tax reform in order to boost revenue. I think the big question, though, that will be watching for today is: will the president lay out specifics like Republicans did in that House version last week where the president drilled down, lay out specifics, or offer more of sort of broad theme? Republicans say they're looking for specifics, looking for actions to match his words.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Before the president's speech this afternoon, there are going to be bipartisan talks at the White House. You know, the president, I guess, is trying to build maybe a little coalition to get some support, a precursor to bipartisanship, and bipartisan vote. What's on the table?

LOTHIAN: That's right. I mean, essentially, he's trying to head off a lot of the criticism by inviting them here to the White House in the 10:00 hour to lay out what White House is calling his vision for the future, for deficit reduction. Again, what's important here is that the president is not only receiving heat from Republicans, but he also has to be in concern, especially with the 2012 elections coming along, that he might be isolating the base or liberal Democrats in his own party. So, the president wants to essentially lay out for them what he plans to deliver in his speech this afternoon.

ROMANS: All right. Dan Lothian -- thanks, Dan.

LOTHIAN: OK.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one of the people watching the speech very closely will be House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. He joins us from Capitol Hill this morning.

Welcome, Congressman. Thanks so much for being with us.

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), MAJORITY LEADER: Good morning. Thank you.

CHETRY: You said on an earlier interview on the Sunday shows that you had to bring the president kicking and screaming to actually cut spending. So, here he is today -- he's going to be outlining his long-term cuts to reduce the deficit. Isn't that a good thing?

CANTOR: Certainly. I mean, I think we welcome the president's entrance into this debate. I mean, it's been several months now where the president has stood back and, frankly, almost ignored the problems that we face. The president, when he addressed the country in a State of the Union address, insisted we need to continue to invest in this country. He called for a spending freeze and didn't advocate any cuts.

I think, now, we've seen the president does recognize that we need to stop spending money that we don't have. And perhaps today, we'll actually hear specifics on where he feels we need to go to reform the entitlement programs because if we don't do that, these programs will go bankrupt. The Congressional Budget Office says that. I know that his administration believes that.

So, I'm hoping that, finally, we can hear some specifics so we can actually begin to try and work together to solve the problems so that we can ensure a better future for all of us.

CHETRY: Would you be willing to work together on tax reform? We know that the president is most likely going to call again to eliminate the Bush era tax cuts on families making more than $250,000 a year. It looks like that debate is going to get reignited again, only this time, the public seems to be on the side of the president to have those expire.

CANTOR: Well, you know, it's very ironic that a few days before tax day in this country that the president would be coming out asking people to pay more taxes. I don't think many Americans believe that that's the answer to fix this economy and grow jobs. You know -- and that's really the question.

You can't fix the problem that we're facing by cuts alone. We know that. The challenge for us is how you grow the economy and we don't believe you grow the economy through raising taxes. And we've had that debate.

And, in fact, in December, in a bipartisan fashion, we worked together with this president to say that we weren't going to raise taxes, that what we need now is more small businesses and large to jump into the game, to put their capital to work to create jobs. That's what our focus should be. It should be about getting more Americans back to work.

CHETRY: As I said before, though, a new poll that we had, actually, this is a poll from December. It may actually be even stronger against it, showing 62 percent of Americans are against extending the Bush era tax cuts, when it comes to people to making $250,000 or more.

But another poll that was taken more recently that is perhaps a little more interesting, it says do GOP proposals to cut spending apply fairly to all groups. And the vast majority, 68 percent, said no.

CANTOR: Well, as far as the taxes are concerned, let's remember, small businesses are the ones that is disproportionately impacted if you raise taxes. And, right now, we need more small business start- ups, we need people willing to go in and put their money to work to create jobs.

And as far as our spending cuts are concerned, what we're doing is we're saying, look, we've got to protect today's seniors. We don't want to change the benefits for those individuals who are 55 and older. But for the rest of us, all of us who are 55 and younger, you know, these programs -- these safety nets are not going to be there. Everyone agrees that they'll go bankrupt if we don't act.

And what we're saying is let's work to save the programs, to provide the safety net to those who need it, not for those who don't. And that's what our proposals as far as Medicare, Medicaid reform are about.

CHETRY: I want to ask you about the debt ceiling. You made it clear that you're not going to support an increase unless the president agrees to making some changes to some other items. What exactly do you want to see from the president? And are you prepared to potentially vote against raising the debt ceiling?

CANTOR: Well, what we've said all along is, the American people understand they're supposed to pay their bills. They expect their government to pay its bills.

CHETRY: But isn't that -- isn't that oversimplification though? I mean, there are so many other, I guess, major worldwide concerns that are linked to us continuing to borrow money.

CANTOR: Right.

CHETRY: I mean, we already agree to spend this money.

CANTOR: We don't want to see defaults on America's debt for sure. But what we're saying is this vote having to do with raising the debt limit, has to do with all the money spent in the past and all the bills that were racked up that have gone unpaid.

What we owe to the people that elected us is to insure that doesn't happen again, that we don't let spending get out of control. So, specifically, what we're asking for from this president is to join us in making sure that we guarantee to the people that elect us that we're not going to let spending get out of control again. And there are all kinds of different measures that are being considered here on Capitol Hill to make sure we put the brakes on spending.

CHETRY: Also, looking ahead to 2012. I just want to ask about this. We have a new poll out that shows Donald Trump basically tied for first place among Republican's choice for nominee in 2012. He is 19 percent, tied with Huckabee.

Would you support a Donald Trump candidacy, especially with all this birther talk?

CANTOR: No, I don't think he is really serious when we launch a -- see a campaign launched on the birther issue.

CHETRY: Yes. But don't you get nervous? You want to defeat the president in 2012. And you want a Republican to take over the White House. Is Donald Trump your best hope right now?

CANTOR: No, I don't think so.

CHETRY: Why is he doing so well?

CANTOR: You know, it's very early on in the political season. I think that there are some very weighty issues that we're going to have to tackle. What the American people are going to look for in a candidate for president in 2012 is I think someone who can be honest with the American people and face facts as far as the debt problem is concerned and lay out there what we're trying to do as Republicans in Congress, and say it's -- the time is up for kicking the can down the road, and we've got to prescribe a solution to fix the problems we're facing.

CHETRY: OK. CANTOR: It's not easy. But we're about a serious effort to try and get this economy back on track and to solve the debt problem.

CHETRY: Well, it was good talking to you this morning. Congressman Eric Cantor, majority leader from Virginia -- thanks so much for joining us.

CANTOR: Thank you.

CHETRY: Of course, we're going to have complete coverage of the president's speech at George Washington University. It's going to be live at 1:35 Eastern right here on CNN.

ROMANS: Hosni Mubarak and his two sons are in the custody of Egypt's public prosecutor this morning. They're being detained for 15 days. Well, investigators look into corruption and abuse charges against them. The former Egyptian president was detained by police hours after he was reportedly hospitalized with heart problems.

The Transportation Security Administration says an agent who performed a pat-down on a 6-year-old little girl in the New Orleans airport was following proper procedure. Now, someone taped this whole thing, put it on YouTube. It happened on April 5th. The girl was crying. The TSA says the pat-down was necessary to resolve an issue that came up when the little girl went through a body imaging machine.

CHETRY: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, more on President Obama laying out his plan to try to rein in spending. Some Republicans say he's not serious about it. We're going to be talking with Senator Jeff Sessions about what he wants to hear in the plan. It's going to be laid out by the president today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twelve minutes past the hour. In just a few hours, President Obama will lay out his plan to tackle massive deficits and the national debt. And he's expected to say bluntly that attacking the deficit means raising taxes, renewing his call to try to get rid of the Bush era tax cuts for the highest income earners.

Senator Jeff Sessions is a Republican from Alabama, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.

Great to have you with us this morning, Senator.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: Good morning.

CHETRY: What are -- what are you hoping to hear from the president today when he lays out his proposal for tackling the debt and deficit?

SESSIONS: Well, you know, we're hearing they're talking about a vision, but what we really need and the budget act requires is the president to submit a plan -- one that can be analyzed and compared, let's say to a real plan submitted by a Paul Ryan in the House Republicans. They can be evaluated and debated and discussed. So, I'm hopeful that we'll see a bit more specificity that I expect. He submitted one budget already. That budget has received very, very poor reception. It calls for $1.7 trillion in tax increases, but even more in spending increases, making the deficit larger than would be without his plan. So, we really need a new plan from the president.

CHETRY: And one thing that we are likely to hear the president call for and this was, of course, debated before. And in some ways, the can was just kicked down the road, and that would be ending the Bush era tax cuts for families making more than $250,000 a year. Is that a nonstarter for you completely off the table?

SESSIONS: I don't think that's the way we need to go. That's not the problem America faces. It's overspending.

And there's been a real good study done that shows that the idea of taxing the rich doesn't work. Their incomes are very volatile. And California, Illinois and New York are having serious budget deficits because they've depended so heavily on high income people. Those incomes fall during an economic recession and they're in huge difficulties now.

ROMANS: You know, you say the big issue is overspending, Senator. But isn't it overspending, isn't it too many tax cuts, isn't it, you know, too long now of just a lack of fiscal discipline on every front, and isn't it that the economy has to be growing more strongly? And some economists say, frankly, if you rein in spending too quickly and too abruptly, that could hurt the economy and hurt your chances of getting (INAUDIBLE) -- isn't it everything?

SESSIONS: Well, I would just say it this way. Spending is too high. The president's budget for 2012 calls for hold your hat, 10 percent increase in education, 10 percent increase in energy, 10.5 percent increase in State Department, 60 percent in the transportation sector with the phantom tax supposedly to pay for it.

This is an irresponsible budget. At a time when inflation is at 2 percent, we're seeing proposals for those kind of discretionary spending increases. That's why even with his $1.7 trillion tax increases he proposed in his budget, the deficit gets worse.

CHETRY: Well, I want to ask you about the debt ceiling as well because this is another huge issue where there's not a lot of common ground. How far are Republicans willing to go? We've heard about trying to get some guarantees build into the deal if you are going to approve or give the OK to raising the amount we can borrow. What exactly do you need to see from the president for you to support raising the debt ceiling?

SESSIONS: Well, we need real change, something that can be ascertainable. I think we need some systemic changes. We also need some financial commitments that we can rely on that would indicate a reduction in spending and reducing the deficit. I'm not sure what we would all agree on, but I would just say this. The debt limit provides an opportunity for the president, the Congress and the nation to confront the serious problems we're in and to begin a real solution. CHETRY: It is more of a wake up call. I mean, you wouldn't actually play chicken with the debt ceiling, right? I mean, you would vote event, eventually, to approve it? So, that we can --

SESSIONS: I would just say it this way. I certainly feel that Congress should raise -- will have to face up to the fact that we cannot not increase our debt limit. However, if the president thinks he can just waltz in and demand that we do so without providing any willingness to change the unsustainable actions we're carrying out, then he's mistaken. It's not going to be raised if we don't show some changes.

It's the opportunity the American people have to say to the children in Washington, you've got to start behaving. We're not going to allow you to spend more money until you demonstrate to us that you're making some real changes in your behavior.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And the rest of people at home are watching the children in Washington as you put them in your words, and they're saying, whose budget plan are they more favorable too. It's interesting that CNN Opinion Research Poll found that 48 percent were more like the president and just a few points below that with the Republican plan.

You're both going to have to give something up, you know. I mean, that's the nature of politics. It's not just spending or it's not just tax increases, it's not just cutting the budgets, it's not just reforming the tax reform or Medicare and Social Security and entitlements, it's going to have to be everything, isn't it?

SESSIONS: Well, I would just say, I don't know that that's exactly so. It doesn't mean that we're going to have a 10 percent increase in the state department funding next year or education. I mean, how can you propose those kinds of ideas when you know you're in a financial crisis? It's beyond comprehension. Every state, city, and county in America is having to reduce spending or has had to reduce spending. Some, very severely.

We haven't taken anything like those steps. And before you talk about raising taxes, wouldn't the American people have to know that this government has taken every reasonable step to contain wasteful Washington spending, and they even not start some programs that we'd like to start because we simply don't have the money. We're spending money we don't have, and we cannot hammer this economy with big tax increases.

ROMANS: All right. Senator Jeff Sessions, thank you so much for joining us, and you'll hear other Republicans that we talk to continue to say it's overspending. It's overspending. It's overspending.

CHETRY: Very two big ideological differences on this.

ROMANS: That's right.

CHETRY: But it was interesting to hear from the senator that he said they are going to have to -- they're not happy about it, but they are going to vote to raise the debt ceiling, but they want some guarantees that we're going to try to --

ROMANS: And we won't be hearing again. We will not be having this debate again.

CHETRY: Well, coming up in the 10 o'clock hour "Newsroom," we're also going to hear from Senator Session's counterpart on the Budget Committee, Democrat, Kent Conrad. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back. It's 18 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It is a staple at almost every office. It's the candy jar. We've got our own very big thing of jolly ranchers here, but are these sweets sabotaging your diet?

CHETRY: The short answer is yes, but it's so funny how the power of suggestion can actually make it worse. So, a four-week study on average, they found that workers ate about three pieces of chocolate a day, but if the chocolates were in a clear dish, I guess, that means because you can see them from further away, they ate an additional two the and a half pieces of candy.

Now, if they move the dish actually closer so that the person could reach the candy while at their desk, they ate another two pieces of candy.

ROMANS: We need a study for this?

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: I know.

ROMANS: The closer it is that if you can see it, it means you're more likely to eat it. That's the bottom line. All right.

CHETRY: And we always get a day old pizza containers because we come in so early. You know, you can tell there was a party at some point. That's not --

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: And you should see us the day after an election. You wouldn't believe the kind of food there is (ph). All right. Facebook facing a new legal challenge. Our Alison Kosik is "Minding your Business." The more success Facebook gets, the more people want to make sure they get their fair share.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is kind of interesting. Paul Ceglia, that's his name. He actually filed a lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg back last year in July. This new sort of filing that he's put out there really opens up a new can of worms because he says he's got more than a dozen e-mails between him and Mark Zuckerberg that happened between July 2003 and 2004 that he says proves his case that he owns half of Facebook. Now, in these e-mails, you can see some talk of ownership here. Take a look at one from Zuckerberg to Ceglia after some back and forth they had about funding about Facebook. It says, "According to our contract, I owe you over 30 percent more of the business and way penalties which would give you over 80 percent of the company. I'd like to suggest that you drop the penalty completely and that we officially return to 50/50 ownership."

Now, here's Ceglia's apparent response. "OK. Fine, Mark. 50/50 just as long as we start making some money from this thing, and it was called the Facebook.com. It apparently launched shortly after that last response. now, Facebook's legal counsel does say -- does call Ceglia a scam artist, calls as a fraudulent lawsuit and that he's looking forward to defending it in court.

CHETRY: So, he says those e-mails were (INAUDIBLE) up. They weren't real?

KOSIK: That's what Zuckerberg's team is saying, but you know, that's what it's really going to take if to see if these e-mails are fraudulent or they --

ROMANS: Who is this guy? Is he a original investor? Was he somebody just new?

KOSIK: He put money into it, and he also had hired Zuckerberg for a different sort of internet venture. That they had worked together in the past. It's very curious to see. It's going to be very curious to see if these e-mails are, in fact, true because if they are, Zuckerberg could wind up owing this guy hundreds of millions, billions of dollars. This is going to be one to watch.

ROMANS: Right. OK. Thank you so much, Alison Kosik.

CHETRY: Thanks.

ROMANS: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, President Obama's sister is here. She's with the children's book, which is a love letter to their late mother. We'll talk to her about it.

CHETRY: Also, the British now urged to take to the streets and to celebrate the royal wedding. We have details for you coming up on that. Twenty-five minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Crossing the half hour right now. It's actually 28 minutes past the hour. I want you to get you caught up in your top stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY (voice-over): President Obama is going to be outlining plans to change spending on domestic programs including Medicare and Medicaid in a speech this afternoon. Some republicans are not happy. He wants to bring back the debate about raising taxes on families making more than $250,000 a year. Well, Donald Trump has to see what he likes in the latest CNN Opinion -- like what he sees, rather, in the latest CNN Opinion Research Poll. He tied with former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee, in the poll of Republican favorites for the 2012 presidential nomination. Both of them a tie for first with 19 percent.

And the airport in Sendai, Japan, has reopened. Now, this is the first time since it was devastated by last month's earthquake and tsunami. Airport staff lined up on the tarmac this morning with signs saying, "Don't give up, Japan." Local residents hope this will be a moral boost during the long and difficult recovery process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Twenty-eight minutes past the hour. Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather forecast. Jackie Jeras is in Atlanta. Good morning, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys. Kind of a nuisance day out there for a lot of travelers. We've got wet streets and lots of problems already beginning at the airports. We'll start out in the northeast, and this is the system that made its trek all the way across the country producing severe weather. The good news is today, just a nuisance, not severe, but it will certainly impact you today.

Look at those temperatures. Really cool in the 40s. So, it's kind of raw. The rain will continue on and off. We've got some really heavy showers moving in just east of providence, and we do think this is going to clip into the Boston area. So, be aware that heavy rain just right around the corner. All right. If you're at the airports today, my condolences to you because it's going to be a rough go of it with ground delays over an hour already at LaGuardia.

We're talking nearly two hours at Newark and Philadelphia over an hour. So, these are all airports across the country if you're trying to get into these cities. That's where the delays are and we do expect them to be quite lengthy throughout the day for today. Big problems out west, too.

We've got a new storm system which is developing. It's going to be very windy across the Four Corners today. That system moves into the plains for tomorrow, which spells severe weather. It could be quite an outbreak. We'll keep you posted on that. Back to you guys in New York.

CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much, Jacqui.

ROMANS: All right. The British royal wedding is coming up in a few weeks, and the prime minister now urging the nation to celebrate with festivities and street parties. Our Zain Verjee is live in London. Isn't all that planned anyway?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, have fun, right? This is an order by the Prime minister, David Cameron. He's saying go out and have street parties and just have a good time. The thing is here that a lot of the local councils have to deal with so much bureaucracy, so they have to go to the town hall and get this paperwork done. Basically, they've scrapped the red tape so you can have these parties.

You know how many applications there have been? There have been 4,000 applications for street parties in England and wales, so we're talking about something like two million people that could be out on the streets having a good time on the wedding day.

ROMANS: And if that's not enough of a draw, neither of you will be wearing the kind of rock Kate Middleton will be wearing. What's the latest on the ring?

VERJEE: Well, the latest is that Kate has slim fingers, right? And so that the engagement ring she's got is in danger of dropping off. Remember the one with the blue sapphire and diamonds, Diana's ring? She's taken it over to the crown jewelers and they've put in these two little balls inside the ring, they're kind of like speed bumps if you think about it like that, and it sizes the ring so it can hold on.

I think that's a good thing, because the one thing you don't want to do is look down and no ring and it was Diana's ring and it dropped off.

ROMANS: It's also easier than cutting it and making it smaller. You could take those little speed bumps. I like the speed bumps. If her hand, heaven forbid, were to get bigger.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: It sure beats masking tape on the royal ring. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: Our coverage beginning Friday, April 29th, 4:00 a.m. eastern. To find out everything you could possibly want to know about the big event, go to CNN.com.

CHETRY: Up next, a children's book, such a beautifully written and illustrated book written by the president's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. She's going to be here to talk about it.

ROMANS: Plus how a Washington, D.C. landmark burned to the ground has risen up from the ashes. It's 32 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: President Obama has two bestsellers now to his credit. Now, his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, has written a children's book that's dedicated to their late mother.

CHETRY: It's called "Ladder to the Moon." And Maya Soetoro-Ng joins us now. What a pleasure to have you this morning.

MAYA SOETORO-NG, AUTHOR, "LADDER TO THE MOON": Thank you so much.

CHETRY: It's a beautifully written and illustrated book. It really touches on something all of us think about, which is we want our children to know their grandmother, and when that's not the case, it really is heartbreaking. My mother said the same thing about wanting me to know her grandmother who passed away shortly before I was born. Why did you decide to have that be the topic of your book?

SOETORO-NG: I think that when I was pregnant, I came across these boxes, and inside these boxes were many of my childhood toys and books that my mother had packaged and labeled neatly for me. And the discovery of these artifacts of my childhood made me think about all of my daughter's inheritance, my nieces, too.

And I thought, well not only can I give them these things, but I can also give them the memories and my stories and the wisdom that mom would have shared and I think that it is so important to realize the value of you know, the words of our elders and taking the best of that and really trying to learn from it and learn from the past.

ROMANS: You say that above all your mother was a story teller. Tell us the story of your mother and the relationship that now that she is no longer here, what relationship you are forging as your family together to remember that, beyond the book, but how you keep her in your family.

SOETORO-NG: Well, we countered her in every turn in the decisions we make, the choices we emphasize, our priorities, my brother's case, a leader, my case as an educator. I think that she was remarkable because she took what she was handed and those expectations and she manipulated it and changed it and added to it and rewrote it. I sort of think of her whole life as extraordinary story of courage that she was able to sort of carve her own path and that's a brave thing to do.

CHETRY: Absolutely. You teach at a university, so you know how you sort of give these difficult lessons and sometimes scary lessons, explaining to a child why someone's no longer with us. And what you do in the book, you call it the "ladder to the moon," so they can meet. It was so cute. You talk about drinking moon dew out of little silver cups. How did your daughter's respond?

SOETORO-NG: The idea is that we can in a safe way talk about our loss and about suffering and about tragedy. And interestingly, you mentioned the drinking of moon dew from silver teacups, that is our daughter's favorite part of the book. And she perhaps is thinking that her own and probably your children have them, too, and this idea of forming a ritual hosting it, having conversation around the table over tea and being sort of grown up and proper was very appealing to her. So she loves the scene with the teacup.

But I think the idea in the book is that we can help our children through opening up new dialogues that are inspired by the book about what it means to grow up, to grow strong, to help others and really engage in the world and to think about not only our inheritance, but what it is we're going to do with that and what it is that our grandparents would have wanted for us.

ROMANS: It's also sort of a celebration of multiculturalism, and that something interestingly in this country is sometimes seen as negative. In fact, your brother can be attacked for it sometimes. What do you think about the atmosphere of multiculturalism in this country and what do you want to project with this book to children?

SOETORO-NG: It's a tremendously diverse country. What I want them to realize is our stories and lives. And when we act, we impact not only our immediate surroundings, but a broader family and community. Let's make sure your actions have positive impact and we are building things and working towards getting better together.

CHETRY: The president, just seeing what he goes through, you grew up with him. It's obviously not easy to be president, but when you have ridiculous claims about where your brother was born, what do you think when you hear this debate going down to that level?

SOETORO-NG: I think we should focus not only on the truth, which is that he was in fact born in the United States and that has been publicly verified and supported by many sources and, you know, is something that is in the newspapers, his birth announcement not long after his birth.

But in addition to sort of focusing on the truth of things and the rightness of things, I think we ought to focus on you know, sort of our own potential to do great good and our positive contributions rather than sort of focusing on the negative.

CHETRY: Well, your book certainly is great. It's a very, very beautifully illustrated and written, so congratulations on that.

SOETORO-NG: Thank you so much.

ROMANS: It was great to have you. The book is called "ladder to the moon" and the illustrations are by Gigi Morales.

SOETORO-NG: Thank you.

CHETRY: Up next on "AMERICAN MORNING," it's going to cost you more this year to upgrade your summer wardrobe. Why is that? We have details.

ROMANS: And the Donald versus Bill Cosby, while the billionaire is hitting back at the comedian. It's 41 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: It's 43 minutes past the hour. A lot going on. We want to get you caught up on the headlines of the day.

First we start off with the president today. He's going to be laying out his plan to try to dig the country out of a crippling debt crisis. He is expected to include talk about tax hikes and changes to Medicare and Medicaid.

Donald Trump now hitting back at Bill Cosby after the comedian said the billionaire needed to run for president or quote, "shut up." In a statement Trump called Cosby "incoherent."

Prepare to dig a little deeper if you plan on buying a new cotton t- shirt. A new industry survey predicts shoppers will be paying 10 to 15 percent more this summer for cotton products.

I guess you need spandex here. Serena Williams shocking the fans by not only returning to the court, but tweeting this picture of herself in a bright pink body suit. Williams hasn't played since last July because of a series of health problems, including a blood clot in her lungs.

Stocks looking to reverse yesterday's losses. Right now, futures are up after JP Morgan chase reported first quarter earnings of $5.6 billion.

Steve Carell getting a supersized farewell at "The Office." NBC is confirming that Carell's final show will be 50 minutes long and air Thursday, April 28th. Still no word on who might replace Carell.

You're caught up on the day's headlines. "American Morning" is coming back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.

Well, the most beautiful woman in the world this year is -- is J Lo.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

CHETRY: "People" Magazine chose Jennifer Lopez for the cover of its annual "Most Beautiful" issue. I think she is just gorgeous.

ROMANS: Yes she is.

(CROSS TALK)

ROMANS: And she gets better with age, actually.

CHETRY: She does.

ROMANS: It's the 11th time she's made this list. She's 41 now and tells "People" she looks and feels better than she did in her early 20s; 40 is the new 20, as they say.

Forty-six minutes past the hour. Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather forecast. Jacqui Jeras is in Atlanta. Do you buy it? That 40 is the new -- you know this is --

CHETRY: I hope to God it is.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No.

CHETRY: We got something to look forward to. Right Jacqui?

JERAS: Forty is a new 30 maybe.

CHETRY: Ok, 40 is the new 30.

JERAS: You can talk me into that one. ROMANS: You have no experience or money when you're 20, right?

JERAS: This is true. But you know, you've got a lot of motivation at that age.

CHETRY: That's true.

JERAS: All right. Let's motivate people to get outside today. That's not going to happen in the northeast though, right? Lousy day really unfortunately for you, slow going on the road, slow going at the airport and the rain on and off. It's cold, it's raw, it's kind of dreary. It's going to get better, probably tomorrow afternoon.

All right. So this is kind of a slow mover at this time and the rain is really heavy in the Providence area and also out on the cape.

We've got delays at the airport. LaGuardia over an hour, pushing two hours now at Newark and over an hour for you in Philadelphia. These are people trying to get into those airports.

All right. The Midwest, you've got a cold front moving through here. Not a lot of rain for you, so it's not too terrible. But this is ushering in some much cooler air. So highs in the 50s for you today in Minneapolis. And it's going to get cold enough in the Dakotas that I think we're going to see some heavy snow pushing in here by tomorrow as that next cold front pushes in from the west.

This is where that nice air is down across parts of the south; 83 in Dallas today; 79 degrees in Kansas.

We've got a lot to talk about in terms of West Coast weather for today. We've got very windy conditions across the four corners. Vegas could be seeing gusts up to 50 miles per hour today, so a great day for the casinos as opposed to going outside and going to see Hoover Dam maybe.

The cold front is just starting to approach and our storm system really just starting to develop here. And those winds are going to be very persistent in the next 24 to 36 hours.

We've got red slight (ph) warnings, extreme fire danger today in Texas and Oklahoma and even worse conditions expected here unfortunately for tomorrow. And couple that with severe weather, well, let's just say go ahead and enjoy today. Shall we?

ROMANS: It's like that.

(CROSSTALK)

Up next, how a Washington, D.C. landmark overcame a devastating fire to get back in business.

CHETRY: And 28 people, one busted elevator; this is a nightmare. Jeanne Moos on how a group of New Yorkers got to know each other really, really well.

It is 49 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Have you ever been to the Eastern Market in Washington, D.C.? Well, it's worth a visit just to experience the aroma, but a raging fire a few years back nearly wiped the historic landmark right off the Capitol landscape, but now, it's back, better than ever. Tom Foreman shows us in today's "Building up America" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Melvin Inman is back at Washington's historic Eastern Markets, selling fresh fryers and handing out smiles. Four years ago, he almost lost it all.

MELVIN INMAN, EASTERN MARKET: It was devastating. Truthfully, I thought it was done for.

FOREMAN: Four years ago, a devastating pre-dawn fire ripped through the market, a popular spot since shortly after the Civil War for Washingtonians, to buy meat, fruit, flowers and more. Gone in an instant were dozens of jobs and hundreds more were affected by the loss of this economic mainstay of the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Vendors including Mary Calomiris, who have been here 50 years were heartsick.

(on camera): You thought it was done for good.

MARY CALOMIRIS, EASTERN MARKET: We thought it was gone forever.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But a $22 million rebuilding effort was launched almost immediately funded by the D.C. government with some federal and business contributions too. A temporary market was erected so vendors could keep selling while the reconstruction went on.

BARRY MARGESON, INTERIM MARKET MANAGER: Our goal was to maintain, to continue with the exact same merchants who were at Eastern Market when the fire happened. And the only way really to do that was to keep them in business.

FOREMAN: It worked.

Two years after the fire and despite the recession the market re- opened. Today business has almost fully recovered.

INMAN: The community did not want to lose it.

FOREMAN: For many here it is just that simple.

CALOMIRIS: I tell you the truth. When you work hard you accomplish everything.

FOREMAN: Even rising from the ashes to build up again.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Beautiful, beautiful shot of Atlanta this morning. Isn't it nice there?

ROMANS: Certainly is. Spring is in full bloom in Atlanta by the way.

CHETRY: And also it looks like the sun is peeking out so it should be a decent day there.

Well, this is actually one of my worst nightmares. I don't know if I'm officially claustrophobic, but getting stuck in an elevator --

ROMANS: No, even if you're not claustrophobic --

(CROSS TALK)

CHETRY: Right.

ROMANS: -- being in a New York City subway elevator with 22 -- 28 other people stuck underground together is pretty much horrific.

CHETRY: And it actually is fodder for Jeanne Moos. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When those doors close, do you sometimes wonder what you would do if they didn't reopen? Would you kick and slap them, would you beat on them and bang against them, scream for help into the intercom and push some more? Now, imagine there were 28 of you. Coughing uncomfortably, trying to kill time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, what's your favorite song?

MOOS: No, this wasn't some Manhattan skyscraper. It was underground at the 181st Street subway station, a station so deep they need elevators, elevators with the reputation of breaking down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We try to talk but we were very scared.

MOOS: And very hot. The video was shot by Isabel Demarco, an Italian who came to New York two weeks ago to study English. It was the English of a fireman she heard about an hour after getting stuck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey listen, I'm going to come in with you guys.

MOOS: Dangling legs more welcome than a shapely rockette, the voice comforting a little girl who's face we've obscured. She had had a panic attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sweetie, it's all right. It's ok. We're here. You'll be ok. Five more minutes. You and your mom will be the first to leave. Anybody else? I need the young and the old. MOOS: An hour and a half is bad, but that's nothing compared to the time spent, almost two days stuck in an elevator with nothing to eat but a pack of roll-aids and now water.

34-year-old Nicholas White was working late at his Manhattan office when he took the elevator up from a smoking break and got stuck. It was 11:00 on Friday night. He wasn't rescued until 4:00 p.m. Sunday.

He reportedly got a six-figure settlement from the building and David Letterman parodied his video, but at least elevators don't discriminate. Even pop stars like the Jonas Brothers get stuck in them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is like my worst nightmare.

MOOS: They got trapped after a concert. It took more than a half an hour to get them out.

But sometimes, the call of nature comes before the rescuers. Nicholas White pried open the doors and relieved himself down the elevator shaft. As for that little girl, despite her dance of desperation -- oh, yes she could and did, but whatever you do, learn from letterman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Press the button, idiot.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: The thing about a New York City subway elevator is it's not the most hygienic place.

CHETRY: No, but I wouldn't want to be stuck in any of them. That guy from Friday night until Sunday afternoon at 4:00, I don't know if I would make it. I really don't know.

ROMANS: Would you do it for a six-figure settlement?

CHETRY: No, no way.

ROMANS: All right.

CHETRY: That's it for us. We're going to see you here tomorrow.

"CNN NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello starts right now.

ROMANS: Hey Carol.