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American Morning
Violent Storms Tearing Across U.S.; Fallout from Sleeping Controllers; Suicidal Mom Drives Van Into River; Obama Fires Back at Birthers; ABC Soaps to End; Food Dangers; Your Ads are Watching You; Mom Drives Van into River; The Worst Spring Allergy City Is...
Aired April 15, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Right now on AMERICAN MORNING, dangerous storms that could spawn tornadoes threatening more than a half dozen states. The damage is already done in Oklahoma where one person is dead. Another is missing and at least 20 homes damaged or destroyed.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A family tragedy in upstate New York. A distraught mom drives the family van into the Hudson River with her four children inside. Only one child survived. We're going to talk to the woman who found him shivering on the side of the road.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And with three world leaders calling on him to go, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi found time to take a joyride through Tripoli. Look at him, pumping his fists as his troops were stepping up their bloody assault on Misrata.
CHETRY: Also, if you suffer from spring allergies, there are cities that are worse than others. We'll tell you what to do about it, coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I'm Ali Velshi. A lot going on this morning. Let's get you caught up.
Deadly storms on the move right now. At least four people reported dead overnight. Witnesses say an enormous twister tore through their town in Oklahoma.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. An FAA boss taking the fall for air traffic controllers caught sleeping on the job. His departure comes after the sixth incident already this year.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Danger may be lurking in your kitchen. A new study finds nearly half of the country's meat supply is tainted with an antibiotic resistant bacteria. We'll explain how you can protect yourself.
VELSHI: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Good Friday morning to you. It is April the 15th.
ROMANS: Awful lot going on to end the week this week. So many different stories we've been following in Japan, of course. Also, Libya and all of the international events, but also events right here at home.
CHETRY: And it's usually tax day. Today is the d-day.
VELSHI: That's right.
CHETRY: But you get three extra days this year. So if you're procrastinators --
VELSHI: So kick back, watch the whole show. No hurry.
CHETRY: Exactly. All right.
We want to bring you up to date right now on extreme weather. Storms racing across the country. Tornadoes possibly spawned this morning in at least parts of seven states. Witnesses say that one huge funnel cloud touched down in Tushka, Oklahoma. Two deaths reported overnight there and two more in Arkansas now. Some storm chasers in a pick-up truck found themselves a little too close to a funnel cloud. This was in Stonewall, Oklahoma. Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to back up. We need to back up. We really need to back up here and watch behind us, Keith. Keep an eye on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's right there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a mile wide tornado.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you watching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are we looking? Sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Scary stuff. Looks like something right out of a movie. At least a dozen people were hurt in Oklahoma. Some people ended up getting trapped in their homes.
We have Rob Marciano with us right now who's tracking all of this. The video, it looks like it was just an intense storm system going through and more possibly today?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And it's all shifting off to the east. I'll touch briefly on where all this went down. Across parts of eastern Oklahoma, pretty much at the line. I-35 and east is where it all went down. About 10 reports of tornadoes, most of the damage across parts of southeast Oklahoma and in through parts of Kansas.
The whole system is slowly marching off to the east and there's the bull's eye for today across Mississippi and in through Alabama and then shifting further to the east as well throughout tonight and in through tomorrow morning.
Right now, this morning, we do have tornado warnings that are posted for parts of Mississippi and extreme eastern and southeastern parts of Arkansas, specifically Boulevard (ph) and Washington counties there, Ashley County and southeast Arkansas, and these storms are moving pretty rapidly anywhere between 35 and 60 miles an hour. So a dangerous situation as this complex rolls across the Mississippi River.
Memphis also in a severe thunderstorm warning at this time. Likely some gusty winds, potentially some damaging winds. But most of the energy of the severe variety of storms is going to roll into Mississippi and Alabama here over the next three to four hours.
The northern part of this system, it's got some juice, strength to it as pulling down some cold air. Plains going to see some snow today, believe it or not. Shouldn't amount to a whole lot but nonetheless, we're looking at severe weather to the south and cold weather to the north. And we'll keep you posted as we go on throughout the morning as this complex rolls off to the east -- guys.
CHETRY: All right. Rob Marciano for us with the latest on that. Thanks so much.
MARCIANO: You got it.
VELSHI: New fallout this morning from a number of incidents involving air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job. Hank Krakowski, the FAA official in charge of the nation's air traffic system, has resigned. The five controllers and one supervisor caught napping have all been suspended and after the latest incident, Reno- Tahoe Airport this week, the FAA ordered two controllers to be on duty overnight at 27 airports where they used to be just one.
ROMANS: That's one budget battle down. The House and the Senate race to approve a deal struck between the president and congressional leaders last weekend. The one that just got in before the deadline for a government shutdown. But about a quarter of House Republicans and more than half of Democrats oppose the deal. It will fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year and is now on the way to the president's desk. The deal called for $38 billion in cuts, but many Republicans saying it's not nearly deep enough. The Congressional Budget Office now says in reality, the plan will only cut about $350 million from this year's deficit.
CHETRY: Well, now to a heartbreaking family tragedy in a county north of the city in New York. Three young children are dead. All of them were drowned along with their suicidal mother when she intentionally drove the family van into the Hudson River Tuesday night in the town of Newburgh. The mother has been identified as 25-year- old Lashanda Armstrong. Two of her boys, a 2-year-old and 5-year-old, and her 11-month-old daughter died in that van. Armstrong posted an apology on her Facebook page 30 minutes before the tragedy writing, "I'm so sorry everyone. Forgive me, please, for what I'm going to do." Now, meantime, her 10-year-old son LaShaun (ph) survived this. There he is pictured there as he's walking investigators through what happened. He survived by escaping through a window just moments before that van became submerged in the water.
Meave Ryan is a woman who happened to be driving by and noticed the little boy shivering on the side of the road. She took him and was able to get him help. A child -- the child told her that his mother seemed to change her mind about killing all of them, but it was too late.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEAVE RYAN, PASSERBY: But at the last minute, when he was leaving to go out the window, he heard his mother saying, I made a terrible mistake, I made a mistake. So she came from the middle of the row to the driver's side and tried to reverse the car back out, but at that time she was too much in the water at that point.
Yes. Too much in the water at that point to even leave. So he said the best thing I could do, Meave, he said, was go off for help. And he said, no one stopped for me, no one was stopping for me. And he said thank you so much for stopping me. He said it about 15 times. Thank you for stopping for me, thank you for stopping.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Just a heartbreaking story as we said. In 30 minutes, we're going to be joined live by Meave Ryan. She's going to talk to us more about what exactly happened and how she was the one who stopped to at least help the only surviving member of this family tragedy.
VELSHI: It's a devastatingly sad story.
Despite weeks of shelling now his air defenses and ground forces ripped apart, Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi appearing more defiant than ever. His army is hammering the strategic city of Misrata where civilians have been under siege for weeks. The director of one clinic in the city says Gadhafi's forces attacked a port and a residential area killing 23 people and wounding 100 others.
In Tripoli, check this video out. Gadhafi almost taunting the opposition and the world. Look at him racing down the streets, popping out of the sun roof, pumping his fists. Meantime this morning, President Obama and the leaders of France and Great Britain publishing an op-ed saying Gadhafi has got to go and that it is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with him in power. Jets have been heard circling over Tripoli again this morning. Smoke is rising from the wreckage of what appeared to be a NATO air strike in the city yesterday. The target was apparently a nearby military base.
ROMANS: It's a baby step but it may signal that Texas Congressman Ron Paul is planning another run for the Republican nomination in 2012. Paul filed a political organization notice with the IRS allowing him to raise money that could be used for a campaign war chest. A spokesman says the likelihood Paul will run has gone from 50/50 to 60/40. If he does jump into the GOP presidential pool, he'll join Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.
CHETRY: Well, President Obama is waking up this morning in his adopted hometown of Chicago where he's raising money for his re- election campaign and taking on opponents most notably Donald Trump who as you know has recently ramped up the questions about the president's birthplace. Here's what the president said about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was born in Hawaii.
(APPLAUSE)
But I became a man here in Chicago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now in an ABC News interview, the president pulled no punches about the birth certificates and the conspiracy theories.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the last two and a half years, there's been an effort to go at me in a way that is politically expedient in the short term for Republicans, but creates, I think, a problem for them when they want to actually run in the general election where most people feel pretty confident the president was born where he says he was in Hawaii. He doesn't have horns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, meantime, a so-called birther bill in Arizona that would make presidential candidates prove their U.S. citizens has passed the state legislature. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is expected to sign it.
There was a nice moment as well when President Obama touched down in Chicago last night. A little girl, 5 or 6 years old, greeted him on the tarmac and handed him a letter. The girl reportedly told the president that she was the only Democrat in her House. Mr. Obama kept the letter and signed the envelope for her. He's going to be returning to Washington a little bit later today. So cute, right?
VELSHI: Yes, so cute.
CHETRY: To be aware that you're the only Democrat in the House.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: Maybe opposite Alex speaking (ph).
VELSHI: I love it to meet some. I'm the only Tea Party member in my House and my family is a bunch of crazy liberals. And here's what I think of them.
Kids are getting politicized a little earlier.
CHETRY: Yes.
VELSHI: OK. Here's an interesting story for you.
An end of an era.
CHETRY: This is devastating for many, many people.
VELSHI: It is. It is. ABC canceling two of its longest running soap operas, "All My Children," which made its daytime debut in 1970, is going off the air in September. "One Life to Live" on the air since 1968 will be done in January of next year. The network planning two unscripted lifestyle shows in their place, one on food trends and the other on weight loss.
Look, I love unscripted TV. I love reality TV, but this is --
ROMANS: It's the end of an era. It really is.
And some -- it's interesting because I was a big CBS soap opera fan growing up, you know, and some of those soaps have gone.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: And the people who were on them for a very long time, it was one of the sort of the working-class actors of Hollywood in America who worked in these stories.
You know, and there are others --
CHETRY: Those were my stories as my grandmother used to call them.
ROMANS: I know.
CHETRY: "All My Children" and "One Life to Live." I have to watch my stories.
ROMANS: I think Demi Moore, I think there are a lot of people who -- David Hasselhoff --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- a lot of actors came out of there.
All right. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, a scary new report, meat tainted with a dangerous bacteria from the farms to your refrigerator. We're going to explain what it is, what this bacteria is, what you can do to protect yourself.
CHETRY: Also, letting your teen sleep in may actually be life saving. A new study finds some extra shut eye can cut down on teen car accidents. VELSHI: And Prince Frederic von Anhalt, remember him? He's quite a card. He claimed he was the father of Anna Nicole's baby. Wait until you hear his plans to make Zsa Zsa Gabor a mother at the age of 94.
Eleven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Ford is expanding its recall of F-150 pick-up trucks because of a problem with the air bags. The company recalling 1.2 million more of the full-sized pick-ups. An electrical problem could cause the air bags to deploy without a crash. Officials say they have had hundreds of reports of sudden air bag deployment.
Teens are always looking for an excuse to hit the snooze button. Now a new study finds those extra few minutes of sleep could cut down on car accidents, guys. In the journal of "Clinical Sleep Medicine," researchers found a 41 percent hike in car crashes among teens in Virginia who start earlier for school in the morning. Researchers say it's because they're just not as alert that early. Experts suggest teens should get nine hours of sleep. Past research also shows kid who sleep in do better in school.
VELSHI: You never know if kids do get nine hours of sleep.
ROMANS: I know. I know.
VELSHI: They're not --
ROMANS: I know. But, come on, teenagers can sleep forever. Have you ever noticed --
VELSHI: They can. I don't know but doesn't they --
ROMANS: -- that teenagers go to bed at 10:00 at night and get up at 1:00 in the afternoon?
VELSHI: They can, but I don't think their schedules allow for it.
ROMANS: Maybe they have a medical reason to do so.
CHETRY: Well, there's another new study out. This one is a little bit disturbing especially if you like steak tartar.
VELSHI: I don't. So just go ahead and read it.
CHETRY: Well, a dangerous bacteria made -- made its way into your refrigerator. Researchers found nearly half -- and this was the part that's startling -- half of the country's meat supply is tainted with Staph infection. Most strains are resistant to antibiotics.
Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us from Atlanta. OK. So this doesn't sound good. Is this as bad as it sounds?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's not quite as scary as it sounds here and I'll tell you why. When we talk about meat being tainted, people think, oh, I'm going to eat it and I'm going to get sick, you know, like from E. coli or Salmonella from chicken and that's not what this is.
This is a Staph bacteria. It's not that it's a good bacteria, it's not. It's not going to get you sick when you eat it. It could -- it could possibly, maybe, harm you when you touch it. That's the issue is that it could give you a skin infection.
So let's take a look at this survey again. They went to 26 grocery stores in five different cities in the United States and what they found that 40 percent of the meat, and we're talking, you know, turkey, beef, chicken, a variety, contain Staph. Ninety-six percent were resistant to at least one -- at least one type of antibiotic and half of them were resistant to at least three different types of antibiotics.
So there's real concern that as we see this increase of Staph- resistant skin infections, I mean, we've all heard about flesh-eating bacteria and what not, there's a concern that maybe, possibly, some of those bacteria are actually coming from the food we eat if we handle that food raw and then don't wash our hands.
VELSHI: OK. So that -- you sort of got to the question I was going to ask you, is that the solution, either handling food raw with gloves or ensuring that we do what we're supposed to be doing and that's wash your hands after you touch raw meat.
COHEN: Right. Exactly. I mean, that's a possibility. I mean, you sometimes see people in restaurants or other places what -- you know, wearing gloves.
So let's take a look at some of the things that you can do. You can wear gloves. You definitely should always wash your hands after working with any kind of raw food products or undercooked food product and you also need to cook meats to the proper temperature. That means, for example, no medium rare hamburgers. You need to do al of these things and clean surfaces.
Like the dumbest thing you could do would be to have raw chicken on a cutting board, you're cutting it up for your stir fry and then you say, oh, let's make our salad and you cut up a tomato on that same cutting board. Really, really bad. Because when you cook the chicken, you're getting rid of the bacteria but, of course, you're not going to cook those tomatoes and they've been contaminated with chicken juice.
ROMANS: And that's true not only for Staph bacteria but also for Salmonella and all other kinds of foods.
COHEN: Right. Exactly.
CHETRY: I just keep actually a different -- I only have -- I have one cutting board for meat and then different ones for the veggies and raw food.
COHEN: That's smart.
ROMANS: And that's why we don't use a wood cutting board --
COHEN: That's right.
ROMANS: -- because the wood cutting board can hold -- can hold the bacteria easier --
CHETRY: Yes.
ROMANS: -- than like a -- a plastic one. All right.
VELSHI: Oh, yes. I don't do a lot of cooking.
CHETRY: Ali's solution was to eat with -- like this instead of --
VELSHI: Right. And you don't touch it and you eat with your mouth you should be fine, right?
COHEN: That's another idea. That's another great idea.
CHETRY: A little messy but you know?
ROMANS: It's hard to cut it and cook it (INAUDIBLE) --
VELSHI: I'm here to think outside the box. Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: All right. Thanks.
CHETRY: Next, historic shifts in the U.S. population, we talk about majorities, you know, and minorities. Well, in certain metropolitan cities, minorities now make up the majority.
VELSHI: Which wouldn't make them minorities anymore.
CHETRY: That's right. We'll think of a new name.
VELSHI: All right. That's right. Think of something else.
Also coming up, your ads are watching you as you walk down the street. Creepy new-age technology that reads your face and then changes the billboard in front of you.
ROMANS: Whoa.
VELSHI: That's kind of neat. We're "Minding Your Business." I think we're going to have a disagreement about this.
It's almost 19 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Some of the biggest cities in America, white people are now the minority. According to the new census data, minorities now make up the majority in 46 of the nation's 366 metropolitan areas including New York, Washington, D.C., San Diego, Las Vegas, and Memphis. Caucasian children are now in the minority in 10 American states.
CHETRY: Well, this story has some very interesting implications. When you look at an ad, the ad could actually be looking back at you. A new company is targeting -- is taking targeted advertising to the next level.
And Carmen Wong Ulrich is here "Minding Your Business" to explain.
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I think this is cool. All right. Let me explain it to you.
CHETRY: Prove to me and Christine, Ali.
ULRICH: I know you'll freak out, we're going to talk about it. But let's talk about what we're talking about here, you are being watched.
CNNMoney reports a New York City start-up Immersive Labs has created a prototype for digital billboard that incorporates recognition technology to better target the ads to you. Now, here's a look at what the system makes a note of as you pass by. Your age, your gender, if you're alone or in a couple or a group, your attention span, how long you look at the ad, and the outside weather and temperature, all of these things put together, to target the ad to you.
Now, Immersive Labs is not the first to do this sort of thing. Japan has been testing facial recognition ads for a while, but Immersive System does not seek to recognize your face --
VELSHI: OK. That's good.
ULRICH: -- which is possible.
VELSHI: Right.
ULRICH: - they actually can find out your name and everything about you, but they want to just categorize you and collect what they call anonymous recognition. Now, the company is in talks with over 40 companies like Sony about using a technology in high traffic areas like JFK Airport.
ROMANS: Have you seen that movie "Minority Report"?
VELSHI: Yes, yes, yes. Yes.
ULRICH: It's totally "Minority."
VELSHI: So the problem --
CHETRY: They know -- they know you're going to commit a purchase before you even buy it.
VELSHI: So the trouble -- the trouble that I have with it, I think it's a fantastic idea, I love it. I love it. I love anything that is targeted to me. I love when I go on Amazon and they know what I buy and they offer me more because I buy more.
But my problem is and I'll be walking down the street with my wife and all of a sudden the billboard will recognize me and say, Ali, two Big Macs for a dollar and I tell my wife I'm eating really well.
ULRICH: No, no, no. It's not that targeted.
VELSHI: OK.
ULRICH: This is -- you know what it would be? It would be, oh, look at those happy couple holding hands together, here's a date movie. That's what -- that's what it's like.
ROMANS: When Kiran and I walk by an ad for a minivan goes up. When Ali walks by, an ad for a really fancy motorcycle.
VELSHI: I will tell you, though, if I --
ULRICH: If I walk by, it's an ad for margaritas.
CHETRY: You have the spirit on this Friday morning, Carmen.
ULRICH: All right.
VELSHI: I love that. All right. Very good. Thanks, Carmen.
ROMANS: The world's oldest man died today. He was 114 years old. Wow, 114. What was --
VELSHI: Do you like that? Would you like to be 114?
ROMANS: Well, what was his secret to long life? Walter Breuning is his name.
VELSHI: I don't want to know what the secret is.
ROMANS: He only ate two meals a day.
VELSHI: Well, then, I'm not going to make it.
ROMANS: His reason was simple. That's all you need. And he suggested working as long as possible.
VELSHI: Oh, there's hope.
ROMANS: Extra cash is always a good thing especially if you're going to live to be 114. Finally, make sure to help others, he said. That's because the more you do for those around you, the healthier you will be -- the healthier you'll be in mind and in spirit.
Breuning passed away from natural causes near his Great Falls, Montana home.
CHETRY: He's really adorable.
ROMANS: He really is, 114.
VELSHI: Carmen --
CHETRY: He does have a couple of -- whenever you talk about longevity stuff --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- they do say first of all, limiting your calories actually does lead to longevity.
VELSHI: I've heard that. But you have to limit them to so few that I wouldn't want to live to 114 eating 600 calories a day.
ULRICH: Well, that's a thing, too, (ph) I wouldn't be so happy living without those calories, so --
VELSHI: And as a personal finance expert.
ULRICH: Yes.
VELSHI: -- living to 114 changes your financial planning needs.
ULRICH: Can you imagine? It's expensive. Can you imagine retiring? OK. I'm going to retire at 60 and you're going to live --
CHETRY: I know, but he said two things work as long as you can --
ULRICH: -- and he did say -- he did say he worked as long as you can.
CHETRY: -- to have extra cash.
ROMANS: None of the -- none of the retirement calculators I use let you go up to 114.
VELSHI: You go up to 114.
ULRICH: Go up to a hundred, no, they don't.
VELSHI: Well, I'll tell you, there's a whole new solution for not having enough money as you get older -- Kiran.
CHETRY: What? Marrying a very rich person?
VELSHI: Well, prince -- being Prince Frederic von Anhalt.
CHETRY: Yes. He is the guy -- he is actually Zsa Zsa Gabor's ninth husband. He once claimed while he was married to Zsa Zsa, by the way, that he fathered Anna Nicole Smith's baby. I don't know if you remember that whole scene. But, anyway, he also ran for Governor of California.
Well, now he says he wants to be a father -- Zsa Zsa Gabor's baby's father. He's 94 years old.
VELSHI: All right.
CHETRY: Yes. He's been married to her for 25 years. He said that he wants her to become a mother again using a donor egg, artificial insemination and a surrogate mother to carry on the Gabor name.
ROMANS: Wouldn't it be the von Anhalt name?
CHETRY: No. He says it's the Gabor name and he says that she -- she supposedly, according to him, said that this was one of her wishes. She's been in failing health as you guys probably know for years. She recently underwent a hip replacement surgery because of complications she had to get her leg amputated.
Gabor's only daughter, who is now 64 years old, says the whole thing is just weird.
VELSHI: Right. I think she speaks for many people when she says that. He -- he's a strange cat.
ROMANS: To say the very least.
VELSHI: Yes. But it's the other way to keep your income going when you're getting older is stay close to Zsa Zsa Gabor.
ROMANS: There's Social Security and then there's -- yes. OK.
VELSHI: Yes. Speaking about Social Security, a lot of talk about the national debt and the federal deficit. What is the difference between the debt and deficit? All you really have to do is think about your own finances to figure it out. We're going to break it down for you ahead.
It is 27 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We're crossing the half hour right now and I want to bring you up to date on the top stories.
Some very severe weather ripping through parts of the country. Two people now confirmed dead after witnesses say a huge tornado tore through a town South of Tulsa, Oklahoma. There is a severe weather threat going on right now. Violent storms and twisters possible in parts of at least seven states this morning.
Rob Marciano saying Arkansas needs to be on the lookout right now, Mississippi, Alabama. He's covering all of this for us and we'll check in with him in a couple minutes.
Meanwhile, the man in charge of operating the nation's air traffic control system is out at the FAA. Hank Krakowski's resignation comes after the latest incident involving an air traffic controller sleeping on the job.
Well, this year's budget is now on its way to President Obama's desk. The House and the Senate passed it yesterday. This is the deal that calls for $38 billion in cuts for the rest of the fiscal year. But the Congressional Budget Office now says it's more like $350 million in cuts, and that's raising some controversy among some fiscal hawks.
Hey, Christine.
ROMANS: And controversy with debts and deficits -- oh, my, isn't it exciting? We've been talking a lot about them. And it's time to explain these big, important numbers and understanding them. What is the difference between a debt and deficit?
Think about your own budget, when you spend more money than you make, you're running a deficit. It's that easy. You borrow to cover the difference. Uncle Sam does the same thing. And all those deficits year after year add to a huge pile of national debt.
How big? Fourteen thousand billion.
So, deficits are spending more money than you make and debt is something owed. It's how much money you owe. The U.S. currently has $14.296 trillion of debt.
If we continue to spend money at our current rate, our debt will top $25 trillion in 10 years. Under President Obama's plan, that's $20.8 trillion. And under the Paul Ryan/Republican plan, it would be $19 trillion in 10 years.
So, think of that. Even under these reduction plans, trimming it, it's just slowing the rate of increase. But the increase is still going up.
Budget experts, though, like to analyze this pile of debt by what the size is to the overall economy, right? So, today the national debt is 62 percent of GDP. Doing nothing, the CBO projects it will balloon to 67 percent of GDP by 2022.
Under Republican Paul Ryan's plan, 70 percent of GDP. See what I mean? I mean, at a near term you still have growing debts. Under President Obama's 2012 budget, it would be 87 percent by 2021.
Now, both plans are expected to recede over time. So, basically, further out. It's going to get better, but it's going to hurt in the near term.
Why is all this so important frankly? Because we have to pay interest on this. It doesn't come for free. And that interest gobbles up a bigger part of every dollar we spend. In 2010, for every dollar the government spent, 6 cents went to interest on our debt, almost $200 billion, compare that to Medicare and Medicaid, you can Social Security, you see how important this part -- this red part of the dollar is.
Look further out. If we do nothing, in the next 10 years, our interest payments are forecast to double to 14 cents of every dollar. You guys, that crowds out spending for other things like roads, education, defense, important priorities for a country. So, you don't want this part of the dollar bill growing and growing and growing.
Both plans attempt to, some time in the future slow, slow how much of the economy our debt is, you guys.
CHETRY: You know, that was a really good explainer. And when we were talking about this as well today, we have always had a debt. We've always had national debt. We haven't always had a deficit. We haven't always been in deficit spending.
VELSHI: Right. Some days -- some years, we spend less than we bring in.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: But we always are carrying a debt. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think, Christine, what you pointed out, that proportion of the debt to the national economy, that's a relevant piece of information.
CHETRY: Right. And the way that you explain it yesterday, people have a mortgage, that's a big amount of debt that you carry.
VELSHI: But that's acceptable.
CHETRY: But it's supposed to be -- it's not -- it can't take up the hugest chunk of your income.
VELSHI: Right, because if you had to wait to pay for your house in cash, nobody would be buying a house before they're 60 years old. So, that's why some of the debt is acceptable.
Christine, thanks very much.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
VELSHI: New this morning, Delaware becoming the eighth state to legalize civil unions. The measure passed in the state's House of Representatives yesterday. The governor says he will sign it. It takes effect on January 1st, giving gay couples the same rights, benefits and protections as married couples under Delaware law.
CHETRY: Coming up a tragic murder/suicide in Upstate New York. Only one child survived the horrible ordeal after their suicidal mother drove them off of a van into the water. Up next, we're going to speak to a woman who found the little boy shivering on the side of the road and stopped to help.
It's 34 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Thirty-seven minutes past the hour right now.
A very sad story, this morning, though, we are learning more about this tragedy -- a young mother who drove her family van into the Hudson River in Upstate New York, killing herself and three of her four children.
There are new details now of their final horrifying moments coming from the sole survivor of the tragedy, the woman's 10-year-old son.
This morning, we have with us Meave Ryan. She is the woman who found the little boy shivering on the side of the road after he got himself out of that minivan as it went into the river. And also, Dr. Jeff Gardere, a clinical psychologist, to break down what may have been going on here.
Thanks to both of you and welcome.
DR. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Thank you.
CHETRY: And, Meave, I understand, for you, it's really just sinking in. I mean, you were brought into this completely accidentally. How did you see the little boy?
MEAVE RYAN, STOPPED TO HELP 10-YEAR-OLD SURVIVOR: I saw him when I was driving in the street and four or five cars ahead of me. I didn't know whether it was an adult or little boy or who it was. So, nobody was stopping and it was 7:45 at night and it was actually heavy traffic.
And by the time it was my turn to go through the stop sign, I saw him going like this, "Help me, help me, help me." And I rolled down the window, he was like help me. I'm like, "What's the matter?" He said, "Mom just drove the car into the water."
So, I got him into my car right away and went down to the scene. I went up knee deep in the water to see if I could see the car and I saw nothing whatsoever.
CHETRY: Did you call police at that point?
RYAN: No. I went up to the fire department.
CHETRY: It was very close by.
RYAN: Yes, right up the street.
CHETRY: Now, at this point, did you realize that this was intentional, or did you think maybe this was an accident?
RYAN: The way --
CHETRY: He had had been telling you my mom went crazy, right?
(CROSSTALK)
RYAN: -- talking to him, he was saying she went crazy, just speed up and went into the water. It just sounded like it was on purpose and, you know, it was just -- he was terrified. Terrified.
CHETRY: How does a 10-year-old boy recover from this? Does he?
GARDERE: We're looking at Meave, how she's traumatized by it. So, you can imagine this little boy in the car, the mother even saying, according to him, "I made a mistake." So, he's communicating with the mother while this is going on.
How does he recover? He does recover. But he'll never be the same. This is a child who will need therapy for many, many, many years to come because he's going to have survivor guilt, post- traumatic stress.
We know that he's in shock. A lot is expected of him. And I have a feeling that he was the little man in the family and now, he's carrying a lot of this kind of responsibility.
CHETRY: And there he is and in these pictures. He's walking investigators through what happened.
You said that he gave you -- he was telling you some other things that were quite telling about the situation. He said, "I wish I had taught them how to swim" --
RYAN: Swim.
GARDERE: Right.
CHETRY: -- talking about his little siblings.
RYAN: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) last year and he wanted the chance to teach them how to swim this year. So, he kept saying, you know, it's my fault, need to teach them how to swim. Blamed himself for not getting his baby sister out because the buckle was too tight. And he was just literally blaming himself for everything that went on and he didn't get help fast enough.
GARDERE: Kiran, and this is what's amazing. Normally, we see the survivor guilt come, perhaps, weeks or months after. This little boy was experiencing it right then and there, taking on that kind of responsibility. So, that goes to show you how much he's been traumatized by this and the kind of help he's going to need.
CHETRY: One of the things we always wonder about this is, were there warning signs? Is there something that -- I mean, clearly, this was a troubled person. She posted on her Facebook page, at least according to people -- I'm sorry that I'm going through with this, please, I hope you will be able to forgive me. Here's what she wrote. "I'm so sorry, everyone forgive me please for what I'm going to do. This is it."
I mean -- so, there's some aspect of premeditation here, realizing that she was going to do it. Why -- a lot of people always say -- why take the kids? Why do we see this, when we see these tragedies, what do the kids have to die as well?
GARDERE: I think part of what's going on, this woman had some severe depression, it seems. She was very stressed by having four children, 25, all of these domestic incidents with her partner. Supposedly, he was cheating on her. So, this woman was really pushed to the max by her circumstances.
What we typically see, Kiran, why they take the kids with them when it comes to these murder/suicides, because they feel that the kids would be better off with them on the other side in heaven, whatever their religious belief may be, instead of leaving them as sole survivors. I believe she did say to them, that you are coming with me. I'm not going to leave you by yourself.
RYAN: She did say if I'm going to die, you're going to die with me. She said two or three times.
GARDERE: And that's part of the rage, the anger, the -- even part of the psychotic process, the nervous breakdown that we see that people typically have. And we're questioning, was there a post-partum depression because she had an 11-month-old. But certainly we know --
CHETRY: A 2-year-old, a 5-year-old, and a 10-year-old.
GARDERE: Exactly. But what we do know is that whatever was going on with her emotionally, the stress of her daily living, and she had a very difficult life, even though supposedly she was a very devoted mother -- all of these things may have pushed her.
CHETRY: There are a lot of people that have very difficult lives. There are people that -- what -- are there warning signs when this happens that people could, perhaps, notice and help?
GARDERE: Yes. I think that there were warning signs, people coming forward now and saying that she may have been saying things such as "I'm by myself," "I'm really stressed out," you know, "life is very hard for me."
So, I think this is, again, another teachable moment that when you see someone who you work with that you know, a neighbor, who seems like they're really just anxious, depressed, angry, reach out, give them some information. Ask them what's going on. How we can help, how we can refer you. Instead of saying it's not really my business, but again this whole thing, extreme domestic issues, was part of this.
CHETRY: And, Meave, you were somebody who stopped. The little boy said, Lashaun said people -- no one would stop. What has this done to you? I mean, being this accidental bystander in this know and knowing that you're going to be thinking about Lashaun, how do you move on from this?
RYAN: Baby steps. It's baby steps. Because I myself, I feel guilty myself if I wasn't there 15 minutes beforehand. Just to be there, to get the baby out, two kids out, anybody out. But it's just baby steps and my prayers that are going to be able to help me through this. And I hope to meet with Lashaun some day because he was such a courageous little boy, and he was fantastic and I commend him for being -- how strong he is.
GARDERE: And we commend you for being a hero and stopping and doing the right thing and we'd like to see more of this. But I would advise you to please speak to someone, your spirituality, get into that. But you need help. This little boy needs help. The family, the town, everyone should have some sort of source of grieving in a very productive way. So, God bless you.
CHETRY: Absolutely. And thanks for sharing your story. We appreciate it.
RYAN: Thank you.
CHETRY: Dr. Jeff, great to see you as always.
GARDERE: Thank you.
CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
It's 44 minutes past the hour.
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ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start you day:
The death toll now rising in the south. Violent storms have now killed a fifth person. Police say a tree fell onto his RV in Arkansas. The severe storm and tornado threat pushing east from the plains right now.
This year's budget is on the way to the president's desk. It's the deal that stopped a government shutdown last weekend. The House and Senate passed it yesterday.
A fist pumping Moammar Gadhafi hitting the streets of Tripoli even as smoke rises from other parts of that city. President Obama and the leaders of Great Britain and France all saying he has to go in a new op-ed this morning.
An aide to Congressman Ron Paul says the odds that the Texas Republican will run for president in 2012 are now 60/40. All just filed papers with the IRS allowing him to raise money that could be used for a campaign.
And ABC is canceling two of the longest running daytime dramas on TV. "All My Children" will end its 41-year run in September. "One Life to Live" which premiered back in 1968, goes off the air in January.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back in 60 seconds.
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VELSHI: Knoxville, Tennessee, people going to work there. It is 50 degrees right now. It's going to get up to 73, but the issue there right now isn't the weather, it's the allergies. It is the worst place for allergies. South, in general, is very, very rough, and I didn't realize that until I started spending a lot of time in Atlanta with spring flowers comes spring allergies and turns out that where you live, obviously, plays a part in how many tissues you go through.
The Allergy and Asthma Foundation found the south not so hospitable. Check it out. Knoxville, Tennessee, the worst place to live for allergies. Topped the list for the second year in a row. Other allergy challenged cities, Louisville, Kentucky, Charlotte, North Carolina, Jackson, Mississippi, Chattanooga, Tennessee -- I tell you from experience -- Atlanta, Georgia is a bad one. The study is based on pollen count, the amount of allergen meds used and the number of allergy specialists per patient.
CHETRY: Wow. The desert southwest is probably the best because you're not --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Yes. You're not getting as much.
VELSHI: Or really cold places.
CHETRY: I don't know if many people allergic to cactus.
ROMANS: Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center, and you know Rob, there's nothing organic and no kind of what, I guess, New York, we don't worry about allergies here.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. I mean, you can't get pollen from concrete.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: I tell you this. I never had allergies before I moved to the south.
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: If you spend a couple years down here, you'll get them. I get them both in the fall and spring. It's been pretty harsh this spring, as well. Hey, I want to show you some new video that's coming into the CNN newsroom, guys. This is out of Arkansas. We mentioned there was two fatalities in Tushka, Oklahoma yesterday with the tornadoes that went through that area out of Garland County, Arkansas.
Also, a lot of wind damage, and we've had three fatalities now in Arkansas just from wind damage and obviously large trees falling down there, and that's a dangerous situation. That dangerous line of storms is now moving east and south across the Mississippi. Most of the dangerous weather is south of Memphis.
We have one, two, three tornado warnings that are posted right now for extreme western parts of Mississippi and southeastern parts of Arkansas, and those will be allowed to expire here in the next 15 minutes, but likely that line is -- continues to press east into some pretty juicy air. We'll continue to hold on to its strength. This tornado watch is in effect until 11:00 a.m. Eastern time.
This will probably extended east of the I-55 corridor as we go on through the next few hours. So, this is an event that's not going to end or wind down quite rapidly. Fairly slow moving system pulling in some cold air behind it in the north side of this thing. The northern fringe of this is going to be a weaker system as far as the severe weather is expected. The bull's eye is going to be across Eastern Mississippi and parts of Alabama and eventually into Georgia with temperatures that are pretty high and moist at ahead of this thing.
Seventy-five degrees expected for a high temperature in Atlanta. Fifty-five degrees in New York City. Your rains come Saturday night. That's a quick update on weather. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.
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CHETRY: The pomp and circumstance of it all. Fifty-four minutes past the hour. You know a lot of little girls dream of becoming a princess. That's how Disney stays in business.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: And re-inventing any princess (ph) every three hours. Anyway, all it takes is a little etiquette, the proper wave, beautiful gown, and of course, Prince Charming has to like you enough to want you to be his queen.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Kate Middleton has already snagged her spot in the royal family, but for the rest of the girls out there, there's a special school in London that makes this dream come true. Richard Quest shows us the princess-in-training program.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): This is great!
Look at this.
Why did you decide "Princess Prep"?
JERRAMY FINE, "PRINCESS PREP" FOUNDER: Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a princess. So, I wanted to create a program for other little girls that had the same dream.
You smooth your dress and you put one leg behind. One, two -- QUEST: So, what are you telling these young ladies all about being a princess?
FINE: We're teaching them to nourish the qualities of a princess that exist in every little girl. So, manners, etiquette, kindness, service, duty, compassion.
QUEST: I know. That's a lot.
FINE: That is a lot, but every little girl can do it.
Pretend you're a princess and you're at a ball. You're going to be as regal and as royal and as lady-like as possible. You're making turns, you're going back and forth. Looks so easy. Look at that. Courtesy to William and Kate.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: It's easy.
FINE: Good job.
QUEST: What are the biggest do and don't of being a princess?
FINE: Now, everyone try to sit like a princess.
I think you're not allowed to be selfish. You have to live your life for everyone else, and so, it's a lot about sacrifice and thinking about others.
QUEST: Now, let's talk about the royal wedding. Who's getting married?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Prince William and Kate.
QUEST: Prince William and Kate. Are you going to watch the royal wedding?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Yes.
QUEST: Do you want to be a princess?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: No.
QUEST: You don't? Why not? She (ph) wants to be a princess, don't you?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: I want to be one.
QUEST: You want to be a princess. Why do you want to be a princess?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Well, because they're rich.
QUEST: You get rich. And you are really good with a book on your head, wasn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Yes. QUEST: Was it hard?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Sort of.
QUEST: Would you like to marry a prince?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: I don't know.
QUEST (on-camera): If the royal princesses-to-be learn nothing else on their special day, at least, they'll learn one trick that who knows.
FINE: Wave like at your Buckingham Palace (ph).
QUEST (voice-over): They may get to use in the future.
Richard Quest, CNN, Central London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Or you can go for an American prom queen, maybe. I don't know. Yes. Such posture, Kiran.
CHETRY: It's easy to balance an iPad on your head. Ali goes don't do the iPad. Don't do the iPad.
VELSHI: Yes. Don't wreck my iPad.
CHETRY: Don't mess up my hair.
ROMANS: You know, hopefully, those girls won't have to kiss too many frogs before they find their prince.
CHETRY: No, but I love how a lot of the girls didn't know if they wanted to be a princess.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: I look on (ph) the tiara and a little magic wand.
VELSHI: The little girl beauty queen situation here in America. It's mothers who want their kids --
ROMANS: All right. As you know, the royal wedding is right around the corner, and if you didn't get your invitation, don't worry because CNN has got you covered. Not only, of course, can you watch it with this, we're going to take you behind the scenes to Kate --
CHETRY: That has words on it, I swear.
ROMANS: Prince William and Kate Middleton's big day on April 29th. You can watch -- you can DVR. You can participate. You can be part of our global viewing party. No RSVP necessary. We're going to see you all there.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good. We're going to take a quick break. Your top stories coming up in just a minute.
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