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American Morning

Lowe's Employee Helps Save 100 People From Tornado; "A Beautiful Story, and It's a Lie."; Women Take the On-Ramp Back to Work; 45 Dead in Tornado Outbreak; PBS to Air Autism Special

Aired April 18, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My house was there, and then, all of my belongings are over here, devastation. You know, nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Absolute shock across the south. Entire towns almost obliterated. Hundreds of tornadoes reported from Oklahoma to Virginia. The death toll is rising on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ALINA CHO, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: And good morning, everybody. It's Monday, April 18th. Kiran and Christine are both off this morning. I'm Alina Cho along with Ali Velshi. Today is Tax Day.

VELSHI (on-camera): That is right. It was supposed to be Friday. You got your extension. Now, no reason to be late. New this hour, by the way, he sold millions of books and raised millions of dollars for his charity. One of them became required reading for some troops heading into Afghanistan, and today, shocking allegations that Greg Mortenson's inspiring story is a lie.

CHO: Plus, it's a booming business. We're talking about the new travel packages that bring women to the United States to give birth so their children become American citizens. There's a lot of controversy about that, and we'll talk about it coming up.

VELSHI: But first, people across the country picking up what is left of their lives this morning after tornadoes, hundreds of them, tore across the U.S. over the weekend. Witnesses reported 230 twisters from Oklahoma to Virginia. The death toll rising overnight to 45 people after two more victims were reported in Virginia including an eight-year-old girl who was swept away by a flash flood.

But nowhere was harder hit than North Carolina. It was the deadliest storm system to hit the state in 20 years. Dozens of homes were destroyed, hundreds more heavily damaged. Bertie County, North Carolina, took a direct hit from the fierce storms. Half of the state's tornado deaths happened right there.

David Mattingly live for us this morning in Colerain, North Carolina, with remarkable, remarkable devastation right around you, David. DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ali. As the sun was coming up, we're starting to get a full view of the destruction behind this storm. It is absolutely amazing that anyone was able to walk away alive or uninjured when you look at the -- how thorough these storms were in the destruction that they dealt across this county.

For instance, behind me you can see several houses, the landscape just littered right now with pieces and parts of the buildings and houses that used to be over here. Over to this side of me, in this immediate area, officials confirmed that two people were killed, that's two out of the 11 that were killed in this county. You can see just every bit of metal was torn and bent and rendered every bit of wood was splintered and broken.

This area where I'm standing right here, in fact, used to be someone's deck. You can see how some of the supports were pulled out of the ground. This one over here, this four by four, was completely snapped off to give you an idea of the power of the storm.

And this is what's left of the house that was next to it, nothing here but the brick foundation around it. Every single bit of plumbing, wood, metal, furniture, everything that was in this house now completely gone, splintered and torn apart and blown all the way back over here to the tree line where most of it had stopped.

We talked to county officials, and we were asking why there were so many fatalities in this county, it's such a rural place. But they're saying that because they're so close to sea level, so few people here have any storm cellars or basements that when the storm came bearing down on them, they really had no place to go.

And places like this, if you're hunkering down in a place like this, you can see that there really is no place to find any sort of safety, Ali. So emergency responders I talked to say that when they started coming out to these scenes, instead of asking how could so many people be killed in the storm, they looked at the damage and say we wonder how there weren't more fatalities from this, because this storm caused a track of damage about six to eight miles long, about a half to three quarters of a mile wide.

So if you were in its path with nowhere to go, there was definitely a reason to believe that there was going to be a lot of damage and a lot of pain left behind by this storm and that's what we're seeing today.

VELSHI: David, we've all seen tornado damage, but very rarely, I mean you see trees, cars overturned, trees on houses with them crushed. I have to tell you it's rare we're seeing a picture like the one over your shoulder there where there is nothing left by the foundation of a house. That is remarkable. I think they're right by saying it's a wonder more people weren't killed.

MATTINGLY: Yes. It's particularly rare in this part of the country. We're used to seeing things like that, this more in the Midwest, but not here in this portion of North Carolina. That's what officials are saying, that that's what was so unusual about this storm, was the size, the intensity, and the path of damage, just how far this storm went, just dropping tornadoes out of the sky, hopping here, doing some damage, lifting up, hitting another place.

But here in this county, we're looking at six to eight miles of damage with a path, maybe a half mile wide. So where are you going to go if that storm is bearing down on you? Remember, this hit about 7:00 in the evening. People knew that the weather was getting bad. They didn't have anywhere to go. Ali?

MATTINGLY: All right, David, thanks very much for that. David Mattingly.

ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of people are calling this tornado outbreak over the weekend epic. Some said it was like the "Wizard of Oz." Jacqui Jeras is in the extreme weather center watching this for us. This is literally, Jacqui, I guess, the calm before the storm, the next one, right?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We got two days break and then the next one rolls on in. That's going to be by tomorrow and we are expecting the threat of tornadoes that's going to be the nation's midsection.

And yes, it really was an epic event for North Carolina in particular. We do see these types of things in Texas and Oklahoma a lot, but to see these types of storms that stay on the ground for 60-some miles and cause that kind of damage and at one point three miles wide, that is certainly just amazing.

But I do want to mention, it's not just North Carolina that got hit so hard on Saturday. Take a look at these pictures we have coming in out of Virginia at this time. This is from our affiliate in Norfolk. There were at least five tornado reports in the state of Virginia and several fatalities in the Gloucester area, 60 people injured there. You can just see the incredible amount of destruction and devastation.

Let's take a look at radar real quick and show you the storms as they rolled on through the area. You can see they're just lined up there, almost from Maryland down through South Carolina, which also had a number of tornadoes before this thing moved on through and it was basically just a nuisance for you folks in parts of the northeast, especially with travel yesterday.

On average the National Climatic Center tells us there are about 19 tornadoes you'll see each year in North Carolina, 19 for an entire year. The reports were 90 on Saturday and it could be comparable to an outbreak that happened in 1984.

We'll have to wait and see as we get the numbers through. We have word of six official tornados that produced these very long paths across North Carolina. Today pretty benign across the northern tier of the country, the wintry weather still holding on, expect travel issues from Milwaukee to Chicago. We'll talk about that coming up in the next half hour.

Also in the next half hour, I'm going to show you five of the tornados that touched down in North Carolina and what their path looks like. It's pretty incredible.

VELSHI: Jacqui Jeras in the severe weather center.

CHO: Coming up 20 minutes after the hour we're going to speak to man who went above and beyond his duties as assistant manager at Lowe's, that's for sure. He may have helped save 100 lives a as tornado came barreling through.

VELSHI: A man arrested in Texas. Police say his campfire ignited one of the hundreds of wildfires that have scorched Texas. His reckless endangerment charge considered a felony in Texas. And Governor Rick Perry is asking Texas be declared a federal disaster area. He says the state doesn't have the manpower or the resources to fight it alone. The record dry conditions stoking wildfires that have affected all but two of Texas's 254 counties.

CHO: Three people killed in a shoot-out at the defense ministry in Afghanistan. Militants snuck on to the facility wearing national army uniforms and carrying fake IDs. One insurgent wearing a suicide vest opened fire on the soldiers at the compound. He was killed before he could detonate the vest. Two Afghan soldiers were killed. It's the third time just this week that insurgents used disguises to sneak into government facilities.

A suicide bomber kills five members of the U.S. army's 101st airborne division. The man was wearing an Afghan military uniform. This is a separate attack, when he detonated himself Saturday at a forward operating base in Afghanistan. The same army division lost six troops in a series of fire fights in eastern Afghanistan in late March.

VELSHI: New in Japan this morning, tens of thousands of people may not be able to go home until next year. Officials say it's going to take six to nine months to fully stabilize and rebuild the badly damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima. They're going to try to decontaminate the largest area possible in that time, and even then it's not certain how many, if any, would be able to return home.

The death toll, by the way, rising in Japan this morning. Police and troops continue to dig through the wreckage. The historic earthquake and tsunami now having killed 13,843 people, but the number could double. Let's keep in mind, 14,030 are still missing a month later.

CHO: Wow.

A wake-up call for air traffic controllers. New rules are rolled out to prevent them from sleeping on the job. The changes come after a series of incidents involving a controller snoozing during a shift. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says the new rules will help make sure that controllers get enough rest. Controllers must now have a minimum of nine hours off between shifts. They will no longer be able to work an unscheduled midnight shift following a day off.

VELSHI: These are known to be stressful jobs. They always fall under category of the high-stress jobs. I didn't know that there are some of them who had to be back to work eight hours after they leave the shift. That seems a little tight. CHO: And now they're changing it. I think that's a smart decision, considering what's happened in the past couple of weeks.

VELSHI: By the way, an extra three days this year, but the time has finally come for you to file your taxes. The IRS says it has by the way prose processed nearly 96 million returns already. Some of you are very responsible. The average taxpayer is getting a refund of about $2,800.

VELSHI: Have you filed?

I virtually never file by the deadline. This is one of those, shoes always have holes in them. I'm never an on-time filer. I'm acquainted with that extension.

CHO: You'll be filing for an extension again.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHO: Ali! What kind of lesson are you teaching America?

VELSHI: Listen to what I say, not what I do.

CHO: Sorry to out you.

VELSHI: Thanks very much for that.

(LAUGHTER)

Up next on "American morning," the rising cost of gas. How are you coping? Are we going to hit $4 a gallon and how will the high prices affect the economic recovery?

VELSHI: A big question. And a popular fast food chain gets serious about slashing the salt. We've got the details. It is ten minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: It's 13 minutes after the hour. A vicious fire fight on the ground in Libya's western city of Misrata. Rebels are using high powered weapons to battle Gadhafi's forces. Six people killed, dozens injured yesterday as the gun fight moved into the neighborhoods. The rebels are clinging to power against some 300 Gadhafi troops there.

VELSHI: A story affecting all of our wallets in part because of what's going on in Libya, gas prices up for the 27th straight day. AAA estimates it's now $3.83 for a gallon of regular self-serve unleaded. That's the national average. And when the summer travel season kicks in it could go even higher. That's just a few weeks away.

On CNN's "Your Money" I spoke with an economist Peter Morici about the effect of the high gas prices on the entire economic recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETER MORICI, ECONOMIST: If it stays high, if it stays high, most economists are now predicting say 2.8 percent growth instead of 3.3 percent, 3.4 percent for the first half of this year. That translates into a loss of about 500,000 jobs that just don't get created. The money leaves the country to pay for imported oil and doesn't stay here to buy say restaurant meals, get your clothes dry cleaner. People spend less money on non-necessities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: And that's why peter says it could affect jobs here. I spoke to Tom Klosa, the chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. They gather a lot of data on oil. He predicts gas prices are going to peak in the next few weeks and peak at less than $4 a gallon. That's a little bit of good news.

CHO: It could be if it happens. We'll see into.

VELSHI: If you can predict gas prices, that would be something else. I wonder if you approve of this story.

CHO: Of course I approve. If you after the show head over to Subway across the street there.

VELSHI: Which I have had a habit of doing.

CHO: This may be the reason. Hold the salt. Subway is announcing that starting today sodium in its so-called fresh fit sandwiches at Subway will be cut by 28 percent compared to what it was back in 2009. The fast food chain is cutting salt in the rest of its sand which line by about 15 percent compared to 2009. I'm not sure exactly percentages what that means, but I think less salt is a good thing.

VELSHI: Right. And this is something you know about because you're a little more sophisticated than I am about nutrition. Salt has definitely become something in the last year or so that people are talking about.

CHO: Oh, yes.

No, there've been --

VELSHI: It was all these fat and then it was carbs and all that. Now, people are concentrating on salt.

CHO: There are a lot of studies that have come out recently that have said, you know, a teaspoon is enough in a day.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHO: And any more than that --

VELSHI: Yes. And we get about three times that or double that in our daily --

CHO: At least, yes. VELSHI: All right. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, they made it out alive. All of them. A Lowe's store flattened by a tornado. We're going to speak to the assistant manager who helped save 100 people.

CHO: And ahead in this hour, the big business that has a lot of people fired up. We're talking about the underground maternity tourism. Stay with us.

It's 16 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. People grabbing their kids running into the basement, huddling in closets as their homes were literally pulled clean from their foundations. We are hearing incredible stories of survival after tornadoes tore across the south this weekend.

CHO: And one of the big stories to come out of the storm happened in Sanford. That's a town about 40 miles southwest of Raleigh, North Carolina, inside a Lowe's hardware store there. Managers spotted a tornado coming and guess what, they gathered up about 100 shoppers and employees and moved them all to a safe area in the back of the store. Smart thinking.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHO: Moments later, the store was nearly destroyed. Can you imagine? And amazingly, no one was hurt. Bobby Gibson, an assistant manager at the Lowe's, and Gary and Kathy Hendricks were in the store at the time, customers there. They're all outside of what is left of the Lowe's store this morning.

VELSHI: Wow.

CHO: That is an incredible picture. And Bobby, I want to begin with you, and we want to give everybody proper credit. It wasn't just you. It was a lot of the managers who actually went outside, saw the funnel cloud and you actually had a plan in place. Tell me what happened and what did you do?

BOBBY GIBSON, ASSISTANT STORE MANAGER, LOWE'S: Yes, ma'am. I mean, we knew for about 10 minutes prior that we were under a tornado watch or warning. We didn't realize it was as real as it was until my senior store manager, Mike Hollowell, actually spotted the funnel cloud or not really funnel cloud, it's more like a wall of cloud and debris and rain just across the shopping center across from us. And at that point it's like, you know, he's communicating to the back and let's get everyone to the rear of the building. You know all throughout we know that's the safest part of the building for everyone and it definitely is just instinct just to get everyone to the rear of the building as fast as we could and as quickly as we could. And, you know, at that point, it was just people helping people.

You're right. It wasn't one or two people. It was people helping people. It was customers, it was employees, everybody just working together to try to help everybody. Just -- VELSHI: Kathy?

KATHY HENDRICKS, IN LOWE'S AT TIME OF TORNADO: Yes.

VELSHI: Sorry, Bobby, I didn't mean to interrupt you. What a great job you and -- I just commend everybody at the store for us.

Kathy, obviously you didn't go shopping at Lowe's thinking that you were going to be in the path of a tornado. So you're standing in the middle of the store. I assume you didn't go outside to see this cloud. Tell me what happened?

K. HENDRICKS: I was standing at the front. My husband said something about that cloud that we saw and so I looked out and sure enough, it just didn't look like a traditional tornado. But everybody started watching. And he had said to me earlier, we need to get to somewhere safe like Lowe's. And then it hit the Lowe's.

It was -- the employees were awesome. They were totally awesome.

VELSHI: Gary, you actually went to the Lowe's because you thought that would be a safe place?

GARY HENDRICKS, IN LOWE'S AT TIME OF TORNADO: Yes. We --

CHO: Wow.

G. HENDRICKS: We had had a tornado warning down close to our home and we decided it was a good time to move and get away, so we came up to Lowe's. We said we'll be safe up there. Unfortunately, the tornado followed us.

CHO: Well, either way, it was smart thinking. My goodness, to go to a big structure like that, that's bigger than your house, safe to say.

Bobby, I want you to take me back to that moment when the storm was hitting, when the tornado was about to hit. You know, what was it like inside the store as you were trying to get people back there? Was it chaotic? Were people screaming? And what -- take us to that moment.

GIBSON: Yes, ma'am. I mean, it was emotional, that's the best way to describe it. Of course, you know, in that kind of experience it was a little chaotic but it was like an orderly chaos. Everyone was falling to the back of the building. Everyone was listening. Everyone was communicating and that's when people -- like I said earlier, people gathered. Because as we were approaching the rear of the building, people talk about the freight train and the sounds, we heard more screaming and we heard more crashing of metal tearing and building falling down than we heard the wind actually. And we could actually feel the wind coming across as we reached the back of the building and seeing debris as the roof is flying off the building and seeing debris flying by, it's just hard to even stand here and picture. But, you know, as I said everybody working together. It's just, you know, you look back and see, you know, it is phenomenal. It wasn't one or two people. It was everybody getting to where we needed to do and just instinct kicking in and people taking care of people. I can't stress that enough.

VELSHI: Gary and Kathy -- Gary and Kathy, you said you got to Lowe's because you didn't think your home was going to be safe. What happened to your home?

G. HENDRICKS: Fortunately nothing. It bypassed us. We probably should have stayed home.

K. HENDRICKS: On the other hand, we just paid off three weeks ago. It was total (INAUDIBLE).

VELSHI: Oh, really?

CHO: Oh, no.

G. HENDRICKS: But I want to say that the -- I want to say the Lowe's employees, by giving everyone a focus --

K. HENDRICKS: They were awesome.

G. HENDRICKS: If everyone in the store didn't know what to do, they would have been running around crazy.

K. HENDRICKS: That's right.

G. HENDRICKS: They kept us focused, move to the back of the store, follow us, come with us, go where we are. When we got into the area, everyone get down and protect yourself. And I want you to know the timing was so close when we hit the protected area. The winds came roaring through within about 10 seconds.

VELSHI: Wow.

G. HENDRICKS: In fact, it roared right through the -- it roared right through the hallway we were in.

CHO: Bobby, just one more question. You know, I don't know how many employees there are at the Lowe's, but I understand that all of the workers there will have jobs. They'll be rerouted to other Lowe's stores in the area, is that right?

GIBSON: Yes, ma'am. That's exactly right. I mean, in this kind of incident, it's just awesome to be working for a company where it's almost like a family. Other stores are pitching in. We're hearing contacts from all over the country, some out in California, stores across the nation, offering to help. But our sister store, our local employees, they're not going to be without jobs. They're going to be absorbed into those stores while we're assessing the damage here and figuring out what the next steps are going to be. There's people here doing that. You know, people are going to -- Lowe's is taking care of their associates.

VELSHI: Good for all of you.

G. HENDRICKS: One interesting --

VELSHI: Go ahead.

G. HENDRICKS: One interesting story was, my daughter works for a firm in Apex.

VELSHI: Yes.

G. HENDRICKS: They discovered a box in Apex that had a Sanford address that was obviously picked up by the storm and carried almost 40 miles to Apex.

VELSHI: Wow.

CHO: Oh, my goodness.

VELSHI: We've been looking at those pictures. There's no kidding. And we talk about tornadoes a lot on this on CNN. We see a lot of them. These ones were really quite remarkable. I'm glad you're all here to talk to us this morning and I know that a lot of work continues for you and those in your surrounding communities.

Gary and Kathy Hendricks were shopping in the Lowe's at the time of the tornado, and Bobby Gibson is the assistant store manager at the Lowe's in Sanford, North Carolina. Thank to all of you.

CHO: Thank you.

G. HENDRICKS: Thank you.

CHO: With all the stories of death and destruction, it's nice and heartwarming to hear something like this.

VELSHI: Yes. I wonder if Kathy Hendricks are going to follow Gary Hendricks anywhere again, because he left the house to go to the Lowe's and got followed by the tornado. Maybe he should buy a lottery ticket today.

CHO: They're alive today. So they're counting their blessings. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: We're crossing the half hour now. And our top stories, what is being called an epic streak of extreme weather. Violent storms have now killed 45 people in the south. The death toll rising overnight as people survey the damage in Virginia. Now witnesses have reported 230 tornadoes since last Thursday from Oklahoma to Virginia and another storm is brewing right now. The same region could see more twisters tomorrow.

A man accused of letting his campfire ignite one of Texas's wildfires is now under arrest. The reckless endangerment charge is considered a felony in the state. Governor Rick Perry is asking that Texas be declared a federal disaster area. He says the state does not have the manpower or the resources to fight it alone. The record dry conditions stoking wildfires that have affected all but two counties. A wake-up call for snoozing air traffic controllers. Federal officials have rolled out new rules to help keep them awake. Among those changes, controllers must now have a minimum of nine hours off between shifts. They will no longer be able to work in unscheduled midnight shift following a day off. Today, FAA officials began a tour of air traffic control facilities across the country.

VELSHI: Well, there's a bombshell of a story this morning, claiming that two best-selling books and a charity tied to them are based on lies. You have probably heard of the books, "Three Cups of Tea" and "Stones in the Schools." They're by Greg Mortenson. They've sold millions of copies both "New York Times" best sellers for years. One is required reading for some troops heading to Afghanistan.

Now "60 Minutes" and another author are saying much of what went into the books was made up and that millions raised by the charity was instead used to help Mortenson promote the books. If you haven't heard of him, Mortenson famously promised to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan as a way to help push out the Taliban.

He says he made the promise after stumbling, lost and exhausted, into a remote village where he was taken care of by villagers. Here's what author John Krakauer, you'll know him as the author of books like "Into Thin Air" said about that claim last night on "60 Minutes."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a beautiful story and it's a lie. If you go back and read the first few chapters of that book, you realize, I'm being taken for a ride here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: The charity that Mortenson founded, the Central Asia Institute, is said to have raised more than $60 million. Now Mortenson himself, the author, has not responded on camera, but he says he stands by the information conveyed in the book.

CNN National Security analyst Peter Bergen, he's been looking into this one for us, he's familiar with some of the characters, he certainly familiar with the region.

Peter, thanks for being with us. Let's just start with the central premise in Mortenson's book and that is that by offering support, particularly schools, education, particularly to girls, in some of these remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

It is the best way to undercut the growth of terrorism and the development of new terrorists. Is that your understanding of what Mortenson's message largely was?

PETER BERGEN, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION, SENIOR FELLOW: Yes. I mean, you know, let's be fair here, I mean, the guy has done quite a lot of good, not as much good as, perhaps, he's claimed and perhaps, his charity has claimed. But he's certainly built these schools and whether they defeat extremism or not, I mean, providing girls education in parts of the world, which have very little of that, that's a good thing.

VELSHI: All right, so the criticism here, "60 Minutes" says that they were sort of -- there had been complaints about some of what the foundation or some of these stories that he uses to back up how he came to these conclusions.

And then as they looked into it, they started to find some complaints about the way the money from the foundation was being spent. Let's just go back to basic principles here. Do you think Greg Mortenson's thesis about how you solve terrorism by educating young girls is valid?

BERGEN: Well, you know, I'm a little skeptical that would solve terrorism, but that's not really the point of the criticism here, Ali. It's A, he at best exaggerated, B, fabricated key episodes in the book that have turned him into a rich man and financed his charity in part. That's really the part of the issue here.

The second part as you said in the introduction, very unusually his charity is promoting -- using a lot of money from individual donations, the vast majority of where this money comes from, to promote his book, a book that hardly needs promotion.

After all it's a global best seller. It's typically publishers that promote books, not charities that normally setting up schools in Pakistan.

VELSHI: And so "60 Minutes" reporting that about $1.7 million from the charity was spent on book related expenses. More than they actually they spent on the schools in Pakistan, $1.5 million on advertising, $1.3 million in travel expenses, including some private jets.

And that for 19 years this organization's been in operation, they have only done audited statements once. Listen to this part, this is interesting.

There's a photograph in the book which shows Mortenson is, the kidnappers he claims to have been taken by, one of those kidnappers is allegedly Munsore Masud, somebody you know. Now Masud said this on "60 Minutes."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is totally false and he is lying. He was not kidnapped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are these people that are also in the picture?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some are my cousins, some are our friends from our village.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VELSHI: Masud goes on to say that he was welcomed. He welcomed -- they welcomed Mortenson. Mortenson was kept as a guest, taken in as a guest in the village. Mortenson claims he was kidnapped. but tried to befriend the kidnappers who were Taliban. Tell me what you know about this?

BERGEN: Well, first, Ali, as I've worked with Mansour, he's a very distinguished researcher in the Pakistan tribal regions, you know, Mortenson has claimed that he was kidnapped by a group including Mansour Kan.

Mansour Kan says that's completely ridiculous and in fact, just in the last couple hours has sent me an e-mail saying he's planning to sue Mortenson for making after all a rather defamatory statement about him. That he's a Taliban kidnapper.

By the way that fails also as a type of common sense test. When Mortenson says he was kidnapped by the Taliban in '96 in this area of Pakistan, the Taliban wasn't present. The Taliban banned photography. We have a picture of the supposed kidnappers.

"60 Minutes" also showed a picture of Mortenson carrying a gun with his supposed kidnappers. It's pretty unusual for a group of kidnappers to be, A, photographed with their faces clearly seen and B, for their supposed victim to pose with them with a gun.

I mean, it fails all sorts of common sense test. This is really -- goes to the heart of some of the claims that Mortenson has made in his two books. Some of them more dramatic episodes, just turn out to be based on a number of interviews "60 Minutes" have done and for some of our own reporting on CNN, just not true.

VELSHI: I want to just tell our viewers, we did reach out to try to get Greg Mortenson. He's not speaking to any media, but he did offer us a statement that I just want to put out on the screen to let you know what it is he said.

And he said the story being framed by "60 Minutes" paints a distorted picture using inaccurate information, innuendo and a microscopic focus on one year 2009, IRS 990 financial and a few points in the book, "Three Cups of Tea" that occurred almost 18 years ago.

He also says that he is suffering a health problem, hole in the heart that he's getting taken care of and once he's done that he will be more willing to speak to the media.

Peter, thanks for shedding some light on this for us. Peter Bergen, CNN's National Security analyst.

BERGEN: Thank you, Ali.

ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Women re-entering the work place often times it can be a difficult task, but a lot of women are having to go back in this recession. Companies are finding ways to keep women involved after they leave the office. It's 36 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: At some point, most professional women must break from their career path, whether it be to raise children or care for elderly parents, and because making the transition back to work is rarely easy, there is some help. Here's Christine Romans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" (voice-over): In the 1950's, roughly 30 percent of the work force was women. According to the latest government stats, now it's nearly 47 percent. Historic gains, with an asterisk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think for a woman you do face these challenges. I have family demands, I have my husband's demands, I have schools, I have afterschool activities and importantly I have work.

ROMANS: Linda for 20 years built a career at PWC then her husband was suddenly transferred overseas and she faced taking the off ramp.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt overwhelmed with what was I going to do from a professional perspective and personal perspective.

ROMANS: PWC allows employees to take time to raise children or care for aging parents and come back to their jobs.

NILOFAR MOLAVI, DIRECTOR OF DIVERSITY, PWC, TAX AND AUDIT FIRM: The reason PWC implemented the full circle program was that we were seeing a number of our women who were leaving the work force because of a life event.

ROMANS: Big companies are offering flexibility, but many women have found that they can balance it better working for themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're seeing a huge trend of what they call momprenuers and it's just as it sounds. I think a lot of moms are saying the heck with the rat race. I'm going to get out there. I'm going to start my own company and often target the niches that frankly corporate America is ignoring and we see these businesses grow to be quite big.

ROMANS: Research into it recently estimated that by the year 2020 the gender gap in earnings will narrow, women will graduate college at a higher rate than men, better preparing them to lead a knowledge economy and will be a dominant force in health, education and service sectors. But no question, the challenges of family and work, remain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was out of work for 18 months. It doesn't sound like a long time, but when you completely change your life from being, you know, a working girl to a working mom to being 100 percent at home, and focused on other things, it's a really long time.

ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VELSHI: Well, wet and snowy weather in the north. Plus the threat of another tornado outbreak after the weekend we've had, Jacqui Jeras has your weather forecast up next.

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VELSHI: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day. A vicious storm system killing 45 people across the south. Two more deaths reported overnight in Virginia. There have been 230 reports of tornadoes since last Thursday.

A man arrested in Texas in connection with one of the hundreds of wildfires scorching the state. Police say he started a campfire at a homeless camp. Dry conditions making the wildfires in that state unstoppable. The governor wants it declared a federal disaster area.

You're paying even more to fill up. According to the Triple A the national average for a gallon of regular is now $3.83. We're just 28 cents from the all-time high set back in July of 2008.

You've got until midnight tonight to file your taxes because of emancipation day, a holiday in D.C. taxpayers had three extra days to file their taxes this year.

You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: And a gorgeous shot of New York City over Central Park.

VELSHI: Oh, yes.

CHO: Sunny and 49 degrees right now.

VELSHI: Going up to 59.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: Well, this morning's top stories are just minutes away. Also college students almost a trillion dollars in debt. They owe more than everyone else owes on their credit cards combined. Is education now only for the rich?

CHO: And a wild weekend for actor Nicolas Cage, arrested in the Big Easy and bailed out by a famous bounty hunter. Confused? So are we.

It's 48 minutes after the hour.

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VELSHI: Autism is the nation's fastest-growing developmental disability. It affects 1 in 110 children according to the Centers for Disease Control. April is Autism Awareness month. And tonight, PBS "Newshour" begins a six-part series called "Autism Now," all about the disorder. CHO: That's right. It starts tonight. The correspondent is broadcast veteran legend Robert MacNeil and the story is a very personal one. MacNeil's six-year-old grandson, Nick, was diagnosed with autism four years ago.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MACNEIL, FOUNDER, PBS "NEWSHOUR": I have a grandson who can tune me out or simply ignore me like this, make no eye contact for long stretches of time.

And I'm going to buy it for you as a present, OK? it gives me a strange and painful feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say thank you to grandpa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you to grandpa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, there we go.

MACNEIL: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Joining us now is the cofounder of the PBS "Newshour," Robert MacNeil.

Such an honor to meet you.

MACNEIL: Oh, please.

CHO: A pleasure to have you with us.

MACNEIL: Thank you.

CHO: Deciding to tell your own story of your family is a tough one, I'm sure. You've spent your whole career on reporting on other personal stories.

MACNEIL: That's right.

CHO: What made you decide to do this?

MACNEIL: After four years of talking to my daughter, Allison (ph), the mother of Nick, about this, I felt I just had to do what I could to help draw wider attention to this, because low public awareness is growing and the stigma is declining. Nevertheless, it's still largely a well-known disease to most Americans.

CHO: Sure it.

MACNEIL: Disease, perhaps is the wrong word -- condition.

But if I can just quote if what one of the leading researchers looking for causes of autism, which is still very mysterious, said to us, this is Dr. Gerald Fischbach of the Simons Foundation.

He said, "We're addressing one of the most profound problems not only in all of medicine, but in all of human existence. The ability to relate to other people, to empathize in a certain way, and to comprehend. "

It's that grave. It's what's most human in us.

VELSHI: Sure. Let me just ask you this. This is the first Autism Awareness Week since there were some myths and studies about autism debunked. So while you call it still an unknown condition, the reality is, there are camps of people who say it's absolutely this that causes it and it's absolutely not.

MACNEIL: Absolutely.

VELSHI: Do you address that at all in this series?

MACNEIL: Yes, we do. Wednesday night, we have a separate section on causes, addressing with the scientists who are leading the research effort now, some of them.

They thought at first, I'm leaving the vaccine issue aside for the moment, because that can consume the whole thing.

VELSHI: That is correct.

MACNEIL: The feelings are so strong. Many parents, including my daughter, thought they saw their child disappear under their eyes, because he looked normal for the first year and a half of his life.

But the latest thinking is that there may be a subset of the population that has a genetic predisposition to be sort of supersensitive to toxic things in the environment and vaccines may be one of them. In fact, the committee of the National Institute for Mental Health that decides on the directions of research has just opened that door a little by calling for research to look for that particular subsection.

CHO: I want to take us back to your family, because, of course, it's such a personal story, and an emotional one for you, I'm sure.

MACNEIL: Yes. CHO: You know, I interviewed my own parents a couple of years ago and it was such a surreal experience. You interviewed your own family, including your 10-year-old granddaughter.

Let's listen to what she said and we'll talk on the backside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope that he gets healed soon.

MACNEIL: Yes.

Sometimes when other people, they -- their lives seem perfect. And when yours -- when yours, you have to do something that you don't like, you don't usually want to do it. And though you're autistic sibling does and it seems unfair. And it seems like they get what they want and you don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: She's a smart little girl, Neily (ph), and she's the older sister --

MACNEIL: She's the older sister, yes.

CHO: What was that experience like for you?

MACNEIL: Well, it was very painful and poignant, because I wanted to be gentle, obviously, with her. And yet, she wanted to say what she wanted to say. Very brave. And she wanted her mom there listening and her mom was there listening.

CHO: She's very candid.

MACNEIL: Very. But you know, this is not uncommon, that the siblings of children with autism have a great deal of pain about this. In fact, there are institutions called sib shops where siblings can go.

In fact, the producer of this series, Karen Zucker (ph), who has an autistic son, a son with autism of 16, she did a lot of stories on the sib shops to relieve the pain and the sense of responsibility that the siblings have.

That -- it is -- it's very -- and one of the things that's so special about autism is that it is immensely different in each case, the combination, the latest research into what may be the causes is that it's probably a combination of many genetic effects, plus any number of environmental effects. Things, possibly toxic, coming from the way we've changed the environment we live in over the last few generations.

VELSHI: And one of the things that you'll cover in your fifth one is the effect -- we often talk about autism as something that kids are suffering from. What happens when they become adults --

MACNEIL: I'm glad you raised that, yes, because people believe there is now a huge cohort, hundreds of thousands of adolescents with autism, who will soon become 21-years-old. When all the aid that was available to them under the Individuals Disabilities Education Act stops.

VELSHI: Yes. All right. Well, thank you for being with us and for doing this.

MACNEIL: Oh, thank you very much.

VELSHI: We look forward to watching it.

Robert MacNiel. The special is "Autism Now."

Our top stories, right after the break.