Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Wildfires Tearing Through Texas; PR Nightmare for FAA; S&P Downgrades U.S. Credit Outlook; Obamas Take a Pay Cut; CNN In Depth: The Gulf a Year Later; Sky High Fares; Business of Being Born American
Aired April 19, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Right now on AMERICAN MORNING, Texas on fire. Hundreds of homes have burned to the ground. Thousands more are threatened. This morning, a wall of flames moving close to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Another PR nightmare for the FAA. An air traffic controller and a manager have been suspended in Cleveland, but this time no one was sleeping on the job.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Also, Charlie Sheen in two court battles today. One involves custody of his kids. The other, his career. All of this and he's scheduled to be in D.C. for the next stop on his "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour. Yes, they are still selling tickets unbelievably enough.
VELSHI: Plus, the CNN in-depth report. A year after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, next on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. A lot going on this morning. Let's get you caught up.
Homes burning to their foundations, families on the run. Firefighters in Texas trying to keep a wall of flames from reaching one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country.
VELSHI: I'm Ali Velshi. More headaches for the FAA. Another air traffic controller suspended. He was supposed to be watching the skies. You won't believe what he was watching instead.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. For the first time, a top credit rating agency seriously hinting that the United States may not be able to pay its debt. That warning sent stocks plunging and it could mean dramatic changes for the country and the rest of the world. The White House responds on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Tuesday, April 19th. Good morning, everyone.
VELSHI: Good morning. I really would have thought after all of this FAA stuff that there wouldn't be another air traffic controller caught doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. ROMANS: Oops.
VELSHI: But yet again, we have another one. We'll get to that story a bit.
CHETRY: He was awake, but not necessarily doing his job.
VELSHI: Not watching the planes.
CHETRY: Up first, though, we're talking about Texas and one firefighter describing it as hell on earth. Close to 250 homes have now been reduced to piles of ash across Texas and another 8,000 homes are in danger as flames race across most of the state this morning. People are being forced to leave everything they own behind, everything from little mementos to herds of cattle. It is one of the worst fire seasons in the state's history and the driest spring in close to a century.
Flames have burned more than 1.5 million acres already. And dozens are still burning right now. One firefighter lost his life in this battle and they're running out of resources. The governor now wants the entire state to be declared a federal disaster area. Right now, the flames are within 100 miles of Dallas/Fort Worth.
Ed Lavandera is live for us in Strawn, Texas, this morning. It sounds like it's still a huge battle that they're waging.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, just to give you a sense of the magnitude of this fire, we're near Possum Kingdom Lake here in Strawn, Texas. This is the sight of one of the largest fires which has burned more than 50,000 acres. It's barely contained and firefighters will continue working on this today, but this is a problem that has spread across the state.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Dustin Tidwell's (ph) mission is to keep the wildfires from smothering the small town of Graham, Texas. He's battling the flames just five miles from the edge of town.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very dangerous. It's flashed over a couple times on us. Any second it could light right back up.
LAVANDERA (on camera): What makes a lot of these wildfires so difficult to battle is simply the terrain. Look at all these rocks and the treacherous landscape here and also these hot spots. Little spots like this can flame up into flames six to eight feet high in a matter of seconds.
That's what just happened here a little while ago?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes. It shot back up. And that's when we went out there and knocked it down.
LAVANDERA: And even though this is -- a lot of this is already burned, it doesn't -- it can keep on burning, right? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, right. You know, there's plenty of stuff here that can still, you know, start.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate from this fire near Graham. It scorched more than 50,000 acres and killed one firefighter. The fires are fueled by low humidity, hot temperatures and high winds that often make it impossible to contain the flames.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We talked to the National Weather Service, but the winds are just blowing so many directions. I mean, we've seen this fire shift four or five times in different directions over the course of when it started.
LAVANDERA: For now, most of the 10,000 people who live in the town of Graham are safe, but a few like Lonnie Criswell weren't so lucky. She and her husband had 10 minutes to escape after flames jumped a nearby road and swarmed their home.
LONNIE CRISWELL, SURVIVOR: Yes, we watched it burn.
LAVANDERA: They drove away to higher ground and could only stand and watch their home go up in flames.
CRISWELL: I just thank God every day that we're alive and this can be -- this can be rebuilt. But we can't be replaced.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And another difficult day expected ahead. People around here desperately hoping for some rain which is kind of hard to find in the forecast. But that combination of low humidity, high winds and the hot temperatures, at some point reaching into the high 90s late yesterday really complicated things. And it's really those late afternoon hours which are the most difficult for firefighters -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Ed Lavandera this morning. Just heartbreaking to hear people's stories of everything that they lost and it's clearly not over yet. Thanks, Ed.
Also coming up at 6:30 Eastern, we're going to get an update from Dwight Dold. He's the public information officer for the Texas Forest Service and is on the front lines right now outside of Fort Worth.
VELSHI: The south facing a huge cleanup after killer storms. Teams from FEMA are now on the ground surveying the damage in places where tornadoes touched down from Iowa all the way to North Carolina and Virginia. After going through all the reports, the National Weather Service confirms at least 97 tornadoes touched down last week. And take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. Look out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: That's amateur video out of Mississippi taken last Friday as a lightning bolt hit a store sign and blew a transformer. The blast almost knocked the guy over.
The tornado threat is not over yet. Another round of potentially dangerous storms rolling in right now. Jacqui Jeras has been warning us about this. She's in the Extreme Weather Center for us right now.
Jacqui, what's it looking like today?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, looks like it's going to be another bad day, Ali. We do have the threat of large damaging tornadoes. But I think we'll primarily have a concern with linear storms. So we think storms later on tonight are going to line up and cause extensive wind damage. The areas that we're talking about we think storms will develop late today in parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. And that's where the tornado threat remains strong and then it will move towards the Ohio Valley and become those linear storms I was talking about. But you can't rule out the threat of tornados there either. The storm system moves to the east for tomorrow with a slight risk of those severe thunderstorms moving on in.
All right. We're starting out the day with the threat of severe weather and that's across parts of Missouri and Illinois. We've got a severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 11:00 local time. Thunderstorms producing large hail just west of St. Louis right now, and these storms really primarily hail makers this morning. We'll watch for that rotation later on today.
That fire threat remains high as we heard from Ed and wintry weather across the northern tier of the country. Two to four inches in Minneapolis today. We'll talk about what kind of impact this storm system is going to have on your travel coming up in the next half hour.
VELSHI: OK. Jacqui, thank you.
ROMANS: All right. A PR nightmare, a new one for the FAA. An air traffic controller and a manager suspended this time in Cleveland, Ohio. The controller wasn't sleeping but he was watching a DVD on the job. A movie. The FAA released this statement, quote, "The controller's microphone was inadvertently activated transmitting the soundtrack of the movie over the radio frequency for that air space," unquote. Meanwhile, aviation officials announced new regulations to prevent controllers from snoozing on the job. They will require a nine-hour rest period between shifts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY LAHOOD, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We got that recommendation really from a fatigue study that we just are releasing and that study says that pilots should actually have nine hours and we thought the controllers should, too. But look, if that's not enough hours, and that's really one of the reasons that the administrator and the president of the controllers union are traveling the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That cross-country tour began in Atlanta yesterday. Top FAA officials are visiting control centers to discuss policies and professionalism.
CHETRY: New concerns this morning as Japan struggles to get a clear grasp on the conditions inside the reactors at the crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant. Remote controlled robots found sauna-like conditions inside the number two reactor. The humidity fogged up the lenses of the robots' cameras and it forced officials to basically get them out of there after only a few minutes. It's believed that reactor two is leaking highly radioactive water into the basement of the plant and that water is now said to be being pumped into a storage tank.
VELSHI: New in Libya this morning, reports of horror in the war torn city of Misrata. Moammar Gadhafi's forces shelling the city like they've been doing now for weeks. Many civilian areas are being targeted. Witnesses say 24 people have died in the past two days. People there say there are no more hospitals. Medical care is scarce, and they're being let down by NATO. Great Britain now says it will help get out 5,000 people who are trapped in the city.
ROMANS: The U.S., which is nearly $14.3 trillion in debt, suddenly getting a shocking wake-up call to get its fiscal house in order. The credit rating agency Standard & Poor cut its outlook for the U.S. from stable to negative. It has never done that since rating the U.S. since 1941. They're worried that the White House and Congress are so polarized they won't be able to agree on a plan to cut the deficit. Now the White House quick to downplay the downgrade, while the same time pointing out that S&P also said the American economy is fundamentally strong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What the S&P analysis also said was that the American economy is strong, it's growing, it's diversified, it's dynamic, continues to be the most important and most powerful economy in the world. As for its political analysis, we simply believe that the prospects are better. We think that the political process will outperform S&P expectations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The S&P's warning hammered stock markets, sent investors rushing into gold and silver. The Dow sank more than 200 points at the opening but it was able to cut those losses to finish down 140 points.
CHETRY: Well, the so-called birther bill derailed in Arizona. Governor Jan Brewer vetoed the legislation yesterday. It would have required President Obama as well as other presidential candidates to prove they were born in the U.S. before they could get a spot on Arizona's state ballot. Well, Brewer says the bill goes too far and could promote, quote, "politically motivated decisions." Again, she vetoed that. She also vetoed a bill that would have allowed guns on parts of public college campuses. It was a very, very contentious issue. Got support in both Houses of the legislature but she vetoed it saying it was poorly written. She said that legislation didn't clearly explain what was considered a public right of way and could have been interrupted to allow guns at high schools as well.
VELSHI: Well, Charlie Sheen has two court battles today. TMZ reporting that he's headed back to L.A. to make a personal plea to the judge for full custody of his twin boys. He's supposed to be doing his Violent Torpedo of Truth Tour in D.C. tonight. His battle with his former TV family is also heading to court today. He is suing Warner Bros. television owned by the parent company of this network and Chuck Lorre, the creator of "Two and a Half Men" for $100 million.
ROMANS: It's been pretty quiet on the Charlie Sheen front the last couple of weeks.
VELSHI: Yes, it has been.
CHETRY: Well, his Twitter account, one of his goddesses left to go home so people were saying she off the tour. She's not with him anymore and some other problems with his ex-wife. So he's knee deep in it right now.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: OK. Up next, one year after the oil spill in the gulf, CNN goes in-depth, examining the damage done to the environment and so many lives and livelihoods.
CHETRY: Also, the White House releasing the president and first lady's tax returns. They didn't rake in as much money as they did a year before. We'll explain coming up.
VELSHI: Eleven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I got a bit of a ribbing yesterday because it was tax day and Christine knows this from years of years of working with me that I have never once had my taxes done.
ROMANS: He's the extension man.
VELSHI: I'm the extension man and I got my extension done yesterday, which (INAUDIBLE) on loans.
ROMANS: Why do you do the extension over? Why do you do that every year? You just need more time.
VELSHI: Never get my tax done on time.
ROMANS: You know, April 15th is the same day every year. CHETRY: I know. He has to --
VELSHI: And you're early, right? You're always early.
CHETRY: Yes, because I apparently have too much withholdings. I don't know.
VELSHI: Oh, well.
ROMANS: We have to adjust that. Giving the government a free loan, Kiran.
CHETRY: I know.
VELSHI: But you don't have to release our taxes. The president often releases his and the first family has released their tax returns. The Obamas earned $1.7 million last year. Most of that, by the way, from the sale of the president's book, down from $5.5 million in 2009 when he clearly sold more books. The Obamas paid $453,000 in federal taxes and they donated 14 percent of their income to charity, about $250,000.
ROMANS: I think that they have his three books that are generating royalties from.
VELSHI: Yes. That's right.
ROMANS: And you can sometimes see those royalties pop up again during election year.
VELSHI: Right. Sure. People want to get to know more -- yes.
ROMANS: Police say a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds has been caught stealing. The pitcher Mike Leake is accused of shoplifting six t- shirts from a Macy's Department Store yesterday. The police say he was caught on surveillance tape removing security - removing security tags from the shirts. They're worth about $60.
CHETRY: Why? Why do that?
ROMANS: Leake's 2011 salary with the Reds is $425,000.
CHETRY: OK.
ROMANS: Maybe he's got a lot of overhead. I don't know.
CHETRY: Yes. Not smart.
Well, it was one year ago tomorrow - and this was interesting, I still remember all of us being here and we really didn't know how bad it was.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: We basically had shots of a fire in the water in the Gulf -
VELSHI: That's right.
CHETRY: -- and we had no idea how bad it would turn out.
VELSHI: And the impression was that was the bad part -
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: -- that there was an explosion.
CHETRY: There's an explosion on the lake.
VELSHI: Eleven people were missing, and it didn't occur to us for months and months and months we would be dealing with this oil spill.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: That's right.
And - and now a year later, we're getting an idea of the scope. Hundreds of thousands of lives, hundreds of miles of coastline changed forever. It was April 20th that will mark one year since that oil spill. And this is the picture I was talking about. Eleven people died that day. So did a way of life, really, for many people.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Scientists say that it's too soon to know the long-term damage that was done to the Gulf, but we do know that thousands of birds died. Dolphins, sea turtles dead, still washing up on shore.
VELSHI: And the cleanup work isn't done. It still continues. Crude oil still stains miles of sensitive beaches and marsh lands. We'll, of course, we'll be doing a lot on this -
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: -- through the course of the week and find out how people's lives have been affected.
ROMANS: In fact, our special coverage is called "CNN In Depth: The Gulf a Year Later" continues now with Rob Marciano. He's live in New Orleans this morning.
Rob, it's been 12 months since the oil spill began. So many people still can't get their lives back to normal.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, Christine. It's been a long year. Physically, emotionally, financially, the people down here last year when this all hit, a lot of them, you know, they - they said I'm going to - I'm going to work on this. We're going to go out there. We're going to fight this oil. We're going to help clean it up and they worked hard to do that. They found some work in that.
But getting back to their old way of life, getting back to making a living, their way of life, the way they remember it and want it to be, that part hasn't been easy. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (on camera): How you been, man?
MARCIANO (voice-over): We met Charter Boat Captain Josh Forsythe last year at the height of the oil spill. Then, he was having no luck getting work as a vessel of opportunity. So we put him on CNN.
JOSH FORSYTHE, CHARTER CAPTAIN, "BONE COLLECTOR": The first time that you all aired the piece, we got a call, they wanted to put us in training in two weeks. And then after we took you out on the boat, we got a call the next day. They put us in training within two days.
MARCIANO: Built to pull fish from the gulf, the "Bone Collector" was now pulling oil coated boom. It was tough, dirty work.
J. FORSYTHE: We got pictures where that you literally can barely see the white on this boat. It's nothing but oil. Like we're slipping and sliding around in it wearing tie vex suits and 110 degree weather. It was crazy.
MARCIANO: Months of cleaning up oil caused serious damage to the boat. And Josh's father Ted, a charter captain himself, says BP is not making good on their agreement to fix it.
TED FORSYTHE, CHARTER FISHERMAN: We were one of those boats that went out with the attitude we're going to attack this oil. We're going to work on it. We're going to help clean this stuff up. So we'd put the boat through the hoops and we relied on them to their word and we were told every day, we'll take care of it, we'll take care of it. Until it comes time to pay and deny our claims.
MARCIANO (on camera): Deny the whole thing. You had a $50,000 claim on damage to this boat and they just said, well, we're not -
T. FORSYTHE: They agreed to $1,200.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Not only do they say BP denied most of their claim, the Joint Incident Command actually featured the "Bone Collector" in a video promoting the Vessel of Opportunity Program. We asked BP about it, but they said as a policy, they don't comment on individual claims.
T. FORSYTHE: We worked. We went out there and busted our tail for BP to clean this oil up that they put in the Gulf. We didn't put it there. Yes, they paid us well while we worked. But how's that going to factor in over five, six, seven years if our industry is designated. We don't know.
MARCIANO: The water is cleaner and safe to fish, but the Gulf of Mexico's image is tarnished and making a living on the water this year doesn't look good.
J. FORSYTHE: Basically, nobody wants to come down. They're afraid to eat the fish because they've got, you know, all the oil around, the dispersants around and everybody is kind of a little afraid about it. MARCIANO (on camera): Your regular customers that come back year after year aren't planning on coming back this year?
J. FORSYTHE: No.
MARCIANO (voice-over): A situation the Forsythes and hundreds of other fishermen never imagined one year ago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: You know the seafood is clean. The fish that you pull out of that Gulf of Mexico is clean and safe to eat, but the - the folks that come down here on a yearly basis saying, you know, maybe - maybe not this year. Maybe we'll - we'll wait and maybe go somewhere else.
So Chamber of Commerce and communities across the Gulf Coast are experiencing this - this image problem and this year is going to be a tough one because of that. So here we are, guys, a year later, and we're back to - we're back to frustration, in some cases anger and certainly back to fear of what the future may hold. Those guys have had one reservation of all the - of all the returning customers they have year after year, they've had one booking in advance for this year. So they're certainly frightened as to what may become.
They obviously didn't get a lot - enough money to pay back the damage on their boat and they're not alone there. There's been a number of town meetings that have been held of fishermen with similar stories. So it's been a long year. We thought - we thought we'd be better off now and in some cases we are, but as far as the - some of the charter fishermen are - are concerned, they're not very happy.
CHETRY: I mean, they - they had a name for it. They call it Cajun ingenuity. They said, you know what, we're not going to sit on our heels.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: We're basically going to do the best job that we can and next year things are going to be back up and running again. So I know that there's a lot of frustration of things just not moving fast enough.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: Yes.
VELSHI: We've all spent some time down there, whether it's been hurricanes or the oil spill, and they really are - it's not platitudes. They're - they're a hearty folk.
ROMANS: And one thing about this is that, you know, this is not an anniversary story. This is a news story that is still unfolding -
VELSHI: Yes. That's right. ROMANS: -- every day for everyone there. I mean, they - they don't see this as an anniversary. This is still a disaster that's unfolding.
CHETRY: And it's a perception (INAUDIBLE) people. I mean, they can do all they can, but they need people out there willing to spend their money in places like Grand Isle and other places -
VELSHI: That's right.
CHETRY: -- to be able to make their living.
VELSHI: I hear you. All right.
CHETRY: Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, your summer air fare, we've been saying this a lot -
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: -- but it's going to get more expensive.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Why this time?
VELSHI: And we'll tell you after the break. And we'll show you the 2012 Volkswagen new Beetle. You can decide for yourself if it's more manly.
CHETRY: Was that the - was that the aim here?
VELSHI: That's the aim. Exactly.
ROMANS: A manly "Beetle".
VELSHI: Twenty-two minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: We have news just in out of Libya. According to Reuters, NATO war planes have launched strikes in three different towns, Tripoli, Sirte -
VELSHI: Azezia.
ROMANS: -- and Azezia, those three towns. And this is according to state run television.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: So that's Reuters. We've got out folks of course, on the ground.
CHETRY: And Tripoli is key. I mean, Tripoli is - is where Gadhafi's forces have managed to hold power, the capital of Libya.
VELSHI: And Sirte is his home place.
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: Yes. It's his hometown.
VELSHI: So these are important Gadhafi strongholds.
ROMANS: All right. Again, so NATO war planes launching attacks in three towns as according to Reuters quoting State TV in Libya.
And let's switch gears here to "Minding Your Business." If you and your family plan on flying this summer, better start saving now. "The Los Angeles Times" reports the average domestic ticket is going to set you back $390, 15 percent higher than it was a year ago. Investigators.com says the expected price hike will be the result of higher gas prices and rising demand for flights.
VELSHI: And overnight, we just got new news from FareCompare.com that the eleventh fare hike this year is under way right now. Usually, it takes a day to find out whether all the airlines match it and if they don't it typically fails, but it's under way again.
ROMANS: Just a couple months ago on "Minding Your Business," we were telling you if you're going to buy tickets for the summer, buy now because they're only going to get more expensive.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: Carmen told us about a friend who commutes to two different cities and bought 12 tickets -
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: Yes, yes.
CHETRY: -- just for the rest of the year.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: By the way, we talked about the rising fuel prices. Gas, now, you can't find it under $4 at least in our area.
ROMANS: No.
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: Well, Volkswagen 2012 new Beetle is ready for its big close- up. But I love this. They tried to make a manlier version of the car. There it is.
VELSHI: It looks it.
ROMANS: (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: Yes. Yes, absolutely. It comes -
VELSHI: A little less cute.
CHETRY: It doesn't smell like new car scent. It smells like -
ROMANS: Although, but it is still cute. It's not -
CHETRY: -- it smells like Brute.
VELSHI: It's cute. It's cute but it's for cute men.
CHETRY: Yes. The carmaker says that this edition is manlier.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: And the new Beetle was unveiled - I guess that's compared to what the Mini Cooper - it was unveiled yesterday. It goes on sale in the fall. It's six inches longer -
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: -- and three inches wider and Volkswagen says not as, quote, "girly".
And you may remember, Oprah gave away 275 of the new Beetles on her show last November.
VELSHI: You know, the Mini - the Cooper, the Mini has become bigger and manlier. It's longer, wider, and higher. I think I -
CHETRY: I still don't - I still don't see many men.
ROMANS: I don't know what the gas mileage is, but I bet that's pretty fuel efficient.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: That little thing, I bet it is.
VELSHI: Well, coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, extreme wildfire danger in parts of Texas. There are fires affecting almost all the counties in that state. We're going to give you an update from someone on the frontlines trying to stop the flames. It's 27 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Bottom of the hour now.
Top stories: dozens of wildfires spreading out of control in it Texas. Smaller fires are now combining to form one massive fire within 100 miles of the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Fires have burned 1.5 million acres and destroyed close to 250 homes in the state.
Sauna-like conditions inside one of the reactors at Japan's crippled nuclear plant are preventing a robot from examining the damage. Officials say the robot was pulled out after its camera fogged up. Workers are now also pumping radioactive water out of the unit's basement.
And the markets are mixed overseas after the S&P cut its outlook for U.S. debt from stable to negative. The leading rating agency says it was concerned about the ballooning U.S. deficit and lawmakers' inability to agree on a plan to reduce it.
More on that top story now: fire fighters in Texas fighting black walls -- fighting back walls of flames trying to save homes and people's lives. Weeks of dry temperatures and an inch of rain since January, the worst conditions in almost a century.
ROMANS: It's amazing. I mean, the state is almost on fire. All but two of the counties have fires that they're battling right now. To date, during this fire season, the state has seen more than 7,800 fires burning more than 1.5 million acres, destroying more than 700 different structures.
CHETRY: And there's one big fire in particular burning about 80 miles west of Fort Worth. It's near the small town of Strawn, Texas. It's where Ed Lavandera is reporting from and also where we find Dwight Dold. He is the public information officer for the Texas Forest Service.
I know you guys are very busy. So, thanks for giving us an update this morning.
DWIGHT DOLD, TEXAS FOREST SERVICE: Good morning.
CHETRY: I want to ask you about the situation there. You're at what's being called the PK West Fire. Give us an idea of what it's like on the ground there this morning.
DOLD: This morning, the temperature came down overnight. The humidity went up. So, so that gives fire fighters a chance to catch up, maybe burn out, widen the control lines around the fire that we can get more containment. It's little easier on the fire fighters working the night shift. The downside is they can't see as well.
VELSHI: Mr. Dold, give us a sense. We've been reporting fires are engulfing the state, except for two counties in Texas, which is massive state, are somehow affected by this wildfire. Give us a sense of perspective. I mean, if you are anywhere in Texas or flying over Texas, do you have a sense the whole place is on fire? Or is it that there are fires in almost all of these counties?
DOLD: There are fires in almost all of the counties. But not all of the fires are big fires. Some of them are just a few acres. Others are hundreds or thousands of acres.
ROMANS: Now where you are, Mr. Dold, these fires outside, hundred miles or so beyond Dallas/Fort Worth area that have combined together into one massive fire. Tell me about that fire in particular and where that's progressing at this point and is that getting worse? Or with the humidity as you point out in the evening, are they -- in the nighttime, are they able to try to hold it back? DOLD: Well, yesterday, I went out to look at it around noon, and they were really getting a handle on it. But then, later in the afternoon, as the heat came up, it hit 100 degrees here, and the temperature dropped or the humidity dropped and that took care of the fire. It took off and started running again.
CHETRY: Yes. I mean, you guys have just -- the firefighters have been working tirelessly. You guys, according to some of the numbers you gave us, they saved 15,000 homes, which is amazing. I mean, how hard it's been for them. About 800 structures have been lost.
We also understand that one firefighter lost his life.
How dangerous is it out there for the people that are trying to get a handle on this?
DOLD: If you stay where you're supposed to be, it's not too bad. But the wind can shift and fire can move very rapidly. It's not unusual to move the length of the football -- a football field in one or two minutes.
ROMANS: Mr. Dold, what's causing these fires? We know the conditions are perfect for these kind of fires. We know it's the fire season. We know one person was arrested for starting a fire at a camp ground that accounts for one fire. But is it -- is it just -- are these manmade? Are these -- how are they getting started?
DOLD: Ninety-eight percent of the fires in Texas are human caused, either by electric lines that would slap together or the effective equipment, chains dragging on a road. There are many different causes -- unattended burning trash.
ROMANS: Just one spark is enough --
DOLD: But they're all mostly human caused.
CHETRY: Right. People have to just be aware and be careful. I'm sure many are. But, boy, it's a tough season out there for you guy in Texas. We wish you the best of luck.
Dwight Dold, from the Texas Forest Service, thanks for joining us this morning.
VELSHI: We'll right back. It's 35 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We're getting a little feedback after we joked about the manly version of the Volkswagen.
VELSHI: This is excellent.
CHETRY: And I joke about the mini-cooper not being manly.
Terell 949 (ph) wrote to my Twitter account, he said, "OMG you're challenging my manlihood. Someone needs to take you to a mini-cooper rally. Hashtag, mini-cooper rules."
VELSHI: Fair enough. Fair enough. They sold a lot of them.
ROMANS: Correction, it is a manly car.
VELSHI: It was a manly car and it was before. Yes.
CHETRY: He lost his job after that "Rolling Stone" expose. Remember that article called "The Runaway General." Well, now, the Pentagon says that former top commander in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, did not do anything wrong. The DOD inspector ruled that McChrystal and his aides did not violate military policy.
In the article, McChrystal's aides referred to Vice President Biden as bite me, another national former -- national security adviser, James Jones, as a clown. Last week, the White House appointed McChrystal as head of a new advisory board supporting military families.
ROMANS: All right. It's a travel deal of a lifetime for a lot of women. Expectant mothers in foreign countries are buying trips to the U.S., complete with deluxe accommodations, prenatal care, and then American citizenship for their baby when it's born here.
VELSHI: Now, remember, the 14th Amendment guarantees that. But a group of senators want to change the law.
Thelma Gutierrez has more on the controversial and growing industry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's sold as the ultimate U.S. tour package for wealthy pregnant women around the globe. It's called maternity tourism and it's big business.
DANIEL DENG, ATTORNEY: Advertised rate from US$15,000 to $50,000.
GUTIERREZ: That's air, hotel, medical care and the guarantee of an American-born baby.
In Manhattan, a luxury hotel caters to wealthy Turkish women. In Tucson, rich Mexican women fly in on private jets. And in Los Angeles, affluent Chinese mothers are boarded in stately townhomes. They give birth, then recover, until they're able to return home.
(on camera): In these townhouses, inspectors have been called out to investigate on three separate occasions.
(voice-over): They found the townhouses had been converted into a multi-unit facility and the kitchen was turned into a nursery for newborns. While it was shut down for multiple city code violations, there's nothing illegal about coming to the U.S. to have a baby.
CAT CHAO, KAZN-AM: This is a hot topic for the show.
GUTIERREZ: Cat Chao is the host of a Chinese radio show. She says L.A. is a hub. (on camera): It's like insurance, isn't it? For your future?
CHAO: There you go. Insurance. Well, I think the parents, they really want to do everything for the kids.
GUTIERREZ: Attorney Daniel Deng says while maternity tourism is controversial, it's a fast-track to citizenship for the privileged.
DENG: And they could enjoy the retirement benefit and also best medical care that America -- the government could offer.
GUTIERREZ: I went to meet one of the customers.
(on camera): When is your baby due?
(voice-over): She declined to appear on camera, but told me she's from Shanghai, and here on a tourist visa.
(on camera): Part of the immigration debate is that you should do it the right way and you need to wait in line. These people who have money aren't waiting in line, are they?
CHAO: No, they are not waiting in line. But they did not violate any law, OK? And again, if you really want to stop it, if U.S. government really wants to stop this, you got to make the law. You got to change the law.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Chao says until that happen, the wealthy will continue to come, give birth, and return home with their precious cargo.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Well, coming up at 8:40, we're going to talk about this more. You're going to hear from both sides of this controversial issue. We're going to talk first with Marshall Fitz, director of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress. And also, we'll speak with Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
VELSHI: All of these people do not have the same view on this matter.
ROMANS: No, they don't. They don't all.
CHETRY: That's right.
CHETRY: And it's a very interesting story that is just part of the overall story of birth right citizenship. You know, The U.S. Constitution is very clear that people -- although some argue it isn't so clear. But someone born in this country is an automatic U.S. citizen. So, that's --
VELSHI: And I know you guys were doing some digging and you found out, Kiran, about how many countries actually offer similar things. We're going to talk about all of that.
CHETRY: Most countries in the world do not offer that. But people say that's an example of American exceptionalism. And others say, are we just, you know, not being smart.
ROMANS: Giving away it too easily.
VELSHI: We'll discuss it in great detail.
Prince William and Princess-to-be Kate Middleton, also people we discuss in great detail, forget the formalities, who is the real -- who are the real -- who is the real Will and Kate, who are the real Will and Kate? Who are they really? And old college pal disses.
ROMANS: Two people going to get married next week.
CHETRY: Who are these people?
VELSHI: It is 43 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day:
Dozens of wildfires spreading out of control in Texas. Close to 250 homes have burned and flames are now within 100 miles of the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
And an air traffic controller is suspended in Ohio. He was caught watching a movie on a portable DVD player. It happened the very same weekend the FAA announced sweeping schedule changes after air traffic controllers were caught sleeping on the job.
The S&P put America on notice that its AAA credit rating is at risk. Yesterday, Standard & Poor's 500 lowered its outlook for America's long term credit rating because of political uncertainties and the nation's fiscal problems. The stocks fell.
The so-called "birther bill' vetoed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer that would have required presidential candidates to prove they were born in the United States before their names appeared on the state ballot.
And Charlie Sheen reportedly taking a day off his Violent Torpedo of Truth tour to ask for sole custody of his twin sons.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Kayak rescue caught on tape in Maryland. It happened when a woman lost control of her kayak. This is in the Potomac River. The Potomac River can get really dicey. She managed to grab on to a tree. She was stranded there for more than an hour. You see just how strong that current is -- before firefighters were able to get upstream.
They say there have been several rescues in the area. Where is this? Montgomery County, Maryland. So, this is the Maryland side.
ROMANS: It looks like it's flooding because there's definitely -- you know, there's trees in there and all kinds of stuff.
CHETRY: Yes. And thank goodness, she's probably very, very happy to see that motorized boat as opposed to her kayak. So, they did have a round of storms this weekend that did cause the Potomac to swell.
VELSHI: Let's talk about the rest of the extreme weather in the country. Jacqui Jeras at the extreme weather center for us this morning.
Good morning, Jacqui.
CHETRY: Good morning.
JERAS: Yes, good morning, guys.
We're watching the nation's midsection for the threat of extreme weather. And we've already got a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for parts of Missouri, as well as into central Illinois. There are severe thunderstorms just west of the St. Louis metro area -- and just to keep in mind, St. Louis, that's heading your way maybe another 20, 30 minutes. And large hail can be expected with the heavy downpours.
The northern tier of the system, we're talking snow from Sioux Falls to Minneapolis, down towards Madison. We had snow there yesterday as well. Take a look at these pictures from Milwaukee. We had about just shy of an inch of snowfall. You can see it didn't really get on the streets but enough to be a nuisance. And you certainly didn't want to see that.
All right. Lots of travel delays because of this system. For today, we're expecting over an hour in New York; D.C. metros maybe 30 to 60. We've got delays in Detroit and Minneapolis because of the snow. Record snow in Detroit yesterday, by the way -- 1.6 inches there. Chicago and San Francisco expecting 30 to 60-minute delays as well.
All right. There you can see the big game in town, the severe weather threat. We're expecting a significant outbreak. Once again, a severe thunderstorm late today and continuing overnight.
So, keep in mind, guys, a lot of this is going to happen when people are sleeping. Have your NOAA weather radio. We'll talk a few more specifics on this severe weather threat coming up in the next half hour. We'll see you then.
VELSHI: Good to see you as always.
ROMANS: All right. The morning's top stories just about minutes away. Where's the beef? Remember that. That ad really dates us.
VELSHI: I mean, it probably doesn't surprise either of you that I'm a fan of the cuisine at Taco Bell.
CHETRY: It is delicious.
ROMANS: Ali loves all fast food, although he's discerning about his fast food.
Where's the beef is right here. A legal victory of sorts for Taco Bell and Chalupa lovers out there.
CHETRY: Well, remember, they tried to say that it wasn't beef.
VELSHI: That's right.
ROMANS: That's right. Well, we'll tell you how that turned out.
VELSHI: We'll be running for the border when we come back. It's 49 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIRMALA NARINE, SPECIALTY FOODS IMPORTER: Hi. I'm Nirmala Narine. And I travel the world to bring you the finest ingredients. You know, I could be in some jungle for like weeks at a time looking for things.
I could travel with this one little guy for about a month or so. I like to travel light. I always travel with my own food.
I have like all these different spices and black tea and some cardamom and cloves and fennel.
I always travel with my machete because I'm in jungles all over the world and this always comes in handy. It's checked in and when I get off the plane, it's handed over to me again.
Baseball caps, I can't live without baseball caps because when I'm in the jungle, they usually get wet. I walk with a lot of socks so my feet stay dry.
I don't know what I'm going to discover, who I'm going to meet. It's an adventure and I love every moment of it.
And that makes me a road warrior!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: I'm getting excited. I am. I'm leaving on -- I'm leaving for the wedding this week.
VELSHI: It's going to be fun.
CHETRY: Yes. ROMANS: I like the rain jacket that you got. That's going to be very good because it rains in London a lot. It could rain on the day of the wedding.
VELSHI: We're even going to tighten up the shot. We're going to leave that seat open. Just like that.
CHETRY: That's so sweet.
VELSHI: Can I just tell you my royal wedding mystery that's been solved?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROMANS: What?
VELSHI: The name, Kate, Catherine. So, she's Catherine with a "C."
ROMANS: Ali is perplexed by this.
CHETRY: Yes.
VELSHI: Her name is Catherine with a "C," but Kate with a K.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Cate Blanchett is also a British actress, but she's Cate with a "C."
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: It's very confusing.
Prince William with a "W" and Kate with a "K" at this point, we know them as the royal couple. That's kind of all you need to know. That's with an "R" and "C."
But who are they when the cameras are turned off, Kiran?
CHETRY: Will we ever know? Well, Max Foster went to find out. He got an inside look from one of the prince's old college buddies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD DENNEN, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, TATLER: They both have a really clear sense of (INAUDIBLE), which is, you know, in a couple of years' time is going to be hardworking royals. And as a result, they're not sort of messing around. They didn't have friends who are going crazy. It's not good for their look. It's not good for their business.
I also heard they're reluctant. Normally, when a prince gets married, the queen will make him a duke or duchess (ph) or give him the grand title. I heard they're reluctant to be the duke or duchess of Cambridge or (INAUDIBLE) --
(CROSSTALK) MAX FOSTER: - their marriage --
DENNEN: I think they feel that having -- I think they think it's a bit uncool to be a duke or duchess. It's going to age them 30 years. So, there's no reason they can't stay Prince and Princess William of Wales. I think that fact that Kate is getting a car from, you know, the palace to the abbey sort of fits quite well with that.
FOSTER: So, the thinking behind that was a reflection of the times, you would say?
DENNEN: I would say it's a reflection of the times, but also it's a reflection of their personality as well. You know, you see from what she's wearing, you know, what she wears out, she wears, you know, quite sort of simple (INAUDIBLE) browns. She's not embracing fashion. I think she specifically doesn't want to be a fashion icon.
FOSTER: What did you make of her engagement dress?
DENNEN: I thought it epitomized her style, which is extremely safe. She knows what she looks good in. It's -- she's perfect royal bride material, you know?
FOSTER: Was that very Kate Middleton -- that look?
DENNEN: I would say that was extreme Kate Middleton.
FOSTER: And how would you epitomize that look?
DENNEN: I'd say it was safe -- dare I say it slightly boring. I don't necessarily mean that in a negative way. I think her boring aspects are, in fact, actually what she's got going for her.
FOSTER: Measured and control.
DENNEN: Yes, measured -- very measured, very controlled. And again, that is perfect, because you don't want someone who's going to be falling out on the king's road face down wasted, after a sort of boozy session, you know. You want someone who's controlled and measured and dutiful, and is going to spend endless days opening public swimming pools and opening agricultural fairs in Wales.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. There you go. Inside look from somebody who knows the couple.
And the royal wedding is almost here. We're all excited. CNN won't you let miss a moment of Prince William and Kate's big day.
VELSHI: We will not.
CHETRY: But you have to get up early. You got to get up early. They're getting married at 11:00 --
VELSHI: People will, though. Even I get up -- I don't get up early for -- actually, I get up early every day.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: -- already going to be up, he'll be watching.
VELSHI: Right. Exactly. We're going to take you behind the scenes as the royal couple says their "I dos" on April 29th, starting at 4:00 a.m. Eastern. You can join in the global celebration, you can watch, you can DVR and in some fashion, you can participate.
CHETRY: That's right. You send in your iReport and we may air it. That will be fun.
VELSHI: Top stories coming your way, right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
