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American Morning
Firestorms in Texas; Taco Bell Beef Suit Dropped; New Guidelines for Alzheimer's Disease; Market Nosedive Threatens America's AAA Rating; Gulf of Mexico, One Year Later; Not so "Happy Days" for Former TV Show Stars
Aired April 19, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Out of control high winds and dry air creating the perfect firestorm in Texas. Hundreds of homes and a church that stood for 100 years, gone. As people pray for rain -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. So glad you're with us on this Tuesday. It's April 19th.
And, boy, they are dealing with quite a mess in Texas. They say every county in the state except for two has some fire, sort of wildfire burning.
ROMANS: And 98 percent started by a human, some sort of a spark. It doesn't take much with dry tender.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Not a lot of good weather or rainy weather in store for them. Also ahead this hour, America's dire money warning. The markets nosedive yesterday after a top credit agency says the U.S. may not be able to pay off all of its debts, fearing gridlock until Election Day 2012.
ROMANS: Also another air traffic controller suspended. This one wasn't sleeping. In fact there was quite a noise coming from the tower from the movie he was watching.
CHETRY: And just a year after the deadly blast that triggered the BP oil spill, CNN is back in the Gulf examining the damage done to the environment, how many lives were able to be saved, including wildlife and what's happening to the livelihoods of the people living there.
ROMANS: Up first, thousands of firefighters battling the elements, battling fatigue. Close to 250 homes now have been reduced to piles of ash across Texas, and another 8,000 are in danger as flames race across most of the state this morning. People are being forced to leave everything they own behind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY HOLT, HOMEOWNER: They said if the wind shifts where it's blowing to the north. I mean, we're right like the first house in the path. It's kind of scary. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're working night and day trying to, you know, save all of the county and everything, and there's not enough of them to go around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It's 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. Dozens of fires are burning right now. One firefighter has died. They are running out of resources and the governor wants the entire state to be declared a federal disaster area.
Extreme weather happening right now in northern New Jersey as well. Take a look at this mess. Powerful storms dumped more than four inches of rain on some areas, causing rivers to swell. Roads look more like lakes this morning. Hundreds of homes are damaged. Many residents forced to evacuate. Others needed to be rescued by boat.
Officials say more flooding may be on the way in some parts, but they do expect the rivers to recede sometime today. There's been an awful lot of rain soaking that part of the country. It's very, very dry in Texas. Kiran was pointing out people who want the rain don't have it. People who don't need the rain are getting too much.
(WEATHER REPORT)
VELSHI: The news sent a jolt through Wall Street. The credit rating agency S&P warned America's stellar AAA credit rating could be in jeopardy. It lowered the outlook for U.S. credit to negative, the outlook not the actual rating. What this means to you your money and your investments. It sent the Dow down 140 points. It was down a lot more than that in the beginning of the day but it recovered a bit. If you see that chart, that was yesterday when the news happened. The Dow dropped about 200 points.
Overseas, Hong Kong's hang seng, Japan's Nikkei also closed lower, but London's FTSE also now in positive territory. What does this mean to you? Borrowers lock in to rates. If you're a borrower, get into that mortgage you're into, rates are likely to go up. If you're a saver, well, I would stay -- I would stay short term because if rates are going to go up you don't want to buy a seven-year CD that gives you 1.25 percent if you're likely to get a higher rate later on.
ROMANS: One thing that's interesting and the S&P, it's rare for any of these credit rating agencies to lower their outlook for the U.S. it has been the gold standard. So that's what's got people concerned. Also because this is the first time looking at a big deficit as far as the eye can see, and one thing is that both plans, all the plans, to lower the deficits, you're still dealing with a pile of $14 trillion in debt that's hard to look at.
VELSHI: If you're watching us, bottom line, there's some inflation out there. That's going to cause interest rates to go up. There is downgrade, which will put pressure on interest rates, because if you're lending money and you're a bigger risk they want more interest in return for lending the money. Everything points to higher interest rates over time. So you should think about that from your perspective whether an investor, saver, or borrower.
ROMANS: I agree.
A new "Washington Post"/ABC News poll finds 28 percent say the national economy is getting better, 44 percent worse, 28 percent say it's staying the same.
Another air traffic controller suspended along with his manager, this time because he was watching a movie on the job. It happened in Cleveland, Ohio over the weekend. And right after the incident of sleeping controllers in Washington, in Knoxville, Tennessee, Seattle, Reno, Nevada, and Miami.
The controller was watching the movie "The Cleaner" starring Samuel L. Jackson but he inadvertently left his mike on sending the movie's soundtrack over the radio for three long minutes. The FAA released this statement, quote, "The controller and the frontline manager have been suspended from operational duties pending an investigation." This comes as top FAA officials are touring airport across the country, observing control centers and discussing policies after several controllers were found asleep while on the clock. Here what's Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said to our Candy Crowley last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": This didn't just start. It may have started in the public mind, but this has been going on for a while. Why wasn't it addressed sooner?
RAY LAHOOD, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: Well, I just found out about it, candy, when I found out about it I was outraged. I called it ridiculous behavior. As soon as we found out about it, the first one was Washington national airport. The controller was suspended and we put another controller in the control tower. We've done that in other control towers. I've been on this job two and a half years. As soon as I heard about this we have taken steps.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The FAA is implementing new regulations to avoid these problems like mandatory rest times. Coming up at 7:30, we'll speak with former FAA chief of staff Michael Goldfarb. We'll find out if these are isolated incidents or if this is a culture in air traffic control.
VELSHI: Two controversial bills have been rejected in Arizona. Governor Jan Brewer vetoed the so-called birther bill last night. It would have required President Barack Obama and other presidential candidates to prove they were born in the United States before they could snag a spot on the state ballot.
Brewer says, quote, "As a former secretary of state I do not support designating one person as a gate keeper to the ballot for a candidate which could lead to arbitrarily or politically motivated decisions." Meanwhile, the govern also derailed a gun rights bill that would have allowed guns on parts of public college campuses. She says the legislation was poorly written.
CHETRY: Tomorrow marks a year since the deadly rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that ended up triggering the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Eleven people died, and in the 12 months that have past countless lives and livelihoods have been disrupted or destroyed, hundreds of miles of coastline still stained by crude oil, and thousands of birds, dolphins and turtles have died. Still, the long- term impact on many wild life species is unclear.
And we want to just let you know what is going on in terms of the money. When you take a look at the money that BP set aside, you may remember it was $20 billion that they set aside, but in terms of how many has been paid out to victims, that number is only $3.8 billion.
You may remember Halliburton, the company that designed the faulty cement seal that may have triggered the disaster. They had a heck of a year in 2010. They raked in $1.8 billion in profits, up 60 percent. First-quarter profits this year are even higher for that.
As - and taking a look at the response, you may remember at the height of the disaster BP had 48,000 workers taking part in the cleanup both in the water and along the coastline. Today that number has gone down to 2,000 as cleanup efforts do still continue.
But for so many people who depend on the sea for their living, this is still an ongoing disaster. They say life may never be the same in the gulf. Let's bring in Rob Marciano, live in New Orleans this morning. You were among the team of CNN reporters on the ground. I was out there as well. I know you spent a lot of time there and you focused on the wildlife quite a bit in your reporting, and there were so many concerns, will they be able to get through this? What's changed since you were there last, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, there's still a lot of questions, I'll tell you that. It's much better as far as visibly what you look out on. You don't see, obviously, birds that are completely covered in oil. There are still stained beaches, stained marshlands, but you don't see the coats and thickness, thick oil floating on top of the oil. That's the good news.
The bad news, when that oil started coming onshore, and we saw that thick stuff floating on top of the water, we knew days after the spill that animals and wildlife will be in a world of hurt. That spawned a huge concerted effort where organizations came in from all over the world to converge on this area to save wildlife.
You remember those MASH-like units, triage type of units, they brought in and treated over 2,000 oiled birds. Turtles are still rehabilitation down the road in Gulfport, Mississippi. In all, 1,500 animals were treated, rehabilitated, and then released a back into the wild. That part of it certainly is the -- is the success story.
What's being done now? Obviously there are thousands more that died, and there are thousands more that will be impacted. What they're doing now is building a case, the Endangered Species Act, Oil Pollution Act, Clean Water Act, these are all ways to punish and get money from BP. It's a slow process, guys. They are gathering evidence, dead animals, damaged habitat to bring a case to BP and get money to restore the Gulf of Mexico back to the way it was, maybe even better than the way it was. That's the goal here. It's going to take quite some time to do it. Guys?
CHETRY: All right, Rob Marciano for us, thanks so much.
Also tonight, be sure to watch "IN THE ARENA" 8:00 p.m. as well as "PIERS MORGAN" at 9:00 and "AC 360" at 10:00. All will have special coverage, "CNN in depth, the Gulf a year later." Ken Feinberg, the man overseeing BP's $20 billion claims fund. All of it begins at 8:00 eastern.
ROMANS: Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, a setback as robots make their way into one of reactors at Japan's crippled nuclear plant. We'll tell you what they found and what happened.
VELSHI: And you may be forking out more money for your summer air fare. We'll tell you why. It is now 12 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: We're 15 minutes past the hour right now. And new this morning, rescuers making slow progress in their efforts to save one silver miner who is trapped in Idaho more than a mile underground. The Mine Safety and Health Administration says that a roof collapsed at the Lucky Mine, trapped this miner 6,000 feet underground on Friday. Officials say they still don't know his condition and they have not had contact with him since the collapse. Crews are trying to clear debris that blocked the opening to the mine and they need more equipment to move boulders that are standing in the way.
Also, an FBI Black Hawk helicopter looking for more bones along beaches in Long Island. They're using a high-tech camera to search for more human remains. As you know, many remains were found in this area. The New York City medical examiner is now analyzing five more possible sets. They're trying to figure out if a serial killer is on the loose. The remains of at least eight bodies have been found in this area since December on the remote beaches of Long Island's south shore. Four sets of remains have been identified as prostitutes who advertised their services on Craigslist.
ROMANS: In Japan this morning, new concerns as the country 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 robot's cameras forcing officials to pull them out after only a few minutes.
New in Libya this morning. Tripoli under attack this hour. State-run TV says NATO war planes are launching new air strikes on the capital and on Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte to the east. NATO says it's going after Gadhafi's command and control facilities including a brigade headquarters south of Tripoli.
VELSHI: Police say the pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds has been caught stealing. 23-year-old Mike Leake is accused of shoplifting six American rag t-shirts from a Macy's department store yesterday. He could face up to 18 months behind bars. Police say he was caught on surveillance tape removing the security tags from the shirts worth about 60 bucks apiece. Leake's 2011 salary with the Reds, $425,000.
History at the Boston marathon. Two hours, three minutes and one second from a fellow countryman. Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai shattering the record for the fastest marathon ever by 57 seconds. He beat the course record by three minutes --
ROMANS: He doesn't even look winded.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: How is this possible?
VELSHI: My people are very, very good at running.
CHETRY: You're locking (ph) yourself in that category, people that can run.
ROMANS: You're Canadian when there's Canadian then suddenly you're Kenyan when somebody runs fast.
CHETRY: I know I love it.
VELSHI: I was born in Kenya.
ROMANS: I know.
VELSHI: I was born in Kenya. I can outrun either of you.
CHETRY: But you know what? I think you came over before you got that --
VELSHI: Before I got the training?
CHETRY: Yes, before you got any --
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: Before any of that rubbed off on you.
VELSHI: He averaged 4:41 per mile over the course. Wow.
CHETRY: I couldn't run 4:41 in just one mile. Double it like nine minutes, barely.
VELSHI: 4:41 I'd be at about four desks over there. May not be considered a record. Here's the thing though. Because international officials say the Boston marathon has too many down hills.
ROMANS: Huh. It's a fast course. CHETRY: OK. You know what? If you run, you know that sometimes it's harder to run downhill. It's tough on your knees.
VELSHI: On your knees, yes.
CHETRY: Right. So I don't know how that makes it any easier.
VELSHI: Yes. My people would win anyway.
CHETRY: They have the luck. Kenya really does have a lock on marathon.
VELSHI: Kenyans are good runners.
Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, brand new developments about the lawsuit alleging that Taco Bell's beef wasn't really beef. Ali and I already knew this. Our taste buds told us a long time ago that that was beef.
VELSHI: That's right.
ROMANS: For the first time in nearly three decades, there are new guidelines for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease. This is a really important story for anyone who has a loved one who's suffering from this disease.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Can they help you find a cure, these new guidelines? And what does it mean for people being treated right now?
It's 18 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: "Minding Your Business" this morning. Remember when McDonald's said it was going to hire 50,000 people in a single day?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROMANS: Today is the day, folks. The so-called Mcjobs include both full and part-time crew and management positions. Today is the day that hiring happens.
CHETRY: I saw the sign at our local McDonald's.
VELSHI: Oh, yes.
CHETRY: They're taking applications from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
ROMANS: There you go.
CHETRY: I go there a lot.
VELSHI: I went for lunch yesterday at the restaurant.
ROMANS: Did you have your resume ready? I'll be right back. VELSHI: All right. The lawsuit that was asking "where's the beef" in Taco Bell's beef had been dropped. You remember the suit claimed the fast food chain's seasoned beef was only 35 percent beef and that the advertising was misleading. The law firm claims it dismissed the case because it got Taco Bell to make changes to its advertising, not to its beef. A statement from Taco Bell's president says, quote, "This sets the record straight."
This is one of those mystery things where we actually don't' know what happened. We'll never really going to find out.
ROMANS: The suit was dropped then.
CHETRY: The other interesting thing is didn't Taco Bell also countersue? It was a public interest group that said that, right? Didn't they countersue and say our beef is only 30 percent, our beef is 80 or 90 percent.
ROMANS: Now we can go get a "Beef MexiMelt" on our way to McDonald's to apply for a job this afternoon.
CHETRY: General Motors reportedly raising the price of a new car or truck. Starting next month, it will now cost you an average additional $123. General Motors says the increase is not related to last month's earthquake and tsunami in Japan, but rather to higher oil and metal costs.
ROMANS: And prepare to dig a little deeper if you plan on flying this summer. The "L.A. Times" reporting the average domestic ticket may set you back $390. That's 15 percent higher than it was a year ago. Bestfares.com says the expected price hike will be the result of higher fuel costs and rising demand for flights.
VELSHI: And farecompare.com says the 11th rate hike of the year is under way as we speak.
CHETRY: Well, up next, it's trendy on college campuses. Students like to mix energy drinks like Red Bull with alcohol. Why researchers say that's even more dangerous than drinking alcohol alone.
VELSHI: And the cast of "Happy Days" no happy with where their images from the show are popping up. Our Poppy Harlow has exclusive details in an interview with four members of the cast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A milestone this morning in the fight against Alzheimer's. For the first time in 27 years, there are new criteria and guidelines for the diagnosis of this disease. And they include victims who don't even show symptoms yet. Right now, one in eight Americans over 65 has Alzheimer's. That number jumps to 50 percent when we look at Americans over 85 years old. That means every 69 seconds another American develops Alzheimer's.
William Thies is the chief medical and scientific officer at the National Alzheimer's Association. He joins us from Chicago. Welcome. And this is incredibly important, these new guidelines, for anyone who has someone with Alzheimer's in their family, in fact, for all of us really because this is such an important new classification for this disease. Tell me what is the headline here? What do people need to know about how for the first time in 30 years, you're reclassifying who has Alzheimer's and how early.
WILLIAM H. THIES, NATIONAL ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION: Well, the most important part of the new guidelines, Christine, are that they recognize that Alzheimer's disease is a very lengthy disease, that it starts years and years before people actually begin to show the symptoms of dementia which had originally been the marker for the beginning of Alzheimer's disease. We now recognize that there are biological changes in the brain long, long years before those changes in thinking patterns really happen. That's going to allow us to find people earlier in the disease and develop drugs that actually will treat people earlier in the disease and prevent the dementia from happening.
ROMANS: A couple of things about this disease. We know that the therapies work for slowing the progression of Alzheimer's, but not necessarily for curing it. So getting people earlier, perhaps, can give them a better -- a better lifespan, perhaps, yes?
THIES: Absolutely. What we really hope is that we will be able to find treatments that we can use early enough in the disease that, in fact, people will never become demented, that they'll get to the end of their life before any of those dementia symptoms are there.
ROMANS: And how do we find this early? Using biomarkers and other things, how are we going to find this early phase and will it be routine screening maybe for people over 65? How are you going to try to get people to know about finding out before Alzheimer's sets in or the symptoms of Alzheimer's set in?
THIES: Well, there's no doubt that finding people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease are going to depend on finding new biomarkers that are indicators of the first changes in brain biochemistry. The fact is, that we know some of those changes already, but we do need to know more about their time course and when they occur in the disease and how long they last and how they change. That knowledge is being acquired as we speak. And that's going to be very important.
ROMANS: One thing that some people might listen -- finish your thoughts. Sorry.
THIES: I was just going to say I think it will be a long time before we get to routine screening but we can already identify people who would be at high risk that we would look at initially for some of this early treatment.
ROMANS: All right. Some interesting new developments. William Thies, chief medical and scientific officer for the National Alzheimer's Association, thank you for joining us with that. Kiran and Ali? CHETRY: Christine, thanks.
Well, we're crossing the half hour right now. Time to look at our top stories this morning.
The FAA has suspended another air traffic controller and his manager. This time, because the controller was watching a movie on a DVD player on the job. The incident happened Sunday in Cleveland. It comes just one day after a Miami controller was suspended for falling asleep at work.
The White House this morning will announce new safety measures aimed at reducing prescription drug abuse in America. It's a problem that has become more and more prevalent among teens and young adults.
And more protests in Syria this morning. Thousands of demonstrators have reportedly flooded a major city square and they say they will not leave until they bring the government down. Today's gathering comes after reports that security forces killed as many as 19 protesters in the past two days.
ROMANS: More problems for the FAA and air traffic controller and his manager are suspended. Instead of watching the skies they were watching a movie.
VELSHI: This time it happened in Cleveland, Ohio, and it comes on the heels of incidents of sleeping controllers in Washington, Knoxville, Tennessee, Seattle, Reno, Nevada, and Miami. We're joined by former FAA chief of staff Michael Goldfarb.
Michael, thanks for being with us. This has sort of gone from the sublime to the ridiculous with one mitigating factor in between, when we heard Transport secretary Ray LaHood say that in some cases these air traffic controllers get off work and have to be back on the next shift within eight hours.
MICHAEL GOLDFARB, FMR. FAA CHIEF OF STAFF: Right.
VELSHI: That seemed a little short. What is going on out there?
GOLDFARB: Well, you know, Ali, I think we need Dr. Sanjay Gupta to do a complete medical evaluation because the controllers are exhibiting all the symptoms of stress. They're fatigued. They're sleeping on the job. They can't focus. They're watching videos. It's a much larger problem. And then I think the doctor would say, "Well, here's the cure for that. You need more rest. You need more time off."
VELSHI: Right.
GOLDFARB: And the controllers would say, "But, you know, I can't do that. I have to be on shift at New York Kennedy Airport, I have to be at Orlando, we're short staffed." So they're in a bind. The -
ROMANS: Right.
Is it as bad as it seems, Michael? Because look you're talking about 15,000 air traffic controllers. We've talked about five or six different incidents. Is it a culture where I don't know, anything goes up there, if it's a down time, people are watching movies or taking naps or are these isolated incidents? Is this the culture or is it isolated?
GOLDFARB: No, it's a very dedicated work force of men and women who are putting and giving their all, who are suffering the classic signs of too much stress, of overwork, and not enough rest. And yes, individual behavior is important, but it's a mistake to focus on that. What has to be focused on are what are the possible solutions. You know, many countries, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, allow controlled napping and the midnight shift.
Now can you imagine in Washington, D.C., in this political environment, if Secretary LaHood had to go to Congress and say we're going to pay federal workers to sleep on the job. That's not the question that should be asked. FAA's own scientists with NASA and the controllers union, recommended napping on the job as - in a controlled manner so that they wouldn't have a safety issue. I think most people would support that.
VELSHI: Right.
GOLDFARB: That's one thing.
CHETRY: What is the difference, I guess, with this line of work, you said they're dedicated men and women, and other people who have to be up all night. I mean, police officers have to work night shifts, hospital staff. I mean lives are on the line. I mean, even pilots, they also have to do this. And are we just hearing about it more with air traffic controllers?
GOLDFARB: I think that highly operational people who perform missions where there's precision involved, have a harder time when there's not a lot of traffic. It's harder for a controller who has five or six planes, from midnight or 11:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m., quite frankly to stay awake and focused on the job. That's why they know they needed two controllers at all of the 27 critical facilities.
So while emergency workers have this problem in common, it's why the industry standards say, put and allow them to get the rest they need. The bind we have now is that if we go and give more rest, we're going to exacerbate the shortage which already in some places is far too high.
ROMANS: This most recent incident was not taking a nap, it was watching a movie. "The Cleaner" with Samuel L. Jackson we're told and it was broadcast for three full minutes over the frequency, over the radio. It had to be a military plane that called in and said "hey, guys. You're clogging up the radio with a movie. That's -
VELSHI: That's different.
ROMANS: Circumstance, that's ridiculous.
GOLDFARB: Well, look at our reaction. Maybe it will serve a greater public good here. Because it's so ridiculous and the examples are so ridiculous, that's why I think, you know, Administrator Babbitt and the FAA - they've done a good job digging out of a hole that they inherited. But the hole was deeper. So they've made some changes but I think what the wake-up call is, is that it is important now to take a comprehensive look as they are this week going around the country, look at the controllers, how are we staffed, do we have enough, are we recruiting enough, are we paying them enough?
One last example, in New York, radar facility, the most busiest airport air space in the world, there were 270 controllers that are authorized. They're down to 148 fully capable controllers right now. They can't bring on the trainees, it takes three to four years. McDonald's announced today 50,000 workers, they may go to hamburger college for a month. Controllers need three to four years to be proficient enough to handle traffic at our most busiest airports.
CHETRY: All right. Well, Michael Goldfarb, thanks for joining us this morning, former FAA chief of staff. They say they're putting some new regulations in effect. We'll see if they make a difference.
GOLDFARB: My pleasure.
ROMANS: In every industry there's always somebody who is watching a movie that shouldn't be. You know what I mean. It's one of those things. But this is something where you got planes full of hundreds of people that need to land. And that's what makes -
VELSHI: Interesting what he said about recruiting.
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: Fascinating.
All right. Another story we're following. Texas, burning, wildfires destroying hundreds of homes this morning, thousands more are threatened. We've got the latest for you.
CHETRY: Also, unhappy days. Our Poppy Harlow talks exclusively with former members of the hit show "Happy Days" about why they're getting ready to sue CBS. It's 36 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: You hear the song you get happy. Brings back a lot of memories. More than 20 years later, it's unfortunately more like unhappy days for some of the stars of one of America's most beloved shows.
VELSHI: Poppy joins us now with more on this exclusive story. Poppy, this is weird. What is this?
POPPY HARLOW, CNN MONEY: You know, this is fascinating. We grew up watching these guys, and even if not your generation you watch the reruns of "Happy Days" and they are preparing to sue CBS today, which, of course, owns the show. What four main actors of "Happy Days" say they have not been paid for 37 years for the use of their images.
And we sat down with them in exclusive interviews in L.A. to get their story, hear their perspective and also we reached out to CBS to see what it has to say. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sunday, Monday happy days, Tuesday, Wednesday happy days.
HARLOW (voice-over): This is the "Happy Days" known and beloved worldwide..
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready to race to you.
HARLOW: This is "Happy Days" today. The show's cast on slot machines. Potsie, Ralph, Joanie, even the Cunninghams.
MARION ROSS, "HAPPY DAYS" CAST: Somebody came up to me and said, you must be cleaning up on those casinos. I said what are you talking about? And he said, yes, if you get five Marions you hit the jackpot.
HARLOW: The slots represent what the actors say is a merchandising bonanza that began 37 years ago when the show first hit the airwaves. But those same actors also say they haven't been paid for the continued use of their images as their contracts require. And now, they're preparing to sue CBS, which owns the show.
ANSON WILLIAMS, "HAPPY DAYS" CAST: Representing to the public the best of what America has to offer, you know, the opportunities, the friendships, the warmth. Unfortunately, "Happy Days" now also represents the worst of America. Of what major companies are trying to get from it.
HARLOW: In exclusive interviews, we spoke with four members of the cast -- Anson Williams, Don Most, Marion Ross, and Erin Moran. At a 1950's style cafe in Los Angeles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, pops.
HARLOW: The estate of Tom Bosley, who died last October, is also part of the lawsuit. And for these actors, who are like family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look great.
HARLOW: It was a very emotional reunion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the best part. The best part.
HARLOW: The issue, they argue, is simple - they want to be paid for the use of their images.
DON MOST, "HAPPY DAYS" CAST: There's something kind of skewed in that the people who really had nothing to do with making the show, they're exploiting and making money on it by using our face, our pictures, and all that. HARLOW: After hearing about the "Happy Days" slots, they began asking questions about where all the money went.
JON PFEIFFER, ATTORNEY: "Happy Days" has turned into unhappy days.
HARLOW: Jon Pfeiffer, the actors' attorney in the suit against CBS.
PFEIFFER: They made a promise to pay. They broke their promise. That's the breach of contract. Number two, they made a promise to pay, they purposely didn't pay. They broke their promise, defraud.
HARLOW: Under their contracts the actors were to be paid five percent from the net proceeds of merchandising if their sole image were used. And 2.5 percent if they were in a group. The studio has the right to deduct 50 percent off the top as a handling fee.
PFEIFFER: We have here iconic actors, I grew up watching these people, and yet, they got stiffed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You haven't seen a dime from this?
HARLOW: The actors argue the studio knew it owed them money because in 1999, after (INAUDIBLE) asked, the studio then Paramount, paid her $692 for merchandising. This document shows she was previously paid more than $8,000. Which she claims she never received.
Bull. No, I didn't. No, I did not.
HARLOW: The merchandising proceeds are especially personal for Moran, who lost her California home to foreclosure last year. In documents provided to the actors, CBS says it only owes them between $8,500 and $9,000 each. And most of that is from the slot machines. But the actors argue, they're owed millions. CBS sent us a statement saying - "We agree that funds are owed to the actors and have been working with them for quite some time to resolve the issue."
(on camera): Is it possible that CBS Paramount may have just made a mistake?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please.
WILLIAMS: That I would like to answer that question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's funny.
WILLIAMS: I would like to answer that question. Let's see. Made a mistake for 37 years?
HARLOW (voice-over): A generation after the show ended, these actors all say this case is bigger than "Happy Days" and will set a precedent for the industry.
(on camera): People watching may be asking, you know, "Happy Days" started 37 years ago, why are they just bringing this suit now?
WILLIAMS: Well, because when we started the show, we were just - UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: all consumed.
WILLIAMS: We weren't business people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
WILLIAMS: And we assumed, they send you the checks and that's it. Didn't think about it.
HARLOW: Are you fighting for more than money?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Principle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think fairness and --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's principle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you think of all the different shows that must be having the same argument about this?
HARLOW: There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe it's for the future that we're doing this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: And now the actors are going to be asking for specific breakdown of how much each licensee that deals with "Happy Days" earned from sales. And also, of course, how much CBS took in. Their attorney says he's going to file suit today in Los Angeles County superior court.
And folks, when you look at the sales, they are continuing. CBS recently announced licensing deals with clothing manufacturers across Europe, There's even plans in the works we found out looking at this story for a Lottery game with the "Happy Days" characters.
And you're probably wondering right now about, of course, Henry Winkler who played the Fonz and Ron Howard the Academy-Award winning director who played Ritchie Cunningham. Neither of them is part of this case.
But there are four actors we grew up with and they're suing CBS in just a few hours.
VELSHI: I'm assuming that they're not part of the case because they makes lots of money anyways.
HARLOW: We don't know. We called them, we're waiting to hear back from them. We don't know if they had different contracts, if they were indeed paid by CBS. That's all going to be sort of shed out as this case unfolds.
ROMANS: And you saw Erin's contract. HARLOW: Yes.
ROMANS: So it wasn't as if they had an agent and they signed a contract, or in her case, at least, it had -- I mean, she didn't get a break -- a cut of what her image was. It was very clear that she should be paid for her --
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: In the contract, 5 percent if your sole image is used, 2.5 percent if you're used in a group. That's what it says in the contract. CBS said in their statement, we agree money is owed to the actors. I think this comes down to a question of how much money is owed.
VELSHI: Right.
HARLOW: They tried to sort this out in mediation. That did not work. That's why this is going to court, at least right now. Of course, we'll stay on it, see if CBS has anything to say, what unfolds.
ROMANS: Do you know what the offer was in mediation?
CHETRY: Very, very fascinating.
ROMANS: Was it thousands of dollars?
HARLOW: What we do know is that it was somewhere between $8,500 and $9,000 per actor. And what the actors are saying is no, these slot machines are raking in money, you owe us millions.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: All right. Poppy Harlow.
CHETRY: Very interesting stuff. Thanks, Poppy.
HARLOW: Sure.
CHETRY: We're also going to have more on this exclusive story on CNNMoney.com, including a behind-the-scenes look at the "Happy Days" shoot.
VELSHI: Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, Facebook launches a safety center for teens. Moms and dads are invited, too. This is really important. This will help you understand how to protect your kids, find out what they're doing on Facebook and they're trying to keep underage kids off Facebook. We're talking to Facebook's chief privacy officer at 8:30 Eastern. Watch it and tell other people right now to tune in for that at 8:30. It's what a lot of parents need to know.
ROMANS: Also CNN's special in-depth coverage, assessing the damage one year after the oil spill in the Gulf. It's 47 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here what's you need to know to start your day. Seven hundred thousand acres are on fire in Texas this morning. Nearly 250 homes have already burned. The Texas governor is requesting the federal government declare the entire state a disaster area.
The stock market opens in less than two hours. The Dow took a beating yesterday after S&P put America on notice that its AAA credit rating is at risk.
Another air traffic controller has been suspended along with his manager for watching a movie instead of the skies while on the job in Cleveland, Sunday.
Motorcycle deaths are on the decline. They dropped two percent last year. They fell 16 percent the year before. But officials are also concerned. They say the use of approved safety helmets has dropped 16 percent.
The red light district on the internet is up and running. The first sites using the XXX domain name are making their online debut. It's supposed to make it easier for families to avoid adult content.
And researchers say combing energy drinks like Red Bull with alcohol is riskier than drinking alcohol alone. They studied a group of students in Kentucky and found those who combine the beverages saw themselves as less impaired and more likely to drive.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back in 60 seconds.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
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CHETRY: The royal wedding is just around the corner, of course. We only have, well, a week before we're going to be there and then a week after that is the actual wedding. We all want to see Kate Middleton's dress, of course.
VELSHI: Well, some of us do.
CHETRY: We all want to see it.
VELSHI: We all want to see it. That's right. Sorry.
CHETRY: All of us, especially you.
She has an eye for design. The "Daily Mail" reports that Kate actually designed the dress herself.
Do you believe this?
ROMANS: I don't know. CHETRY: I mean --
ROMANS: Although she did kind of history in fashion design, I think, in college.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Well, that's amazing. Ivory satin and lace, pearl buttons and a 10-foot train. A source says she was inspired by Lady Diana's wedding gown. It's also believed that Kate plans to wear diamond and pearl earrings on the big day, along with a tiara. We'll see if they're right. That's a lot of detail.
VELSHI: That's a lot of detail.
ROMANS: Ali is just -- every word he hangs on.
VELSHI: I can't stop or wait.
CHETRY: You want to know what type of shoes she is going to pick, right?
VELSHI: Ladies, do you wish you could be in Kate's shoes. Well, now you can be -- sort of. A new Smartphone app lets you walk through the aisle of Westminster Abbey. It's called Abby 3-D. It's available for iPhone, iPad and Android users. The stroll begins at the great west door, where Kate will enter on the big day. It ends at the high altar. It also offers up some interesting facts along the way. That's kind of neat.
CHETRY: All right. Get on here and download it right now.
VELSHI: Yes, yes, sure. I'm on my way.
CHETRY: You can put yourself in Kate's shoes.
ROMANS: A fist-pumping Prince William and a hip-shaking Kate Middleton. T-Mobile's web parody goes viral.
VELSHI: This is great.
ROMANS: It's racked up five million views since its launch on Friday. The royal look-alikes two-step down the E-17's House of Love.
CHETRY: I love it.
ROMANS: They look so much like them.
ROMANS: They really do.
VELSHI: Look at the rest of them. Look at Camilla. You'll see her in a second.
ROMANS: The video is pretty good fun.
VELSHI: Look at them. They look totally (INAUDIBLE). CHETRY: They did a really good job. There's Camilla, the hat. And they did a pretty decent job of showing --
ROMANS: T-Mobile wishes the couple a long and happy marriage.
CHETRY: Do you want to get a peek inside the royal wedding? CNN's got you covered. We're going to take you behind the scenes as Will and Kate say their I-do's on April 29th, starting at 4:00 a.m. Eastern. You can join in on the global celebration. You can watch it, you can DVR it. And if you send an iReport, you can participate. So, we'll see you there.
VELSHI: Top stories coming your way in just two minutes.
