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American Morning
Key Win for Libyan Rebels; iPhone Tracking Your Every Move?; Over 1,000,000 Acres Burned in Texas; 100 Most Influential People; The Effortless Weight Loss Solution
Aired April 21, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: A key win for the rebels.
I'm Kiran Chetry.
New this morning in Libya, rebels take control of a critical border crossing with thousands of hungry refugees waiting.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Got an iPhone 2? Researchers say it's been tracking your every move.
I'm Ali Velshi.
We'll tell you there's anything you can do to stop it on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: And good morning to you. Glad you're with us on this Thursday, the 21st of April. Christine Romans is off this morning.
VELSHI: Busy, busy morning for us right now. But up first, word overnight of a key victory for rebels trying to topple Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. Libyan rebels now say they've got control of a border crossing with Tunisia. A Tunisian news agency says some of Gadhafi's soldiers, including a general, have given themselves up to Tunisian authorities -- including a general. Thousands of Libyan families have been pouring into camps along the border.
The U.N. has warned that this could be a humanitarian crisis in the making because of serious food and medicine shortages.
CHETRY: Well, the White House is now urging Libya to protect journalists on the battlefield. This comes after two journalists were killed, casualties of Libya's civil war. Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, both came under heavy fire on the frontlines in Misrata.
VELSHI: Now, Misrata is a city that's been under siege by Gadhafi's forces for over a month. While most of the civilian population is trying to flee the violence there, these journalists went in and wanted to bring the story of an alleged civilian massacre to the world.
Tim Hetherington received an Academy Award nomination for "Restrepo," which is a documentary that he co-directed about the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. CHETRY: Also, American photographer Chris Hondros of Getty Images died from severe brain trauma after that same attack. Now, he's someone who covered many of the world's hotspots since the 1990s, places like Kosovo, in Iran, in Afghanistan.
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we had a chance to speak to one of his oldest friends, freelance journalist, Greg Campbell, who kept in contact with him. In fact, Greg was also in Libya.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: It must be such a shock because didn't you just receive an e- mail from him yesterday about where they were moving and what their positions were in Libya?
GREG CAMPBELL, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: Yes. I was in Libya with Chris and Tim just a little over a week ago. And Chris and I have maintained e-mail contact every day since then. And in fact, yesterday morning, he sent me an e-mail from Misrata basically saying that everything was fine and stable, and he was enjoying his assignment and getting some good photographs and certainly giving no indication of any danger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Hetherington and Hondros are the first western journalists killed in Libya.
VELSHI: However, there are three other Western journalists believed to be held by pro-Gadhafi forces in Libya. South African photographer Anton Hammerl, Clare Gillis, Harvard graduate and freelance reporter, and James Foley, a freelancer who was captured along with Gillis.
CHETRY: Military prosecutors are now recommending the death penalty for the accused mastermind of the USS Cole bombing. You may remember the attack happened in the Gulf of Aden. It blew a 30-foot by 30-foot hole into the ship's side back in 2000. Al-Rahim al-Nashiri has been charged with planning that attack that killed 17 sailors and wounded 40 others.
VELSHI: Investigators want to question a person of interest after finding a pipe bomb and profane tanks at a mall in Littleton, Colorado. It happened yesterday, 12 years since the shooting rampage at Columbine High School. Investigators are looking to see if there's a possible connection. The FBI has released two photos of a person of interest spotted on surveillance video. He's described as a white male with graying hair and a silver mustache. He was wearing a dark colored cap with a light-colored logo on the front.
CHETRY: The FAA firing two air traffic controllers caught sleeping on the job. One of the controllers worked in Miami, the other in Knoxville, Tennessee. And they're among nine suspended as the agency investigates reports of controllers asleep while on duty. One who is also watching a movie when he should have been directing air traffic.
VELSHI: And the governor of Idaho has signed an executive order that has banned his state from participating in the president's health care law. Governor's Butch Otter's measure forbids Idaho's government from taking federal laws to pay for national health care reforms in the state. And it takes effect immediately.
VELSHI: Well, right now, we're going to be minding your business with our Stephanie Elam, talking a little bit more about the iPhone.
I guess, what were the security folks who discovered that iPhone actually tracks your location data and stores it.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It knows my longitude and latitude right now and a time stamp. I don't really that because I think everybody else knows. But for people that may not have our job, this could be upsetting to find this out, apparently, secretly in a secret file, when you sync your iPhone with your computer, it downloads all the information about where you've been along with a time stamp.
And this is something that no one has actually really talked about before. We haven't heard about it. The thing about it that's interesting is that it seems to have started with the operating system for update for iPhone 4. And since then, it's been holding on this information.
Now, granted, keep in mind, whenever you use your, let's say, your map, it's going to look to see where you are. A lot of the apps already on your phone will say, you know, will you allow us to use your location or not?
VELSHI: Right.
ELAM: So, a lot of this is already happening. The cell companies are already aware of where you are, obviously. You know, police officers use that if they are looking for somebody. They can say where you are.
CHETRY: I mean, knowing at the time if I'm using it around me, app or something, and I want to find --
VELSHI: That will assume it's happening.
CHETRY: But then knowing that it's being recorded and also that this -- was this disclosed or was this discovered?
ELAM: This is something that no one -- it wasn't widely used. The difference here with this and, look, what, let's say, firemen and policemen can find out about, is that this is the end user who can then go ahead and get this information. And that's what makes it so different.
So, if you lose your phone, they are able to get into it. They sync it to a computer, easily download this little program, easily. And it pops up and you have a map and it shows you -- hey, you know, this is where you are. We can see exactly where you have been. Obviously, if you have been doing something shady, that could be a problem with you, if you don't want people to know. They do not know yet though if android systems have the same problem. They are looking into that. But they do know that, you know, android programs do keep several weeks of data.
VELSHI: But if you are bothered by this, you can switch it off on all of these systems, whether it's on an iPhone or a BlackBerry, you can disable your location base, which means at that point, it can't tell you where you are.
ELAM: There are no maps, all of those that you probably really like about your phone. So, it already -- a lot of things are already being tracked. It only matters if you have something secretive or you just feel like big brother is watching you.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: If I lost my phone and somebody finds it and downloads that program, they now can track everywhere I'm going. So, they would
ELAM: Or everywhere you've been, not where you're going.
VELSHI: In a 24-hour period, you could figure out where I lived, right?
ELAM: Probably. But in your case, though, that'd be really hard. But in most people, yes, that would be something to be worried about.
CHETRY: The implication is, can this be used in courts of law for various things? I mean, can people use this down the road in criminal cases?
ELAM: These are the questions more people are going to want to hear about from Apple, to see what they're saying. And the same, when you transfer your data from phone to phone, it stays there. So, it's not accidental. So, they are not sure if Apple is planning some sort of program down the line where you would want to have this -- haven't heard from Apple about this yet.
But this is going to get people going, because it feels like a privacy infringement and big brother.
VELSHI: It's going to be on "CSI." It's going to be on "Law & Order." They're going to use this --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: All right. Stephanie, thank you.
ELAM: Sure.
VELSHI: OK. Those wildfires have now burned 1.4 million acres in Texas. Firefighters are hoping to get a break over the next few days. There are some forecast for slightly cooler weather and higher humidity. But the latest from the CNN weather center indicates a threat of dry thunderstorms -- dry thunderstorms -- which ultimately could start more fires. More than 1,800 firefighters from 36 states have been called in to help knock down the flames. Two of them have died in the fighting of this fire.
CHETRY: Jacqui Jeras is in the extreme weather center.
So, are they going to get a bit of a reprieve today? Or what is it looking like weather-wise there?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, yes, but no. And it's part of this.
So, the big thing we need to keep in mind is like this is all of Texas that's been burning. I mean, literally, every single county has been touched by wildfire. And so, you know, the eastern part of the state -- as you can see on the map there -- is going to get that increased humidity. You're going to get a little more cloud cover today. That's going to help a touch.
But we're also going to see a risk of severe thunderstorms to go along with it. Any time you get thunderstorms, you get lightning that strikes that can spark more fire. Then, we think the chance of these dry thunderstorms as we call them will occur increasingly into the weekend.
So, those are thunderstorms. They produce rain. But it's so dry in the low levels of the atmosphere. It actually evaporates before it ever hits the ground. So, it's just lightning strikes with no moisture with it.
On the back side of this system, guys, it is critically bad in terms of dry weather. Humidity down to 5 percent to 15 percent, the winds are going to be gusting around 40, 50 miles today. So, it really continues to be an extreme situation. This is going to be a story that we're going to be following for weeks, if not months.
All right. The moisture here across parts of the Southeast, from Arkansas, stretching into the Carolinas -- this whole area of precip has been weakening. So, that's the good news. But, still, a lot of lightning and some wet roads for your commute for many people.
The severe thunderstorms firing up late this afternoon from Kansas City down towards Dallas.
And breezy conditions causing some airport delays in the Northeast. We got 15-minute departure delays already this morning out of Philadelphia. We expect a whole lot more of those delays in the Northeast later on today.
Back to you guys.
VELSHI: Jacqui, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Still ahead, you remember the outrage, the outrage when Auburn's famous trees were poisoned. And the guy was unabashed. I mean, he just came out there and said, yep, I did it. I poisoned those trees that have been there for hundreds of years. Well, let's just say payback. We'll tell you what happened to him. VELSHI: All right. And sugar, how bad is it for you? And is there a way to actually lose weight effortlessly? Dr. Ian Smith says so. We're going to tell you what his plan is on the other side.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: They know how to do it in Orlando -- 68 now. It is going to get to 90, mostly sunny, as it often is in Orlando.
CHETRY: That's right. Every time you go there, they're playing (INAUDIBLE).
Well, a bird strike grounding a 767 in Orlando. The airport says the plane had to turn around shortly after takeoff. Officials also checked to see, of course, if there was any damage to the plane. They also sent the remains of the bird away. They have to find out what species it was.
Two hundred and sixty-nine people were on the plane. No one was hurt.
VELSHI: Six people have been arrested for allegedly beating a 15- year-old Florida boy before shooting him and then setting his remains on fire in a pit. It happened Sunday. Police say two females in the group lured the victim to the home. He was then beaten, shot several times with a 22-caliber gun. The body was stuffed into a sleeping bag and set on fire.
Police are not revealing a motive. They'll only say there was some kind of dispute behind it.
CHETRY: Disturbing.
Well, a suspect under arrest in connection with a murder that was witnessed on the web. This is another bizarre and tragic story.
A 23-year-old exchange student killed in her Toronto apartment. Authorities that friend in China was talking to her via webcam when he witnessed the killer walk in and turn off the victim's laptop.
VELSHI: That's quite a story.
The Alabama fan accused of poisoning the trees at Toomer's Corner in Auburn University that Kiran was talking about. He claims he was beat up at a gas station. He claims it happened after he appeared on court on charges related to the prank.
Harvey Updyke, Jr. told police he couldn't say who hit him or what he was hit with because he blacked out.
CHETRY: Well, an unprecedented move. Major League Baseball seizing control of a team, the L.A. Dodgers. Commissioner Bud Selig, stripping Dodgers owner, Frank McCourt, of financial control of the club. All major decisions have to go through Major League Baseball. He plans to appoint a trustee now that would oversee the business and the day-to-day operations.
Selig stepped in after McCourt did a $3 million loan to meet the season's first payroll. McCourt and his wife, Jamie, have been going through a very, very bitter divorce fight.
VELSHI: And there is a woman that claims that the Yankees stole their famous top hat logo. Take a look at it now. She said they stole it from her family more than 70 years ago. Her uncle, I think she said designed it.
And the woman in New York is suing it -- is suing the team. She says the Yankees never paid for his work. The suit alleges copyright infringement and breach of contract. Yankees say there's no proof of her claim.
CHETRY: Well, a robotic pitching machine threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Philadelphia Phillies.
VELSHI: I was very excited about this.
CHETRY: This was very exciting.
VELSHI: It didn't turn out the way we think.
CHETRY: No, it did not. Clearly something went wrong. But this is what happened.
So, there's a guy -- you know, he is -- you know, a pitching machine, a robot. He's supposed to be able to do it perfectly.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, the Philly fans certainly were not happy. Woops. Wow.
VELSHI: Even the Phanatic looks a little bit puzzled.
CHETRY: Yes, the Phanatic is thrilled, he was able to get his hands on it.
It was the first, the worst first threw that you've seen. But it was pretty bad. It was called the Philliebot and it was a one-hopper as you saw to the Phillie Phanatic behind the plate.
And the reason it's kind of sad is that this robot was actually designed and built by students at the University of Pennsylvania. So, they were very excited about it. And it malfunctions.
VELSHI: That's my wife's alma mater. So, I can't say anything. We'll move on to another story.
You see this every day, Canada and Russia were tangling in a junior hockey league game last weekend, when a Russian fan decided to jump on the ice -- look at that -- and get involved in a fight.
The fan threw a couple of punches. I am not sure I would punch a bunch of guys with full protective gear on. He was escorted off the ice. Apparently, he had a few too many.
CHETRY: Is that Mike? He works here. Huge hockey fan. It might have been him. He gets into the games.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: It's good that it's blurry pictures.
CHETRY: Well, "Times" 100 most influential people in the world. Do you remember that woman that wrote "The Battle Hymn, the Tiger Mother." She's on that list.
VELSHI: She created a lot of controversy.
CHETRY: She sure did. We have a list of some of the most influential coming up.
VELSHI: And can sugar be toxic? Can it be poisonous? Celebrity fit club Dr. Ian Smith joins us. He's talking about diet, living healthy and getting a great body without any effort.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It is not a good time to be on a diet if you are Jewish.
CHETRY: Right, of course and - well, actually -
VELSHI: -- Christian, Easter is going to mess it up for you.
CHETRY: Yes, if you are a Christian as well, you should be doing something during lent.
VELSHI: Bottom line, I think it is always kind of a tough time to be on a diet.
CHETRY: Yes, I agree. Easter is right around the -- that's why I am never on one. Easter is around the corner, the Cadberry eggs and peeps.
VELSHI: Why you have to bring that up?
CHETRY: The peeps.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Because I don't - when we talk to our next guest, I don't think he's going to tell you that you can sit there and mow down little peeps.
VELSHI: I just found one and I ate it. It wasn't that big of a deal. Our next guest, diet expert, Dr. Ian Smith, says, live a little that's why I like him.
You could still lose weight without sacrificing all your guilty pleasures. He spells it out in the book, love it. Eat, the effortless weight loss solution. Dr. Ian smith joins us now. Ian, good to see you.
DR. IAN SMITH, MEDICAL AND DIET EXPERT ON VH1'S "CELEBRITY FIT CLUB": Good to see you guys. You look great.
VELSHI: I am going to take any advice you give me if I look like you.
CHETRY: You make it look effortless. What is your trick yourself? How do you stay so slim?
SMITH: It is that - it's the no diet diet. Everyone, you know, is talking about regulating what you eat, what you can't eat. That doesn't work for a lot of people. Instead you have to make very small changes. What I do is I live by the 80/20 in the book.
Eighty percent reasonably healthy food, 20 percent whatever I want. So I eat cake and pizza and burgers, however, it's the balance of consuming these foods that makes a big deal.
And so we called it the effortless weight loss solution because it's not about being inflexible. It's about very flexible. I give you a template of what's good to eat and you choose what works for your particular convenience.
CHETRY: You know, this is interesting, some people like this and some people, you are one of them, you like to have all the decisions made for you. You don't want to have to decide.
I personally do like what you do. You lay out. You eat a certain amount of green foods. Eat a certain amount of blue and purple foods --
SMITH: Whole grains, what's your best fibers? In fact, I took a gentlemen who said, I can't follow your rigid diet. They are too strict. I said, let's try this.
He lost up to 15 pounds in one month simply by changing some things on the plate and also watching his portion control. Portion control, as you have talked before, is just out of control.
VELSHI: That's something how I like having it decided for me, somebody else that decides how much I would eat. If I were making those decisions, I would go a lot further.
We have been talking about all morning about this "New York Times" thing that came out on Sunday about sugar. Some people say it is toxic. Where do you stand on sugar?
SMITH: Well, in the book, I talk about how much sugar we consume. The average person, by the way, consumes 155 pounds of sugar, that's 31 bags of sugar a year.
CHETRY: And what you are referring to is not only actual granulated sugar -- SMITH: Added sugars. Here is the key. Only 29 pounds of that 155 are stuff from your table. The other is stuff that's inside of your processed foods. So is it toxic?
Well, I think that's a little far, but it definitely is not health full. No one is saying it is healthful. It is a lot of wasted calories. But if you can choose sugars, you must choose the natural sugars, which is why in Chapter One, I talk about follow the color of the rainbow. Foods full of good sugars, but they're natural sugars and a good --
VELSHI: Give me examples of that.
SMITH: Fruits, vegetables, all these things, grapes and oranges. We talk about the 10 best weight loss fruits.
CHETRY: But not a glass of orange juice have a whole orange, you have fiber in --
SMITH: If it is going to be a glass, it must be freshly squeezed, no preservatives, not from concentrate, very different. The book is about clean eating and by the way, we're trying to get people to realize that eating things closer to what it is in nature is much better not just from a weight loss standpoint, lowering your blood pressure, type 2 diabetes risk as well as cholesterol levels.
CHETRY: The article goes on. You say you don't like using the word toxic or poison because in small amounts, perhaps it is not the case. Just like, I mean, technically, water in large amounts could be toxic to you.
SMITH: That's why I am careful about using that word, yes.
CHETRY: But the question is, does sugar do something to us, I mean, to our bodies, metabolically that makes it difficult for us to lose weight?
SMITH: Absolutely. There's no doubt about it. I mean, the link between sugar and type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance, which leads to diabetes and obesity, of course, it definitely does something.
But I do believe that when you tell people you can't have an entire food ingredient or entire category of food, that's the wrong way to lose weight. People get overwhelmed and they go the opposite direction.
In my philosophy I say, OK, this is what sugar does to you, where the bad sugars are and the good sugars are. Let's make sure most of our plate is full of good sugars.
VELSHI: You have written good books and great books. And you've been on TV about this and that trend of people that are able to give us good information with healthy living, and yet Americans are getting fatter. What's the problem?
SMITH: Well, because, you know, first is you have to ring the alarm, which we have done. OK, now people have to understand that they can execute the plan. I know you like to be told what to eat and whatnot to eat.
But a lot of people unfortunately say, I can stick to a diet for three weeks and I can't take it anymore. This is why I wrote the book because it is not about stringent, inflexibility, it is about a template because if you can make it part of your regular lifestyle then you are no longer on a diet. This is how you live.
CHETRY: The other thing just quickly about -- do you think there should be more laws about this. People got up in arms when in New York City, Mayor Bloomberg started, you know, regulating salt. I mean, how much salt? How much sugar? Where certain things can be sold? Do we need to help people along in the government in terms of this?
SMITH: In some respect, I think what the government needs to do and what you are doing very well is inform people. When you start putting calorie counts and how much sugar and how much protein and salts are in these things, that makes a difference.
But telling people you can't do something, where do you draw the line I'm a little worried about that? But I do believe that everyone is paying attention to this issue, thank goodness after a while. I think that in order to make a difference, people have to want to make the changes. It has to be easier for people.
VELSHI: You make it look easy. Good to see you, my friend. Always a pleasure having you here. Dr. Ian Smith is the author of "Eat, The Effortless Weight Loss Solution."
CHETRY: It was a pleasure to have you. Thanks for being with us. We are going to take a break. When we come back "Time" magazine's list of the most 100 influential people in the world.
VELSHI: And a little earlier, we were talking about Donald Trump. Donald Trump called in and he says he is not happy with the way we are handling our coverage of him. We will play a bit of that back when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Minding your business this morning, the dollar is taking a beating. It lost ground to a range of currencies. It fell to the lowest left against the euro in 15 months.
Economists say one reason the dollar is suffering is the continued strength of the markets. Another one, of course, is as you have a bit of inflation, your currency is worth a little bit less. So if you are planning on traveling, it is going to affect you.
CHETRY: All right, well, Apple is selling a record of 18 million iPhones in the first three months of this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY (voice-over): We have now taken it for granted that this happens, but this is really --. I mean, any product you can sell this much of. It is fueling another blowout quarter for the company. Profits nearly doubled. They could have been higher if not for an iPad supplied backlog. People would have spent more money if they could have gotten their hands on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: You remember how hard I fought to try and get an iPad.
CHETRY: The iPad two right?
VELSHI: The iPad two.
CHETRY: The iPad two, yes.
VELSHI: All right, despite the Dow being at a nearly three-year high, the number of Americans, the percentage of Americans who are investing in the stock market is at its lowest level since 1999.
That's according to a new Gallup poll, which found just 54 percent of Americans own stocks. They say the number of stock owners has been trending downward, no surprise, since 2007.
It was October of 2007, Kiran, you remember, when the Dow and the major markets hit their records and then started to slide down.
CHETRY: At one point, what, the Dow was at 649.
VELSHI: It lost half its value.
CHETRY: Well, the president is in Reno today. He is wrapping up a three-day town hall tour. He is talking about the economy. The first stop came Tuesday. He was at a college in Virginia where students were told that spending cuts would not impact education.
Then he, of course, flew across country there, to Reno. Today's event is at a renewable energy firm called Electrotherm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI (voice-over): Yesterday's town hall, in Palo Alto, President Obama visited Facebook's headquarters and sat with CEO Mark Zuckerberg. You can see them there. They took questions from a small audience in the hall. And of course, the big one online, all the Facebook users who wanted to take part in this.
Zuckerberg admitted he was nervous and the president tried to put him at ease.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I will say and I hate to tell stories on Mark, but the first time we had dinner together and he wore this jacket and tie, I would say, halfway through dinner, he started to sweat a little bit. It is really uncomfortable for him so I helped him out of his jacket. In fact, if I would like, Mark, we can take our jackets off.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: That's better, isn't it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Have you ever seen anybody so happy to take their jacket off as Mark Zuckerberg?
CHETRY: It was clearly not his comfort zone.
VELSHI: I was looking to see if there was a hoodie on the back of it.
President Obama also did some reelection fundraising in San Francisco at a $36,000 a plate dinner. Speaking of thousands, the stock market dropped to somewhere below 6,000. Boy, a lot of people saw their nest eggs cut in half.
VELSHI: Top stories now. Overnight in the way in Libya, Libyan rebels now say they have control of a key border crossing with Tunisia. A Tunisian news agency says some of Gadhafi's soldiers including a general have given themselves up to Tunisian authorities. Libya is now being urged by the White House to protect journalists after Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington were killed in war torn Misrata. They were hit by rocket-propelled grenades. Three other journalists were wounded.
Two air traffic controllers have been fired for sleeping in the tower while on duty. The two controllers have not been identified. One was working in Miami, the other in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Your iPhone may be secretly keeping track of your whereabouts. A British researcher says he has discovered a file that contains a history of everywhere your phone goes. So far, no response from Apple, no indication that your location history is being shared with Apple or any other companies, and you can switch off the feature.
I want you to take a look at these people here. Kiran?
CHETRY: We are going to take a look at these people, Ali. You have Justin Bieber, Egyptian activist Wael Ghonim, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Prince William and Kate Middleton, all of these people share one thing in common. They are all part of "TIME's" 100 most influential people. Joining me to talk about it is TIME magazine's deputy managing editor Michael Elliot.
MICHAEL ELLIOT, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, TIME MAGAZINE: Good morning.
CHETRY: Good morning. How do you decide who had the most influence on the world?
ELLIOT: We spent a couple of months putting a big list together which starts off with way more than 100 people. And then a lot of discussions within the office, talking to people and getting some names. We gradually whittle it down and don't finish it until almost a day or so before the list goes public. It is great fun putting it together.
CHETRY: Do you rank it?
ELLIOT: No, we don't.
CHETRY: That would be more complicated.
ELLIOT: We have an online poll in which viewers get to choose from nominations for the 100 and for the third time a Korean pop star who has an incredible following, he has been in twice before.
CHETRY: Let's talk about some of the ones that we are sort of highlighting today. One I think is very interesting. We are calling it Arab spring. The key players in this revolution we saw, I want to show a few of them. We are talking about El General that inspired the Tunisia uprising.
ELLIOT: His song was one of the songs that went through the Middle East and North Africa during the revolutions there. We thought he would be a great example of someone who was truly influential in his music and passion.
CHETRY: And Wael Ghonim and Fathi Terbil.
ELLIOT: A lawyer from Libya, incredibly brave lawyer from Libya whose lawsuits helped provoke some of the turmoil.
CHETRY: The other fascinating thing of all of them, because of social networking, they were able to get out their ability to gather a crowd and get people together and collaborate around that cause was heightened.
ELLIOT: One of the extraordinary things about the Middle East, North African revolution, the same theme, songs, chants, slogans have been able to spread throughout the whole region. That's a testimony to the extent all these people have been able to use social media to get the message out.
CHETRY: The next person raised a firestorm. "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" was the book, Amy Chua was the woman, and she talks about raising children in the Asian way, that westerners are far too soft on their children and why we are all a bunch of dummies.
ELLIOT: Amy Chua's book made waves all over the world. She appeared all over the world. People wanted to read this in Asia and Europe and everywhere else. We thought she would be one of the most influential people, pretty extraordinary impact that her book had. I think it forced people really generally to reassess what they are doing with their kids.
CHETRY: She became a villain.
ELLIOT: But I think she became a respected villain.
CHETRY: You know how she got to cap off her year? Her eldest daughter got accepted to Harvard. Mission accomplished. ELLIOT: Indeed, she did.
CHETRY: You talk about people needed to reassess. After the tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona, a lot of people said, you know what, where is the civility in our politics? What is going on? Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, she was shot. Not to make the connection. The accused gunman for varying reasons did what he did. It was a wakeup call for a lot of people. Why was she chosen?
ELLIOT: Because she became a symbol of civility and being able to talk to a wide variety of people. We got a pretty good writer to write about Gabrielle Giffords. President Obama kind of wrote the little piece on her. So that was a kind of wonderful little gesture by the president to this brave congresswoman from Tucson, who I think has become a symbol, genuinely has become a symbol to talk to lots of people in a civil way.
CHETRY: Last but not least, from your hometown or homeland, prince and princess Will and Kate. We are heading over there for the wedding. This is one of the most highly anticipated events the world is going to be seeing.
ELLIOT: How influential can be you. Everyone is copying the dress she wore and the Princess Diana ring. Next Friday, you are going to have a TV audiences measured in the billions around the world watching these two young people. What's the word, pledge their troth?
CHETRY: Yes.
ELLIOT: So they are going to be influencing billions of people and everyone is going to be looking at the dress that she is wearing and you know within 24 hours, there will be knockoffs of that all over the world.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Everyone can read the entire article. Michael Elliot, deputy managing editor of "TIME." Great to see you this morning.
ELLIOT: Great to be here.
VELSHI: So Donald Trump has not been forthcoming about how much he is worth. We brought someone in today who knows about that. While we were having that conversation, the Donald called in and said we should be embarrassed for continuing to ask him about where he thinks president Obama was born, a bit of an exchange on that. We will bring it to you right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: I sadly know every lyric to this song. I will spare you the pain. Donald Trump, real estate mogul, billionaire businessman and soon to be presidential candidate?
VELSHI: He says he is seriously considering a run for the nation's top spot on the GOP ticket. Earlier when we were talking about him with someone else, he called in to "AMERICAN MORNING." fired up and setting the record straight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I was just listening to the show, actually, and I am very serious.
VELSHI: Can you answer that question about your net worth? What are you worth?
TRUMP: Yes. I am worth, well, "Forbes" says $2.7 billion. I can tell you, that's a very low number. It is much more than that.
The reason I am doing so well in the polls is because people know that I am a smart guy. I am a good business guy.
CHETRY: You can't get out of the gate in a general election if you say that you are questioning whether Barack Obama was born in America.
VELSHI: Let's get it on the record right now that you believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States and I promise you, after this, no one at CNN will ever ask you this question again.
TRUMP: I wish I could say that. I wish I could say that with certainty. It is possible that he was. But there is a big question as to whether or not he was. There are too many things. When I started this two months ago and I heard about it for years but when I started it two months ago, I thought he was. Every day that goes by, I think less and less that he was born in the United States. He possibly was, but I want to get rid of the word "possibly."
China is ripping us left and right with a manipulation with their currency. If they didn't manipulate their currency where we were competing one-on-one, I would say, I wouldn't think about the tax. But they are making it impossible for our people, our companies to do business, to compete.
As an example, I build a building. When I build a building, half of these products are coming from China. It is very hard for companies to compete. So I would oppose that tax if they didn't stop manipulating their currency. China is ripping us and they are laughing at our leaders. I know many of the top people in China. They cannot believe what they are getting away with. We have no leadership. We have a weak leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: He was very insistent that he did not want to keep being asked about birthers.
CHETRY: He went on to say, the more digging he does, the less and less convinced he is that the president was born in America. Of course that is going to come up.
VELSHI: But not able to tell us what that digging has found. He said at some point, sometime, somewhere, he will disclose what his investigators have found. CHETRY: A provocative conversation. The reason is he is polling among Republicans in first place tied with Mike Huckabee. So whether he is a serious candidate or not, he is getting a good deal of support in some corners.
VELSHI: He does say if he runs for president, he will say how much he is worth. How happy are you, by the way?
CHETRY: Quite happy. Are you happy?
VELSHI: I am thrilled, but I have a reason for that. When it comes to the happiest countries in the world, the U.S. doesn't crack the top ten. Take a look at this Gallup study. Denmark, happiest nation on earth. They are all smiling 24/7. Almost two thirds of the people that live there describe themselves as thriving.
CHETRY: So are you thriving, surviving, or not thriving at all? That's sort of how they got it. Here is the top ten. Sweden, Canada, Australia, Finland, Venezuela, Israel, New Zealand, Netherlands, and Ireland. The U.S. did rank 12th with 59 percent of Americans saying that they are thriving. The unhappiest nation, Chad. Just one percent of the people living in that African nation say they are happy.
VELSHI: All those countries on the top ten list have universal health care. I am just saying. I am just throwing that out there. You don't look happy with me right now?
CHETRY: That's a big political debate. You want to have it right now?
VELSHI: No, no. We have other news to talk about.
CHETRY: The soccer team in Real Madrid waited 18 years to win a championship cup when they finally got their hands on it.
VELSHI: This was hard to watch. They let it slip out of their hands.
CHETRY: You do this all the time. When you win, you take the highest place. There it is. Oh, goodness gracious. Who did it? It was Sergio Ramos. He accidentally dropped it and the bus crushed it with the wheel.
VELSHI: Oh, man. They say they are going to repair the trophy. It is going to be a frying pan.
CHETRY: You know, when they win -- you know when they win the Stanley Cup, they actually eat cereal out of it I mean, and they have to share it.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Yes, there is no danger of that. That -- that stuff doesn't happen, you can't be hanging it off the edge of the bus.
CHETRY: Right. VELSHI: There are guards around the Stanley Cup when you're -- when you are carrying it.
CHETRY: That's right.
VELSHI: All right, we got this wild fire state, and they're just not getting a break in Texas. They -- they continue to spread. What they need is some rain and they are going to get some storms but guess what those storms could actually make it worse.
Jacqui Jeras is going to have the stormy day ahead and updates for you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A lot going on this morning and here is what you need to know to start your day.
Libyan rebels now say they have control of a key border crossing with Tunisia. Gadhafi soldiers reportedly fleeing to avoid being captured.
The accused mastermind of the "USS Cole" bombing could be executed, military prosecutors recommending the death penalty.
Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano unveiling the nation's new terror alert system. The government ditching the five color-coded labels that were put into place after 9/11 and replacing them with just two "elevated" and "imminent" goes into effect next week.
They are praying for a little rain in Texas this morning. Wildfires have now burned 1.4 million acres in the state. The latest from the CNN Weather Center indicates a threat of dry thunderstorms which could make matters worse.
The lords of baseball now in charge in Los Angeles. Commission Bud Selig taking control of the financially strapped Dodgers from team owner Frank McCord. In addition to taking over day to day operations the league also launched an investigation into the team's finances.
That's it. You are caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: That is Dallas, cloudy, 60, thunderstorms, at 86 a little later on. And you know, you would think the thunderstorms in Texas are going to help the place but I think it could be dry thunderstorms.
CHETRY: That's right, lightning strikes could be something working against the firefighters trying to get a handle on that fire. But some of the more moist air could be a good thing.
So Jacqui Jeras is following all this for us from the Extreme Weather Center. You know, you feel so bad for them. I mean, this is a huge -- and what is this -- 1.4 million acres burning in Texas?
VELSHI: Yes.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's just incredible, that's what's burned as of up to this point. But what you saw in that picture right there, that's the good stuff. When you see the low hanging clouds, you've got low level moisture, you've got fog. I mean we've been getting reports now over the Texas fire that there's mist going on. So that's great to see that.
But this fog is going to burn off within the next couple of hours. The sun is going to go back out. Things are going to heat up. Those fire -- thunderstorms then are going to start to initiate. And keep in mind that you know, this is eastern Texas and that's where we're getting the humid conditions. But Western Texas where there are many, many fires burning here too, we've got extremely dry conditions, gusty winds.
Relative humidity is down to five percent to 15 percent we think at its minimum this afternoon. Critical levels are at about 30 percent. So we are way beyond that. And winds will be increasing today, gusting up to 40 miles per hour.
The thunderstorm risk up here into northern Texas, Dallas is included in that. And it stretches on up towards Kansas City. Large hail, damaging winds a possibility. This is a slight risk day. A small chance that there will be some isolated tornadoes.
Now, the other weather story related to this today too by the way is notice this frontal system here is stationary. So we're getting these complexes of thunderstorms which initiate and then, they move eastward. So we've been seeing a lot of rain across parts of the Deep South. Rough night for you, probably woke up early because of all the lightning and everything, say in the Atlanta metro area, and the rainfall is really heavy. So you might see some flooding (ph) on some of the streets. Be aware of that.
The northeast, we've got dryer conditions today. We've got a little bit of light rain and snow in here. But really nothing to complain about, it's the wind that will be the big issue into the northeast. We're sustained in the 15-plus mile per hour range or so. But we're going to see some gusts this afternoon, around, you know, maybe 15-30 miles per hour.
So that's going to cause delays at the airports. We are already seeing that: Baltimore, 45-minute department delays; 30 minute departure delays at Titter borough. We think a lot of the northeast is going to be impacted by that throughout the day today.
So as we take a look at the nation as a whole, you know, pretty good across the northern tier. All the action happening here across parts of the south. And I might also mention, big storm over there on the inner mountain west. Heavy snow today into parts of Montana, that's going to stretch into the Dakotas a little bit later on. So still kind of dealing with that clash of the seasons. So we're just going to continue to see that, guys. Hope you enjoy that windy day.
VELSHI: I asked -- I asked Christine the other day, what do you call those states? And you just said the inner mountain west.
(CROSSTALK)
JERAS: Inter mountain west.
CHETRY: I love that. I love that, and then, the High Sierra. There are full names for a lot of things.
VELSHI: I love it, yes, yes.
CHETRY: All right, thanks, Jacqui, have a good one.
VELSHI: Thanks Jacqui.
CHETRY: If you want to figure out how sexy --
VELSHI: Well, I've got to do a demo.
CHETRY: You're doing it wrong again. You have to keep your whole hand up.
VELSHI: Ok, whole hand.
CHETRY: Ok, you have to figure out whether or not you think a guy is sexy. Apparently there is a new study that they did on women, and they are more likely to find a man sexy if this finger is longer than this finger right here.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Than this one. Your ring finger is bigger than the index finger.
CHETRY: Or longer, yes.
VELSHI: Yes. Which is mine?
CHETRY: So that's -- your index finger should be shorter.
VELSHI: Mine look --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: You are officially attractive.
VELSHI: I'm officially attractive. Excellent.
CHETRY: It was an article that published in the British Science Journal. They do look into the science of attraction. So they say it may be an indicator of testosterone levels, which we know yours are pretty strong because that's why -- your hair.
VELSHI: No hair. No space for the hair. They couldn't put the testosterone in without losing it.
CHETRY: See. Well, on "American Idol" rocker, Casey Abrams -- you follow this show every night right? You just can't get enough.
Well, he stole the show by kissing Jennifer Lopez. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO FROM "AMERICAN IDOL")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: She's never going to wash that cheek again.
CHETRY: I love that --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: A surprise ending to his song, "Harder to Breath". A blushing J Lo praised his performance and Steven Tyler was actually jealous. Abrams is in the top seven. He's a fan favorite. He was saved by the judges, though, from elimination just last month. Maybe the kiss was his way of saying thanks.
VELSHI: Absolutely.
CHETRY: That was ok. At least it was -- she put her cheek out there. I wonder if he would have tried to kiss her on the lips. That wouldn't have been so good. Marc Anthony would not have liked that.
VELSHI: No, that's true. Exactly.
Fifty-six minutes after the hour. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Eight days and counting to the royal wedding.
But there is another milestone getting all the headlines in England today. You know what it is?
CHETRY: Why are you talking like Richard Quest right now?
VELSHI: It is the Queen's birthday, 85th birthday. Keeping with tradition, she handed out Maundy money at a royal service at Westminster Abbey. The queen's birthday will officially be celebrated in June with trooping the color parade.
CHETRY: Now, there's another -- parade, I love that -- there's is another royal milestone, by the way. This is a royal milestone, Prince Charles has now set the record for the longest tenure of the heir apparent to the royal throne -- the heir-in-waiting; 59 years, 2 months and 14 days.
VELSHI: I think we have to cut the first few years out. I mean he wasn't going to be king when he was a baby.
CHETRY: Oh, no. That has happened. And that could happen.
VELSHI: Then somebody else has to sort of do all that stuff.
CHETRY: Yes. But he would technically be the next in line to the throne the second they pop them out.
VELSHI: Do you know who was longer than him?
CHETRY: You mean before this?
VELSHI: Until he -- yes. Who's the second now?
CHETRY: It was Edward the first, no; the fifth, no; the seventh.
VELSHI: Edward the VII. That's right. Always get tripped out on which Edward it was.
On Friday, April 29th at 4:00 a.m. Eastern tune in to CNN to watch, DVR, participate and join Anderson Cooper, Piers Morgan, Kiran Chetry -- that's you -- Richard Quest, Cat Deeley as they bring you every unforgettable moment of the royal wedding.
CHETRY: Yes, we're going to have some fun. Well, it was fun today being with you. Getting you caught up on the day's news. Thanks so much for joining us. And we'll be back here bright and early tomorrow.
VELSHI: Carol Costello takes over right now with "NEWSROOM". Good morning Carol.
