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American Morning

Obama Takes on Gas Prices; McDonald's Super Sized Prices; Playbook Versus iPad

Aired April 22, 2011 - 08:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: But can a president really bring gas prices down?

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi.

"Thank you, John McCain." Libyan rebels showing the U.S. senator some love during a surprise overnight visit to Benghazi. McCain says those fighting to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi are his heroes -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(MUSIC)

CHETRY: And good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us on this Good Friday. It's April 22nd. Christine Romans is off today.

VELSHI: It is Good Friday. It is Earth Day.

CHETRY: Earth Day.

VELSHI: And it's a week away from the royal wedding.

But, first, President Obama saying he is willing to try something new to possibly bring gas prices down, which now average $3.85 a gallon. I think it's 31 days in a row we've seen increases.

CHETRY: Yes, absolutely.

And drivers in a lot of places are already paying over 4 bucks a gallon.

Our Ed Henry is live at the White House.

It's interesting. So, the president pointed to traders and speculators, calling them out, it seems, yesterday, saying that this commission or whatever he's putting together has to look into that. Can they really make a difference? Can they bring down gas prices?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, that's a big question because it really appears to be something that might have a difference on the margins but doesn't get at the root cause.

When you talk to analysts, they say it's really more about the normal supply and demand issues, also, unrest in the Middle East has spiked oil and gas prices.

And so, the president is under great, intense, political pressure to do something. But he himself has acknowledged, as he's been out on the road in California and Nevada, at some of these town hall meetings, that there is very little a president or a Congress can do in the short-term to deal with those basic market forces. So, instead, what he did yesterday was talk a little bit about creating a task force at the Justice Department to look into whether or not there is manipulation, speculation, that it is fraud, basically, hurting consumers.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The attorney general is putting together a team whose job it is to root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices. And that includes the role of traitors and speculators. We're going to make sure nobody is taking advantage of American consumers for their own short-term gain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So, it's something that may make consumers feel a little bit better. But will it really make a difference to consumers? That's the bottom line question.

My producer, Becky Brittain, and I were talking this morning. We seem to have heard a similar proposal before back in the Bush administration and she dug it out. Three years ago today, then- Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter to President Bush when oil and gas prices were spiking in the 2008 campaign. And among other things, she asks then-President Bush to have the Justice Department pursue oil cartel price fixing and have the Federal Trade Commission get the authority to investigate, and in her words, "punish price gougers."

So, the bottom line is, three years later, it's the same thing that we've heard before. It's unlikely to really have a big, big difference on these spiking gas prices -- Ali, Kiran.

VELSHI: Ed, you talked about basic market forces. When there's a hurricane at a gas station, all of the sudden, it ups the prices for water and gas beyond what they paid for it with a reasonable markup, that's gouging. But to suggest -- and so many people are suggesting this, too -- the president said people buying oil that they don't need. There is this whole suggestion.

When I buy Apple stock, I don't need it. If I buy a house on the expectation that it's going to go up in 10 years, I don't need to do that. I can rent.

I mean, speculation is core to our basic market forces. I don't understand why the White House wades into this for populist benefit to tell people that we're going -- equating fraud with speculation. They are two different things.

HENRY: Certainly. And I think the bottom line is, this president has a political problem because of the spiking gas prices. He wants to do something. But he, himself, has been saying at these town hall meetings, this is really a long-term battle, and that you got to put more money into renewable energy. You've got to really think big picture.

And, frankly, there's not too much you can do in the short- term. That doesn't help ease the minds of consumers who are paying 60, 70 bucks every time they go to their gas pump to fill up the tank, especially if they have a long commute back-and-forth to work.

So, the bottom line is, I think these are sort of small measures on the margins trying to make consumers feel a little bit better, maybe root out some fraud. But, you're right, Ali, at the end of the day, it's unlikely to make a huge difference.

CHETRY: Right. But it is politically untenable for it to continue like this, and that's why he's speaking out certainly.

Ed Henry for us this morning -- thanks so much.

And it's not just gas prices that are -- you know, it's just oil causing gas prices to rise and those types of problems. Everyday things, like the price of food, are going up, because of oil prices.

VELSHI: That's right. Because you need oil to run those factories. You need oil to ship all the stuff. McDonald is saying that it's going to have to raise prices more than it originally thought.

Stephanie is here watching your money.

A lot of -- this is happening in a lot of restaurants. You are seeing either price increases or smaller amounts of food.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right, exactly. I mean, or a combination of both.

VELSHI: Yes. Yes.

ELAM: But it's true. And when -- you know, the world's largest restaurant says they have to cut back or that may they have to see their prices go up, that really tells you something.

So, what McDonald's is saying here is, you know what, the way we've been evaluating things, the cost of beef, the cost of bread, the cost to make the bread, I should say, you know, basically, the wheat and all those things in there -- that is going up. The cheese for that is also going up.

So, they are saying the average price is to increase about 4 percent, 4.5 percent in the United States and Europe. Now, in January, they say it's going up about 2 percent, 2.5 percent in the United State.

So, they're saying this is hurting their quarterly margins. They're saying that this is also going to be an issue of inflation being a larger component of what they are dealing with throughout the year. And, obviously, nobody likes to hear that.

But if you take a look at commodity prices, and that's all of these things -- the meat, the cheese, the wheat -- all of those things that we're talking about there, it's just been steadily moving higher.

There you go. You have a chart right there. So, you can see over the past six months what has been going on.

That's affecting them. That means you may end up paying more for your Big Mac.

CHETRY: I love it that there's a Big Mac behind you and a McRib.

VELSHI: You know, once in a while, when I am look for a healthier choice, I go to Chipotle.

ELAM: I love Chipotle.

I mean, I know my entire range of food.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: I used to go to Chipotle and thinking, I'm going to be really hungry because I won't be able to finish what they give me. And now, when they put that little thing on, it's like, is that it? Did I order the junior size?

ELAM: They definitely cut back.

VELSHI: And there's not sign there that says, "We've cut down" or whatever, but I'm an connoisseur of fast food. I know when something is happening.

ELAM: And it's important things.

VELSHI: Every time I go there, I say to them, just to see if somebody won't give me a blank look. But they always give a blank look because corporate must have said, don't say anything. I really wish they'd say it. It's happening across the world.

ELAM: But if you ask more, they'll give it to you.

VELSHI: I did see people asking for more.

ELAM: Yes, I've seen people asking for more, too, at Chipotle.

CHETRY: That's interesting. The nuggets are the same size.

ELAM: Anyway, it's my last day. Bye to you guys it has been awesome being here. But today is my last day. I'm moving to California. And I just want to say, I've had so much fun with you guys.

And the people you don't see behind here, all the guys that are on the stage are fantastic. They make every morning so joyful. I'm going to miss you guys.

CHETRY: We are going to miss you.

VELSHI: We've been sort of dodging the issue because it's kind of sad.

ELAM: I know. But this is my last time on AMERICAN MORNING, so I got to say it.

CHETRY: Well, we love you and I think of it as just not good- bye but I think we are going to keep in touch. But, you know, you've had this -- she's been juggling a cross-country marriage and a little new baby. And you know something had to give.

ELAM: Something had to give. We are going back.

VELSHI: Now, I often ask you to fill in for me on things. Is that going to be possible?

(LAUGHTER)

ELAM: The thing is your stuff is too early in L.A. now. So, you know.

VELSHI: We will miss you. We will miss you.

ELAM: We're far apart now. I'm going to miss you guys.

VELSHI: We'll be in close touch now.

ELAM: Yes.

CHETRY: Bye, Steph, and good luck.

Well, we're talking about NATO right now. In Libya, NATO airstrikes overnight reportedly killed nine people in Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. Meantime, the fierce fighting on the ground is continuing between rebel fighters and those loyal to Gadhafi as they battle for control of the key city of Misrata.

VELSHI: Arizona Senator John McCain is in Libya this morning, making a surprise visit. He says he is happy with President Obama's decision to use unmanned drones for aerial attacks on Gadhafi forces. McCain arrived in Benghazi overnight. It was a surprise trip to meet with rebel leaders. That's their capital, Benghazi.

McCain says opposition fighters are trying to overthrow Gadhafi fighters and because of that, he calls them his heroes.

CHETRY: And we'll have much more of McCain's visit to the rebel stronghold at 8:30 Eastern. CNN's Reza Sayah will be joining us live in Benghazi.

VELSHI: Just in to CNN: Egypt's ousted president, Hosni Mubarak, will remain in custody for another 15 days for questioning. This is coming to us from the country's news agency. Right now, Mubarak is detained at a hospital in Sharm-el-Sheikh.

CHETRY: And he is reportedly being moved to a prison, though, next week if he is healthy enough. Mubarak is being investigated over the deaths of hundreds of protesters. The uprisings eventually led to his downfall in February.

VELSHI: Right. And there's some question as to what his role was in those deaths. Did he have any role in ordering them directly or indirectly? And that's the investigation that is causing him to be detained.

Wildfires continue to burn in Texas. We've got new video of the damage that it has left behind. Millions of acres, charred and blackened where homes once stood now just debris. Two deaths have been reported, both men were firefighters. New concerns today, more storms may be on the way this weekend, because there are storms headed that way, but officials fear that the lightning could do more damage than any potential rain that comes from them.

CHETRY: Right. And that's why it's a double-edge sword. They need the moisture but they don't knee what comes with it.

Jacqui Jeras in the extreme weather center for us, tracking all of that.

Hey, Jacqui Jeras.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys.

Yes, and all this moisture really focused in the eastern parts of Texas. And we are going to see a little bit of rain potentially later on again for today. But it's just all going to suck into the ground. It's truly not going to make that much of a difference.

But any time you get cloud cover, any time you get increases in humidity, you know, you'll take any little help that you can get.

West Texas, still as critical as ever, in terms of fire danger as it remains very dry. And today, winds are going to be gusting, even into eastern Texas. We could be seeing winds up to 30 miles per hour with those gusts into the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And we'll also possibly see some severe thunderstorms in northeast Texas, stretching on up through Indiana, large hail and damaging winds, the greatest threat today. But isolated tornadoes really can't be ruled out.

Our other top weather story today is the threat of flooding. You've got so much rain that's already fallen in the past weeks and even months or so across the Ohio middle Mississippi River Valley. And our weather pattern now is setting up. We're just going to see these waves of rain around thunderstorms move on through.

Severe thunderstorm watch is dropped for the Kansas City area. That's the good news for you. You might expect more storms later on for today.

We'll talk more about the weekend forecast coming up when I see you guys again. And I heard you mention all the days but I didn't hear you mention Jelly Bean Day. Don't forget that one.

VELSHI: Oh, that's right. I knew there was something I was missing. So, it's Good Friday, Earth Day, one week to the royal wedding and National Jelly Bean Day. What a day!

JERAS: Awesome.

CHETRY: Yes, a lot going on. A lot going.

VELSHI: Do they have Easter eggs and jelly -- candied Easter eggs and jelly beans? I mean, that's a lot of sugar.

JERAS: That's a lot.

VELSHI: All right.

CHETRY: Especially to a 3 and 5-year-old.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: I'm going to be jumping around for the next several hours and fall asleep like a baby.

JERAS: Good.

CHETRY: Thanks, Jacqui.

Well, we want to show you these pictures now of a record number of whales, right whales, just off the coast of Cape Cod. Massachusetts officials are now urging boaters to be on the lookout. They're an endangered species and they're showing up in big numbers.

VELSHI: I think you misrepresented that as a picture of a record number of whales. That was a whale.

CHETRY: All right. There is one more. How about that?

VELSHI: All right. You got two whales. Is that a record?

CHETRY: Guess what, they swim under water, OK?

VELSHI: Oh, look at that. That looks like a record number of whales.

CHETRY: There you go, one, two, three, four, five -- I see six of them right there in that shot alone.

VELSHI: All right. Now, Terry Jones, remember him? The controversial Florida pastor who burned the Koran and now he's in Michigan. This guy, trouble follows this dude. He had a gun and when he got into his car yesterday, it went off. It accidentally discharged. We have more on Terry Jones. He is the news gift that keeps on giving.

CHETRY: Well, a hydro boat catches fire and explodes. The person who was driving it, who was riding it. When you say driving it, I guess --

VELSHI: Didn't know this was happening.

CHETRY: Yes, did not know, got the warning. And we'll show you how she managed to get out, coming up.

Twelve minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Terry Jones, the pastor that burned the Muslim holy book, the Koran, is now being investigated for reportedly firing a gun.

CHETRY: WJBK reports that he fired a gun in a parking lot of a Detroit TV station yesterday, just finished up a live interview. He's claiming it was an accident. No charges are expected to be filed. Jones is in Michigan, though, to protest Islamic law outside of one of the country's biggest mosques today.

VELSHI: Assuming he had some sort of a carry permit for that gun.

CHETRY: Otherwise there --

VELSHI: Otherwise there would be other problems for him.

Meanwhile, Jones' protest is causing a lot of controversy and fears of a violent backlash. The rally is going to be held, or at least it's planned to be held at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. That is if a jury deliberating this morning allows it to happen.

The area has got a large Muslim community. Jones saying it is a matter of free speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY JONES, PASTOR, DOVE OUTREACH WORLD CENTER: We're going to be addressing the issue of jihad and Shariah to exercise our First Amendment rights.

REPORTER: Will you exercise those rights at the mosque?

JONES: Yes.

REPORTER: Or will you exercise it at city hall?

JONES: No. We will --

REPORTER: What if you get arrested?

JONES: That doesn't matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Yesterday, a bunch of religious leaders, you can see them here, rallied at that mosque with a very different message, one of unity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IMAM SAYED HASSAN, AL-QAZWINI ISLAMIC CENTER OF AMERICA: Terry Jones does not represent the Christian community. He represents himself and only himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And we did get a chance to speak to Jack O'Reilly, Jr. He's the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan. And he's trying to explain just how difficult it could potentially be. Today's Good Friday. It's an area where there we a lot of churches.

VELSHI: He is not objecting to Terry Jones' right to protest.

CHETRY: Right.

VELSHI: He is saying that the specific spot that they've chosen is just not a safe place. They would like them to protest somewhere else.

CHETRY: All right. Well, also, the man who planned to bomb the New York subway system may have had some help. Now, it's come out that the uncle of Najibullah Zazi has pleaded guilty to destroying evidence.

According to court documents, someone poured several bottles of liquid down a drain. Other items were thrown into a dumpster. Zazi pleaded guilty last year to plotting to blow up New York's subway. He told his uncle that the bomb-making materials were actually materials he was using to make fertility medicine.

VELSHI: Do they make fertility medicine out of those things?

CHETRY: I don't think so.

VELSHI: Yes.

Police in New York are looking for more victims of a possible serial killer this morning. The remains of at least eight bodies have been found since December on the remote beaches of the south shore. Four sets of remains have been identified as coming from prostitutes who advertised on Craigslist. Some remains found last week have been identified as not being humans, being animal.

CHETRY: Well, duck boats are back in the water in Philadelphia. The first tour in nine months shipped off yesterday. The boats ride on land and water and take tours through the city. Check it out.

VELSHI: I've done this several times. Yes, I really love the boats.

CHETRY: That was fun.

Duck boat tours were stopped last year, because there was a deadly collision. A boat was run over by a barge and 37 people were thrown into the water. Two students were killed. Now, they claim they have new safety procedures in place. They are trying to keep these boats closer to shore. And they also have a rescue boat on stand by.

VELSHI: It was very sad to hear that because it's such -- it's almost innocuous. They drive around town and then they go not too far into the Delaware River. But you can see how that can happen. So, I'm glad that they are back and I'm hoping the new safety measures will really keep them a lot safer.

SeaWorld has opened a new killer whale show, by the way. It debuts today in Orlando. It's going to make its way to other parks later this year. The park has made changes after a trainer was killed tragically last year. In the show, trainers have to stay out of the water. They got their keep their hair pulled back.

A trainer drown last year, you remember, last February, after a killer whale grabbed her ponytail and yanked her into the water and kept her there.

CHETRY: All right. Well, this was an amazing scene that happened at a hotel in Orlando. Just randomly, a hotel guest managed to look up and see a toddler about ready to fall four stories and caught her. We're going to tell you what people were saying, what happened exactly at that hotel.

VELSHI: If you've been watching this hour, you've been seeing me play around with this BlackBerry playbook. I just got my hands on one of them. It's one of many different tablet computers this year.

We're also talking about this iPhone situation. Are iPhones and iPads tracking you? What are you supposed to do about it if they are, and whether or not it's beneficial for you, or it's a massive privacy invasion. Tech guy, Mario Armstrong, live with us to tell us all about that, answering your questions, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: All right. Well, this next story is really incredible. A 2-year-old -- apparently somebody was supposed to be watching this child and they didn't and they ended up making their way out to the balcony.

VELSHI: I mean, that's the worst thing you can imagine, a kid falling off a balcony.

CHETRY: Slipping through the railings of the balcony. Well, anyway, the baby survived, though, thanks to an alert guest who actually caught her.

VELSHI: I don't even know how this happened. Somebody was looking up and saying, oh, my gosh, a baby is falling, a toddler.

It happened at this hotel in Orlando. A toddler fell through a railing, barreling into another railing on the way down. But this guest got to her before she hit the pavement. The woman staying at the hotel heard horrific screams from those that saw it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE KNIGHT, HEARD SCREAMS AS TODDLER FELL: It was directly across from the area. Everybody must have seen it, that's why they were screaming like they were. There was a lot of screaming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: The little girl's mom told police she left her daughter with a friend in the room next door. Child Services is investigating what went on.

CHETRY: And a scary scene on Seattle's Lake Washington. Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: A hydroplane boat that caught fire. You saw that happen. It blew up and the driver was listening to people screaming for her to get out, leaped into the water and swam to shore. Officials say it was mechanical failure in the engine. The driver is OK. She's able to get out in time and made her way back to shore, just fine.

VELSHI: Students at a Michigan high school are getting quite the surprise. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kid Rock!

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Kid Rock returning to his alma mater. He was there to donate $5,000 to Romeo High School's music program. He also gave the kids some sound advice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KID ROCK, SINGER: Surround yourself with good people. If you surround yourself with good people, you'll go far. If you start hanging out with knuckleheads, you'll be right in the knucklehead section the rest of your life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: That is good advice. The knucklehead section, nobody was wants to be there.

VELSHI: Nobody wants to be there.

CHETRY: Come on.

Well, Kid Rock also donated a signed guitar, which will be raffled off to raise money for the school's music program as well. So, pretty cool for the kids.

VELSHI: I'm done with the knucklehead section.

OK. I love this -- I can't get enough of this penguin. We've been seeing cute cat video, cute baby videos. This is the new YouTube sensation. Check this out.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

CHETRY: I didn't know penguins made that sound. I've played with penguins for years.

This is Cookie (ph), the baby (INAUDIBLE) Cincinnati zoo. A very ticklish baby penguin as you can hear. The original video is now approaching --

He just keeps coming back for more. That's the cute part.

VELSHI: Right. That tickle is usually, you should avoid it.

CHETRY: No way. Love it.

VELSHI: That's very cute.

All right. Coming up, we're going to tell you what won the 2011 World Car of the Year. You are going to be surprised by this.

CHETRY: All right. Also, Senator McCain visiting Benghazi, meeting with the rebels. What was the goal of the meeting? And will there be any changes to what's going on there? We are going to have the latest, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Minding your business right now. Nissan's Leaf. You know this car?

VELSHI: I've driven it.

CHETRY: You like it?

VELSHI: I love the Nissan Leaf. I think it's fantastic. No emission. There's no tailpipe. There's nothing that comes out of that car. It is a 100 percent electric car.

CHETRY: Can you hear it when it is coming or no?

VELSHI: You can hear an electric motor. It's not noisy at all.

CHETRY: Well, Nissan's Leaf got the top honors at the New York Auto Show. As Ali said, there it is. As Ali said, it's all electric and it was named the 2011 World Car of the Year. The judges said the Leaf is the gateway to a brave new electric world.

OK. So, let me ask you a couple questions. Can four people sit in that or is that literally --

VELSHI: No, it's actually a neat-looking car. You got to be able to charge it up. And it's got a GPS basically that always tells you how far you are from the next charging station.

CHETRY: The nearest stop, the smart thing to do because one of the problems people said about marketing this is, where is the infrastructure to support an all electric car?

VELSHI: If I'm driving to Philly, it will tell me where I can where I can stop (ph). It's a great car.

Lawmakers, by the way, teaming up to take down Blast. We've been talking about Blast. That's it. It's a drink. Seventeen state attorneys general petitioning Pabst Brewing Company, the makers of Colt 45 Blast, to halt production of the malt beverage, calling it a binge in a can and saying it targets kids. Blast is a fruity drink with a colorful design, but 12 percent alcohol by volume. Pabst stands by their product, saying they are only marketing to people above the legal drinking age.

CHETRY: Amazon.com server went down, and with it, a bunch of popular sites. It was technical glitch called -- that caused other major Web sites to crash or slow down. Web sites like Foursquare, Reddit, Hootsuite. Amazon rents out space on its computer servers. Millions of users were affected by the problem.

Most sites were up within 12 hours. Although, some are still running a little slow.

VELSHI: A little known fact about Amazon, it uses servers that a lot of other companies use because Amazon has this great infrastructure and they are trying to get the best capacity.

Apple coming under fire after the news that iPhones and iPads may be secretly tracking your every move. The information is not encrypted, which means anyone can access it. We don't know how they would do so but we will find out about that.

Minnesota Senator Al Franken is concerned about privacy. He sent a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs demanding an explanation. No comment yet from Apple.

CHETRY: We want to know what you think. Head to our twitter page, facebook.com/AmericanMorning and let us know. We will read some of your comments coming up. VELSHI: Top stories -- the president is feeling your pain at the pump, or so he says. He is announcing a new task force to root out fraud in the market. The national average for a gallon of unleaded gasoline now, $3.85.

Nevada Senator John Ensign stepping down in the middle of a sex scandal. He says he is resigning May 3rd. The Republican He is in the middle of an ethics investigation. He admitted to an affair with his former deputy chief of staff's wife. Investigators are looking into allegations that he paid her family nearly $100,000.

Authorities in Japan now strictly enforcing the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. This new order is designed to keep people from what they call sneaking back into their homes to retrieve their belongings.

Senator John McCain getting a hero's welcome in the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi. He arrived overnight on a surprise visit. Greeted with cheers and people waving American flags and people telling McCain they are happy he is there. He is telling them the American people support you very strongly.

John McCain also calling the rebels fighting to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi his heroes. Reza Sayah has more on McCain's visit. Everybody seems very pleased that a senior senator, somebody who has a lot of sway here in the United States, is there voicing his support and showing it in person.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He did get a warm welcome. It wasn't a big welcoming. These days, in the opposition capital of Benghazi at 9:00 in the mornings on Friday, not a lot of people out. He had about 30, 40 people greet him with American flags, thank you, John McCain, thank you Obama, thank you, America. He visited the courthouse in Benghazi, so-called the freedom scare widely viewed as the heart of the uprising a couple of months ago.

He paused at a wall covered with people allegedly killed by Gadhafi forces during this uprising. He paid his respects. No a great surprise senator McCain is here in Benghazi visiting the opposition officials. He has been one of the most staunch supporters of the military intervention of the U.S. involvement. He has sometimes been critical of president Obama when the U.S. took a back seat, if you will, to other countries, like Italy and France. And today, he pushed the U.S. to do more. Here is senator McCain earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: To help they need more air support. The United States has unique capabilities. We should be restoring that. They want to be recognized as the French and Italians have recognized them.

I just came from the hospital where I saw a number of people who were badly wounded and dying. And frankly that puts a face on it that argues that maybe we should be doing everything we can to help these people, and maybe we are not, and they are dying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAYAH: Senator McCain suggesting that the U.S. should do more. His visit coming a day after Washington announced plans to use those unmanned predator drones in the conflict. He is going to be meeting with opposition officials throughout the day. He has a news conference in a couple of hours and leaves later today.

VELSHI: Quick question. The drones, we have heard the rebels say that NATO is not doing enough to protect civilians on the ground. Does the addition of these drones make them feel better about this?

SAYAH: Yes. They certainly do feel better. They appear to be much more well-suited to tackle problems you see in Misrata, a city where you have regime forces placing their tanks in heavily populated civilian areas, homes, schools. These are the type of regime tactics that you can't really tackle with warplanes way up above.

These unplanned predator drones fly lower, fly slower. They have real time intelligence, so probably a little more well-suited to tackle those types of regime tactics. Observers say they launch surgical strikes. It's a pretty impressive description and it is an impressive machine. But these predators have also killed plenty of civilians. So if that happens, you will see some controversy. And we will see how effective they are.

Reza, good to see you. Thanks very much for this on the story of John McCain showing up overnight in Benghazi.

CHETRY: We are going to switch grs and talk a little bit about some technology issues.

VELSHI: You and I are sitting around trying to figure out this blackberry tablet we have got here. Our tech guy, Mario Armstrong next to me, looks like he has had it since he was three-years old. You are operating it like a two-year-old.

CHETRY: Bottom line, do you like it?

MARIO ARMSTRONG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CONTRIBUTOR: I do like this device but there are some limitations we need to get over.

CHETRY: You can't link it up with your blackberry messenger.

VELSHI: You are giving it all away. You want them to come back?

ARMSTRONG: We can do either. It is your show.

VELSHI: We will be coming right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: It's sunny for now. A little bit later, the clouds move in, 53 degrees for a high today in New York. VELSHI: In case you are tracking Kiran's iPad, it will tell you that's where we are, because apparently, that's what the issue is. They track you and all sorts of bad things can happen.

CHETRY: Exactly. There are a lot of questions about exactly what apple is doing with the news that they have built-in tracking systems both on the iPhone and iPad. When you sync up with your computer, it puts that permanently on your computer. And it is not encrypted.

VELSHI: We have had a lot of e-mails and tweets saying apple talked about this a long time ago and disclosed it to Congress. This is something different. They disclosed they used location-based services which all devices, many of these devices do, these smart phones. This is something entirely different.

Minnesota Senator Al Franken has sent a letter to Steve jobs demanding to know why they are collecting this information. Is this an invasion of privacy or a new way to track your every move for good reason, customized advertising?

CHETRY: Joining us is Mario Armstrong, all-around tech guy.

ARMSTRONG: Good to see you.

CHETRY: I want to know about this tracking situation. The other disturbing part, I think, for some people, we will read a couple of the e-mails. It had to be discovered by security techs.

ARMSTRONG: It wasn't disclosed, and that's a big issue. If you are going to do these type of things, "Foursquare" say, hey, would you like to have your check-in be available, you can opt in. A lot of people are upset because this is not something they were aware was happening.

It only started in June of last year with the new software update. If you are running the new software update, it has been started since then.

CHETRY: Only the iPhone 4 or the iPad.

ARMSTRONG: Or any of the phones that have the new software.

VELSHI: Do I have the capability to switch it off as a user?

ARMSTRONG: We are still trying to figure that out. I thought the answer was going to be just turn off location based services. But that turns out not to be true. We are looking at cellular triangulation. It is not necessarily GPS or Wi-Fi. That can't necessarily be turned off.

We should mention, other cellular companies do this type of thing. They keep it private. You normally need a court order to get that information. Whereas in this case, they uncovered this breach, this gaping hole. CHETRY: If your phone gets lost and somebody takes it and puts it into their computer, they can find out where you've been. A couple of viewers have said, "I think the iPhone tracking is dangerous because of stalkers and abusers. It violates privacy, and you should be allowed to know who was tracking you." Some don't care, but there were others that were worried about safety.

ARMSTRONG: Absolutely. I worry about this not only in this scenario but using other social sites. We rely on these applications at these companies to really protect our privacy first and allow us to customize how much information we want revealed about us.

VELSHI: So the default should be you are protected and then. If I want to do things that are location based or I want to walk into some place that targets me, which I might choose to do, then I should be able to activate that.

ARMSTRONG: That's right. But unfortunately, Ali and Kiran, we don't see that with a lot of companies. It is also this gap of privacy.

VELSHI: We have people who have written in that say they are not all that bothered by this. Carrie said, "What did you think would happen with all that data? Let's get real here."

(LAUGHTER)

ARMSTRONG: That's a good point. What world are we living in? Are you living in a world of digital society where we are always connected. You should be thinking that whatever device you are carrying is a smart enough computer that can broadcast things about you.

CHETRY: Jimmy says "It would be a great app in the app store to purchase it if you wanted it, but to have it forced on you without consent and ability to disable it, it should be criminal." Apple hasn't responded yet. We just talked about their earnings, things flying off the shelf. Does this affect them in any way?

ARMSTRONG: I don't think it affects them because Apple has created such a brand for themselves. The theory is that this capability is put into the phone or put into the phone and iPad so that you can do other things with future location-based services. So we have yet to see what beyond this negative scenario, what could be positive from it. So I think it is a little bit of a wait and see.

VELSHI: Mario, I have the Blackberry Playbook in my hand. I have just started playing with it this morning. They sold 50,000 of these on the first day. This is supposed to put them back into the game. It did hit the stocks. Some people don't like this. It has had good and bad reviews. What's your review?

ARMSTRONG: Mine is mixed as well. The bad first -- number one, no 3g or 4g connectivity.

VELSHI: That is coming? ARMSTRONG: That is coming. No e-mail currently on the device. You have to use the web to get to your e-mail. Say it again.

VELSHI: It's coming.

(LAUGHTER)

ARMSTRONG: So we are also looking at applications. We are only saying about 3,000 or so applications on the device now. Say it again.

VELSHI: It's coming.

ARMSTRONG: That's right. Yes so we're also looking at applications right now. We're only seeing about 3,000 or so applications on the device now. Say it again.

VELSHI: It's coming.

ARMSTRONG: That's right. All these things that are coming RIM has been saying will be available this summer.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: So why are they -- why did they launch it now then?

ARMSTRONG: Oh it's a little premature. Right, I was rooting for this guys, I was like, come on.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: Right.

ARMSTRONG: -- bring us some competition. It will be good for the marketplace. We need that. And I just think it is a great device.

One of the things that I am going to show you is the multitasking. So right now, I'm able to skim through several different windows that I have open. And as you can see, in the camera window, it's actually shooting.

VELSHI: Oh look at that.

ARMSTRONG: So it's actually working as I'm moving across. And if I go to another application, I can jump right into it.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Right, this is -- because in Apple, you have to shut down one application to get to another.

ARMSTRONG: That's right.

VELSHI: And check this out. Unlike the -- unlike the --

CHETRY: iPhone.

(CROSSTALK)

ARMSTRONG: You can't get away -- it has pocketability.

CHETRY: iPad --

VELSHI: It's in my pocket. I walk around. And you don't know what I've got on me.

(CROSSTALK)

ARMSTRONG: Right and you have to watch Ali around these devices.

CHETRY: Only problem -- only problem is, he still has to take this with him, because that doesn't have his e-mails.

ARMSRTONG: Well, good point. They do have the tethering feature with Blackberry phones to tether to the device.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Look it goes right inside my pocket. I'm carrying around a tablet in my pocket.

CHETRY: And one -- one other question to state because I am an iPad gal and clearly that will not fit in his pocket.

ARMSTRONG: People watch out for Ali on the street.

CHETRY: Right, the one thing about this, the -- the speakers are terrible.

VELSHI: Well, great point.

CHETRY: If you are watching Netflix or watching something on here, not good.

VELSHI: Yes, yes these things are great.

CHETRY: Now I don't know if the new one is different.

VELSHI: These things are great.

ARMSTRONG: This is phenomenal on here. The speaker on here is really, really done well. The two front-facing speakers, great for captioning video or playing video back or playing games.

It is called the Playbook, however I do think it is built more for that corporate user first. But they do have games embedded on here. So they are trying to bridge across two audiences right now.

CHETRY: Yes. VELSHI: Good to see you my friend. Always great. Mario Armstrong, Sirius XM's Mario Armstrong's digital spin is where you can listen to him. It's great to see you my friend.

ARMSTRONG: All right.

CHETRY: You need bigger pockets.

ARMSTRONG: Bigger pockets.

CHETRY: Thank you Mario.

All right, well, we're going to take a quick break.

When we come back Obama, the President was giving a speech and --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: One of the most creative heckles I have ever heard.

CHETRY: Exactly, complete with song and what sounded like backup singers. We'll tell you what happens.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: He -- he even -- he even le let it go because it sounded good.

And up to ten inches of rain in the Midwest. Flood watches in effect. We're going to tell you if you need to be worried about that when we come back. You're watching CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: A lot going on this morning. Here is what you need to know to start your day.

President Obama is setting up a task force to tackle high gas prices. They're up for the 31st day in a row. According to AAA, the national average is now $3.85 a gallon.

President Obama heckled by singing protesters. They interrupted his speech at a fundraising event yesterday. The women upfront were supporting WikiLeaks suspect, Bradley Manning. President Obama let them finish before they were tossed out.

Senator John McCain meeting his, quote, "Heroes in Benghazi". McCain making a surprise visit to the Libyan stronghold. He is the most senior American official to visit the eastern Libyan city. McCain is there to assess the situation on the ground.

You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And good morning to Washington, D.C., a live picture of the White House this morning where it's only 47 degrees. We're going to be lucky to make it to 55 this afternoon, kind of a cloudy and dreary day. That's going to be the rule through the weekend for you across much of the mid-Atlantic. But the nice weather returns on Monday when the President and the First Lady are going to be hosting the annual Easter egg rolls.

All right. Let's talk about what's going on at this hour. We've really got a wet mess across much of the Great Lakes region into the Mississippi River Valley and Ohio River Valley. And our weather pattern is just going to bring in the series of waves of showers and thundershowers making things very wet and really exasperating the flood threat over the next couple of days, low clouds and the rain causing a lot of delays at the airport out of the gate this morning; more than two hours for you already at Chicago O'Hare; Baltimore looking at departure delays, around 30 minutes, as well as Philadelphia. And those delays are on the increase. So it's not going to get better.

We're talking a major amount of rain over the next five days. This is the forecast for you that gets you through Tuesday and take a look at this big red and purple area. That's as much as 8-10 inches. So the ground already very saturated at this time. You put that much rain on top of what we already have. And it means flooding is going to be all over the place.

We're especially focused in here along the I-70 corridor and southward. So keep that in mind; it's a holiday weekend for millions of Americans. A lot of people trying to get to grandma's house for Easter on Sunday. So be aware, don't drive over any roads that have water over them.

Severe weather to go along with that flooding rain, damaging winds and large hail will be the greatest probability for severe weather today. But we can't rule out an isolated tornado or two. We'll be watching Texas extending on up towards parts of Indiana for that threat.

On the back side of this system really windy, critical fire conditions again across west Texas and New Mexico as we head into tomorrow. Really the same rule here we'll see sunnier, warm and humid conditions across the southern tier of the country while the north just really stays pretty cloudy and cool for this time of the year.

Of course, Sunday is Easter Sunday for the bunny for you across the south and still stormy across the nation's midsection. So use a lot of caution traveling out there for today.

And that's a look at the nation's forecast. Ali and Kiran will be back right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: September 11th changed us all but this week's CNN hero thinks the next day changed us just as much. CHETRY: Yes. It is Jeff Parness; he was so deeply moved by the support that New York City got from across the country that he started paying it forward. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF PARNESS, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: September alone was a very tough time for the fire department. I lost some friends, the guys I went to the academy with. The day afterwards, people came from everywhere to help us out. It was incredible. You knew you weren't alone.

As a New Yorker, to see that outpouring of kindness and generosity was more powerful than the terror that happened. That really changed me.

I'm Jeff Parness. And I just want to show the world that New Yorkers will never forget what people did for us following 9/11.

Every year at the 9/11 anniversary, we take volunteers from New York and send them to some part of the country where they had a disaster and help folks rebuild.

(INAUDIBLE) a town and the tallest thing there is the grain silo, it's stepping into a culture shock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rebuilding homes or barns or churches. It's our way to say thank.

PARNESS: Now, more than half our volunteers are not from New York. People from all the small towns that we help they keep showing up to help the next community. They're from Louisiana and California, Indiana, Illinois. Every year, you see more T-shirts from more locations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to pitch in as much as we can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After Katrina, we just jumped on his bandwagon. This whole paying it forward thing is just contagious.

PARNESS: It is this big dysfunctional family reunion of all these disaster survivors that get together to do a barn-raising.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're banging nails and building something but it is the relationships that help you heal.

PARNESS: It is about using the 9/11 anniversary to celebrate in that volunteers group.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll see you next year.

PARNESS: People say, thank you for doing this. I say, you want to thank me, show up on the next one.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VELSHI: Who do you know who is making a big difference in your world? Tell us about them. Head to our AMERICAN MORNING blog at CNN.com/am to nominate your hero.

CHETRY: All right. Well, that's going to do it for us today. We hope you have a wonderful weekend.

I will see you next week from London. We're going to be reporting there all week for the royal wedding. So, I hope you miss me.

VELSHI: I will miss you terribly.

CHETRY: You'll be watching.

VELSHI: And if you need anything, I'll be right here, holding down the fort.

CHETRY: Thank you.

VELSHI: CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello begins right now. Good morning Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning. And have a great time, Kiran. That sounds fun.

CHETRY: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.