Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Afghan Prison Break; Giffords OK'd To Attend Launch; Pinky Up!
Aired April 25, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi. Prison break in Afghanistan. More than a hundred senior Taliban commanders are among hundreds of inmates who escaped through an underground tunnel 1,000 feet long. That's got some officials worried that we could see a new wave of terrorism.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: People in St. Louis are trying to recover from the worst tornado to hit that area in four decades.
I'm Christine Romans.
The city's major airport devastated by that powerful storm, now slowly getting back to normal -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
VELSHI: Good Monday morning. April 25th. It's royal wedding week.
But, boy, that weather continues to be an issue.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: It seems every few days, we're talking about a devastating tornado, whether it was in the Southeast or the Midwest. Now, in St. Louis.
ROMANS: And while we're still watching conditions, also, in Texas, where the heat and the lack of humidity is still really ripe for fires there.
But Kiran Chetry is joining us live this morning from London, where she's preparing for an entire week of royal wedding watching and reporting.
Hi, Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, guys. I actually feel a little guilty, because the weather here is glorious -- 71 degrees, bright sunshine, and the city has just come alive, as everybody gets excited for the royal wedding.
I want to take a little different point of view here. Where we were before, for the last two hours, is up there. You see this green structure. This was put up just for people to broadcast. Stations from across the world are here. That is how you get this beautiful shot of this Queen Victoria Memorial. And then, right over here, Buckingham Palace.
So, this whole, entire area is really in wedding mode. Four days out, the preparations, of course, have been taking place for months, and the cities and streets are just teaming with people from around the world coming to visit.
One of the interest things that they told me about is this area right up here is known as the mall. Now, when we talk about it on our magic wall, we called it the mall. They say here in London, you shop at a mall, and walk on the mall.
But this area is going to be loaded with people, tens of thousands most likely on both sides of the streets. After the royal wedding takes place, they're going to open up the barriers and they expect, perhaps in some cases, hundreds of thousands to walk through this area, find themselves right here. Why? Because the newly married royal couple, Prince William and Princess Catherine, although she has a more formal title, will be standing out there on the balcony and thousands of people will be there to witness their first kiss as a married couple.
So, of course, a lot of excitement here outside of Buckingham Palace today as people get set. The countdown is officially on, guys, for Friday morning.
VELSHI: Excellent, Kiran. We are looking forward to following with you every step of the way. You've got some great information for all of the wedding watchers, royal watchers in our audience. We'll check in with you very shortly again.
ROMANS: All right. Meantime, we're watching breaking news out of Afghanistan, where more than 100 senior Taliban commanders have broken out of prison in Afghanistan. The jailbreak took place last night in Kandahar.
VELSHI: Now, nearly 500 inmates escaped from an underground tunnel that was more than 1,000 feet long and the Taliban is taking credit for building that tunnel.
Nick Paton Walsh is live in Kabul, Afghanistan, this morning.
Nick, how did this happen?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely. I think there's a lot of grinding of teeth amongst Afghan officials, really. I mean, we're hearing from the presidential spokesperson, Wahid Omer, he described this as a disaster.
Now, really, the Taliban, I think, are reveling in the complexity of what they say was their raid. Think about this. We're talking about a 100-foot-long tunnel built, they say, over a period of five months, and then 470 men. That's the government there, they confirm that -- crawling through this tunnel to what the government says was a house 100 meters south of the prison through which they escaped.
So, really -- I mean, simply, an operation here of quite remarkable complexity, if you believe the Taliban version of events, which they say has released 100 of what they refer to of their commanders from what they say is the political division of this particular prison, Ali.
ROMANS: All right. Nick Paton Walsh -- thanks so much. We don't know how much of that is propaganda from Taliban.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: But seriously, a concern you've got some very bad guys --
VELSHI: One of the two major prisons who were holding these Taliban guys.
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: All right. Another story we're following very closely in the Middle East is the situation in Syria. It's growing more intense, and according to witnesses, a lot bloodier this morning. Syria has reportedly sealed off its border with Jordan and right now, there's an enormous military operation underway in Daraa, the southern city of Daraa, near that border.
Witnesses tell CNN government tanks have entered the city along with 3,000 Syrian soldiers. We're told those soldiers are going door to door, shooting people. Daraa is the city where the anti-government protest began in Syria. At least five demonstrators were reportedly killed in the latest round of fighting and more than 300 people were detained.
ROMANS: NATO fighter jets are now targeting the Libyan port city of Misrata. Military officials confirm U.S. Predator drones struck their first attacks in that city over the weekend. These attacks coming just hours after Gadhafi's forces stepped up their assaults on rebel troops in Misrata. Doctors there say 32 people were killed, dozens more were wounded over two days now of shelling.
VELSHI: Early this morning, NATO planes bombed Moammar Gadhafi's Tripoli compound. Three buildings suffered heavy damage, four people were reportedly injured. It's not clear where the Libyan dictator was during the attack. Here at home, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham says it's time to take Gadhafi out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: My recommendation to NATO and the administration is to cut the head of the snake off. Go to Tripoli, start bombing Gadhafi's inner circle, their compounds, their military headquarters in Tripoli.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman also appeared on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" and they called on the White House to once again take a leadership role in Libya.
ROMANS: A passenger on an Alitalia flight under arrest this morning after apparently trying to hijack the plane. Airline officials say the man attacked a female flight attendant on the Paris to Rome flight, demanding that this plane be diverted to Libya. He was subdued by the other flight attendants. The plane was carrying 131 passengers. It landed safely in Rome last night.
VELSHI: And while we're talking about airports. People in St. Louis trying to put their lives back together after a tornado left a trail of destruction in the area. The Lambert-St. Louis International Airport took a big hit. Look at this, seconds before -- look at that! They're running out and that tornado hit.
ROMANS: Direct hit from an EF-4.
VELSHI: That's surveillance cameras. EF-4, by the way, is the second to highest level, winds of up to 200 miles an hour blew out the windows in the main terminal, ripped the hole in the roof of a concourse.
ROMANS: You can see people inside the terminal were screaming, running for their lives, a pretty scary scene all around. The airport closed for nearly 24 hours over the weekend.
Listen to this for a minute.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
ROMANS: This morning, things are getting back to normal. Officials say they're operating at about 70 percent capacity.
Jacqui Jeras is in the extreme weather center, and there is still more severe weather brewing everywhere, I think, Texas to Ohio.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And it's not just today, guys. It's the next three days, overall. And I think, you know, late Tuesday and into Wednesday could be the worst of it and a real significant severe weather outbreak. In fact, all three days, we have what we call a moderate risk. And to see a moderate risk on day two and day three, as well, is very, very concerning.
So, severe weather today from Texas extending to the Ohio Valley. St. Louis is kind of on the cusp of this, guys. I think the worst rotation and the strongest storms will stay just to the south of there. But they will see some heavy rainfall.
Little Rock, certainly, expecting severe weather later today, as well as places like Memphis, Tennessee. Now, this morning, we're waking up to some action. This has all been kind of cruising through parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and now moving into southwestern parts of Arkansas. Damaging winds and large hail, the biggest concern there.
But, boy, look at all the people in the nation's midsection, dealing with a lousy commute there this morning. Now, the Northeast, you don't see a lot on radar, but it's foggy and it's misty. That's going to improve, say, by midday, but then we'll start to see a chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Travel delays, we've got a ground stop for you in Philadelphia. That means people who are at other airports across the country can't get into Philadelphia right now, at least not until 8:00. And look at that, LaGuardia, more than an hour half. More delays expected throughout the day. Really, the eastern two-thirds of the country is having some issues.
Back to you, guys.
VELSHI: All right. Jacqui, we'll stay on top of this with you. Thank you.
ROMANS: More hot, dry weather across the state of Texas this week. Wildfires are still burning. We told you about this last week. Now, you got 1.4 million acres burned now. Seventeen new wildfires over the weekend, the next two days is expected to be in the 90s with low humidity and high winds. A real concern.
VELSHI: There's been another release of documents from WikiLeaks. And they say something very interesting about Osama bin Laden after 9/11. Apparently, he wasn't spending nearly as much to hide as the rest of the world was spending trying to find him.
ROMANS: Absolutely.
Gas prices rising a little more slowly, perhaps.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: They're still rising, don't get me wrong. But maybe a little more slowly than before and perhaps they've peaked? We're going to answer that question for you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A police helicopter in Los Angeles made an emergency landing after taking a bullet to the fuel tank. An 18-year-old man was arrested for attempted murder yesterday after witnesses saw him fire at the chopper from his front yard. He was reportedly upset over someone's death. What an amazing --
ROMANS: Wow, and the helicopter safely landed.
VELSHI: It was an emergency landing, but it did safely land.
ROMANS: A Long Island, New York, neighborhood rocked by what a lot of people, Ali, thought was an earthquake. It was actually a gas explosion that leveled this house Easter Sunday. All that was left: a pile of smoldering debris.
Police say no one lived there, but the force of that blast sent 21 people from neighboring homes to area hospitals.
VELSHI: In many cases, a natural gas blast will have a more devastating effect on your house than an earthquake.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: The Colorado mall bomb suspect was released from prison just seven days before the crime. The FBI is still searching for 65-year-old Earl Albert Moore. The feds say Moore was serving 18 years for a bank robber, but got out early for helping prosecutors with a separate case.
Now, he was caught on surveillance video in a Denver area mall, minutes before police believe he set a fire that would have detonated explosives had a security guard not put the fire out. The attempted bombing happened 12 years to the day of the Columbine High School massacre. Police believe they don't have any evidence linking the two.
ROMANS: Released from prison seven days before this happened.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: All right. The search for a missing minor in Idaho has ended tragically. The body of 53-year-old Larry Marek was found yesterday in the Lucky Friday Silver Mine. Workers searched for him 12 days after he was trapped by a cave-in more than a mile down. It's still not known what exactly caused that mine to collapse.
VELSHI: And secret military documents on Guantanamo Bay prisoners are being made public by WikiLeaks. "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" reporting the documents provide details on nearly every terror suspect held at Gitmo since 2002.
ROMANS: These files also reveal information on what Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders were doing before and then right after 9/11.
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING," we asked CNN national security analyst, Peter Bergen, for his analysis of this release.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATL. SECURITY ANALYST: They don't change our basic knowledge of the events that happened after 9/11. They do fill in details. At one point, Osama bin Laden was so strapped for cash after the 9/11 attacks that he borrowed $7,000, which I think adds to our general understanding that, you know, Osama bin Laden didn't have, you know, a great deal of money at the time of the 9/11 attacks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Peter doesn't expect the release of those documents to have an impact on the debate over shutting down Gitmo. You know, the Taliban operated an entirely cash-based administration. There was a big trunk with money in it. So, while we're spending hundreds of millions of dollars looking for Osama Bin Laden --
ROMANS: He was borrowing $7,000 to keep going. It will be the first time we will see Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords since the Tucson massacre in which she was shot. Doctors have given her the OK to attend Friday's space shuttle launch. Giffords' husband, Captain Mark Kelly, is the commander of Friday's scheduled mission. It's "Endeavour's" final flight. She's going to travel to Florida from a Houston hospital where doctors say she is making a very strong recovery after being shot in the head.
VELSHI: What a great story. I still remember that day, hearing that news, and you know, to imagine that she's able to actually do this --
ROMANS: They're both remarkable people.
VELSHI: Yes. That's going to be pretty impressive.
There's something else going on Friday, by the way. The royal wedding. Coming up next, live from Buckingham Palace. A couple questions we've got for Kiran while she's there. Has Kate Middleton lost too much weight and why is her wedding dress - I'm always curious about it. Why is it such a closely guarded secret?
ROMANS: Would you want everyone to know every little thing about you? Oh, men. Are you kidding me? All right. So, it's 16 minutes after the hour. We'll have the answer to those closely guarded secrets, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, the royal wedding is still four days away, but here in London, there's this buzz that you can already sort of feel, it's just palpable. We want to get some of the exciting details leading up to the big day, who better to join us than CNN royal wedding contributors Cat Deeley and royal biographer, Mark Saunders. Good morning to both of you.
CAT DEELEY, CNN ROYAL WEDDING CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
CHETRY: Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
DEELEY: Thank you very much.
CHETRY: I mean, you guys are used to being here, but, I mean, this city just feels -- it's a completely different vibe. What's going on?
DEELEY: Yes, I do. I think that people are just kind of out and about in the sunshine. They're enjoying the weather, and then, there is this kind of, it's starting to reach fever pitch. It's gradually accumulating and accumulating and it's just building and building.
MARK SAUNDERS, ROYAL BIOGRAPHER: It's like Christmas in a way.
DEELEY: Yes.
SAUNDERS: Where everything's aimed towards one day. And you've got that vibe, that buzz that we've got here at the moment. We were out on the mall this morning, and people are just so happy. And that's the kind of best thing about it. Everybody's so happy.
DEELEY: Yes. And even when I went down Regent Street, I just came in from one day (ph) and when I get went down Regent Street, there were flags flying everywhere --
CHETRY: But it's unusual. People don't realize. I mean, in the United States, we fly our flag everywhere. They say that seeing Union Jack all over the place is something very rare.
DEELEY: Very different, and it feels very special.
SAUNDERS: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, I want to ask you a couple of details about the wedding. One, you can't look at the papers today. There's a little bit of controversy over the guest list. The crowned prince of Bahrain asked to please not accept the invite that he was given months ago because of all of the unrest in the crackdown on protestors again. Does this mar, the event, in any way?
SAUNDERS: No. I spoke to a former Buckingham palace press officer last night, and he said that he should never have been invited in the first place, but now, it's trivial. I mean, I can't even pronounce his name, to be honest, but I don't think it must. Fergie was a far bigger snuff.
DEELEY: Yes, yes. Absolutely.
SAUNDERS: But, no, I think it's the --
CHETRY: Is the fact that President Barack Obama was not invited a snub in your eyes?
SAUNDERS: I really wanted him to -- I so wanted him to come. Yes, because Michelle Obama is classy.
CHETRY: She's our icon. Yes.
SAUNDERS: Really classy. But he's coming for a state visit at the end of the month. So, it will be equally exciting, I think.
CHETRY: And Cat, a couple of questions about we were speaking about fashion, this state secret. How protected it is what she's going to wear?
DEELEY: Yes.
CHETRY: What Kate Middleton's dress will be? Who's even designing it. I mean, all of this. Is it always that close to the vest?
DEELEY: I think so, yes. I mean, from interviewing the Emanuels, the designers of Princess Diana's wedding dress, they actually had two dresses made just in case the first dress was kind of discovered and everybody saw it. So, the second one was kept in a safe. So, it's always going to be a surprise on the day, and I think that's part of the whole buildup to. Everybody's dying to see the dress.
There's been rumors about Sarah Burton from Alexander McQueen, who his right-hand woman, and I think that would actually be a lovely, lovely thing to do. I think it would be a tip of the hat to Alexander's genius in a year, you know, when such tragedy struck, and also, he's a Great British designer. And I think that's something that should be celebrated. And he does kind of classical chic dresses but with a dramatic flair.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: I mean, but the funny thing is, when you look at the difference in the sexes, women by and far in this Paris (ph) poll are far more excited about the royal wedding, that's understandable. But what is it that gets a guy excited about this?
SAUNDERS: What is that gets a guy excited about the royal wedding?
CHETRY: Yes, that's the question, Mark.
(LAUGHTER)
SAUNDERS: Well, I think the guys, it's a bit like a football match. You just seem to enjoy the enthusiasm of the whole thing. (INAUDIBLE) but it's funny you should say about the dress because I was talking to the paparazzi out of the Goring Hotel, and they're out in the back.
CHETRY: Digging through the dumpsters.
SAUNDERS: Yes. I mean, do they think that they're going to just -- the taxi is going to pull up in the dress on a hanger. And also, they're going to have --
CHETRY: Yes.
SAUNDERS: At the front of the Goring hotel.
(CROSSTALK)
SAUNDERS: Yes. You know, what are they there to photograph?
CHETRY: Well, that's there job to try to, you know, try to dig and try to find this stuff out.
SAUNDERS: The other day when she was out shopping, there were 30, 40 paparazzi, and it wasn't pleasant.
CHETRY: And they also have put her in the spotlight. It's interesting that you talk about that. So, she was out. She wearing the black dress, and then, all the headlines -- she was wearing a little black wrap dress, and people are saying she's painfully thin. Is she losing too much weight ahead of the wedding? I mean, every bride's stressed out, but boy, this is even worse.
DEELEY: It's one of those things people are always commenting about different people's weight. You know, from Angelina Jolie to Kate Middleton. I think that, you know, you don't know what's going on in a woman's life. And clearly, this is an incredibly stressful situation for her. She's got a million things to worry about. She's running around. She's trying to adapt.
She's in the eye of this media storm. Maybe, she hasn't been eating five-course dinners all the time because she's running around doing things. I think it oversimplifies the entire issue to turn around and go, oh, does she look as though she's losing weight?
CHETRY: Right.
SAUNDERS: But I did worry. I did see her last week in Northern England, and I did think, hang on, she is looking painfully thin. I mentioned this to my wife, and she said, what would you know about thin?
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Well, you know what, the beauty of it is, again, the honeymoon is undisclosed, but they'll have plenty of time to sit around, perhaps, on some beach somewhere in the world sipping pina coladas, and she can have all the food she wants.
DEELEY: Exactly. Exactly. I think once kind of the media spotlight is slightly off her, I'm sure she will be just fine.
CHETRY: We're looking at, of course, talking to you guys all week. If this is how Monday is, I can't imagine what it's going to be like come Friday morning, but a lot of excitement, certainly. Cat Deeley and Mark Saunders, great to talk to both of you.
SAUNDERS: Thank you.
DEELEY: Thank you.
CHETRY: And you can be part of Will and Kate's big day. CNNs royal wedding experience brings you every unforgettable moment. You can watch, you can DVR, and you can participate by filing your own iReports if you're here. Our coverage starts this Friday. It's 4:00 a.m. eastern time. We'll hope you'll be watching.
And you can also drop into our newest blog, it's titled "Unveiled," and it brings you everything you need to know about the royal couple, the latest dish on the dress, on the menu, on the guest list, and how you can get a taste of the royal treatment, yourself. So, check it out. It's CNN.com/unveiled. Ali and Christine, back to you.
VELSHI: You really do seem incredibly, you know, juiced about this whole thing.
ROMANS: That's cool. That's very -- it's exciting! VELSHI: It is. And it's contagious. I'm starting to feel it. By Wednesday, I'm going to be all about --
ROMANS: He's one of those guys --
CHETRY: We'll get you to care, Ali. We will get you to care.
ROMANS: What does it take to get men excited about this?
VELSHI: She just asked and I'm -- I'm getting excited about it. All right. We'll be right back with it. Kiran, thanks.
Gas prices, up again, 34th straight day, but up 0.3 of a cent got some people thinking, maybe we're reaching the top on this thing. We're going to talk about that.
ROMANS: And remark (ph) the young women are going to drop by here. Hayden Panettiere, she gets cartooned in an animated picture called "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil." She is 21 years old and has managed to be the boring young actress, as she calls it, in Hollywood. We'll talk about her success and her new film.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Just in to CNN, we've been reporting to you about these attacks in Libya on Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli. A Libyan official now says last night's NATO bombing of Gadhafi's compound was an assassination attempt.
We do not know where Gadhafi was at the time. Three buildings were badly damaged. The Libyan official is now saying 15 people were critically injured in that attack. Again, we're still trying to get information on this.
Two things are going on in Libya. One is this attack. The other one is that as government troops were allegedly pulling out of Misrata where there was heavy firing, they engaged rebel troops and a lot of killing going on in Misrata as well.
ROMANS: Meanwhile in Afghanistan, there's been a jailbreak. More than 100 senior Taliban commanders are among nearly 500 inmates who broke out of a prison in Kandahar last night. Officials say they escaped through an underground tunnel. The Taliban is taking responsibility for digging that tunnel.
VELSHI: And in Syria, the news is that they've reportedly sealed off the border with Jordan as government forces launch what witnesses are calling a massive military operation in the southern city of Daraa this morning. Witnesses tell CNN that government tanks have entered the city and soldiers are going door to door shooting people.
Also, tornado damage caught on tape, surveillance cameras at Lambert-St. Louis international airport, look at this, just before it hits, captured the scene as the twister slammed into the main terminal with winds of up to 200 miles an hour. The airport was shut down for nearly 24 hours over the weekend, but this morning things are getting back to normal. Officials say the airport is now operating at 70 percent capacity.
ROMANS: All right, could gas prices be peaking? I know, it's like, replay the tape, every day, gas prices are up, gas prices are up.
VELSHI: And they're up again.
ROMANS: But the assent over the last 30 days is a little bit slower, so that means maybe the worst is behind us? Carmen Wong- Ulrich is minding your business.
CARMEN WONG-ULRICH, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Maybe. According to a survey yesterday, gas prices look like they've been slowing down after rising nearly $1.20 in the past seven months. Alowing demand and a milder rise in crude oil prices have put gas prices at an average now of $3.86 a gallon. Now that's up only 11 cents in the past two weeks.
Now, we're getting closer to the trigger point of $4 a gallon, but we've stalled well behind the all-time high of $4.11 a gallon. That was back in 2008.
However, one gas station in Orlando has decided to put the petal to the metal. On Friday Sun Coast energy near the Orlando airport was charging $5.69 a gallon for regular. That's the highest price in the nation.
VELSHI: What is wrong with people like that? Honestly, that is just --
WONG-ULRICH: Supply versus demand, my first hand.
ROMANS: I was going to say, you guys know that.
VELSHI: But it's obnoxious. We've been surmising that that's the gas station at which if you're renting a car, because it's been spring break, this is the place where you say, there's a gas station, I'll fill my car up before I return it.
ROMANS: And it's $5.70.
WONG-ULRICH: But now the local government the Orlando says as of August, all the gas stations have to comply by putting the big signs at the side of the road.
ROMANS: Aren't there price gouging law?
VELSHI: Yes. They usually come into place only when there's a hurricane or something like that. I think gas stations get hit hard, I think that they're great small business people, I think things like this are --
ROMANS: And in defense of these guys and women who own these things sometimes they make more money on the candy bar than they do on the gas.
WONG-ULRICH: And we're still paying a lot less than most of the world is paying. London is paying double of what we're paying.
ROMANS: Thanks, Carmen.
Hayden Panettiere takes "Hoodwinked Too!" to Tribeca. It's cute. And she'll join us live in our studios next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Given the weather across the country, given what's going on in Texas and given these tornadoes, I'm going to stop complaining about the weather in New York --
ROMANS: In a second.
VELSHI: But honestly, it's 61 degrees now, it's going to go up to 69. But earlier today we were reporting it's going to rain this afternoon. Now we're officially calling it thunderstorms.
ROMANS: You're watching Columbus circle right there, right outside out of our thunderstorms.
VELSHI: I'm going to start growing hair if enough water falls on my head.
ROMANS: Enough of the weather. When you talk about the list of hot, young Hollywood actors, our next guess is a no-brainer. But in her latest role on the big screen, you won't actually see Hayden Panettiere, but her character as Little Red Riding Hood will get plenty of attention, though.
VELSHI: Here's a clip from "Hoodwinked Too!" opening this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you think you can deliver that basket of goodies across my bridge. Do you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh-huh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no, no, no, you did not just say that. I did not hear that. There ain't no way my bridge is being crossed by some muffin-delivered red-haired cliched little girl. Get on up out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bring it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, muffin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye-bye.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: "Oh, muffin." That's David Alan Grier. And Red Riding Hood Hayden Panettiere joins us now.
VELSHI: Thanks for being here. Great to see you. You're also in "Scream 4" that comes out the --?
HAYDEN PANETTIERE, ACTRESS, VOICE OF "RED" IN "HOODWINKED TOO!": That was the 15th. I actually got to go see it the other night on the big screen here. I wanted to see it with a big group of people and get their reactions.
VELSHI: That's actually kind of interesting. You work on these projects for so long that it must be fun to consume it with people who you haven't been talking to about it endlessly.
PANETTIERE: Absolutely, and who don't have an inside view. And you know, it's very difficult to take a step back from it and really be able to tell. So it's nice to have that audience reaction.
ROMANS: Tell me about the character Red. Now you're going into the booth and you're tracking the voice in the booth. It's an animated film, so you're trying to give her pizazz and guts. But you're in there with the microphone. It's not like "Heroes" where you're in harnesses and hanging and very physically in the production.
PANETTIERE: Right. And you don't have any actors to play off of or anything like that. And actually it's surprising how long these films take to do. You'll go in for one session once every few months or so. And in the beginning, all you see are sketches and you don't hear anything and it doesn't look like the characters. And every time you go back in, it gets put together more and more and really comes together as a movie. So it's really wild to see.
VELSHI: This movie is -- I've been telling people, it's layered. It's -- there's sort of a level of complexity that if you're watching it as a grown-up is going to be a different experience from watching it as a kid.
PANETTIERE: Right, absolutely. And that's, you know, what's great about the film, is it really translates between adults, the humor too. It's very funny to kids and it's very funny to adults. There are some jokes that are going to go maybe over kids' heads and the adults are going to get the fun of it.
ROMANS: But this is a strong woman, strong girl role. Was that important taking that kind of role, where the little girl takes on the big troll and she's sort of fearless and strong?
PANETTIERE: Absolutely. It's very much female power and it's interesting, because there's certain things I definitely can relate to when it comes to Red, because she looks up to her granny, who's the best, you know, secret agent in the world to her and never wants to disappoint her and let her down.
And then she -- but then she winds up getting herself into she's bad situations because she hates so much being called a coward or a little girl and she just kind of snapped and all of a sudden the judgment goes out the window, so really, finding herself and knowing that being herself is enough.
VELSHI: It's actually a women power movie all the way, because the villains are women.
(LAUGHTER)
I want to know a bit about being you. You have been acting since you were 11 months old. You're 21 now. Your only brushes with the law have been those that you've deliberately gotten yourself into because you've been protesting and activism. I was like, wait, wait, let me think. Did I forget something? What has it been like being you?
ROMANS: There are girls your age who are very famous in Hollywood, who are well known --
VELSHI: And they're coming apart at the seams.
ROMANS: Lindsay Lohan, who are well known for what's happening off-screen. How do you make sure you stay focused and grounded on your work?
PANETTIERE: It is interesting, I always felt like because of the fact -- first of all, the main part is always surrounding yourself with good people. And you don't always know who's good and who's bad and it takes a long time to really find -- and sometimes you have to find out the hard way.
But I was always very close with my family, and I think because I hit that kind of success at an age where I wasn't an adult, I wasn't old enough to say, you know, I'm an adult, I can do whatever I want, I still had a curfew, I still had to listen, and I was also with my big cast of -- the big cast of "Hero," and they were so much older than me, I feel like I got to see really good examples and I had a lot of people just yanking me back, because they were there. All those doors were so wide open, and you kind of go -- and you're lucky and you get someone to go.
ROMANS: And boring off-screen is better. I always say boring is better for finances.
VELSHI: You said you want to be the boring girl.
PANETTIERE: But I mean -- del, it's boring them so that they're not you know looking for things for you to do. But it's not that I haven't made mistakes by any means. It's not that I'm a totally normal girl who went through, you know, teenage and experimenting and this and that. It's just that I feel like if I did do it, it was done behind closed doors and I had people, you know, making sure that I stayed on track. So I was very lucky in that way.
ROMANS: Hayden Panettiere, nice to meet you. She's the voice of Red in "hoodwinks 2." Ali has found deep meaning and multiple layers in the film. He will post a blog.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Nice to me you.
PANETTIERE: Thank you for having me.
VELSHI: We're following very serious news coming out of Syria. A bloody crackdown on Syrian protesters. The protests started near the border town of Daraa near the Jordanian border. And we're now getting reports the border has been shut down, tanks are rolling in supported by about 3,000 Syrian soldiers and we're getting witness reports that soldiers are going door to door, shooting people.
ROMANS: This raises questions and will be a challenge for American foreign policy now in the region, because this is a crackdown that is escalating here.
Plus, severe storms bringing tornadoes, hail, and more possible flooding all the way from Texas to Pennsylvania. Extreme weather, folks, that you need to know about as you get your day started.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
The uprising in Syria is escalating. The country now reportedly sealing off its border with Jordan. Government tanks stormed the city of Daraa this morning and witnesses tell CNN troops are going door to door shooting people.
A Libyan government source now saying a NATO air strike on Tripoli that flattened buildings in Gadhafi's compound was an assassination attempt. It's not clear where Gadhafi was at the time.
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, operating at about 70 percent of capacity now, after getting walloped by a tornado with winds of up to 200 miles an hour.
Gas prices up for the 34th day in a row, but the rate at which they're rising appears to be slowing. Today, up less than a penny to $3.86 a gallon.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right.
It's Washington, D.C., it looks nice right now, but Michelle was just telling us -- our producer was just telling us that it's going to be -- it's going to get worse later on in the day; 10:30 a.m. Eastern is the Easter egg roll. We should be fine for that, might be a little soggy, though.
ROMANS: That's right.
All right. Jacqui Jeras is here and she's going to tell us about the -- wow -- the extreme weather all the way from Texas, where you're worried about fires all the way up through Ohio, Pennsylvania where we're talking about thunderstorms and potential tornadoes.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know. We've got it all going on again. And you know, unfortunately, it's some of the same areas that are getting hit, over and over and over again. And that's really going to be the big story for the next three days, as severe weather outbreak continues and the flood threat continues to grow.
Now, we'll start out with where we have the severe weather at this hour. And that's tracking across parts of Arkansas now. Large hail and damaging winds, our concern is these thunderstorms rumble off through the east. What you're seeing here across parts of the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys, it's just heavy rain, really more than anything else. That's certainly making for a slow commute.
Now, the greatest threat of severe weather is going to come late this afternoon into the evening hours. We're talking about a window probably between 4:00 and 8:00. The dark red area is where we think we'll have the most rotation, And that includes you in Dallas, up towards Little Rock and even into Memphis, Tennessee. That severe weather threat does stretch, just kind of on the cusp of the St. Louis metro area, but we do think you're going to get more heavy rain than anything else today.
And unfortunately, with all that damage, guys, everything getting wet makes it so much harder to clean up.
Now, this is what we're expecting for severe weather. Tomorrow, same areas getting hit again. But it starts to move a little farther on off to the east. And then Wednesday it could be another significant outbreak of severe weather, and a moderate risk has already been issued, including the Nashville area. And it's pretty unusual to see a moderate risk this far in advance.
Here's the flood threat for today. Very widespread, the dark red areas is where we have flooding already going on. Warnings in effect so don't drive through any of this for today. And the fire danger, critical today, but extremely critical tomorrow across parts of western Texas. So that will be a big issue.
You guys mentioned the lousy weather into the northeast. Well, those low clouds enough to cause ground stops once again at LaGuardia and Philadelphia. So lots of delays expected today into the northeast.
Temperatures looking great in D.C. for that egg roll. Almost too warm, right, but still cool for you guys since you're going to get that rain and that mist going on throughout the morning.
Back to you.
VELSHI: Jacqui, thank you. We will check in with you a little later on. Jacqui Jeras in our Severe Weather Center.
But you know where they're not having any kind of severe weather?
ROMANS: Where? VELSHI: In London. The place that should be rainy in spring --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Is it foggy? No.
VELSHI: -- is bright and sunny.
ROMANS: Did Kiran pack four raincoats? Yes.
Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: I packed four raincoats and now they're going to gather some dust in my hotel room. We're sweating here. I mean, this is -- this is quite unprecedented for April. But -- but however, sadly they don't believe this is going to hold up on the day of the wedding. There are a lot of concerns about rain on Friday. So we'll keep you updated on that.
But first, we want to show you what's going to happen when Zain introduces me to the art of having tea and scones in London, a time-honored tradition. She walks us through the paces, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: High tea. It's a century's old English tradition.
And that's actually a beautiful shot this morning, by the way, of -- of Queen Victoria's Memorial right outside of Buckingham Palace. They affectionately refer to it as the wedding cake here.
The royal wedding is right around the corner, we wanted to find out some of the etiquette dos and don'ts. And one time honored tradition is, of course, tea time.
I had a chance to sit down with CNN's own Zain Verjee for a crash course in some tea etiquette.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: We are learning to have a proper tea, at least I'm learning and Zain is going to teach me. Some of the tricks of the trade, the interesting thing is they don't use tea bags here.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: No tea bags. Loose leaf right? Is the best way to have tea here. And tea is for everything. If you're in a good mood, have a cup of tea. If you've lost your job, oh, have a cup of tea.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: So it's the -- it's the universal elixir of Britain?
VERJEE: Exactly, exactly. That's exactly right.
CHETRY: But there are some things that you really need to do properly.
VERJEE: Yes.
CHETRY: Or people will be able to tell that this is not your cup of tea.
VERJEE: Let me pour you some tea at the Dorchester here. They do a magnificent cuppa and it's generally preferred to have it in a filter like this. You want to see the nice, rich color of tea right there. And then you want to add the milk. And that --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: A very British tradition as well.
VERJEE: Yes. Not cream. Not cream. Cream, bad with tea.
CHETRY: Right.
VERJEE: What you want to do is hold it with a couple of fingers --
CHETRY: And you have to have strong fingers here to make this happen.
VERJEE: And throw out your pinkie.
CHETRY: And then, throw out the pinkie but -- but it -- but you said it can just be slightly tilted.
VERJEE: Slightly tilted. And this is actually was done for balance. Ok.
CHETRY: You didn't hear a word. No slurping.
VERJEE: No slurp. You haven't even had your --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: I know let me get start on the cucumber sandwich.
VERJEE: -- you have a cucumber sandwich, you've got smoked salmon, chicken, egg and mayo and roast beef. And then, here they cut, they like to cut in little squares.
CHETRY: Oops right.
VERJEE: So Kiran, cut, and then nibble.
CHETRY: Got you. Actually, let's do a toast.
VERJEE: Toast. To having you here in person.
CHETRY: To having you as a wonderful hostess.
VERJEE: Thank you. And we will have a great time this week for the wedding of our lifetime.
CHETRY: Cheers.
VERJEE: Cheers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So Zain and my favorite part of high tea, of course, is the champagne.
ROMANS: Is that a (INAUDIBLE) -- is that what that was?
CHETRY: It's actually was -- no, it was Rosse (ph) champagne so it was really good.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: But the funny thing, is Zain had a story about the history of high tea.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Saying that one of the ladies in waiting for Queen Victoria used to get really hungry between lunch and dinner, so she said say, slip me a few sandwiches with my tea and that actually caught on. And that was how the tradition started. So it was all out of necessity --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Yes, you didn't do much --
CHETRY: -- you know, you get the rumbles on your tummy.
VELSHI: -- you didn't do much damage to those sandwiches. That's the difference, I -- I'm fine with pinching the little teacup thing, but those sandwiches would have been gone.
ROMANS: Yes, I'd graze like the mid-western that I am when I have tea, you know.
CHETRY: Yes the camera of course keeps you honest.
ROMANS: All right, Kiran.
CHETRY: The second the cameras were gone, you should have seen us descend on that, you know. It was nice.
ROMANS: On the champagne or the sandwiches? Sorry, sorry. Thanks Kiran.
CHETRY: Both.
Well, you can be part of this big day by the way. Guys I just want to remind people to check out what we're doing with CNN's royal wedding experience. All the unforgettable moments, a reminder, DVR, participate, watch. Our coverage starts 4:00 a.m. this Friday, but of course, we'll be here all week.
And check out our new blog at CNN.com/unveiled. Christine and Ali, that's where of course, they have all of everything you wanted to know about the wedding, about all the details, about what's happening. CNN.com/unveiled.
ROMANS: All right. Kiran -- maybe she'll have an accent by the time she comes back.
VELSHI: I think so. I think by Friday she's always saying things like smashing and brilliant as opposed to awesome.
CHETRY: And brilliant.
ROMANS: All right, that's going to do it for us.
While we've wrapped up the Monday of the week, we've got a long week with a lot of interesting international news that we're following in Syria.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: And in Yemen, and also of course in Libya and the royal wedding countdown.
VELSHI: And all of that coverage will continue right now with "NEWSROOM" and Carol Costello. Good morning, Carol.
