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American Morning

National Security Shakeupj; Standing Out From The Competition; Ice-T on Music, Acting and Life; White House Releases Obama's Birth Certificate

Aired April 27, 2011 - 07:58   ET

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


ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news of a national security shuffle.

I'm Ali Velshi.

Robert Gates leaving the Pentagon soon. The head of the nation's spy agency is moving over.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And gamer alert. I'm Christine Romans. Hackers may have your credit card info if you logon to the PlayStation network. Details of one of the biggest online data breaches ever.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry here in London where we're counting down to the royal wedding, just two days away. Today, we'll have new details of the full dress rehearsal that took place with the armed forces here, as well as some new details about the future queen's dress.

All that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

VELSHI: Good morning. It's Wednesday, April 27th. I'm Ali Velshi.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans and Kiran Chetry is in London.

CHETRY: Good morning, guys. Nice to see you this morning this morning.

Well, we want to tell you a little bit about what we're going to be doing. We have new information for you guys about how the public views Prince William. His popularity has soared over the past several years but especially now in the lead-up to the wedding. Some are saying he should eclipse Charles, leapfrog him and be the future king.

Now according to British law, that's not possible. But it's very interesting how this 28-year-old has sort of become this perfect prototype for a 21st century king, especially with the marriage of Kate Middleton. We're going to be talking more about that.

We're also going to be bettering a special guest here in studio in just a couple of moments and we'll bring you a little bit of that, as well. Plus, new pictures of those camping out in front of Westminster Abbey for their shot at the front of the line. And also some new details about the dress.

VELSHI: OK. There's a major shakeup in the Obama administration's national security team. We just learned here at CNN, we've confirmed that CIA director Leon Panetta has been tapped to become the next secretary of defense. Current secretary of defense, Robert Gates, is expected to be retiring this summer.

ROMANS: U.S. Army General David Petraeus is being considered to replace Panetta as the head of the CIA. So, again, a national security shakeup is expected at the White House, confirming all of this today.

VELSHI: And there are a few other moves that will probably be part of this. We will bring you more details still coming in, in the course of the hour.

Also, we've got details coming in about a bloody day in Afghanistan. Six American troops have been killed in a shooting. It happened at the airport in Kabul, which is attached to a military base. Officials say an Afghan pilot opened fire on the Americans after an apparent argument. The Taliban is claiming responsibility, saying the pilot was one of their suicide attackers. But we have heard from our reporters there that this has become a common tactic of the Taliban to claim responsibility.

ROMANS: For any violence at all.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: In Libya, NATO air strikes may be forcing Moammar Gadhafi's troops to pull back from positions near the port of Misrata, where witnesses say they have been carrying out a massacre. The rebel-held city has been the scene of relentless shelling from Gadhafi forces.

CNN's Reza Sayah says the fighting has led waste to almost everything in Misrata.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the Gadhafi regime has lost legitimacy and lost all credibility.

VELSHI: And there is some sense that NATO backup had helped the rebels hold on to Misrata. And when they stopped that, the troops were able to move in and do some of the stuff that you are seeing here. So, there is some sense the NATO firepower has now caused a bit of a retreat from Misrata. But that city almost reduced to rubble now.

Well, it's been called one of the worst online security breaches in years. Credit card numbers and other vital information hacked from Sony's PlayStation network. And this morning, we are learning how much might have actually been stolen.

ROMANS: It's actually staggering. The cyber attack happened last week. Since then, 77 million users worldwide have been offline. Listen to what was stolen -- names, credit card information, purchase history, billing addresses, e-mail addresses. Sony says one key bit that wasn't taken, the three digit security codes on the backs of the cards.

VELSHI: Now, this affects a lot of gamers but affects a lot of people like me. I use my PlayStation to access Netflix. I don't game at all. I've never online gamed in my life, my information is in that pile of stuff as well.

ROMANS: Interesting. Interesting.

VELSHI: Well, millions of Americans in nine states are facing threats of tornadoes and severe weather today. There is a tornado watch stretching from Kentucky to Texas. They could see twisters, baseball-size hail, 70-mile-an-hour winds. Overnight in Arkansas, another fatality -- 11 people in that state have now been killed by those powerful storms in the past two days.

ROMANS: And at least nine people were hurt by a lightning strike at a soccer game in Portage, Michigan, that's near Kalamazoo. Seven people were taken to the hospital. One of them is in serious condition and wasn't breathing on his own when he was transported. Police say one of the victims was hit so hard by the lightning bolt it blew his sneakers off -- nine people at a soccer match boom (ph).

VELSHI: Unbelievable.

The extreme weather is going on right now. Let's go to our extreme weather center where Jacqui Jeras is tracking it all.

And we are certainly seeing reports all over the place of people reporting tornadoes, heavy winds, damaging winds right now.

ROMANS: Yes, exactly. And, in fact, we just got a report of some damage at the Birmingham Airport, one of the hangars there. And we also have confirmation of a tornado that's on the ground. The area that we're talking about right now stretches from Kentucky into northern parts of Alabama.

And I want to zoom in on one particular storm. This is in DeKalb, Jackson and Marshall counties in northeastern parts of Alabama. Tornado touchdowns, multiple ones, have been reported near Guntersville, Arab and Columbus City. They have a history of producing some widespread damage. You need to take this storm seriously and take cover immediately if you haven't already.

All right. Let's show the watch area -- the new tornado watch has also just been issued -- this is for much of northern Georgia, including the Atlanta metro area. Those storms that are moving through Alabama right now are on their way to Georgia, probably two to three hours before they make it to the Atlanta metro area. And you can see these storms stretching all the way up towards the Ohio River valley. This is going to be a rough morning.

The other thing I want to point out -- take a look at the watch back there into parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, into Louisiana. This is back building, on the back side of the storm where that cold front is coming through. And that's going to be the big kicker later on today in parts of the Deep South.

And that's why we have the high risk area because we are expecting a lot of super cell thunderstorms, individual, discrete storms that stand out al by themselves and take all the energy with it and they produce large, violent tornadoes that stay on the ground for a very long period of time.

So, what we are seeing out there now, guys, is almost -- I hate to say -- a warm-up, but it's just kind of a precursor to what we think is going to be the worst of the weather later on today. Look at how far this stretches, too. You know, in addition to that tornado threat, we're going to see a lot of damaging winds.

Thousands of people without power this morning, hundreds, probably even thousands of trees are down across parts of the Deep South. So, more damage is going to be expected as this extremely violent rash of tornadoes continues.

When we talk outbreak days, we are talking 20 or more. We had about 45 of them in the last 24 hours. That number keeps growing and growing and growing. And, unfortunately, guys, this truly is going to be an end up being a historic April. I mean, I have never seen anything like this day after day after day -- seeing these high risks of extreme weather.

VELSHI: It really is. I mean, I -- we have been talking about this in different parts of the country, regularly -- the amount of damage, the coincidence of these storms hitting populated areas, too, because we often have storms that don't get through some of these major areas. But we've seen a lot of that in the last couple of weeks.

JERAS: Yes, we absolutely have. And when you see, you know, places like Atlanta under that tornado threat, you're really concerned about that.

ROMANS: If you have water in your basement, you have it in your backyard and you are worried about it coming up over the levees and other parts of the country.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks.

You know, minding your business now -- big profits from big oil. This morning, BP announcing first quarter profits of $5.48 billion.

VELSHI: First quarter. That's three months.

ROMANS: That's right. That's three months. That means they are raking in more than $60 million every single day in profit. Despite gas prices averaging $3.88, BP's earnings were actually down from the same time last year because it had to sell off assets to cover costs from the Gulf oil spill.

VELSHI: Officials are digging deep to find out why gas prices are so high. And Attorney General Eric Holder says, what's been uncovered is, quote, "disturbing." Strangely, he didn't go into more detail. I'd like to find out what the government is spending money on finding out about gas prices and is disturbing. I think we need to know that.

A task force was launched this week. Investigators are looking for signs of price gouging and other fraud. Their findings are expected next week.

Meantime, gas prices continue to rise. Some states are paying close to $5 a gallon now. But the morning -- this morning, AAA puts the national average at $3.88 for a gallon of self serve regular gasoline.

ROMANS: All right. Getting caffeinated is about to cost you more. The price of coffee beans now is more than $3 a pound. That's the highest price in more than 30 years. How about filling up the gas tank and getting a cup of Joe. Wow.

A combination of rising demand and bad weather also putting pressure on the industry. It's likely to jack up the price of a cup of Joe at coffee houses.

VELSHI: Coming up, we're going to be talking to Ron Paul. He is a perennial presidential candidate. This will be his third run. He's not announcing he's running but he's now announcing he's forming this exploratory committee. I want to ask him what he would do differently because he says we have too much government.

ROMANS: Also, we are going to countdown to the space program shutdown. The final preparation is underway for a big day on Friday. It's not a wedding. It's this space shuttle Endeavour launch and the astronauts on that final mission.

VELSHI: You'll have two things to watch on Friday.

And later, rapper, actor and author, Ice-T, is going to join us live in our studios. I'm very excited about this. I'm a big Ice-T fan.

He's opening it up. He's keeping it real. He's talking about his very checkered past. That's coming up soon.

It's eight minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

VELSHI: All right. That's D.C. It's mostly cloudy and 67 degrees. But as it happens in D.C., and the spring, it's going to warm up nicely to 79 degrees, and stay cloudy. We're getting rain over here in New York.

ROMANS: But, you know, President Obama is not going to be feeling those temperatures there in D.C. because he is heading out to Chicago today for a special meeting with the queen of daytime TV, Oprah. The president and first lady are taping an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that is set to air on Monday. The episode is only a few weeks ahead of Oprah's May 25th finale.

This afternoon, the president flies back to New York City to begin his campaign fundraising.

VELSHI: And a D.Q. for former Olympics sprinting star, Carl Lewis. He's been found ineligible to run for New Jersey state Senate. Officials say it's because he doesn't meet the state residency requirement which says candidates must have lived there for at least four years. Lewis' lawyer has filed an appeal.

ROMANS: The crew of space shuttle Endeavour is now making final preparations for its final trip into space. The shuttle mission has special significance for its commander, Mark Kelly. His wife, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, has been cleared by doctors to attend Friday's launch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK KELLY, SPACE SHUTTLE COMMANDER: She has been working really hard to make sure that her doctors would permit her to come and she is, you know, more than medically ready to be here. And she is excited about making this trip.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Giffords, as you know, is recuperating from a gunshot wound to the head. The Endeavour launch is scheduled for 3:47 p.m. Eastern Time Friday, at Kennedy Space Center.

VELSHI: And NASA technology is now helping Japan look inside those crippled nuclear reactors. NASA says the robots being used at the Daiichi nuclear power plant are using the same technology that's found in the Mars rover. Hopefully, they can put an end to this problem.

ROMANS: Yes.

And sales of engagement rings are up 40 percent in Japan. After the devastating earthquake and tsunami, match makers say business is booming because the feeling among many Japanese is life is too short to live it alone.

VELSHI: All right. Well, that's one good outcome out of a bad situation.

Let's take it to London. Kiran is there.

Are you wearing something, Kiran? What is that?

ROMANS: Oh, I love it, Kiran. Awesome.

VELSHI: That's beautiful.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I wanted to see if you were going to laugh. This is called a fascinator. It fastens onto your head. It's a little bit of a smaller version of a hat. This one won't mess up your hairdo and it's very favored by Kate Middleton. She loves these things.

ROMANS: She likes the big feather in them. I've seen her a couple of times with big feathers. And -- so, a small fascinator with a lot of drama.

CHETRY: I feel like I do have -- I have a whole duck up here, I think. But, yes, it's cool. The reason I'm wearing it, though, is because we're talking a little bit about the fashion. What is the protocol? What do you wear for the biggest event of the century, the royal wedding?

We're going to be talking about it with Clinton Kelly, coming up. We are very excited. He is the host of TLC's "What Not to Wear," and I guess what to wear to a royal wedding.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Hi, guys. Well, we are back. We are thrilled to be here at Buckingham Palace are just outside of it. The reason I'm wearing what they call here is a fascinator is because we're going to be talking about wedding fashion. What's the protocol? What's the proper thing to wear if you're, indeed, attending or if you're going to be one of the hundreds of thousands lining the streets for a chance to see the royal couple.

So, we're going to be talking about that a little bit later, but you know, one of the interesting things, Ali and Christine, that people are comparing, of course, as what will she wear? Will she look like Diana? How will their styles be different? I mean, this poor girl, she has so much to live up to because of how beloved Princess Diana was here.

ROMANS: Yes. It's so interesting, too, because as they kind of await that royal wedding, it is the comparisons to Diana that people will be making, Kiran. I mean, when I was a little girl, I know for sure that that was a big event that people in this country watched. You know, it's hard not to think of the last royal wedding that was really -- there was Fergie's.

VELSHI: Yes. They didn't get the same degree of attention.

ROMANS: No. Here's a breakdown of Diana and Kate, right? Diana was born into a life of privilege. She grew up in a country home leased from the royal family. Her parents divorced in 1969, and her former nanny said that failed marriage had a resounding effect on Diana. Now, Kate's father is a former airline pilot. Her mother, a flight attendant. They now have a successful family business. They sell party supplies as the world knows by now.

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: She grew up in a middle class area and is considered a commoner. Kate is close to her mother, Carol, and her sister, Pippa, her made of honor and says her family is a major source of support.

VELSHI: All right. So, how else are they different and the same? Diana was 19. Charles was 32 when they got engaged. Kate and Will both 28 when they got engaged. Only five months separate them in age. Prince Charles courted Diana for six months before they got married. Kate and Will have been dating for eight years.

ROMANS: That's right. Eight years. They know each other much better than his parents did. Here are the big differences between the respective weddings. Guests, Diana had a whopping 3,500 guests. As Kiran well-known, Kate and Will are inviting almost half of that, approximately 1,800.

Arrival, Diana on a horse and carriage. Kate will arrive by car and leave via horse and carriage. Prince Charles and Diana were wed at St. Paul's Cathedral. Kate and Will's nuptials are going to take place at Westminster Abbey.

VELSHI: And Kiran pointed out the differences between those two places. Some saying that the Westminster Abbey seems to have more meaning for some people.

CHETRY: Yes, and a lot of meaning for Prince William. I mean, that's sadly the site of his mother's funeral, and this is going to be a whole new celebration, a whole new way to look at it differently rather than, you know, sad memories. But the other thing that was really interesting when you guys made those comparisons that was also notable is that how Diana was basically almost bread to marry a king.

ROMANS: Right.

CHETRY: And yet Kate, I mean, while we refer to it as middle class and commoner, I mean, she was at St. Andrews. She was at one of the top universities. I mean, she was definitely different in that way, but the interesting part is that they just met and fell in love as opposed to sort of Prince Charles, in a way, was guided toward Diana even though that wouldn't necessarily be his first choice in a wife.

ROMANS: It's interesting. The "Financial Times" yesterday did a comparison saying from commoner to royal in four generation. Four generations ago, her family was a coal miner. You know, there's a coal miner in her ancestry. Something that, you know, in royal history is unprecedented.

VELSHI: It doesn't happen much. Yes. Good story. We'll be back with you very shortly, Kiran. Back here in the United States, Ron Paul weighing another presidential run. He's going to join us live. We're going to get his stance on the issues on the economy, on activities in the Middle East. That's coming up next.

ROMANS: And the fed. Let's ask him about the fed.

VELSHI: And the fed.

ROMANS: He wrote a book called, "End the Fed."

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: And today, Ben Bernanke, is giving -- the Fed chief is giving his first press conference ever as a sitting Fed chief.

Plus, the rap star and actor and now author, Ice-T, will be here live. He's written a pretty cool memoir. I raise (ph) through this in a few hours. It was a good story.

VELSHI: It's called "A Memoir of a Gangster, Life, and Redemption."

ROMANS: Twenty-two minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: He did it in 1988 and 2008. Now, he's doing it again. Texas Republican, Ron Paul, taking the first step in the race for the White House.

VELSHI: Forming an exploratory committee for the 2012 election. He joins us this morning from Clute, Texas. His new book is called "Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues that Affect our Freedom." Congressman Paul, thank you for being with us. Good to see you.

REP. RON PAUL, (R) TEXAS: Thank you. Good to see you.

VELSHI: Congressman, you won the straw poll at the Annual Conservative CPAC Conference, a Conservative Political Action Conference. You haven't received the same boost in national polls that, let's say, your son has even seen. And some people in the tea party are saying that you sort of have been going your own road, which I think you wear that badge proudly.

But you've got this new movement that sort of runs parallel to some of the things that you have been saying for years in this country. What's your thought on your chances in light of what's going on with the tea party?

PAUL: You know, four years ago, you know, I didn't have high expectations, and yet, to me, it was an unbelievable amount of interest shown, especially with the young people, and as you mentioned, the CPAC-type of people. I would think now that it's many folds greater because I'd go to the universities, I do travel a lot, and I think the enthusiasm is there. They're enthusiastic about the foreign policy. They're enthusiastic, especially about the monetary policy and the fed. This is unbelievable. And I think it's because of that enthusiasm at the grassroots that we're going to have a press conference today, and that we do have a bit of a token, you know, audit of the Fed going on.

We need a better audit, but we're getting more transparency, and I think it's all good. I think it's reflecting the movement we've been talking about.

ROMANS: You're talking about the press conference today that Ben Bernanke, the Fed chief, will have later this afternoon for the first time in history.

PAUL: Right.

ROMANS: You know, when we first started covering news and financial issues, you didn't even know what the Fed did with interest rates, and now, there's a great deal more clarity. It's still not enough clarity in your view. You would actually like to end the fed?

PAUL: Yes. And I think transparency comes first because, at the end, the people will know what they've been up to and what kind of shenanigans go on, but the Fed ends and the monetary system ends because of what they do. And I think we're getting close to that because they're between a rock and a hard place. I mean, they don't talk about an exit strategy anymore. All they talk about is when is QE-3 starting and why --

ROMANS: You're talking about quantitative easing --

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: When you say QE-3, you're talking about quantitative easing, which is the Fed trying to boost the economy and keep it going.

VELSHI: If they don't -- you'd like that not to happen, congressman, but if that happens, we are not going to see 5 percent interest rates for a 30-year mortgage. We're not going to see home prices increasing. We're going to see higher interest rates.

PAUL: You're going to see higher interest rates, is that what you said?

VELSHI: Yes.

PAUL: Yes. I mean, interest rates -- they do not have, you know, they think they can control it. I think what's coming about is the total failure of the system, and yet, they still think that they can rig the economy. They can be central economic planners through monetary policy, and it doesn't work. I mean, they're pushing on the string. It goes in the reserves.

And now, the bad results are coming. The economy remains weak. The jobs aren't coming back. Prices are going up, and they can't stop it. It's out of control. And this is why they're desperate to try to appease. The people are saying, hey, what are you guys doing over here? They think a press conference is going to help.

ROMANS: If you were going to ask a question, congressman, if you were going to ask a question to Ben Bernanke and you know that he's going to answer you in front of all the cameras, what question would you ask Ben Bernanke this afternoon?

PAUL: When are you going to admit your policies are flawed and they're failed and they can't work and you can't plan the economy through monetary policy?

VELSHI: I can guarantee you that he won't answer that question the way you want him to.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Ron Paul, you said something about Libya and the Middle East.

ROMANS: Yes.

VELSHI: What do you think about where we are in the Middle East in our involvement?

PAUL: Well, it's a continuation of a policy that's a very bad policy from my viewpoint for 50 years, ever since World War II. But every year, it gets worse. Now, we can go into Libya, start another war, be involved. Our CIA is in there. We use drone missiles.

And the president is rather arrogant about it. He says "I don't need to ask the Congress for this." Where does he get the money to do this if he doesn't need to come to Congress and get permission? So the wars are perpetual. They are done on presidential orders, and the Congress really just sits by and let's it happen.

And this is connected to our financial crisis. Wars always are harmful and costly, and ultimately they bring down empires. That's what we are on the verge of. We should look at recent history of what happened to the Soviets when they went in Afghanistan. We have been there ten years, 70 percent of the American people say it is time to come home.

And it's connected with even monetary policy. If you didn't have the Fed monetizing debt, you couldn't fight the wars because you would have to tax people. You couldn't have runaway entitlement programs if you didn't have the Fed buying up the debt because interest rates would go up and the Congress would have to be restrained and quit the spending.

So it's all connected to our entitlement system. The Fed is the key to the financing of big government and destruction of personal liberties.

VELSHI: Congressman Ron Paul, it's a pleasure to talk with you. We will follow your campaign with great interest. PAUL: Thank you very much.

ROMANS: It is interesting there is a press conference with the Fed chief today because Ron Paul for years he has been complaining. And the Fed and in Washington under successive administrations they have swatted away his concerns like a fly. Now his party is empowered and he has more control and important committees. Now they are paying much closer attention.

Top stories now, breaking news of a national security shakeup. CNN now confirming that CIA director Leon Panetta will be picked to move over to the Pentagon and replace Defense Secretary Robert Gates whose retirement was expected. Also U.S. army general David Petraeus will be nominated to replace Panetta as head of the CIA.

Six American troops gunned down in a shooting at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Officials say an Afghan pilot opened fire after an apparent argument. The Taliban is claiming responsibility saying the pilot was one of their suicide takers. The Taliban often claims credit even when they weren't involved.

In Libya, NATO air strikes may be forcing Moammar Gadhafi's troops to fullback from positions near the port Misrata where witnesses say they have been carrying out a massacre. CNN's Reza Sayah says the fighting has laid waste to almost everything there.

Nine states from Kentucky to Mississippi are under a tornado watch this morning. That means there is a high risk of twisters, hail the size of baseballs, and 70-mile-an-hour winds. And 11 people have been killed by severe storms in Arkansas over the past two days.

(WEATHER BREAK)

ROMANS: Over to Kiran in London, who has got something on top of her head, a little fascinator that is beautiful. Can you expense that and could you get me one?

CHETRY: I actually have one for your, Christine, it is black. The black one really didn't work with my hair but for your hair, perfect. Ali, unfortunately, you don't need a fascinator. You have nothing to fasten it to.

The whole world is waiting to see what Kate Middleton will be wearing on her royal day. We will talk about what you wear to these things and our own style expert, Clinton Kelly, host of TLC's "What Not To Wear." You guys are doing an extraordinary amount of programming as well leading up to this.

CLINTON KELLY, HOST OF TLC'S "WHAT NOT TO WEAR": Thank you. I am doing a two-hour live special and four hours of live wedding coverage on Friday.

CHETRY: You are holding a couple of live weddings in Times Square.

KELLY: Biggest party in the United States in Times Square. CHETRY: That's going to be fun. I want to ask you about what is the proper thing to wear if you are one of the 1,800 guests.

KELLY: If you have been an invited guest and you are going to be in the Abbey, men are supposed to be wearing a leisure suit.

CHETRY: Not our version.

KELLY: It's not polyester, just basically a nice suit. It doesn't have to be a morning top hat and tails or anything like that. Women are expected to wear a dress with a hat and there is a little bit of controversy whether a fascinator is enough of a hat or should you be wearing an actual hat that covers the crown of your head so when you are in the presence of the queen, she shouldn't see the top of your head, if you are a lady.

CHETRY: So the fascinator is sort of a way to have your hair dressed but the proper wear.

KELLY: The hat usually does give you hat head. So women like the fascinators better.

CHETRY: And you can showcase your style better.

KELLY: That looks better than I thought it would.

CHETRY: You like this?

KELLY: I don't love it.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: This is apparently the proper. But I think that you are right that there will be a lot of people trying to get away with just fascinator, which is very cute as well.

KELLY: It is very cute. And Kate Middleton loves them, as you know. People who are attended the wedding amass, 1 million people are supposed to be out there watching this wedding, people have been asked to wear a hat as though you were an invited guest, for the thousands of people.

CHETRY: That's wonderful. Her dress, this is literally a state secret. Why? Has it always been this shrouded in mystery?

KELLY: Diana's dress designer was announced a while before the wedding. This is a huge secret. This is the most talked about dress that no one has seen. I don't care who designed it necessarily right now. I will be curious when she steps out of the car and does her walk down. But I think she will do something streamlined, classic. But it has to be dramatic. She has a lot of room to fill. So I hope it lives up to the hype.

CHETRY: People also said we are not going to see anything strapless, a long sleeve, high neck, proper. And she has to wear that tiara. That's no easy task either. KELLY: That's a lot of weight on your neck. It is true. The American bride generally wears, shows a lot of skin. American brides like to do strapless and bare arms. Kate is under a lot of pressure to cover her arms and a lot of her body. She has a great body. It is almost a shame to cover it up with a lot of poof. So I think she will be covered up with a nice deep V, because she loves those and a column dress with a train.

CHETRY: We will see if your prediction is right. Clinton Kelly, host of TLC's "What Not To Wear." I would say we will be watching but I can't be. It's so wonderful to have you with us.

KELLY: Thanks.

CHETRY: We also want you to be part of our global wedding coverage. CNN's special royal wedding coverage starts at 4:00 a.m. Eastern time on Friday. You can get all of your royal wedding information any time as well on CNN.com/royal wedding or you can check out our new blog, "Unveiled, Everything you need to know about the royal nuptials" at CNN.com/unveiled.

And if you are going to be doing something unique and different in celebration of the wedding, we want to see it. Send us your iReport of any of your royal wedding watching taking place, iReport.com. Back to Christine and Ali.

VELSHI: I think you should ask Clinton Kelly about the advice that you give me every morning about dressing.

CHETRY: Dress for your body type.

VELSHI: He just tweeted and said, take off the vest already. The vest never comes off.

ROMANS: You had a very good segment earlier about the limitation of what you can wear, a uniform or morning coat or a lounge suit. Ali says his lounge suit is red velvet. I can't wait to see that.

CHETRY: Hugh Hefner comes to mind, but that's not what they are talking about. I think they are just talking about a proper suit.

VELSHI: Kiran, we have a lot of celebrities on this show. Ice-T is here. Great thoughts, life lessons from Ice-T. I like this one the best -- "You don't need a yacht. You just need a friend with a yacht."

ROMANS: I like this one. "It is not about being mad at everything. It is about being really mad at the right thing."

VELSHI: Ladies and gentlemen, Ice-T on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ICE-T, SINGER: Yes, yes, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Yes, musician, actor, motivational speaker and now Ice-T can add author to his resume.

VELSHI: He got a new autobiography, he's talking about it all, from his former gang life to losing his parents in a short span of time as a child, to politics and acting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're here for my job?

ICE-T: This is awkward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's after 3:00, any luck?

ICE-T: And a lot of bad mouth mothers here; Buck Tooth, Snuggle Tooth, Mangle Tooth, Missing Tooth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You must have some inner most secret?

ICE-T: I'm a Republican.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Ice-T joins us now. His new book is called "Ice: a Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption from South Central to Hollywood". What a great, fast read.

ICE-T: Yes.

VELSHI: Written the way you talk.

ICE-T: Yes.

VELSHI: Like, I can't read sort of a few passages that's on TV.

ICE-T: Yes.

VELSHI: Because there's a lot -- well, it's just, yes, there's a lot of street language in there.

ICE-T: It's exactly meant to feel like that. It's meant to feel like you're dealing in a conversation with me. And you -- you get the full vibe of me. I wasn't pulling any punches.

VELSHI: Right.

ICE-T: And when people say, it's a fast read. I'm like, well, is that a good thing? But I just been doing -- I am doing a lot of press like, no that's a great thing.

ROMANS: It's a good thing.

VELSHI: Yes.

ICE-T: That's a great thing. You want -- you want to keep the pages turning.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Keeping the frustration and read a lot of.

ICE-T: Yes.

ROMANS: And then you say, from South Central to Hollywood. You're actually born in Jersey.

ICE-T: Yes.

ROMANS: And grew up in Summit New Jersey.

ICE-T: Yes, I was.

ROMANS: With your parents when you were a little kid.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Middle class upbringing?

ROMANS: Yes.

ICE-T: Absolutely. Absolutely, I went to Brighton Elementary School, Summit Junior High School. But both my parents passed. My mother passed when I was in the third grade, my father in the seventh. And that's when I was shipped to Los Angeles and then I was still bussed to a white junior high school, Palms Junior High School.

It didn't happen so I got to L.A., I mean, when I went to high school. That's when everything changed. I went to rough -- one of the roughest high schools.

ROMANS: Yes.

VELSHI: And -- and it was the -- it was the Crips and the --

ICE-T: Blood. The Brims.

VELSHI: Wait, wait, the Brims.

ICE-T: And I went to Crenshaw High School.

ROMANS: At a time when this was exploding. It was exploding in L.A. but it's also exploding in the public conscious, the gang life and gangster life.

ICE-T: Well, honestly, it didn't explode in the public consciousness for about ten years after it started.

ROMANS: Right.

ICE-T: So it was, you know, "Time" magazine called my school Fort Crenshaw back in the day.

VELSHI: Yes.

ICE-T: It was pretty in that school.

ROMANS: I want to ask you about your mother. That's why I bring up New Jersey because your mother died when you were in third grade. And she said something to you very early on in the book that really struck me. She looked at you and said, "Tracy, people are stupid."

ICE-T: Right.

ROMANS: And it's something as you've gone through life, you kind of always were on your own and you knew that you had to make it for yourself and that there are -- there are stupid people out there.

ICE-T: Well, you know, she was referring to racism. My mother was a very fair-skinned black woman. And she was able to be around white people and hear them talk about black people in front of her. They didn't know.

And I went through that experience too being a light-skinned black child. I had a white friend who told me one of my friends couldn't come over to his house, because he was a darkie.

And so you know, I went home and asked my parents about it. And they said, look, baby, people are stupid. And racism was one thing. It was absolutely -- absolutely not allowed in my house, because my father and mother, to some people, seemed like an interracial marriage.

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: Right.

ICE-T: And you know, that was the first thing. They just taught me that's one of the first lessons I got, that racism is about as stupid as you can get.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: Yes.

VELSHI: There's something about "Cop Killer (ph)", about your music. You have some sense that rap has been diluted. It doesn't have the political message. You know while, some say it was a bad message. You think a lot of it was -- was politically influential and drove people. Do you think that is lacking now?

ICE-T: Well, I mean, I just think that you know, right now you have so many blogs, you have so much news, everybody knows CNN is where you go.

ROMANS: We love you.

ICE-T: But there's so much news is being pumped at you through the Internet and stuff. People want to just hear music that doesn't have anything to do with reality. They'd rather listen to music that's just about party, party, party. We don't want to deal with the issues because they are dealing with the issues daily all day.

VELSHI: Right.

ICE-T: And the music doesn't reflect that we are in a war, you know, got a -- got a black president. We've got lots of things going on. We've got economic problems. You've got the Wall Street situation. You won't find any of those in any of the music. It's not being reflected.

So as people are trying to run from the truth because music is very delusional.

VELSHI: Music is like an escapist.

ICE-T: Yes.

ROMANS: Well, obviously there's a million life lessons we can ask you about. They're all in here, it's a great read, it's a fast read. Yes, that's a good thing. Ice-T.

ICE-T: Yes, "New York Times," my review they -- my publicist said it was like a love letter. They just like, they really does.

VELSHI: It does, it reads in your voice. And then, we are pleased to have you here. It's a real honor.

ICE-T: Thank you for having me.

ROMANS: Ice-T, nice to meet you, sir.

VELSHI: All right. It's called, "A Memoir of Gangster, Life and Redemption from South Central to Hollywood".

It is 49 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

ROMANS: Just in from the White House right now, at a gaggle, a gathering with reporters, Jay Carney the President's Press Secretary, has issued the long form birth certificate of President Barack Obama. The -- the original document that has been the source of so much controversy about where the President was born.

VELSHI: As CNN has been reporting extensively for the last couple of days in our special investigation into this. The long-form birth certificate is not considered the official birth certificate, the one that the President long-ago provided. The computer generated certificate of live birth is actually the official birth certificate. That's been out there for a long time.

But there have been a number of people asking about this one, the original birth certificate. And Jay Carney has presented that to reporters. The President is going to be making a statement in less than an hour from now, 9:45 a.m. at the White House.

ROMANS: In the Press Briefing Room, he will presumably take questions about this. Our Dan Lothian is in the room right now with Jay Carney at this -- as we call it in the industry as the gaggle. But at this morning, this morning meeting, reporters and the Press Secretary. Again, it's is the long-form birth certificate from the State of Hawaii.

VELSHI: The -- the original. And -- and this is something that we -- Jay Carney made a reference to because CNN has -- has sent its own team of people to Hawaii to check this out and got sort of irrefutable proof that this is -- this -- this conversation is invalid.

The President was born in Hawaii, there are enough people who were able to prove that and the fact that the birth certificate that the President provided to the American people is the valid and original one. Interesting that they have taken this step but there has been a lot of talk about it in a last two days.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: To put the whole -- to put the whole thing to rest in the end. You know, if you live in Hawaii and were born in Hawaii in the '60s or '70s and you go to get a copy of your birth certificate, you get a certificate of live birth which is exactly what the President has been showing -- or the White House has been showing for some time.

But the original, sort of long-form birth certificate, stored away in a vault somewhere, the White House is making that available today to reporters. We are going to have more on that for you. Dan Lothian also -- again at 9:45, the President is going to speak on this subject.

VELSHI: Which means that at 9:50, this subject should be forever dead; hopefully, we are the last people to report on this.

ROMANS: Are you saying that --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: I don't think it is going to happen. But that's what I think is going -- that's what I would hope would happen. It is 8:55. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: The White House has presented reporters with copies of President Obama's original long-form birth certificate at the White House just moments ago.

ROMANS: That's right. Our Dan Lothian is there with a copy of that long-form birth certificate in his hand. Hi there Dan. We've seen this certificate of live birth which is the legal document. This is the original birth certificate that is at the heart of this matter.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This has been at the heart of the controversy. Everyone asking why the President had not produced this despite the fact that there had been so many questions about whether or not the President was actually born in the United States.

Well here it is, the White House dropping this bombshell this morning. We are expecting at this off-camera gaggle, to be asking questions about a national security shuffle. Instead, they walked out with all of these documents.

The ball started rolling, we are told, last week when President Obama's lawyers asked -- requested two copies of the long-form birth certificate. The reason for all this, we're told by the White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer (ph) is that the President was disturbed by the big distraction that this was causing, so much debate.

We know that it has become a big talking point for some of the candidates or those perspective candidates on the Republican side for president. And he thought it was a distraction from the real issue at hand, which was dealing with the budget, dealing with taxes. And so that's why they decided to request this and release it today.

We will be hearing from the President at 9:45. He will be making some comments about this.

VELSHI: All right. Dan, we will obviously be all following that very, very closely. But the release of the original long-form birth certificate.

ROMANS: All right. Dan Lothian at the White House.

"CNN NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello starts right now.

That's going to wrap it up for us, at least for today. Hi Carol.