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American Morning
Harvard Bound...At 15!; Mom's Unpaid Work; Trouble in Tennessee; Al Qaeda Confirms Bin Laden's Death; Unemployment Rate Up to 9 Percent; CNN Hero of the Week
Aired May 06, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: It did not take long at all. I'm Ali Velshi.
The documents found inside Osama bin Laden's house have already triggered a new alert about security here in the United States.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Mississippi Rivers still rising this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.
They're dealing with epic flooding. Thousands have had to flee their homes, hundreds are in shelters in parts of the south. And by the time it's all over, this could turn out to be a disaster for the ages.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. Whether you're heading to work or you're just hoping for work, everyone has a stake in the jobs market. We're standing by for the very latest jobs report this morning. What it means for the economic recovery -- for your economic recovery on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
VELSHI: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It is Friday, May 6th.
A great deal going on across the country right now, we are carefully watching this flooding that is going on along the Mississippi.
CHETRY: And this jobs report coming out in just 30 minutes from now.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: They are expecting to add 185,000, but that's still not enough.
VELSHI: Not the pace at which we need. But let's hope we at least get to that. We'll be talking about that in detail this hour.
ROMANS: But up, first, a reminder that the war goes on after bin Laden. The Homeland Security Department has issued an alert by rail security. A law enforcement source says al Qaeda was plotting to attack trains, one possible date mentioned, 9/11/2011.
CHETRY: And officials say this information came right from bin Laden's own files, those very files that were recovered by the Navy SEALs after the raid on the compound that killed him. The source tells us that other information found in the house shows that al Qaeda was interested still in targeting Washington and New York, as well as other big cities like Los Angeles and Chicago.
ROMANS: Other possible target dates were July 4th, Christmas and U.N. opening day when world leaders are gathered in New York. The first homeland security secretary, Tom Ridge, talked about this new threat last night with John King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM RIDGE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It's a head's up. It's a warning. I don't think it's necessarily actionable but it's appropriate to send this information out to those responsible for that infrastructure.
They just wanted to remind people that there's still a potential target, take notice, but use the information that we have, but don't make any -- don't make any changes now. There's no necessity for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Also new this morning, Osama bin Laden wife is talking. She is in Pakistani custody and tells interrogators she did not leave her walled-in compound for five years. The woman charged Navy SEALs and was shot in the leg during the raid, according to U.S. officials. But Pakistan took her into custody after Navy SEALs lost a chopper and were forced to live without her. They are reportedly refusing to give her up.
Today, President Obama will travel to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to personally thank members of the U.S. Navy SEAL team that took down bin Laden. Yesterday, he was at Ground Zero, meeting with families and first responders.
CHETRY: Well, to the South now where floodwaters have thousands fleeing and the Mississippi is not expected to crest for at least another week. State police, as well as the National Guard, helping hundreds of residents evacuate in eastern Arkansas. There are three towns under mandatory evacuation right now, McClelland, Gregory and Cotton Plant. Residents there are being told to get out.
ROMANS: Further east in Memphis, Tennessee, floodwaters are threatening hundreds of homes. Emergency officials predict nearly 3,000 properties in this area could be affected by flooding if the Mississippi crests at 48 feet this weekend. I mean, that would be the river's highest level since 1937. Right now, the river is approaching 46 feet.
VELSHI: So, at least, another two feet to go.
David Mattingly is live in Memphis this morning.
David, where do things stand right now? And give us some sense, because this is a slow-moving type of flood. Is there a sense of urgency there?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a sense of urgency. Even though this flood is moving inch by inch, this river is still on the move, a high watermark being set all up and down the river. And now, Memphis is one very large city working very hard to hold back a very large flood.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY (voice-over): City parks already flooded and water creeping closer to houses by the day. People of Memphis watch the rising Mississippi River and wonder.
LEE STREATER, MEMPHIS RESIDENT: How high will the water get, you know? Who is most at risk? Which land sits lower?
MATTINGLY: The Mississippi River floods of 2011 are expected to break records to the north of Memphis this weekend, and then continue setting high watermarks as far south as Baton Rouge. The river is expected to crest in Memphis at 48 feet above flood stage, the highest it's been in generations.
(on camera): Memphis hasn't seen that much water since the disastrous floods of 1937. Back then, city officials tell me the river rose all the way to here, where I'm standing, which is four blocks away from the river banks.
(voice-over): But there have been big changes since to keep the river back. A system of flood walls, gates and levees developed since the 1950s should keep the city dry. But it's a system that's never been hit with this much water.
BOB NATIONS, SHELBY COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: They have never been tested. All of the subject matter experts are telling us, we can have a high confidence level.
MATTINGLY: Army Corps of Engineers blowing levees to divert floodwaters into Missouri farmland slowed the water's arrival downriver. Officials around Memphis are using the time to prepare. A call has gone out to volunteers to fill sandbags for government buildings and hospitals. The hope is they won't be needed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And, right now, the big threat around Memphis is actually in the tributaries, the rivers that flow around Memphis into the Mississippi River, because this river is rising. It's pushing water back up into those rivers. Communities along those tributaries and properties along those tributaries are going to see some flooding.
And officials today are going out, making calls, knocking on doors and letting people know in the problem areas that it's time to pack up. Don't wait for this river to get into your backyard before you make a decision to leave.
CHETRY: Very smart, because it happens so fast.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: I mean, we talk about the slow but when it is rising and when it overtakes your home, it happens in what seems like a split second.
David Mattingly, thanks so much.
So, there are a lot of people, as we said, along the Mississippi River, that are in harm's way. If you take a look -- this is the map for the potential of flooding, the flood zone.
VELSHI: Right. These are places in danger.
CHETRY: Yes, under watches or warnings. Exactly. And you see what it looks like. I mean, it stretches throughout the entire country's midsection from the Upper Midwest, all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of people in homes are threatened. And everywhere you look, you see blue rivers flowing over levees, evacuations being ordered or the floodwaters, as we said, potentially, could hit.
ROMANS: And they seem more like lakes, almost, when we see these reporters and the live shots. You know, there's not a river flowing behind them. It's just a massive water.
VELSHI: Rob Marciano in Mississippi County, Missouri --
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: -- it looked like he was standing on the shore of the lake.
Reynolds is with us following this in the extreme weather center -- Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, you guys are right, you really touched on something. How, if you're not used to seeing that area, it does have a very serene appearance, like where Rob was the other days, as you mentioned it.
So, we are going to go back in time with the use of some of these satellite images to give you an idea of how things look before and how they look now and what we can expect in days to come. First of foremost, we're going to go back to April 29th of 2010 -- easy for me to say -- here is the Mississippi Valley, you got parts of the Ohio River, even the Wabash and Black River thrown in for good measure. Things are as they should be.
Now, as we fast-forward to April 29th, you see things beginning to fill up. Now, the river is swelling the banks, especially along parts of the Mississippi. And then as you zoom in in places like Cairo, you can see -- rather Cairo, you can see it really spilling the banks, the flood way, of course, crossing some of the (INAUDIBLE), if you will, few of the oxbow lakes also filling in to part of the main headwaters.
Now, what we are going to be seeing in days to come is more of this make its way downstream. In fact, as we head to Vicksburg on May 20th; Natchez in May 22nd; May 23rd, the Red River Landing going up well above flood stage, in some cases up to 17.5 feet, getting close to 18 feet; and Baton Rouge at 12.5.
Keep in mind, these are all estimates, these are forecasts. Forecasts, admittedly, have been wrong at times. So, there's a chance that it could be higher or, hopefully, it could be a bit lower. But for the time being, it looks pretty dire to say the least, especially over the -- towards the end of the month.
That is a quick snapshot of the forecast. Let's pitch it back to you in New York.
VELSHI: Can I ask you a quick question?
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: You may ask me anything.
VELSHI: Thank you, Reynolds.
We've been told by everybody, our own reporters and others we talk about, talk to, that it's going to crest in some cases, next week, maybe next Wednesday, and it will take a long time to drain. Is there anything that can happen in the environment that can change that?
WOLF: That could cause conditions to be worse?
VELSHI: Or better?
WOLF: Worse -- definitely if you have more rainfall.
VELSHI: Right.
WOLF: If you have a lull that develops in the Gulf of Mexico, comes up in parks over parts of the Delta, that would be a horrible situation.
What we need is a nice dry trend of weather. Things are already bad as they are. We need a little bit of a very calming effect on the atmosphere. That looks like that's going to be the case, especially over the next week or so.
CHETRY: Right.
WOLF: At least we got that going for us.
CHETRY: Yes. I mean, the hard thing is, as you are saying, we are reporting on this, we're seeing it and we're wondering, is there any way to make this better and turn back time. And it just -- you have to sit here and know that they are saying it might not go down until June. So, that's tough to hear.
WOLF: That's very true. But, guys, we need to also keep in mind. I'm not -- I don't want to sound like I am being callused to the people who are being terribly affected by this. It is heart-wrenching to watch this.
But keep in mind that much of this is forming on what is called a flood plain. This is supposed to happen. You are supposed to se it in this part of the world -- not horribly, obviously. And, obviously, we don't want any cost to human life or property. But this happens to be a flood point. It's occurred.
ROMANS: Before we bottled it up with locks and dams and levees, the Mississippi River used to meander and turn and curve and spill. And that was --
VELSHI: And that's what created that rich farmland.
ROMANS: That's what helped create --
WOLF: Guys, we have wildfires out in the West, we have earthquakes, we have tornadoes in central plains, and yes, we have flooding in parts of the mid-Mississippi Valley. It happens.
VELSHI: Nonstop. All right. Thanks for staying on top of it for us.
WOLF: Thanks.
ROMANS; With the royal wedding and the death of Osama bin Laden dominating the headlines for the past 10 days, the disaster relief efforts for tornado-ravaged Alabama have fallen off of some people's radar screens. That's why some of the biggest names in country music feel inclined to come out. They want to really help out. They want to put it back in there in the public conscious.
Hank Williams Jr., Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, these are kind of a headliner, will perform a 90-minute benefit concert next Thursday night. It will air live on CMT at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. And all the proceeds are going to go to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund for Alabama.
CHETRY: Wow.
ROMANS: You can donate 10 bucks right now to the Red Cross relief fund by texting 90999. Or for other ways to help, you can logon to CNN.com/Impact. You can visit our "Impact your World" Web site.
CHETRY: You know, it just had me thinking last year, I mean, the Grand Ole Opry flooded, right? They had flooding in Nashville.
VELSHI: That's right.
CHETRY: And they had relief concerts. I know Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney and all of them were trying to get attention and money to that cause as well. So, it's been a rough couple of years definitely for that area.
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: Well, a leading conservative voice in the House now running for Indiana governor. We're talking about Republican Mike Pence, who made it official yesterday. He once split with current GOP governor, Mitch Daniels, who famously called for a truce on social issues.
VELSHI: And former Olympian, Carl Lewis, back in the race for a New Jersey state Senate seat. A federal appeals court issued an injunction allowing Lewis' name to appear as a Democratic contender for now. The case is going to go back to New Jersey federal court to decide whether he meets the residency requirements needed to run. You think they're going to pull Rahm Emanuel's transcripts from -- it sounds like the same battle was going on Chicago.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROMANS: Also, you won't see Donald Trump driving the pace car after all at the Indianapolis 500 later this month. Trump's selection came under fire because of his birther remarks. But the Donald backed out of the Indy race on his own, telling race officials he appreciates this honor but time and business constraints will make it impossible for him to attend.
VELSHI: He's has been busy.
CHETRY: Yes. Plus, the wind is blowing through your hair, and you know what I mean? As you ride through the track. He likes to keep his a certain way.
VELSHI: Now, this is one of those stories where do not change the channel when I say this.
ROMANS: It's really important.
VELSHI: There's been a major, major day on the markets yesterday you need to know about, because the cost of everything going up that we've been telling you about, all those commodities, they took a big hit yesterday. Oil went down, silver, all sorts of things. The dollar got stronger. We're going to tell you how this all matters to you when we come back.
ROMANS: And it's continuing this morning. So, it looks like a bubble bursting in all those high prices.
CHETRY: Also, how about this for amazing? A 15-year-old girl from New Jersey, she heading to Harvard in the fall, turning down 13 other schools who wanted her. What's her secret? We'll tell you, coming up.
Twelve minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right "Minding Your Business," and finally, some good news. We're talking about gas and oil. After 44 straight days of going up, gas prices are actually down. Cold comfort, if you're paying way more. But, hey, according to AAA, national average down to $3.98 a gallon, which is where it was when we started.
VELSHI: To back up the trucks.
CHETRY: Oil trucks also taking a bigger hit than that, down 8 percent yesterday. That is the biggest one-day drop they've seen since April of 2009.
VELSHI: And is down again this morning. Oil prices are down to 96 and changed this morning, $97 (ph)?
ROMANS: All sorts of commodities losing their luster. They've been hot for months. But yesterday, in addition to oil dropping below $100 a barrel, natural gas down almost 7 percent. Silver, which has industrial applications as well as being silver, it's been on a terror this year. It's down about 8 percent yesterday.
VELSHI: Oil is down almost 30 percent this week alone, and that's the biggest one-week drive.
ROMANS: Oil is down how much? Silver.
VELSHI: Silver is down. Here's the thing. The dollar went up yesterday. And this is always how it works. When the dollar goes up, because all of these commodities are priced in dollars, the price of those commodities tend to go down, but it was across the board.
CHETRY: I'm still interested when they, you know, they say gold is a hedge against a weak dollar, right? Why did gold go down? I mean, gold has been on a tear.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: It also went down. Silvers actually use in industrial applications. So, all these other commodities are actually used. Gold has got more to do with the actual value of the dollar where you think it's going this (ph) of the inflation, but, you know, a lot of complicated stuff in there, but it's worthy of understanding, because a lot of people will have gone to their financial planers or read on money.com or other places about what's going on in commodities. Good to know that what goes up can burst.
ROMANS: Oh, yes. It can come down, and it came down hard and fast.
VELSHI: We also have a jobs report this morning. Fifteen minutes from now, 13 minutes from now, the April jobs report will be released. Economists predict employers added 185,000 jobs in April. That's down a little bit from what they added in March. The unemployment rate, however, is expected to remain unchanged at 8.8 percent. We'll have more of a discussion about that in about 13 or 14 minutes.
CHETRY: This is really cool. Harvard, a symbol of academic success and, of course, prestige. New Jersey girl accepted to the Ivy League School, but guess what? She's only 15 years old. Her name is Saheela Ibraheem. She's from Edison, New Jersey. She's heading to Harvard in the fall.
She also turned down 13 other colleges, including, oh, you know, just MIT, Princeton, Columbia. She's basically an academic marvel. She skipped two grades, fluent in three languages. She is an accomplished trombonist. Yes, she's an athlete. She is success. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAHEELA IBRAHEEM, 15-YEAR-OLD ACCEPTED TO HARVARD: If you are passion about what you do and I'm passionate about most of these things, especially with math and science. It will work out well. Kids should try to listen to their parents most of the time. They know what they're doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: I love that she likes math and science.
CHETRY: And she said that kids should listen to their parents. How about that? Well, she wants to become a research scientist, and she wants to study --
ROMANS: And she's well-spoken. I'm sure she wrote beautiful essays for all these colleges.
CHETRY: The only -- I mean, OK, look, the only down side to that is, do you get to enjoy your childhood? You're going to go to Harvard. You're going to be there two, you know, two years --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: She is going to enjoy the rest of her life much better than everybody else.
CHETRY: I understand, but the same thing with child actors and things like that. You know what I mean? You're in the real world. You're in the real game. I mean, she's going to be 15 years old. Is she going to be able to have fun in college?
ROMANS: I bet she loves what she does. I bet she loves learning. I bet she loves studying, and, yes.
VELSHI: I can't have related to that. I certainly wasn't in her category.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: All right. Great story. We'll be getting a lot of your feedback on, and we're going to read some of it back to you.
The replacement cost of a mom, $61,000, but that sounds a little bit cold. The replacement costs of the task at home that, in many cases, mothers do, $61,000. We're going to read back to you some of your thoughts if you sent to us in this never-ending loop. We'll be back in a few minutes. It's 20 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Next time you hit the road, you might want to get hit with a new taxi. The hill.com reports that the government is tossing the idea around.
CHETRY: You said a new taxi.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: A tax. As I reading that, I'm thinking that doesn't make sense. Good thing this is a taped show. Can we start again? A new tax. The government's idea is tossing around the idea of taxing drivers by the mile. The Congressional Budget Office suggested --
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) you can't even spit it out.
VELSHI: I really don't like this -- I don't like the whole idea. Suggested using a electronic tracking system. The White House says it's an early draft, not a formal proposal. Tracking cars and charging them for the mileage they drive.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: This is what they were saying in the story. They were saying that this would, perhaps, in someway, this would be in place of the gas tax.
ROMANS: Oh, I see.
CHETRY: So, basically, you pay by the mile. And as Ali pointed out, where is the incentive at a drive fuel efficient vehicles. I mean, if you pay by the mile, it doesn't matter if you drive a Hummer or a Prius.
VELSHI: That's exactly right. So, I mean, this is an all together bad idea all around, and I didn't even present the story properly. So, there is really nothing good for me.
ROMANS: The last thing you want is a new taxi.
VELSHI: Thankfully, I have two other anchors here. Can you -- one of you take the rest of us?
CHETRY: Well, we know that moms are priceless, of course, but what if you had to actually put a price on all that mom does at home? Insurance.com crunched the numbers, and they said, if you basically hired a professional, instead of mom or dad, if you're a stay-at-home dad, to do all of the following things, this is what it would cost you.
First of all, driving, let's put in you the higher (ph), somebody to do all the driving in soccer games, to the kick ball, to the school and back, $6,000. That's what it would cost you per year. What if you had to pay somebody the annual cost of having a housekeeper there -- this is homework. I'm sorry. This is homework. If you had to get a tutor for all the times that you help the kids with the homework, that'd be $7,000.
$1,500 is if you had to pay somebody to do all of the shopping, all the groceries, the errands, and another $1,000 basically to keep the house in order. That's nearly $800 to have somebody finding out what your kids are up to. OK. That's another one. It turns out that this is $61,436.
ROMANS: Yes, a lot of you on Facebook and Twitter are telling us that, hey, wait, a lot of guys are saying, it's a lot more than that, really. My wife does much more, which is really good sucking up, guys. And then, other guys are saying things like, hey, this is sexist. Guys do a lot of stuff, too. Come on.
We're just trying to value all of those things together, but we want to know what you think about this. So, you can e-mail us, you can tweet us, you can go to our blog. You can find us on Facebook. We're going to be reading your comments later on the show. $61,436.
VELSHI: We're going to find out about Gabby Giffords. How is she doing? Remember, she was supposed to be at that launch of the shuttle, the last one. They had to scrub it and delay it. We're going to tell you exactly how she's doing and the latest on the efforts to help her heal when we come. It's 25 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, her recovery from a near fatal gunshot to the head has been, by all accounts, pretty remarkable. Just how did Arizona congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, survive? And now that she has survived, what are the challenges going forward as she tries to recover?
VELSHI: Our good friend, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, met with her doctors for a CNN special this weekend. It's called "Saving Gabby Giffords." Really, actually to see this, Sanjay, really remarkable. If you stop and think not just about how to survive from a gunshot wound but a gunshot wound very specifically to the head, that most people upon looking at this wouldn't have thought there'd be survival or recovery.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And they'd have good reason to think that, because if you look at it (ph), only about 10 percent of people survive. That's a statistic that you got to keep in mind here when thinking about her. So, what allows someone like her to survive? All the various things that worked in her favor at the time, that's what we tried to look at, specifically. Here's how we think things unfold.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA (voice-over): The bullet was fired from a glock 199-millimeter semi-automatic handgun. It entered from the front left side of the congresswoman's forehead, traveled the entire length of her brain, and exited the back. It was a focused wound, meaning the damage was concentrated to one area of the brain.
She was exceedingly lucky, right?
DR. PETER RHEE, CHIEF OF TRAUMA, UMC TUCSON: When I saw the trajectory of where one hole was and where the other hole was, I was like, oh, my gosh, you know? However --
GUPTA: Because it was so far apart.
RHEE: Yes. I mean, it wasn't a little skiving thing. It went through a lot.
GUPTA: Yes, because it wasn't a glancing shot. It was -- RHEE: Yes, it wasn't a glancing shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA (on-camera): A couple things to keep in mind just quickly is that, you know, when they talk about not being a glancing shot, this bullet went through and through. Important, because, you want the energy of a bullet to dissipate into space, not into someone's head. Also, it was just on the left side of her head. We know, clearly, that if a bullet crosses the midline, the chances of a meaningful recovery or survival are much more diminished.
CHETRY: That is amazing.
And you had a chance to spend some time with her doctors as well to find out how much they believe she will regain in terms of function. I mean, will Gabby Giffords be the same Gabby Giffords two years down the road?
GUPTA: Right. You know, I think the way most doctors answer that question and some of the details are still unknowable at this point. But I think she won't be the same Gabby Giffords. She's not going not to return 100 percent. And I think most people, even the rehab doctors, recognize that.
But also, will she be able to return to Congress? A lot of people say she may be able to. One of the doctors said to me, look, I voted for her before. I'm going to vote for her begin. That was his response when I asked him the question. He also said, consider Bob Woodruff, somewhat sort of injury, many days in a coma, you see him on television news now. He's not the same Bob Woodruff, but he's able to do the job.
CHETRY: Right. Some of the personality aspects are a bit different, right?
GUPTA: And the personality, some of the word recall, some of the memory. But, you know, she's doing very well over all. She's getting the strength back in the right side and her speech as well.
CHETRY: That's amazing. Well, we're going to be watching your special.
GUPTA: Thank you.
CHETRY: And just give people an idea of what it is.
GUPTA: Yes, tell me what you think.
CHETRY: I am very fascinated about this. I mean, this is really riveting people to know she's getting through it.
VELSHI: And who better to do this than Sanjay, who knows more about the brain than most people. Sanjay is going to have much more on this, 7:00, Sunday night, 7:00 Eastern Time, night right here on CNN. And you'll be able to tweet live with Sanjay during the program. Some of the great questions and comments that you'll have that we know you'll -- that will come up as you're watching it.
Thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: (INAUDIBLE)
CHETRY: All right. Well, our top stories right now.
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: First, we have new numbers -- new employment numbers out by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
VELSHI: But, as first thing we're going to do, we're going to get to that in just a second, we have in you word that we have just received from al Qaeda, an alleged plot already uncovered. Al Qaeda -- CNN has confirmed from al Qaeda that they are confirming Osama bin Laden's death.
Osama bin Laden's death has now been acknowledged by al Qaeda. So, for those who are wondering why al Qaeda hasn't said anything about it, al Qaeda is now confirming that Osama bin Laden is dead. Again, this wasn't something of question to most people. There have been some people saying they're not entirely sure, either they wanted confirmation, that discussion about the photographs. But the bottom line now is al Qaeda is saying that Osama bin Laden is dead and that should take care of any remaining questions about this whole matter, if there were any remaining.
CHETRY: Right. Well, the significance was, would they deny it? Would they say this didn't happen? And that was one of the big concerns for proponents of releasing the photo of bin Laden.
VELSHI: Absolutely.
CHETRY: And again, now, al Qaeda itself is saying that bin Laden is dead.
VELSHI: And then we have the second piece of breaking news for you and that is the employment situation summary.
Christine, I know you were on the phone about this. What's the result?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: We know the unemployment rate ticked up to 9 percent. So, it ticked up just slightly. But the economy added 244,000 jobs, which is more than Wall Street had been expecting. We knew that they were expecting something like 185,000 jobs.
And a lot of this came in the private sector -- 260,000 jobs in the private sector, give or take. And so, that is, you know, far and away wiping out the losses that you are seeing in government jobs.
February was also revised upward. So, that shows a little more momentum earlier in the year than we thought.
Two other things I found interesting in this report, the long-term unemployed, that's the number we've been watching for a long time, dipped a little bit and discouraged workers. Those are people that dropped out of the labor force because they can't find a job. That also dipped.
Retail jobs at 57,000. Auto dealers added 5,000 jobs.
Still digging through the reports but that's at least the headline.
VELSHI: And, of course, health care continues to improve, employment and leisure. But where the losses were, were government. But this is a substantially better report than what everybody was expecting.
CHETRY: And we bring in Carmen Wong Ulrich to talk more about this. She's watching your money.
So, people always wonder, OK, so, if they added jobs, why are we seeing the unemployment rate also creep up to 9 percent?
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, here's the thing, private workers is one thing. How many discouraged workers there are is a big factor. We're now up to 9 percent unemployment. This is a very discouraging number.
And we know if this continues, and it has continued for a very long time, just adding 200,000 jobs, it is going to take us three years to get back to prerecession employment numbers. This is going to take a very, very long time. You need to add at least 250 jobs a month in order to just maintain.
So, as you can see, we've fallen back again. We're at 9 percent. And, you know, this is going to really have a big impact on a lot of things. Don't forget, with the storms an everything that has happened in the South, next month may not look so good either because a lot of those folks are going to be filing for unemployment.
ROMANS: What's your advice for people that look at these numbers every month and they say, you know, this doesn't pertain to me or when you're talking about a growth of 244,000, if I can't get a job. I mean, does this mean something on the ground to people trying to get work?
ULRICH: It means a lot. It actually means, unfortunately, more of the same. We saw on the CNN poll this morning that the opinion is that the economy is in really poor, poor share. Most folks that have a job are concerned about their jobs or, you know, always feeling like -- we see this in the savings rate, OK? The savings rate has continued to grow. Credit card balances have continued to go down.
People's behavior is reflecting the reality that employment is really, really rocky.
CHETRY: Right. And the other thing, too, is these huge differences we see based on demographics. I mean, you still have adult men, 8.8 percent. Adult women, it's lower. But them you take a look at African-Americans, their unemployment rate is nearly double that of whites. ULRICH: Yes. Absolutely. And Latinos as well, 12 percent. Teenagers, and this is very discouraging, 25 percent. I know a lot of us grew up at a time where all teenagers, we all worked. And now, this is very discouraging number as well for younger folks.
But, the numbers are better than the analysts were expecting quite a bit more. So, that's encouraging.
ROMANS: All right. Carmen Wong Ulrich -- thank you, Carmen.
ULRICH: Thank you.
CHETRY: The unsung heroes of war helping in combat and also helping in the healing afterwards, dogs. We're going to be meeting a special pooch, Tuesday. And Luis Carlo Montalvan.
VELSHI: We're actually going to be meeting this dog in a few minutes.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Oh, he has my shoe. Hi, buddy. Thank you. Can I have that back? I hope you didn't eat the other one.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: It's a little soggy but no worse for the wear. All right. We're going to be right back with Tuesday, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty minutes past the hour right now.
You know, dogs have been fighting alongside U.S. soldiers for more than 100 years. They play a pivotal role in military operations. And perhaps now more than ever, they are using dogs in many ways, from combat zones, to sniffing out explosives and even comforting soldiers in the aftermath of duty.
ROMANS: Our next guess is retired U.S. Army Captain Luis Carolos Montalvan. His dog, Tuesday, is a psychiatric service dog. Tuesday is part of a new generation of animals trained to help people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
CHETRY: And Montalvan is the author of a new book, "Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and The Golden Retriever Who Saved Him."
Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
LUIS CARLOS MONTALVAN, FORMER U.S. ARMY CAPTAIN: Thank you.
CHETRY: So, how -- explain to us how you and Tuesday became a pair?
MONTALVAN: Well, after getting out of the Army in 2007 to recover from physical and psychological wounds, it was a very low point for me, dealing with some alcoholism and a myriad of negative effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. And for about a year and a half, I was really in terrible shape.
And ultimately, in 2008, I learned online via an e-mail that there were programs beginning to pair wounded veterans with service dogs. I didn't know anything about service dogs. So, it was like manna from heaven.
Then, about six months later, in November of 2008, I had the blessing of getting partnered with this boy.
CHETRY: And how was -- how was your relationship? What does Tuesday do for you and how is it different than, let's say, having a pet?
MONTALVAN: Well, Tuesday, when I got him, knew 80 commands. He was formally trained for two years. Now, he knows 150 commands. But he's trained to help me physically and psychologically. He will -- he can retrieve anything that I ask him to, which helps me because I fractured some vertebrae in Iraq.
He helps me with balance when I walk, because of the traumatic brain injury. It messes with my equilibrium.
For PTSD, he will wake me up from nightmares.
CHETRY: He can sense your (INAUDIBLE).
MONTALVAN: Yes. He helps me get out of the house. I had a very bad case of social agoraphobia. You know, a lot of veterans -- you know, hundreds of thousands of veterans are suffering at home.
ROMANS: Right. So, he saved you?
MONTALVAN: He saved me. I mean, he saved -- he saved my life in so far as that he was enabled to provide me with the independence that I needed to rekindle my hopes and dreams and re-realize my potential to be happy.
ROMANS: He is helping you on the outside and other veterans like you on the outside. We know that in the theater, there are what, 2,800 canines who are actually alongside our soldiers, doing all kinds of different jobs as well. I mean, I think it shows you just the connection that we have with dogs.
MONTALVAN: Absolutely. And they're doing -- these dogs are -- those working dogs working with the Army and the Marine Corps and the Air Force and Navy and Coast Guard, they're doing tremendous work sniffing out IEDs, saving countless lives, both Iraqi, Afghani, American.
And, you know, of course, they do things like perform on raids such as what happened in the case with Osama bin Laden. And they do therapy work for soldiers when they rest, coming back from missions.
CHETRY: Would you show us a few of the commands.
MONTALVAN: Sure.
CHETRY: I mean, I know Tuesday likes to perform. MONTALVAN: He likes to work. He loves to work.
CHETRY: He likes to work. Exactly.
MONTALVAN: Well, are any of you amenable, either of you amenable to
CHETRY: Being cuddled?
MONTALVAN: Yes?
CHETRY: Yes, we love that. I know Ali --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: We will try it on me. If it's not too bad, let's send it over to Ali.
MONTALVAN: Tuesday, Tuesday, her lap, her lap. Her lap. Snuggle. Good boy.
CHETRY: How sweet.
MONTALVAN: Good boy, Tuesday, yes.
CHETRY: All right. Will he do it to Ali?
MONTALVAN: Yes, of course.
Tuesday, off -- that snuggle command is such a wonderful way to get out of a flashback or to get out of a -- he is giving you kisses.
CHETRY: Sorry. He just got a mouthful of makeup.
(LAUGHTER)
MONTALVAN: Tuesday, good boy. He can't help it if he loves you. Good.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: All right. Ali is not a dog person. So, let's see how this goes down.
MONTALVAN: Oh, OK. Let's see, Tuesday, go on, go on.
VELSHI: Come here, Tuesday.
MONTALVAN: Go say hi.
VELSHI: Come here, Tuesday, come here, buddy.
MONTALVAN: Tuesday.
VELSHI: Tuesday. All right.
MONTALVAN: Go say hi. VELSHI: Tuesday, look at the camera for a second. We're going to -- we're going to take a quick break. Take a look at the camera.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Tuesday is smart.
VELSHI: Here he comes, here he comes. We are taking a quick break. Tuesday will also be back in just a minute. Take a look at the camera. There you go.
CHETRY: Tuesday knows where he wants to be.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A lot going on this morning. Here is what you need to know to start your day.
Al Qaeda now confirming the death of its leader, Osama bin Laden, the message posted on a jihadist forum. Reuters also reporting a bin Laden tape could be on the way. It was made obviously before he was killed. CNN is trying to confirm that statement right now.
President Obama meeting the man who killed Osama bin Laden today. He will give a personal thank you to the Navy Seal team that stormed bin Laden's compound earlier this week. He'll be doing that later this morning in Kentucky.
Epic floods triggering a crisis in the south forcing thousands to evacuate in Arkansas and Tennessee. The Mississippi River continues to rise. Record floods are expected all along the river as far south as Louisiana, well into next week.
The April jobs report just out. It shows that employers added 244,000 jobs last month, much more than expected. The employment rate, however, also rose to nine percent.
And investigators like what they hear from that jobs report. The markets open in 45 minutes. Right now, Dow futures up more than 100 points. The NASDAQ and S&P, also higher this morning.
You're caught up with the day's headlines, AMERICAN MORNING back right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-nine minutes past the hour right now. We are checking in with Reynolds Wolf this morning. He's monitoring, of course, the latest on the mighty Mississippi, the flooding concerns that of course continue into the weekend. Hi Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, guys.
You know, we have been showing people some graphics really told the story of this -- how expansive this flooding has really been. But perhaps one of the best ways, the most dramatic ways to convey what's happening is with some images.
Let's go right to these incredible -- these amazing shots that we have for you. You see this was - just some -- a series that have been taken from places like -- like Paducah and also in White Missouri; you see that -- that house, basically an island. And in Tiptonville, Tennessee, the same thing, people moving their possessions out to higher ground. Some people never had that opportunity. And there you see in metropolis, that a -- just a stop sign that really leads to nowhere.
It's just -- really an unfortunate situation. But what we're going to see over the next couple of days and weeks is a lot of this water flooding. It continues to mark its way downstream in places like say, Vicksburg, (INAUDIBLE) and Red River Landing and even Baton Rouge all well above flood stage.
In fact, some places even that you're in -- at 17 and a half and maybe getting to 18 feet above flood stage before all is said and done. Now, the last thing we need is another dose of heavy rainfall.
Thankfully, we do have some rain, but not in this part of the world. Thankfully, it should remain dry due to the series of a high pressures. It's going to have a compressing effect on the atmosphere. So rain will be limited. That's the good news.
There will be some rain over in the country. Some in the Pacific Northwest, some in the Upper Plains and of course into the Great Lakes. But if we take a look at our computer models for the next five days, it disappeared. The heaviest rainfall will be limited to parts of the Ohio Valley and into the Northern Plains. Thankfully, not much at all south of Paducah, into Memphis and to the Gulf Coast.
All right, guys that's the snapshot on the forecast, let's pitch it back to you in New York.
ROMANS: Ok, thanks Reynolds.
VELSHI: Thanks Reynolds.
All right, Ensure.com, we were telling you about this, we've been talking about it all morning, they are putting a price tag on these specific tasks that moms perform at home.
ROMANS: Associated with moms at home. Sometimes --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Associated with moms but dads could be performing this.
ROMANS: Sometimes dads do this too. Right.
CHETRY: But it's Mother's Day this weekend so they get the Shout-out. We'll talk to the dads in June.
VELSHI: Father's Day we'll talk about dads.
All right, so they are saying its $61,436 a year. We've been asking for your responses all morning. Kiran, take it away.
CHETRY: I love Crispy Bacon, "Stay at home mom, left for ten days and my family and house were a complete disaster when I returned. I'm much more appreciated now, LOL."
Good for you Crispy Bacon.
VELSHI: Doug goes to our blog and says, "I agree, but why stop with mom, how about the value of dad mowing the lawn, painting the house, fixing the car, building a fence, repairing an appliance, fixing the computer, et cetera? Motherhood is not about her monetary value, nor is fatherhood. Why even ask this question? Love is not employment."
ROMANS: Sunday is Mother's Day.
CHETRY: No we -- and but it's also important to point out as Carmen was telling us that it's Ensure.com saying, that you should get insurance --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Because there's --
ROMANS: Because mothers are insured less than fathers.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: Ok, this is from Zach Holms on Facebook. "I think that number is pretty low. Does it consider the on-call hours in the middle of the night. With absolutely no guarantee on the amount of sleep mom will be getting. I love my wife. She is an awesome mother to our three kids. She is definitely worth more than this stated amount."
CHETRY: Right and if you had to add on a night nurse, if you can even afford one.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: It add probably add another -- they do well. They do well.
VELSHI: Well, sure.
CHETRY: Ok, well, V Peeler writes, "Having a good mom at home is priceless. The chore she does may be worth $61,000. But that's only a small part of her true net worth." Of course that's something all of us agree on.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: The mother's and father's love, you can't put a price on that.
(CROSSTALK) ROMANS: And you can't outsource dollar for dollar someone else --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: -- doing homework with your kids.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: Because a parent doing homework with their kids is just -- it's much more important.
VELSHI: Well, I've got another posting here from Doug B. Now, the first I read was from Doug and I don't know if Doug B. is a different person. But Doug B. says, "Since family duties are so much more universal in today's society, I would love to see the study extended to cover the value of unpaid workmen do as well. It seems a bit sexist to apply this only to women."
I should tell you, it was not a study but sort of a -- I think an informal survey that Ensure.com did. What kind of things do moms do and what do you think they are worth?
And this is the day Ali only reads e-mails from Doug.
VELSHI: That's right. Anybody named Doug -- I'm reading your e-mails.
CHETRY: Tomorrow it's Tom.
VELSHI: That's right.
Chetry: And this is from Tammy Sanford on Facebook, "Moms are priceless. We gave you life. Makes me think just how much stay-at- home moms are taken for granted. You cannot put a price on what we moms do."
And you know that's not stay-at-home moms. But also you have -- this also shows you the value of two, working parents who are trying to share these responsibilities while they are out in the workforce working and trying to do all this stuff.
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: It's -- you can see.
ROMANS: I think people who plan it a little bit and communicate and sort of divvy it up probably have a better time.
VELSHI: For all you chumps out there who think that flowers and chocolates are too expensive this weekend, just look at that $61,000 number.
CHETRY: Chumps, nice one.
All right. Well, CNN Hero of the week's coming up. Helping total strangers overwhelmed by the worst tornado outbreak in history. It's 54 minutes past the hour. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: When disaster strikes, he doesn't ask questions. He just goes in.
VELSHI: This week's CNN hero rolled into a small town in Georgia dealing with the biggest tornado outbreak in U.S. history. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When a disaster strikes, you don't really know what you are going to need. That's why we have packaged up four tractor-trailers loaded with just about every type of tool and gear and piece of equipment.
We have the generator running. We are going to power up this church.
We roll those rigs all across this country. We decided to come to Ringgold, Georgia, because it is a small area and most likely they didn't have the resources that they would need. All these homes were completely destroyed.
My team has been to about 36 mega-storms. But we've never seen anything like this before.
It's all gone. Almost like the whole city went through a blender.
When we first got here, we started powering up the shelter, clearing the roads and we wanted to just help stabilize the situations.
We will have him come in and grab these trees right off of these two stones right here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They went over and cleared the cemetery. That's why I am able to bury my father today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to keep working until this is done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He then came over and offered his services again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just joined with the family members on our hands and knees looking for things.
I have some more photos in here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We found a wedding picture of my dad and mom. These guys are angels. Thank you so much for you and your team.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we see people suffering and struggling, it is our responsibility to come and help. This is part of being human, to see a need and to do something about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Well, who do you know who's making a big difference in your world? Tell us about them. Go to our AMERICAN MORNING blog, CNN.com/am and you can nominated them. These heroes come from you.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks so much for being with us all week.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there who are worth $61,400.
VELSHI: Plus, a lot more.
CHETRY: Priceless, of course.
"CNN NEWSROOM" and Carol Costello starts right now. Hey Carol.
ROMANS: Hi, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Yes. Happy Mother's Day to both of you and Ali, your day will come with Father's Day. Of course, you don't have any children, so, I'm sorry.
Have a great day, thank you so much.
