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American Morning

Flood Danger Heads South; Three Killed At San Jose State Univ; Delay In Trial For American Hikers; Report: Gadhafi Troops Cornered In Misrata; Former CNN President Burt Reinhardt Dies at 91; Year-Round Schooling Debate Resurfaces in U.S.; Making a Pilgrimage to "Mayberry"

Aired May 11, 2011 - 07:59   ET

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


CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Watching the levees, preparing for the worst.

I'm Christine Romans.

The Mississippi River rising, the danger heading further south this morning.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: China wants to get a good look at the U.S. helicopter that crashed in the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound.

I'm Ali Velshi.

Washington wants Pakistan to give the chopper back but it may already be too late.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And some scary moments on board Delta Flight 1102. It was headed from Orlando to Boston.

I'm Kiran Chetry.

A passenger tried to open the plane's emergency door in mid-air. This is the fourth incident on a plane in the past week. We'll have new details on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ROMANS: Good morning. It's Wednesday, May 11th. The fourth case now in the past few days of someone trying to open, just some kind of event on an airplane. It's a little nerve rattling.

CHETRY: I mean, in this case they thought -- they did not think it was terror. They said -- other passengers described the man as appearing to be drunk. But it's raising a lot of questions about what is going on in the skies lately.

VELSHI: Yes, very unusual trying to open the door. We'll talk more about that.

But, up first, a deadly shooting at San Jose State University. Not a lot of details yet. But we do know: three people were killed late last night during an exchange of gunfire in a campus parking garage. Police say two of the victims were dead at the scene when they arrived. Another died later at the hospital. It's not known if any of the victims were students.

CHETRY: Well, historic flooding surging further down the Mississippi River right now. Take a look at this map we have. The water is reaching its peak in Memphis. That happened yesterday.

The next target: western Mississippi, all the way down to Louisiana, scheduled to hit in New Orleans in terms of the highest water levels, the 23rd of May. They have opened the floodgates there already, 72 floodgates to spillway north of New Orleans.

ROMANS: The small community of Tunica, Mississippi, is really ground zero right now. Riverfront casinos in the city are now part of the river. They could be closed for weeks and maybe even months. There are nine casinos in the city. And they're, frankly, the hub of the economy there.

VELSHI: John took a boat tour along the quiet street in Tunica, what would normally be a neighborhood block is 32 feet underwater. The mayor of the town says the waiting is the most paper full part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CHUCK CARIKER, TUNICA, MISSISSIPPI: It is devastating. It's painful to watch the slow rise of the water. We can't start the recovery and you can't start the healing process until the water goes down. And that's the part -- it is painful. And for their safety, for safety of others, they're not allowed back in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Painful not only emotionally, obviously, to lose your home, but also a financial hit. A lot of these economies shut down as well because of the water.

Rob Marciano is on the ground in Tunica right now with a look around at that city.

Hi, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, again, guys.

As you showed and as John King and the mayor mentioned, boy, parts of this city inundated by water, especially the Tunica cut off there 200 homes completely flooded out. And the majority of people that are in shelters around the Memphis-Tunica line here are from this town, because of how low it is and the way the lake and the river kind of meet up.

You mentioned also, there's nine casinos. We're at one of them. And this casino is surrounded by the Mississippi River.

But an interesting way they are protecting their lobby and the land-based resort part of it, where the people actually sleep. Where they gamble is actually floating, that's not a problem. Check out -- we are reaching the outer limits of my microphone here, so I may cut out from time to time.

But, basically, they use these bladders. And they can hold 90,000 gallons of water. (AUDIO BREAK) I'll tell you this -- it's hard just like a sandbag. (AUDIO BREAK) got over a half mile of linear feet surrounding this property. And so far, so good, keeping a water tight seal and not allowing this river water to get into the casino or the hotel lobby.

By the way, take a look at the size of this building. It is the second tallest building in Mississippi.

Guys, can you guess what's the tallest?

VELSHI: No.

MARCIANO: Any guesses?

VELSHI: Couldn't hazard a guess. What's the tallest building?

MARCIANO: It's also a casino.

VELSHI: It's also a casino?

MARCIANO: The Beau Rivage down along the coastline there in Biloxi also had its flooding issues back when Hurricane Katrina hit that area. So, the problem with doing business on the water, you got to deal with water rises. And they are doing the best they can here in Tunica -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. Rob, thanks for that.

You are in Tunica, Mississippi. Even if you don't live near Mississippi or the Mississippi River, there's a high probability you are affected by these massive floods. Let me tell you, the effect of it is beyond the river.

The Mississippi River moves about 500 million tons of cargo each year -- chemicals, coal, timber, iron, steel, more than half the nation's import, 60 percent of the nation's grain.

In Arkansas alone -- let me just tell you about Arkansas alone. More than 1 million acres of crop land are underwater right now. That could cost the largest rice producer in the country $500 million. Now, the waters are likely to wash away seeds, mineral-rich topsoil. That puts a strain on future planting. And the Department of Agriculture says that U.S. stockpiles of key crops like cotton and corn are so low right now due to high global demand in China and India, that that could spike prices of those already.

Let's take a look at gas prices and the effect that this might have. There are oil refineries in the Gulf Coast. They're bracing for potential shutdowns and disruptions as the water nears the Louisiana "refining corridor" as they call it. Those floods have already stalled some river traffic. That could also forced companies to halt pipeline flows or lead to congestion on the railroads. That could contribute to higher prices at the pump.

So, all reasons why this flooding, even if you are nowhere near it, could have an effect on you -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right, Ali. Good illustration.

Also, a select group of lawmakers are getting a chance to see photos of Osama bin Laden after he was killed. CNN has learned that members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, as well as the Senate Intelligence Committee will be allowed to view those pictures. The viewing will take place at CIA headquarters in Virginia. Now, members of similar committees in the House will also be invited. A date has not been scheduled yet.

And the CIA telling CBS News it's getting new leads every hour from the evidence that was seized from bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. A federal law enforcement source also tells CNN that some of that evidence is now being used by counterterrorism agents in New York to actively pursue leads. But the source also went on to say that no active terror plots -- plots that were in the -- you know, in any type of operational phase have been uncovered.

CHETRY: Pakistani officials say China is very interested in examining the wreckage of the American helicopter that crashed during the bin Laden raid. The U.S. has asked Pakistan to return it. But according to analysts, that's not likely to happen anytime soon. Your seeing the charred wreckage of it right there.

The Navy SEALs started it on fire. They planted explosives in it. But the tail was still visible. And a lot of that aviation buzz said that tail looks like its new stealth technology. One U.S. official said he'd be shocked Pakistan hasn't already shown the wreckage to the Chinese. The Chinese have a long history of being very interested in American military innovation for themselves.

VELSHI: All right. Back here in the United States, another mid-air security scare. A passenger on a Delta flight tries to open the emergency door mid-flight. We are going to tell you about what happened -- what happened as a result of it and how dangerous this could be.

ROMANS: And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich set to be one of the first serious contenders for the 2012 Republican nomination. We'll tell you where he falls in the pack as its announced, and the people who are expected to maybe throw their hat in the ring.

CHETRY: Also, rapper Common was invited to the White House. Well, controversy has now ensued. We'll explain what's going.

It's seven minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Ten minutes past the hour right now.

Gosh, it feels like we talk about a story like this every day unfortunately. An airline passenger under arrest this morning for -- according to witnesses that were on the plane and they helped take him down -- trying to open the emergency door mid-flight. It happened last night. It was a Delta Airlines flight from Orlando to Boston.

An off-duty police officer also helped the crew subdue the unruly passenger until the plane landed. Passengers say it was pretty scary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was very scared. I was like, whoa, what's going on? I'm like I didn't know until the very end. So, I really wasn't scared at all during the flight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's probably good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was a good thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually thought somebody was getting sick in the back of the plane. I saw people being escorted to the back, but I didn't think anything big was going on.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

CHETRY: Well, other witnesses say the suspect appeared to be drunk. He was taken into custody by police on the ground in Boston. And as we were saying, this is the fourth security incident aboard a U.S. flight since Sunday.

VELSHI: Unbelievable.

All right. Serious questions are being raised about -- this morning, about the safety of our sea ports. According to a new report by the Government Accountability Office, undercover investigators were able to get in to some of the nation's busiest ports by flashing fake worker IDs. At one point, according to the report, government investigators were able to get a fake explosive into a secure area.

The ID cards have been touted as one of the most important layers in a multi-layered system to protect ports from terrorists.

ROMANS: Now, terror alerts could soon be coming to your cell phone. Officials hope to get this system up and running in New York and Washington by the end of this year. Then they want to expand it to the rest of the country by April, 2012. The system would also include alerts about weather disasters, and child abductions.

CHETRY: So, AMBER Alert would then go out on that. It's interesting.

Well, First Lady Michelle Obama coming under some criticism by conservatives, for inviting the hip-hop artist Common to the White House. He'll be making an appearance at a poetry event tonight. What has some upset is an unreleased rap in which two lines are being interpreted as threatening violence against the police and also former president, George W. Bush.

Common, who has a history of rapping about race relations and politics, took the whole thing in stride. He tweeted, "So, apparently, Sarah Palin and FOX News don't like me."

VELSHI: After a stop in El Paso, Texas, yesterday to talk about immigration reform, the president attended a couple of campaign fundraisers in Austin. Those are his first since bin Laden's death. And the paying crowd showed their appreciation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for getting bin Laden.

(CHEERS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, there you go. Case in point -- it should inspire us to finish what we started. We are taking the fight to al Qaeda. And because of the extraordinary bravery of the men and women who wear this nation's uniform and the outstanding work of our intelligence agencies, Osama bin Laden will never again threaten the United States of America.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: The Obama campaign was hoping to raise $2 million from those two Texas fundraisers. Tickets averaged about $1,000 each, with some price over $30,000.

ROMANS: And that event in El Paso was interesting, because the White House is really trying to refocus the push for immigration reform saying, look, back in 2005, you said, we weren't enforcing our laws and we weren't securing the border. Now, we are. OK, now, let's start talking about immigration reform.

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: So, trying to really refocus that debate.

Donald Trump making his first public appearance since he found himself the prime target of a number of jokes at the White House Correspondents dinner. He'll be speaking to a business group in New Hampshire around 12:45 Eastern Time today. CNN will bring you Trump's speech, of course, when it happens.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich about to announce he's running for president. He is expected to make that announcement later today on Facebook and Twitter -- wow, that shows the signs of the times, right?

In the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 44 percent of Americans have a negative view of Gingrich. Just 30 percent favor the former House speaker.

CHETRY: Well, until further review, the Navy is now suspending guidance that would have allowed same-sex marriages to take place at military chapels. Kind of scratching your head since yesterday that came out.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: And, today, they are sort of reversing it. Again, the reversal comes just a day after the guidance was made public. Now, the policy -- which was still in the planning stages -- is being questioned. There are several conditions attached, including the decision to perform the marriage would be up to the individual chaplain. And that it would have to happen in a state where same-sex marriage is legal. But some have criticized that plan and saying it violates the Defense of Marriage Act.

VELSHI: When we come back, we are going to talk about Toyota, its profits have plunged. A lot of it has to do with the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. We'll tell you more about that.

ROMANS: OK. So, what if your credit card is declining, right? Well, how about you would text, OK, if you are willing a fee to overdraw your account? They are always going to find a way to get you to reach into your pocket, aren't they?

Fourteen minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It's 18 minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning. Mortgage applications surged more than eight percent last week as interest rates continue to fall. A fixed 30-year mortgage rate average 4.67 percent last week.

Toyota reporting it's fourth quarter profit slid 77 percent after Japan's devastating earthquake forced the world's largest car maker to stop production at a number of plants.

While at the same time, good news from General Motors. The automakers said they plan to create or preserve 4,000 jobs in the United States by investing $2 billion into its plants.

Sony saying it hopes to have its Playstation network up and running by the end of May. The system was shut down last month after a massive security breach. Sony says personal data for more than 24 million accounts was stolen in the attack.

Debit card decline, no problem. Bank of America rolling out a pilot program that let's customers OK overdraft fees by text message. Of course, there is a price for this. It will cost you $35 each time you overdraw your account.

And maybe it's best not to be most likely to succeed. According to a recent study in the "Wall Street Journal," nearly a third of high school seniors regarded being voted as the most likely to succeed as a curse. They say it makes them feel stuck with the high school definition of success, which usually involves power and money.

AMERICAN MORNING is back after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Top stories now. A deadly shooting at San Jose State University.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (voice-over): They're still trying to figure out what exactly happened here. They do know three people were killed last night during an exchange of gunfire in the campus parking garage. Police say two of the victims were dead when they got to the scene. Another later died at the hospital. They still are not clear as to whether any of them were students.

There's been another delay in the trial of two American hikers. They've been jailed in Iran for 22 months as their families desperately try to get them freed. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal are charged with spying, and they're facing the death penalty. It's a third time their trial was scheduled to begin only to be postponed.

To Libya where fierce fighting continues in the port city of Misrata today. We're getting reports that Libyan rebels have cornered Moammar Gadhafi forces near the city's airport, according to a western journalist in Misrata. Government soldiers have been shelling residential neighborhoods over the past few days. We're also being told emergency rooms are packed with injured women and children.

To the floods now, rolling south this morning, the Mississippi River crested in Memphis just shy of a record they set over 70 years ago. Now, points downstream are in the danger zone. Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal, says about three million acres could be affected by the flooding.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Let's talk more about the flooding. Alexandra Steele is in the Extreme Weather Center for us. Alexandra, what are you looking at?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, you're just talking about what Jindal was saying, and we're talking about three million acres being inundated and flooded with water. That's the size of Connecticut and that's just Louisiana alone. Also, Mississippi has a far way to go, and Mississippi coming up before Louisiana. So, what's next and who's next?

Well, here's a look. Right now, what we're going to watch is about 200 miles of fertile farmland being impacted already in Mississippi. Shelters are open, and farmers actually already applying for federal aid in advance of kind of this big wall of water, swell of water, moving toward them and even farmers taking things into their own hands. What they've done is set up their own levees and hand- built a lot of these levees on their own, not even from the corps just to kind of protect themselves. So, that's what's up next. Mississippi gets inundated. Here's a look at the timeline. Of course, here's the flooding, and the number to the right is how many feet above flood stage, and believe it or not, already this morning, just about a few hours ago and not just Mississippi, breaking their old record from 1936.

So, what we're going to see, another six feet at the very least in Naches, and then, of course, we're going to watch the swell of water kind of just move slowly down the Mississippi, and of course, flood as it goes, crest as it goes, and then come down. So, of course, we know the flooding story. Believe it or not, around the country, we do have some other big weather stories, too. What we're looking at is severe weather.

We actually do have a lots of thunderstorm watch already posted, but, the potential today, isolated tornadoes all the way from Chicago land south to Dallas, including Oklahoma City. A bigger threat though, I think we're going to see hail and some very strong winds. A few isolated tornadoes thrown in. And also, we've got a record heat here in the southeast.

Temperatures, 10-20 degrees above average from Charlotte to Atlanta to New Orleans, even in Orlando, Florida, temperature is about 15 degrees above average. But conversely, on the back side of this front, and it's this dichotomy that's actually firing off this severe weather. In Denver, Colorado, this time of year, should be 70 degrees. It is the only be in the 40s, and they've got snow coming down right now.

So, that's these clash of air masses we often talk so much about, and that's kind of erupting in the severe weather. So, that's the big picture. The heat, of course, the severe weather. One quick look at the radar and you can see Texas. This is the area that will fire off these storms. Of course, this yellow showing the thunderstorm watch again posted until 11 o'clock central time.

Texas, Oklahoma City, farther north, all the way with this line to Chicago, and it's the upper Midwest, again, the potential for isolated tornadoes. You can see some of this strong, at least, some heavy rain, unfortunately. You know, some of these areas only don't need any rain, but Texas west, the antithesis of the flooding, we've got a drought there.

So, a lot happening here in the world of weather, and, of course, we'll see on top of it more on the flooding, of course, and kind of the crest and peak and really the timeline, and it is a mess. Back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Alexandra Steele. And of course, watching these oil refineries along the flooding zone to see if any have to be shattered, what that could mean for gas prices. So, a lot of that story still unfold.

CHETRY: They've gotten a lot of hits over the past few years. Meanwhile, a lot of heavy hearts this morning in the CNN family. ROMANS: Burt Reinhardt has died. He was the president of CNN in its early days and single-handedly led the evolution of 24-hour news coverage.

VELSHI: Richard Roth remembers a man who changed the world with quiet dignity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURT REINHARDT, FORMER CNN PRESIDENT: I dedicate the news channel for America.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When CNN was launched in 1980, CNN News vice president, Burt Reinhardt, blended into the crowd. He was the consummate news man but always shunned the spotlight.

HARLAN REINHARDT, NEPHEW: In my opinion, he's probably the most important and powerful news executive you've never heard of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Burt, you want to say a few words?

BURT REINHARDT: I'm leaving.

(LAUGHTER)

ROTH: With the man who created CNN knew Burt and how valuable he was.

TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER: Well, I don't think -- I'm not sure if CNN would be here without him. He was, you know, an integral part of getting the whole operation going and keeping it going. He ran it for close to 20 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And history began to unfold.

ROTH: The world's first 24-hour TV news network raced into history with a small staff and minimal resources.

TOM JOHNSON, CNN PRESIDENT, 1990-2001: I think Burt is responsible for the survival of CNN in its pioneering days.

ROTH: At the beginning, CNN was derided by competitors as chicken noodle news for its upstart look. Burt Reinhardt led its news-hungry staff out of the soup.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: Burt was a great person but not a showman. He was the solid sinew of the network and kept it going. And without any drama or any fuss, was a leader who made the trains run on time.

ROTH: Little did the staff know, Burt was covering breaking news before many of them were even born.

HARLAN REINHARDT: Burt Reinhardt was a journalist for 65 years. He started working in this business in the late 30s, and he told me that cameras at that time were so heavy, it took two people to carry them.

AMANPOUR: One day, he brought me into his office just as I was about to leave Atlanta, and he showed me a picture.

REESE SCHONFELD, FIRST CNN PRESIDENT: (INAUDIBLE) it was Burt who took those pictures, and it was a good experience for him. He learned to be a pretty good cameraman.

AMANPOUR: I realized there and then that this wasn't just an executive in a suit. This is a man who had been there. This is a man who was one of us.

ROTH: Before CNN, Burt was already scrapping against bigger and richer news outlets while working at different agencies.

SCHONFELD: There was always a sense of integrity and strength in Burt Reinhardt.

ROTH: Two news men who would soon make TV history sparked by a man in Atlanta who had an idea.

TURNER: An all news channel would be nice because it'd be very convenient to be able to watch the news whenever you wanted to.

ROTH: Ted hired Reese Schonfeld that in charged of the news agency to be CNN's first president. He then chose Burt.

BURT REINHARDT: He said Ted Turner is on the phone. I said OK. Ted wanted to know when I'm coming down. When I come out of the office, Mike Muller was standing there and he said, "What did Ted Turner want from you?" I said, he wanted me to try out to be shortstop for the braves.

(LAUGHTER)

I never got more respect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has never a better partnership in my life. Burt had been my mentor.

ROTH: After two years, Reece left CNN and Turner tapped Burt to be CNN's second president. His main mission, keep CNN afloat. Cutting the ribbon to open CNN center in Atlanta with ted and always keeping an eye on cutting costs.

AMANPOUR: I think Burt, we all knew, was the moneyman that kept CNN afloat in the worst of times. He was pretty intimidating. He was also a man with a heart of gold.

TURNER: He just did a masterful job. He got the stories covered but he did it within the budget.

ROTH: One of those stories, the space shuttle blows up, a landmark CNN moment in 1986.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears that there were no survivors. ROTH: Burt is in the frenzied newsroom. A few years later, CNN is honored for coverage of the crackdown in Tiananmen Square, China.

AMANPOUR: He was very content to have Ted take all the credit.

REINHARDT: I accept this award on the dedicated and hard-working people of CNN and to Ted Turner, who made it all possible.

JIM WALTON, CNN PRESIDENT: This man has integrity and he is very competitive, but he wants to do things the right way.

ROTH: A grateful staff champions their news leader as a successful CNN turned 20.

TURNER: I just, Burt, what this says is congratulations, Burt Reinhardt, a CNN original, 1980 to 2000. Burt, this is yours. It only cost a couple bucks.

(LAUGHTER)

TOM JOHNSON, FORMER CNN PRESIDENT: It was a well-deserved recognition of one of the most unique and almost anonymous leaders that we have ever had in our media world.

TURNER: We were together. I was chairman and he was president. We got along like two peas in a pod, always did. And I love him like a brother.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: How do American students stack up against their counterparts against the world? Don't ask. They rank 14th in reading, 17th in science, 25th in math. Some say our kids need to be in a classroom longer, maybe even year round. LZ Granderson has written a piece on this for CNN.com and he is also a senior writer at ESPN the magazine. He joins us now from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

LZ, good to see you. What makes you an expert on this?

(LAUGHTER)

LZ GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think a couple of things help me. I went to graduate school for higher education administration. My resume boasts of sports, but I have an education background in terms of being a student. I also covered education for years when I was a newcomer reporter. More importantly, I'm a parent. So I have hands-on experience with dealing with our education system.

VELSHI: We put this out as a question by the way to our viewership and asked them what they thought about kids being in school. We got a lot of responses and varied responses. Most don't think it is a great idea. Some do. But I've been hearing a lot of this -- we have kids in school 180 days a year and sometimes public schools are not that effective, so why would we extend that? What would extra time do that fixing the problem otherwise wouldn't do?

GRANDERSON: Well, one thing that we have found through studies is that our kids tend to lose a lot of the information that they get during the school year. So by having such a long break you run a greater risk of the kids losing the comprehension that they spent 180 days trying to acquire.

So by having a smaller break or at least varying ways in which we offer the breaks, we have a better chance of the kids maintaining their knowledge and not having to start over when the school year starts.

VELSHI: One of the issues that have also come up is budgetary constraints. Our public school system has been broken for some time, even when we didn't have the budgetary constraints. People are saying, would keeping kids in school longer tax us more, cost a lot more than we can afford?

GRANDERSON: There is a couple of ways of looking at that. I don't think that we can continue -- we can't afford not to do something about our public school system. I think that from a monetary point of view and tax dollars, yes, today, can we afford it? No. But if we look at what it means tomorrow, we need to do something.

One of the suggestions that I have is all the addendums we have that are government funded. Perhaps we should redirect those back. They have to be engaged in still. A lot of these countries, many can divert cash back into the school system and helping our kids get better.

VELSHI: Yes, although the money spent on the wars wasn't sitting in a pile waiting to be spent somewhere else.

Let me ask you this, of the countries that were tested, at 180 days the U.S. has one of the shortest school years of all. South Korea, for example, which we often use as an example of many things that work well, has 220 school days. But Finland, which rates the highest in math and sciences, has 190 days. They only go to school ten days more than students in the United States do. What does that tell you?

GRANDERSON: Well, as I said in the piece, the idea of having a longer school year is one of the many things we need to do. I think this might be the quickest, but there are several things Finland has done to get to the number one ranking.

The most important thing they have done is institute a very stringent process for teachers to become teachers and maintain their certificates. And they have a different way to teach teacher to be better teachers. They don't just throw them in front of kids as soon as they graduate from college. They have to go through a much more stringent process, and that's something that takes time to implement. VELSHI: Is there something different about America? In other words, we have these rankings where we don't rank well in science. We don't rank well in mathematics. And yet America is still a bastion of science and engineering. In other words, do these measurements paint a picture that we are headed for a bleaker future than countries we compete with?

GRANDERSON: I do think that the test that everyone has been using is skewed in the sense that it doesn't take into account that we have virtually tried to make sure everyone has access to education. That is not always the case of some of the other countries that are at the top of the chart. We need to take that into account.

But with that being said, we shouldn't be satisfied, either, with the least of us not being among the greatest in the world. We should continue to try to make sure that our graduation rates improve. If we just look internally, more than 25 percent of our kids are not graduating from high school. So even if you don't look at the other countries, if you don't look at this test, can we look at each other as Americans and say, it is OK that more than 25 percent of our kids are not graduating?

VELSHI: It's a good point, some great points that you make in your column. We appreciate that. And by the way, I didn't mean to suggest that you are not qualified but you are right, your qualifications on many fronts make you suitable to have written this thing, including the fact that you are a parent. L.Z. Granderson, great to see you again. He's a senior writer and columnist at "ESPN" the magazine, and he has written a column for CNN.com which is worth checking into and commenting on with respect to students learning for a longer period of time.

ROMANS: He makes a great point about graduation rates. We are behind Finland and Shanghai. But let's raise the graduation race. That's what the race to the top campaign is all about.

VELSHI: That's exactly right.

ROMANS: Some will argue we have had these terrible rankings since the 50s when the United States embarked on the best expansion of economic growth ever.

CHETRY: Times have changed. And even though we are top in innovation, we do leave a lot of people behind. So it's a tough world. We are going to link up that article.

We also want to know what you think. Should students here in the United States go to school year-round, or at least increase the amount of time they are in classrooms? E-mail us at CNN.com/am, or tweet us at CNN.com. We will read those later. We will be back in a few minutes.

ROMANS: It's 42 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: This just in. A series of explosions rocking the Libyan capital of Tripoli. We're getting reports of numerous flyovers in the city. Meanwhile, rebel leaders say they have seized control of the airports in the port city of Misrata. There has been heavy fighting there in the last few days.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says up to three million acres in this state could be flooded by the surging Mississippi River. Thousands have already been forced from their homes across the South.

Three people were shot and killed last night in a campus parking garage at San Jose State University. It's not known if any of the victims were students.

Some members of Congress will get to see the Osama bin Laden's death photos. Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees will view the pictures at CIA headquarters.

Former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich will make it official that he is running for president today. He'll make that announcement on Twitter and Facebook. Gingrich has told supporters he hopes to raise $100 million for his campaign.

An unruly airline passenger in police custody this morning charged with interfering with a flight crew. Authorities say he tried to open the plane's emergency door in mid-flight. This on a Delta Flight from Orlando to Boston. It's the fourth security scare on U.S. planes just since Sunday.

And markets open in 45 minutes. Right now, the Dow futures up slightly. NASDAQ and S&P are down after a report from the Commerce Department revealed that U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected in March.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: If you're suffering from allergies, it's not so pretty all the trees are in bloom. You are sneezing right and left but it is beautiful. If you suffer from allergies, I guess, enjoy it behind the glass of your window.

ROMANS: There are no allergies on the A-Train when you're --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: That's what I'm going to say. You can avoid the trees in New York.

ROMANS: It is going to be up to -- 60s today, it's sunny.

VELSHI: It's good thing we have these pictures that I remind, I am reminded that there are trees in the city. CHETRY: Yes it's beautiful in that one area that they call the Central Park. Rushing with the concrete jungle.

Hey, a trip to the mother land has now been postponed for our favorite reality show stars. Italian officials have reportedly yanked the permits now for the cast of Jersey Shore. So you can take the kids out of Jersey but you can't take -- you can't take this Jersey out of the kids.

Well, they were going to Italy. Snooki and the gang were already spotted at the airport by the time that they got the news. "Entertainment Weekly" is reporting the trip was put on hold because Italy didn't want them in Florence at the same time as the country's president.

ROMANS: Could you blame him?

VELSHI: Wow.

All right. And here's a good one. If you are at a Philadelphia Phillies game, your next beer could be just a tweet away. A beer vendor there says fans can tweet him with their location and he is going to deliver them an ice cold beer, which sounded fantastic until you started saying -- that's it -- Kiran --

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: It's my job -- it is my job to give you all sides of an issue -- and this is why I say, it's a fantastic idea --

VELSHI: Ok and you're -- this interesting.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: -- until your boss decides to say, hey, let's check out what Ali did? Let's check out Ali's piece.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Let's check out Ali's Tweeter feed.

CHETRY: 7:02, he ordered a Miller Lite, 7:05, he ordered a Miller Lite, 7:32 he ordered a Miller Lite, 11:40, he ordered another Miller Lite. What's wrong with Ali?

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: That is a good point but if you can just -- can I just treat you directly. It's great, I mean it's a great sitting to watch the game.

ROMANS: Direct message.

All right. For all you single men out there listen up, because we have the top cities you should be visiting. AskMen.com compiled this list taking into account everything from the cost of a beer to sports, the weather and hot nightlife scene; Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Miami topped the list of overall best destinations.

And if you're solely looking for available women head to Bangkok, Miami or Tel Aviv.

VELSHI: So --

ROMANS: I thought you were supposed to go like --

VELSHI: So Miami makes in on to both lists. That's a good take away from this morning.

CHETRY: All right. Well, in our "A.M. House Call" this morning, a new study.

VELSHI: I don't understand the difference on those two. But never mind, let's just go ahead.

CHETRY: Between what? Between looking for available women or wanting to go some place because you're a single guy?

VELSHI: Right.

CHETRY: Maybe you're going on a golf outing; you are not always scouting for ladies.

VELSHI: All right. Fair enough, I got it.

CHETRY: All right, well, it says that marriage problems may predict sleep problems in very young children. Yes, researchers found that if you have an -- an instability in your marriage when kids are about nine months old, it led to increases in sleep problems at 18 months. But they have found that the inverse wasn't true, that children's sleep problems did not predict marital problems.

ROMANS: But anybody with a nine-month-old doesn't even know what's going on because they're just new --

CHETRY: You said this morning, who has a happy marriage when you have a nine-month-old? No one sleep and everyone's --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: All right. You have a second story that I am still trying to scratch my head about.

Ok, it takes twice the number of diaper changes and double the feedings but a British study suggests that women who give birth to twins might actually live longer.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Whether they want to or not.

VELSHI: But before assuming that it's the having the twins that actually gives them the health advantage.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Yes.

VELSHI: The researchers say that the reverse is true. That being healthier, could give women a better chance of having twins.

ROMANS: It's the egg not the chicken. The chicken, not the egg.

VELSHI: I'm very -- I'm very confused about a lot of things.

ROMANS: Now, you're confused about three stories.

But when they're nine months old you know you're going to have -- well, no I was kidding.

VELSHI: Can we -- can we go back -- can we go to our question of the day. I understand that.

ROMANS: All right, now back to the question of the day. This was simple for you Ali.

We are asking whether American students need to be in school all year-round so they can compete with students around the rest of the world in subjects like reading, math, science. "Saturday Night Live" even weighed in on this one in their weekend update. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SETH MEYERS, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": This week, children in more than 1,700 schools in North America sang the song, "I Want to Play at the Same Time" while simultaneously, in China, over a billion kids were doing math.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: We go to school to find ourselves. The rest of the world is going to school too.

VELSHI: So 180 days is what Americans typically are in school for. We got a lot of responses.

ROMANS: We did. Ok. So this is a Twitter, Jim and Atwood (ph) , "180 days does not work, why should more of the same be effective? More school, less parenting, how can that be good?"

VELSHI: On our AM blog, Ryan writes, "I think it is a phenomenal idea. I argued for this many times while I was in school, myself."

ROMANS: Oh, he's a lot of fun.

VELSHI: He got beat up a lot.

CHETRY: Poor guy.

VELSHI: "I hated how we used to have to spend at least a month essentially re-learning the important topics from the previous year before we could actually begin the school year.

Sprinkle a few extended breaks throughout the school year and the children will be just fine. Teachers get more time to teach more material and students still get time off. Sounds like a great deal to me."

CHETRY: And I like this one from Ana. She wrote in to our AM blog, she is a student. She says, "Honestly, I don't believe making students go to school year round will help improve the level of education. Currently, I am a sophomore in high school and personally if I wasn't allowed a summer break, I wouldn't try as hard in school because I'd be so sick of it. If you want students to perform better, hold them to higher standards and hire better qualified teachers who actually enjoy what they do."

Awesome student herself.

VELSHI: Ana is going to get in trouble when she gets to school today.

ROMANS: I know.

VELSHI: But no, it is good to hear from you, Ana. This is a matter of perspective and we got a lot of different perspective. I thought this would be a more cut-and-dried --

ROMANS: And it just seems to me like Ana is a sophomore in high school. She probably doesn't even know this next story that I'm going to talk to you about. It is the "Andy Griffith Show" celebrating its 50th anniversary.

VELSHI: How she looks.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: It is an American icon.

CHETRY: You can watch him on the old channel.

ROMANS: Lots of sophomores in high school are watching.

TV-Land I think it's called right.

CHETRY: Yes, TV-Land. My husband loves it.

ROMANS: Baby boomer tourists are heading to the small town of Mount Airy, North Carolina for a blast from the past. That is in "Building up America" next.

53 minutes after the hour.

CHETRY: 50 years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: You didn't just accidentally switch to TV land. This is still CNN.

ROMANS: That's pretty good. He is such a multitalented guy.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: I have to tell you behind the scenes, we have this going on. We have Rob behind camera one playing his harmonica. Piano man, perfect. I mean this is great.

VELSHI: There is some news associated with this. I am not just whistling. You have all seen the "Andy Griffith Show". I'm not even going to say maybe you've never seen the "Andy Griffith Show". But I bet we can all whistle the theme.

ROMANS: When you hear the theme music, you know what it is. The popularity of the show is saving one town, that's known as the real life Mayberry.

Tom Foreman is live in Mount Airy, North Carolina with "Building up America."

Good morning, Tom. Can you whistle it?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to all of you. Let me tell you something. I was so excited riding into this town. Never been here before but I recognize street names. I recognize people. I recognize shop names, all sorts of things. And that's the whole point because this place resonates with people all over the country. And that's become a key for building up this town in difficult times.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: Every day, tourists poor through Mt. Airy, stopping in shops, taking pictures, remembering the magic of a fictional town whose theme song still plays on Main Street.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It's right down here.

FOREMAN: Andy Griffith grew up here and based much of his hit TV show on this town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am going to put my name and the date on here and years from now, when we are all dead and gone, and Mayberry's a big city, people will know that I burned my name into a piece of wood on this here day.

FOREMAN: The show's 50-year history is well documented at this popular new museum where a lifelong friend of Griffith, Emmet Forrest is the chief collector.

EMMETT FORREST, FRIEND OF ANDY GRIFFITH: My very favorite items from the collection are the signs from the door of the courthouse.

FOREMAN: The museum drew more than 50,000 people in its first year. And in the annual Mayberry Festival and landmarks like Griffith's childhood home and it is all driving $85 million in annual tourism for the county.

FORREST: It has saved Mt. Airy. We have lost about 4,000 jobs due to textile plants and the furniture factories going offshore. So tourism is about what we have left.

FOREMAN: Many visitors come back time and again. Some, like Betty Lynn, from Los Angeles moved here.

BETTY LYNN, ACTRESS: I go to the grocery store and people walk up and hug me and kiss me.

FOREMAN: of course, she is a special case. She played Barney's girlfriend, Thelma Lou.

LYNN: We knew it was a wonderful show and we loved doing it but we didn't really know that across America, how much it would mean to people all through these years, 50 years.

Can you believe it?

FOREMAN: Almost no one can. Five decades after the make-believe Mayberry captured America's hearts, it has become the life's blood of this very real town.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: This is such a great destination for travelers in this country. The museum is fascinating. So many great things. There are items from Andy's desk, the keys from the jail cell. It is unbelievable.

Andy Griffith still lives in North Carolina, far away. He supports the local effort, in large part, because it supports the local arts council. He doesn't get here very often, but I'll tell you this, guys, the ghost of Andy Taylor is roaming these streets every single day. It is really a charming, charming town and a great story of success that they have built here.

CHETRY: All right. Tom Foreman, another charming story on the CNN.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Enjoy your lunch at the snappy lunch over --

(CROSSTALK)

FOREMAN: It's a great lunch for a good price. You have to come on in.

ROMANS: We have to lift our way to Carol Costello at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Hi there. VELSHI: "CNN NEWSROOM" starts right now. Carol.