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American Morning

Search for the Missing; Identifying the Victims in Joplin; Accused Butcher of Bosnia Arrested; Bin Laden's Secrets; Lots of American Can't Drive; Clinton in Pakistan; Manhunt for Mladic Ends; CIA To Search Bin Laden's Compound; Patriot Act Extended; Pool Drain Recall

Aired May 27, 2011 - 06:00   ET

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


ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING, a new list of the missing in Joplin, Missouri. Two hundred thirty-two people unaccounted for five days after the deadliest tornado on record. Friends and loved ones calling on state officials to step it up, demanding to know, where are they?

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Pakistan giving the OK for the CIA to send a team of forensic experts back to bin Laden's compound. The world's most wanted terrorist may be gone, but intelligence experts want another look at potentially valuable evidence left behind.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And a big recall to tell you about. It could mean thousands of swimming pools across the country may be forced to stay closed this Memorial Day weekend.

VELSHI: And listen to this. Hundreds of inmates who could be released from prison because of a computer error. That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Nearly a week after a tornado leveled much of Joplin, Missouri, the desperate search for victims and growing frustration over the missing as the official number of those still unaccounted for is now dramatically less than previous estimates.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Tense talks, efforts to improve relations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Pakistan right now, trying to mend fences but also demanding that Pakistani leaders do more to fight terrorism.

VELSHI: I'm Ali Velshi. The GOP presidential field is wide open. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney thinks he's got what it takes to take on President Obama in 2012. We'll tell you when and where he plans to announce his bid on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ROMANS: And welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It is Friday, May 27th, the beginning of a long holiday weekend for many in this country.

CHETRY: That's right. And hopefully the beginning of some summer -- some nice, calm, summer weather which we have not seen.

ROMANS: That's right.

VELSHI: Yes. We haven't seen, and it's not going to be a great weekend for those in Joplin, Missouri. The search for the missing there continues. The state officials are releasing a list of 232 people who are still unaccounted for, a list they concede may not be entirely accurate. The death toll right now stands at 126.

CHETRY: We're also getting a look this morning at some dramatic new video from when just after the tornado struck.

ROMANS: Watch as Aaron Cox and his fiancee Brooke McKenzie (ph), Brooke McKenzie Watson (ph), race to find Aaron's sister amid the destruction. Let's look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE MCKENZIE WATSON, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Look at this. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh, Aaron. Oh, my gosh.

AARON COX, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Right through here.

WATSON: I don't know where --

COX: I don't know where we are.

WATSON: I don't know. I don't know where to go.

COX: We have to keep going this way. Don't step on any of this. Come on. We have to keep going this way.

WATSON: I feel like I need to help if someone's hurt.

COX: Well, we'll keep asking. Look at this house. It's gone. Are you guys OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

COX: Oh, my gosh. Look at these houses, babe.

WATSON: Are you guys OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

COX: What street is this?

WATSON: This is -- I don't know. Illinois is a couple over. There's the school.

COX: Oh babe, look.

WATSON: What?

Oh, no. It's the hospital.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: They eventually did find Aaron's sister Sarah. But amazing that's their neighborhood and he couldn't tell what street they were on.

CHETRY: I know. They said what street is it and they're asking others if they were OK and just seeing the way that -- I mean, it's shock. It hasn't really registered yet.

VELSHI: That's right.

CHETRY: They're running through and they're looking for his sister. I mean, imagine.

VELSHI: You know, when I got there, the woman who checked me into the hotel had lost her house and she said she went to look for it and she couldn't find it because there are no street signs and there wasn't the gas station on her corner that is the usual landmark.

CHETRY: Right.

VELSHI: I saw the gas station was absolutely gone. There was no evidence. You just didn't know where you were. It really was like a moonscape.

Well, the search continues for so many other families. CNN's Jacqui Jeras is on the ground still in Joplin, Missouri. And the frustration continues to grow there for those families who don't know where their missing relatives are, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it really does, Ali. And finding the missing and identifying the bodies continues to be the big focus on day five now here in this devastated town of Joplin, Missouri. The federal government has stepped in to take over that process of identifying the bodies some of which are in such poor condition that they're having to use things like DNA testing, fingerprints, tattoos and medical records to help to be able to identify them. They've flown in $2 million worth of equipment to help expedite that process. But still, like you said, many of those families say not knowing is among the hardest part.

I'm standing right now in front of the home of Tabitha Freeman. Her grandmother lives in this house behind me and was inside at the time. She was unable to contact her after the storm. She drove in from Oklahoma yesterday to show up here to see if she could find any information. I knew a neighbor down the street that I had met earlier in the day who said he knew everyone on this block. He told us that she was at the hospital. We called the local hospital here who gave us the numbers of three other hospitals outside of town and we tried calling them and we were able to locate her grandmother Ellen in Rodgers, Arkansas, and she was OK. So there are some good stories though, still, coming here in Joplin, Missouri.

Ali, back to you.

VELSHI: All right, good. Jacqui, thanks very much for that. CHETRY: And more violent storms now moving to the east and to the south. In fact, three people were killed in Georgia. Storms brought a tree down on cars during a storm there. There was also significant storm damage in Alabama. A family in the town of Hatton lucky to be alive after trees toppled into their home.

Let's check in with Rob Marciano at the Extreme Weather Center in Atlanta. What are we looking at as we head into this Memorial Day weekend?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, a little bit quiet for some, still active for others. But what was supposed to be a less turbulent day yesterday, and certainly it was in the way of tornadoes. We only have five reports of tornadoes yesterday, but over 300 reports of winds that brought on some damaging. You saw some of that in Alabama and Georgia also. Upstate New York, parts of Pennsylvania seeing some of this also.

Here's the cluster, the second cluster that moved through Atlanta last night. At one point we had over 200,000 people without power. That number down about 50,000. As you mentioned earlier, we have some fatalities because of falling trees in and around the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Now, the action last night and even now across the northeast has mostly been north and west of the I-95 corridor, from the Allegheny and Cumberland up through the Finger Lakes region, northern parts of the Adirondacks and into Vermont. As a matter of fact, Saint Lawrence County, Upstate New York near the Canadian border, 65-mile-an-hour wind gusts and as far north as northern Vermont seeing 60-mile-an-hour wind gusts as well. So for this time of year, that certainly is pretty unusual to get that kind of rough weather that far north across the northeast.

Here's your forecast weather map for today with the threat for seeing some severe thunderstorms, more so across parts of the plains. And yes, that does include parts of Oklahoma, maybe sneaking into Joplin, but just a slight risk of seeing that.

Heat is going to still be on across parts of the southern plains. Ninety-five degrees expected in Dallas and 85 up there in New York City. You're kind of still east of the front, so a little bit steamy, feeling much like July or August and the threat for storms will linger across the northeast as well.

Guys, back to you.

VELSHI: Rob, we'll check in with you in a bit. Thank you.

MARCIANO: Sounds good.

ROMANS: OK. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Pakistan this morning for talks with political and military leaders. The trip aimed at repairing relations between these two countries, relations that have been strained since the U.S. raid on bin Laden's compound. But officials say Clinton will deliver a clear message that Pakistan risks losing American aid if it doesn't do more to root out terrorists.

President Obama right now is meeting with G8 leaders. This morning, leaders of the world's top economic powers are focusing on the pro-democracy movements sweeping across the Middle East. Later this morning, the president will leave France and travel to Warsaw, Poland, where he'll meet with the country's president and other central European leaders.

VELSHI: We're expecting some new information this morning about the last moments before that Air France plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean two years ago. And you'll recall it killed all 28 on board. It's expected in about an hour. Investigators will reveal what they've been able to gather from the flight data and voice recorders. Investigators say the recorders include the last two hours of conversation inside the cockpit.

CHETRY: Prosecutors say that Ratko Mladic slaughtered close to 8,000 Muslim and Croatian boys and men in Serbia in 1995 and has been on the run ever since. That was until his arrest yesterday.

ROMANS: He's the accused butcher of Bosnia. He appeared in a Serbian courtroom Thursday looking frail. His attorneys claim he's not well enough to even to communicate with the judge. Ivan Watson is live in Belgrade, Serbia, this morning.

What's next for Mladic, Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, any minute now, he is expected to resume a hearing in front of a judge here in this courthouse, a man the Interpol describes as the most wanted war criminal in Europe, has spent the night in this building after more than 15 years as a fugitive from the law. And yes, his photo has been plastered on the front pages of newspapers in Serbia looking much weaker, thinner, older than he did in 1994 and '95 at the height of his power when he was commanding the Bosnian Serb army and commanding the siege of Sarajevo and the alleged massacre of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys.

Now we've seen his wife come in and out several times. Not commenting, not speaking to journalists and apparently applying to try to see her husband who was captured in a village just about an hour's drive north of the capital yesterday --- Christine.

ROMANS: Ivan, he's been on the run for 15 years. I mean, what is the public reaction in Serbia? Clearly there were people who were helping him while he was -- how he was out. Is there relief that he has been captured or is there a different sense from the Serbian public?

WATSON: I think a lot of discomfort. I don't know if you just heard a man walking past yelled Ratko Mladic's name. We've heard sporadic shows of support for him.

Last night after midnight, three young men standing out here chanting his name and clapping. Some polls showing that up to 40 percent of Serbs consider him a hero. Up to 70 percent of Serbs would not turn him in, despite a reward of millions of euros that was offered by the Serbian government. Others saying that, you know, he reminds them of a shameful and dark period of Serbian history, the war from 1994 to 1996. They don't like very much to be reminded about it right now -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Ivan Watson in Belgrade, thanks, Ivan.

VELSHI: All right. Just in the nick of time, President Obama directs the use of what is called an auto pen to sign the Patriot Act minutes before a midnight deadline because he's in France for the G8 summit, so this machine replicates his signature. The provisions of the law passed after the 9/11 attacks deal with legalizing terror surveillance tactics like roving wiretaps and searching the personal records of terror suspects and some say other Americans. It's extended for another four years. It had to be signed, so he said use the auto pen to sign it.

ROMANS: Is that the equivalent of holding your nose while you sign it, I guess? The digital --

CHETRY: It could have been sent to him, right? I mean, technically? There's been other -- there's been other legislation where people have been able to sign it.

VELSHI: They actually sent it? Yes, I guess it's legal, the auto pen.

CHETRY: The auto pen is auto pen.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: All right. Well, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney tweets his presidential date on Twitter saying he'll formally announce his bid for the nation's top stop in New Hampshire next Thursday. It seems that Romney has a good chance this time around at least according to the polls. We have a look at a new Gallup poll of the GOP playing field. Seventeen percent of Republicans saying they would support him for the party's nomination.

ROMANS: It will be the Miami Heat against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals. The Heat punched its ticket with a stunning comeback to eliminate the Bulls in game five of their series. The Bulls led by 12 points with just under three minutes to go, but the Heat came back led by LeBron James who had 28 points. The Heat- Maverick series is a rematch of the 2006 NBA final won by the Heat. Game one Tuesday night in Miami.

VELSHI: All right. When we come back, new information about the CIA going back into Osama bin Laden's compound to look for hidden documents and hard drives. Chris Lawrence is going to join us after the break and tell us what they're looking for and what they might find.

It's 12 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Fifteen 15 minutes past the hour. Welcome back.

An imam convicted of a failed terror plot against JFK Airport in New York. Trinidad-native Kareem Ibrahim faces life in prison for his hand in the plan. He along with two others conspired to blow up fuel tanks and a fuel pipeline at the airport back in 2007 in a plot that authorities said was meant to try to outdo the 9/11 attacks. The plan was foiled after a government informant infiltrated the group, recorded their conversations. Ibrahim's sentencing is set for October.

VELSHI: All right. The CIA is hoping to uncover more of Osama Bin Laden's terror files. Pakistan is allowing a team of forensic specialists to search his compound in Abbottabad.

ROMANS: This time they're going to be combing this house with highly specialized equipment. CNN's Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence joins us now live to tell us more about it.

Exactly what's the CIA -- the CIA team going to be looking for? We know that they were in and out pretty quickly during the initial assault on the compound, some 38 minutes, I think. What are they going to do now?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Christine. They're going to be looking for anything that may have been embedded in the walls of the compound, anything that may have been buried under ground, things that that assault team may have missed.

You mentioned they were only on the ground for about 38 minutes. Probably only about half of that time was spent actually searching the compound. Remember, they had to shoot their way in, you know, shoot Osama Bin Laden, clear all the -- the women and children out of that place, so they weren't on the ground all that long and yet, intelligence officials say they got away with probably the biggest intelligence stash since the war against al Qaeda really started.

Now, they get a chance to go back in and answer that question, what did we miss? They're going to be using specialized equipment, most likely things like infrared cameras that can look behind walls, because not only do you want to get anything that's there, but you also have to avoid damaging it as you try to extract it.

We also know that U.S. officials have said that the al Qaeda and -- or Osama Bin Laden and the people there, burned their trash instead of putting it out like the other residents did. Well, the CIA can possibly pick up some of the fragments of that burned information and possibly decipher some clues from that as well.

CHETRY: So, first of all, do they know for sure when they're going to visit and also have they been able to make sure that that compound has stayed secure since the raid?

LAWRENCE: Well, we know the assault team got in, got out with some stuff. We know that the Pakistani officials have also, you know, looked over that compound, so this will really be, you know, the third, you know, go-round with this compound. But we're -- we're also hearing that they may also have access to what the Pakistanis were able to pull out of that compound as well. That could be key. And it will probably take place some time in the next week or so.

CHETRY: All right. Chris Lawrence for us at the Pentagon this morning, thanks so much.

ROMANS: You know, this is a reminder of what Memorial Day really stands for. The traditional "Flags-In" ceremony honoring America's fallen heroes at Arlington National Cemetery. Yesterday, soldiers placed flags in front of more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington. The flags are traditionally removed after Memorial Day before the cemetery is open to the public.

CHETRY: And it's -- it's a breathtaking sight --

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: -- and a sober sight to see all of the white head stones and the flags there.

VELSHI: All right. You're going to be driving a lot this weekend quite possibly. It's estimated more than one in five drivers do not know the rules of the road.

CHETRY: Does that shock you when you're out there? I mean, I don't know, I would say four in five don't know the rules of the road.

VELSHI: Yes. According to a study and this is done by GMAC Insurance, 36.9 million Americans would fail a driving test if they were asked to take one today. Gosh, we all just barely passed when we took it back then. If you want to know --

CHETRY: Took it three times back then.

VELSHI: I'm -- I've got to tell you. I'm going to get to a lot of danger as I say this next part. Do you want to know how men compare to women? The study suggests that 27 percent of women would fail the test, 13 percent of men would fail the test.

CHETRY: I don't buy this. Why is women so -- why is it cheaper to insure women --

ROMANS: Yes.

CHETRY: -- if you guys are great?

ROMANS: Are great?

VELSHI: I didn't do the study.

CHETRY: Yes. I love it. He gleefully reports the findings but then, he doesn't do the study.

VELSHI: I report, you decide.

ROMANS: And the --

VELSHI: The best drivers are adults, by the way, age 60 to 65.

CHETRY: Yes. OK. Well, the other question, too, is, the pet peeves of like what people do. One of the reasons they'd fail is 85 percent of people apparently according to the study don't know the proper thing to do during a solid yellow light. And I said, how would you not know? You speed up as fast as you can.

VELSHI: How could that be? You slam --

CHETRY: You slam the gas and try to get to --

ROMANS: My pet peeve is people who drive 55 or even 65 in the left lane, that they use the passing lane as just a cruising lane. That drives me crazy.

VELSHI: Look at the two of you (INAUDIBLE).

CHETRY: You know what drives me insane? This is what happens in my town.

VELSHI: My wife always complains that I don't move the car fast enough.

CHETRY: You know, in my town, you -- OK, pretend you're in this lane and someone is here, you have you the right away to go straight. They have their turn signal on --

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: -- before you can even put your foot on the gas, they cut in front of you and make a left. I mean, how -- how -- you know --

VELSHI: Kiran will be --

CHETRY: You really can't wait for one second.

VELSHI: (INAUDIBLE) submitting most of the question. This wasn't our question of the day.

ROMANS: And in our road -- in our road rage category --

VELSHI: But Kiran is going to handle it.

But, look, we want to know what you think. We've already got some great responses from you. E-mail us at CNN.com/AM, tweet us @CNNAM@ChristineRomans @KiranChetryCNN or @AliVelshi. Tell us on Facebook.com/AMERICAN MORNING. We're going to read through some of your thoughts later on this hour.

ROMANS: OK. Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, thousands of swimming pools may have to close this Memorial Day Weekend. We're going to tell you why and, you know, what specifically could be the problem here for all of these pools. VELSHI: Twenty-one minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Twenty-four minutes after the hour. Time to "Mind Your Business."

Thirty-four point nine million Americans plan to travel this Memorial Day Weekend. That's up from last year when gas prices were about $1 cheaper. Right now, the national average for a gallon of regular is $3.81.

Technology stocks helped push the market into the black for the second straight day. It may have been a rough month for the market. The Dow was up eight points yesterday, the NASDAQ and S&P closed higher as well.

The White House doing away with unnecessary regulations like no longer classifying milk as an oil. The change means that dairy farmers will no longer be subject to rules designed to prevent oil spills that's going to save the milk industry an estimated $1.4 billion.

You don't have to make compromises for greater fuel efficiency when it comes to your safety. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tested 13 small cars, none of them rated poor in four crash tests. Six were given the coveted top safety pick ratings.

And a group of researchers say that if you were to put a value on the Internet's contribution to the global economy it would be larger than the economies of Canada or Spain. In 2009, researchers say the Internet added about $1.67 trillion to the gross domestic product across the world.

AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after the break with a live report from Pakistan. Hillary Clinton making a surprise visit there this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Twenty-eight minutes after the hour. Checking top stories for you.

Two hundred thirty-two people still unaccounted for in Joplin, Missouri following the deadliest tornado on record. The state releasing the names as families grow more frustrated with the search.

VELSHI: And that's down, of course, from 1,500 people who were unaccounted for.

The Patriot Act, it was due to expire at midnight. President Obama has directed the use of what is called an auto pen to sign it. The president is in France for the G-8 summit so the machine replicates his signature. The provisions of the law passed after the 9/11 attacks deal with legalizing terrorist surveillance tactics like roving wire taps and searching the personal records of terror suspects. It has been extended for another four years.

CHETRY: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Islamabad this morning for talks with Pakistani leaders. It's an effort to repair the rift in relations caused after the U.S. capture -- killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan. But Clinton is also delivering an ultimatum of sorts for Pakistan to do more to help with counterterrorism.

ROMANS: Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen is in Pakistan with Secretary Clinton.

VELSHI: CNN Stan Grant joining us now from Islamabad with more on this. What's the message, Stan?

STAN GRANT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ali, well, the message is they want to get a lot more from Pakistan because of the money that they -- they put in here. You know, the United States pumps billions of dollars in aid here and they want a partner that they can rely on.

Basically, there are three points that she's looking for here. One is to go after the factories that produce the explosives that the Taliban are able to use to such devastating effect. They also want to see Pakistan really go after al Qaeda operatives, and also to support the reconciliation process in Afghanistan, the Taliban and Afghan government reconciliation process.

But by the same token, Hillary Clinton arrives here with anti- American feeling going so high on the streets of Pakistan at the moment. There is so much concern about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the fact that Pakistan did not know about it, it's being seen as really trashing Pakistan's sovereignty. They say that Pakistan is not being respected in this relationship.

That was a message that was once again stressed by the president here today in his meeting with Hillary Clinton. What they're trying to do, though, is to right this relationship, trying to move it forward. It's a very strategic relationship, very important if the U.S. wants to draw down their troops across the border in Afghanistan, and, of course, at the same time, it's very important for Pakistan because tens of thousands of their own people have died as a result of terror attacks over the past 10 years.

CHETRY: All right. Stan Grant for us this morning -- thanks so much.

A big win for immigration reform. The Supreme Court is supporting the controversy Arizona law that targets employers who hire illegal immigrants. Business licenses can be revoked if an illegal immigrant is employed. Opponents argue that it trumps the federal government's powers. Also in the works, an Arizona statute which gives local law enforcement the ability to arrest suspected illegal immigrants.

ROMANS: A circuit judge has overruled -- overturned Wisconsin's controversial new law that strips most public workers of their right to collective bargaining. The state Supreme Court will decide in 10 days whether to take up the case. Yesterday, a judge ruled Wisconsin's legislature violated the state's open meetings law to approve their Republican-backed measure.

VELSHI: California prison officials say they mistakenly released 450 inmates with a high risk for violence because of a computer error. They're also blaming a computer error for freeing over 1,000 other prisoners who present a high risk for committing a drug or property crimes. All of the inmates were mistakenly placed on non-revocable parole, meaning, they can only be sent back to prison if they reoffend.

CHETRY: Well, thousands of swimming pools across the country may not be open this Memorial Day weekend. Why? Well, a Consumer Products Safety Commission is now recalling about 1 million pool drain covers, saying that they may not have been properly tested. The agency says that the drain covers could create a suction that's powerful enough to hold swimmers, especially young children, to the bottom of the pool, hold them down there.

Experts say that the pool drains contain up to about 500 pounds of vacuum force. Information about the specific drains being recalled can be found on the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Web site.

ROMANS: OK. Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center for us this morning, going to give us everything we need to know about what's going to happen around the country for the weekend.

Hi, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Wear your swimmies, that's what I took from that little piece of video. They're smart. Swimmies are good.

CHETRY: Sunscreen, too.

MARCIANO: You're going to want to take a dip I think over the weekend. A lot of spots, it will feel more like the middle of the summer than the unofficial beginning of summer, especially across the Gulf Coast and along the Eastern Seaboard.

We have the front that created all the severe weather this week, has hit the brakes on the Appalachians and that has caused severe weather last night. As a matter of fact, we had -- look at the reports we had last night -- over 600 reports of severe weather. Most of this is in the form of some hail and wind. Wind damage from New Orleans all the way to the Canadian border.

We have five reports of tornadoes. But most of the damage and fatalities came from wind and the trees that came down because of that.

All right. This front as mentioned kind of, sticks around. So, the same spots that got showers and thunderstorms, for the most part, across the Northeast will get them again today. And now, we're looking for another piece of energy that's going to slide in from the intermountain west and that will spawn more showers and thunderstorms there.

Syracuse back to Buffalo, Pittsburgh, we had winds gusting over 60 and 70 miles an hour in Upstate New York, parts of eastern Pennsylvania and north central Vermont where they had flooding issues as well with damaging winds there. Two rounds of severe weather across the Atlanta areal, three fatalities, and over 200,000 people, at one point, without power. Now, we're down to about 50,000, and the rough weather at least for Atlanta has subsided.

All right. Here's your next piece of energy that comes into the plains. This will give us a threat of seeing some more severe weather across Oklahoma in the usual spots that will include southwest Missouri, I think, overnight tonight and tomorrow. But right now, just a slight risk of seeing severe weather.

Thirty to 60 minute delays today if you are traveling for the holiday weekend, Atlanta to Charlotte, 30 to 60 as well, traveling through Detroit, looking at 30 to 60-minute delays.

Here's today's daytime highs, 87 in New York. And a little bit of humidity as well, going to be a little soupy and steamy. That's unusually warm for this time of year. And tomorrow, your Saturday, for the holiday weekend, 81 degrees. So, a little bit cooler, 86 degrees expected in D.C.

So, yes, break out the Swimmies and that one piece you got, Ali. Break that out.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: You can't tell if it's a one piece or if he's just going buff.

VELSHI: Let's not talk about that.

CHETRY: Based on the body here. You're out of Swimmies, though, Rob, right? I thought last you thought you gave it a go without the Swimmies?

MARCIANO: No. I sunk just like a rock and safety first as always.

VELSHI: That's it. Rob, good to see you my friend. Check in with you in just a little while.

ROMANS: Speaking of sunshine.

VELSHI: Speaking of sunshine, it looks like Florida is not the hot spot for retirees as much as we thought it was.

ROMANS: Right.

VELSHI: Seems like the northern end of the Eastern Seaboard is the big draw now. And this is according to new census information. The census is great. It gives us so much stuff to talk about.

The average person in Maine is 42.7 years old. Experts say college age students are moving up. Baby boomers are aging and the older population is moving in. Coming in second, Vermont, 41.5 years old. West Virginia, 41.3 years old. And finally, New Hampshire, at 41.1 years old.

Youngest state? Utah, 29.2 years old.

Florida still has the largest number of retirees.

ROMANS: That's right.

VELSHI: It doesn't have the oldest mean population.

CHETRY: Right.

ROMANS: Interesting.

All right. Meantime, we're going to give you the latest on Ratko Mladic, arrested yesterday after a 16-year manhunt. The significance of this arrest in terms of genocide and these sorts of crimes and ethnic cleansing in the future.

David Scheffer is next. He's the former ambassador at large for war crimes in the Clinton administration. This was a very, very big story then. We're going to tell you what it means now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, we want to get you an update right now on what's going on in the situation with the arrest of the former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, ending a 16-year quest to bring Europe's most wanted war criminal to justice.

Here's a timeline of the events leading up to his arrest. And we start in 1992. And this is where really all began. The Bosnian war, the longest of the conflict spawned by the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early '90s. Backed by the government, Bosnian Serb forces seized control of more than half of the country and launched a campaign against the Muslims and Croatian populations in that country.

Go then to 1993. What happened is that the United Nations declared the town of Srebrenica to be a safe haven, and tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims flooded in with the expectation to be safe. Unfortunately, that was certainly not the case.

What happened next? July 11th, 1995, in what bane known as the Srebrenica massacre. Mladic is accused of orchestrating the slaughter of nearly 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys, the worst massacre since Europe has seen since the Holocaust. Victims were blindfolded, they had their hands tied, they were executed and then dumped into mass graves.

And the U.N. had failed to protect them. So, then, NATO intervened. In 1995 -- this happened in Dayton, Ohio, known as the Dayton Accords, the United States brought the leaders of the warring factions to an agreement eventually ending the violence. And a U.N. tribunal indicted Mladic, as well as others, on several charges, including war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

And in 2006, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic died in his cell as he was awaiting trial at The Hague. But what else happened is that another man was then extradited into the Netherlands and is currently there.

But let's go to now 2011, right now, and what happened. Yesterday, Serbian President Boris Tadic announced the capture and arrest of Mladic in Serbia. He'll be extradited and he'll face trial before the International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague -- Ali, Christine.

VELSHI: And the 69-year-old Mladic spent last night in a jail cell in Belgrade, Serbia. He looked frail in court yesterday. He was reportedly unable to address the judge. His lawyers claim that he's a ruin of a man after two heart attacks and three strokes. Serbia's president said he expects the ex-general to be transferred to the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague within seven days.

ROMANS: Our next guest is the former ambassador at large for war crimes issues in the Clinton administration and now professor of international law at Northwestern University. David Scheffer is joining us live from Chicago this morning.

Thank you for joining us.

Does the arrest of Mladic send a message to perpetrators of genocide, say, in the Congo and Sudan and elsewhere that this will not be tolerated by the West and that eventually these people will come to justice?

DAVID SCHEFFER, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR WAR CRIMES: Oh, I think, Christine, it sends a very powerful message. But we have to be patient.

Many of these warlords and atrocity lords particularly in the situations in Africa are not necessarily going to modify their behavior dramatically given this particular arrest. But I think, over time, they have to realize, particularly after they are indicted by, in this case, the International Criminal Court for these future and current perpetrators of these atrocity crimes, they have to realize that ultimately the hand of justice does reach them. And so, I think it does have an impact. I think we do see changes in behavior after these indictments come down.

We certainly saw that with Milosevic in the Balkans. We even saw it Karadzic and Mladic, their indictments in July of 1995, were predicates to the Dayton peace talks only three or four months later. And in Africa today with Gadhafi and with President Ali Bashir --

VELSHI: David --

SCHEFFER: Yes?

VELSHI: Let me ask you this. The fact is -- I don't know if this is a success or failure, that we got Mladic after 15 years. By the way, he, like others, are hiding in plain sight. He was being treated in hospitals in Serbia. They sort of knew he was there.

Do we -- do we, going back to the Holocaust, do we really have deterrents against people who kill people because of their ethnicity? Even in 2011? Are these really effective deterrents that after 15 years they might get you?

SCHEFFER: Well, you know, Ali, I think it's sort of a canard of an argument. You could make that same argument with respect to domestic criminal law. Is the death penalty really a deterrent? Is our criminal justice system really a deterrent to crimes being committed in the United States?

I think ultimately, we do see societies change because of these types of indictments and prosecutions. If you look at Germany, if you look at Japan, if you look at other areas of the world, Cambodia, et cetera, where there have been massive atrocities followed by indictments and trials -- ultimately, societies change, the attitude of the people in those societies change. And I think that's what we have to keep our eye on as opposed to whether they'll possibly be another atrocity lord that pops up again.

They will in future years.

ROMANS: Let's talk about the attitude of society. Ivan Watson just reported on the streets of Belgrade, there is still some support, pockets of support for Mladic there. Frankly, he was on the run for 15 years, and maybe not running that hard, maybe only really running the last three years or so. He may have been drawing from his government pension. He may have been treated in hospitals there. Tell me a little bit here. Is this more about big, international political leverage? Did Serbia buy its way into the E.U. by arresting Mladic and does that show that things have really changed? There's really been a reconciliation here?

SCHEFFER: Well, I think the Serbian society has transformed significantly in recent years. Surely the European membership issue was a great incentive. Just as trade sanctions were a great incentive in 2000 and 2001 to get Milosevic to the Hague. I mean, Serbia reacted to those sanctions, and they got Milosevic to the Hague.

In this, case it's European membership. We did have a change in government in Serbia that became much more cooperative in 2008, 2009, 2010, to this initiative to secure the apprehension of Mladic. So, there was a political change, and these pockets of support for Mladic and Serbia, yes, they're there. There's still a national spirit, but I think it's also important to report that the younger generations in Serbia are applauding this arrest.

There's a large sector of the Serbian population that understands the need for this and, frankly, opening up the future for Serbia. At some point, Serbia has to enter the international community again, and I do think the younger generations understand that. ROMANS: Ambassador David Scheffer, I think that's a very good point as well. And Ivan made that point that there are some people who just want this period to be over. The younger folks who just -- who look back on that period with great disdain. Ambassador David Scheffer, thank you so much for joining us.

SCHEFFER: Thank you.

VELSHI: All right. We're taking a break. We'll be right back. It's 47 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Forty-nine minutes past the hour right now. Here's a look at your headlines this morning.

Patience wearing thin in Joplin, Missouri.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (voice-over): Officials under fire for the slow process of identifying victims of last weekend's monster tornado. Right now, 232 people are still considered unaccounted for.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Pakistan this morning for talks aimed at mending relations between the two countries following the U.S. raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound.

Meantime, the CIA has been granted access by the Pakistani government to return to that compound and conduct a bigger search. The agency plans to use highly-sophisticated equipment to look for documents, possibly hidden inside the walls or buried underground. There is no word yet on when that search will take place.

And with minutes to spare, President Obama used what's known as the auto pen to sign a four-year extension of the Patriot Act. The provisions of the law passed after the 9/11 attacks to deal with legalizing terror surveillance tactics like roving wire taps. You are looking at wire tapping equipment there and personal records of terrorist suspects. The president had to use the machine that replicates his signature because he's in France attending the G-8 summit.

Thousands of swimming pools across the country may not be able to open this Memorial Day after the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled almost 1 million drain covers because of a risk, because they were not adequately tested and could pose a drowning risk. Information about the specific drains being recalled can be found on the website.

And the Chicago Bulls no match for the Miami Heat's big three, specifically, LeBron James. He led a comeback -- a stunning comeback victory that eliminated the Bulls and puts the Heat into the NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHETRY (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. We want to know what you think. Rules of the road? What is your biggest pet peeve about other drivers? We've been asking you about this.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: How much time do you have?

VELSHI: Fantastic responses on Facebook. Somebody writes, "Tailgating. I will purposely let off the gas when somebody tailgates me until they back off, and for goodness sake, get off the cell phone when you're behind the wheels. Not only it's against the law, it is dangerous." I definitely do the same thing when people tailgate me. I slow down.

CHETRY: Yes, but you know what, why sometimes people are forced to tailgate, and by people I mean me --

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: Because Randy Kite (ph) writes, driving under the speed limit. I don't speed but, I don't want to be slowed down either.

ROMANS: From Twitter, we have this response. "My number one concern is texting, cell phone conversation while driving, number two, cutting me off, even though you see me coming and then going 25 miles per hour." Wait a minute! So, that might be you guys.

CHETRY: That's why we tailgate.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Keep your comments coming. Send us an e-mail, a tweet, or tell us on Facebook. We'll read some more of your thoughts.

ROMANS: Don't do it while you're driving.

VELSHI: Don't. Pull over if you're going to do it.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: We're kicking off Memorial Day weekend. The unofficial start of the barbecue season to prepare for the grilling ahead, I took a trip to see the Deen Brothers, Jamie and Bobby Deen, Paula Deen's son.

CHETRY: They're awesome. They're really nice guys.

VELSHI: They've got this new cookbook called "Get Fired Up." It's all about grilling, tailgating food, outdoor food, all the kind of stuff I love to eat. Take a look at the result. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Most cooking shows, most cookbooks are way too fancy for me. So, I've surrounded myself now with the Deen Brothers, Jamie and Bobby. These guys, sons of the legendary, Paula Deen. We're going to be making food. This is my kind of thing. These are bad dogs, but you know what, we can't get there yet. First, we got to make some good dogs with Bobby, and I got to get some pasta because I need my food groups in here. You're going to prepare the pasta.

JAMIE DEEN, AUTHOR, "THE DEEN BROS: GET FIRED UP": You are. I know your culinary background, so I've got a job for you.

VELSHI: All right.

JAMIE DEEN: Would you take this pasta, please, and put in that pot?

VELSHI: Just in here?

JAMIE DEEN: Right in there.

VELSHI: That's all I got to do?

(LAUGHTER)

JAMIE DEEN: Yes. That's about 98 percent success right there.

VELSHI: I'm going to leave you to that for a few minutes.

JAMIE DEEN: You're done.

VELSHI: Go over and make some good dogs. Not off to a bad start, wouldn't you say?

BOBBY DEEN, AUTHOR, "THE DEEN BROS: GET FIRED UP": Yes, I would say it's a pretty good start.

VELSHI: All right. Now, what we got -- these are what you call bad dogs?

BOBBY DEEN: These are called the bad dogs, but golly, they're good.

VELSHI: Yes.

BOBBY DEEN: These are a traditional beef hot dog. It's sliced open and stuffed with chipotle, which is actually a really good idea. You can do that to the good dog as well and wrapped in bacon, so we make it double good. We do it on the grill top there. Good cheddar cheese on there and onions on top. And the difference is, in the good dog is, we would use whole wheat buns.

VELSHI: Right.

BOBBY DEEN: We would use a different kind of cheese. VELSHI: Yes.

BOBBY DEEN: Let's going to get some grill marks on that.

VELSHI: Only a little lighter. The good dogs are a little bit gooder than the bad dogs.

BOBBY DEEN: It's the lesser of two evils.

VELSHI: Got it. OK.

BOBBY DEEN: So, turkey dogs --

VELSHI: Yes.

BOBBY DEEN: Turkey bacon --

VELSHI: Yes. And one of the things that you guys do is you appeal to a guy like me.

BOBBY DEEN: I think that people understand that Jamie and I and our mother, too, we're regular people that cook and eat regular food. You know, we like to cover all our bases and show people how to, again, cook affordably and easily and get it on the table in less than an hour.

VELSHI: All right. We're going to eat that in a second.

BOBBY DEEN: We're going to eat all of them.

VELSHI: We're going to eat all of them, before we do that, you can't just exist on meat alone. You got to get other food groups in like the pasta group and the red pepper group. And that's what Jamie is working on. How did I do here? Did I do a good job?

JAMIE DEEN: Probably the finest example of pasta dumping I've ever seen.

VELSHI: I have some skills. They're hidden, but I have some.

JAMIE DEEN: That's why I saved it for you. Talk about easy. Let's look how easy the sauce is going to be. I'm going to use a little bit of mayonnaise, about six tablespoons probably. See how close I can eyeball this. I'm going to put a tablespoon of balsamic.

VELSHI: OK.

JAMIE DEEN: How simple is this.

VELSHI: Who's the better cook, you or your brother?

JAMIE DEEN: You know, we're different cooks. We have different styles. It's hard for me to say who's the best. You know who's the best cook, mom.

VELSHI: That's right. Good answer. All right. That looks good. I think it's time to eat.

JAMIE DEEN: Yes, sir.

VELSHI: That's a good bad dog.

BOBBY DEEN: Mine is a good dog.

VELSHI: You like it?

BOBBY DEEN: Yes. Really good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Wow.

CHETRY: I love them. They're the perfect combination of mama's boys but macho.

VELSHI: They told me. Yes. And they love to cook, and they use stuff that regular people use.

ROMANS: She uses a stick of butter with everything. They use mayonnaise.

VELSHI: He was very adept with the mayonnaise. If you're looking for how to make those good doggies and bad doggies and the pasta salad, head to our blog, CNN.com/AMFix. We'll get the full recipes for you on there right now.

CHETRY: Good.

ROMANS: Meantime, presidential race, new presidential polls is Sarah Palin surging on this poll. She says she has a fire in her belly to beat Obama. Does that mean she's running and what is the public saying about that possibility? That's next.

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