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Death Toll Continues to Rise in Italy; President Obama Attempts to Join East and West in Muslim World; Green Jobs

Aired April 06, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Take a look. The earth shook and the walls, they came tumbling down. A powerful earthquake strikes Italy. The death toll is climbing and many people are trapped in that rubble.

Also, rebuilding bridges. President Obama reaches out to the Islamic world. We're going to have the latest from the crossroads of east and west.

And help wanted. Apply at the nuclear facility nearest you. We're going to tell you how the stimulus package is paying off.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Heidi Collins has the day off. Today is Monday, April 6th and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. Let's get right to it. We do have some breaking news out of Italy to tell you about this morning. Look at these pictures, rescue crews searching for survivors after a deadly 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit east of Rome. At least 50 people are dead and thousands of people are homeless. Aftershocks have everyone on edge.

We are going live to Italy in just a couple of minutes for more information on this breaking news story that we are following for you today.

But first, let's get into this. President Barack Obama in Turkey and on a mission. He is trying to rebuild bridges to an Islamic world and repair what many see as a damaged U.S. image. So President Obama is courting Turkey to remain the unwavering ally in Afghanistan.

CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president. She joins us by phone right now.

And, Suzanne, President Obama just finished speaking at the parliament there.

Suzanne, can you hear us? All right. We're having a little bit of technical difficulty. Let me try you one more time.

Suzanne Malveaux, are you there? All right. Mother Nature is causing a few problems. Very windy there in Turkey. We'll try to get Suzanne up and running for us and get the latest on that.

But we do want to take you back to central Italy and that earthquake that I told you about just seconds ago. Rob Marciano has been following this as well. I'm getting some direction now from my producer.

Rob, the situation in Italy, this quake, 6.3 magnitude was quite a quake.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. And we've had a number of aftershocks since then, Betty, and over the last several decades, this part of the world certainly has seen its fair share of deadly and damaging earthquakes.

To give you a little tour of this part of Europe. Italy, it's an odd situation because it sits -- the peninsula itself sits on the tip of the Eurasian plate and at the same time the African plate. We're talking about tectonic plates which, if you live in California you're familiar with plates and what they can do as far as creating mountains and creating faults that create -- that cause these earthquakes.

So the African plate kind of pushes it up against the Eurasian plate there right around Italy and that creates a number of fault. And, also, what seismologists will tell you that it kind of stretches on an east/west direction. So a very complicated situation such that, Betty, about 40 percent of Italy, or the population of Italy, sits in an earthquake zone.

So this part of the world certainly no stranger to this sort of activity but what makes this particularly damaging is because it happened in an area that's not up to code, so to speak. A pretty medieval town with many of the buildings well over a hundred years old and not quite up to snuff as far as being earthquake proof so -- that's why we're seeing this sort of damage with what -- you know, what -- in a more well established part of the world you might consider it to be not the largest quake in the world.

It was pretty shallow and what we tell people -- what seismologists will tell you from time to time again if it's a shallow quake and over 6.0, that will likely do some damage and this one was just that. So aftershocks, Betty, expected to probably continue here over the next several hours, if not several days, as the earth tries to settle down a little bit.

NGUYEN: Yes, as we've been mentioning 50 people dead at this hour, thousands homeless. We'll continue to follow this.

Rob, thank you for that.

And within minutes of that earthquake, we were on the phone with an American missionary in L'Aquila. And then I want you to listen to what Joshua Brothers says he saw dealing and what he saw when that quake happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSHUA BROTHERS, AMERICAN MISSIONARY: The bedrooms itself were actually shaking and moving across the room. The best way I could describe it, perhaps, is exactly 747 coming over, very loud. You can feel the entire building swaying back and forth. As we went outside, there were a lot of people that were very loud and calling for people that they know, looking for one another. They are all very worried because the last earthquake that happened there was one about a hundred years ago that completely destroyed the city for a large part of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well you can definitely hear the worry in his voice. And we are going to hear more from Joshua Brothers when he joins us live a little bit later in the hour.

But right now we do want to take you straight to L'Aquila, Italy and get the latest on the ground there.

CNN's Delia Gallagher joins us by phone.

Delia, what are you seeing right now as you look around the city and view some of that damage?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Betty, let me tell you that I am in front of a building which is completely collapsed, standing with some of the residents here who are waiting to see what will happen with a young girl.

I hope you can hear me over the sirens.

She's a 21-year-old girl and the only girl to have responded so far from the families that are inside this five-story apartment building who were, of course, all asleep at the time of the earthquake early this morning.

So there is great worry amongst the people here. And like here, dotted all around this area of central Italy are situations similar, because what you see are the buildings that have suffered damage and cracks, but then some of them that have completely collapsed and that is where the rescue efforts are concentrating right now.

And it's slow going because these are delicate situations with people underneath and they are actually casting the rubble through with buckets, handing them hand-to-hand and some of the small Caterpillar diggers that they're trying to use to remove the rubbles.

But we're about 24 hours into this now, Betty, and I can tell you that the L'Aquila fire department has confirmed to CNN that they are 70 dead at the moment and that 50 percent of the buildings in the area are not safe.

I can tell you that the fire department has confirmed to CNN 70 dead at the moment and that 50 percent of the buildings in the area are not safe, and, also, importantly, that part of the main hospital has collapsed. So eight of the nine operating rooms of their main hospital, which was recently built and, therefore, should be under the new codes for earthquake-proof buildings, are not able to be used so people are being taken to neighboring hospitals. That is the situation at the moment. The prime minister is on the scene, has declared a state of emergency and is in the area surveying the damage. Betty?

NGUYEN: A lot of information there. Thank you so much for that, Delia Gallagher.

In fact, we've been reporting some 50 people dead but as we heard there from Delia right there, 70 people according to the fire department there are reported dead at this hour. Fifty percent of the buildings are not safe and part of the main hospital has collapsed.

So we'll continue to follow this story for you and bring you the latest on that. But we do want to take you back to Turkey now and our Suzanne Malveaux, who is there live for us.

And, Suzanne, the president just finished speaking to the Turkish parliament. Talk to us about the message.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the message was simply that the United States is not at war with Islam. He said that it's a partnership that is critical, Muslim world, the United States.

And he says that the United States is interested in rolling back what he calls a fringe ideology, that people of all states reject, and what he is trying to do is really change the tone, the message, as well as fundamentally the relationship with many of the countries in the Middle East and, obviously, Turkey, a very important ally.

But under President Bush, I can tell you, I've been here before, and the relationship was quite strained and complicated with Turkey, with the Turkish government. The Bush administration quite disappointed that it didn't get more support from Turkey when it came to the war in Iraq.

Well, since then, there seems to be, at least from President Obama and some of the Turkish people who you talk to, a renewed interest in improving the relationship. Turkey does have some troops in Afghanistan. Also, Turkey is really in the heart of where much is going on.

It borders Iraq and Iran and Syria and Turkey has expressed an interest in brokering or mediating in the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, the Israelis and the Syrians, and even trying to help United States and Iran come to a better understanding.

So this is a critical ally and President Obama wants to say, in no uncertain terms, that he appreciates the people here and he appreciates the Islamic faith.

NGUYEN: Suzanne, let me ask you this. Over the past couple of days when he was speaking with NATO members, he was really urging for support in Afghanistan. You mentioned Turkey being a critical ally and does have some support in Afghanistan.

Are they going to be pledging anymore?

MALVEAUX: We don't expect that they're going to be pledging more support for Afghanistan. One of the things that we did see coming out of the previous summit was that you do have countries that are at least willing to provide more trainers, provide more dollars and helping out with the Afghan army and police, but not a lot of countries coming forward with actual forces and certainly not after the elections, Afghan elections.

That's one of the things that NATO has said is so critically important is to go ahead and make sure that their security for those elections. The hope is obviously that things would be able to turn around after a new leadership and so that's to be expected, though.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joining us live from Turkey by phone.

Thank you for that, Suzanne.

We do want to tell you some more news about another breaking story. Nearly three dozen people are dead in Baghdad. Many of them just out shopping or on the way to work. All of them dead after a series of blasts around the city.

We're going to have a live report on that with many more details. Stay right here. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, it has been a deadly day in Baghdad. At least 32 people are dead in seven different bombings. More than 120 people hurt in the attacks which happened in a mostly Shiite area.

Our Frederik Pleitgen joins us now live from Baghdad.

And Frederik, most of these were car bombings. Do we know if they were coordinated?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a good question, Betty. So far we have no official confirmation whether or not these attacks were coordinate here in the city of Baghdad.

However, when you look at the complexity of what happened earlier this morning here at Baghdad, it does appear pretty evident that, yes, indeed these bombings seem to be connected in what some way, shape or form.

By 1:30 p.m. here in Baghdad, seven major bombs had gone off in a major vicinity of the city area. It does appear that a lot of these attacks do bear the hallmarks of al Qaeda on Iraq. There are some Iraqi politicians are already blaming al Qaeda on Iraq.

But what seems evident is that there are still extremist groups in this country with a logistical capabilities of carrying out major attacks like this one. As you said, 32 people have been killed, 132 people wounded, most of the attacks carried out in market targeting innocent civilians -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. So could any of this have an effect on the planned U.S. troop withdrawal?

PLEITGEN: Well, that's a very good question. Certainly one that many people are asking here in Iraq. If you ask the U.S. after attacks, major attacks like this one, they'll always say nothing is going to derail the process of that troop drawdown.

However, when you ask Iraqi officials they'll give you a very different take on that. Many of them say it is a matter of the security. Is the security situation one that will allow U.S. troops to draw down in the pace they want to draw down?

NGUYEN: Right.

PLEITGEN: And another thing that the Iraqi government is saying it's having a lot of trouble building up its police force right now because it's running out of money. It's got a serious budget problem. And therefore, Iraqi officials have told me if the security situation doesn't improve, if we can't get our police force going we might ask the U.S. troops to draw down slower -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Gotcha. All right, CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, joining us live, thank you for that , Fred.

And want to tell you about this. Coming home indignity. For the first time in 18 years, the military is allowing media coverage for fallen U.S. service members as they are being returned home.

After receiving consent from his family, members of the media were allowed to witness as the body of Staff Sergeant Phillip Myers was flown into Dover Air Force Base in Delaware yesterday. He was killed Saturday in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan.

The Obama administration overturned a policy from the first Gulf War that barred media coverage of the arrival of a slain loved one at the Dover base.

Well, it didn't work. U.S. officials say the rocket that North Korea launched this weekend fell apart over the water. But Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence shows us why that's not a complete relief.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): North Korea's missile launch set off reactions around the world. Its allies, China and Russia, urged calm. But South Korea called it reckless and President Obama demanded action from the U.N. Security Council.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: North Korea broke the rules. Once again.

LAWRENCE: North Korea claims it put a satellite into orbit, but U.S. defense officials say it failed.

(on camera): Here's the launch site on the eastern side of North Korea. U.S. Navy missile destroyers are positioned here and here on both sides of Japan.

Stage one of the rocket falls right here in the Sea of Japan, roughly where the North Koreans thought it would.

But then a few minutes later, something goes wrong, because the satellite does not make it into orbit and part of the rocket falls here into the Pacific Ocean.

(voice-over): U.S. officials say the payload did not separate successfully during the last stage. But North Korea was able to control its rocket through that point.

LT. GEN. TREY OBERING III, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): That is a significant step forward for any missile program, because oftentimes those missiles become unstable as they go through these staging events.

LAWRENCE: This was a more advanced rocket than the one North Korea launched in 1998. And it improved the range from a similar test in 2006 when the missile blew apart 40 seconds after launch.

But experts say the longer test gave the U.S. military more to study.

CHARLES VICK, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: I think, for the first time, we've gotten full images of the entire vehicle. I don't think we've ever fully had that except back in 1994 when we saw the mock up of the concept of it.

LAWRENCE (on camera): And the U.S. can incorporate that into its own missile defense systems. Experts say the missile could potentially reach Alaska and Hawaii and could carry a nuclear warhead. Now, North Korea is not there yet, but there's a concern it could sell the technology it does have to other nations which may be developing their own nuclear programs.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, the Defense Department is cutting back on its expensive weapons programs. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is announcing that today. The military may have to make do with the ships, the tanks, the planes it already has for a little while. These new spending priorities could also lead to thousands of job cuts.

Violent rampages across parts of the U.S. over the weekend. What was behind such tragic events?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Police in Washington state believe a jealous rage caused a dad to kill his five children and then himself. The children ages 7 to 16 were found shot to death Saturday in the family's mobile home near Tacoma.

Police say before the killings James Harrison saw his wife with another man and she told him that she was leaving him. Police say he then went home and sometime after the children went to sleep, he shot them multiple times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kids shouldn't have to die like that. It's not right.

SHERIFF PAUL PASTOR, PIERCE COUNTY, WASHINGTON: This was not a tragedy. This was a rotten murder. Too often, we call these things tragedies. What happened was five innocent kids lost their lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Police say Harrison left the house and then fatally shot himself inside his car.

Well, another violent attack and the aftermath. Three police officers shot and killed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The bodies of the three slain officers will lie in state Wednesday. A memorial service will also be held for them the next day on campus at the University of Pittsburgh.

A 23-year-old man is accused of ambushing the officers when they arrived to settle a dispute between the man and his mother.

Well, the city of Binghamton, New York is mourning 13 people killed in a shooting rampage at the American Civic Association on Friday. Hundreds of people turned out for a candlelight vigil last night to remember them.

Police say 41-year-old Jiverly Voong, a Vietnamese immigrant of Chinese heritage, opened fire and then took his own life.

CNN's Allan Chernoff spoke with the family of one of the victim victims.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Roberta King's 10 children can't believe their mother is gone. Shot and killed at the American Civic Association.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never think that the end of the day is so going to change your life and this is just so beyond belief.

CHERNOFF: Bobby King, as she was known to everyone, was doing what she loved on Friday. Teaching. Especially to immigrants.

GEORGIA LEARNER, ROBERTA KING'S DAUGHTER: She was really interested in their stories and hearing about what it was like for them to come to this country and she would often tell us about how they would have two or three jobs and if they could send money home and -- you know, she was really impressed with what people were doing.

CHERNOFF: Bobby's car was in the shop so Marion Pine, her friend of 40 years, drove her to the American Civic Association Friday morning so she could fill in for another teacher.

MARION PINE, ROBERTA KING'S FRIEND: Her warmth and her sociability were maybe her best features. She was just outgoing and wonderful to everybody she met, and it's hard to imagine Binghamton without her.

CHERNOFF: Bobby King worked at a substitute teacher not only at the American Civic Association, but at local schools as well. She also volunteered at the Phelps Mansion where, Friday evening, she had planned to give a tour.

Among her great joys, a huge collection of dolls that she used for teaching.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She explained to me that a major reason why she loved dolls is because when you learned about where a doll came from, you were learning about history.

CHERNOFF: Roberta "Bobby" King leaves a legacy of education having taught thousands of immigrants and school children, putting her 10 children through college and those children are now educating Bobby's 17 grandchildren.

(On camera): The King family had planned to gather here at Bobby King's home to celebrate Passover. Instead, they are gathered today to mourn the loss of their mother and grandmother.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, Binghamton, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, rescuers, they are up against the clock in central Italy. A 6.3 magnitude earthquake killed at least 70 people east of Rome and more are probably trapped in the rubble.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Betty Nguyen.

NGUYEN: Hello, everybody. Let's talk about your money for just a second because stocks on Wall Street, they have been on a roll with the major averages riding a streak of four straight weekly gains, not bad at all. Even a dismal jobs report on Friday didn't squash enthusiasm.

So will the winning streak continue? Well, a lot of people do hope so.

Susan Lisovicz it at the New York Stock Exchange with a preview of the trading day. Hello, Susan. How is it shaping up?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not so good, Betty. But then again, remember that four-week run we're talking about. It is a historic rally at that, but stocks this morning headed for a weak open, following a bearish report on the banking industry.

A prominent analyst says loan losses across the industry will top the levels from the Great Depression. The analyst says mortgage- related losses are about halfway to their peak, while credit card and consumer losses are only one-third of their way there.

And we should be getting some clarity on that very soon, because first quarter earnings will start to trickle in this week. Of course, the street will be paying close attention to financial companies about what they've been seeing in terms of losses, delinquencies, all that kind of thing, as well as what they are projecting going forward.

A lot of interest as well in the tech sector at the opening bell. There is talks that a big deal in that sector is collapsing. IBM has reportedly broken off talks to buy software rival Sun Microsystems after Sun rejected big blue's lower offer.

The buyout was seen as a means of survival for Sun. Its shares were plummeting in the pre-market and right we're seeing that at the open. They're down 25 percent.

Meanwhile, MGM Mirage looking to sell two of its casinos to raise as much as $2 billion. The "Wall Street Journal" says the company wants to sell the MGM Grand Detroit and the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi. Those casinos are two of MGM's best performers.

But Betty, on the flip side, student lender Sallie Mae plans to bring 2,000 jobs back to the U.S. from Mexico and the Philippines. The company moving some of its call centers and IT operations back to the U.S. and we know there will be heavy demand for those jobs.

In the meantime, check out the big board. Not so heavy demand from buyers, at least in the first 50 seconds of trading. Blue chips red hot. Well, for four weeks but not so this morning. Right now down 60 points or three-quarters of a percent. The NASDAQ is down one and a third percent. But Betty, remember the Dow is coming off its best four-week rally since 1933.

NGUYEN: That's great news. Well you know, hey, maybe it will continue this week. It's still early, only 9:31 eastern so we have a lot of time to go.

LISOVICZ: The bull needs to rest.

NGUYEN: Thank you so much, Susan.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome, Betty.

NGUYEN: We'll be checking in with you in a little bit. In the meantime though, we do have breaking news that we are following this morning. At least 92 people now are dead after an earthquake rocks central Italy. That is according to reports from Italian media. The 6.3 magnitude quake hits east of Rome in the early morning hours and we want to take you now to a report from Phil Black. The race is on to find survivors still trapped inside that rubble.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These pictures on Italian television show piles of rubble that were once homes and buildings in L'Aquila, a medieval town in central Italy. Many of those that remain standing are severely damaged and unstable. These structures, some centuries old, were not built to withstand a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. Survivors and rescue workers are scrambling over what remains of them, trying to find those trapped beneath. Men, women, and children are among those already known to have lost their lives.

The earth began to tremble around 3:30 Monday morning as most in the town slept.

JOSHUA BROTHERS, AMERICAN MISSIONARY (via telephone): It was just a really big shake. It felt as if a 747 was actually coming in to land. You can feel the entire building swaying back and forth.

BLACK: Crowds fled on to the streets as historic buildings began to collapse around them. Around 70,000 people live in and around L'Aquila, it's the capital of a region where earthquakes are common. This quake was felt 60 miles to the west in Rome. Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: If you have any video or pictures of the earthquake or the scene that you can report from there in L'Aquila, we do urge you to send them to ireport@cnn.com. We'll try to put them on air. But please send them our way.

In the meantime though, firefighters in a Texas panhandle town, they are trying to get the upper hand on a wildfire, it's happening in the town of Wheeler which is near the Texas/Oklahoma border. The Texas Forest Service says eight homes were lost and an estimated 20 homes damaged. That fire has destroyed about 15,000 acres.

A brush fire broke out in North (INAUDIBLE) New Jersey. Billowing smoke could be seen for miles along the New Jersey turnpike yesterday. Look at the fire there. It took firefighters hours to get it under control. The flames burned a half-mile stretch of land but no one, thankfully, was hurt.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Singer Chris Brown is set to appear in court today. Brown was arrested two months ago for allegedly assaulting his celebrity girlfriend Rihanna. He will be arraigned on felony charges and is expected to make a plea. Brown faces more than four years in prison. Rihanna is not expected to attend that hearing.

President Barack Obama promised change as a candidate and now as president. He is delivering on that promise abroad. We'll tell you how he is trying to shore up an American image that has been battered and bruised.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: President Barack Obama reaching out to the Islamic world. This morning he is in Turkey. The only major member of NATO that is predominantly Muslim. The president wants Turkey to remain a steadfast ally in both Iraq and Afghanistan and he says that alliance can help build a bridge between Muslim nations and the West.

All right. We have a little bit of technical difficulty, we'll try to get that sound for you a little bit later this morning.

In the meantime, President Obama's visit has been closely watched by the Islamic world.

The president's visit to Turkey well just part of a larger international mission. He is trying to shore up an American image that has suffered in recent years. CNN's Jim Acosta takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president has spent much of his trip pushing a global reset button, trying to amend America's broken fences with the world. But on the same day, President Obama called for an end to nuclear weapons.

OBAMA: I state clearly and with conviction, America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.

ACOSTA: He had to condemn North Korea for firing a rocket.

OBAMA: North Korea broke the rules once again.

ACOSTA: Back in Washington, an influential republican accused Mr. Obama of going soft.

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: I think it's very dangerous to have a fantasy foreign policy. The president is in a world where Hamas is firing missiles every day into Israel. Iran is building nuclear weapons. And the North Koreans today during basically during his speech fired a missile.

OBAMA: America is changing.

ACOSTA: But across the Atlantic, the reviews were different. Icy tensions that had existed during the Bush administration.

DONALD RUMSFELD, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Now, you're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe.

ACOSTA: Were melting under the lights following a new American first couple.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST : He's done more in a single trip to transform U.S./European and U.S. international relations than I've seen any president do in a long, long time.

ACOSTA: Even as the president plainly said the U.S. had made mistakes in confronting terrorism, he warned al Qaeda was far from finished.

OBAMA: It is important for Europe to understand that even though I'm now president and George Bush is no longer president, al Qaeda is still a threat.

ACOSTA: The president had tried to turn a page from...

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're either with us or against us.

ACOSTA: Still, some observers say Mr. Obama did not get the big European commitments he wanted on the financial crisis or Afghanistan.

ED ROLLINS, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: I don't think he accomplished much in the sense of what they set out to, but those goals are pretty high.

ACOSTA: Now this American rebranding will be tried in Turkey where images of Mr. Obama are now used in advertising in this largely Muslim nation.

DAVID: He has sent a signal to the world that we're reengaged.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: From Washington, Jim, is the world response to President Obama's trip all about style, or is there some substance there?

ACOSTA: A lot of it is about style Betty. As we know, there was so much talk about what Michelle Obama was wearing overseas that that gobbled up a lot of the coverage, but make no mistake, when the president of the United States goes to Turkey after what transpired over the last eight years of the Bush administration where tensions were very icy between the United States and that part of the world, for the president to go there and say, the United States is not at war with Islam, that may sound -- that may sound sort of opaque to people here in the United States and wonder, what does he mean about that. Of course, we're not at war with Islam.

But over in that part of the world, many people do feel like the United States is at war. Even though much of this is about words and much of this is about the message, the White House feels it's the right message at the right time. Even though they are not getting everything they want over there, they want to get this message out.

NGUYEN: CNN's Jim Acosta joining us live. Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: You bet. NGUYEN: U.S. troops are facing increasing violence in Afghanistan and disturbing new intelligence suggests the worst may be yet to come. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is in southern Afghanistan and is the only reporter traveling with the commandant there, the U.S. Marine Corps.

Here is a look at what she just filed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite the violence across this region, General James Conway commandant of the Marine Corps, came to Forward Operating Base Delaram to see firsthand some of the threats facing the 8,000 Marines headed this way. The Marines, part of the administration's new counterinsurgency strategy to increase troop levels on the ground.

Across southern Afghanistan, the news is not good. In an exclusive interview with CNN, the only news organization traveling with Conway, the general warned of new Taliban threats.

GEN. JAMES CONWAY, COMMANDANT, U.S. MARINE CORPS: There is, we believe, increased enemy involvement in the south. They are going to try, I believe, to create spectacular attacks before an increased U.S. presence can be brought to bear.

STARR: Conway also revealed there is no intelligence the Taliban now could have heavy-caliber machine guns that can potentially shoot down helicopters. The general chooses his words carefully.

CONWAY: There are rumors, there are intercepts, there are indications that there could be something like that in the region in weeks and months to come.

STARR: The Marines already here are being hit by a growing number of roadside bombs and suicide attacks. Conway says it's a war that could go on for years.

CONWAY: I think in terms of the requirement to accomplish what the objectives are right now, it's not going to be done in a short period of time.

STARR (on camera): As more Marines move into southern Afghanistan, the next step? They will start moving out. Out into the towns and villages across this very troubled region trying to bring more security to the people of Afghanistan.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Forward Operating Base Delaram.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: We want to tell you about another troubled region and developing story today. L'Aquila, Italy, a magnitude 6.3 quake has struck, at least 92 people dead as of this hour.

Let's take you to journalist Delia Gallagher who is on the ground there.

Delia, what's the latest?

GALLAGHER (via telephone): Betty, I have one piece of good news. That young 21-year-old girl that was underneath the rubble of a collapsed apartment building was pulled out about 20 minutes ago. She is conscious and has been taken to the hospital. There was some relief there amongst the other residents. But the number of other people still trapped in that apartment building is not known.

I'm now in front of the student dormitory which has not collapsed in the same way as this other apartment just up the street from it, yet, half of the building has essentially come off as it were and sort of jumped to the side. Again, they don't know the number of students that may be trapped inside that rubble. Talking to some of the students here, there's at least three or four friends that they had not heard from yet and that they fear are under the rubble.

At the same time, the general consulate of Spain has come up from Naples to get some of the Spanish students, there are about 20 students walking down the street now with their luggage to evacuate and go back to Spain. As I told you earlier, the L'Aquila Fire Department has told us that unfortunately about 50 percent of these buildings are not able to be used. In fact, you can see that in every so often, there is a building with windows completely blown out, half the side has come off of it, if not entirely collapsed.

So this is an operation at this point of walking around to the different houses and seeing where the real damage is and the rescue efforts are ongoing. We are now 24 hours into it and the situation is tough because the residents who have decided to stay and many of them are going down the hill with their suitcases because they won't be able to sleep here for the foreseeable future, but many are staying to see if their neighbors and friends are still alive - Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, Delia Gallagher joining us live from L'Aquila, Italy with the latest on the earthquake there and the efforts to save those survivors who may be trapped in the rubble.

Thanks for that, Delia.

We do want to tell you about another developing story this morning. It's been a busy Monday. More pirate attacks to tell you about. Diplomats say pirates from Somalia have hijacked three vessels in the Indian ocean. The vessels are Taiwanese fishing ships, a British cargo ship and a small Yemen boat. The attacks happened over the weekend.

For extreme travelers, try this one on. The frozen tundra of Antarctica may soon be further out of reach. Right now, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is attending a conference on the tree that limits use of the area. One new restriction being considered? Limiting the size of cruise ships that now visit the region.

A lot of Americans have lost their homes or could soon lose them but a warning today for anyone who asks for help. The people offering it may be trying to trick you out of money that you cannot spare.

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NGUYEN: The Obama administration's plan to help desperate homeowners comes with a lot of rules and regulations. But if someone offers to help you cut through all that red tape, you better watch out. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is warning that it could be a scam.

Personal finance editor Gerri Willis joins us now live from New York.

Gerri, Secretary Geithner is holding a press conference about this today, isn't he?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right, Betty, yes. In a press conference today at about 11:00 a.m., Tim Geithner is going to talk about how the mortgage scams in this country have essentially gone through the roof. He's trying to get people to pay attention to the offers they're getting in the mail and elsewhere so they don't get ripped off.

This comes days after the Federal Reserve announced a series of ads that they're sponsoring in theaters across the nation that describe these scams and sort of lifts public consciousness about this problem. They're doing it in 14 cities. They're in states that have been really affected by the housing crisis. California, Nevada and Florida, three of them that are notable here. You're going to see those over the coming weeks. They start April 10th. Some of the problems here we're seeing that are collateral damage in the mortgage meltdown -- Betty.

NGUYEN: But this crackdown, it's not going to happen right away. What can people do in the meantime to avoid these scams?

WILLIS: There are lots of different kinds of scams.

Let's talk about foreclosure scams because this is the biggest problem right now. What happens is these scam artists they send you letters in the mail saying, hey, we will help bail you out of this foreclosure. What you have to do is send us thousands of dollars. You want to avoid giving money to anybody up front who says they can help you get out of a mortgage problem. Don't sign anything you don't understand.

The cases I've seen like this, what happens is there's a lot of legal work given to these people. They sign their names on it. What they've inadvertently done is signed away ownership of their home. So you want to be careful. If you're signing anything, get an attorney to check it for you before you sign.

Of course there are a few legitimate people out there who do try to help people get out of foreclosure. You want to check those folks out. Go to bbb.org, your local better business bureau will be a great place to go to find out if these people are on the up and up. Bottom line here, you want to be very, very, very careful because these scam artists, they're even more persistent than they were during the housing boom and subsequent bust. There are more scammers out there than ever before. You've really got to be careful.

NGUYEN: Do your research. Absolutely. Thank you for that. That is good information, Gerri.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

NGUYEN: There is a whole lot happening this morning and our crews are hard at work to bring you the latest. So good morning, guys.

Let's start with you, Rob.

MARCIANO: Good morning, Betty.

From the CNN Weather Center we have a number of issues weather wise on the docket. Not excluding what's going on in Italy. Locally, North Carolina we have a tornado warning that's in effect for parts of north Hampton county and a couple tornado watches that go right on through the afternoon. That's what's coming up at the top of the hour - Betty.

LISOVICZ: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. I'll tell you about a company that is moving its call center operations to the U.S. and how many jobs it will create. Betty, more on that in the next hour.

JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm CNN medical correspondent Judy Fortin. Wondering why you're not losing weight even though you're drinking so-called healthy beverages? I'll have some answers for you at the top of the hour.

NGUYEN: Looking forward to all that. Thank you. We also want to look at the killing of gay men in Iraq. It's a story you need to see to believe.

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NGUYEN: All right. Your stimulus money in action working for a cleaner environment can now earn you some green. The Department of Energy has approved $468 million in federal funding in Idaho. The state is fourth on the list for the most funding. The extra funds have opened up hundreds of new environmental jobs up in that state and officials say it's also helped them retain most of their work force.

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JIM COOPER, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: We were anticipating a substantial amount of layoffs. With the stimulus money we were able to retain that work force.

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NGUYEN: The money will be used to demolish some nuclear facilities and clean up buried waste. Car owners are coming up with winning ways to beat the recession. In California, car lease swaps. Yes. Lease swaps are becoming more popular. A website called leasetrader.com allows owners to trade their car lease online when money gets too tight. The company says they traded more than 40,000 leases last year alone.

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BRUCE DOOLE, TOOK OVER CAR LEASE: Usually you have to put in anywhere from $4,000 to $8,000 down to even get the lease in the first place.

JOHN LOVETT, SOLD LEASE ONLINE: I've run my credit since. It is completely off. It's a paid lease. It's done.

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NGUYEN: Experts say the site works because buyers are much more flexible during a recession.