Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Obama Returns to Domestic Issues; Gunman Attacks at Korean Christian Retreat Center; Aftershocks Continue in Italy; N.C. Sheriff's Deputy Killed; GM Prepares for the Worst; Pirates Attack U.S. Flagged Ship; White House Ladies on Magazine Cover

Aired April 08, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: High drama on the high seas. Armed pirates seized a cargo ship with 20 Americans on board. What happens now?

President Obama is back home in Washington. We'll look at whether his trip was a success and his renewed focus much closer to home.

And burst of gunfire. Moments of terror this morning. We have yet another deadly shooting spree to report.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Heidi Collins has the day off. Today is Wednesday, April 8th, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

WHITFIELD: Let's get started with breaking news. Pirates take over a cargo ship that is flying the American flag and has an American crew. The attack was far off of the coast of Somalia and far away from military ships patrolling against pirate attacks. It's an area that has been seeing an increasing number of attacks just this week.

We have our Chris Lawrence monitoring the story from the Pentagon. And CNN senior interim correspondent Nic Robertson is live for us in London.

Let's get started with you, Nic. Where, in relation to this hijacking, is the U.S.-led naval force that it's supposed to be actually patrolling these waters for pirates?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the U.S. naval force and the NATO naval force are further north from where this vehicle -- from where this ship was hijacked. The hijacking took place closer to this sort of south end of Somalia. And the U.S. naval fleet is in the north end.

We talked with the International Maritime Board today and they say this is an increasing problem, that the pirates have now shifted their activities further south. They've appealed to the governments of Kenya, Tanzania and the (INAUDIBLE).

They're worried that the pirates are also targeting now tourist ships in the area but quite clearly the pirates are looking to where the naval vessels are to the north and moving their hijacking operations further south.

WHITFIELD: And so, Nic, in the past when we have seen pirates take over ships there have been ransoms. In this case, this is a U.S. ship and has U.S. crew aboard. What is likely to happen?

ROBERTSON: Well, certainly, we'll likely to see a hijack -- a ransom demand coming from the hijackers. They could use a satellite, telephones on board the ship or they could, perhaps, be working with other pirates ashore who'll make those demands.

We've often seen that over the past few months that hijackers are becoming sort of more complex in their tactics, about how they will make their demands. But they will very likely make them to the ship's operators either Maersk, the mother company, if you will, in Denmark, or directly to the Maersk Line operated out of Norfolk, Virginia.

So very likely, one of those two company headquarters will be receiving a call in the near future with the demand. And we've heard from these hijackers before, demanding as much as $25 million for the release of a Saudi oil tanker just last year. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Nic Robertson, thanks so much, joining us from London.

The Maersk Alabama is the sixth ship to be attacked within a week. The five other incidents took place between Saturday and Monday. A U.S. Navy spokeswoman said this attack is the first involving U.S. nationals and a U.S. flagged vessel in recent memory.

The assault comes just one day after the U.S. military issued a new warning for ships in that area, saying that pirates are now moving farther off of the coast to carry out their attacks.

Let's talk more now about the new warning from the U.S. military. CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joins us now.

So, Chris, what is the U.S. Navy saying about all of this?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Fredricka, I was told by a military official that when the Alabama was hijacked the nearest navy ship was about 300 miles away at the time.

And just to piggyback a little bit of what Nic was reporting, you know, when you look at this area where this attack happened, where the Alabama was hijacked, the Maritime Association says that in January and February combined, there were only two attacks in that area.

That spiked to 15 attacks last month. And this hijacking comes just one day after we were shown a U.S. military briefing document which warned ships in the area about the spike and of possible hijackings and also that it appears the pirates are changing their tactics.

Most of the time these pirate attacks are done from very small boats. Very close to the shoreline. Maybe a few miles out to sea. Some of these attacks had been happening hundreds of nautical miles out to sea. It suggests to some of the Pentagon officials that they're using now more mother ships, larger ships, further out to sea which they can then launch smaller ships and put a wider range of area under attack.

And when you look at this, it really -- to give you a scope of exactly what the Navy is facing out there, they've got about a dozen ships patrolling in that area. This is about a million square miles. You have to picture an area four times the size of Texas.

In fact, the coastline of Somalia is about the same as the entire eastern seaboard. So try to picture, you know, about a dozen ships trying to patrol an area of that size.

WHITFIELD: And so, Chris, I understand that U.S. ships, if they needed it or wanted it, could actually get escorts by the U.S. military, ships that are in that vicinity.

Do you know the circumstances, generally, in which that request would be made?

LAWRENCE: That is true. They can get an escort. But, again, it takes time. If you're talking about hundreds of nautical miles, it does take time for the Navy ships to move from one position to another.

And again, they have been focusing their attention in their very busy sea lanes north of where these attacks have happened. So they were in the area where more ships were going, where most of the attacks have happened.

One Navy official told me it's like cops on a beat. You know the criminals are going to go where they are not.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon, thanks so much. Appreciate it. We're going to continue to follow these developments taking place off the Somalia coast.

Meantime, President Obama returns home and renews his focus on the issue that may matter most to you. Fresh from an eight-day trip abroad, the president now turns his attention to domestic matters, the economy, health care and your wallet.

CNN's Kate Bolduan is at the White House with a preview.

So, Kate, first of all, has there been any White House reaction to the pirate attack before we get into the other domestic issues?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Fredricka. Well, we have reached out to the White House but no word quite yet on that situation. We'll definitely bring that to you when we get that, yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. So the president just returning now earlier this morning from his trip overseas. What's the agenda for the rest of the week and for today, for that matter?

BOLDUAN: Yes, well, it's back on domestic issues. The economy, for one, of course. While the president was overseas, unemployment hit a new 25-year high. 8.5 percent nationwide. The president is scheduled to meet with his economic advisers Friday.

Of course continuing to work and focus on how to turn the economy around and get stimulus dollars out the door. Also the president will be taking on another domestic priority, health care.

The White House is holding an event here tomorrow to discuss, as the White House is describing it, the need to enhance the quality of health care for our country's military. So those are the two events on this president's schedule so far this week, Fred

WHITFIELD: And so just as he's concentrating on domestic issues yet he is also planning another overseas trip. What will the focus there be?

BOLDUAN: Yes, quite a quick turnaround. The president next week will be stopping in Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderon. Issues, you can expect them to take up, are immigration reform as well as the drug-related violence that has made so much in the headlines and is such a concern for both countries.

And then the president heads off to the Caribbean for the Fifth Summit of the Americas. It's a periodic meeting of democratically elected heads of state from the region and they'll be taking up what's expected to be a wide range of issues from the economy, economic development, the environment, energy, poverty.

And also we do expect that the issue of the U.S.' position on Cuba to come up. So another busy week ahead.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll call them over -- out-of-town trips since he's kind of staying close home.

BOLDUAN: Right now I'd like to go to the Caribbean, too.

WHITFIELD: Yes. You and me both.

BOLDUAN: It's a little cold here.

WHITFIELD: Sign is up.

All right, thanks a lot, Kate. Appreciate it.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, a remote religious center in southern California now is the scene of the latest multiple shooting. Police say a gunman shot four people, killing one, at a Korean Christian retreat in Temecula, southeast of Los Angeles.

Authorities were first called to the area after getting reports of a man shooting his wife. But investigators are still trying to figure out exactly what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SGT. DENNIS GUTIERREZ, RIVERSIDE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We feel pretty confident right now. We do not have an outstanding suspect. We have two that were taken to a local hospital by ambulance. One that was airlifted. Everyone is in critical condition. And we're still trying to sort out what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Police say a language barrier has slowed their investigation. The gunman is believed to be among those wounded.

More details now on the Korean retreat center. It is located in Temecula, California, about 85 miles southeast of Los Angeles. It's a Roman Catholic organization that has four branches in the U.S. It was founded in South Korea in 1976 and it is dedicated to serving the poor and the homeless.

The shaking hasn't stopped in L'Aquila, Italy. Strong aftershocks are keeping people on edge there. At least 250 people died in the quake. Crews are searching through the debris for those who are still missing.

One witness tells CNN that one survivor was pulled out after 42 hours in the rubble. The Vatican says Pope Benedict will visit the quake region as soon as possible after Easter.

Hundreds of homes were destroyed in the quake. There are also about 20,000 homes that still need to be checked for safety before families can actually return.

The Italian government says it will set up new prefabricated villages to house the homeless. There's already a massive field hospital in place to help the people injured in the quake.

CNN's Diana Magnay has more from L'Aquila, Italy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Those who did survive, though injured, arrived in droves at makeshift hospitals where volunteers are using skills acquired in other disasters.

(on camera): And this is the same scenario as you set up in earthquake zones and disasters everywhere.

MARIO CAROLI, ARES RELIEF AGENCY: Yes. Everywhere. We were...

MAGNAY: How long did it take to set this up?

CAROLI: Three hours. Yes, in three hours all the building was all ready. Yes, we have this intensive care unit.

MAGNAY (voice-over): Elderly victims crippled with pain, hardly conscious of the fact that they've survived.

(on camera): This is one of two field hospitals set up around the town of L'Aquila to look after the injured of this earthquake. But this one doesn't just house the victims. It's also having to house all the patients who were previously in that building there. The main hospital in L'Aquila. Now too structurally unsound to be safe.

(voice-over): And that's what so angers people here in this town, that buildings not even 10 years old could not withstand an earthquake of this magnitude.

Corrado Ficorella runs the cancer ward at the San Salvatore Hospital.

CORRADO FICORELLA, ONCOLOGIST: It's incredible. I think somebody has some responsibility because this hospital is all (INAUDIBLE).

MAGNAY: On his second visit to the region Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, did his best to address that responsibility.

SILVIO BERLUSCONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We haven't got a magic wand. We cannot transform everything especially in earthquakes areas and seismic areas. We have to have the right structure and the right type of planning.

MAGNAY: Planning that as the state of these building shows was not as thorough as it should have been. Hundreds of innocent lives paying the price.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Here's your chance to help. Go to CNN.com for a link to aid organizations helping victims of the earthquake in Italy. We'll give you the tools and you can impact your world.

Millions of Americans have lost their paychecks. Where can they find hope? The nation's labor secretary joins us to look at the trend behind the numbers.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN weather center. A big storm heading out west. Check out some of this video coming in from central and southern California. A big dust storm there.

Rain on the way and drastically cold temperatures across the Deep South. Master's coming up this weekend and they are bundled up. Weather in about a half hour.

The CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Are you living without a paycheck? It's one of the greatest fears now facing American workers. Just last month, 663,000 jobs disappeared. That pushes the nation's unemployment rate to 8.5 percent. That's the highest rate in more than 25 years but a closer look at the numbers reveals even more.

Joining us now U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. Good to see you.

HILDA SOLIS, LABOR SECRETARY: Hi, good morning.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, when you took this job, you knew it was going to be a colossal feat but it has worsened over recent months. And if you look at the past recession, just take a look at this graphic, and see where we have been. Two million jobs lost between '73 and '75, 2.8 million between '81 and '82, and now this current recession, 5.1 million jobs lost.

When you look at these numbers and try to grapple with them, what can you say to the American people to either pacify them or to help people who are without work, think that there is light at the end of the tunnel?

SOLIS: Well, you know this isn't satisfactory. In fact, it's unsatisfactory. We should be doing everything we can to make sure that we get assistance out to those people that have just lost their jobs. And more importantly, those people that, for almost the last year and a half, have been struggling just to make ends meet.

We are providing $45 billion in assistance through unemployment insurance and through education and training. And you know how important that is right now for many people who lost their jobs.

The dislocated worker, the part-time workers that have their hours cut back that may be perhaps now will be able to get a chance to get some additional coverage. Those are the kinds of incentives that we're providing but keep in mind, this money's just been made available almost a month ago.

WHITFIELD: And you have to wonder, too. People are finding that it's taking them a lot longer to find new jobs. So their unemployment that they are getting while they're thankful to get some help, it's not taking them the complete distance.

So might be there a greater push to have more elongated unemployment assistance being made available?

SOLIS: Well, you know, as I said, this is only been one month into the program. We've actually been able to put money out. We're going to see additional incentives provided by infrastructure developments. So you're going to see construction jobs. You're going to see rebuilding of our bridges, our highways, sewage systems.

There will be restoration of housing facilities. So there will be a lot of opportunities for people in construction and those various industries that are...

WHITFIELD: But what about everybody else? If you're not -- you know, into construction, if education isn't the route that you're qualified in which to go or interested in going, you know what are the other options? SOLIS: Well, we're looking at -- well, we're also looking at long-term investment in green-collared jobs. So we're also looking at renewable energy, solar power. We're also looking at biofuels. We're also looking at helping the automotive industry which you know has been heavily impacted to try to retool people.

For example, an electrician that may have lost his job can come back and maybe learn new tools, new incentives, to get into solar panel installation and other types of green jobs that will be available that pay higher and that won't be outsourced.

WHITFIELD: And Secretary Solis, when you look at the demographics, look at numbers and delve a little further and look at the disparities of who exactly is unemployed. Blacks at 13.3 percent, Hispanics 11.4 percent, whites 7.9 percent.

How do these numbers strike you? Is this particularly disheartening to you to see the disparity of the unemployment in the category of blacks and Hispanics?

SOLIS: Yes. It's troubling but we're going to do everything we can to help those communities especially our young people because those are also population that has been heavily impacted.

We're putting out money for summer unemployment and extending that year-round. We're also hopeful that incentives to provide for financial aid to send these young people to colleges and universities is going to be made available. Getting credit eased up in the financial markets to start small businesses and medium-size businesses. All those are...

WHITFIELD: And when are these incentives...

SOLIS: ... very important.

WHITFIELD: When are these incentives to come to some fruition?

SOLIS: Some are coming out now. We've already given out grants right now for unemployment, insurance and extension through my office. We've also given out what we call trade adjustment assistance grants that we've given to hard-pressed areas where you've seen massive layoffs in different industries so we're doing everything we can in our power.

Keep in mind, I've only been on the job for about five weeks.

WHITFIELD: And do you feel sort of at an even greater responsibility...

SOLIS: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: ... to try to, I guess, reduce the disparity that were seeing, you know, among the demographics? If, at all, just simply make a big stab in the unemployment outlook.

SOLIS: I'm very sensitive. Coming from a community that has experienced high levels of unemployment for the last 2 1/2 years, I know how hard and pressing it is for these people to struggle every single day. So we are working day and night to try do everything we can to get our recovery plan, our funding out to those communities most affected.

WHITFIELD: Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.

SOLIS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Well, perhaps you are looking for a job. Maybe it's time to think outside of the box. Next hour we'll talk to some job seekers who say their creative approaches actually made all of the difference for them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Two sets of parents. One waiting for their baby girl to die, the other hoping her heart can actually save their baby.

Austin Delaney with CTV Network is at the hospital in Toronto.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AUSTIN DELANEY, CTV NETWORK CORRESPONDENT: The day began with so much fear and uncertainty.

JASON WALLACE, KAYLEE'S FATHER: I'm so scared right now. Our daughter is OK. We understand that. But we don't want to lose two.

DELANEY: Jason Wallace and his wife Crystal had made the difficult decision to take 2-month-old Kaylee off life support. A brain condition made it impossible for Kaylee to breathe on her own while she slept.

WALLACE: The condition that she is in and the smiles that she still gives. So it's hard to be up there and watch her when she's awake being a vibrant baby when but when she goes to sleep and stops breathing her chest isn't moving anymore. The machine does the rest.

DELANEY: But without the machine, Kaylee could not survive.

DR. JIM WRIGHT, HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN: This is a highly complex situation fraught with personal, moral and ethical issues.

DELANEY: Kaylee's parents decided they would give the baby's heart to another. 1-month-old Lillian O'Connor, whose heart was failing her just one floor below Kaylee's hospital room.

(on camera): Kaylee's parents say the decision to donate the heart is the right one. But the procedure is not an easy one. If once the life support is taken off Kaylee and she hangs on for two hours, her heart then becomes useless to Lillian.

WRIGHT: This protocol is designed to give the recipients, the potential recipients, the best chance and not to put them at even greater risk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So after all this, doctors say they were not able to go ahead with the transplant surgery.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here. So what happened exactly?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a tough story to watch, to hear. The syndrome that they're talking about is something known as Gruber syndrome. It's a brain malformation that has lots of different -- causes lots of different things in the body.

But one of the things it causes is this difficulty for the baby to breathe when they fall asleep. So they simply stop breathing sometimes. That was the thought at least what happened to Kaylee as well.

And what they thought might happen is when she stopped breathing her heart would subsequently fail, stop. And then after five minutes that is what is known as cardiac death and a transplantation, everything they were talking about can start at that point.

As you just heard that didn't happen. This is very different than brain dead, which is a type of criteria which we typically use in hospitals. Someone's brain is no longer alive. They can take organs from someone like that.

So this is a very different and difficult situation.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. It's very difficult. Your heart just goes out to both families.

GUPTA: Yes. For sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot.

GUPTA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, pirates hijack a cargo ship with 20 Americans on board. It happened just outside an area patrolled by the U.S. Navy. Now how will the vessel actually be recovered?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, on Wall Street stocks have fallen over the last two sessions on worries about corporate profits. Now the first of those earnings reports is out. How are investors reacting?

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with some of the details on that. Susie? And what timing.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Perfect timing, once again, Fredricka. That first quarterly report card came from the aluminum giant Alcoa. Aluminum, of course, is used in everything from soda cans to airplanes. And so, yes, indeed it has been impacted by the global recession.

Its quarterly losses were worse than expected but the reaction on Wall Street has not been bad. At least futures were telling us that. And, yes, we're seeing some green arrows in the first few seconds of trading.

Alcoa lost nearly half a billion dollars in the past three months. It blamed a historic decline in metal prices. But the company says stimulus programs that target infrastructure and energy efficiency will create demand for aluminum. And so, Alcoa shares are up sharply in the open.

And insurance stocks are also flying. This one reports that the government is set to help out bad ailing sector. "The Wall Street Journal" says announcement could come in the next few days. So far the Treasury has used its TARP money to help banks and automakers.

And finally, a little M&A activity could help lift sentiment. Pulte is buying Centex, and a stock deal worth more than $3 billion including debt. The tie up will create the nation's largest homebuilder. Centex shares are up 30 percent in the premarket.

Those are not the kind of gains we're seeing in the first minute of trading, Fredricka. But we're going in a positive direction. The Dow right now up 0.25 percent or 22 points. The Nasdaq is up one percent. And we'll be back to give you some more numbers a little bit later on.

WHITFIELD: And keep them in the positive sector. That would be nice. All right. Thanks so much, Susan. Appreciate it.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Meantime, we're following a breaking story coming out of North Carolina. New images right now, aerial view of a wooded scene there. Because we understand, according to our affiliates there, this is the location where a shootout took place involving a suspect as well as sheriff's deputies. And we understand that two of the sheriff deputies were shot. One was killed. Another is wounded.

What we understand is a 911 call went into the Lenoir County Sheriff's Department, which is about 75 miles east of Raleigh. And reports of a man firing shotgun in wooded area. The deputies then arrived at the scene near Grifton, North Carolina. Found an abandoned vehicle registered to a woman who is from a neighboring county, Craven County.

And then apparently according to police reports, the suspect actually started firing shots towards the deputies, forcing them to take cover. And after a warning the suspect was given, apparently, he was being asked to surrender several times. The shots continued to be fired. And in the end, as far as we understand, the two deputies were shot. One, again, killed. And we understand that now that suspect is also being connected to the body of a woman in that neighboring county, the woman who apparently was registered to that vehicle, that abandoned vehicle.

So, these images just coming in right now. I wanted to give you a shot of that rather sordid tale there. But bottom line, two sheriff deputies that were shot. One killed. The other being treated for injuries. And the suspect apparently also being transported to a hospital where he has multiple gunshot wounds.

All right. Meantime, General Motors fighting to survive, and that may include filing a bankruptcy. A source similar with the company's plans says the automaker's operations have become, quote, "intense and earnest." Christine Romans of the CNN Money Team joins us with the very latest.

So, Christine, how likely is it that we will see GM file for bankruptcy?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that source saying that indeed because the time frame is so short it has a June 1st deadline to get its house in order and structure and become viable that obviously it must make preparations for some sort of bankruptcy filing because there's just simply not a lot of time, pointing out that -- we're talking about what could be the largest industrial bankruptcy in the history of this country. And so, obviously, there are a lot things to get in order.

Just how likely is it? The company and all of those around it saying that, look, they are working outside of bankruptcy. That is the preference to try to fix things, to get some concessions again from unions and from the bond holders to avoid a bankruptcy filing, but that they have to prepare as if that might be something that they do.

As you know General Motors owes about $28 billion to its bond holders. These are the unsecured -- the people who own their unsecured debt. You know, it wants those creditors to agree to swap out for some equity, a stock stake in the company and cut the debt they owe by about two-thirds. The stock was down about 12 percent yesterday. It's up about 4 cents so far right this morning. We're checking it right now about $2.04 a share. So still a lot of work to be done and not a lot of time.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, bankruptcy doesn't always mean that a company is going under. Sometimes it is simply a way -- a company protecting its assets, but when people also hear bankruptcy, they start worrying about their jobs. So how many jobs would be at stake if the inevitable or the most frightening outcome were to happen.

ROMANS: Well, there's two ways to look at this. I mean, the bankruptcy means a failure. A company has failed if it enters bankruptcy. This is (INAUDIBLE), but now it's entered protection from the courts so that it can restructure and try to become viable. How many jobs will be lost? You know, some analysts are saying just the psychological impact of having this company file for bankruptcy would mean people wouldn't be -- wouldn't buy the cars and that would, you know, further that insult to injury. The president had said that if there were a surgical structured bankruptcy you'd still see them making cars, factories would still be working. You would be slimming down quickly with the protection of the courts to become a more viable company. What -- you know, how many jobs will be lost? Some analysts are saying there could be a lot of jobs lost if you filed bankruptcy. Others are saying there will be a lot of jobs lost either way.

WHITFIELD: Oh boy, very sobering. All right, Christine Romans, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

ROMANS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Meantime, this other breaking story we continue to follow for you. A U.S.-flagged cargo ship was hijacked this morning off the Coast of Somalia. The Maersk Alabama has a crew of at least 20 Americans on board. The attack happened about 400 miles off the Coast of Somalia. The ship was headed for Kenya.

A spokesman for the company says the ship was most likely carrying international aid for Africa. The Maersk Alabama is listed on the U.S. government's list of ships in the maritime security program. Operators of the ships are required to make them available to the Department of Defense during times of war or during times of national emergency.

One of the big questions people are asking this morning is about the security on board that ship.

Tom Fuentes is a former assistant director of the FBI. He joins us live this morning from Washington.

Good to see you, Tom.

TOM FUENTES, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI: Good morning.

WHITFIELD: All right. Give me an idea of what the Maersk Alabama might be equipped to handle. It is familiar with this territory. It certainly has had contracts with the government before. This time, we understand, it may not have -- may not be carrying any kind of D.O.D. equipment, but instead international aid. But what would this ship be equipped to do to handle the, you know, the scare of piracy.

FUENTES: Well, most of the cargo ships are very ill-equipped to deal with this. They normally do not have armed security on board. They don't have weapons or guns of their own to shoot back with. So in many cases depending on the nature of the attacks from the pirates, they're not in a good position to defend themselves.

WHITFIELD: And as we heard our Nic Robertson reporting from London, it's likely that pirates would then reach out to the company of this ship. That this is the Norfolk-based company. And place some demands in terms of ransom. There have been other ships that actually paid out millions of dollars in ransom. How do you see this scenario playing out?

FUENTES: Probably the same way.

WHITFIELD: Really?

FUENTES: Yes.

WHITFIELD: You do see an American vessel paying out ransom to these pirates?

FUENTES: Well, I can't say that they've made that decision yet. But certainly they'll be discussing it at the corporate headquarters of the company. And also discussing it with the FBI and the U.S. -- other government officials to determine what their response will be.

The normal situation, every company that's had a ship hijacked by pirates off that Somali coast has paid the ransom, and has recovered all of their people intact. So, so far because of the fact that the pirates have not yet killed one of the crew members, each of these shipping companies has continued to cooperate and pay the ransom.

WHITFIELD: And money is what these pirates want. They don't usually want the cargo on board. They don't really want anything to do with the hostages that they're taking. It is an issue of ransom. That's all they really want, right?

FUENTES: It's all about the money.

WHITFIELD: All right. Tom Fuentes, thanks so much. Appreciate you joining us from Washington.

FUENTES: You're welcome. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We have seen it all this month -- tornadoes, snowstorms and now dust storms. This one shut down a major California interstate for hours. But not before big rigs and cars actually would collide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Big rigs, SUVs and cars, a dozen in all piled up on Interstate 5. The crash has happened during a dust storm near Bakersfield, California.

Look at how thick that dust actually was. It took hours to clear the wreckage. A few drivers suffered whiplash and even broken bones. Some pretty frightening stuff to be caught up in a dust storm of that caliber. Rob Marciano in the weather center.

That's not usually what people think of this time of year, or do they?

(WEATHER REPORT) WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Rob. Appreciate it.

MARCIANO: All right.

WHITFIELD: OK, time for a recharge. President Obama is taking it easy today with no public events scheduled. He could probably use a rest since he didn't arrive back into Washington until earlier this morning. The president visited six countries overseas in just eight days. The last stop was an unannounced trip to Iraq, and that was yesterday. There President Obama met with troops and Iraqi leaders.

Vice President Joe Biden will personally welcome troops home from Iraq today. The vice president is visiting Fort Bragg, North Carolina, this morning. Iraq was on Biden's mind when he gave an exclusive interview to CNN's "SITUATION ROOM." Host Wolf Blitzer asked him whether recent events in Iraq will affect U.S. plans in the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE SITUATION ROOM": The president of the United States wrapped up his trip to Europe with a surprise visit to Baghdad. There's been an uptick in violence lately -- suicide bombings.

How worried are you that the timeline that you've put forward for a withdrawal of U.S. combat forces is not going to be able to be materialized?

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not worried about that at all. We will draw down along the timeline we suggested.

The president went for two reasons. One, to demonstrate to the troops -- and it shouldn't surprise anybody since he was in Turkey that he would take the time to go there. But secondly, also to meet with Maliki.

And one of the things the president has said from the beginning is, in addition to us drawing down troops, Wolf, it was necessary for there to be further political accommodation between the Sunni, Shia and the Kurds. And I'm sure that's going to be one of the messages he's going to be delivering and discussing with Prime Minister Maliki.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Overall, U.S. official say violence in Iraq is down 90 percent from the high point of two years ago. But today is a third straight day of deadly attacks in Baghdad.

A bomb killed at least seven Iraqis near a shrine in Baghdad. And as Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence tells us, attacks like these could mean that extremists are regrouping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Cameras flash. Soldiers cheer. That's the Baghdad President Obama saw.

But just 24 hours earlier, Baghdad's residents saw this: at least six attacks in one day. Car bombs, roadside bombs, more than 30 people killed.

Tension has been rising between the Shiite-led government in Sunni paramilitary units, groups the U.S. helped organize to secure their own neighborhoods. Iraq's president ordered Iraqi forces to take rapid steps to stop the violence from spinning out of control, but as violence ticks up, some American combat troops are already pulling back from Baghdad as part of the agreement to leave the city by June.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMIT, U.S. ARMY (RET.): There are some Iraqi units that this may be the first time that they've ever been independently responsible for terrain, for battle space, for that area of responsibility.

LAWRENCE: Kurds and Arabs are also battling over autonomy in northern Iraq and which groups will control the oil money that comes out of there.

FAWAS GERGES, MIDDLE EAST SCHOLAR, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: The challenge is not just for the Iraqi security forces to take steps to bring about stability, the greater challenge lies on the Iraqi political leadership to create a more inclusive and representative nationalist government.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Our Chris Lawrence joining us live now from the Pentagon.

So, realistically, will the administration have to reevaluate the withdrawal timeline if the violence like this does keep up?

LAWRENCE: At this point, not yet, Fredricka. You know, the Defense officials try not to make big strategic decisions based on any one day or one week or even one month. But they are keeping a very, very close eye on some of those larger ethnic tensions. Right now, they still plan to pull the U.S. troops back to the larger bases by June. Then those combat troops would leave Iraq by August of next year. And then the rest of the troops would follow by the end of 2011.

WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Lawrence at the pentagon. Thanks so much.

The first lady's right hand. Michelle Obama and her mom appearing on the cover of "Essence" magazine. Right there, rare comments from Marian Robinson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, the most trusted name in news. Now back to the CNN NEWSROOM. WHITFIELD: All right. A lot happening this morning. And our crews are hard at work to bring you the very latest. Good morning, everyone.

Jim, let's begin with you.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka. That's right. I'm in Washington following a situation in Cuba. And guess what? Fidel Castro is alive and well, and he has a message for the White House. We'll have that story coming up in the next hour of the NEWSROOM.

MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN weather center, where it got a little bit chilly as they practiced down in Augusta, Georgia, for the masters. Snow as far south as North Carolina. And blowing dust out in California. Very active weather pattern and more weather details coming up at the top of the hour.

LISOVICZ: And I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange, where insurance companies are flying. This on reports that they will soon join the ranks of automakers and banks when it comes to TARP funds. More on that in the next hour -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, everyone. We will also be hearing about some creative ways to actually get a job from three people who know.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The woman behind the first lady. Michelle Obama and her mother, are on the cover of "Essence" magazine. They have high praise for each other and admiration for working moms. CNN's Erica Hill has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She is above all mom-in-chief. But even this champion multitasker admits she'd never be able to devote as much time to that role without her own mom by her side.

TATSHA ROBERTSON, DEPUTY EDITOR, "ESSENCE" MAGAZINE: When mom and dad are busy being, you know, first lady and president, it's Marian Robinson, who they call the secret weapon, who keeps the two kids really grounded.

HILL: For the Mother's Day issue "Essence" magazine sat down with Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson. The two are incredibly close, something that was obvious from the moment they arrived for the interview.

ROBERTSON: Michelle being a great daughter, you know, hugged her mom and pushed her hair out of her eyes. They talked and they giggled. And you could just tell, there's this really loving bond.

HILL: Mrs. Obama has often talked of her love, admiration and appreciation for her mother. But this is one of the few times we have heard from the first grandmother.

"I have always looked up to Michelle because she has been able to do things that I couldn't do, emotionally, psychologically or physically," Mrs. Robinson tells "Essence." "I think she is amazing." Much of America agrees; her latest approval rating, 72 percent.

But the first lady is quick to point out she is able to do so many things because her mom is there for her and for the girls and because of the White House staff, a luxury many working families don't have.

"When you have children and a career or job and you are trying to make it all work, it's tough," Mrs. Obama says. "We need to have truthful and honest conversations about what it requires to do all that we ask of families and women."

Carol Evans is the president of "Working Mother" magazine.

CAROL EVANS, PRESIDENT, "WORKING MOTHER" MAGAZINE: Because she has been a working mother and is a working mother, she speaks for all of us everyday. She is, just by being herself, that really strong woman, a symbol for what the average working mother is like.

HILL: A woman who is driven, torn, and intensely dedicated to her family. Telling "Essence," quote, "There isn't a relationship in a family that is more important than the relationship her child has with her mother or someone in that role. And we have to value that. We cannot wait to value it. We've got to value it each and every day."

A lesson learned from her mother, and passed along to the first daughters every day.

Erica Hill, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)