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As U.S. Ship Moves to Kenyan Coast, FBI Negotiators Called In; President Obama Holds Roundtable on Refinancing For Homes; California Train Derails; Obesity Study Puts New Focus on Young Children; Cash- Strapped Detroit Closes 23 Schools; Consumers Might be Footing Piracy Costs; Same-Sex Marriage Opponents Make Appeal in Commercial

Aired April 09, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: New developments in the hijacking of that U.S.-flagged ship off the coast of Somalia.

We're being told the FBI is going to bring in their hostage negotiators to fully engage in efforts to free the ship's captain. The U.S. Navy has the USS Bainbridge destroyer on the scene there.

Somalia's foreign minister is now weighing in and he tells the "Associated Press" that the pirates cannot win against American forces.

Captain Richard Phillips is being held by the pirates in a lifeboat after the pirates fled the Maersk Alabama cargo ship. The company says the rest of the crew is safe.

(BEING VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN SPEERS, SPOKESMAN, MAERSK LINE LTD.: We share the concern for the wellbeing of the crew with the families and we've been in continuing contact with them throughout the night. And we've provided a hotline and other services too to the families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We have some new information now regarding the family members of the people who are on that ship. We want to go now to CNN's Jason Carroll. He's in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, joining us with the latest.

Jason, what do you have for us?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm here with Joe Murphy. As you well know now, he is the father of Shane Murphy. He's got some information about Shane, the crew members, in terms of some new orders that they've been given and where they are headed now.

Thank you very much for joining us. So, set the scene for us in terms of what you know. Shane has been directed to take the ship, he's in command of the ship now. And the way you understand it is he's now been directed to head towards Mombasa?

CAPT. JOE MURPHY, FATHER OF MAERSK ALABAMA SECOND-IN-COMMAND OFFICER: That's correct. I was just informed by the company, who have been absolutely wonderful for the families. They set up a hotline. They kept us well appraised of what's going on.

I was told that they are heading to Mombasa, Kenya, that they are about -- well, they're up near Mogadishu. It's about 50 hours of steaming time that they'll go alongside the pier at the regular Maersk line pier facility in Mombasa. Further, they have placed an 18-manned armed guard force on the ship to ensure they get there safely. When they get alongside, the really even better news is the company has gratuitously agreed to change out the entire crew.

CARROLL: So, your son Shane and the others will be heading home then?

MURPHY: They will be heading home, yes. In fact, he should be home some time by the middle of next week, I think.

CARROLL: Do we know any more information about this armed security force, these 18 members who are now on board? Do we know where they came from, how they got on board, any more information about them?

MURPHY: I have no understanding of where they came from, but -- well, I don't. It would only be supposition at this point. But the only one out there, it's the U.S. Navy, so.

CARROLL: I see. And again, at this point, you still haven't heard from Shane in terms of his condition at this point, but what you were telling me earlier is that most likely, they're deciding to swap out the crew because they're obviously exhausted, hungry, et cetera.

MURPHY: Well, yes, and the emotional stress as well.

CARROLL: Of course.

MURPHY: And not only on them, but the families as well. So, we're very appreciative of the company's efforts to consider those circumstances.

CARROLL: Also, obviously, a lot of attention right now focused on the captain. We are still hearing that he is in that lifeboat. And in fact, you were just telling us, he's in a lifeboat much like one of these that we've got right behind us.

MURPHY: That's correct. Very, very similar to the one just behind us. They're - the four pirates and he are in the lifeboat. The great news there is they have nowhere to go. There's nowhere to run, there's nowhere to hide. They're not going anywhere, and they're surrounded by gray sides. So, the U.S. Navy is there doing its job.

CARROLL: And just to be clear, it's your understanding that Shane is now already en route heading to Mombasa?

MURPHY: That is correct. I was informed that they have directed him to take the ship to Mombasa.

CARROLL: OK, terrific. Thank you very much, Mr. Murphy. Again, always appreciate you coming by to help us out and give us the updated information. Thank you there.

So, once again, basically, what we're hearing from Joe Murphy is that Shane Murphy, his son, and the rest of the crew members now headed to Mombasa. He says it's about a 50-hour trip. Once they are there, they will disembark, swap out the crew and those crew members will be heading home - Don.

LEMON: Jason Carroll. Jason, we appreciate it. Thank you very much.

The White House has been watching events closely all of the developments in this case. And just moments ago, the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, was asked about the developing situation.

Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are watching this very closely. Apparently, the lifeboat has ran out of gas, and the Navy is there, right, Admiral?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a very little boat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton there. And you know, the U.S. government extremely involved in this, and the U.S. Navy has been tracking the pirates on the scene.

Joining me now by phone, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. She is at the Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain - Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Don, the U.S. Navy is still watching this around the clock, obviously. Some military sources telling us that it is possible now that within the next day or so, additional - more ships, a very small number, may move to this area. No indication about whether it will be U.S. Navy warships. No indication as a final decision to do that, but that is one of the options on the table in order to maintain surveillance over this situation.

Also, as CNN has been reporting, the FBI is confirming its hostage negotiators have been included in by the Navy to assist in negotiations with the Somali pirates on this. What they'll tell you is, by all accounts, this is being done by remote communication, (OFF- MIKE). There are no FBI personnel on board U.S. Navy ships out in those waters at this time. So, it is most likely that what is happening is they are in some type of voice contact with the Navy, advising them on how to deal with this.

Back to you.

LEMON: Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, we appreciate it.

You know, this hasn't been a typical hijacking. In other cases, the pirates have had the upper hand from the beginning and dictate how it will end. Well, CNN's Brian Todd takes a closer look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A tanker crew taking on their captors, high drama on the high seas, but not how it usually plays out when a cargo ship's been captured.

JAMES CHRISTODOUOLOU, INDUSTRIAL SHIPPING ENTERPRISES CORPORATION: Well, it's a very, very long-cycle incident.

TODD: For 56 days, the crew of the Biscaglia, owned by James Christodouolou's Industrial Shipping Enterprises was held hostage. Christodouolou was in what he calls a "Turkey coma" last Thanksgiving night when he got an overnight call that the Biscaglia has been hijacked by pirates about 50 miles off the coast of Somalia.

Experts say before they strike, hijacker skiffs often blend in with fishing boats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hundreds of boats, it's hard to tell that one of them is going to break away and attack.

TODD: Christodouolou says his tanker had non-lethal security on board.

CHRISTODOUOLOU: Barbed wire, flares and very loud, loud speakers to deter the pirates.

TODD: Still, about ten pirates with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades overtook the nearly 600-foot Biscaglia while it was moving. Tankers like this do evasive maneuvers, but the hijackers are agile.

CHRISTODOUOLOU: They come alongside the boats in rowboats with outboard motors or little Zodiac boats. They throw either grappling hooks or aluminum ladders up on the railing of the ships and they scale the ship.

TODD: Christodouolou says he negotiated directly with the pirates with only a translator as go-between. He says the final transaction is often primitive.

CHRISTODOUOLOU: The cash is dropped out of a plane in a plastic tube with a parachute on the end of it, and it's picked up by the pirate skiffs. They count the cash on board the vessel. They get off the vessel, and the ship steams away back to a safe port.

TODD: In the end, all 28 crew members were returned safely to their families.

(on camera): Christodouolou won't say how much he paid in ransom money, but he says the case of a vessel called Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker that was released in January, set the high-water mark for ransoms at about $3 million.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And of course, in these cases, we learn from experience. And I want to talk to someone now with experience in this. I want to get back to the FBI's role in this. As we said, the Navy has called them in to try to negotiate the release of captain Richard Phillips from those pirates.

Joining us now on the phone is Larry Rutkowski, who has experience with these types of hostage negotiations.

You represented, actually, and you helped in negotiations for Mr. Christodouolou, am I correct in that?

LARRY RUTKOWSKI, NEGOTIATED WITH PIRATES, SEWARD & KISSEL (via telephone): Yes, that's true. James and I and others worked very closely in a discussion we had with the Somali pirates that had captured the Biscaglia.

LEMON: Having done this before, you have knowledge that most people don't have in this. So, take us inside those negotiations. What was it like? What did you have to do in order to get them freed?

RUTKOWSKI: Well, I mean, first of all, I'd like to draw a distinction between incidents like the Biscaglia and what's going on with the Maersk Alabama. The pirates, as James said in the previous segment, the pirates had control of the Biscaglia and their crew. It wasn't a mere hostage negotiation, and that's not certainly to diminish what's happening now, because I think hostage negotiations have a completely different dynamic than a full-blown piracy event.

But one thing - one thing that became very, very clear to us all early on in the discussions and in negotiations with the pirates is that we weren't dealing with madmen. We weren't dealing with political radicals or extremists. We were dealing with businessmen. The discussions that we had with the pirates and the lead negotiators for the pirates - and the negotiators did change, actually, twice. We didn't quite understand - or changed once. We had two different negotiators to deal with. We don't know why that happened.

But these negotiations ultimately were very, very commercial. It's clear that the pirates' goal is getting money and seizing ships off of Somalia is an easy way to get that money.

LEMON: I want to get to the money, but basically, what you're saying is don't underestimate these guys. You think they're a ragtag group of guys, but it appears the negotiation was quite professional.

RUTKOWSKI: It was. It was very professional. They knew what they were doing. They had a goal in mind. We, of course, had a goal, which was to free the ship and to free the crew, the crew being utmost priority for us. But it became clear that it was ultimately a commercial discussion. LEMON: And the bottom line on this, Mr. Rutkowski, is this is all about money, how you could get the money to them. That's what you were negotiating, really, here.

RUTKOWSKI: Well, there were two things. That was a practical problem that we had to overcome.

First, the first part of the negotiation was the price. If you were to look at all the various piracy incidents, leaving this one aside for the moment, that have occurred in the Gulf of Aden off of Somalia, you'll see they follow a general rhythm. They all take about the same amount of time to, you know, to resolve.

LEMON: How long?

RUTKOWSKI: Forty-five to 60 days.

LEMON: Forty-five to 60 days. How much money are we talking here?

RUTKOWSKI: Well, I, obviously, am not in a discussion to disclose what was paid in the case of the Biscaglia, but I can tell you from conversations with numerous people in similar situations that the number, you know, ranged on the low side from just under a million dollars to the Sirius Star, where their number was reportedly $3 million.

But this is the kind of money we're talking about. The pirates recognize, at least in the case of commercial vessels, that there are multiple parties with interests on those vessels, whether it's the cargo owner, whether it's the crewing agency that has responsibility for the crew or the vessel owner.

LEMON: So, they know there is business and money behind it, so they try to get as much as they can.

RUTKOWSKI: That's absolutely right. Perhaps, if they used, you know, financial search services, they might more carefully pick their targets, but yes, they're aware that money is the issue.

LEMON: Larry Rutkowski, who helped in similar negotiations, not the same, but very similar one. Thank you very much for your perspective on this.

Forty to 60 days, he says, is the average here. And we're looking at sometimes, he said in his negotiation, between one and $3 million. We'll see what happens with this one, but again our thanks to Larry Rutkowski.

At the bottom of the hour, the ripple effect of piracy. Are you paying a price? We'll take a closer look at the bottom of the hour.

Big changes could be in store for thousands of school children in one U.S. city. Are plans on the drawing board to close a number of schools there? We'll tell you about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Earlier here in the NEWSROOM, we told you about what's on the president's radar today, and that is refinancing for homes. He held a roundtable discussion this morning in the Roosevelt Room, and here's part of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to join us.

We are here with a wonderful group of homeowners. And I think for so many people around this country, the essence of the American dream is owning your own home. Being able to have that piece of property that is yours that allows you to raise your kids, that represents your single biggest investment. And obviously, one of the triggers of the financial crisis and now the economic crisis that we have suffered is that because in some areas, housing values got way overheated. In some cases, you had a lack of regulation that allowed all sorts of complex financial instruments to take advantage of homeowners. We have seen a collapse in the housing market, a precipitous drop in values, and that led to a lot of the problems in the financial markets.

Here's the good news. At the beginning of this administration, we said we were going to tackle directly the problems that homeowners were experiencing and figure out ways in which we could provide them assistance in reducing their interest rates, modifying their loans so that they would be in a position to stay in their homes and reduce their monthly payments.

And around the table here, you see some wonderful families who have taken advantage of what are now historically low mortgage rates, brought about in part by some extraordinary actions by the Federal Reserve, but also brought about by the housing plan that Tim Geithner and Shaun Donovan helped to design.

What you've seen now is rates are as low as they've been since 1971. Three quarters of the American people get their mortgages through a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac qualified loan. And as a consequence of us being able to reduce the interest rates that are available, we have now seen some extraordinary jumps in the rate of mortgage refinancings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The president in the Roosevelt Room just moments ago, holding a roundtable discussion about refinancing and how to help homeowners in this crisis.

At that roundtable some homeowners. He said he got ideas from them and gave them some ideas as well. Talked about his secretary's plan to try to get the housing market back up and running, at least close to the way it was before this terrible housing crisis started to happen.

We want to go now to Wall Street and Susan Lisovicz, who is standing by in a minute. But first, we want to go to Kate Bolduan; Kate Bolduan is at the White House.

Kate, before we get to Susan, let's talk to you about the president this morning, with that roundtable and exactly what he did. His housing plan part of the talks today, at least on his agenda.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. And a little bit of what this is about, Don, is kind of returning the focus to domestic issues after that very long European trip and where they're talking about many foreign policy issues. You heard the president there talk about the historically low interest rates. He's taking the opportunity with this roundtable this morning to highlight that, bringing possibly a positive element of this struggling economy.

He sat down with a group of homeowners from the greater Washington, D.C./Virginia-area. These are a group of homeowners that have refinanced and are benefiting from a lower mortgage payment.

We didn't see it in the video, but we are told by the White House that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was also there. And the president really taking the opportunity to talk about the challenges homeowners still face, but also, as you mentioned, touting that plan.

LEMON: All right, Kate Bolduan at the White House. Kate, we really appreciate. Thank you very much for that.

Now we want to go to Wall Street and our Susan Lisovicz to get some perspective on what the president is doing today and to see how Wall Street is doing.

Susan, tell us what's going on. We see the Dow is up, at least 192 points. What's up?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Up sharply. And if it stays at this level, we're going to see a fifth consecutive week of gains for the Dow Industrials. That's very encouraging. Obviously, the president will be happy about that. He's also happy that 30-year fixed mortgage rates are coming down and that mortgage applications are rising and stocks are rising this morning.

Part of that is thanks to the latest read on the jobs front, Don. Jobless claims fell double the amount of Wall Street's estimates. But remember, the number of Americans filing stands above 650,000. Just to put that in perspective for you, 400,000 is considered a recession red flag. But at least there was a decline.

Continuing claims, meanwhile, inching to yet another record high, approaching 6 million. That's the 11th straight week that number has hit an all-time high.

Let's take a look at stocks at nearly one full hour into the session. The Dow Industrials up nearly 192 points, 2 1/2 percent. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 each about three percent.

One other story that we're following, Wells Fargo. Its shares are surging 25 percent right now. The bank says it expects to post a $3 billion profit in the first quarter, much higher than the Street's expectations. And obviously, there's a lot of nervousness about the health of our financial sector - Don.

LEMON: All right, Susan. The president went into that meeting just before the markets opened or around the same time, so, when the president speaks, especially about this, we want to get to him. So, we had some scrambling to do to make sure we have that correct. And Susan Lisovicz with the Dow and how the markets are reacting. Our thanks to Kate Bolduan as well.

It's not just baby fat. Some surprising and worrying new findings on obese children. We'll break down the numbers by age and race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Very busy day here in the CNN NEWSROOM. You're looking at pictures now from our affiliate KTLA.

Are these live pictures that we're getting in here? No. They are not live pictures, video just in from our affiliate KTLA.

You're looking at a train derailment. It is a freight train derailment. It's in La Mirada, California, which is in L.A. County. We're being told that four tanker cars have turned over.

And these are live pictures now that you're looking at. Before that was new video in, but you're looking at live pictures now coming to us from KTLA.

Four railroad tanker cars overturned here. So far, there are no reports of any injuries. Two hazmat teams are on the scene here. What they're concerned about here are possible leaks, because they're not exactly sure what's inside of that.

And as you can see here, obviously carrying something that says -- if we can drop the banner there. It said what was in those tankers.

Can we get that live picture back? We can get an idea of what's inside those tanker cars here. And it appears to be some sort of - it says a mass - a pollutant inside the cars. We need to find out what's exactly in there.

In these situations where these tanker cars are carrying hazardous material, it can cause some problems. So, that's what the hazmat crews are dealing with.

Again, four tanker cars, railroad tanker cars in La Mirada, California, overturned here. hazmat crews are on the scene. This happened very shortly. All this information coming in from our affiliate KTLA. Look at that. You can see it came right off the wheels and right off the track. Obviously, a huge, massive undertaking for these folks here, especially not knowing what they're dealing with and what's inside of these cars.

This looks like it was a pretty horrific accident. And if you look at the pictures, at least to the left there, that is an overpass. Now, was this train on one of the overpass tracks or one adjacent to it was? Don't really know, but if it is, it fell some ways below that overpass.

And right next to it is a roadway that you're looking at. Very close to the highway there. And you can see no cars. Obviously, they have stopped traffic until they find out exactly what is going on here.

There you go. You can see it did indeed fall off an overpass. And not exactly sure what it fell on to below, if those may be other railroad tracks or another road under there.

Just getting some information and some guidance here, trying to figure out exactly what's in these cars and who is the owner. We'll work on this story for you, make sure there are no injuries, and if people who live or work in the area are in danger, we will get this to you.

But again, L.A. County, La Mirada, California. A train has gone off the tracks and four tanker cars there on their side, fallen off of a train overpass. The latest in the CNN NEWSROOM just as soon as we get it. Live pictures.

Surprising and alarming health news to tell you about now. A new study finds one in five American 4-year-olds are obese, and some are more at risk than others.

More now from our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you may not just want to call it baby fat anymore. What exactly could this baby fat be translating into as the child gets older? That was the subject of the study.

You know, it's interesting, you think you don't want to talk about obese children, but what we're finding out more and more is that you can draw lines from obese children to obese teenagers and obese adults. And I think even more to the point, you can draw lines between an obese child and a lot of the chronic diseases that affect adults -- heart disease, stroke, arthritis, things that you typically don't think about when it comes to young children.

Now, in this particular study, they measured a sort of form of body mass index in over 10,000 young people. They measured it in 2001 when they were born, again in 2005 when they were 4 years old. And they did find about 20 percent, roughly 18 percent to 20 percent of these young people were meeting the classifications for being obese.

Again, pretty remarkable to think about that. But if you break it down, even more interestingly, by racial demographic, you find that 31 percent are American Indians, Native Alaskans; 22 percent Hispanics; 21 percent Blacks; 16 percent Whites; 13 percent Asians. It seems to affect different racial groups differently. Which, I think, also makes the point that obesity is complicated. There's all sorts of things that are probably going on here and it's hard to pinpoint exactly one factor as to why a child becomes obese and what makes that weight stay on.

Now, there are things you can probably do. Again, keeping in mind that this is a complicated process. Some of these things, you've probably already thought of. Get your child to eat more veggies and fruit. Junk food may seem allowable when they're so young, but veggies and fruit even early in life very important. TV time, really try and cut that down, get them outside playing instead. And cut out sugary soda, and I'll add to that sugary drinks of any sort as well. These things can help.

But again, this was a segment that I was hoping we wouldn't have to do ever, really. But there is an issue with obese very young children. So, we're going to keep on top of the story and have much more on it. Back to you for now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much for that.

You may have been wondering about this piracy story: How does this affect me? Well, we're going to tell you about the hidden cost of piracy. When armed thugs seize control, ship owners may have to pay out millions of dollars, millions and millions of dollars, but are you the one really footing the bill here? We're going to take a closer look, just moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Following several developing stories today, and this one is about schools. You know children are our future, but man, oh, man, this one does not bode well. We've been telling you about a drastic plan in the works for Detroit schools. The man appointed to oversee that school system says the huge deficit and shrinking enrollment leaves him one alternative, and that is to close 23 schools and relocate another. About 7,500 students would be affected by this.

A final decision is expected about four weeks from now on May 8th. Let's talk more about this. We want to go to go to Detroit and talk to our affiliate reporter, Jim Kiertzner from WDIV. Jim, you know, I mentioned this huge deficit, $305 million. We know that there is a recession going on, but it does take some time to get to $305 million. How did it get this large?

JIM KIERTZNER, WDIV-TV CORRESPONDENT: It's a combination of things, Don. It's mismanagement over several years. At one point, they had 500 employees on the books, on the payroll, but not in the budget. Plus, they're looking at possible fraud. They've brought in an inspector general, auditor general, some retired FBI agents, forensic auditors, all to comb through the books. There have been some hints of some fraud.

And if they find any criminal wrongdoing, they're going to take it to the local county prosecutor for criminal charges -- Don.

LEMON: So, they're not sure if anything underhanded went on, but they want to make sure that they have their ducks in a row before they proceed with what's happening next.

KIERTZNER: Exactly.

LEMON: Here's the thing. You said that they had, what, you said some 300 to 500 people that weren't on the payrolls. But we're hearing that 600 teachers are going to get layoff letters pretty soon? What are you hearing about that?

KIERTZNER: They are going to get pink slips, 600 teachers. We talked just a short time ago with the Detroit Federation of Teachers union president. He expects there will be some actual layoffs. May not be as many as 600 because they always go through a phase of retirements and so on.

LEMON: OK. Detroit and many cities are dealing with huge, huge financial problems here. How is Detroit faring right now? Are there any signs that it may get better? Because we know, you know, the auto industry in dire straits. Any signs of anything's getting better that may help the school system in Detroit?

KIERTZNER: Not on the horizon, to be honest with you. We're looking at the possibility of General Motors and Chrysler moving into bankruptcy. We've already had tens of thousands of auto industry layoffs. More are expected as those two companies continue to downsize.

But I think the story here today on the schools is, 23 schools in the city of Detroit closing this year, another 26 next year, 7,500 students being displaced. A lot of those had neighborhood schools that were walking distance.

LEMON: Jim, real quickly, because...

KIERTZNER: Now they're moving into new schools.

LEMON: Jim, we've got to run, but I want to know, can Detroit absorb all of those students? Where are they going to go to school? Do we know?

KIERTZNER: Yes, they're going to -- this is the actual sheet. They're moving into different buildings, and that's the plan right now, to move them from these buildings into others as part of the consolidation plan.

LEMON: So, they're working on it. Jim Kiertzner, WDIV, thank you, sir, for that report.

KIERTZNER: OK.

LEMON: So, this pirate attack that we've been telling you about, how does it affect you the viewer? The cost of piracy, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Same-sex marriage. Opponents call it a gathering storm. What are they afraid of?

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LEMON: Very busy day here in the CNN NEWSROOM, and we have new developments to share with you right now on the hijacking of the U.S.- flagged Maersk Alabama. FBI negotiators are trying to secure the release of the ship's captain, Richard Phillips. Pirates are holding Phillips on a 28-foot lifeboat, and that lifeboat may be out of gas at this time. The Alabama is now controlled by the American crew.

Earlier, CNN's Jason Carroll talked to the father of the ship's first officer. He told us the ship now has armed guards on board as they head to Kenya. Somalia's foreign minister is also weighing in now. He tells the Associated Press that the pirates are playing with fire and cannot win against American forces.

Piracy carries a huge financial cost. Do you end up footing much of that bill? That's what most people want to know: How does this story affect me?

CNN's Christine Romans is in New York with a closer look. Christine, the shipping industry is already suffering from a bad economy. I mean, what industry is not suffering from a bad economy?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

LEMON: So, what impact do these pirate attacks have, not only on that industry but us the consumer?

ROMANS: Well, incredibly, you know, obviously, there's an economic incentive for these pirates to go with, you know, a 16-foot boat, four guys, a rocket-propelled grenade and a few machine guns and take over one of these huge cargo ships or a supertanker. There must be enough of an economic driver for them to be doing that.

And indeed, we have seen when we talk to the piracy experts and we talk to the shipping experts, they have seen a bump of this activity over the past three weeks, really the past year and a half, but over the past three weeks a spike there. Insurance rates are rising. Now, these companies insure their cargo. They insure their crew. And they can actually buy ransom and kidnapping insurance. It might be one of the reasons why, frankly, they do not put up a fight and try to resolve this as quickly as possible without any kind of gunfire.

Now, an interesting thing here, Don. You know, you talk to the people about how much has been paid in ransom over the past year, year and a half. You get this range of $50 million to $150 million. Earlier today, we spoke with a piracy expert in Asia who said it's probably around $125 million has been paid out in ransom since the beginning of 2008.

Why the big range of numbers? They do not like to publicize these numbers. They do not like pirates to say, wow, we just crossed the million-dollar mark on this Saudi Arabian tanker or this other tanker or this Norwegian cargo ship. Wow, next time we're going to ask for $2 million. The high water mark many people say is $3 million for one of these ships for a ransom.

But think about it. If you've got a $100 million cargo load, $100 million cargo load, say your risk of getting stopped is 1 in 50 or 1 in 100, and you pay out $1 million. In many cases, this is something that's being absorbed in the cost of doing business at a very tough time for the shipping industry, quite frankly.

Because, you know, they're shipping fewer things from China, they're shipping less oil from the OPEC nations into the United States and to Europe. And so, this is a tough time.

LEMON: Yes, and I bet the captain's family will tell you, and he himself, you can't really put a cost on a life.

ROMANS: That's right.

LEMON: So, the question is, then, does it make sense for them to reroute? Because that's more expensive. They go through the straits now, I believe...

ROMANS: That's right.

LEMON: ... because they think that's easier. But to reroute would be more expensive, but that doesn't guarantee that they're not going to be stopped in that area as well.

ROMANS: That's true. If you go down around the tip of -- the southern tip of Africa, you add, what, 20 days on to the trip. That's more money. That's more time. In some cases, the cargo, you know, if you have a perishable cargo, you know, you're trying to do something very quickly.

And in this case, in the case of this ship, they were destined for Kenya. So, that would have been unrealistic. They had to go through these waters. It's interesting, too, because as the military has moved in and as, you know, other ships have moved in to try to protect these waters, the cargo ships are moving out farther and so are the pirates moving out farther. So, it's that classic case of an organized crime underground economy that just keeps pushing out. No matter what you do, it just keeps pushing out, chasing the money. Chasing the money.

LEMON: Joe Johns did a very good job of explaining that last night with a graphic and sort of illustrated it.

ROMANS: Yes.

LEMON: Christine, we really appreciate it.

ROMANS: Sure.

LEMON: Thank you.

Let's talk now about combating piracy again because next hour, a former U.S. Navy captain discusses the many challenges in these lawless waters. That interview now scheduled for just after 11:00 Eastern. You don't want to miss that.

North Korea's Kim Jong-il has won a third term as the communist nation's supreme leader. He made a triumphant return to parliament this morning, basking in the claimed success of last week's rocket launch. His re-election was expected.

This is Kim's first major public appearance since reportedly suffering a stroke last August. He's looking older and a good bit thinner, but today's appearance could put to rest those persistent rumors about his failing health.

Sign of the times. Six years ago today, this was the scene in Baghdad. The U.S.-led coalition had consolidated, I should say, consolidated control of the city there, and jubilant Iraqis toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein. We all remember that picture. Many of us saw it live.

Well, marking the collapse of the cruel regime, that's what that tumbling of the statue was about. Well, today, with U.S. troops still there, supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are marking the anniversary with a massive anti-American demonstration. Al-Sadr issued a statement demanding President Obama withdraw the troops. Mr. Obama has pledged to remove all combat troops by September 2010 and the rest of the U.S. forces by the end of 2011.

Well, we turn now to news back in this country. They are back at it in Fargo, North Dakota. Look at the pictures there. They're filling sandbags to stack along the banks of the Red River. Forecasters warn it will start rising again next week.

At first, city leaders were calling for a million more sandbags. Now they say a quarter of a million should do the trick, at least they hope. Rob Marciano watching all of this for us. Rob, it looks like it's back at it again for these guys. We hope it doesn't get as bad as last time.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, right now it doesn't appear to be that way, but there is a chance that it does get worse than that. I think they're putting it at about a 25 percent chance of that happening. Here's the forecast for the river. It's going down right now, but around Sunday or so, it's expected to start to creep back up, mostly because of snowmelt.

There will be a little bit of added precipitation, but as you saw in that video, sunshine right now. And most of the storm and storm track will be heading towards the south.

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LEMON: Easter is just days away, and a lot of people will be eating those squishy little Peeps, like Rob. Maybe you'll microwave them or, I don't know, can you roast them in the fireplace like you do marshmallows?

One Pennsylvania woman takes her passion for Peeps to a whole new level. She collects them, hundreds of them. Not the sugary kind, but she has stuffed Peeps -- bunnies, chicks and even Peeps pans (ph) and ceramic items.

Don't want to eat those, Rob, right? Because they're not actually edible, the ceramic kind. She's been collecting the cute little creatures since 2005. There's an interest for everyone in something.

All right, and in Florida, Essie (ph) "Big Mama" Reid (ph), as she is affectionately known, is on a mission to deliver 25,000 Easter baskets to kids in the Miami area. Every Easter, we're told, she hustles for children in need. Good for her. She's seeking financial donations and asking people to donate baskets. Looks like she is well on her way there. Yesterday a package arrived from Winter Park, Florida, along with a $100 check. Good for her.

Same-sex marriage. Opponents call attempts to legalize it dark and scary. We'll find out why they're so afraid here.

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LEMON: Legitimizing same-sex marriage is gathering momentum all across the country, but opponents call it a gathering storm. Our Randi Kaye looks at the latest approach to keep such marriages off the books.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One way to keep same-sex marriage illegal may to be paint its impact on those who oppose it as dark and scary. That's the latest tactic from the National Organization for Marriage, which just released this $1.5 million ad campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, IN TV AD: There's a storm gathering.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, IN TV AD: The clouds are dark, and the winds are strong.

KAYE (on camera): Do you acknowledge that the ad is dark and scary and paints this picture of this gathering storm?

BRIAN BROWN, NATL. ORGANIZATION FOR MARRIAGE: Well, I think there is a gathering storm. Unless we act to protect marriage, we're going to see more and more moves to overturn the will of the people. KAYE (voice-over): But Evan Wolfson, an advocate for same-sex marriage, calls the ad an assault on gay people that undermines civil rights.

EVAN WOLFSON, FREEDOM TO MARRY: Everything in these ads is phony, from the scary zombie special effects to the actors reading the lines to the arguments they're making to try to scare people into thinking that allowing gay people to marry is somehow a threat to everyone else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, IN TV AD: But we have hope.

KAYE: The ad was supposed to be released late spring, but recent decisions by Vermont and Iowa to legalize same-sex marriage prompted the group to act now. Connecticut and Massachusetts already allow it. But Vermont is the first state whose legislature approved same-sex marriage and not a court. In fact, legislators overrode the governor's veto.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have voted to override the veto. The house will come to order.

BROWN: The people don't want this. This is being forced by both the courts and by out-of-touch legislators.

KAYE: Brown wants to create an army of marriage activists in every state to put a stop to whatever momentum gay couples are gaining.

(on camera): In California, there is the petition to overturn the ban on same-sex marriage. Governors in both New York and New Jersey say they'll sign same-sex marriage bills. Maine later this month will hold hearings on the issue. New Hampshire's House of Representatives has approved it. Even the District of Columbia is moving towards recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

WOLFSON: When gay people marry, they don't use up the marriage licenses, and the idea that somehow, treating gay people as equal under the civil rights laws of this country is a threat to other people is as bogus as it was when they made this claim in other civil rights chapters in American history.

KAYE (voice-over): In the last CNN/Opinion Research poll, 55 percent did not want to legalize same-sex marriage. But Wolfson hopes the more time people have to think about it, the more they'll be able to ignore what he calls the scary ad campaign.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Randi.

Michael J. Fox, his fight against Parkinson's disease has been an inspiration to a whole lot of people. Tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," he opens up about his own struggle with the disease. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": So, the glass is always half full?

MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: Well, it is...

KING: How about bad days?

FOX: Well, I have bad days, but again, I have to separate how I feel physically from how I feel emotionally. And I don't -- I mean, allowing that a lot of people who have Parkinson's deal with clinical depression, and that's a completely different issue. You have to put that aside, and you can't jolly your way out of that. I mean, that's a real illness that takes some serious dealing with.

But absent that, just if I have a bad day physically, it might disappoint me, and therefore, I can't do something that I want to do, or I can't do it the way and in the time frame that I want to do it, but it's very easy for me to just go, well, that's how my body feels. That's not how I feel. There's other things that I can do. There's other things. And it will come around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Michael J. Fox. You can watch the complete interview tonight at 9:00 p.m. on "LARRY KING LIVE" only here on CNN.

I'm Don Lemon in today for Heidi Collins. Make sure you join us again tomorrow morning starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

For now, the CNN NEWSROOM continues with Tony Harris, but after a quick break.

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