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U.S. Navy SEALs Free U.S. Captain; Pirate's Death Prompt Vow of Revenge; Thai Army Clashes with Protestors; Mortars Fired Towards Mogadishu Airport

Aired April 13, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANE MURPHY, MAERSK ALABAMA CHIEF: We never gave up. That's all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: An American cargo ship's crew speaks after their caption is. Three of his captors killed. Now other pirates are vowing revenge for those deaths.

Severe weather in the southeast. Storms bringing heavy rain to one flooded area. Plus a tornado watch in effect right now.

And your taxes. The real deal. You send your money to Uncle Sam this week. Where did it go from there?

It is Monday, April 13th. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Here's what we know at this hour. Captain Richard Phillips is aboard a U.S. Navy ship where he is said to be resting and in good health. He is awaiting his return to the U.S. but no details of those travel plans have been made public just yet.

Somali pirates are vowing revenge for their three comrades who were killed during the rescue operation. It's not clear how the pirates plan to retaliate. Some fear for the safety of more than 200 hostages now held on seized ships.

We do have CNN crews scattered across the globe to bring you all of the angles of this developing story. Stephanie Elam is in Underhill, Vermont, Captain Phillips' hometown. Jason Carroll is in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. And David McKenzie is in Kenya where Phillips' crew is celebrating his rescue and offering sobering words of caution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURPHY: There is a whole world out there at sea that we live together. We look out for each other. America has to be at the forefront of this.

It's time for us to step in and put this to an end to this crisis. It's a crisis. Wake up. This crew was lucky to be out of it with every one of us alive. We're not going to be that lucky again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: That was Captain Phillips' chief mate Shane Murphy in the news conference earlier this morning in Mombasa, Kenya.

Let's go to that port city now and CNN's David McKenzie. He's joining us live via broadband.

So, David, talk to us a little bit more if you could about the mood of the crew.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Heidi. I'm standing right here in the port of Mombasa. The ship that is being in the news that has caught global attention right behind me here at the port and certainly the crew now is relaxing. We've seen them coming back and forth.

Earlier today, though, they came out to do their first formal press conference. It was quite an emotional moment, Heidi, that chief mates came out and basically he was the one who had to take care of that ship to bring it safely to the port of Mombasa.

He was saying that all sailors are in the kind of brotherhood, that they fear for the lives of the 200 odd sailors who are now stuck off the coast of Somalia still hostage.

This particular incident ended well and ended brilliantly for the crew and the captain, but it's just a drop in the ocean on the problem of piracy and so they fear for those crews, their sailors, their friends and colleagues who also off the coast of Somalia tonight, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, we always talk about how huge this waterway is, this vast area that we're talking about where these different pirate attacks have been happening. Also wondering now a little bit more, if you have it, David, on what the pirates have said by way of possible retaliation. Any more information on that at this point?

MCKENZIE: Well, I do have some more information, Heidi. We've got word from a local journalist who spoke to two pirates at a notorious pirate den of Xarardheere in the central of Somalia.

They said that they are going to vow revenge. That this attack by the U.S. Navy, by Navy SEALS against pirates as well as an earlier attack last week by French Navy that killed certain pirates, they say they are going to kill any French or American sailors that they might come across in their hostage takings.

But we have to put this slightly into perspective. For a pirate, a hostage is their main asset. Hostage and boat is really their meal ticket. If they were start killing crew there could be an even harsher response from the 60 and odd nations that monitor these waters off Somalia and off the Horn of Africa.

So they have spoken harshly before. I've even spoken to a pirate who said some of the things some months ago but we have to take it with slightly a grain of salt but, then again, every threat needs to be taken seriously on some level and, certainly, the sailors playing the trade off these coasts must be even more worried than they have been in the past. Heidi?

COLLINS: All right. Understood. We're watching it very closely.

Obviously, David McKenzie, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

Also this morning, new details on the rescue, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command says the three Navy snipers needed only one shot each to take out the hostage-takers.

Vice Admiral William Gortney appeared on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." We're going to be working on that sound for you. We've spoken to Admiral Gortney before here on CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's go ahead and listen for it right now, if we could.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE ADMIRAL WILLIAM E. GORTNEY, COMMANDER, U.S. NAVAL FORCES CENTRAL COMMAND (via telephone): And three shots were fired and all were failed. And it's a phenomenal shot, 75 feet away. That ship -- the small boats moving up and down a couple feet in a two to three- foot sea stake. It was at night. Just a remarkable marksmanship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Let's turn now to Richard Phillips' hometown. Underhill, Vermont have banded together when he was being held hostage. And today, that town is, of course, celebrating Phillips' freedom and awaiting his return, too.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is there now with the very latest this morning.

Stephanie, I imagine the mood there, no matter how cold it may be in Vermont, is ecstatic.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. You know, the best way to put it, Heidi, is that here in Underhill, Vermont, they are over the moon. They are so excited of the news that Captain Phillips is safe.

Of course, the big question is when he is going to be back. I'm going to step out of the shot so you can see the Phillips' home up there over that little hill, the white house back there.

You can see that the media is gathering, getting together now to see what exactly is going to happen. Everyone eagerly anticipating when Captain Phillips will be back. Heidi?

COLLINS: Any indication at this point, Stephanie, as to when the family may come forward and talk to the media? ELAM: We are hearing rumblings that we may hear from the family today so we're keeping our eyes open. Yesterday, when we did hear from a spokesperson they said they weren't quite ready to come before the cameras. They still got to regroup.

But let's take a quick listen to what a spokesman for the family had to say yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISON MCCOLL, PHILLIPS FAMILY SPOKESWOMAN: They are all just so happy. The entire crew is safe. They are overjoyed that the entire U.S. Alabama crew is doing so well. So of course they are very happy about Richard. They're also very happy it's a happy ending for everybody involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: OK. Of course, that is great news to hear, but it's one thing to know that your loved one is safe, Heidi. It's a very different thing to put your arms around them and give them a hug and kiss.

COLLINS: Yes.

ELAM: So that's what they are waiting to do at this point and that was what we want to know when that's going to happen as well.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. Everybody is going to be wanting those pictures, certainly.

Stephanie Elam, sure do appreciate that. Thank you.

Amid the celebrations, though, some words of caution. Members of Phillips' crew are warning that their captain's rescue does not solve the growing problem of piracy.

CNN's Jason Carroll is in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts now.

So, Jason, I know you've spoken often with the father of Captain Phillip's chief mate. And now Shane Murphy is echoing a very tough message intended for the White House. Tell us more about it.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. You remember it was just last week when I was talking to Joe Murphy and he had a message for the White House saying that more attention need to be focused on the problems that many of these sailors are facing overseas.

That very same message coming from Shane. And a lot of folks here at the maritime academy not surprised by that and the reason for that, Heidi, is they say that Shane is not a person who holds his tongue. He is just like his father. Two peas in a pod in terms of speaking their mind, speaking their opinions.

That's exactly what we heard from Shane Murphy overseas in Kenya. He had a very special message for President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURPHY: We would like to employ President Obama to use all of his resources to increase the commitment to ending this Somali pirate scourge. Right now, there are ships still being taken right now as we are standing here.

And at sea, it's a global community. It doesn't come down to nations. There's a whole world out there at sea that we live together, we look out for each other. America has to be at the forefront of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And Shane Murphy also expressing a great deal of gratitude for his caption, Captain Richard Phillips, who, as you know, Heidi, by now, turned himself over to the pirates so he could try to help his crew. That very same message of thanks coming from Shane Murphy's father, Joe Murphy, who also teaches here at the academy.

A lot of people here at the academy, obviously, wondering when they are going to see Shane again. Well, what we are hearing is this. We are hearing that Shane and his wife and his two children may possibly be flying down to JFK sometime in the very near future to meet Shane there. Maybe tomorrow.

That's one of the contingency plans in place. And then the family would then fly back here for a reunion. That's just one of the plans in place but, as you know, with things like this, a lot can change.

COLLINS: Sure.

CARROLL: We're, obviously, monitoring the situation very closely.

COLLINS: OK. Great. Appreciate that. CNN's Jason Carroll for us in Buzzards Bay. Appreciate it. Thanks, Jason.

Also want to get this story out to you now. Anti-government protests intensifying today in Thailand. And the military response also ramping up.

Protesters threw gas bombs at troops who then fired back. It wasn't known if the rounds were rubber bullets or live gunshots.

Demonstrators commandeered s at least two buses, rigged the steering wheels and sent them toward police officers. Protesters have been trying to force the country's prime minister to resign, saying his four-month-old government is not democratically elected.

A rescue official says five killed have been killed and seven hospitalized in a boating accident. It happened last night near Jacksonville, Florida. Officials say the boat crashed into a tug boat and barge at a dock and boat launch under construction. Rescuers had to lay plywood sheets on the unfinished dock to get to the crash victims.

Well, you sent it in and the government spends it. But wouldn't you like to know where your tax money is actually going and what it is paying for? This week we are digging deeper to try to cut through all the noise and get you the facts.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And storms are driving deeper into the south.

Good morning. I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Tornado watch about to expire. We'll see if there's any spin in the atmosphere and rain causing flooding across Florida.

CNN NEWSROOM will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Friday's tornado in central Tennessee changed a family forever in just a matter of seconds. John Bryant was in his home with his wife and his 9-month-old baby when it hit. He was thrown about two houses away where another man found him alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BROWN, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I knelt down with him for a second and I just told him that -- he looked like he was going to be OK and everybody was saying they were looking for a wife and a little baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Bryant's wife and baby both died in the tornado. He was among dozens hurt that day suffering a broken back and other injuries.

Rob Marciano is standing by now. Boy, such an awful story.

MARCIANO: It was. And then on the backside of that, Heidi, another system came through the weekend. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and now, again, Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia are going to be in the cross-hairs of this system rapidly moving off towards the north and to the east.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: All right. Very good. Let us know if we need to come back to you, Rob. Appreciate it.

MARCIANO: You got it.

COLLINS: With the tax deadline just two days away we're giving you the real deal. A series of in-depth reports of how much you're paying and where it all goes. Great questions.

Christine Romans is joining us now live from New York this morning.

So, Christine, can you actually break down what our tax money pays for?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, sure. You absolutely can. You look at the budget and you can see exactly where the government wants to spend your money.

And you know, Heidi, we're a nation founded on a revolt against taxes. So April 15th is the day of the year we love to hate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (voice-over): The price of admission to the most dynamic economy in the world is your federal income. And among other things, the money withheld each week from your paycheck paves roads, provides health care to children, buys tanks and fighter jets, and pays the interest on America's mounting debt.

It comes out of every paycheck and you have until Wednesday to settle up the bill with the government. You might get a refund or you may owe more.

LEN BURMAN, DIRECTOR, TAX POLICY CENTER: Generally, you end up paying more if you have additional income. Like, for example, you get some consulting fees or something like that, or you take on a second job. You earn more money or you get a big raise.

ROMANS: So we thought you'd like to know exactly how your hard- earned money is being spent and where.

The largest portion goes to fund Social Security. After that comes defense programs. Followed by Medicare. The remaining money supports programs such as food stamps, retirement and disability.

But some of that money goes towards something you'll never see. About 8 percent is paying the interest on the country's mounting national debt, which totals more than $11 trillion. The 2012 projections put it closer to 16 trillion.

BURMAN: We'll have more spending on interest than we spend on discretionary programs other than defense. It's a lot of money. Over time, the federal interest cost is going to get to be a serious problem and it really worries tax and budget experts of both parties.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: And experts say health care costs are the fastest growing large spending category eating up an ever greater share, Heidi, of our tax dollars. Now income tax is just one part. I mean payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security, excise taxes for gas and cigarettes. Sales taxes and state and local taxes, property taxes. Around here that's a big, big subject, too.

COLLINS: Yes, no question. What are you getting ready for Wednesday' deadline, though? What do you do? Are going to file an extension?

ROMANS: 4868, the four little numbers you need to know. 4868. That's the form to file for an IRS extension, Heidi, and when you run out of the time. So that's the number people have to know right now about their taxes and what they can do.

COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely. Today, Tax Freedom Day?

ROMANS: That's right.

COLLINS: Tell us about that.

ROMANS: The Tax Foundation says today is the day that the money you're earning actually belongs to you. They say it took 103...

COLLINS: That's nice. Yes.

ROMANS: Yes. I think 103 days of your earnings to pay all of your taxes and then now, theoretically, is when you're working for yourself. So Tax Freedom Day, according to the Tax Foundation. A little bit earlier this year in part because of that stimulus, Heidi.

The tax breaks and the tax credits and the like in that stimulus bumping up the date a little bit so today is the day you start working for yourself.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. I kind of like the sound of that.

Christine, appreciate it. Thank you.

So are you paying more in taxes than people in the state next door? Well, next hour, an expert is going to be telling us where people are getting off pretty easy and where they are paying through the nose for their taxes.

The president keeps a campaign promise to his daughters. We'll tell you who is joining the first family in the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Very quickly breaking news. We want to get over to CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano with more on a tornado warning.

Rob, what's going on?

MARCIANO: Well, wind in that tornado watch that we spoke of that's about to expire in the next half an hour. But ahead of the line of thunderstorms we're seeing a tornado warning now in through Houston County, that's in southeast Alabama.

We'll zoom into this area. It's right on the corner of the state, just to the west of Dothan, is where law enforcement spotted a tornado on the ground near Geneva, which is back through here. So this is all heading this way so the highlight county right here is Houston County and this storm is moving quite rapidly to the east at about 45 miles an hour.

So this cell capable of producing a tornado and one being spotted on the ground if you live in that area in Houston County and just over the border there in southwestern parts of Georgia, you should take cover until this storm dissipates.

Right now it looks pretty strong, moving towards the east at about 40, 45 miles an hour. All part of a larger system that is slowly moving through the northeast and will likely cause more rough weather for other folks across the southeast.

COLLINS: Wow. Yes, I was just there two days ago driving back up from (INAUDIBLE), from spring break. And you could see in some areas that had been hit before some of the storm damage along there. Trees wiped out all over the place from past storms. So make sure you let us know, Rob, if we need to come back to you.

MARCIANO: And they also have issues with flooding down there also. So we'll talk more about that in half an hour. But until 9:45 Eastern, a local time 8:45 time, a tornado warning out for Houston County and southeast Alabama.

COLLINS: OK. Understood. Rob, thank you.

MARCIANO: You got it.

COLLINS: A White House tradition that began in 1878 is getting a bit of a facelift.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is joining us now live to talk about today's Easter Egg Roll.

So, Suzanne, what's so different this year? It looks like there's a whole lot of people, that's for sure.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, there's a ton of people out here. There are about 30,000 or so that are expected. But what makes this really different is from 45 different states. They open this up so you get to go online especially for the ticket here.

So you've got kids from as far as Hawaii, Alaska, as well as the District of Columbia. You can see over my shoulder here, it's the Easter Egg Roll. It's traditional here at the White House.

You can see them kind of pushing those eggs. It's a little race that they do. But it's really interesting, because the theme here is let's play. It's all about fitness and living well. There's a lot of activities that are going on. You got entertainment.

Fergie is out here and Ziggy Marley. Over here, there's a section where kids are doing kids yoga. There's a chef section that are preparing some goodies and some treats, things like that. So we expect the first family to be out here shortly. They're going to be on the Truman balcony and that's where they'll come out, they'll say hello, the president, the first lady and the kids.

And then they'll come out here and play for a little bit. It really is a day-long tradition. It's going go to until about 5:00 in the evening or so.

So, Heidi, a lot of excitement which you can imagine, 30,000 people here that will be on the south lawn throughout the day.

COLLINS: Yes. And all of your friends like Fergie and Ziggy, that's cool.

MALVEAUX: And the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny is here. They expect celebrities. So, yes, all of them.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: I'm so excited. Hey, listen. We -- there's been a lot of people who've been very excited about the White House dog, the puppy. What is the deal there? We finally getting some news on this, yes?

MALVEAUX: Yes. The news broke over the weekend. The dog's name is Bo. A Portuguese waterdog. We have pictures of the dog. He was wearing a traditional Hawaiian lei when they first met. It's a gift from Senator Kennedy.

It was a couple of weeks ago, Heidi, where they snuck the dog here in the White House for a secret meeting to meet with the daughters to see how they get along and whether or not he was, indeed, well-behaved and he was.

We understand he didn't rip up any of the carpets. They got along really well. So the official unveiling of the dog is tomorrow so we're going to try to see if we can get a peek of him a little bit sooner.

COLLINS: That poor thing. That lei, I'm sorry. It's got to go.

(LAUGHTER)

Yikes. All right. Suzanne Malveaux, sure do appreciate it. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

COLLINS: A tense standoff with pirates that began with a hero captain's sacrifice ends with a daring rescue at sea. We'll tell you how it all went down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: Want to get you to Wall Street now. The Dow is riding a five-week winning streak. What? Can the euphoria, though, continue this week?

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with a preview of the trading day.

Hi there, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. This is no ordinary five-week win streak, Heidi.

COLLINS: I know.

LISOVICZ: This is the best streak since the 1930s. So it is something that will be tough to continue and certainly the bulls will be tested this week.

As of now, we're looking for a lower open, weighing on the Dow. Shares of General Motors plunging 13 percent, the premarket on a "The New York Times" report that the Obama administration is -- that's an awfully long bell, Heidi.

(LAUGHTER)

It's because the Girl Scouts are ringing the bell, probably. And they are enjoying the experience.

COLLINS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: But, in any case, we are expecting GM to certainly be affecting the Dow. Trying to see if we -- they are down eight percent on reports from "The New York Times" that the government is directing the automaker to prepare for a quick surgical bankruptcy. It is a merger Monday.

Express Scripts will pay more than $4.5 billion for WellPoint Pharmacy Benefits Manager. The subsidiary called NextRx manages pharmaceutical benefits for about 25 million Americans. And recession has prompted many of us to cut our medical costs. And WellPoint shares, by the way, are up 6.5 percent.

We get lots of corporate earnings this week. We'll hear from Goldman Sachs, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, General Electric. It could be a volatile week. Lots of economic reports. Key reads on inflation, housing, retail sales, manufacturing.

Today is going to be slow. The rest of the week won't. And we do see some selling at the open. The three major averages down half a percent.

Heidi, welcome back. Could be a crazy week.

COLLINS: Yes, yes. I missed a lot last week. We'll see what happens this time around. Sure do appreciate it. Susan Lisovicz, thank you.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Want to get back now to our top story. Somali pirates are plotting revenge now against the United States after a daring rescue at sea that freed a kidnapped U.S. sea captain. Captain Richard Phillips is safe and unharmed this morning after U.S. Navy snipers opened fire at pirates holding him hostage in a lifeboat. Three pirates were killed, one is in U.S. custody. It's the first time in modern history the U.S. has a pirate in custody for carrying out an attack on a U.S. citizen.

So how did the Naval operation to rescue Captain Phillips actually go down?

Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is joining us now live from Washington with all the details.

Boy, unbelievable story here, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Heidi.

And we're learning more about the timeline that led up to this. We know there were several interagency discussions within the White House, high level teleconferences with senior defense officials. And, again, President Obama received probably no less than 12 to 13 briefings as what led up to very crucial decisions during this rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): President Obama authorized lethal force on Friday night. Just 13 hours later, he issued a second order to an additional set of U.S. forces who would join the rescue.

GORTNEY: Authorities came directly from the president.

LAWRENCE: The Navy had been using a boat like this to bring supplies to the lifeboat. But as Saturday wore on, the pirates became more agitated. The Defense official says shots were fired and the pirates were demanding ransom.

GORTNEY: And to make their point, they were threatening throughout to kill the captain.

LAWRENCE: Out of fuel, the lifeboat was now being towed 90 feet behind the "USS Bainbridge." Early Saturday night Eastern Time, one of the pirates was shuttled to the "Bainbridge" for medical treatment. He'd been stabbed during the initial scuffle with the "Maersk Alabama's" crew.

GORTNEY: And we were working with him in the negotiation process.

LAWRENCE: Captain Phillips was tied up in a lifeboat. But in one of their last communications, the "Bainbridge" crew read him a letter from his wife.

GORTNEY: The note said, "Richard, your family loves you. Your family is praying for you.

LAWRENCE: At one point, a Navy SEAL team had parachuted in, and took up positions on the back deck of the "Bainbridge". As the weather got rougher, negotiations broke down.

GORTNEY: And the snipers positioned on the fan tail of the "Bainbridge," observed one of the pirates in the pilot house, two pirates with their head and shoulders exposed, and one of the pirates had the AK-47 leveled at the captain's back.

LAWRENCE: The on-scene commander believed the pirate was about to fire, so the Navy snipers shot first. The Defense official says each pirate was shot in the head. Then the special ops team shimmied along a tow rope to the lifeboat, made sure the pirates were dead, and took Phillips back to the Navy ships nearby.

CAPT. RICHARD PHILLIPS, MAERSK ALABAMA: Thanks, guys. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: That was Captain Phillips after getting check out, medically, and after a phone call from President Obama, himself.

As for that fourth pirate, Defense officials say he is being detained on board one of the Navy ships. And one Defense official tells me he may be as young as 16 years old.

COLLINS: Wow. Wow. All right. So we'll have a lot of questions about him and what will happen next for him.

I wonder, though, that -- there may be some people, Chris, who say, wow, what took so long? Wednesday through Sunday. I mean, that's five days for a captain to be held captive.

LAWRENCE: Exactly. But you have to remember, the Navy's first and primary goal was to negotiate this. This was a hostage negotiation. So their first priority was trying to end this peacefully with no shots fired. That would have been, obviously, you know, their first choice for an outcome. It was only when they felt that the captain's life was in immediate danger, when they pressed the gun to his back, Vice Admiral Gortney said it looked to the on scene commander that the pirate was about to fire. That's when they were authorized to take the shot.

COLLINS: What about American ships in other countries? Whether or not they're going to be thinking about arming themselves after seeing what happened here? I mean, this is pretty unpredictable situation.

LAWRENCE: It is. You know, Vice Admiral Gortney made that recommendation just a few hours on CNN. That he thinks they should carry private security firms. Two things about that, though.

The pirates are well-funded. They've got a lot of money from these ransoms. If the shipping company starts buying guns, the pirates start buying bigger guns and got an arms escalation there. Also, some countries do not allow merchant ships to carry arm.

COLLINS: Right. LAWRENCE: They are worried about a possible terrorist attack. If these merchant ships are going from country to country to country, well, what if you're allowed to be armed in one, but not in the other? It raises a lot of very complicated questions.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, certainly ones that are going to need to be answered, that's for sure.

All right. Sure do appreciate it. Our Pentagon correspondent, Chris Lawrence. Thanks, Chris.

LAWRENCE: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Take a look now. We want you to see some pretty fascinating pictures that we just received from the Navy. These were taken from a virtual Crow's Nest. A Navy drone looking down on that lifeboat from the "Maersk Alabama," and then at the "USS Bainbridge" as it moved into position. To put it in perspective for you, the lifeboat is that little dot on the lower right-hand corner of your screen.

Boy, you can just see it there, again, on the lower right-hand corner. Pretty amazing imagery.

As you can imagine, it must have been an Easter to remember for the Phillips Family. They issued this statement through a family spokesperson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCOLL: They are all just so happy. The entire crew is safe. They are overjoyed that this entire "US Alabama" crew is doing so well. So, of course, they are very happy about Richard. They're also very happy it's a happy ending for everybody involved.

Andrea spoke to her husband earlier. She was laughing while she was on the phone with him. She was saying his trademark sense of humor is still very much intact, and he is in great spirits. If you guys could just, could have seen her light up when she talked to him, it was really remarkable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Excellent news. The crew aboard the "Maersk Alabama" all agree. They owe their lives to the heroism of Captain Richard Phillips.

Chief Mate Shane Murphy describes his conversation with the captain after his rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURPHY: I just got off the phone with our Captain Richard Phillips for the first time. And it was an extremely emotional experience for all of us to actually hear his voice and to hear the condition he was in. And he is absolutely elated and he couldn't be prouder of us for doing what he trained us to do. And that's really -- when this story unfolds, you'll see that's really all we did. We did everything the way we were trained to do. And we have the captain. Ultimately, everybody you see here before you today, has the captain -- Captain Phillips to thank for their lives and their freedom.

It was an entire crew-wide effort. You'll find there's going to be many stories of individual heroism that come out of this. But as a group, everybody played a part. Everybody. It had -- everything hinged on everything down to the most minute details that you'll find out in the coming days of how things occurred. But, overall, we give the credit to our captain and our thoughts are with him. And we're looking forward to getting back home to see him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now that area of the Indian Ocean off Somalia's Coast is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, but pirates act at will. So our Josh Levs explains now why it's so hard to patrol this area.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A big part of the challenge to fighting piracy in this region is how big and expansive the waters are off Somalia's east coast. Let me show you how big that area is.

Here's Somalia along here. Now, it's in this area east of the country that this incident took place. And there have been a lot of piracy incidents in here. Military officials say it's very difficult to patrol this whole area because it's so big.

It's a little bit different up here. This is the Gulf of Aden and it's more compressed. They say they've had a little more success fighting pirates in this area. But over here, it's so difficult to get a ship to another ship that's in trouble.

In fact, we have some geography to show you. We're going to zoom over to the United States. I'm going to show you what a military official said to help you understand this.

Take a look here. Draw a box from Houston over to Chicago, then over to New York, then all the way down to Jacksonville and back over here. This entire area is what we're talking about when we're looking at that east coast of Somalia. It's a huge region. You can imagine how difficult it would be to patrol this entire area. Factor that size into the water. That is the challenge that we're talking about.

Back to you.

COLLINS: All right. Some good perspective there. Thank you, Josh.

It's New Year's Day in Thailand, but instead of celebrations, Bangkok streets are a battleground. The army is moving on violent protesters who are demanding the resignation of Thailand's prime minister. Our Dan Rivers is in the capital city now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAN RIVERS, CNN BANGKOK CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After hours of taunting, finally the patience of the Thai military was exhausted. Volleys of gunfire over the heads of demonstrators and Thai magazines emptied into the sky. And these were live rounds.

It sent the anti-government red shirts running for cover, but not for long. They responded by sending buses trimming down the road, driverless and out of control.

Others were set ablaze. Parts of Bangkok, the tourist gateway of Thailand, were a battlefield. And we were caught in the middle of it.

(on camera): The army are now continuing to fire and move forward. Most of the shots are being directed in the air. But certainly very scary. (INAUDIBLE) and Brits are coming back the other way. And I don't think we're going to get much closer than this, because it's obviously very dangerous down there. But you can hear it's a real pitched battle going on.

(voice-over): The red shirts are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. He's already declared a state of emergency in the city as the government struggles to maintain order. The red shirts want the ousted Premiere Thaksin Shinawatra to be allowed to come back. Thaksin was deposed in coup in 2006, that has been living in exile since, having been found guilty of corruption.

Last year, yellow shirts protesters took to the streets to try and dislodge Thaksin's allies who were in power. That government collapsed after a court ruled they rigged the election.

Now the red shirts are battling it out with the army, hoping to bring Thaksin back as the power struggle has gripped Thailand for two and a half years continues to worsen.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: So you filled out the tax forms and you know the grand total. But what happens if you don't have the money to pay it off? Well, we've got the answer in one of our real deal reports.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Authorities in North Florida keeping a wary eye out for potential flooding after a series of storms that slammed the state. Officials shut down U.S. 90 near the Madison and Suwannee County line yesterday. They also closed more than 250 roads and 24 bridges.

Overflowing rivers triggered record flooding across 11 counties in the state. The state's governor is requesting federal aid now to help repair public property. CNN Meteorologist Rob Marciano has been watching all of this, too.

Boy, they did get slammed, isn't it?

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Yes, no question.

Well, I thought we would just going to get to sit around and talk about the Masters together today.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

COLLINS: You've got too much going on.

MARCIANO: Yes. We need to catch up on that. I guess that has to happen after hours.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes, yes. All right, Rob, appreciate that. Thanks.

MARCIANO: All right. You got it.

COLLINS: He survived layoffs before. And now after 28 years, his number is up. And so is his optimism.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We're getting you ready for tax day with our series of "Real Deal" reports with our money expert. So what happens if you just don't have the money to pay up this year? Personal finance editor Gerri Willis is joining us now live from New York. Hey, there, Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Heidi.

COLLINS: You still have to file, of course. I mean, even if you don't have the cash.

WILLIS: That's right. You do have to file your taxes even if you can't pay. Late filing or not filing at all can increase your tax bill by 25 percent or more, when you add in penalties and fees. And consider this.

There's a $350 billion gap between what Americans owe and what they actually pay. This year, though, the IRS has taken special steps to work with taxpayers who are struggling. Here's what the IRS commissioner had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS SHULMAN, IRS COMMISSIONER: I think there's going to be people who filled out their tax return, realize that they owe money and they just don't have that money. The piece of advice I'd give them is send in the tax return, even if you can't pay, put a partial payment in. Or if you really can't pay at all, send it in any way. Pick up the phone and call us, and we'll work through that issue with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WILLIS: All right. So who do you call? The phone number is 1- 800-tax-1040. The IRS is saying, hey, we will work with you, but you have to call us first - Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. You have to have some type of discussion or contact with them.

WILLIS: Right.

COLLINS: What sort of help are they offering, exactly?

WILLIS: Well, OK. Let's break down what they mean by a nicer, gentler IRS. First of all, they're going to postpone some collections. IRS employees will have greater authority to suspend collection actions. In certain cases, you may be allowed to skip payments or pay only reduced payments.

Back taxes are going to take a backseat to refinance. So if you've got to lean against your property, don't worry about it. You may be able to go in and refine, and not worry about that tax bill.

Bottom line here, if you're in trouble, you have to get on the telephone. Call an IRS agent. The phone number, again, is 1-800-TAX- 1040 - Heidi.

COLLINS: 1-800-TAX-1040. All right. Our Personal finance editor Gerri Willis.

Gerri, thanks for that.

There's a lot going on this morning. And CNN crews are scrambling to bring you all the latest. We want to begin with Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange.

LISOVICZ: And that's where, Heidi, we're seeing the market pull back after an historic five-week run-up. GM one reason why. We'll have more on that, Heidi, at the top of the hour.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans in New York. Think of it this way. Your taxes are the price of admission to the most dynamic economy in the world. So when you settle up the bill with Uncle Sam on Wednesday, what does all that tax money get you? We'll have that story at the top of the hour, Heidi.

MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN severe weather center. Yet another round of severe storms rolling across the southeast with tornado watches and warnings being posted, and winds doing some damage across the northern suburbs of Atlanta. We'll run it down at the top of the hour - Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. Thanks so much, guys.

We will also look at state taxes. Where do you get the most benefits for your buck and where does your wallet take the biggest hit?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: He's trading his white-collar for a blue one. But he's not feeling bad about it. CNN's Maggie Lake reports on the New Jersey man who's not laying around after a layoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 28 years, Archie Picinich worked in communications at Verizon. Then one day this husband and father of four found out his services were no longer needed.

ARCHIE PICINICH, FORMER VERIZON EMPLOYEE: I was kind of surprised because I didn't think it would happen to me. You know, I knew it was coming up. You know, I've been through them before about four or five in my 28-year career. And then all of a sudden when my manager came in and he handed me a package, I saw my name on it, I said, oh, my God. It's me. You know, it's actually me this time.

LAKE: Archie actually has it better than many. He received a severance package that includes pay and health benefits for his family through the middle of 2009. But he wants to get back to work.

PICINICH: If you read about the economy getting worse, you know, you're kind of like, what kind of move am I going to make? You know, am I going to take the money and try something else? You know, I'm 48 years old. Now I just turned 49. It's like, do I start all over? I have to reinvent myself? You know, all those buzz words. And, you know, so it was kind of scary.

LAKE: Archie's keeping himself busy doing handyman work. Something he's thinking of turning into his own business.

PICINICH: Through word of mouth advertising, you know, I can get the business off the ground and running, and it's something I can make a living at. I figured, you know what? Why not do it? Because I enjoy doing it. You know, I enjoy being with people. And if it's something that turns out to be a viable business venture, then I certainly will go at it 100 percent.

LAKE: For now Archie is content so long as he keeps his hands busy. He knows he'll get through this period of his life and move on to the next.

PICINICH: The old cliche, when one door closes, another one opens. The whole reinvent yourself thing. I mean, I think there's something for everything to do.

LAKE: Maggie Lake, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: All right. Quickly, we want to get this breaking news out to you just as we're getting it in here to the CNN NEWSROOM.

We are learning that mortar shells were fired today towards Mogadishu's Airport, apparently, as U.S. Congressman Donald Payne was leaving Somalia. Now, again, we need to attribute all of this information at this time to wire reports. We, of course, are making phone calls into Congressman Paine's office to try and learn more information.

Again, you see the area that we're talking about off the Somali Coast there. No casualties, apparently, at this point as African union officials were telling the wire services. This is important potentially because, I'm sure you remember, in the situation that's been happening over the last several days and just came to an end yesterday.

There were two pirates in Somalia that actually vowed revenge today after the U.S. military ended up killing three pirates and is holding a fourth in the freeing of U.S. ship Captain Richard Phillips who had been held hostage for five days in that area.

Breaking news all across CNN here. We have been following this story very closely. And we will stay on top of this development as well.