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Recovery High School Helps Drug-Addicted Students; Tax Freedom Day Arrives Eight Days Earlier This Year; Nevada, Alaska, Wyoming among Low Tax-Burden States; Flooding Hits Northern Florida; Former Atlantic Fleet Commander Advocates Worldwide Cooperation on Piracy

Aired April 13, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, here's what we know at this hour on this story. Captain Richards 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 as we've just been mentioning to you now for their three comrades who were killed during that rescue operation. It is not clear how the pirates plan to retaliate. Some fear for the safety of more than 200 hostages taken from seized ships.

Throughout the ordeal, the Navy kept a close eye on Phillips and his hostage takers both from the sea and air. The Navy released these images from an unmanned drone aircraft. It showed the snipers had positioned themselves on the fantail of the USS Bainbridge. The Navy says the snipers were given the go ahead to shoot when one of the pirates pointed a gun, an AK-47, at Phillips' back. Those three marksmen fired only one shot each to take out the hostage takers.

Earlier this morning, we heard from members of Phillips' crew.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANE MURPHY, SECOND-IN-COMMAND, MAERSK ALABAMA: I just got off the phone with our captain, Richard Phillips, for the first time. And it was - 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 - he's absolutely elated and he couldn't be prouder of us for doing what he trained us to do.

And that is 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.

But additionally, it was an entire crew-wide effort. You'll find there is going to be many stories of individual heroism that come out of this, but as a group everybody played a part. Everybody in America can latch on to this maybe and use it as a sign of hope to show what being an American is about.

We would like to implore 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. 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. And, just for the record, we never had to fight to take our ship back. We never surrendered our ship. We fought to save the captured ship mates that were still aboard, but we never gave up. That's all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Very emotional for the crew as you can see. News of Phillips' rescue swept through his tiny town of Underhill, Vermont. His wife and two children has stayed from the cameras but a family spokeswoman offered a glimpse of yesterday's elation. She describes Phillips' phone call home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISON MCCOLL, PHILLIPS FAMILY SPOKESWOMAN: 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's in great spirits. And if you guys just could have seen her light up when she talked to him, it was really remarkable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Our crews in Phillips' hometown say there's buzz the family could come out and speak a little bit later to the media. We, of course, will keep you posted on that if it should happen.

For now, let's go across the world, Mombasa, Kenya. That's the port city where Phillips' crew faced the media earlier today. They are calling for tougher action and so are the pirates.

CNN's David McKenzie is joining us now with the very latest.

So David, what can you tell us about the pirates apparently vowing some type of revenge here?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Heidi. We have through local journalists spoken to Somali pirates. In the notorious pirate (INAUDIBLE), which is in the central part of Somalia, which they often take ships that they've hijacked and keep the hostages there until they can get a ransom. These two pirates have told CNN that, in fact, they will vow revenge upon any French or American sailor who is they happen to catch when they take a ship in the future.

As you can remember, the French Navy also was involved in an anti-pirate attack last week where they tried to save hostages from a French yacht. One hostage was killed in that incidence. Certainly, the pirates are rationing up their rhetoric, saying they will take on these soldiers of these nationalities.

We must take this with a pinch of salt, Heidi. Certainly in the past, pirates have been big talk and haven't necessarily carried out their action. Their primary objective is to make money. And by taking on hostages and killing them they certainly would remove certain chips they hold in the game of piracy, which is essentially a business, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. I wonder though, David, does it mean we could see a change in approach from the Navy?

COLLINS: Well, we might see a change in approach. Certainly the American actions in the past 72 hours have been quite a dramatic departure from what they've done in the past. In the past they observe, they make sure that any dangerous goods on board, won't take into lawless Somalia. But this is also a unique case. Because you had a captain on board. A lifeboat with three, four and then three Somali pirates.

In the other instances, it's, in fact, entire crews captured by scores of Somali pirates. It's unlikely, in fact, that the U.S. Navy or any other navy will aggressively attack those boats that are currently under hostage. Some 200 sailors under hostage, as you said, off the coast of Somalia. We might not see an immediate change in tactics. But we might see in general a more aggressive approach to the issue of piracy. Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's David McKenzie. We sure do appreciate that David.

And quickly, I just want to update everybody on something that we have been following here as closely as we can. According to CNN, now able to confirm that apparently mortar shells were fired today toward Mogadishu's Airport as U.S. Congressman Donald Payne was actually leaving Somalia, obviously the same area here we're talking about. No casualties that we know of at this point according to an African Union official. Again, telling CNN this information as well.

We're going to stay on top of that. Development as well, you just saw the picture there of U.S. Congressman Donald Payne. We do have calls into his office to try and get any more details that we might be able to get for you. We'll bring them to you just as soon as we can.

About a half an hour from now, we are going to be getting the view from Captain Phillips' hometown in Vermont. CNN's Stephanie Elam is there gathering all the latest information.

Very quickly now I want to take a quick check of the Big Board. You see the Dow Jones industrial average is down about 88 points, resting just below that 8,000 mark. We're going to keep our eye on top of those numbers for you as usual right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Also, two days to go until those taxes are due. I'm sure you know that. We are giving you the real deal. A series of reports on how much you're paying and where it all goes. CNN's Christine Romans joining us now live from New York.

Christine, the deadline Wednesday. But today marks something of a tax milestone, actually, doesn't it?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's Tax Freedom Day. The Tax Foundation and people who track these sort of things tell us that today is the day when that when you go to work and you earn your money, you're not paying taxes anymore. All the money's for you. All the money up till now was, you could look at it this way, it was your taxes for the year and the rest is what you earned.

So, a little bit earlier this year. The earliest, in fact, they say since 1967. One of the reasons is in that stimulus there were some tax credits and tax refund. That's moving up the day a little bit meaning you get a little bit more of your own money this year.

Alaska in case you're wondering has the lowest tax burden. It celebrated that Tax Freedom Day first. And Connecticut has the highest tax burden, it will settle last -- celebrate last, Heidi.

COLLINS: We're supposed to file our tax returns on Wednesday, no matter what. What do your taxes actually get us?

ROMANS: Think of your taxes as sort of the admission price for the most dynamic economy in the world. I mean, this is what you pay for roads, for bridges, for schools.

This is what you pay for the interest on our mounting debts. Don't forget, we have an $11 trillion national debt; $11 trillion and rising. And we have to pay interest on that. That comes from your taxes.

Pretty much everything that runs the government comes from your taxes - health care, Social Security, there's your income tax, there are payroll taxes that pay Social Security taxes. There are also state taxes, don't forget.

Property taxes and excise taxes for things like cigarettes and - gosh, a lot of other things, too. Absolutely, you pay registration fees and taxes if you buy a car and all these sorts of things.

Look, there's a lot of different places where you're taxed. But the Tax Foundation says think of it this way, all those taxes you pay are more than you pay on housing, food and clothing every year. Think of that. But when you rank us with the rest of the world, we are one of the smallest tax burdened societies out there. Two ways to look at it.

COLLINS: OK. I guess that's the good way. I don't know.

ROMANS: All right, 4868 is the form you need to file if you need more time. If you're sitting there going this is tax week, are you kidding me? File number 4868.

COLLINS: 4868, we got it. Christine Romans, thank you.

So where are the lowest taxes in the nation? Let's talk about that. And where are the pocketbooks though taking the biggest hit? An expert is going to be adding it all up for us, in the middle of the hour.

Thirty thousand kids in the backyard - see, they're not paying taxes yet. President Obama and his family are hosting the White House Easter egg roll on the White House south lawn right now. Those are live pictures for you.

And change has come to the annual event. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is there now to tell us all about it.

Yes, they were kind of not thinking about taxes on the White House lawn this morning, right?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's really a big party here. It's behind the other side of the house, obviously, the south lawn. There's going to be 30,000. We saw a lot of kids running around, 30,000 expected here throughout the day. Obviously, a lot of different activities going on. A tradition that goes back to 1878, if you can believe it or not. A lot of kids participating in the traditional Easter egg roll as well as, we heard, some entertainers. Fergie was just singing about 10 minutes ago. Ziggy Marley is out there. You've got the Easter Bunny.

What makes this really different this time around is you've got people from 45 different states. And that is really unusual. But the way they did it this year was you could go online at the White House website. Go ahead and get tickets that way. So you've got kids from, like, Hawaii, Alaska, as well as Washington, D.C., all participating in this. And they're trying to jazz it up a little as well. They've got a live web cast from the White House so you can see all the events happening as - you know, as they unfold.

And what we're expecting, our cameras obviously trained on the Truman balcony. That's where the first family is going to come out. They're going to make very brief remarks and then the president is going to blow a whistle. That is really to signify the official start of the White House Easter egg roll. So all of this, Heidi, a lot happening here. And great anticipation about the new dog, too, that's expected to come in the next 12 to 24 hours. Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. I'm wondering if we combine those stories if the dog will actually be chasing the eggs down the White House lawn. I don't know. We can think of our own story here, right?

MALVEAUX: There are 13,000 eggs, by the way. Hard boiled eggs that are out there. Obviously, he would have quite a time of that.

But his name is Bo. He was here a couple of weeks ago. A quiet meeting that happened here at the White House to introduce the girls to the dog, see how they got along. We understand the carpets were fine and he was well behaved. So he's welcome here at the White House. He'll be the latest resident. COLLINS: Oh, my goodness. All right. Well, Suzanne, you have a blast out there today. We'll check in with you later on. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: OK.

COLLINS: Besides a meeting of the Transportation Department next hour, the president has his economic daily briefing in the Oval Office this afternoon. And later he'll have separate meetings with senior staffers and defense secretary Robert Gates. Just a look at the president's day for you there.

It was over before many people even knew what hit them. A deadly tornado leveling part of a town in central Tennessee. And Rob Marciano tells us parts of the southeast could be in more danger today. Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We've already gotten reports of some damage across parts of Georgia. Not only because there's a tornado watch, a fresh one issued by the Storm Predictions Center in the last few minutes, but just straight line winds that are taking down some trees in Cherokee County.

We'll run it down when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Quickly now, a lot going on in the weather department. CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano standing by with all the of the latest information.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: A high school just for teen addicts. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta finds out what happens when they enroll in recovery high.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Very quickly want to show you these pictures that we just got. There we see the president of the United States and the first family standing and on the opposite side of the columns, there. There is the Easter bunny. Yes. We just wanted to make sure that we showed you these picture.

We are - this is, I believe, I can't see very well, Fergie. Yes. This is the White House Easter egg roll. She's getting ready to perform. Go ahead and listen for just a moment.

(NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYING)

COLLINS: All right. Well, as you can see, live TV here. It even can happen to the president.

This is all happening at White House Easter roll. We just heard the national anthem from Fergie. We were expecting to hear from President Barack Obama as well. As you can him there with the first family but having some audio issues. He's trying to talk into the Easter Bunny's ear. That also did not work.

So, we will keep our eye trained on this for you. I'm sure he was hoping to give an Easter Monday greeting. But it looks as though that is not going to happen, at least as of yet. So for now, it looks like we will - wow. All you got to do is get the daughter up there, right. She knows how to make it work. Let's listen one more time.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, everybody. That's Malia, our technical adviser.

It is wonderful to see all of you today. Welcome. I hope everybody had a wonderful Easter. This is one of the greatest White House traditions, because it reminds us that this is the people's house. And to see so many children out here having a great time just fills Michelle and myself and the entire family with a whole lot of joy.

So, I'm not really in charge here today. My sole job, in addition to thanking Fergie for that wonderful rendition of our national anthem and thanking my buddy the Easter Bunny for being here, is to introduce my first lady, your first lady, Michelle Obama.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: All right. OK, it's working.

Welcome, everybody. I have - I don't have much to say. I want to welcome you all to the 2009 White House Easter Egg Hunt. Yea! Our goal today is just to have fun. We want to focus on...

COLLINS: We want to give you a little bit of flavor there of the White House Easter egg roll. Apparently about 30,000 people there today going in shifts. They have a variety of egg rolls. You saw the Easter bunny as well alongside President Barack Obama, and daughters Malia and Sasha giving a little help there with the audio issue, as you can see. Forty-five different states this year, too. Some changes with the White House Easter egg roll this year.

Meanwhile, have to get back to this story, because we are trying to stay on top of the pirate situation. As I'm sure you're well aware of the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips just yesterday. And right now we are trying to get some more information about the breaking news that I was telling you about moments ago. Apparently mortar shells were fired at the Mogadishu Airport towards U.S. Congressman Donald Payne's airplane as he was leaving Somalia.

So, on the line right now giving us the very latest, Kerry McKenny, a spokeswoman from Congressman Payne's office.

Miss McKenny, if you can hear me all right, tell us what you know at this time.

KERRY MCKENNY, REPRESENTATIVE DONALD PAYNE'S SPOKESWOMAN (via telephone): Well, we know that the congressman went to Mogadishu. He is chairman of the subcommittee on Africa in the U.S. Congress and he felt that it was important to travel there to see firsthand what was happening. As you know, a lot of officials in the U.S. have avoided that country because it is very dangerous.

But we understand that his plane was fired on. And as he left, we understand that mortar landed on his plane. But that they have left safely and that no one was hurt. That's what we've heard.

I have not been able to speak with the congressman personally yet, but we are hoping that he's safe and on his way back home.

COLLINS: OK. So can you confirm, then, definitively whether or not that aircraft did make it out OK?

MCKENNY: Well, that's what we've been told by police officers at the Mogadishu airport, but I have not spoken with the congressman yet to confirm that he's safe.

COLLINS: OK. Understand. Are those phone calls going in? Is it possible for him at some point to make contact with you?

MCKENNY: I don't think it'll be possible until he lands.

COLLINS: OK.

MCKENNY: Communication coming out of Mogadishu are very spotty, obviously very difficult.

COLLINS: OK. Very good. Was he returning to the United States or is there any idea of his agenda at this time as he leaves the area?

MCKENNY: His plan was to head to Nairobi to spend some time in Nairobi and then to head back home.

COLLINS: OK. And you don't know at this point whether or not those plans have changed?

MCKENNY: I do not know whether they've changed. But I hope to be hearing from the congressman shortly and we'll certainly keep you updated.

COLLINS: OK. Very good. We just wanted to find out exactly what was going on there. As best as you know it. I just want to remind our viewers of the information that we have here at CNN.

Mortar shells were fired towards Mogadishu's Airport just as U.S. congressman Donald Payne, you saw his picture there, was leaving Somalia. Again, as we just heard from his spokeswoman, Kerry McKenny, from his office. He is the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health and had decided to travel there and is apparently going on to Nairobi. Who knows, though, that plan may have changed. And of course, we will stay on top of this situation for you.

At this point we are hearing from his office that the plane did get out OK. But again reiterating, the spokeswoman, Kerry McKenny, once again, has not been able to speak with him directly. So we will wait and hold off on that definitive report until hearing from Congressman Donald Payne. Again, we'll stay on top of the situation for you.

On pot at 12, an addict at 16. The little girl was in a downward spiral until she found her way into what's known as a recovery high school. It's a relatively new idea. So, our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is checking it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCY GROSS, RECOVERING ADDICT: I mean, I haven't really been in a situation like that since I've been clean.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You won't see classes like this at most high schools. At Northshore Recovery High in Beverly, Massachusetts, it's called group. Here, Lucy Gross gets to talk about her struggles with drugs and alcohol. She's an addict. She's just 17 years old. For Lucy, she says she started smoking pot with friends when she was 12.

GROSS: Well, I was never really comfortable in my own skin. That was, I think, the big reason that I really liked drugs and alcohol.

GUPTA: By high school, the drug use was out of control.

GROSS: I was doing cocaine. I was taking painkillers, prescription painkillers. I was smoking pot. I was drinking a lot. I was doing a lot of pills: Adderall, Vicodin, OxyContin.

GUPTA: She spent six months at a residential treatment facility for troubled teens. And then her parents found Northshore, just 20 minutes from home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I came here, I thought it was OK to go hang out with my old friends because...

GUPTA: The first recovery high school opened its doors in a suburb of Minneapolis in 1987. Northshore opened in 2006. It's the first on the East Coast. Most follow the 12-step model of recovery. All of them offer state-certified diplomas.

Now, there's little formal data on just how well these schools work. But by most accounts, they do. Northshore Principal Michelle Lipinski says without them, life would be next to impossible for these recovering students.

MICHELLE LIPINSKI, PRINCIPAL, NORTHSHORE RECOVERY HIGH SCHOOL: Every student here will tell you when they walk down their public high schools that they know where to get anything. They know where to get pills. They know where to get pot. They know where to get heroin. They know where to get ecstasy. They know the locker to go to.

GUPTA: Here students sign a contract. They can't use drugs or be around known users. There's random urine testing at least once a week.

Here, Lucy's thriving, sober for nearly two years and heading to the University of Massachusetts in the fall. She credits her success in part to this recovery high school.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Beverly, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The pot trade alone drains $181 billion out of our pockets. Tomorrow Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at the high price we all pay for illegal drugs.

It's probably not marked on your calendar, but today is Tax Freedom Day. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with details on this milestone, a short one, and a check of the action on Wall Street.

Hi there, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. And we like Tax Freedom Day when it comes earlier and that is the case this year. What it is is the number of days that we need to work, on average, to pay our annual tax burden. It includes federal, state, local tax obligations. The income earned after today is theoretically ours.

And this year, Heidi, it's the earliest since 1967, a full eight days earlier than 2008's Tax Freedom Day and two weeks earlier than 2007. Why? well, it's because of the recession, which has reduced our tax obligations. We're earning less. And, of course, the stimulus includes temporary tax cuts -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Right. But I mean, it might be good sort of temporarily for taxpayers. But when you look at the deficit, not really such a good thing, right?

LISOVICZ: That's right. And, you know, there is -- there are taxes in other places. And it's a problem not only for the federal government. Many states are battling record...

COLLINS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: ... really huge, huge deficits. Lower tax revenues are prompting states to raise taxes -- something we've talked about -- sin taxes and cut programs. This year, all levels of government will take about 28 percent of our income in taxes. In 2000, just to compare, the government took about 33 percent of our income. It's falling because, again, employers are cutting pay, jobs, and the tax rate is lower for most people -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Hey, you know, so much for that five-week gain, huh? Look at those numbers. Taxing session on Wall Street, too, right now.

LISOVICZ: Yes, you know, given the gains, historic, that we haven't seen a five-week stretch like that for the Dow and the S&P since the 1930s. Having said that, no, we're not seeing gains the first hour or so of trading. It's a quiet day so far.

GM is certainly weighing on the market right now. Its shares are down 16 percent on that "New York Times" report that the Obama administration is directing it to prepare for a quick surgical bankruptcy. The Dow right now is down 86 points. The Nasdaq's down about two-thirds of a percent. We start hearing from a lot of banks and just all sectors of corporate America tomorrow.

So, could be a volatile week, Heidi. We're going to get those first-quarter report cards. They're not expected to be good.

COLLINS: Yes, bummer. All right, Susan, thanks so much for that.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

COLLINS: So, are people in other states getting off easier when tax time comes around? We'll ask an expert as part of our "Real Deal" series.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: More of the "Real Deal" on your taxes right now. Do you know whether you're paying more or less than other people in other states? Amy McAnarney is joining us now live from New York. She's the executive director for The Tax Institute at H&R Block.

Thanks for being with us, Amy.

We'll talk about Tax Freedom Day a little bit later. But we want to talk about the best and worst states. Explain what you take into account here when you look at this.

AMY MCANARNEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE TAX INSTITUTE, H&R BLOCK: Yes, so, when you think about paying tax, it's not just income tax that you pay. So, you could pay real estate property taxes, sales taxes to a state. So, that's the full tax burden you pay to the state. You know, if you carve out just the state income tax, there are some winners, and there are some, you know, more expensive ones, if you will.

COLLINS: OK. So, the best place to live in, or at least the state with the lowest tax burden is?

MCANARNEY: The lowest tax burden is really those states such as Alaska, Nevada, Wyoming. Those are states that actually don't impose income tax. And it translates to a lower overall tax burden.

COLLINS: OK. So, Alaska. We all have to move there.

MCANARNEY: Yes. Exactly.

COLLINS: What about other low tax burden states that we can see on our map there -- Nevada, Wyoming, Florida, New Hampshire -- like you were mentioning. This is all because of why? The main reason is?

MCANARNEY: I think the main reason, these states don't impose the income tax. They collect taxes other ways. So, you think about Nevada. Obviously they're collecting taxes probably through some of their gambling industries. Alaska, you know, it's the oil industry.

And when we think about the higher income-tax states or the higher tax burden states, it's typically those that have more population. So, they have to care, you know, for more people. There's probably more wear and tear on the roads. And so, you'll see a higher tax burden in some of those states.

COLLINS: Right. In fact, on to the worst state tax-wise, the state with the highest tax burden? Yes. New Jersey. That itty bitty little state right there outside of New York.

MCANARNEY: I know. New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut those are the top three that we see, actually, with the highest tax burden. And you think about it, very populous states as well.

COLLINS: Yes, what's the deal there? I mean, I know this well. I have a home in New Jersey. And it's ugly.

MCANARNEY: I know. So, the school systems, you have to pay for the, you know, with public schools, with the roads, transportation, the infrastructure and the cost that's needed to support...

COLLINS: But specifically, what's the history here?

MCANARNEY: You know, I think the history is that, you know, it goes back to, what income is coming in to the state? So, are there people actually living and working in the state? A lot of times when we live and work in different states, you have to pay the other state that you're living or working in. And you see a lot of that in some of the border states. And just trying to collect as much income as possible to support the infrastructure and the people in the state.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we are looking at all these numbers. That's for sure. Especially on a day like today. And Wednesday is the day everybody has to file.

So, Amy McAnarney, we sure do appreciate your time today, thank you.

MCANARNEY: Thank you.

COLLINS: So, what if you don't have any money left, though, to pay off your taxes this year? Do you still have to file? Yes, you do. And can you get any breaks? That might be what you're interested in. Personal finance editor Gerri Willis has some answers for you coming up next hour.

And there's not much love for the IRS for obvious reasons. But in this tough economy, the agency says it actually wants to help you. So, you can find out more when the IRS commissioner makes his announcement this afternoon. We're going to be bringing you live coverage of that. It's happening in the 1:00 p.m. Eastern hour.

In north Florida now, the floodwaters are flowing south, and so are the dangers. Here to explain more, CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano. Hey Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, more on that flooding. They're getting more heavy rain with the potential for damaging winds down there with a tornado watch in effect. On top of that, the Atlanta metropolitan area and parts of northern Georgia seeing damaging straight line winds. We'll break it all down. Very active day. Weather's coming up when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano joining us now to talk more about all of this weather that is happening, Rob. Particularly, we've got some major flooding in north Florida, right?

MARCIANO: Yes, we do. This has been happening for a couple days now. This is the Suwanee River down there in Suwanee County. And it's trying to get unloaded here. It is on the decrease. But there's more rain that's moving in. This rivals some of the flooding that they saw during tropical storm Fay during hurricane season of last year.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Quickly want to get back to this story that we've been telling you about for several days now regarding the release and the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips -- you know this -- off the Somali coast here.

Standing by to talk to us about this is Admiral Robert J. Natter. And he was the commander in chief for U.S. Atlantic Fleet. And joining us now to tell us about the situation with piracy, because this is not a new issue.

And Admiral, if you can hear me OK, I know that you have had many, many discussions about the issue of piracy. In fact, you have actually spoken just last night, I understand, with certain military members. Tell us what you're thinking at this point and what those discussions were about.

ADM. ROBERT J. NATTER, COMMANDER IN CHIEF, U.S. ATLANTIC FLEET (via telephone): Well, with respect to piracy itself, this is a very, as you mentioned, ongoing problem that we've been facing. Initially, it raised its ugly head in our modern world through the Malaka Straits, the straits between Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, where there's a lot of shipping traffic. That has been going on there for years.

And now it's reached a very tough level of coping with the commercial shipping off of Somalia and into the approaches of the Suez Canal. It is a problem that navies throughout the world certainly have had experience with. But this modern level of piracy is a new one that we're having to cope with.

COLLINS: So, your level of concern after obviously this latest event and certainly ramped it up to a different level here, at least among awareness, I think, for the American people. What would you say to that? And what needs to be done? This is not something I think a lot of people would agree is solely the responsibility of the United States Navy.

NATTER: Oh, absolutely. And, in fact, the shipping -- the Navy shipping off of Somalia and the approaches to the Suez include Chinese ships, NATO ships, Saudi Arabian ships. So, really, the entire civilized world recognizes this as a problem.

We're just going to have to work a little closer together and more actively in dealing with it, because as you say, it's ratcheted it up to a new level. And I'm convinced that the only way to deal with it is to meet it head on, because the more ransoms you pay, the more incentive these pirates are going to have to go after a target.

COLLINS: How do you do that? I mean, is this really about discussion? Or is this much more about taking action?

NATTER: Well, it's both. There's got to be discussion in getting the international community to deal with it in a consistent way. And the consistent way is to deal with it at sea and ashore at the root of the problem. Once we have international cooperation and agreement in doing that, then we need to execute that plan. But to do it in a helter-skelter way and just try and plug holes in the Indian Ocean is not going to work. So, that's...

COLLINS: Yes. Because a lot of people may not understand, Admiral, how big of an area we're talking about here. I mean, this isn't just, you know, a small body of water. I mean, it is vast and difficult to patrol and can't be done by just one navy. NATTER: Absolutely. It is a vast ocean out there. And there is literally thousands of ships transitting it every day. So, these pirates can target one where they know there are not other international Navy ships in the area and can be fairly successful at it. And what's more, the more ransom that they collect, the better equipment, GPS systems and weapons...

COLLINS: Sure.

NATTER: ... they can buy, which only escalates it further.

COLLINS: Yes. Quickly, I just wonder your opinion before we let you go here. Are you surprised that it took as long as it did, five days, to sort of maneuver through what we're hearing were negotiations and finally the release at that very heightened state of not only fear but tension, obviously, when we were talking about an AK-47 being pointed to the back of the captain?

NATTER: No, I'm not surprised. In that scenario, in that situation, we did exactly the right thing. We held the cards in that the pirates' lifeboat could not leave the area. We had time on our side. We didn't want to kill anyone.

But once our hand was forced, then we took action, appropriately so. I'm glad it took five days rather than going in there like a bunch of wild cowboys and shooting the place up. That's the wrong thing to do. They handled this exactly right, in my opinion.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we certainly do appreciate your time today and your perspective. Obviously, you have been there before, the situations involving piracy in your tenure. Admiral Bob Natter, thanks so much for your time, the commander of U.S. Atlantic Fleet, retired admiral. Thanks again, sir.

Stimulus money coming to a transportation project near you. President Obama's talking about the jobs that will be available. We'll have that coming up next, live in the hour.

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COLLINS: A woman is being treated for severe injuries after being attacked by a polar bear. The woman had climbed a fence and jumped into the polar bear habitat at the Berlin Zoo. Workers tossed rescue rings to hoist her out and distract the bears swimming nearby. It's not known why the woman jumped in, but police have cited her for trespassing.

I'm Heidi Collins. Tax time is here, and CNN is taking a closer look at what taxpayers are getting for their money. Your taxes, the "Real Deal" continues in our next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris.