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President States "Recovery Plan Beginning to Pay Off"; U.S. Congressman's Plane Attacked in Somalia; Navy Kills Pirates, Rescues Captain; Today Marks Tax Freedom Day; President Eases Cuba Restrictions; Protesters, Police Clash in Thailand

Aired April 13, 2009 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And there you have it, President Obama at the Department of Transportation right now, wrapping up comments there.

The president saying the recovery plan is beginning to pay off. Projects are being approved with speed and care, and that the first portion of the stimulus plan directed at infrastructure spending is ahead of schedule and under budget. Two thousand projects approved in 41 days.

And if you would like to track the projects and the spending, you can just go to recovery.gov.

All right. Top of the hour here. Just five minutes past the hour, everyone.

And welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.

We are following breaking news this hour.

A U.S. congressman has just landed safely in Kenya after his plane was attacked in Somalia. Still trying to get absolute clarification on that portion of the story.

There are some conflicting details at this point. We'll sort it out. But we do know that Representative Donald Payne of New Jersey had just wrapped up a news conference at the Mogadishu airport. His flight was taking off when it was fired on.

A spokeswoman for Congressman Payne tells CNN no one was hurt. And just moments ago, we got these remarks from a State Department spokesman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT WOOD, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I'm assuming (ph) it's on a U.S. government plane, but I'm not certain of that. But there were no -- my understanding is there are no DS agents protecting him.

QUESTION: Did the State Department help him arrange the trip? Were you involved in any way?

WOOD: We provided the congressman with a briefing and gave him a very frank and straightforward assessment of the security situation on the ground. So indeed.

QUESTION: Did you advise him not to go?

WOOD: We briefed him on and gave him a very frank assessment of the security situation.

QUESTION: Well, when you say that you gave him a very frank assessment of the security situation, which means that the security situation is not very good?

WOOD: Well, as you know, we have...

QUESTION: It sounds like you suggested that it's not a good time to travel there.

WOOD: Well, we have a travel advisory out that warns Americans against traveling to Somalia. So he's certainly well aware of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So in the end, a daring operation brought the hostage crisis to a dramatic finish. Three gun shots, all fatal, fired in the dark by three U.S. Navy SEALs.

Our Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence reports on how it all went down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (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.

VICE ADMIRAL WILLIAM E. GORTNEY, U.S. NAVY: The 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. A 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 the 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 sniper's position on the fantail of the Bainbridge observed one of the pirates in the pilot house and two pirates with their head and shoulders exposed. And one of the pirates had an 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.

CAPTAIN RICHARD PHILLIPS, RESCUED MERCHANT CAPTAIN, MAERSK ALABAMA: Thanks, guys. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Chris Lawrence joining us now.

And Chris, here's my question for you: Are American ships in other countries going to start arming themselves after seeing what happened here?

LAWRENCE: Well, that's certainly one of the suggestions from Vice Admiral William Gortney he made today, not only putting barbed wire around parts of the ships that he says has deterred a couple of attacks already, just recently, but also having a small, private, armed security detachment on board.

The problem with that is, if the merchant ships start buying arms and guns, the pirates who are well funded through all this ransom money they've collected can buy even bigger guns. And you start to have sort of an escalation of arms, as well as the fact that certain countries do not allow merchant ships to be armed.

HARRIS: Boy, I don't think you want that, an arms race on the seas there.

All right. Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon for us.

Chris, appreciate it. Thank you.

A homecoming is in the works for sea captain Richard Phillips. We're told big plans are being made.

Live now to our Stephanie Elam, near the Phillips' home in Underhill, Vermont.

And Stephanie, let's take a -- let's go back to Friday. When we were talking on Friday, I remember there was one woman that you spoke with at a store, and she was very emotional about the fact that one of her neighbors, this captain, was in such jeopardy. This is a guy who she was talking to you about that she can recall a number of times when he was out just taking care of the yard.

What a turnabout for this family and this community.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, certainly. You know, the longer that this dragged on, the more pins and needles of a feeling there was here.

And the woman you're talking about, Laura Wells (ph), she owns a shop right at the end of the street here that the Phillips' live on. And her pain for the Phillips' family was palpable. I think she was surprised by her emotion as it came to her at that point. But now, you know, the skies have cleared.

Yesterday was a chilly, snowy kind of a day. The skies are clear today. I hear some birds chirping, people are out walking, and there are lots of smiles here. People are very excited about the news that Captain Phillips is OK.

Yesterday, we were outside of the Phillips' home when a car pulled up. It looked like a couple of college-aged women jumped out and basically squealed with excitement as they ran into the Phillips' home yesterday, overjoyed with the news that the captain was safe -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Stephanie, what's it been like in that town? Give us a bit more of the flavor. What are you hearing from everyone?

ELAM: These are some really optimistic people here. The entire time I've been here -- and I've been here since Wednesday morning -- everyone has been confident that the captain would be safe. The family has been echoing that sentiment as well. In fact, let's take you to what they said in a statement that they put out through their spokeswoman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And on top of it, I should also note that during the whole ordeal that was going on with the Phillips' family, Andrea Phillips completely gracious in the time that we did see her come outside of her house. And in her statement, also saying that they were really happy that everyone who was in the rescue effort was safe as well, and they thank the families of the rescue people just because they know their families were probably worried about their loved ones as well -- Tony. HARRIS: Yes. Boy. Hey, Stephanie, the yellow ribbons still up?

ELAM: Oh, they're still up. I'm pretty sure the yellow ribbons are going to stay up until the captain actually gets home. You know, it's one thing to know he's safe. It's completely different to give someone a hug and just lay your eyeballs on them and know they're OK.

HARRIS: That's good. That's good, yes.

Stephanie Elam for us.

Stephanie, good to see you. Thank you.

More trouble just down the road for General Motors. A report that bankruptcy could be next for the struggling automaker.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, we've been reporting on preparations by General Motors for a possible bankruptcy. According to "The New York Times," the Treasury Department has given GM a deadline to lay the groundwork.

Christine Romans of our CNN Money team joining us live from New York.

Christine, you've been following this story.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Sure.

HARRIS: Boy, have you been following this story. What's the latest?

ROMANS: Well, this is what we know. "The New York Times" is reporting that the Treasury Department is actually directing General Motors into the preparation of a bankruptcy filing. This is what we know.

GM will not comment, Tony. And this is what the government says. An administration official says, "Speculation on what will be the end result is premature. The auto task force is working closely with GM in advance of that June 1st deadline to determine what the best solution is for the long-term health of the auto industry."

Now, Tony, as you know, sources have told us in the past week that there are intense and earnest preparations under way for a bankruptcy filing. With a June 1st deadline, it is likely that this company is trying to find a way to survive outside of bankruptcy but, quite frankly, has to be making those preparations in case that deadline comes and goes without some kind of more concessions from its bondholders and unions.

HARRIS: All right. So explain to us all what is meant by this new term of art that is being thrown around, this idea of a surgical bankruptcy. What on earth does that mean? ROMANS: I think we don't know what on earth that means, and that's why the latest report from "The New York Times" is so interesting, because a source in there, speaking on the condition of -- anonymously, said basically it would be something that could be done and finished in two weeks or less. Think of that, this huge company sort of dismantled, reorganized, and comes out the other end a lean, mean, competitive machine, one would hope, in two weeks or less. That's why you would think that there's a lot of work being done ahead of the time to try to figure out how to make that happen.

And you were talking with Susan Lisovicz earlier. A lot of the speculation that it would be taking the good parts of GM and the bad parts of GM and trying to re-craft this company. Part of the "bad parts" of GM could be an awful lot of health care obligations, and that's something that really worries a lot of retirees and people who, frankly, had a deal with this company. And that's what they're concerned about.

HARRIS: Well, what's Chapter 11? What's Chapter 7?

ROMANS: Chapter 7 is you go out of business. Chapter 111 is you are restructured.

HARRIS: And that's what we're talking about, essentially.

ROMANS: That's absolutely right. That's absolutely right.

HARRIS: All right, Christine. Appreciate it. Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: Sure.

HARRIS: It is a fact that will absolutely shock you. Heroin, it's cheaper and easier to get than a six-pack of beer.

Next, a closer look at the drug's growing clutch on young people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: U.S. President Barack Obama visits Mexico Thursday. The deadly cross-border drug trade will be a top priority in his talks with Mexican officials.

In the United States Northeast, police say a newer, cheaper kind of heroin is targeting teenagers.

Carol Costello has the story of one New York family that is fighting back.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony remember when Hillary Clinton said it was in part our insatiable appetite for illegal drugs that's fueling the Mexican drug trade? Well, she's right. The appetite for illegal drugs like heroin is hitting middle America's children hard. And before you is a say, not my kid, please listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO (voice-over): It's easy to close your eyes if you believe drug-related violence in Mexico could never affect you, not if you live on the East Coast of the United States in a safe middle class neighborhood. But it does.

DOREEN CIAPPA, MOTHER: It makes me angry that they don't see the young lives they're destroying.

COSTELLO: Doreen and Victor Ciappa's eyes are open wide. Last May, their 18-year-old daughter Natalie survived an overdose on a drug they told police they'd never seen before.

D. CIAPPA: I started screaming, actually. Because I had showed him the packets because they said we can't do anything if we don't know what it is. And we had found these little empty packets. I had spent hours on the Internet trying to figure out what they were.

COSTELLO: Those little white packets turned out to be heroin, much of it smuggled through Mexico and marketed to teenagers. No need to shoot up anymore. You can smoke it or snort it, and it's cheap.

JOHN GILBRIDE, SAC, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN. NY: Unfortunately today, a bag of heroin can be cheaper than a six pack of beer.

COSTELLO: And unlike a generation ago, this heroin is very pure, upwards of 70 percent. Teenagers are getting hooked faster and overdosing more.

GILBRIDE: Try heroin once, and you may not have the opportunity to try it again.

COSTELLO: Law enforcement officials say heroin use has spiked in the northeast. More than half of heroin arrests nationwide happen here, and twice as many heroin users seek treatment than all other regions combined.

On Long Island, it's luring middle class kids like Natalie.

D. CIAPPA: She was, you know, something else.

COSTELLO: A straight "A" student, a cheerleader -- kids like her can be attracted to this cheaper heroin because they don't think it's as dangerous as the heroin you shoot into your veins.

DET. LT. PETER DONOHUE, NASSAU CITY, POLICE DEPARTMENT: I think we skipped a generation in education. The young kids don't see the perils with heroin.

COSTELLO: After that first overdose back in May, Natalie promised her parents she would stop but she didn't. And weeks later, she died.

D. CIAPPA: This is today's heroin art. This is what they look like. They look like everybody's kid.

COSTELLO: The Ciappas are on a mission to save those other kids. They helped pass Long Island's Natalie's Law requiring officials to post information about heroin arrests on the Web so other parents can learn from their painful lesson.

VICTOR CIAPPA, FATHER: She had everything to live for and I just never wonder because I don't think it was an issue. I never thought a kid like that would ever dabble with something as scary as heroin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The Ciappas say Natalie was introduced to this drug by a drug-dealing boyfriend. He has now been convicted of dealing drugs to someone else. And yes, Natalie's parents will be at his sentencing hearing. They believe the dealers and suppliers killed their daughter by introducing her to this very addictive drug -- Tony.

HARRIS: Carol, appreciate it. Thank you.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency recently announced additional resources to help in the fight against Mexican drug cartels.

Joining us now from New York, Raphael Reyes. He leads the Mexico and Central America section of the DEA's Global Enforcement Operations.

Rafael, thank you so much for your time. This is an important conversation. We've been trying to get you on, as you know, ,for a couple of days now. So I've asked for a little extra time so we can sort through a number of issues.

But first of all, thanks for your time.

RAFAEL REYES, DEA GLOBAL ENFORCEMENT OPS.: You're welcome.

HARRIS: All right. Let's establish a bit of a framework for our discussion. Let's listen to recent comments from the secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. And then, Rafael, let's work through this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We have seen the violence in Mexico spike. We've seen it spike because of the efforts of the Calderon government to take on these cartels. And we've seen it spike because we are increasingly trying to shut down the avenues by which the drug trade can move drugs into the United States and, therefore, the cartels are fighting each other for turf and for precedence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right, Rafael. Let's get started here.

Does this nation, does the United States of America understand in the way you do the gravity of the national security threat to America posed by what's going on in Mexico? REYES: Well, if they don't, and after the recent publications of high-profile arrests and seizures that have taken place, we ought to immediately start looking into it. It is a very real and potent threat to the United States with regards to what the cartels, in and of themselves, what they pose with regards to the Mexican authorities.

HARRIS: OK. Got you. Then let's sort through this.

Can you describe the real danger, ,that real danger that you are talking about posed to this country by those Mexican drug cartels and their affiliates in United States?

REYES: Well, as strong response on behalf of the Calderon administration attacking that power and impunity for which the cartels have historically operated under through his initiatives, judicial reforms, anti-corruption efforts, we've seen historic seizures both in drugs, cash, weapons, high levels of extraditions that we have never seen before, let alone even thought of would have occurred 10 years ago. The deployment of troops into the hot corridors basically has caused disastrous effects upon the cartels, and not only on how they operate, but also supplying drugs from Mexico into the United States.

Consider the fact that through these deployment of troops, most of these corridors now are -- the encroachment of a cartel into another rival's territory have increasingly been spiked up. And henceforth, causing an historic spike in violence among themselves for what they believe is a competing market in the United States.

HARRIS: So you choke off the supply routes. And as a result of that, you're finding that these cartels are fighting one another?

REYES: Yes, they are, at great lengths to maintain a stronghold on what they perceive to be a shrinking market in the United States. When you factor in also the historic trends that we've seen as a result of the impact of the initiatives of the Calderon administration, we've seen dramatic changes and trends that we consider measurable trends, or success indicators, with regards to the pattern of cocaine movement from South America into Mexico, subsequent distribution into the United States, as well as the price per gram of cocaine double by over 104 percent, with a correlative drop of 35 percent in the United States.

HARRIS: OK. You're talking about the stepped-up effort of security at the checkpoints. How successful, in your mind, will this really be at sort of choking this trade that we're talking about here? And is it worth the tradeoff for all of the increased border traffic that comes with it and the loss of commerce to some of these border cities? Because that's the criticism that you hear about the stepped- up efforts at the checkpoints.

REYES: Well, over the last three years, we have seen a steady decrease in the cocaine seizures along the southwest border, from 28,000 to 23,000, to 16,000 in calendar year '08. Again, steady decreases. However, with regards to marijuana, you've gone from 1.1 million to 1.4 million to 1.2 million kilos of marijuana that have been seized. The trend with regards to the steady decrease is directly attributed to the strong and aggressive campaign on behalf of the Calderon administration in choking off these lucrative supply routes to the cartels. And henceforth, the increase in spike in violence, that competing factor for what they believe is that market for the money making.

HARRIS: Rafael, here's the last question I have for you. I'm just curious, all of the work that you're doing, isn't the real potential here that it will be undercut by the huge demand for drugs in this country. And that in spite of the resources, in spite of the intelligence, that the demand is such that it will corrupt any real effort to end this trade?

REYES: The bottom line is you can't stop it. You need to continue. You have to move forward, you have to be aggressive. You have to attempt to break that power and the impunity that these cartels have always operated under.

You're seeing dramatic, historic seizures that reflect those particular initiatives that have been instituted by the government of Mexico. We need to support that, we need to continue. We need to bring the fight to the cartels. And we need to win this, bottom line.

HARRIS: Rafael, great to see you. Rafael Reyes is the chief Mexico and Central American section head for DEA's global enforcement operations.

Great conversation. Let's do it again. Thank you, sir.

REYES: You bet.

HARRIS: So are people in other states paying less than you when it comes to tax time? We ask an expert as part of our "Real Deal" series.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get a check of markets now. Three hours into the trading day. As you can see, well, the Dow is off of, you know, session losses to this point. The Dow down still 71 points after a heck of a five week run for the Dow. Five weeks in positive territory. The Nasdaq is down -- guys, what is that, 16? OK. The Nasdaq is down 16. We're going to follow the markets, of course, with Susan Lisovicz, get more details on this downturn in just a couple of minutes.

It's probably not marked on your calendar, but it is Freedom Day. What does it all mean? I promised Susan a couple of moments. Man, I'm a man of my word.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm right here.

HARRIS: There she is, Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange.

LISOVICZ: I cannot improve upon your market report, so . . .

HARRIS: Well, why the heck did I do that if you were right there? I'll leave it to you.

LISOVICZ: What I can talk about is Tax Freedom Day because, let's face it, the people would rather hear about that than market sell-off. And that is the number of days you need to work on average to pay your annual tax burden. Includes, of course, the federal and state, local tax obligations. The income earned after today is theoretically yours to save and spend. And this year it's the earliest since 1967. Eight days earlier than last year's. And a two full weeks earlier than 2007.

Why, you might ask, has it been moved up? Well, the recession has reduced tax obligations for many of us. And the stimulus includes some temporary tax cuts, Tony.

HARRIS: Nice. You know, clearly good news for taxpayers, but something tells me if we flip the coin here, this may be creating some problems for the government. Am I correct in this?

LISOVICZ: I was going to say it's a double-edged sword, but maybe a double-edged coin.

HARRIS: There you go. There you go.

LISOVICZ: Yes, that's right. I mean there are ramifications to this. We know it. We report it all the time how many states are battling record deficits, lower tax revenue prompting states to cut many programs that are near and dear to us and to raise taxes on things like cigarettes, alcohol. This year, all levels of government will take about 28 percent of our income in taxes. In 2000, just to compare, the government took 33 percent of our income. That was a record high. But, of course, it's been falling because, once again, employers are cutting pay and jobs and the tax rate is lower for many people because of this downturn that we're experiencing, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, got a bit of a sell-off today? A little profit taking?

LISOVICZ: Yes, a little profit taking. As I said, I can't really improve much but the Dow -- on your report, Dr. Harris. But I will mention one of the reasons why the Dow is off its lows is Citigroup shares are surging 13 percent. It reports tomorrow. It's not buying ahead. I think it maybe reports that Citi is trying to shed some more assets to improve its balance sheet. This report from Reuters says that it may be looking to shed some of its operations in Japan to try to pare itself down and get itself into better fiscal health -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right, Susan, good to see you. Thank you. You did a wonderful job. Much better than what I was able to manage there.

All right. More of the real deal on your taxes right now. Do you know whether you're paying more or less than people in other states? Amy McAnarney spoke with Heidi Collins earlier this morning from New York. She is the executive director for the tax institute at H & R Block.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

AMY MCANARNEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TAX INSTITUTE, H&R BLOCK: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: I want to show you some pictures now, disturbing pictures. Before I get to that, let me push ahead with -- for Kyra Phillips' show. The IRS says it wants to actually help people struggling to pay their taxes. Commissioner Douglas Shulman outlines what the agency is doing to help. He speaks at the National Press Club. Live coverage as we push forward in the 1:00 hour right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And as I was mentioning just a moment ago, some disturbing pictures for you. But they're coming from our affiliate here in Atlanta. This is DeKalb County, Georgia, just east of Atlanta. And this is a tree down on a vehicle. We understand that at least one person has been killed in that vehicle and this happened not that very long ago. We've got one of our CNN crews on its way to that area right now. We'll be able to get additional reporting on this. But as you can see, live pictures from our affiliate here in Atlanta, WSB.

As Rob Marciano has been reporting to us, there is a line of storm, some straight line winds associated with a system that is moving from west to east impacting Georgia right now. It has been raining pretty heavily in Georgia throughout the early morning hours. And the winds associated with the system pretty wicked. Certainly strong enough to knock down trees with weak root structures and maybe even some stronger trees.

It's a pretty strong system. And as a result of that, we have one person killed as a result of a tree being blown over on to a vehicle. We will continue to follow developments on the storm system that is moving through the southeast, with Chad Myers throughout the afternoon right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And this just in a short time ago. The Obama administration announcing it will loosen restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba for Cuban Americans only. White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux live with details.

And, Suzanne, the truth is, the administration has been signaling for some time it was likely to move in this area.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you may recall, Tony, it was just last week when President Obama was in Europe that this story actually leaked and was confirmed by a senior administration official. So, what's happening now is that there really is going to be this official announcement of Obama's intentions. And essentially what they're going to be doing is lifting some of those travel restrictions for Cuban Americans, as well as the kinds of gifts that they can go ahead and give family members. Making it a little bit easier to travel, making it easier to provide for their family back in Cuba.

This is all a part of the campaign pledge that Barack Obama had made saying that he wanted to try to improve relations between the United States and Cuba. This does not lift the trade embargo between the two countries. This does not allow people to give items or gifts to senior government, Cuban government officials or communist party members. But what it does do is it eases some of those restrictions between the Cuban Americans who are trying to give to their families.

And, obviously, it comes at a very important time, Tony, because it's the Summit of the Americas. That is where President Obama is going to be starting on Wednesday. And there will be some leaders who will be pushing for this kind of move. So this is why he's actually announcing this today -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux with a bit of breaking news for us here. Suzanne, appreciate it. Thank you.

A strong breeze through several states could be just the thing to help stimulate the economy. Next in our CNN "Energy Fix," we will take a look at which states are adding the most wind power and jobs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: As the wind power industry grow, so do the jobs that come with it. Which states, which ones are leading the way? Time for a bit of an "Energy Fix" here. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has that "Energy Fix" from New York.

And, Poppy, I'll tell you what, if you play any golf in the lone star state, the answer to this question is pretty easy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM, CORRESPONDENT: Because you can see a wind turbine on the horizon.

HARRIS: Oh, yes.

HARLOW: I'm not a very good golfer. My producer is pretty great at it. But, of course, Tony, you're right. Let's pull up the list here, show you what we're talking about.

Texas blowing away every other state. We'll take a poll here and show you what we mean. Then Iowa coming in next, California, Minnesota and Washington rounding out the top five there. These numbers coming in just this morning from an industry trade group releasing a list of the states that are generating the most wind power.

So what we want to do now is talk about what that will mean for jobs because the latest reading we got on jobs was 85,000 people in this country working in the wind industry in terms of what we saw in terms of new turbine factories that were open or expanded or announced. That happened in 24 state last year alone, Tony. And the number of people that work in the wind industry has increased 70 percent from 2007, Tony, to 2008. A huge increase there in jobs.

HARRIS: I don't know how sustainable that is, but I'll ask the question, are we going to keep seeing that kind of job growth?

HARLOW: You know, we likely will. It's possible, right? President Obama has said multiple times he wants to double our renewable energy capacity in the next three years. The stimulus plan sets aside billions and billions of dollars for investment in just that. That could mean more wind power installations.

I sat down just last week with T. Boone Pickens, the oil man turned clean energy advocate. He says his Pickens Plan is still moving ahead. He says even this deep recession is no time to stop trying. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

T. BOONE PICKENS, CHAIRMAN, BP CAPITAL: If you were going to plant a tree, the best time to plant it would have been 20 years ago and then you would have had a tree. OK. The second best time is today. So we haven't had an energy plan for 40 years. We've got to get an energy plan. And that's going to come out of this administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. And, Tony, he spent $58 million on his own investing in this plan. He's very committed to it. Of course, it's a wind and natural gas plan. He's working on securing more financing now. The recession, of course, has taken a toll on funding for all renewable energy projects. But we asked him on this set, how determined are you? He's very determined.

And, you know, Tony, there have been a lot of reports that the Pickens plan has been slowed down by the recession.

HARRIS: Yes.

HARLOW: He wanted to clear the record here and tell us that is not the case. He was going from our studio to a meeting with potential investors to get more. So, we'll see. He's still working hard.

HARRIS: Yes. OK. Poppy, good to see you. Thank you.

HARLOW: Sure.

HARRIS: Wild, wild weather is rolling across parts of the United States right now. Next, a family's tragic story. Homes and lives literally torn apart.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Want to bring you pictures that we showed you just a short time ago of what has turned into a really horrible story in Decatur, Georgia. Actually, this is a Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. As you can see here, a tree down on a vehicle. And we understand that one person in that vehicle has been killed. So we have a fatality linked to this strong line of storms.

And I think I mentioned to you maybe 20 minutes or so ago that Jacqui Jeras was on her way.

Jacqui, are you at that location or somewhere near that location? You can certainly talk to the strong winds that have been coming through the Atlanta area over the last few hour. Really overnight we've been pounded with heavy rain here in Georgia.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. This has been a really rare, unusual type of event, Tony. And it is pretty widespread across the metro area. We're talking about well over 200,000 people who don't have power at this time.

And check out the scene just behind me. This huge tree is just completely blocking off the street. And look at all the power lines. And, you know, this is just one of numerous trees that are brought down across this road. We've had so much rain the last couple of weeks, several inches, so the ground is really saturated. And when those strong winds came through, it uprooted many, many trees across the area.

So hundreds of trees down. We've got major damage to homes. At least a dozen homes up in Cherokee County received major damage because trees had fallen on them. And then also the fatality that you talked about.

This is what we would call a wake (ph) low event, Tony. And it's a really complicated meteorological event. And it's really difficult to predict. We started seeing some of these winds developing and this unusual weather system in Alabama early this morning. And then it came through across northern part of Georgia and then started to dissipate.

So this is not a thunderstorm-related event. It's actually an unusual areas of this thinning (ph) air behind our big rain that we had across the area this morning and it created an additional little area of low pressure. And so what drives the wind is the differences in pressure. So the stronger the high and the stronger the low and the closer they are next to each other, the stronger your winds are going to be. So it was short lived but certainly intense and it's going to take quite some time to clean up from this mess -- Tony.

HARRIS: Boy, and, Jacqui, let me get a firmer fix on your location. I don't know if you're in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, which is kind of a Tony section of Atlanta. Are you in -- which -- where are you exactly?

JERAS: We're in the Oak Grove area, Tony.

HARRIS: OK. All right. Jacqui Jeras for us.

Jacqui, appreciate it. Thank you.

JERAS: Sure.

HARRIS: Boy, what a horrible story. One person killed. That tree falling on that vehicle.

And still ahead in the NEWSROOM, angry protests in Thailand. Demonstrators rioting, setting fires, blocking streets. What's behind the violence and all the chaos?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Somali pirates are now vowing revenge after Navy SEAL snipers killed their comrades. Here's what we know. Three Navy SEALs fired one shot each, killing the three pirates who were holding Captain Richard Phillips in a lifeboat off the Somali coast. A fourth pirate is now in custody. He had left the lifeboat and was aboard the USS Bainbridge getting treatment for a stab wound suffered in the initial hijacking.

President Obama had authorized lethal force if Captain Phillips appeared in imminent danger. The SEALs rescued Captain Phillips unharmed. A medical team from the USS Boxer has checked out Captain Phillips and he is said to be in good health. His family and his hometown in Vermont eternally grateful to the Navy and ready to put all of this behind them. We're expecting to hear from his wife in her first news conference later today.

Chaotic political violence in the Thai capital leaves two people dead, at least 70 injured. Riot police deployed in Bangkok where a state of emergency has been in effect since Sunday. Here's what it looked like earlier today. Thousands of red shirt protesters have been rallying for the prime minister's resignation. CNN's Dan Rivers is in Bangkok where the situation seems to be calming down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can see that the soldiers now have control of this intersection and the traffic is slowly beginning to return. It's been pretty much deserted of cars all day. And this has been where some of the fiercest clashes have been earlier in the day. We've seen soldiers like this using their M- 16s to fire volleys of shots into the air above the heads of protesters. The protesters, in turn, have responded with bricks and stones and petrol bombs and even hijacking buses and sending them careening down this road and smashing into the army lines.

Finally, though, the army appears to have the upper hand. They appear to have control certainly here and at a number of other key intersections. But thousands of red-shirted anti-government protesters remain camped outside government house, which is the office of the prime minister. The his army spokesman is insisting that they do have a grip on the situation and that they are restoring order. And you can see columns of soldiers moving through the city here as the darkness begins to fall and the army tries to tighten its grip on the key locations in Bangkok.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And we are pushing forward with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips.