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Cling to the Hope of a Miracle; Nuclear Arms Agreement; Bullied to Death; Stocks Set To Slip; Planning To Hire; Airline Will Charge For Carry-Ons
Aired April 07, 2010 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Kiran.
Have you turned on the lights, the coffeemaker? You've already turned on the TV. Keep in mind where that power comes from. For people who live and die, taking coal out of the ground. Miners trapped underground right now. Hope for their survival tempered by a grim reality.
We're continuing our coverage of the nation's worst mining disaster in 25 years.
How bad is L.A.'s money problem? So bad the city might shut down for a couple of days a week.
And there's gold in that there carry on. Gold for one airline, just when you thought you couldn't be nickeled and dimed anymore.
We begin at the top of the hour holding out to sliver of hope for a slim chance of survival. The rescue effort intensifies for four miners unaccounted for after Monday's deadly blast at a West Virginia coal mine.
Rescue crews are making progress while families for the 25 killed are making final arrangements.
Here's what we know right now. West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin telling us that rescuers have made a breakthrough completing one of four bore holes in the area where the miners are believed to be. That hole is an exhaust port of sorts with rescuers using high- pressure fans to exchange the gas-filled mine with clean air.
But even with that progress, here's the heart-wrenching reality. There has been no response from any of the missing miners as rescuers continue to knock on pipes hoping those miners will reply.
We've got big-time team coverage. "AMERICAN MORNING's" John Roberts live in Naoma with the investigative part of this story. Was this a preventable disaster?
Chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, on the scene as well. Medically speaking, could the four remaining miners still be alive?
And Ed Lavandera waiting with anxious family members praying that that answer is yes.
John, you actually talked to the CEO of this mine. Let's go ahead and listen to his defense as you grilled him on production, profits and mine safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON BLANKENSHIP, MASSEY ENERGY CEO: We would disagree in terms of the condition of our mines. A number of violations can depend on what area you're operating in, what district, and who the inspectors are and a whole host of issues and we're a big producer, but the truth is we are doing a better job in our mines typically than what we observe otherwise.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Are you suggesting that you've been unfairly singled out?
BLANKENSHIP: I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just saying that we know because we hire the top people from engineering graduate schools, we do a good job of keeping our mines in good shape. We're very open with the regulators. Top management is very dedicated to safety. So I have no belief that we are not doing as good or better job than others.
ROBERTS: In the wake of the Sago mining disaster -- and you know this well, Mr. Blankenship -- new regulations were drawn up with the Miner Act, talking about families and how they should be informed and kept apprised of what was going on in the event of an accident.
We've had several complaints from families that Massey has not reached out to them, not telephoned immediate family members about the situation.
Can you explain what happened?
BLANKENSHIP: Well, I don't know any particular incidents, but I know that we're updating the families every two hours with our chief operating officer and other key people involved.
I've been to three of them myself and we're giving them the best information we have available. You know whether someone was missed for some reason or whatever, I don't know, but we have set up a communication center for the family that's functioning every two hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So, John, does he think his mine was really operating safely even with all the safety violations?
ROBERTS: He made the argument yesterday, Kyra, that regardless of all the safety violation -- and there have been some 638 of them in the last 15 months -- that his mine is as safe if not safer than a mine of comparable size elsewhere in America.
Now there is some evidence to back that up, for example, somebody from the company yesterday made the point that in the first three months of this year they did not have any significant accidents.
Of course, right after that, they had a massive accident that killed 25 people. So there is an ebb and flow to these things but certainly in terms of violations, sources that I talked to in the mining industry say that this company is one of the worst offenders when it comes to the number of violations and the severity of those violations.
So you can make arguments on both sides and as always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
PHILLIPS: It's interesting what sources are telling you. And then we're seeing how massive this blast was.
And I know Sanjay is right there next t you.
Sanjay, I want to ask you, it's been roughly 41 hours now since this massive blast and we all remember that Sago mine survivor, Randal McCloy. I mean he was pulled out alive 40 hours into the rescue. So could we have a miracle here?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean I think that there's -- no one's going to give up hope certainly until they can confirm one way or the other and with Randal McCloy in particular. You know it was interesting because even during that time there's so many different factors that we were talking about.
You remember, John, he'd had some sort of injury to his lungs and what kind of volatile gas or this methane carbon monoxide gas exposure that he has. And these are the same questions now.
What we don't know is were there any primary injuries specifically here just from the collapse itself and then the gasses if there were in -- was, in fact, an exposure, how profound was that exposure. And then finally just -- you know, was there anything else, any other circumstance that would lessen or increase their chance for survival.
But, you know, as -- I think John was talking about earlier, the people who did survive were much further away from the area that they're looking now.
ROBERTS: When you consider on the man trip, that the railed sled that takes miners in and out of the mine shaft, it was 1,000 feet away from other miners who were found dead and they were some -- maybe hundreds of feet away from the actual point of ignition.
If you've got people 1,000 feet away from the ignition point who were killed, it would stand to reason that that blast was so massive that anything within that radius, 1,000 feet either way, did not survive, so it makes the situation -- as some officials have said -- very dire for those miners who have not yet been --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: So guys -- ROBERTS: Not yet been located.
GUPTA: I can tell you, Kyra, just --
PHILLIPS: Yes?
GUPTA: Just trying to imagine -- sorry, go ahead.
PHILLIPS: No, no --
GUPTA: The effect of the explosion --
PHILLIPS: Right.
GUPTA: First of all, it is so profound and then you have it in a contained space, as well. That really amplifies it.
PHILLIPS: OK. Well, here's definitely a reality that we all know because both of you have talked to so many miners and both of you have covered these stories. You've talked to so many family members. So just aside from this blast. You know this profession takes a toll on these miners' health every single day.
And I just want to listen to part of a piece, Sanjay, that you put together. Let's listen just for a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Lorelei Scarbro is still waiting for any word from inside the mine. Friends and people she loves are not yet accounted for, but you know it took me just minutes to realize that while we all wait with her today, in fact, Lorelei has been waiting and worrying for decades.
LORELEI SCARBRO, COAL MINER'S WIDOW: You're always concerned every time they walk out the door about a fall, about an explosion, about the danger, you know, that exists there. There are so many things that can go wrong.
GUPTA: So many danger, some intense and unpredictable, and others that seem to creep into miners' lives over time. Lorelei's husband went to work at the mines for 30 years.
SCARBRO: Going a couple of miles under ground in a very, very dark hole where it's dark and damp, and like I said before, the mountain starts falling in on you there is nowhere to go, and when the lights go out, you don't have any idea where to go and what to did.
GUPTA: That's in the case of an explosion, but Lorelei is also talking about something else -- slower deaths, black lung, coal dust killing off your lungs and literally turning them black.
Over the past decade, 10,000 miners have died of black lung disease. Kidney disease affects about 20 percent of miners and there's neurological complaints as well. SCARBRO: My daughter called me very early this morning and she was very, very upset because she said one of the hardest things that she had to do was to send her husband to work today.
GUPTA: Today.
SCARBRO: Today. He's terrified. We all are. We all are. Because, I mean, this could happen again today. We're disposable commodities here and, you know, the -- this is the only game in town. We live in a model economy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: What that interview tugged at our heartstrings and we should point out that her husband did pass, but Sanjay, what really grabbed our attention was seeing you walk through that graveyard and put things in perspective.
You said, you know, she didn't just lose her husband, but she's got a number of family members in this graveyard and it really puts into perspective what these workers go through every single day.
GUPTA: Yes, you know, I had no idea, Kyra. She kept saying she wanted to show me something and we walked to the back of her house which is where the cemetery was and there are just -- there's tombstones and graveyards, gravestones, just about everywhere and so many of those family members over a few generations now have died to mining-related causes.
Either from tragedy, accidents like this or from black lung and just the chronic illness associated from being a miner and they've died at such a young age as well. You heard, talking about her husband, essentially, debilitated at the age of 51, and he died shortly after that. So it is -- it's an incredible impact.
PHILLIPS: And let me you guys both before we go and -- and I don't know, this is the non-doctor in me, but I'm just curious to both of you -- maybe John, I'll start with you.
Do you guys notice anything just being on assignment there, the air? Do you feel it in your lungs? I mean are you guys breathing this dust as we speak?
ROBERTS: Well, you know, there are so many satellite trucks, there were so many generators running, that's probably the immediate thing that you feel here, but one thing that I did discover yesterday.
We were at a school which is in -- we're in the Marsh Fork Elementary School, which is in the shadow of the whole process -- the facility and in fact, the owner of the mine has donated $1 million to build a new school and move it elsewhere.
This is very controversial, I mean, the school, as you can imagine, right next to a coal processing facility, but if you go along inside, Kyra, the windows are all sealed up. The windows are never open, but if you run your finger along the inside windowsill, it comes up black with coal dust.
It's just -- it's so fine this particular matter, which is -- kind of makes its way in through the doors or even cracks in the walls that it comes into. So you have young children in there being exposed to coal dust. Obviously, it's not a good health situation.
PHILLIPS: That puts it in perspective even more. John Roberts, Sanjay Gupta, both of you guys, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
And stick with us. We are going to bring you the latest developments as they happen out of West Virginia including any scheduled news briefings on the rescue effort or any breaking news from the scene.
Later this hour, our Ed Lavandera talks to very concerned relatives about those missing miners and what they're going through on a minute-by-minute basis.
Buried under a wall of mud. Heavy rain bringing devastation to Brazil. Rescue crews digging deep, while thousands flee, another possible mudslide.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Record-breaking heat once again yesterday and again today across parts of the east and the severe weather threat continues.
The CNN NEWSROOM is coming.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: President Obama making nice with Russia. He heads to the Czech Republic tonight going there to sign the next generation of nuclear arms treaties with Russian Dmitri Medvedev.
This comes just after the U.S. set out a new nuke policy for our arsenal.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us live for us. Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. It was exactly a year ago, it was last April, that I covered the historic speech that the president made in Prague and the Czech Republic when he said two things.
He outlined that he wanted to press the reset button when it came to Russia and he also wanted to get rid of nuclear weapons, rid the world of nuclear weapons. Now gauging from the audience's reaction, as well as public opinion, it seemed like he was either incredibly naive or very ambitious.
Now what we are going to hear from the president is that he's going to be leaving within hours. He's going back to Prague and he's going to say yes. He's going to acknowledge that that aspiration is far off in the future but that the United States and Russia have taken significant steps towards that aim.
What are they going to be assigning here, Kyra? This new START treaty cuts nuclear weapons by a third on both sides, significantly reduces missiles and rocket launchers and also will put in place a strong verification program to make sure that both sides are complying with this agreement.
What is it about? The president will say this is about leadership, about the United States and Russia that, by the way, own 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapon, that they will take the lead in trying to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
Take a listen to the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In many ways, nuclear weapons represent both the darkest days of the Cold War and the most troubling threats of our time.
Today we've taken another step forward by -- in leaving behind the legacy of the 21st century while building a more secure future for our children. We turned words into action.
We've made progress that is clear and concrete and we've demonstrated the importance of American leadership and American partnership on behalf of our own security and the world's.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, Kyra, the president is going to leave the White House later this evening. And he's going to be traveling there to the Czech Republic where he'll be signing that treaty. He'll be meeting with the president of the Czech Republic as well as Russia and then next week a very big meeting that's going to take place here in Washington.
About 47 world leaders are going to gather together. The president is going to host them to try to come up with ways to secure nuclear weapons, to make sure they don't get in the hands of terrorists. All those leaders meeting here in Washington to talk about the next steps. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: And you'll be covering it for us. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.
Thanks, Suzanne.
A hillside has given way in Brazil crushing homes in Rio de Janeiro. Take a look at this destruction. More than 100 people now reported dead and an unknown number still missing.
Rescue crews were able to pull several hundred people out of that mud. Heavy rains were the cause and now people are waiting for the next slide. As many as 10,000 more homes still in danger right now.
Then we've got severe storm threats in the south and Midwest, Rob, right? From Louisiana all the way to Ohio?
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right, Rob. Thanks.
Taking the protest too far. A man now under arrest accused of threatening a U.S. senator over her health care vote.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So do you remember all those death threats after the health care vote? Well, a 64-year-old Washington state man is now under arrest. He allegedly called in, threatening Democratic senator Patty Murray, and said she had a target on her back. Murray voted for the law. He's supposedly bragged to undercover FBI agents that he carried a gun.
An alleged co-conspirator of the woman known as Jihad Jane is due in a Philadelphia courtroom today.
You remember Jihad Jane is a Pennsylvania woman accused of trying to help terrorists in a plot to kill a Swedish artist. She was arraigned last month. Another woman -- Jamie Paulin-Ramirez -- turned herself in Friday to face the same charges. She's expected to plead not guilty.
People in Los Angeles may soon see more closed signs on city services. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says that many departments are going to have to shut down two days a week to save money. We're not talking about police or fire departments, but things like libraries and city parks would be affected.
The mayor says the city is going to have trouble meeting payroll. He meets with union leaders today and we're going to take a closer look at L.A.'s troubles at the top of the hour.
Placing blame for a young girl's death. Accused bullies in court, but they're not the only ones on the hot seat. Are schools just as responsible?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Bullied into suicide. We've been watching the tragic case of Phoebe Prince hanging herself supposedly after brutal bullying by some of her schoolmates. Six are charged in the case, but they aren't the only ones being blamed.
CNN's Alina Cho has more.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra, there has been so much outrage in this community ever since 15-year-old Phoebe Prince committed suicide in January by hanging herself in the stairwell of her home.
Many people asking who's to blame? Fellow students, school administrator, parents? Well, three of the accused were arraigned yesterday, but they were not in court.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'd ask not guilty pleas be entered at this time.
CHO (voice-over): The arraignment of 17-year-old Sean Mulveyhill, 17-year-old Kayla Narey and 18-year-old Austin Renaud, the three teens facing the most serious charges in the Phoebe Prince case lasted less than five minutes. All three will be booked by the end of the week and released on this condition.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That they stay away from the Prince family.
CHO: Prosecutors say the bullying was so severe it drove 15- year-old Prince on January 14th to hang herself in the stairwell of her home, using a scarf her sister gave her for Christmas.
The case has put a national spotlight on bullying with many local parents blaming school officials in South Hadley, Massachusetts for not putting a stop to it.
In neighboring Chicopee, Massachusetts, school officials there say when it comes to bullying they have a zero tolerance policy.
JOSEPH MORRISSETTE, SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER, CHICOPEE POLICE: I think we have as many incidents of bullying as other schools have. The difference here is how we deal with them.
CHO: At Chicopee Comprehensive High School, adult monitors in every hallway, high-tech surveillance cameras, even an armed police officer.
DEREK MORRISON, PRINCIPAL, CHICOPEE COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL: I think teenagers respond well to adults. I think in general they respect the teachers here in the building and they also lean on them when they do need help.
CHO (on camera): They also know they can't get away with it.
MORRISON: That is true. That is true.
CHO (voice-over): And they're not just watching the students. They're getting parents involved, too. Something that some allege didn't happen in South Hadley.
(On camera): You actually also sent a questionnaire out to parents every single year.
MORRISON: Every year. A bullying survey. Yes.
CHO: Eighty to 90 percent of parents come back and say we're happy with the job you're doing.
MORRISON: Yes.
CHO (voice-over): Chicopee's mayor says times have changed so their policies have, too.
MAYOR MICHAEL BISSONNETTE, CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS: Back in the day it used to be kids fighting on the playground and the new moms or the lunch moms would get out there and they break it up and that would be the end of it. Sort of boys will be boys. And somehow it's gotten worse that when school lets out the bullying doesn't let up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: The three teens arraigned yesterday in abstencia will be in court on September 15th. Meanwhile three other girls charged in this case will be arraigned in juvenile court tomorrow. But Kyra, we're hearing that at least one of the girls has waived her right to appear. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Alina Cho, thanks so much.
Well, you knew this was coming. You just knew it. An airline turning the overhead compartment into the moneymaker. How long before the others start salivating over your carry-ons?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Kyra Phillips.
PHILLIPS: Stocks have had a hard time getting going this week, but today Wall Street will hear from several Fed officials for a preview of how that might affect trading.
So let's go straight to Stephanie Elam for more.
Hey, Steph.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Yes, we are still expecting a lower opening today, but later today we'll hear from Fed chiefs past and present. We've got Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke speaking today.
Investors will be listening to Bernanke for clues about how the Central Bank will withdraw all of that stimulus from the economy because the minutes on that last meeting didn't really provide any details. Today also marks the start of a three-day hearing that will look into the causes of the mortgage meltdown. Former Fed chief, Alan Greenspan, he's testifying right now before the Financial Crisis Commission on just that topic.
Now, in prepared testimony, Greenspan says steps can be taken to limit the impact of another shock, but warned that regulators can't prevent a crisis from happening. One of those sparks for the crisis over the past few years as we all know came from the housing industry, and today, the Mortgage Bankers' Association says the 30-year fixed loan jumped to 5.3 percent, that's the highest level since last summer. Of course, some people say the fact that the rates are going up could be a sign that the recovery is working.
Another positive sign, Bloomberg is reporting that Home Depot is planning to add jobs just after they cut jobs in each of the last three years. No word on exactly how many new jobs will be created. The retailer is benefiting from higher sales. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at numbers here as the day gets started. And as we can see, we've got the Dow off 24 points at 10,945, so off to a red start today and Nasdaq and S&P, they're also on the down side as well. So, we'll keep our eyes on it -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Sounds good. Thanks so much.
Spirit Airlines, on their website, they say we are proud to have broken the rules. Yes, they're breaking the rules, all right. Spirit's going to start charging you for carry-on bags and get this, up to 45 bucks per bag. What pioneers, Mavericks. Yes. They are recharge for checked luggage, so the big question here is will the other airlines do the same? And how long before we all have to fly naked and pay a fee for each article of clothing we wear. You knew that was coming, right?
All right, but here we go. Are you ready to pay 45 bucks for the privilege of stuffing your bag in the overhead compartment? Give me some input, CNN.com/Kyra. You're now free to move about my blog.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Holding out for a sliver of hope and a slim chance of survival right now. The rescue effort intensifying for four miners unaccounted for after Monday's deadly blast in a West Virginia coal mine. Rescue crews are making progress while families for the 25 killed are making final arrangements.
Here's what we know right now. Drillers have broken through with their first vent hole. They banged on the pipe but still haven't heard any response from any of those miners. The crews will now begin venting the poisonous gases from the mine. Three more holes are planned, and then rescue teams will begin searching the area where the miners are believed to be.
Earlier this morning, West Virginia's governor acknowledged the fading hope saying everyone is going to cling to the hope of a miracle now. And it's an agonizing time of uncertainty for people with loved ones still down there. Not sure if they're dead or alive. CNN's Ed Lavandera has been talking to those families.
So, Ed, how are they holding up?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It varies for many different people across this region, Kyra, but many of the families that are still clinging on to that hope have been kind of secluded in an area inside the mine grounds where they've been getting updates from company officials and state officials and the rescue teams that have been going and boring those holes through the mountains. So, the news as soon as they get it quickly trickles out and spreads throughout this community here.
We spoke with a woman by the name of Judy Petersen. She believes her brother Dean Jones is one of the four missing miners inside. We talked with her yesterday. A nice conversation. She's incredibly tough, holding on to that, she calls it, sliver of hope, and she's really hoping that her brother becomes that one miraculous story that we will all talk about in the coming days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDY PETERSEN, SISTER OF MISSING MINER: My brother Dean is an incredible brother, an incredible father. He's the father of a 13- year-old child with cystic fibrosis.
LAVANDERA: Judy, you're telling me your brother Dean, you believe, is still trapped inside the mountain?
PETERSEN: I believe my brother is still trapped inside the mountain. The fact that he has not been found gives us hope that he may have been able to escape to safety. He wasn't working in the same area. He was deeper in the mines at a new area that was being developed by the company, and there is a possibility that because his body has not been found that he's escaped with the other two crew members that work right side by side with him, and he may have escaped to a safety zone where there's food and water and oxygen and actually be the miracle that could come out of this that all of us are waiting and hoping for.
LAVANDERA: And this waiting must be excruciating for your family.
PETERSEN: The waiting is excruciating, because you want so badly to hold on to the hope that he's going to be all right, but you -- at the same time you know that this was a terrific explosion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA (on-camera): Kyra, Judy Peterson's sister-in-law is the family member that is inside the mine grounds getting those updates. We asked her how Dean Jones' wife was holding up through all of this, and she said it's actually been very difficult to talk to her over the last few days. She's incredibly emotional. So, that's kind of the point where we're we at right now, Kyra, as the people here, as the governor of West Virginia said a short while ago, it's going to be a big day in terms of getting news from inside that mountain. So, we'll have to see how it plays out later today -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Yes. We'll all be paying attention. That's for sure. Thanks, Ed. There's still hope for 32 coal miners in China more than a week after plodding trapped those guys deep underground. Rescuers say that they know where they are, but they have to get past explosive gas that's been building up underground as well as water that's actually blocking the way. They found six bodies yesterday, but Monday, we don't want to forget that they pulled out 115 survivors.
Sorry, ma'am, this won't fit in the overhead. Two women busted at the airport. I won't tell you why. I'll have to say check out "Weekend at Bernie's." Enough said.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Native American trailblazer, Wilma Mankiller, has died. She had pancreatic cancer. You may remember, she was the first woman to lead the Cherokee, the second largest tribe in the U.S. She was awarded the medal of freedom, the highest civilian honor in 1998. Wilma Mankiller was 64 years old.
Pay for performance. It works in sports, but what about in school? Teachers in Florida protesting a proposed law. It could hit the governor's desk next week. The plan actually rewards teachers if their students get good scores on standardized tests, but if students do poorly, pink slips.
He always sleeps like that. That's what two women told airport workers when they were carting around a dead man in a wheelchair. They also had their kids tell the same story. The family tried to board a flight from Liverpool, England to Berlin. Needless to say, it didn't work. Someone noticed the 91-year-old man was dead. The woman, wife and step-daughter said that he was alive when they got there. You know the guy was wearing sunglasses, so maybe they couldn't tell. Maybe he was a heavy sleeper and always stopped breathing for hours at a time. The women are facing minor charges. Here's David Letterman's take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Here's a story, and boy, you just wonder about what goes wrong. A woman is getting on a plane in England, and she's got her husband -- we think it's her husband -- in a wheelchair, and he's got like sunglasses, and she was wheeling him on and turns out he's dead. Yes. Trying to get a dead guy in a wheelchair with glasses in priority boarding.
(LAUGHING)
LETTERMAN: Right? For the deceased priority boarding. And so I'm thinking I've got to write a joke about this, this is tremendous, it's so weird. And all day long I keep trying to come up with and I can't come up with a joke that doesn't have something to do with Larry King. I'm sorry.
(LAUGHING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Low blow. All right. It's amazing what you can learn by watching cable. Stuff like how to save your friends when an avalanche buries them within a few inches of their lives.
And a quick happy birthday here that we just could not pass over. The lovely Luvenia Posey (ph) turned 110 years old this week. Wow! 110. She was born in 1900. One of her three husbands actually died fighting in World War I. Loveni accredits clean living for her longevity.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: I'll ask a couple of 13-year-old boys in Washington who their hero is and they can tell you, it's 12-year-old Dalton Anderson. He went from friend to hero over the weekend when he dug his two buddies out from underneath an avalanche.
DALTON ANDERSON, SAVED FRIENDS: There's like two feet of snow on top of his head, and it was really hard for us to find his head, and I stuck my hands under his helmet and unbuckled his helmet and his lips were purple and he had blood coming on the side of his mouth, and there was blood over the snow.
SHAUNNA ANDERSON, MOTHER OF VICTIM: If it wasn't for Dalton, he wouldn't be here. So, I can't let go of that kid. He's like my own son now. He's part of the family and will be forever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Great work, Dalton. Get this, he says he learned what to do in an avalanche because he watched a show on the Discovery Channel. You got to love it.
Picture perfect docking in space today. The shuttle Discovery linked up with the international space station. They are rolling over about the coast of Indonesia there, 213 miles above. It's the first time four women astronauts have been in space the same time. Three aboard the shuttle and one on the station. Navigation or radar system failed, but they had backups to help with the docking.
Well, it looks like snow, but it's really little piles of hail in Kansas. Our affiliate KSNW actually captured some of the icy mound in the town of Bel Aire (ph) in the eastern part of the state. That hail came down pretty hard and fast; but the good news, no big damage.
Meanwhile, it's hot in the east and storm threats in the south and Midwest. Right, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, that video looks like -- like, well, like snow, right? Kind of piled up, the hailstorm?
Check this out, can you see anybody in there? It's hard. There is -- right here, that's a ski pole. Ok? And you want to talk about completely buried in it. And you want to talk about needing a snorkel --
PHILLIPS: You mean someone's holding on to that ski pole?
MARCIANO: Oh yes, somebody is right there. There's a -- there's a head there, there's the ski pole there. These pictures coming out of Solitude, Utah, when they -- and snowboard also got four and a half feet in like four days. And here's -- here's a head right there. My goodness. I don't know --
PHILLIPS: We better make it clear that they're doing some pretty awesome powder skiing --
MARCIANO: Yes that --
PHILLIPS: -- they're not -- they're not buried screaming for help.
MARCIANO: No, they are fine. No -- no deadly avalanches there.
PHILLIPS: Ok.
MARCIANO: Just amazing, amazing snow for the month of April. And you know, they often get dumped out there, but the last couple of weeks they've haven't had a whole a lot of spring skiing and it has been just pile skiing and today -- that is now extended across the I- 70 Corridor, North of Steamboat, south towards Aspen and Vail (ph) I think, got 19 inches of snow. Not a lot of people showing up for work today I can tell you that.
Careers are nothing today on a powder day. You don't have friends. You don't have mothers.
Denver seeing some snow right now and this will begin to taper off as we go on throughout the afternoon.
The rainfall today right now, Chicago, back through Detroit, this is not severe yet, but later on today we still have that threat for seeing severe weather in the same spots and maybe shifting it just a little bit farther to the east today.
This is a very slow, slow moving storm. There will be some severe thunderstorms that pop up. We will see more in the way of hail and gusty winds and some lightning as well and just a slight chance of seeing tornadoes.
But yesterday we didn't see any and we haven't seen much at all this year, actually. I think 80 or so since the beginning of the year and we should by now see about 300.
So we're well below average and that's good news. And if you like the heat, my goodness, you're going to see it today, temperatures were well above average and by over 20 degrees yesterday, temperatures getting to maybe 89 degrees in D.C., 86 degrees in New York. Those may very well be record highs again, 51, meanwhile in Chicago and 46 degrees in Denver.
Slowly, this front moves to the east and yes, it's been a hot Masters as well or at least practice rounds for the Masters. Today is Wednesday so the par three tournament tomorrow, the beginning of the -- the big one, round one and they may see some showers tomorrow as this slow-moving front continues to creep off towards the east.
Kyra, back over to you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
PHILLIPS: What kind of camel can dive hundreds of feet under water and stay down for months at a time? Joe Camel, his deep sea days are almost over.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Oh, yellow submarine, yellow teeth. "The Navy Times" is reporting that smoking is going to be banned on American submarines. Still waiting for the final order, but it's expected to come soon.
Now for the news flash. Right now you can smoke on a submarine, really? Cramped in a tube, hundreds of feet down in the drink for months at a time? Now, you can't smoke in a restaurant on dry land with lots of space and ventilation. But if you're in a sub, go ahead. Smoke them if you've got them. Here's an ashtray.
The Navy is planning to change because of the way secondhand smoke can affect the crew.
Tiger Woods' long, powerful drives might inspire guys to up their golf game, but is his powerful sex drive moving them to get vasectomies? I don't know. That's probably a total stretch but listen to this.
Our affiliate in Seattle KCTP reports that a lot of guys are getting vasectomies right now. Snip, snip, why? Well, because it's the perfect time to ice down and heal up in the man cave with the Masters and the Final Four on TV. Let's go ahead and hear from a snipper and a snippee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. CHARLIE WILSON, SEATTLE VASECTOMY CLINIC: We added one extra day just to be sure there was plenty of capacity for the March madness and right at the start we had 28 guys sign up for a -- for a day.
KOSTA VARLAMOS, PATIENT: My wife is wonderful. She brought me food, she brought me drink and I sat around and watched sports, all of the sports.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right, throw in fletch and "Three Stooges" and there you go. You're golden.
It's a busy morning in the CNN NEWSROOM. CNN crews hard at work bringing you all the latest developments. Let's go ahead and check now with our correspondents starting with you, John Roberts in West Virginia.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's going to be a big day according to Governor Joe Manchin because they have bored one hole down to where they believe those four miners -- the four remaining miners may be trapped. They're just trying to get all of that toxic -- that poison gas out so rescue crews can get back in. Those crews, Kyra are very anxious to get back down in the mine and find out what happened; as anxious as the family members are to learn what the fate of those four miners is. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Miami. An injured Haitian baby whisked to the United States after the earthquake is finally reunited with her parents here in Miami. I was there. Our cameras were there and we'll bring you that emotional video at the top of the hour.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. If you're icing down and preparing to watch the Masters tomorrow, a little rain for them. But first, more record- breaking heat for the East Coast at the top of the hour.
PHILLIPS: I love how you listen to those westerns (ph), Rob. I know you won't be icing down though, but I know you'll be watching the masters.
MARCIANO: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: Also ahead, one city's budget crisis leads to dire sacrifices. Services are slashed, parks are closed and you'll be surprised who is arguing for similar cuts in the police and fire departments. Are these tough choices coming to your neighborhood?
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PHILLIPS: Airline passengers, buckle up. There's another new fee on the horizon. Spirit Airlines is going to start charging $45 a bag for putting a carry-on bag in the overhead bin. So what do you think? Will other airlines follow suit?
Christine Romans, part of the CNN Money Team -- what do you think, Christine?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's the big question if other airlines follow suit. We know that you're paying to check your bags on most airlines, except for JetBlue. You're paying to check the bag. But that's causing people to bring more and more on to the plane, Kyra, so now Spirit Airlines wants to charge you to put it in the overhead bin. You can just have one little bag underneath the seat in front of you. And to put something in the overhead bin, if you bring it to the gate, it will be $45. If you sign up online it will be $30. And for the people who are the $9 Fair Club members, they'll pay $20 to put something in the overhead bin.
In the overhead bin. Charging for carry-on. I bet you want to know Kyra what things are exempt. Because I immediately was trying to figure out, wait a second, this is going to cost me a fortune if other airlines start to adopt this. For example, a baby bag is exempt, a stroller, a cane, a walker, the food you buy at the airport because you don't want to buy the food on the play. You can bring a bag of food on, so there are some exemptions that you can watch out for there.
But basically, the bottom line here is they're going to charge you for the stuff you're bringing on the plane, the carry-on that you want to stuff in the overhead bin. Your coat, they're not going to charge you for your coat, but this is taking that unbundling of costs and fees, right? It's taking this to a whole new level, isn't it, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right. What about breakables? I'm thinking, ok. Sometimes during the holidays you bring gifts in a frame or a piece of art. I mean I'm being random here. We shouldn't be charged for that because we don't want it to get demolished in checked baggage.
ROMANS: But if it's big and bulky and you're going to put it up there, they're going to charge you.
PHILLIPS: So unfair.
ROMANS: I guess you only buy breakables that are small enough to put under the seat. But look, you know, Spirit is interesting because they have their fares; they break them down so they show you.
You know, you pay one penny for the fare. You pay $12, for example, from Atlanta to say, Myrtle Beach. You pay $12 for the gas in the plane and you pay $18 in fees and they break it all down for you, this is the unbundling that they're talking about. Unbundling everything so you see and you pay for what you use.
PHILLIPS: That's frustrating.
ROMANS: I'll tell you the other side of this story, people are frustrated and outraged, actually, but the other side of the story is the flight attendants who say 80 percent of them who say they've had some sort of strain or injury, because people instead of paying the checked bag fee they bring as much as they can on to the plane and then they're trying to get it up there with the running shoes tied on to the roller bag that's busting them in the head.
PHILLIPS: Knocking them on the head, causing a bruise.
ROMANS: The bottom line is pack light because everything you bring, you're going to get charged for.
PHILLIPS: Oh, wow. All right. We'll keep following the story, of course. We've got a lot of response if you can imagine.
Thanks so much.
ROMANS: I know.
