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Rep. Bart Stupak Retiring; Setback at the Mine; Jobless Money Gone

Aired April 09, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, guys. It's actually good that I have Dana Bash. She's coming up in just a moment, she's standing by on the phone talking about exactly what you guys are speaking of. So thank you both.

And hello to you all. I am T.J. Holmes sitting in today for Kyra Phillips.

Over the next couple of hours, we're going to be hitting on a lot of points, including that breaking news about Bart Stupak. But also going to be going back to the mine site in West Virginia.

Four miners still down there somewhere. Still unaccounted for. Rescuers now have had another setback. They have had to retreat for their own safety.

Also, a story a lot of people talking about yesterday. Tiger Woods. Now what he did yesterday was really reminded everybody why he got famous in the first place. Long before he was ever infamous. By playing golf and playing it well. He's taming the Masters right now.

Also you've been there before. On a plane, in a theater maybe. And there's a kid behind you kicking the back of your seat. What do you do? We'll tell you what one woman did and why she's now possibly facing some charges.

So, again, the breaking news we're keeping an eye on this morning, Bart Stupak. You know the name, you've heard it a lot in the health care reform debate. He is now saying he will not seek re-election.

This is a nine-term congressman who played a key role in getting health care reform passed. Of course it is now law. And for some, it's a liability. They would say as well.

This is a seat Democrats were hoping to hold on to. And now many are thinking it might be in jeopardy now that Bart Stupak, who again, a lot of people would give him a whole lot of credit for allowing that health care to pass after he made a deal with the White House in allowing that particular executive order to be signed.

And therefore, his vote came and with his vote came other votes that got Democrats to that magic number to allow him to pass that health care reform.

Our Dana Bash is the one who is letting us know about this, helping break this story just a short time ago. On the phone with us.

Dana, first of all, to some people, this might seem a bit of a surprise. To others, maybe not so much.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): That's right, T.J. I mean Bart Stupak is not one of those Democrats that the leadership -- the Democratic leadership was worried about, really, in terms of getting reelected.

Even though here where we are in his district, in the upper peninsula of Michigan, there are a lot of conservative voters here. He actually -- even though he's got a "D" in front of his name -- Democrat -- he's considered one of those. He is conservative.

But, look, the bottom line that we are told from Democratic sources and we have been told over the past couple of days as we've heard more and more rumblings that he might, in fact, retire is that he has been in Congress for 18 years, for nine terms.

This is a -- you know, it's not only a brutal job for him in particular, getting back up here to very rural Michigan, but it's an exhausting job in general, especially in the past several weeks with regard to -- as you have said so well -- what he has been through with this health care vote.

But we are told that he is going to say is that when he was first elected in 1992, he ran on reforming the health care system and that he has considered retiring several times in the past but didn't do it for various reasons but now he feels that it is an OK time for him to do it because health care reform has passed -- become law.

We will tell you the timing of this is curious to say the least because I'll tell you where I am right now. We are driving. Our team is driving from the western most part of the upper peninsula to Marquette where his press conference will be in 3.5 hours.

We were in the western part of his district because the Tea Party Express is here in his district right now. And they are planning a rally almost at the exact same time that he will make this announcement.

They were here to say -- they want to send Bart Stupak on an early retirement. To make the point that they felt that he was the poster child for making the health care bill that many of these protesters think is, you know, the ultimate in the heavy hand of government's law.

And here Bart Stupak is, basically, you know, giving them what they want on his own. So it is very curious, very interesting timing.

HOLMES: Well, Dana, you talked about that he felt that maybe this was an OK time to do it. Talked about he considered retiring in the past. And now, this thing, he really wanted health care. It is now law. So maybe all that comes together and says yes, this is a good time to retire. But are there any indications out there that quite frankly he kind of succumbed to some of the pressure, the scrutiny that's been out there since this health care reform debate. Is there any sign that maybe that weighed on his decision as well?

BASH: But we're going to be able to ask him that later on. It is an interesting question, I can tell you, in talking to him before he left Washington for this congressional recess and more recently talking to people who know him well. But yes, that the intensity, that the tension, the anger, that was really lost on him at the beginning from the left in his own party.

And then, of course, from the right, from anti-abortion voters and groups who has supported him for years and years and years, suddenly thinking that he is a traitor and betrayed them. That is -- and even more specifically the fact that what happens because of the intensity was that he was getting -- I mean we've aired some of these.

He was getting pretty intense phone calls, voice mails left at his office, faxes sent to his office. It wasn't just going to his office, it was also going to his home, to his wife. And I've not talked to anybody (INAUDIBLE) and who said that has not had an impact on him.

Now I will tell you in talking with some Democrats in Washington, they say, wait a minute, he's not the only one to get these kind of attacks. And plenty of other people are too.

And you know if that is part of his thinking, whether it's in public or private, there will be some people who are -- even in his own party, who are not thrilled with -- yes, they're happy he helped bring along the votes for health care, but not thrilled on how he did it, will say, excuse me, what about us? You know, we need to go through this as well.

HOLMES: All right. Our Dana Bash, I know you're inching to ask some questions of Mr. Stupak. And you're going to get to here in a couple of hours as you said.

Dana, we appreciate you being on the story, breaking the story, and bringing that story to us. We'll check in with you in a little bit.

We want to check in now also on this story, our deputy political director on the line with us as well. Paul Steinhauser is joining us now from New Orleans.

Paul, you can explain to folks why you are, of course, in New Orleans. But you're hanging out with a lot of Republicans right now. I'm not sure how much response you've been able to get from them just yet.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR (via phone): Yes, T.J. It's still a little early here in New Orleans. We're here because it's the southern Republican leadership conference. This is touted as the largest gathering of Republican Party officials and activists outside of their -- you know their presidential convention, which won't be held for another two years. We did get some reaction, though, from the National Republican Congressional Committee. That's the committee back in Washington that helps try to reelect Republican congressmen. And they talked about Bart Stupak saying that after selling his soul to Nancy Pelosi -- of course referring to the House speaker -- it appears that Bart Stupak finally found the courage to tell her no.

So early -- some early Republican reaction from Washington. But, T.J., I think you're also reaching out to the Tea Party Express. Dana was talking about that, that they're having these rallies in the district. They've been really touting that they were going after Stupak. And they considered him a traitor for what he did with the agreement with President Obama on the abortion provision and the health care bill. T.J.?

HOLMES: All right. Again to our viewers -- Paul, hang on for just one second. Reminding our viewers that -- Democratic congressman, Bart Stupak, who played such a pivotal role in the health care reform debate in trying to make sure that those provisions were in there and made sure that no federal funding was used for abortions -- that's the role he played, ended up getting that executive order from the president and all that deal making, some would say, played a crucial role -- now saying he will not seek another term.

Paul, one more to you. And that question is, will this be interpreted by Republicans as showing, ha, ha, there is one more Democrat knows they're in trouble, so he's just getting out of the game.

STEINHAUSER: Yes, I think that's a fair assessment. You know we were marveling, some of us, that we've gone through almost the entire two- week congressional recess without any retirements on either side. Now we have a very big one today.

Just remember, though, overall, there is actually more Republicans who are either retiring or running for other offices in the House than Democrats. So it's 19 Republicans and 16 Democrats. So a big retirement today but still a little more Republicans retiring than Democrats, T.J.

HOLMES: All right, our Paul Steinhauser, on the line for us. We appreciate you hopping on, Paul, again, from New Orleans. Our Dana Bash, thanks to her as well. She is on the way, going to be up there covering that press conference we're expecting in a few hours from Bart Stupak. We're expecting this announcement he will, in fact, retire. A lot of questions for him. We'll bring them to you when we actually get the answers.

Meanwhile, the funerals will be held today for four of the 25 miners killed in that West Virginia coalmine Monday. Meantime, there's been another setback in the attempt to find the four still missing miners.

Teams searching one of two rescue chambers overnight found it had not been deployed -- so it hasn't been used -- before they could check the only other chamber. Smoke actually forced the rescuers to retreat.

Workers are going on camera now -- a camera hold -- to determine if the second chamber was possibly used. Word on that expected maybe around noon today.

The chambers hold enough oxygen for 15 miners to survive for up to 96 hours. West Virginia's governor says, there is, quote, "a sliver of hope" that the one remaining chamber is occupied by the missing miners.

CNN's Brooke Baldwin has been there in West Virginia for the past couple of days.

Brooke, a lot of people were holding out hope. Are they still holding on to it?

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are still holding on, T.J., but you know you try to put yourself in their shoes and think about it, you know, when they hear the news about this unexpected fire in this mine, this third unsuccessful rescue attempt, the word we're hearing this morning describing these family members is really just deflated.

But despite that news, talking about hope, they're still hopeful. Many of them believe that these four missing miners are still alive and in covering the story, the past couple of days, a couple of words keep popping up. They are hope, prayer, faith, and miracle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY WILLIAMS, PASTOR, COAL MINER: Every day.

BALDWIN (on camera): You say a prayer before you go in.

WILLIAMS: Every day. Every day.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Like many miners in West Virginia's coal country, Gary Williams wears his stripes with pride. But it's his faith where he's found his true calling. When he is not underground, Pastor Gary Williams is here at church.

(On camera): How do you balance the two?

WILLIAMS: It's very challenging. I love both. I love both and I couldn't do this without God.

BALDWIN (voice-over): It is a theme pervasive throughout this community, a reliance on faith in times of grief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of religious people here, and they work in the mines, they depend on their faith.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think that everybody should support all they can with prayers.

WILLIAMS: This may be the darkest days or darkest weeks in a long time. And they may not have a whole lot of hope for themselves. If they can't have hope, we have to have hope for them.

BALDWIN: In this tough time, the governor of West Virginia is placing his faith first, turning to God every time he has met with the miners families.

GOV. JOE MANCHIN, WEST VIRGINIA: When we start our briefing with the families, we have a prayer when we finish the briefing with the family. And everything is based around faith and we tell him as we leave, do what you do best, keep loving each other and taking care of each other and they do it.

BALDWIN: They do it because this is a family of coal miners. They know the dangers of going underground. But they go anyway. And to do that, they must believe.

WILLIAMS: Many times I will tell my coworkers, go underground. This may be the last day we will see this.

BALDWIN (on camera): Blue sky?

WILLIAMS: So I trust God.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Again, there are four funerals today. We have confirmed that Massey Energy who owns this Upper Big Branch mine will be footing all four of those bills.

But, T.J., keep in mind, there are still 21 more funerals to go.

HOLMES: All right. Brooke Baldwin who's been on the story for us. I know we'll continue to check in with you. And I believe we're getting some updates today as well. We'll check in on those.

Thank you so much, Brooke. And again, we're expecting possible more news conferences today about the mine disaster. We'll bring those to you live. And any breaking news coming on. Again, we're expecting possibly around noon to get word on if, in fact, that second rescue chamber was deployed, possibly used.

And right now, those miners are still unaccounted for. The four could still be hunkering down.

Well, stay here. A lot of folks -- millions, really, of Americans still out of work. A lot have been relying on unemployment. Now, though, a lot of states are running out of cash themselves. What will this mean if you need help? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: As we know, and unfortunately, millions of Americans are out of work. A lot of them relying on unemployment. But what happens when their states run out of cash? This is happening in some 33 states, even more are on the brink.

So what exactly happens now?

Christine Romans, part of our money team. And this sounds like a major money problem.

What do you do if the place you're getting help needs some help?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They turn around and get help from the federal government. And the states are taking out big loans from Uncle Sam so that they can keep paying their unemployment benefits, T.J.

Thirty-three states have simply ran out of money. They're insolvent in their funds that pay out unemployment benefits. Four states are on the brink of insolvency, very, very close.

And all told, they've -- well, they borrowed more than $39 billion. It's the usual suspects, really. It's (sic) states that have huge budget problems or very, very high unemployment. You know, California, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York. These are the places where the strain and the drain on the budget and on the funds because of this huge number of people who are getting unemployment benefits is really being felt acutely.

Now there are some states, though, that are doing better and in fact are not insolvent and have money in their funds. These states either have low unemployment rates and haven't seen this huge -- well, not low, I would say average unemployment rate -- and haven't seen the huge demands spike.

Or, it's because during good times they were, you know, putting the money away for bad times, which is what exactly what these budget experts say you're supposed to be doing. You're supposed to be anticipating, you know, unemployment demand like it was in the last recession and be able to cover it and some of these states just really weren't there.

So what does it mean to you? I want to be really clear about what it means to you if you're getting an unemployment check right now. They're borrowing the money from the federal government. So your check is still going to come if you -- you're not going to not get a check because your state has run out of money.

But it does show just how frayed the whole situation is here. The huge demand for benefits, T.J., at the very time, these benefits are funded by employer taxes on wages. Well, fewer people are working and fewer people are making more money. The money is coming in much more slowly than it's going out.

And that's the situation that's been pretty troubling.

HOLMES: And I think I heard you say they've been borrowing from the federal government. But I'm sure a lot of people have the same question. Where in the world the federal government get it from? Everybody is running out of money around here.

ROMANS: Well, they borrow it from someone else. It's all about borrowing the money from somebody else. Oh yes, and it all goes on the bill in the end for taxpayers.

Keep in mind, 200,000 people are losing their benefits this week because Congress didn't pass another extension before it went on vacation. That's another part of the jobless situation that we are still watching.

When they come back on Monday, we're told they're going to address this thing very, very -- the very first thing. They're going to be going after those 200,000 benefits that people who stop getting a check this week should be about 200,000 people.

HOLMES: All right. Christine Romans, keeping an eye on all things financial. We appreciate you as always, Christine. Good to see you.

ROMANS: Sure.

HOLMES: Everybody was waiting to see exactly what would happen at the Masters when Tiger Woods got back. Well, it's kind of like he never left. He is back and back in a groove like we have never seen before. He actually did something on the course we have never seen him do. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And some of the top stories we're keeping an eye on. Kind of a surprise to a lot of people. Representative Bart Stupak, Democrat of Michigan, says he will not seek a tenth term. He, of course, we know that name well by now. He played an integral role in getting the health care legislation passed not long ago and essentially making a deal with the White House to make sure that no federal funding would be used for abortions.

Now he is saying he will not seek another term. He was targeted by the tea party in particular who had made their way through his home state trying to, again, start a campaign to make sure he was not reelected.

But it sounds like he is not going to go through with it anyway. We are expecting to hear from him in the next couple of hours in a press conference. We will certainly bring that to you.

Also, the first space walk of the current shuttle mission over for the day. Two astronauts worked with the space station's navigation and cooling systems during their 6.5 hours outside.

NASA considering keeping Discovery up there an extra day because of problems with the shuttle antenna.

Also, Sarah Palin taking the stage today at a major gathering of Republicans happening in New Orleans. It's the Southern Republican Leadership conference. Speaking of the conference yesterday, the former House speaker -- you see him there -- Newt Gingrich making his way through the crowd. He actually called President Barack Obama the most radical president in American history.

More on his comments coming up next hour.

I turn to some weather, some severe weather. And Rob always knows something is going on with me. He becomes my new best friend when I have an outdoor activity. And --

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: And I was harassing him about the Masters yesterday. He was there on day one. Worried we were going to get rained out. It held up. But man, I got hit driving back home.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I really felt bad for your drive -- you two-hour drive from Augusta after seeing the first round of Master's yesterday. And --

HOLMES: It was raining hard, Rob.

MARCIANO: Your first time, wasn't it?

HOLMES: First time at the Masters, yes, sir.

MARCIANO: It's a fantastic place, wasn't it?

HOLMES: Yes, magical.

MARCIANO: It is magical. Glad you got to see it, T.J., no matter how extremely jealous I am that you were there. I need a fix. I need my fix. I haven't been there in a couple of years and it's certainly driving me crazy.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: I assume you're not going for two days in a row. If that were the case, then my jealousy might very well get physical so.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: You wouldn't see me sitting here if I was going to the Masters today. Appreciate you. It worked out. And again, supposed to be beautiful the rest of the weekend, correct?

MARCIANO: Yes. It will be fantastic whether you're there or watching from your favorite couch.

HOLMES: All right, Rob, appreciate you as always.

MARCIANO: All right. See you.

HOLMES: It was an act of random violence that left her paralyzed. Now, acts of kindness lifting her up. And Morgan Mill, Texas neighbors of Brandy Todd helping her adjust to a new life in a wheelchair. They're building ramps, widening doorways and making their mark as they equip her house to be wheelchair accessible.

It was actually just last month Brandy was sitting on a park bench watching her children play and a mentally unstable man came up and stabbed her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When something horrible happens to people that don't deserve it, you want to do something for them. Try to make a little bit of the world better.

BRANDY TODD, VICTIM: I am alive. They are alive. I can use my hands. You know, we're going to be happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Brandy is due home next week. Crews are racing to finish the overhaul of her home. One measure of Morgan Mill, no stoplight but the three churches and all of them are pitching in on this particular project. Just somebody's story we wanted to bring you of somebody helping out.

Well, how many times has this happened to you? A child -- somebody else's child -- kicking the back of your seat on a plane. Isn't that just the most annoying thing? What exactly do you do?

One woman found a solution. And some might say she went a bit overboard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Everybody was wondering exactly how he was going to do after that first swing, the first day back, the first tournament back, the Masters for Tiger Woods. So how did day one go?

Well, it went pretty well. And he was greeted with applause when he came to the first tee and from there, he looked like the old Tiger in a lot of ways. A couple of early struggles, at least but then Tiger played like he had never played before.

And he looked like he really didn't take any time off. Now he shot a 68. That's four under par. That is his best ever first round at the Masters.

This is a guy that we have not really seen publicly. We have only seen him in tabloids over the past couple of months.

Also a big deal that really -- maybe the Tiger story overshadowed this. But a lot of people paying attention to who is at the top of the leader board. Fifty-year-old Fred Couples leading the Masters. Yes, 50-year-old.

Now 60-year-old Tom Watson is just one shot back. So a lot of story lines playing out at the Masters right now.

Now we told you about some of the cheers at that first tee. I was there. People were cheering him, no doubt. But then, when we looked up, there was a different kind of taunting going on. We've us a picture of it here.

A plane. You see there. And it says, "Tiger, did you mean bootyism?" Now some of you are wondering maybe that means. That's a play on apparently Tiger said he's going back to Buddhism. Going back to his faith. And now some are making fun of that.

Another sign -- the plane disappeared for a little bit, came back with another sign that said, "sex addict," question mark, "yes, right, sure, me too." Try to figure out who paid for that.

Also, mixed reactions. The common theme on the course, couples at odds over Tiger's tale. Everywhere you went at the course, men and women were arguing back and forth about do you cheer the championship golfer or jeer the cheater?

Can you separate the two? We're exploring that next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: On Wall Street, looking like certain this morning with the opening bell there, looking like possibly if we can continue some of the gains we saw yesterday, some modest gains, 29, about 30 points we were up yesterday. The Dow Jones closed about 30 points up. Apparently, larger retailers had reported and help give some positive news. Helped lift stocks just a bit. One other note about today, actually, it's tax freedom day. That sounds awesome. But what it actually means that this is the day that most Americans have actually earned enough money throughout the year to pay your taxes.

So, depending on how you look at it, it sounds great, tax freedom, but it actually means that you've finally earned enough money, and you just pretty much give it all to your local and state governments right now. All right. We will continue to keep an eye on the market today. Also, keep an eye on a breaking story today. We just got word a short time ago that Democratic representative, Bart Stupak, is going to announce his retirement.

That's the man who played such an integral role in the health care reform legislation getting it passed, saying he will not be back to Congress. He is going to end his term and not seek a tenth. Details of that coming your way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Some will be asking if the fallout from the health reform care debate may have just claimed its first casualty. Just minutes ago that we learned that Michigan's Congressman Democrat Bart Stupak is retiring. You remember him, he was the one who's hackled some time during the passion debate on the House floor, someone yelled out baby killer. You remember that whole scandal? This is a nine-term Democrat.

He cast a critical vote in passing the overhaul and had become the target of this week's tea party rallies. Resignation has become both a rallying cry for health reform opponents and new concern for Democrats already facing an uphill battle to keep control of Congress. Let's bring in CNN political editor, Mark Preston. Mark, good to see you. We just talked about how he was such a target of the tea party. I'm sure you have this as well. This statement, they just put out about Bart Stupak. The one line where they say Bart Stupak appears to have succumb to the movement's strength. Is there any validity to that statement?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: You know T.J., not only will we hear folks such as the tea party express which was supposed to roll in and will roll in just few tax district this week. Take credit for the Bart Stupak's decision, but you'll also the other end of the political spectrum. Liberal activists who were very upset that Bart Stupak really forced the White House to go to the 11th hour during that health care debate and put out that proclamation that said that federal funding would not be used for abortion.

So, Bart Stupak, who would have easily sailed to re-election this year, T.J., clearly was feeling pressure on both sides of the spectrum. He had the very hard conservatives that were after him, and he had the very hard liberals that were after him.

HOLMES: You said the pressure there to vote one way when it came to that health care, and also the criticism from both sides after he voted the way he did. But what about the pressure he got from possibly Nancy Pelosi or maybe even President Obama to stick at the job? They don't want another seat that's possibly on the line.

PRESTON: Yes, and you know something, I was talking to political operatives this morning, Republican operatives. This is what they had to say to me, T.J. Not a prayer. When I asked, had you any hope of winning this Stupak seat? Not a prayer. They told me; however, they feel like there is a huge opening right now. They described this district up in the upper part of Michigan as being very pro-life in a fact, Bart Stupak, as we know, because of the health care debate, was very much an anti-abortion rights lawmaker.

He did work with the Democratic leadership on the bill towards the end. He did work with President Obama. President Obama got his signature issue. What President Obama and certainly not Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer were able to do was to convince Bart Stupak to stay in the House of Representatives.

HOLMES: All right. We are expecting to mark, I think, in a couple of hours is what our Dana Bash said. We're expecting a press conference. A lot of question is going to be tossed. We are going to get to learn a lot more about what he was thinking. Mark, my friend, always good to see you. Thanks so much. We will be talking to you plenty.

PRESTON: Thanks, T.J.

HOLMES: A lot of folks out there, you know what has happened to you, happened to me, happened to all of us. You're trying to fly somewhere, and there is a child that doesn't belong to you that's behind you and kicking the back of your seat on a plane, maybe at the movie theater. We know how incredibly annoying this can be. What exactly do you do? I don't know if you want to take one woman's advice, and her solution, some are saying, it was a little overboard. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Some stories making headlines today. Funerals being held for four of the 25 miners killed from that West Virginia coal mine explosion. That was on Monday. The funerals do happen today, expecting more in the coming days and weeks. Meantime, another setback in efforts to find the four who are still unaccounted for. Searchers found one of two rescue chambers unused. They tried to get to the other but were forced out of the mine by smoke. They are going now to drill a little hole so they can get a camera down there and possibly determine if that second chamber is being used, and if possibly, those unaccounted for miners are in there. Word on that expected sometime around noon today.

President Obama headed back to Washington earlier today. He got on board. Air Force One left Prague. He had been in Prague to take part in course of that signing ceremony for a nuclear weapons reduction treaty with Russia.

And an update this morning on the U.S. army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people at Texas ft. Hood. Major Nidal Hasan, you see him there (ph), was wounded by police during that November shooting rampage had been hospitalized since. Now, he has been moved to a jail in Bell County, Texas.

And a question for you this morning, what would you do? A desperate situation. One that looks like that. A Texas truck driver facing two choices, a raging inferno or a great leap of faith.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. A truck driver in Texas survives what could have been and some would assume was a fatal accident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (voice-over): It was not. This is some video of the scene and the aftermath there. But Randy Pierce is the driver's name, he was at the wheel of the semi when another truck cut him off. The impact sliced off part of the semi's fuel tank and that's where the fire started. The semi then dangled off a bridge. Pierce had two choices, he could either face the fire or make a leap of faith. One of the truck company owners said Pierce made the right call.

Kala Dickinson, trucking company owner: I honestly thought there was no way he could make it out of that truck. And my honest opinion is, God had to have his hand on Randy, because there's no other way he could have gotten out of that.

RANDY PIERCE, TRUCK DRIVER: I got the driver's door where the flame was, it was straight down. So, I went out the passenger door. Somebody was watching over me. It wasn't my time yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, he had to jump off that bridge. Now, listen to this. You cannot make this stuff up. The truck driver, the company that he works for, the name of that company is a Leap of Faith. Just goes to show you there. It all works out sometimes, doesn't it?

We are going to turn to a weather situation we've been keeping an eye for some time now. This is out of Brazil. And apparently, it is getting worse by the day. Another mudslide triggered by record rainfall. May have buried as many as 200 people in a shanty town that was built of a mountain of trash. 181 people have been killed, 161 hurt, thousands more homeless. Firefighters and military officials using heavy machinery to dig for buried residents.

We want to turn back to Rob now, keeping an eye, oh I'm trying to -- I don't know why I try to read the map -- I'll just let you do your thing.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes why bother.

We mentioned this -- the South American nation there of Brazil, that's just onshore flow there it's been weakening. So they should start to dry out a little bit as we go through the next couple of days but the damage obviously done there.

All right, we don't expect a lot more rain across parts of the Northeast but maybe Boston back through Rhode Island and Providence, back to Norwich, a little bit of light rain to kind of wrap this front up. That's been pestering a lot of folks pretty much everywhere east of the Rockies and down across the Carolinas. Just a couple of more showers left over.

We did have four or five reports of tornadoes yesterday. Some a minimal damage in spots but thankfully, no injuries and our streak or our trend of seeing for the most part, well below average number of tornadoes for this year. And certainly hope that continues.

We are seeing above average amounts of snow across parts of northern lower Michigan. And we saw record amounts of snow across parts of Wisconsin and the U.P. of Michigan yesterday. Lake effects, though, is trying to get cranking here. But they won't have too much luck but maybe an accumulation of a couple of inches. But then, temperatures obviously warm enough this time of year to not stick around.

All right, more showers in the valleys and some snow in the mountains across parts of Portland and Seattle as a storm system kind of lines itself up there as well.

57 for the high in Chicago today; it'll be 69 degrees in Atlanta. So it's markedly cooler in many spots. It's about 30 degrees cooler than it was two days ago.

And the pollen count really high even after the rainfall that we saw across parts of the southeast yesterday. It continues to remain high.

If you are doing some travel today, you'll probably see some delays at the New York Metros, the D.C., Philly and Boston because of some leftover wind there. But the winds will begin to wind down as we go through.

I don't know if you suffer from allergies, T.J. I moved to Atlanta about six or seven years ago with no allergies at all. And I've been sneezing my head off the last couple of days.

HOLMES: All right, the same thing happened to me three and a half years ago when I moved here. Everybody told me that it would happen and yes I got it too.

MARCIANO: Welcome to the south.

HOLMES: All right, I appreciate you Rob.

MARCIANO: All right. See you.

HOLMES: Well, this wasn't just a typo. One Major League player looking pretty Minor League today; thanks to a bit of a wardrobe malfunction if you will. We'll explain coming up.

Also, the beginning of the end on this date in history, April 9th, 1965, Confederate General, Robert E. Lee surrendered the Northern Virginia Army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant and it wasn't long after that all Confederate Armies lay down their arms.

Also the right stuff, in 1959, NASA picked the first seven Mercury astronauts. And you see a nice picture of them there. Among them, John Glenn and you know that name and you know it well; Donald Slaten (ph) among them and Alan Shepherd (ph), Gus Grisham (ph), now just to name a few. They all eventually made it to space.

Also in 2003 on this date, a symbol falls. That's when the massive Saddam Hussein statue in downtown Baghdad was toppled. Hundreds of angry rioters beat the fallen statue with their shoes. Eight months later, the real Saddam was found hiding in a hole.

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HOLMES: And you know this has happened to you before; a child kicking the back of your seat on a plane. What do you do? We know that's so annoying but you can't necessarily get on to someone else's child. You're not necessarily comfortable with that. But one woman, sitting on a plane in Phoenix, she's waiting to take off for Vegas, some say she might have gone a little too far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DET. JAMES HOLMES, PHOENIX POLICE: The young lady became very upset. She turned around in her seat, reached back and actually grabbed the 3-year-old, lifting him off the seat and stating something to the effect that, "You're not going to be kicking my seat all of the way to Las Vegas." And then according to witnesses she actually slammed the child back down on to the seat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: It's not really funny, but you know all of you listening to that have wanted to do the same thing at some point. You just don't do it.

Now, that allegedly happened last month on a Southwest plane. The 3- year-old he is ok physically; emotionally, we don't know. Again, you just don't do it. The mom now is looking at the possibility of pressing assault charges. We will keep you updated.

All right. So what should the angry passenger have done?

I know you have an opinion about this one. Should she have asked the mom maybe to get the kid to stop? Should she have tried to talk to the child herself and talked to the flight attendant about the little guy? Tell me what you would have done and keep it clean. Go to our blog, CNN.com/TJ, CNN.com/Kyra as well.

Also, hit us up on Twitter and Facebook. You know where to respond there, but we'd love to hear how you would have handled that.

Well, certainly a busy morning, as always here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Our crews are at it like they always are. We want to check in with all of our crews beginning with our Brooke Baldwin who's in West Virginia for us. Hello to you, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., heart-wrenching news here out of coal country as yet another rescue attempt has proven to be unsuccessful. I'm in Naoma, West Virginia. The question is how are these families holding up? I'll have a live interview coming up in the next hour.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: New information from the FDA about anti-bacterial soaps. Are you buying the right kind? I'll have that at the top of the hour.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A lot of people suffering with allergies. Good morning again. I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Some severe weather yesterday, that's moving out. The rain helped knock down pollen count a little. We'll have the full pollen forecast in the 10:00 hour -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Thanks to all of you guys. We'll see you all here shortly.

As we know and as people say, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"; don't agree on a whole lot including Tiger Woods. Ladies and gentlemen disagreeing about how exactly do you cheer for a guy who's admittedly a serial cheater? We're taking a closer look at this gender gap. The discussion ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A bad intelligence. That's what's being blamed for a mistaken raid in Afghanistan that killed several civilians including women. International forces are now admitting responsibility, but as CNN's Atia Abawi reports, it's not enough for the devastated family. A CNN exclusive with a warning; some of this video you may find disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "How can I not cry? God, I wish I would have died," thus sobs (INAUDIBLE). Before dawn on February 12th, five members of her family were killed as U.S. Special Forces stormed their home. A night that had started with celebrations to welcome the birth of a boy. Golai (ph) was 18 and engaged to be married. Salaha (ph) had ten children and Bibi Shideen (ph) had four. Both women were pregnant. Zahed (ph) was a local prosecutor. He left behind seven children and Daoud (ph) was a police commander who worked side by side with the Americans. He had eight children including 16-year-old Zidikilau (ph) who was shot twice, but survived.

This is the family's account of that night.

At around 4:00 a.m. that cold February night commander Daoud went into the room where the party was taking place. It had just wound down and he noticed that the light was turned off and not by them. That's when he noticed a red laser.

When he came out to the courtyard right here he noticed forces, U.S. forces on the rooftop. They shot him at this area. That's when his family members -- the women came running from different parts of the compound, they pulled him into that room with his brother Mohammed Sabir (ph). They went into that area and the brother tried to come out and he said in English to the U.S. Forces, "Don't shoot at us. "We're people of the government."

The women were holding him back saying, "You'll be shot, too." And they were right because they started shooting in that direction and that's where they were killed. Two were actually still alive, but not able to be taken to a hospital because the forces would not let the family leave the home.

An elderly relative of the dead walks in and shows me a bullet he says was fired that night. Mohammed Sabir said he witnessed the deaths of his brothers, wife, sister and niece

"She was squatting here, and I thought my sister fainted, but she was dead," he says.

Shortly after the incident, NATO said a joint U.S.-Afghan force responding to intelligence about militant activity made a gruesome discovery, the bound and gagged bodies of three women. It also said that several insurgents engaged the joint force in a firefight, but a month later admitted no one at the compound had opened fire. And this week NATO agreed international forces were responsible for the deaths of the women.

But now there are more damaging accusations. Hours after the shootings, Mohammed Sabir says he shot this cell phone video. You can hear American voices; the first investigators on the scene.

Sabir claims soldiers on the right dug bullets out of the bodies and then clean the wounds in an attempt to cover up. Afghan investigators won't comment on that claim, but tell CNN they have found evidence of a cover up. NATO says it has "discovered no evidence that any of our forces did anything to manipulate the evidence at the scene or the bodies."

Its investigation continues. Thursday, a U.S. general offered his condolences to the family, calling the actions of that February night a mistake and in Pashtun tradition, offered sheep and money as compensation. I said no, (INAUDIBLE) says. Give me the money your men took from us that night and give me the spies who gave you the wrong family.

A family that has lost five members because of bad information and the sort of bungled operation that the U.S. military here is trying hard to avoid.

Atia Abawi, CNN, (INAUDIBLE) village, (INAUDIBLE) province, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)