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Wildfires & Tornadoes; New Rules for Air Controllers; Serial Killer Investigation

Aired April 18, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. in the West. I'm Carol Costello, sitting in for Kyra Phillips. This morning we're following two stories that show the force of nature. On the left, wildfires race across Texas. They are the worst in nearly a century, and there is no relief in sight.

On the right a three-day outbreak of tornadoes. 230 in all reported from Oklahoma to the Carolinas. At least 45 people were killed.

Air traffic controllers getting a visit from their bosses today along with a new list of rules. That's after a half dozen incidents of controllers falling asleep during their overnight shifts. The new rules will require more rest time between shifts.

Today is the deadline to file your tax return with the IRS. And Tea Party groups are seizing on voter anger and disgust. This weekend rallies culminate today in cities around the country.

Killer winds, widespread fires. We're covering both this hour. A tornado outbreak over three days saved the worst for North Carolina. 22 people killed statewide. More than 100 people hurt. And boy, is there widespread damage. We'll take a closer look at the outbreak of these tornadoes that hit in more than a dozen states, from Oklahoma all the way to Virginia.

But first let's talk about hundreds of wildfires burning right now in Texas. All but two of the state's 254 counties are affected. CNN's Ed Lavandera covering the story for us. And Ed, are there enough firefighters to battle these blazes?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Well, yes, they're bringing in firefighters from all over. Many volunteers, other firefighters coming in from less affected areas to help out those that are in the real line of fire this morning But it's going to be another day of extreme fire danger all over the state.

One of the areas of biggest concern right now is just west of the town of Ft. Worth near a lake called Possum Kingdom Lake where a massive fire has been burning. Several small towns in that area have been evacuated in the last 24 hours. That's where we're headed right now to kind of catch up with what's going on out there. But it has been an extremely dangerous situation here in Texas the last two weeks, where we're told about a million acres have burned since April 6th.

And that has kept firefighters extremely busy over the last few weeks and exhausted at this point. One firefighter was killed Friday afternoon in the fire where everything had become so smoky and so much fire that visibility was zero. And that firefighter was hit by a truck. It kind of goes to show you just how dangerous these situations are. Not just because of the fire but because of all the manpower that's being used to put out the flames here.

So another day of low humidity, high winds gusting 20, 30, 40 miles an hour, depending on where you are. And that's just a recipe for a dangerous situation, Carol.

COSTELLO: Boy, you're not kidding. Not just in rural areas, either. The city of Austin now threatened. Ed Lavandera reporting live from Texas for us.

The heads of the FAA and the Air Traffic Controllers Union kick off a cross-country tour today where they will chat one on one with tower staff. This follows several cases of controllers falling asleep on the job recently. The latest one happened Saturday in Miami. In a joint op-ed ahead of their tour Randy Babbitt and Paul Rinaldi write, "These recent incidents have cast doubt on whether our nation's controllers are truly committed to keeping the skies safe. We want to tell you they are. We have the safest aviation system in the world, but we know we can do better."

Part of trying to do better, some new rules changes. Details from Sandra Endo in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When planes come in for a landing, the communication shouldn't be like this, of a pilot trying to get in touch with an air traffic controller.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not answering the phone line either.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to need to land.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Landing will be at your own risk.

ENDO: But it reportedly happened at least seven times at airports across the country since the start of the year because of controllers falling asleep on the job. But now the FAA and Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood are making immediate changes to the schedules for controllers.

RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We will not allow controllers to sleep on the job. We simply will not.

ENDO: Under the new guidelines controllers will now have a minimum of nine hours off between shifts instead of eight. They'll no longer be able to swap shifts unless they get nine hours off in between. Controllers will not be able to work an unscheduled midnight shift following a day off. And there will be more FAA managers covering the early morning and late-night hours.

The problem of fatigue has been around for years. Back in 2007 the National Transportation Safety Board recommended the schedules of air traffic controllers be revised to address the issue. Which begs the question, why wasn't more done sooner?

LAHOOD: I was not the secretary in 2007. I'm the secretary today. As soon as I learned about this, these controllers were suspended.

ENDO: Congress holds the pursestrings for funding the FAA, and a key lawmaker says the issue is not the number of controllers employed but how they're used.

REP. JOHN MICA (R), FLORIDA: Air traffic controllers who make on average $163,000 apiece are professionals. But even the best professionals need some recurrent training. And with the changes in technology and procedures we think it's important that we revisit that.

ENDO (on camera): What do you say to the flying public? Should they have confidence in this system?

LAHOOD: Absolutely. I believe that the airline industry in America is the safest in the world. But we can do better. And we will do better.

ENDO: FAA officials and the Air Traffic Controllers Union are starting a nationwide tour in Atlanta to talk to controllers to hear their concerns but to also hammer home the issue of safety.

Sandra Endo, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And stay tuned. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux will talk to Transportation secretary Ray Lahood about all of this in the next hour.

Let's head to the New York Stock Exchange and Felicia Taylor because the markets are quite frankly tanking. Why, Felicia?

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically, what happened this morning is stocks opened sharply lower about 180 points, but that was because of an issuance from S&P which gave a negative outlook on U.S. long-term debt. But that again is an outlook. It didn't actually change the rating. It has affirmed the U.S.'s AAA credit rating.

But all of this basically centers on the uncertain political debate that we've seen over the last couple of weeks especially over the fiscal problems of the United States. You know that budget wrangling we've been hearing about last week. Rising debt. There's no really clear path on how to resolve it. The S&P is concerned that long-term fiscal challenges in the United States are going to go even beyond 2012. In other words, we don't have a clear path to fix this. Right now the DOW is down 237 points. The Nasdaq composite is down about two percent. The S&P is off 1.75 percent. Banking shares are down pretty much across the board. Carol?

COSTELLO: Ouch. Felicia Taylor, thank you.

Overseas this morning, Syria's government is accused of unleashing deadly force on its own citizens. Witnesses say that's the sound of government security forces opening fire on protesters. An opposition source tells CNN that at least three people were killed, 13 more wounded. Casualties were even greater in the nearby town of Talbiza. Government troops reportedly gunned down mourners at a funeral. A second opposition source tells us that four people died and more than 40 were wounded in Syria.

Explosions and gunfire echo today in Misrata as Libya's troops try to recapture the rebel city. An opposition source telling CNN that at least 21 people were killed and the bullets and mortars make no concessions for age. The humanitarian group, UNICEF, says dozens of children have been killed in the crossfire.

As the civilian death toll grows, so does the international impatience with the allied offensive. CNN's Zain Verjee joins us again from London with headlines from around the world. Zain, fill us in.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. The British prime minister David Cameron basically said there is absolutely no way British troops are going to be on the ground in Libya. Let's take a look at the headlines for the "Daily Mail." This is what it said. "Operation Bungle just gets worse." It says, "Our interference in Libya but failure to do so decisively has exposed its people to far greater harm than they'd have faced if they'd risen against Gadhafi on their own." Pretty scathing.

Look at the United Arab Emirates. This is what "The National" was saying. They actually had a guest editorial that argues, "It's time for NATO to uphold its mandate in Libya." It goes on to say, "At best, NATO is presiding over and maintaining the status quo, one that threatens a bloody stalemate. Libya's people, increasingly under fire and on their own, deserve better."

I spoke to this one guy today, Carol, in Misrata, and what he said to me was that NATO was just not up to the job. He said in Misrata there had been no strikes for three to four days, and he said if that keeps going it's just going to be a catastrophe there for the civilians.

COSTELLO: Zain Verjee, many thanks. Live from London.

An outbreak of tornadoes seemed to have saved the worst for North Carolina. People there still can't believe what hit them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The windows broke out. The roof went. The walls went. There's nothing left. There's a tree on my daughter's truck. I don't know where my cats are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That's just one of the many sad stories coming from the storm's aftermath. More on that, coming up.

And a best-selling author on a mission to help educate girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan is now defending his book. The author of "Three Cups of Tea" accused of making it all up. Still some say a lot of good came out of it. We'll talk with someone about the ethics and the controversy, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now to the controversy over "Three Cups of Tea." The book Greg Mortenson wrote that hugely successful book. He's now defending his work against claims by CBS's "60 Minutes" that key stories in the book are false or exaggerated.

In an e-mail to supporters, Mortenson writes, "The "60 Minutes" interview paints a distorted picture using inaccurate information and innuendo." Mortenson sold millions of books about his adventures in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and then he used those stories, moving stories, to raise tens of millions of dollars for his charities. Most notably his work to improve girls' education in Pakistan and in Afghanistan. And now some are wondering if the whole thing is just too good to be true.

Here's another best-selling author, Jon Krakauer, on "60 Minutes" last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON KRAKAUER, AUTHOR: It's a beautiful story, and it's a lie. If you go back and read the first few chapters of that book, you realize, I'm being taken for a ride here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joining us now is Dr. Arthur Caplan. He's the director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. Welcome.

DR. ARTHUR CAPLAN, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR BIOETHICS, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: So my first question is -- and you know, Mr. Mortenson says he didn't exaggerate or make up these stories. But others say he certainly did. For example, he said he was kidnapped by the Taliban and held at gunpoint. It turns out -- and actually, we interviewed the alleged kidnappers in Afghanistan, and they said Mr. Mortenson was never kidnapped by them. Why lie about something like this? CAPLAN: Well, you know, Carol, there really -- the burden of telling a lie falls on the liar. We presume it's wrong. Two exceptions. One, you protect someone who's about to be harmed. Do you tell the Nazis that Anne Frank is in the attic? And most people say, "Well, you could lie." Another accepted lie, you deceive your enemy. You say "The troops are over here when they're someplace else." We all understand that lying in a military or game context might be acceptable. But not if you're trying to help those in need.

And the reason I say that is it undercuts the public's willingness to support the charities. You may gain in the short run. But if you're lying, you're going to lose in the long run.

COSTELLO: I've got to tell you, though, that we've been reading tweets from people out there. And they say, "Well, so he may have exaggerated or even downright lied about things that happened in the book, but it's enabled him to raise these millions of dollars to build these schools for girls in Afghanistan, so hey, what's the problem? It's the greater good."

CAPLAN: Well, you know, in the short run you might be able to altruistically lie to serve some great social purpose. In the long run what you do is you dry up people's generosity. You dry up their charity. Nothing is more toxic to altruism, to people giving than to feel like they've been tricked, or deceived or duped. They just hate it. And if you wind up doing this in one instance to help a particular group, you're going to wind up damaging our willingness to be charitable to others in the long run.

In other words, you're going to sacrifice a lot more just for short-term gain. I have to say, too, I'm not sure that our author in this case, Mr. Mortenson, didn't personally gain. Did he really give every penny of what he made from the book sales back to his causes?

COSTELLO: Well, if you listen to the "60 Minutes" report, no. Just a final question. Because as a journalist I just don't understand how you can totally make up stories, put it in the book, and then travel the country and the world saying that those stories are true. It's just something I would never think of doing. Why do people --

CAPLAN: Well --

COSTELLO: And let's take it away from Mr. Mortenson. Why would people do that?

CAPLAN: Well, I think we all understand the temptation to embellish. It's a good story, but if I make it a bit better people are really going to buy the book, I'll really impress them in terms of the need of those who are out there without schools, without education being oppressed. That temptation to embellish is very real. It's psychological.

But as you say, if you're going to be in the non-fiction business, if you're going to be in the world of news, you just can't do it. Trust in the news, trust in non-fiction. It all depends on truthfulness. And this author, if he really did make this up, really did long-term serious damage to credibility.

COSTELLO: Arthur Caplan, thanks for joining us. And again, Mr. Mortenson stands by his book. He says he didn't exaggerate, everything in there is true. We'll continue to follow this story.

Here's a look at stories making news across the country now. In Idaho rescue workers are digging through rocky soil, trying to reach a miner who's trapped about a mile underground. They've been able to communicate with him.

A small Tennessee community is offering $25,000 for a tip that leads police to a 20-year-old nursing student. Authorities believe someone kidnapped Holly Bobo from her home last week. Her brother says he saw a man wearing camouflage leading her into the woods.

And managers of a Lowe's store in Sanford, North Carolina are being called heroes. They spotted a funnel cloud coming Saturday, gathered up about 100 shoppers and employees, and moved them all to a safe area at the back of the store. Moments later that store was nearly destroyed. In the end no one was hurt.

Let's head to the severe weather center and talk with Jacqui Jeras. Reportedly, 230 tornadoes from Oklahoma to Virginia. How is that possible?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's not -- well, probably not. In this case there's multiple reports of the same tornadoes. Right? So you have to consider - you've got storm chasers out there, you've got the public obviously who is out there stuff. And you've got law enforcement that's out there checking on things. So we've got to go through the numbers and weed them out.

So the National Weather Service has been out surveying the damage, trying to figure out how many tornadoes touched down across the U.S. over the weekend. And so those numbers are very preliminary, and they're going to change. And it might be a while before we find out exactly how many it was.

So here's an example. This is from the National Weather Service out of Raleigh, North Carolina. This is from the tornado that went through Harnette County in the city of Dunn. What they do is go out, they get in helicopters and they look at the paths of the storm and then they get on the ground and they look at this damage. And they look for things like this, like twisted metal that's out there. They look for what direction things have fallen. Is it all in one direction or is it in multi-directions to try to get a handle on how this damage occurred. That's all done on the EF scale.

For example, they've done this in North Carolina and they've determined that some of the reports were just one tornado, like this one that moved through Sanford. From the video that you saw and pushed through Raleigh. And then moved to the northeast of there. That was an EF3, by the way, when it went through the Sanford area.

Risk of storms tomorrow again. And yes, we could see tornadoes as well as damaging winds. This is the nation's heartland, middle Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley for tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow night. Carol?

COSTELLO: Jacqui Jeras, thanks for putting it in perspective. We appreciate it.

Coming up, women, many of them prostitutes, are showing up dead in New York. Police say they suspect a serial killer or killers. We'll talk to sex workers about something else stalking their lives, fear. That plus the latest in the investigation. That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A serial killer mystery is stalking the beaches of Long Island, New York. So far investigators have found the remains of at least eight women. Four remain unidentified. The other four we know worked as prostitutes. And as our Susan Candiotti reports, many sex workers in the area are living in fear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And for the record --

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And for the record Stacey Swimme is not embarrassed to say what she does for a living.

STACEY SWIMME, SEX WORKER: I'm a sex worker.

CANDIOTTI: An independent escort for seven years, a dangerous job for at least four women whose bodies were unceremoniusly dumped in tangled scrub brush along a Long Island seaside highway, possibly at the hands of a serial killer.

(on camera): Why are you speaking publicly and on camera and not in silhouette about this?

SWIMME: I can't be silent anymore.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Swimme also is an activist with S.W.O.P., Sex Workers Outreach Project. It believes decriminalizing prostitution will make the job safer.

SWIMME: This is exactly why predators target us and try to abuse us because they know we can't trust the police for help.

CANDIOTTI: Police officials say they treat crimes against prostitutes like they would for any other victim, but the mother of victim Melissa Barthelemy said valuable time was lost to get a New York City Police to start looking for her daughter once they learned she was a prostitute. She had to hire an attorney to get things moving.

LYNN BARTHELEMY, MELISSA'S MOTHER: Something needs to be done about that.

KATE D'ADAMO, SEX WORKER ADVOCATE: People need to know that these people we're talking about, you know, sex workers, are wives and husbands, they're mothers and fathers, they're children, they're sisters and brothers.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): I spoke with prostitutes who work on Long Island and advertise on the internet. All declined to go on camera, but each told me they're now taking more precautions like bringing a friend along to watch out for them. One woman said she's now carrying a gun. As to the danger, another said, it's part of the job.

Why then take the risk? Especially now.

D'ADAMO: Sex work is often the best option for people engaged in the profession, and then at the end of the day, there's people who love what they do and who really are in sex work because they enjoy their work.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Until investigators make an arrest, activists are asking for amnesty so prostitutes feel more comfortable bringing tips to police without fear of arrest in hopes that one might lead to a killer.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Long Island, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: Since we know that the first four women have been identified as those who advertised their services on Craigslist, it certainly will be interesting to see what medical examiners learn about the identities of the other four sets of remains, if in fact they are women and what they did for a living, then Carol, of course, there might be yet another similarity among those two groups of remains that have been found.

COSTELLO: The woman you interviewed mentioned amnesty. In other words, that a sex worker could go to police, the police wouldn't prosecute them for what they're doing because it is illegal. Is there any chance of that happening?

CANDIOTTI: Well, you know, they've asked, the organization that represents these sex workers, has asked prostitutes to flood the Office of the Local Prosecutor with phone calls asking for this. They say that it has worked in the past, that amnesty was granted, for example, in Atlantic City when there were a rash of similar murders there. So they're trying to see whether that can happen. We tried to reach out to the prosecutor's office and so far have not had a response yet as to whether they plan to give these women that kind of help.

COSTELLO: And just the investigation itself. Do they have any leads at all?

CANDIOTTI: Well, you know, the FBI is sending up in the air a blackhawk chopper this morning. They've already closed off the roads there because there can be no movement while it's working. You know, they did something similar last week. Again, they're using high-tech imagery to look at that area. They won't give specifics about what they hope that imagery will show. But presumably it might help pinpoint additional areas that authorities want to search.

Divers are not going back in the water right now. We did learn that on Friday they did pull something out that they're examining, a bone, in fact. But at this point it's really unclear whether it was human or animal.

COSTELLO: Susan Candiotti reporting live from New York. Thank you.

Just ahead, the on-line dating game. You're bound to meet some duds. Now one site is trying to make sure none of them are dangerous. New steps to screen out sex offenders.

And Donald Trump says he can handle the pressure as the nation's chief executive. He says key selling point to voters is, well, he's rich. Richer than any likely contender, including Mitt Romney. Stick around for our political buzz over Trump's boldest statements yet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is time for "Political Buzz." A lightning-fast conversation hitting the hot political topics of the day. Each of our brilliant political observers get 20 seconds to answer three probing questions.

Will Cain is a political analyst and CNN contributor. Cornell Belcher leans left. And as always, comedian Pete Dominick will lend his own unique political perspective.

So, first question. Gas prices have risen for 27 days in a row. Why aren't lawmakers looking at ways to lower our fuel prices? Will.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, they're not looking at lowering gas prices right now because as of yet, Carol, we don't live in a third-world banana republic where the government interferes in markets and manipulates the prices of products. But you know, that could always change.

COSTELLO: Cornell.

CORNELL BELCHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I do love Will so much. By the way, why is the Republican always on top?

COSTELLO: You're first next!

BELCHER: We're not lowering gas prices because it's working out exactly the way it should. You remember, you just had a president and vice president who were both big oil men. You had a ranking member of the GOP on the on the committee apologize to BP. How dare we call BP in front of, you know, the government and ask any questions of them. And their answer to our oil problem? Oh, let's drill more.

(BUZZER SOUNDS)

COSTELLO: Let's drill more. Pete. PETE DOMINICK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I disagree with Will and Cornell. And it's not just because I'm so much better-looking than both of them, Carol.

(LAUGHTER)

DOMINICK: Oil markets are artificial. They're not real. They are volatile, and they're very short term. And last week, Goldman Sachs said $27 more is how much a barrel of oil costs because Wall Street speculation. Government unfortunately is working for Wall Street and not the American people. That's my answer.

COSTELLO: Question two. One of the loudest would-be candidates for 2012 is Donald Trump. I want y'all to listen to this clip from CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" where he talks about another possible candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Mitt Romney is a basically small business guys, if you really think about it. He was a hedge fund. He was a fund guy. He walked away with some money from a very good company that he didn't create. He worked there. He didn't create --

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": He did create companies.

TRUMP: Well, but look, he would buy companies, he'd close companies, he'd get rid of jobs. OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Basically, Donald Trump says he's a better businessman than Mitt Romney and he's much, much richer. So Cornell, let's start with you. What does Mr. Trump want?

BELCHER: Well, as a political professional, I've got to tell you I love Trump's message. His message seems to be "Barack Obama's a birther, and I'm really, really rich." That's got to be a winning message.

And I think it speaks to sort of -- and I feel sorry for my Republican colleagues because it speaks to sort of how weak their bench is if this talk show hustler can now move his hustle to politics and move to the front of the party.

COSTELLO: Will.

CAIN: You know what Donald Trump wants, Carol? he wants attention. There's this wonderful myth that at the end of the Revolutionary War, George Washington turned down a chance to be king. It's probably not true, but we know he declined a chance for a third term.

Now, let me ask you this. Do you think an insecure narcissist would turn down a chance to be king for power, for all that attention? Answer that, and you'll know everything you know about Trump.

COSTELLO: Pete, I can't wait.

DOMINICK: Well, listen, what does Donald Trump want? Will is right. He wants publicity. He wants attention.

But this is such a weird narrative that size matters. That I have more money than you have, which makes me more successful. I mean, both of these guys, Trump and Mitt Romney, were born into insane wealth. Is that the narrative that either of them want to run for president on? Why don't we just elect Scrooge McDuck? Is he real?

(BUZZER SOUNDS)

DOMINICK: I think Trump thinks Scrooge McDuck is real.

COSTELLO: Final question. When you think of American political dynasties, names that come to mind might be Adams, Kennedy, Clinton, Bush. But do we need to add another name? Should the Pauls be considered a libertarian dynasty? Because now another son wants to run for political office. Will.

CAIN: You know, Ronald Reagan once said that libertarianism was the heart and soul of conservatism. So yes, I guess the Pauls are now the heart and soul of Republicanism. You know, my liberal friends would say they're radicals. They would have you believe that anyone who doubts their good intentions should give them the power force over you is a radical. Let's find out.

COSTELLO: Cornell?

(LAUGHTER)

BELCHER: They're not radical if you don't have a problem with going back to the gold standard, I think is one of Paul's things is. And the other part of this is, you know, freedom of expression and action. As long as that action or expression doesn't have to do with woman's health and a woman making choices about her own body.

Quite frankly, I don't even know what libertarian means anymore because it doesn't seem to mean what it means in the book.

COSTELLO: Pete.

DOMINICK: Well, Will Cain in his household doesn't have any rules apparently. And I know this because I've been to Will's house. There are no rules. That's what Rand and Ron Paul like. Expected but not required.

I'd like to see that be adhered to by the oil companies and by Wall Street. Live in a country where there's really no regulations or rules. We'll just do the right thing. Trust us! Everything will be fine.

(BUZZER SOUNDS)

(LAUGHTER)

DOMINICK: I can't wait to see Rand and Ron -- d'oh!

COSTELLO: Thanks to all of you. Will, Cornell, Pete, it was extra fun today! And we'll see you again on Friday.

CAIN: See you guys.

COSTELLO: Checking some of our top stories now. The FBI shutting down three of the largest online gambling sites in the United States. Eleven people are charged with fraud and money laundering. The indictment claims the offshore companies got around gambling laws by disguising payments as purchases from fake online stores.

Subway's cutting back on the salt. The company says that starting today, it is cutting the salt from the so-called Fresh Fit sandwiches by 28 percent compared to 2009.

And hundreds of wildfires are burning in Texas. Governor Rick Perry says it's so bad the state doesn't have the capability to fight them all. Experts blame a combination of dry weather, heat, and wind for the problem.

Now let's talk tornadoes. Watch this time-lapsed look at one funnel cloud slamming into downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Oh! It's one of the many reasons for the state of emergency that is in effect right now in North Carolina. Statewide, more than 20 people were killed. Nearly half of them in one small community.

CNN's David Mattingly is in Bertie County, North Carolina. And David, just the devastation behind you says it all.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. Eleven people lost their lives in this rural county. Keep in mind that it's sparsely populated here. That just goes to show you how widespread and how powerful these storms are.

And we're about to show you something we very rarely get to show you. It's what a house looks like inside after it's been hit directly by a tornado. And this is the house right here. It starts with going up the steps. First thing you notice is the house has been pushed completely off of its foundation. There's now a one-foot gap between where the steps ended and the house used to begin.

Now, stepping inside, nothing in here but destruction. Everything in here is broken. There's mud all over the walls. The window here in the front completely blown out. Something to think about, the roof over our heads is collapsed. At least the front part is. In the back, the roof is completely gone. It was blown off. The attic was exposed. All the belongings in that attic now damaged; some of it blown away.

Stepping in a bit further, you can see all of the furniture here is covered with mud, covered with debris. The blinds shatters. Going into the back room here, much the same, debris blown all the way into the back of the house. And now here going into the kitchen, going to let you get a front row look here. Into the kitchen. You can see some of the cabinets have been blown open. The glass shattered, blown across the kitchen. Debris from probably the field across the street blown in here and stuck all over the walls.

But again, a terrible mess. And this is one of the few houses here that was hit directly that's still standing. The people across from us here, the two lots next to us, the two houses there, those people were not so fortunate. Three people over there died when those two houses were completely wiped off of their foundations and torn to pieces.

Now, there is some good news for the couple that lives here. The owner tells me that his wife actually became ill and he had to take her to the emergency room. They were gone when the storm hit. If they had been here, they would have been sitting in this room and possibly watching that TV that is now damaged and broken right here in front of me. So, if there is a good side to an emergency room illness, that family has definitely found it by not being here when that tornado hit.

COSTELLO: Oh! And she's okay and all better today?

MATTINGLY: As good as she can be, knowing what's happened to her house. Again, even though this house is one of the few remain -- that remains standing, you saw how it's off the foundation. Half of the roof is off, all their belongings are messed up. It may be a total loss here. And there's still some doubt as to what sort of the future might hold for them here as well.

COSTELLO: I know if the house is knocked off its foundation, what can you do? David Mattingly, thanks for that sad yet fascinating look. We appreciate it.

We all know that gas prices are going through the roof. An industry analyst says we ain't seen nothing yet. We'll talk more about gas prices next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Stock market opening bell just rang an hour ago. Do we even want to check on the numbers? Boy, the numbers are tanking. And we have kind of a sneaking suspicion as to part of why. The price of crude oil down today. That sounds like good news. But don't be too sure.

Let's head to Stephanie Elam now. She joins us from New York. First of all, tell us about the numbers a little bit and why they're tanking on Wall Street.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, a lot of it, Carol, has to do with the fact the S&P came out today, and while they did reaffirm the credit rating for the United States, saying that it's top notch, they did give an outlook that is negative. And that's what you're seeing playing into the markets here today. And so that's what you're seeing that's been affecting the markets. We were looking for a down opening earlier anyway. But we'll keep our eyes on it anyway. You have Felicia Taylor at the stock exchange. She'll be looking at that too --

COSTELLO: Thanks for filling us in, though. Because you see those numbers, you go oh, my goodness, what's happening?

Let's talk about gas prices now. The CEO for Citizens for Affordable Energy saying we could be looking at five bucks a gallon. Wow.

ELAM: I know. And that number just freaks people out. Let's give you the numbers first of all, Carol, to let you know where we stand. The national average for a regular gallon of gas stands at $3.83. That's up 27 days in a row now, and it's an increase of about 29 cents from just a month ago.

So, there are six states now that have an average price that is actually above four bucks a gallon. And you take a look at those states across the country, you're talking about Alaska, New York, California. You've got Connecticut in there, Illinois, Hawaii of course, and D.C. I know it's not a state. But hey, let's give them their due already. They are also paying above $4 a gallon.

Now, there are four states that aren't far behind. Those four states, Michigan, Nevada, Washington state, and Wisconsin are very close. Look at those prices right there. You can see Michigan at $3.96. They're already feeling it.

Moving from there to look at the highest. Hawaii, $4.48. And then Wyoming is at $3.54. So, just imagine the pain there in Hawaii. So, consumers obviously responding to this, it seems, by buying less gas already. But keep in mind, Carol, the summer driving season isn't even here yet. So people tend to drive more during that time. If they scale back, that could affect the already fragile recovery we've seen.

Goldman Sachs has gone so far as to cut back their outlook for growth for the United States for the first quarter because they're saying consumers may hold back and that spending will hold back the quarter.

But if you listen to what you're mentioning, the Citizens for Affordable Energy, what they're saying is, they're saying if things don't change, yes, that five bucks, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HOFMEISTER, CEO, CITIZENS FOR AFFORDABLE ENERGY: In the short term, like this year, I think we'll see a little bit more upward movement depending upon what happens in the Middle East. I'm more worried about next year.

If the U.S. doesn't pick up its contribution to that crude oil production, we'll be looking back at $5 in a couple of years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And note he's not really worried about right now, he's worried about what happens next year if things don't change. And obviously, there's a lot of unrest and there's a lot of uncertainty going on in the Middle East. When that happens, then we don't know when oil will come down, and we don't know -- really come down -- and we don't know when gas prices then will follow suit.

COSTELLO: Sadly, we're all well aware of that.

ELAM: Lots of walks. Walks, jobs, bike rides, skateboards. You know. Mopeds. Whatever.

COSTELLO: We'll be more fit. It will be good.

ELAM: Yes, everyone will be a little slimmer.

COSTELLO: It's true. Stephanie Elam, many thanks.

Slapped with a lawsuit, the dating site match.com is getting serious about screening out sex offenders. Details on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Every year, hundreds of thousands of people find love on match.com. That's what the dating site boasts anyway. Well, one member says she found and was assaulted by a sex offender. She slapped Match with a lawsuit last week. And now the company is making some serious changes.

Joining us to talk about all this, social media expert Paul Gillin. Welcome, Paul.

PAUL GILLIN, SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, this woman says she was sexually assaulted. Match.com comes out and says hey, we have new rules into place. I just want to read you a bit of their press release, what they sent to us. It says, "With millions of members and thousands of first dates a week, match.com, like any other large community, cannot guarantee the actions of all its members." Should that make us feel better about this or worse?

GILLIN: Well, they've never been able to guarantee the actions of their members. What they have failed to do is tap into legally and publicly available databases of sex offenders to match them and give warnings that are associated with the people that others may meet on match.com. And I think that there was an oversight, and a tragic one in this case, of match.com failing to do something that should have been a very basic service to its members.

COSTELLO: Right. And this woman was set up on a date with a sex offender, and she was assaulted.

I want to just read you a bit more of their press release. And you were talking about the sex offender database. This is from match.com. "For years, we've been periodically evaluating the practicality of conducting these checks in connection with our service. However, their historical unreliability has always led us to conclude against it."

So, they're saying that they checked these registries --

GILLIN: That's --

COSTELLO: Go ahead.

GILLIN: It's ridiculous. I mean, the registry -- whether the registries are valid or not, the fact is it would have been simple for match.com to provide a link to publicly available information on a geographic basis that members of the site could check out themselves. So, I think that this was a blatant oversight on their part. They don't have to integrate the sex offender information into the profiles of their members, but they certainly can link to publicly available information and let members decide for themselves.

This sounds to me like a business decision. They didn't want to discourage people from using the site or signing up for the site. They didn't want to give them a lot of negative information about dating. There is -- there are warnings on the site about how to -- what to watch out for when meeting people anonymously. But they really, I think, missed the opportunity on this one to provide a valuable service that would have prevented this kind of negative publicity.

COSTELLO: Paul, thank you for being with us. We're going to follow the story much more tomorrow when this Jane Doe, this woman who was sexually assaulted, is supposedly going to come out and talk about what happened to her publicly. Paul Gillin, many thanks.

This is tax day. A time for taxpayers to pay up and Tea Partiers to lash out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: The Tea Party movement wouldn't exist without Barack Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sarah Palin speaks, the Tea Party movement roars. A closer look just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A midnight deadline is ticking for American taxpayers who have not yet filed their tax returns. And that means the time is right for Tea Party groups to seize on voter anger over high taxes.

CNN political producer Shannon Travis, who follows the Tea Party for us, he's in Washington with a closer look. Rallies taking place all over the country today, right? SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Actually, they were over the weekend. A few smaller rallies today. Today, as you mentioned, is the deadline for Americans to file their taxes. But a lot of the Tea Party groups held their protests between Friday and Saturday.

Pretty busy weekend for a lot of the presidential, potential presidential candidates as well. One of them, Sarah Palin. She was in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday. And you and a lot of our viewers will remember, carol, that the governor there, Governor Scott Walker, was in this big fight over collective bargaining rights for public union employees.

Sarah Palin was there as a show of support for the Tea Party movement and for Scott Walker. She said that the governor is basically trying to save jobs, save pensions. You'll remember, Carol, when a few months ago Sarah Palin said the Republican establishment should, quote, "man up." Well, she took that and raised that a few points. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: What we need is for you to stand up, GOP, and fight! Maybe I should ask some of the badger women's hockey team, those champions -- maybe I should ask them if we should be suggesting to GOP leaders they need to learn how to fight like a girl!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRAVIS: Sarah Palin using the same kind of rhetoric of manning up. There you have it, Carol.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Fight like a girl. You've got to hand it to her. She comes up with some good lines.

TRAVIS: She knows how to make headlines.

COSTELLO: She sure does. Shannon Travis, many thanks.

We'll have your next political update in one hour. And a reminder, for all the latest political news, go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.

As you're stressing to get that return done by tonight's deadline, think about this. Nearly half of all Americans don't pay any income tax, and it's perfectly legal. In the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, Suzanne Malveaux will have more on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Taking a look at stories making news later today.

At 3:00 p.m. Eastern this year's Pulitzer Prize winners and nominated finalists will be announced at Columbia University in New York. The recovery of the Gulf of Mexico following last year's big oil spill is being discussed at the House Natural Resources Committee. Several business owners affected by the spill will be testifying.

And in just a couple of minutes, transportation secretary Ray LaHood will be addressing air traffic controllers in Atlanta. He's announced changes aimed at combating air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job.

Now it's time for NEWSROOM at 11:00 a.m. Eastern with Suzanne Malveaux.

And I'll join you shortly to talk about -- you know, no one seems to have any ideas for lowering the price of a gallon of gas. Why is that?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I don't know. We're actually going to ask the secretary that question, see if he's got any answers, any solutions.

COSTELLO: Pin him on that, Suzanne. I'll be listening.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Carol.