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American Morning
What it Takes to Run the Government; Boozy Beverage Controversy; The Gulf, One Year Later; First Lady's Plane Aborts Landing; Our Deadly Addiction to Drugs
Aired April 20, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Severe storms striking right now tearing through the Midwest and the south overnight. Parts of four states now under a tornado watch as we speak. Some people say they have nothing left to lose after last weekend's devastating storms on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. It's Wednesday, April 20th, and welcome to AMERICAN MORNING today.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: A busy morning for you. Of course, it is the anniversary of the oil spill from last year, last April 20th. These are some images we're never going to forget. They -- oil stained birds, animals unable to breathe. One year after the oil spill, Rob Marciano is going back to the Gulf to check on the wildlife. Some of them are grown up, some of them are still dying.
CHETRY: Yes, those are the brown pelicans. I mean, just the intense process it takes to even clean one of those birds.
Also, lost bags, bumped flights, hidden fees, you know the headaches of flying. The feds telling the airlines you can't get away with that unless you're ready to pay. The new rights for airline passengers, but are they enforceable?
ROMANS: And this comes in strawberry, lemonade, raspberry, watermelon, stronger than a beer. Colt 45's new blast, blurring the line between soft drink and hard stuff. Some parents are not happy about it.
VELSHI: Up first a one-two punch of extreme weather, a new line of severe storms on the move through the south and Midwest. Heavy downpours, hail, parts of four states are under tornado watch right now. Let me show you some amateur video showing a funnel cloud touching down in Bowling Green, Missouri, yesterday. Take look at this. Witnesses say it destroyed one home and two barns.
Let's go over to Memphis, Tennessee. These pictures just coming to CNN overnight. A strong squall line tore through the town overnight. The biggest concern this morning is high winds. Jacqui is in the extreme weather center. More of this expected today, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. But the good news is that those watch boxes are shaven down a little bit this morning. We're really focusing in on the threat on the deep south. What a night it was from, you know, most of the day yesterday through the overnight hours. You saw the tornado video there from bowling green, Missouri.
We can show you that home that was destroyed. Take a look at that, just the incredible force. There were multiple reports that this was a tornado that moved through there. You can see that twisted metal and you can also see just the trees that were leveled off in that area.
All right, let's talk about that threat area for today and wind, we think, is going to be the biggest concern and we're really seeing that right now across parts of northern Alabama. You can see that little bow shape there with those stronger thunderstorms and all the warnings that are in effect.
This storm has a history of producing 60-mile-an-hour winds and lots of people waking up without power now into parts of western Alabama as a result of that. We do expect more severe weather across parts of the south throughout the day today and possibly developing late today in the mid-Atlantic states. Lots of travel issues expected out east as well.
One last night as I toss back to you guys, you were interested in how many tornadoes happened over the weekend. Well, we now know in North Carolina alone, 27 tornados have been confirmed and that is a record for them for a single event.
CHETRY: You said you thought they would probably hit a record and, indeed, after the confirmation they did. Amazing. Thanks, Jacqui.
We're talking about that, North Carolina facing a huge cleanup after the killer storms last week. The president has declared a disaster in the state of North Carolina. What that does is free up federal money to help in the rebuilding and recovery effort. And 22 people in the state were killed by severe weather, half of them all from the same small town.
To Texas where residents and prison inmates are being moved out of town as one of the largest wildfires now triples in size. Officials have evacuated town of Palo Pinto. Fire fighters from Dallas are racing to the front lines. It's just one of the dozens of wildfires still burning right now across the state.
Ed Lavandera is live for us in Palo Pinto today. When we talk about it tripling in size, I mean yesterday we were saying these wildfires were basically burning in all but two counties in the state. Now it's tripled in size, pretty alarming.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is one of the -- I think last count about five major fires burning across the state and by major I mean fires burning more than 100,000 acres at a time some -- one of them was reaching close to 200,000 acres. We're focusing here on the one Possum Kingdom Lake, the one that is really threatening the most small town communities. This is the one that is just west of Ft. Worth.
We're here in the town of Palo Pinto and those video images you're seeing are just taking several miles to the north of Palo Pinto here. Late yesterday because of the fires in that area and the winds coming out of the north and pushing those fires toward Palo Pinto. They urged people to start evacuating around here as a precaution. It was a voluntary measure.
But even here at the jail here in Palo Pinto, they removed the inmates, dousing the buildings with water late yesterday afternoon. There were some tense moments.
Of course this is the peaceful time of day, the cooler temperatures in the morning hours really help things out for the overnight crews and now the daytime crews will be going out here shortly to start battling the fires. It's the late afternoon wind gusts that pick up and the heat that intensifies that's really causing problems for fire fighters.
CHETRY: Ed Lavandera for us right by the fire lines as they try get a handle on that, thanks so much.
ROMANS: A new high-profile incident raising concerns about the state of air travel in the U.S. This time it involves first lady Michelle Obama's aircraft. After a quick trip to New York where she and the vice president's wife appeared on ABC's "The View," they boarded a military 737 to head home. The mistake involving their flight was apparently made by air traffic controllers at a regional radar facility before handing control over to Andrews Air Force base.
This is what happened. They apparently let the first lady's plane get within three miles of a 200 ton military cargo jet that was also landing. The required separation is five miles apart. The first lady's plane had to abort its landing and circle the airport.
And relief coming soon for passengers who ever had their baggage lost on flights or spent hours on the tarmac, it's happened to everyone here. Our Jeanne Meserve is live at Reagan National airport. Good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, new rules this morning, Christine, from the department of transportation that should address some of air travelers' pet peeves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Feeling ripped off by hidden airline fees for pillows, food, seats, luggage, reservation changes? Under new Department of Transportation rules, carriers are going to have to disclose them up front on their websites.
RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We're trying to look out after passengers who in some instances have been treated pretty shabbily.
MESERVE: If lost luggage is your gripe, you aren't alone. Last year airlines lost, damaged or delayed more than two million bags. They've always had to compensate you for the bag. Under the new rules, they will also have to refund that pesky baggage fee.
If you were involuntary bumped from an overbooked flight, the new rules will ensure a refund double the value of your ticket up to $800. And the rules say no more tarmac delays of more than four hours for international flights, instituted in part because of extended delays at New York's JFK during last December's blizzard. Delays of more than three hours are already banned for domestic flights.
Advocates for passengers' rights are delighted at the new rules.
KATE HANNI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLYERSRIGHTS.ORG: This is really groundbreaking. For airline passengers even to have been noticed by the government is amazing. But the fact that they're passing meaningful regulations that are going to make a big difference for airline passengers is just -- it's a miracle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Now the airline industry has not yet responded to these new rules, but while they were under discussion, they didn't like the expansion of those tarmac delay rules to international flights. They say it could result in more cancellations. DOT says on the domestic side that hasn't been the case and they say you hear far fewer stories about passengers being stranded unhappily in an airplane while they're waiting for it to take off.
Christine, back to you.
ROMANS: Jeanne Meserve, thank you.
CHETRY: And perhaps some of the best convincing were people that taped this on their cell phone cameras for the world to see.
ROMANS: There was never any photographic evidence ten years ago.
VELSHI: You don't have to know anybody to send it to. With social media anybody who gets good video can put it up for us to discuss.
CHETRY: Made a lot of good changes.
Also new this morning, a terrifying scene at an elementary school in Houston, Texas. A six-year-old boy, a kindergartener, brought a loaded gun to school and then it fell into the -- on to the cafeteria floor. When it fell it went off. OK. Three --
VELSHI: That's not all.
CHETRY: Not only did it go off, it ended up, the bullet ended up wounding three different stories, the boy who brought it and two others. They were all taken out in ambulances. I guess they were hit in the leg. All of them are expected to be OK.
Officials are now investigating how the child got ahold of that hand gun in the first place. But can you imagine being a parent? You see the parents throughout, everyone on their cell phone trying to figure out what happened, if their kid was shot. This is kindergarten.
ROMANS: They have no idea what they're doing. A little politics and lot of policy, President Obama hosts a town hall today in Virginia aimed at building support for cutting the deficit. America is going to have to go on a diet, and the president's trying to sell this. The president also delivered campaign-style messages to the college crowd. It's the first of three similar meetings this week.
There's growing support for same-sex marriage in this country. For the first time, a CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll found that 51 percent of Americans think gay marriage should be legal, 47 percent of Americans disagree. Most Americans who favor gay marriage are under the age of 50, which, by the way, is a population that votes a little bit less.
ROMANS: A generational shift, and when you look at the surveys over time, you can see, slowly but surely, those numbers have been changing and now tipping very slightly into the favor. So it's taken a long, long time, but you can see that public sentiment is changing slowly.
CHETRY: It's also important to know it's for civil unions and benefits extended to same-sex couples, there is a lot more support.
VELSHI: This is specifically gay marriage.
CHETRY: Space shuttle Endeavor is set for takeoff for a launch April 29th, the final two-week mission. Leading the crew is Commander Mark Kelly whose wife is Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who still is recovering as you may remember. She will attend this, though, if she gets her doctor's permission. She was shot in the head during the Tucson rampage earlier this year, and her recovery has been taking place in Houston.
VELSHI: Right, where he's been training. And you spoke to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz the other day, the congresswoman, who said the plan is that she's going to be there for. That will be great.
ROMANS: An oil rig explosion led to the worst oil spill this world's history. Up next Rob Marciano will join us from a sea turtle rehab facility right after the break.
VELSHI: Plus, the cost to run the government, see what could happen in a few years if Washington doesn't make changes, as Christine says, to the way it spends your tax dollars.
CHETRY: The ultimate cocktail a fruity beverage laced with 12 percent alcohol, and it's brewing some outrage from lawmakers and parents saying that it's marketing to kids because it looks like very innocent and it actually is not. We're going to talk to Jason Carroll about that. It's 11 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 14 minutes past the hour right now. It's been exactly a year since the Deep Water Horizon rig exploded in the gulf of Mexico killing 11 people and millions of gallons of crude oil began spilling into the Gulf. We've been talking about the human toll of the unprecedented disaster, but, of course, there's also the issue of the animals.
VELSHI: The birds, the turtles, dolphins, the fish, not just the ones that got oil on them, but the ones that become part of the food chain. Because of that it could take a long time, not only to solve the problem, but to understand the full impact of the spill on the Gulf's ecosystem. It's clear that in one short year, a lot of damage was done. Rob is live in Gulfport, Mississippi for us this morning. Hey, rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. It was shortly after that explosion a year ago that we knew wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico was going to be in trouble and animal rescue organizations from around the country converged here and managed to save thousands of animals. And a lot of those birds mash like triage units that we showed you all throughout the summer, they've been dismantled and gone. But this facility here in Gulfport has always been here and still to this day, they are rehabilitating beautiful turtles like this large Kemp's Ridley turtle. But for every one of these that are rescued and found alive, there's still many more that are dying.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOBY SOLANGI, DIR., INST. FOR MARINE MAMMAL STUDIES: This one came just covered with oil. It was a little baby and now it's grown. This one came from Alabama and it was oiled.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Moby Solangi and his staff continue to treat dolphins and turtles impacted by the oil, but animals are still dying. Since January 1st, 220 sea turtles and 175 dolphins have been found dead. Solangi's team performed most of the necropsies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe take it on the edge of this.
MARCIANO: The results are not yet available but the early numbers are startling.
SOLANGI: In the months of January and February, we have never seen this type of spike. It's about 10 to 15 fold increase, which is significant.
MARCIANO: NOAA's Bob Haddad is collecting evidence and building a legal case against BP. He's looking for a settlement, big enough to rebuild the gulf.
BOB HADDAD, CHIEF, NOAA RESTORATION ASSESSMENT: This is not a spill about turtles or about shorelines or about fish. This is a spill about an ecosystem.
MARCIANO: One year later, man and machine work to clean some marshes still covered in oil.
DAVID MUTH, LOUISIANA DIR., NATIONAL WILDLIFE FOUNDATION: Everything out there is getting some of that sheen. You can't see it.
MARCIANO (on camera): Still? MUTH: Sure. Still. And it happened, it's been happening for a year. You can't see any of it. All of those birds, even if all they have is a little smudge on their breast, they're constantly preening and trying to clean that off. They're ingesting the oil.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Last year, over 2,000 birds were rescued from oil, with over 1,200 moved away from the spill to Texas and Florida. David Muth of the National Wildlife Federation can only hope they survived.
MUTH: No one's done any real long-term studies of how effective it is to clean a bird of oil and then release it back into the wild.
MARCIANO (on camera): Come on, guys.
(voice-over): Nor will they ever know how many animals died or will die from the spill. In the end, all the best efforts man has made may not be enough.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: We certainly hope that Mother Nature takes over and is able to recover. That recovery certainly moving slowly and we're taking a few steps backwards.
By the way, just to be clear, we're not sure that those deaths that have happened this year, the dolphins and the turtles, are directly linked to the oil spill but once the results come in, that information will be made public. Legal system in place.
All right. We've got to know Megan a lot over the last year. Megan, can you bring out one of those beautiful -- look at that. Huh? Endangered species right here. Kemp's Ridley, gorgeous, gorgeous animal. And there's been a lot of these that you've had to take in, haven't there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
MARCIANO: Some more so -- more Kemp's Ridley than any other and that kind of tells you either one or something is really wrong, or maybe there's more Kemp's Ridley out there than we think.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
MARCIANO: Which, you know, indirectly could be a good thing. That would be the silver lining if that were to be true. But these are just absolutely gorgeous here at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport. They've been housing, they're taking care of about 17 of these turtles and they hope to be releasing them next week, in the next couple weeks now that we're into spring.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next two weeks.
MARCIANO: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. MARCIANO: So, a little bit of success amongst what has been a disaster the past 12 months. And this is the reason that people have been working so hard down here on the gulf.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And, Rob, I remember you got to release those pelicans. There was a lot of joy involved after all of the cleaning that they did. There were some questions would these animals survive. Do we know how many that got cleaned and got rehabbed and went back out, are they doing OK?
MARCIANO: They treated about 2,000 birds and they released 1,200. They released over 300 turtles. There's no way to track those pelicans and there's been no long-term studies that say, hey, they usually do OK. So we just can hope. Certainly this guy is thriving. You don't mind the camera so much, yes.
All right. So maybe this Kemp's Ridley will be -- he's saying hi to you guys. He's saying hello to Ali and everybody back there.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: What's his name?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Ali and everybody back there.
CHETRY: He's cute.
MARCIANO: Anyway, guys --
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Rob. Rob Marciano, for a year he's been following this story.
MARCIANO: Bye guys.
VELSHI: The turtle was looking at the three of us, saying which one seems most like my species.
ROMANS: I wonder.
VELSHI: And then he's greeting me.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly.
VELSHI: Who's that turtle between those two women?
CHETRY: You have the same head.
ROMANS: All right.
CHETRY: Well, anyway, we wish them the best of luck. And we're going to have more on the disaster in the gulf. One year later, how healthy is the gulf now? We're going to be joined by an expert who just got back from the region to talk more about the actual waters. Will they recover?
VELSHI: Your tax dollars are buying less and less. We're breaking down what could happen if changes are not made to the way Washington spends your tax dollars. It's 20 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Today, President Obama stops by Facebook headquarters in California. He is holding a virtual town hall style meeting to tout his deficit reduction plan.
Now, here's why all of this matters and why it's in focus right now, the debt and our deficit. Today the big four, Medicare, Medicaid, social security and interest on our debt, what we've already spent, it eats up three quarters off our tax dollars leaving just 24 percent to pay for everything else. This is what it would look like in 2020 if everything stays the same. "CNN Money" broke it down, the fabulous Jean Sahadi (ph) really putting some context on this and found that if everything stays the same, this is how much of all of our tax dollars would go towards social security. Then comes interest on our debt. Almost a quarter. Twenty-four percent to pay the interest.
Here's Medicare. Here's Medicaid. That leaves 11 percent of tax dollars. Just 11 cents of every federal dollar to fund everything else that the government does. Everything. Like this. That includes every branch of the military, the FBI, student loans, the CDC. All of these things, 11 cents on the dollar. That scenario is just nine years away, when today's 10-year-olds will be entering college and folks in their 50s will be eager to retire, just 11 cents to go.
So let's talk about using 2010 numbers, what 11 cents would fund today. Last year the government took in this much. Eleven percent of that is $238 billion. So think of that. That 11 percent of that would give the government just $238 billion to work with. That would pay for only a third of the $667 billion in defense spending or a combined total of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the DHS, NASA, and most of the parks and wildlife services. And at the current pace, 2040, the government would only be able to pay for interest on our debt and social security. That's it. Interest on our debt and social security, guys. That's why the president and so many people, Republicans as well, very serious now about America going on a diet.
VELSHI: All right, Christine.
CHETRY: That's a good way to put it.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
VELSHI: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, it's fruity, it's fizzy, it's packed with booze. A new drink called "Blast" is sparking concern. Lawmakers are saying the dangerous drink may be targeting kids.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Twenty-seven minutes past the hour.
Sometimes what's old is what's new again. Kids find ways to do things that parents get concerned about. And one thing that we're talking about today is this drink. It's fruity, it's potent. Pabst Brewing Company launches its newest alcoholic beverage called "Blast."
ROMANS: But it's stirring up a lot of controversy. Some say the flavor, design and celebrity support is targeting kids. Our Jason Carroll joins us with the details of this.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, I mean, really coming under a lot of heat here. African-American community coming after the celebrity endorser who's behind this, going after the company as well. A lot of problems associated with this.
You know, the company behind "Blast" says its marketing focuses on drinking but doing it responsibly. Critics say the packaging proves otherwise and they're calling this new product a cocktail on training wheels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL (voice-over): A slick on-line ad campaign featuring rapper Snoop Dogg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SNOOP DOGG, RAPPER: Blast baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Colorful packaging, flavors like raspberry watermelon, a combination that creator of "Blast Colt 45," a new malt liquor drink, is betting will be a hit. But watchdog groups questioning who the creator, Pabst Brewing Company, is really targeting.
JORGE CASTILLO, MARIN INSTITUTE: They are targeting young people, mostly because the way they're packaged, they're in bright colors, attractive colors to young people, teenagers.
CARROLL: "Blast" packs a powerful punch. Twenty-three ounce can contains 12 percent alcohol. Twice the amount found in Colt 45 malt liquor. The young adults we spoke to --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really does look like it's marketed to children.
CARROLL: Told us the marketing to them is clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like something that would definitely cater to the younger generation.
CARROLL: Pabst defended their product in a statement saying, "Blast is only meant to be consumed by those above legal drinking age. The alcohol content of Blast is clearly marked on its packaging. We are encouraging consumers to consider mixing Blast with other beverages or enjoy it over ice."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blast by Colt 45.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: This video from an internal Pabst webcast gives more insight into the marketing behind Blast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The opportunity is right for new products with higher alcohol.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: The video, Pabst says contained proprietary information, was later removed from YouTube. New York City Councilman Robert Jackson wrote to Snoop Dogg asking him not to endorse Blast. And that's not the only letter he wrote.
ROBERT JACKSON, NEW YORK CITY COUNCILMAN: What we're trying to say to the industry is, let's not market to our little kids. Let's market to responsible adults. And that's why I wrote to the State Liquor Authority asking them to look at this.
CARROLL: Jackson says Blast deserves the same scrutiny another alcoholic beverage Four Loco came under, Four Loco combined alcohol and caffeine. It was pulled from shelves. The drink is back without the caffeine. But has a level of alcohol to match a can of Blast.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: OK. So we did reach out to Snoop Dogg for his comment about endorsing Blast, but his representatives did not get back to us. Watchdog groups are asking Pabst Brewing to reduce the size of Blast cans to 12 ounces and six percent alcohol. That way, they say, when it's consumed, it's done a little bit more safely and Blast says that it actually already has a seven-ounce bottle, which is smaller than that, but guess what? Still has 12 percent alcohol.
ROMANS: Wow.
CHETRY: It's cheap. I mean, if you're a kid -
CARROLL: Exactly.
CHETRY: You pay $3 for this. This is basically 50 milliliter shy of drinking a bottle of wine and it has the same alcohol content.
CARROLL: And again one of the other criticisms here is that it's - that they're targeting urban areas in some ways, so, you know - ROMANS: I got -
VELSHI: That's an issue as well. Just because something is sweet why have we decided - is - does Pabst at all acknowledge this is about kids?
CARROLL: No. They say it's about young adults and that's why they are also advertising on places like Facebook and Twitter, you know, using social media to reach out to young adults. But you look at the packaging, and heard what some of the people there said, you know, in the piece there, young adults saying, "This looks like it's for kids."
CHETRY: Because - I think that what -
CARROLL: I mean, does this appeal to you?
CHETRY: No. But when we were younger -
ROMANS: Feels like you're drinking the soda, it masks the taste of alcohol, feels like you're drinking a soda or a fruit drink, then, you know, it could really -
VELSHI: Are we being (INAUDIBLE) naive though? I mean, do we think these kids who want to drink but don't want to taste the alcohol can't figure out how to do that?
CARROLL: Well, they can figure it out clearly, but I think what critics are saying is, are you doing too much to try to try to appeal to those who are under age? Through packaging, through the sugar content. I think that's what the question is.
CHETRY: All right. We're talking about Four Loco a couple of months ago, that one too. This is similar.
CARROLL: Correct with Four Loco, it's still back, without the caffeine.
ROMANS: It's just a lot of booze. I mean -
VELSHI: You can buy a lot of booze.
ROMANS: Whether you're 12 or -
VELSHI: I'm not sure kids who want to drink want to drink because they ran out of booze. That's the only question.
ROMANS: I know. Sorry. Good topic nonetheless.
CHETRY: Thanks, Jason.
VELSHI: All right. We're crossing the half hour now. (INAUDIBLE) Give you top stories.
Tornado watches still up in parts of four states. Some places still picking up after twisters last weekend are going to get hit again. The line of severe weather stretching through the south, Midwest. It's cause something some travel delays all the way up the East Coast. Some places could see hail and heavy downpours.
A wildfire tripling in size now within 70 miles of the Dallas Fort Worth area. It's threatening 600 homes and forcing the evacuation of the town of Palo Pinto. So far officials say dozens of wildfires have destroyed 170 homes across the state.
Toyota scaling back production here in the United States because of a lack of supplies after last month's earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The automaker says that between now and June 3rd, production will run at 50 percent on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and it will continue to suspend production on Mondays and Fridays.
CHETRY: Well, it was exactly a year ago today, the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico killing 11 workers and triggering the worst oil spill in the nation's history. It could be years, even decades, before we fully understand the impact of the spill on the wildlife in the Gulf, waters of the Gulf, dead sea turtles, baby dolphins continue to wash ashore to this day.
ROMANS: We want to get an update on the Gulf Coast ecosystem and how it's holding up. Joining this morning live from Port Sulphur, Louisiana, Doug Inkley, senior scientist at the National Wildlife Federation. Doug, you just returned from a first-hand survey of the area. I know that this is really an emotional experience and an emotional year for all of you involved in wildlife in the region. What have you found with this assessment?
DOUG INKLEY, SENIOR SCIENTIST, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: Well, it is emotional. It's very difficult to go out into the gulf one year later and what we were seeing yesterday in the survey that we did was oil about an inch thick on the borders of the wetlands. What this was doing is killing the vegetation, making these areas more prone to washing away, erosion, and continued destruction of the wetlands that are in this area.
And these wetlands are what are critically important to the seafood in the area as well as the sport fishing.
CHETRY: That's right. Not only that, but it's also where species, very prized species like the brown pelican nest. There have been some accounts of you see them in these wetlands that once used to be green and lush and now they're brown and straggling or scraggily, I guess, they're describing it.
INKLEY: And washing away.
CHETRY: And washing away. So what is the solution for that? I understand that they talked a little bit about trying to get a restoration project going. Can we turn this around?
INKLEY: Well, there's two solutions to this. The first is to prevent something like this from happening again. And so far Congress has taken no action to do that. They've done no reform of the oil and gas policies. The other solution to this is to do long-term Gulf Coast restoration. What we need to have happen is for Congress to enact legislation that would dedicate the fines, levied against BP for this oil spill, to long-term Gulf Coast restoration in this area.
CHETRY: Are they doing that?
INKLEY: They haven't taken any action yet. Congress has been sitting on their hands. They've done nothing yet to reform the oil and gas policies. After the Exxon Valdez spill way back 22 years ago, Congress took immediate action and required double hauled tankers. Nothing so far this time.
ROMANS: Let's take about what you're trying to do. You've got sea turtles, Atlantic blue fin tuna, these are species that are classified as in poor condition. Tell us what you're seeing and what kinds of species are affected the most?
INKLEY: Well, I'm concerned about a number of species, certainly sea turtles, 500 (INAUDIBLE) sea turtles were found dead during the oil spill. That's the most endangered sea turtle in the world. Right now, we have baby dolphins that are washing ashore, many times the natural rates. Most of these dolphins were conceived, the baby dolphins were conceived at the time of the oil spill.
So, we're really concerned about the long-term impacts that this spill will have on the entire ecology of the area.
ROMANS: Let's talk about the baby dolphins. In February, some 36 washed ashore. That's 15 times the normal amount, Doug. And you point out sort of the gestation when they would have been conceived and it would have been around the time of the oil spill. Already at the end of April, already seven baby dolphins have been found. Normally you say we see an average of maybe two stranded or dead baby dolphins, the bottlenose dolphins. What's happening to the overall ecology, do you think, that is somehow in the system that's hurting these animals?
INKLEY: Well, I would like to have a better understanding of what's really going on, but unfortunately a lot of the studies that are being done by the government, the results are being withheld. We're not being told what they are. I guess, this is apparently for litigation reasons but the local people need to know exactly what's going on so they can respond in the best way possible.
CHETRY: In terms of the vital economic aspect here of the shrimp, of the other shellfish and seafood in the area, they're still having some trouble recovering, obviously, a year later. Will that turn around? I mean will this still continue to be a viable place for the rich resources when it comes to Gulf seafood?
INKLEY: Well, this is a very important area for Gulf seafood and there's a lot of concern about the safety of it, but we hope that people will - when it's proven to be safe, will continue to utilize the area and consume the food. The problem here is that this impact could last for many, many years. And so they're going to have to continue to do studies, perhaps there may not be toxic components into these fish species but there could be lowered productivity and thus fewer fish to catch. We really don't know for sure. CHETRY: All right. Hopefully it will be a wake-up call as to restoring the marshlands and wetlands that you've been talking about, Doug. I know that you've been a big advocate of that. Thanks so much for joining us this morning, Doug Inkley, senior scientist at the National Wildlife Federation from Port Sulphur, Louisiana this morning.
INKLEY: Thank you.
ROMANS: Tonight at 10:00, the worst oil spill in U.S. history one year later, where's the help, who's accountable? CNN's Peabody award winning coverage of the disaster in the gulf continues as "AC 360" returns to the region, keeping them honest. CNN tonight at 10:00 Eastern.
VELSHI: And still ahead, a Dallas TV reporter, this is interesting to watch, made national headlines this morning for getting into a tense exchange with President Obama. We've got it on camera. Wait until you see it.
CHETRY: Also first lady Michelle Obama's plane involved in a close call in midair. A live report from the White House on what they're saying this morning and was this another air traffic controller error?
38 minutes past the hour.
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ROMANS: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Good morning. In Washington, D.C., it's mostly cloudy, right now 53. We're told thunderstorms and windy but 81 later today in the nation's capital.
VELSHI: Spring doesn't last long in Washington. Those cherry blossoms come and then it's summer.
A plane carrying first lady Michelle Obama forced to abort a landing after what is believed to be the result of an air traffic controller's mistake. This happened yesterday when the first lady's plane came too close to a massive military cargo jet at Andrews Air Force base near Washington.
CHETRY: Yes, a little bit of a scare. Kate Bolduan live at the White House. Was the first lady ever in any danger?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House says no, that the first lady and all the people that are on board with her were not in any danger at any point. They're really calling it just the fact - they downplay it saying that "She wasn't in danger, it wasn't an aborting of the landing. It was more they just had to briefly circle before landing." This actually happened on Monday, and we all found out about it yesterday.
The first lady was on the military version of a 737. As you guys said, she got - the plane was too close to a cargo plane, as they were coming into Andrews Air Force base, and they had to briefly, as we're told, by the FAA, that they briefly had to circle but the first lady did land, of course, and is safe and sound, very thankfully.
But I think you guys already mentioned, the FAA officials here say that they believe, at least at this point, that this is - at some point along the line of the first lady's plane coming in to land, that this was a result of some sort of mistake by an air traffic controller. So a very tough week for air traffic controllers all around, if you will. No surprise, FAA is investigating.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also gathering information. We can be sure there's going to be some follow-up on that. But the good news, all parties involved say that the first lady was not in any danger. Actually officials over here said one aide that was on the plane with her, actually had no idea that there was even an incident or any kind of danger at all because it went so smoothly.
But still, concerning as it does involve the first lady. They came within three miles, which might to our viewers sound very far apart in terms of distances between planes, but the FAA requires a distance between planes to actually be five miles. So, they were too close in terms of a big 737.
VELSHI: So she wasn't in danger, but there was a reporter in Dallas who was getting in danger with her husband.
BOLDUAN: A little too close for comfort, I would say. Pretty interesting.
CHETRY: I'm sure you saw this as well, Kate. We're going to show it to our viewers now.
BOLDUAN: OK.
CHETRY: President Obama getting into a little bit of a tense exchange with a Dallas TV reporter. It was an interview that happened at the White House. And the questions Monday ranged from immigration reform to why he's so unpopular in the lone star state. Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD WATSON, TEXAS REPORTER: Why do you think you're so unpopular in Texas?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, look, the - Texas has always been a pretty Republican state for, you know, for historic reasons. If what you're telling me is Texas is a conservative state, you're absolutely right.
WATSON: Was the shuttle not awarded to Houston because of politics?
OBAMA: I said that was wrong. We had nothing to do with it. The White House had nothing to do with it. There was a whole commission, a whole process. That's how the decision was made.
WATSON: And you weren't personally involved in the decision?
OBAMA: I just said that wasn't true. Let me finish my answers when we do an interview. All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: In case you missed the very last part of that, we want to play it for you again. It's what the president said to the reporter at the very end --
VELSHI: Listen carefully.
ROMANS: It was a testy exchange. The reporter in some cases was following up very quickly, even interrupting the president and this what is the president said at the very end. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Let me finish my answers the next time we do an interview. All right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Taking off his mike, he said, why don't you let me finish the questions the next time we do an interview, all right?
The president is clearly (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: He didn't -- yes, and it's a difficult back and forth. It's sometimes not pleasant because you have a certain amount of time. I mean, they really stick -- the president obviously has a very tight schedule. So if you have 15 minutes to ask your questions and he's giving you three minute answers, I mean, it's tough.
ROMANS: And the president -- I mean, presidents are always in my experience careful when they're answering questions because they want to be careful, you know, they want to say the right thing.
VELSHI: Right. Because they know we'll take those answers and --
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: And do something with them. And everyone's looking for the five second sound bite and the president wants to give a three minute answer.
CHETRY: That's right. There you go.
VELSHI: All right. Be on the alert for severe thunderstorms today as they move east. Might affect your morning commute. Jacqui Jeras has your weather, coming up next.
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CHETRY: We have a lot going on this morning. At 47 minutes past the hour, here's what you need to know to start your day.
We start with severe weather on the move right now. Reports of tornadoes touching down and power outages across the Midwest. This system now moving east. We'll get you an update on where it's headed.
Meantime, firefighters in Dallas are rushing to help out in that wildfire that has now tripled in size in just a day. This is about 70 miles from Dallas/Ft. Worth. It's threatening 600 homes at this time.
More trouble for Toyota following last month's earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The automaker is now scaling back production at U.S. plants by 50 percent on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Plants are already closed on Mondays and Fridays.
The makers of Colt 45 out with a new beverage, Blast. It's 12 percent alcohol and it comes in a very bright-colored container, fruity and fizzy, and some lawmakers are outraged saying its flavor and bright design may market to kids. Pabst defends the product saying that Blast is only meant to be consumed by those above the legal drinking age.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. We're going to take a quick break. AMERICAN MORNING is coming back in just one minute.
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ROMANS: I got a joke for you. Do you pronounce the capital of Kentucky, Louisville or Louisville?
CHETRY: Louisville.
VELSHI: Louisville. I think it's like one syllable, Louisville.
ROMANS: The capital of Kentucky is Frankfurt.
CHETRY: I'm so mad at her. She --
VELSHI: Oh, man! That was not fair.
ROMANS: That's Louisville, Kentucky. Good morning, Louisville. It's cloudy and 62. Later it'll be 64 and windy.
VELSHI: Good morning, Frankfurt.
CHETRY: Are you more mad you got that wrong or are you more mad that she tried to get us with a dorky joke I used to use in sixth grade?
VELSHI: This is what Christine always does, though. It's always a dorky joke. That's the problem.
ROMANS: Wait, what did the fish say when it hit its head into the brick wall?
VELSHI: What?
ROMANS: Dam.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: OK, now she's cursing. All right. I got to get out to Jacqui Jeras.
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ROMANS: The morning's top story just minutes away, including a new study that says if you use Twitter frequently, you have a harder time sustaining relationships. Could all those tweets be causing you to lose your love life?
CHETRY: Bless you, Ali.
VELSHI: Thank you. Sneeze there.
CHETRY: It's not good to hold your nose when you sneeze. You could blow out your ear drums.
Also, mayhem at an Ohio McDonald's as a big fight breaks out during national days of hiring. Somebody -- a couple people ended up in the hospital over this. We'll tell you what happened.
VELSHI: It's not good to sneeze while you're on TV, because you lose your viewers.
Plus, our deadly addiction to drugs, not heroin or cocaine, but prescription pain killers. Americans are overdosing in record numbers. We're going to talk to an addiction specialist about how to stop this trend.
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CHETRY: Any parent out there can understand how this next story would be one of your biggest nightmares. I mean, you're nervous enough when your kid has to have surgery but then for it to go wrong. What happened is, this child was going in for eye surgery and the doctor operated on the wrong eye. It supposedly happened to a four-year-old in Washington. But not only that, the parents say that the doctor realized the mistake but then never corrected it. Instead, she just repeated the operation on the eye that need it. I'm not understanding that part. But hospital officials are looking into what happened and now the parents say they actually may sue for malpractice.
ROMANS: It's called wrong side surgery and it happens more often than you'd think. It's a real problem.
VELSHI: I don't understand that.
ROMANS: Moving the wrong kidneys. The medical profession for years has tried to figure out how to make this standard procedure so that the wrong organ is --
CHETRY: I know but, literally, I sat in on a knee surgery when I was a health reporter and they literally wrote, "this leg" in black Sharpie and wrote, "not this one." I mean, that's how, you know -- I mean, sometimes it's the most basic thing that makes the difference.
But this poor kid. Unbelievable. ROMANS: This is a very interesting story, as well, about the army sending new gear in to protect troops in Afghanistan next month. This including so-called ballistic boxers. I'm not kidding. Ballistic boxers. They're meant to stop sand and other particles that are produced from an IED blast. It's -- I guess it is like bullet proof underwear.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: That ways wounds are kept clean, easier to treat. The silk shorts are soaked in antibacterial stuff to prevent infections. The Army is also working on a new high-tech helmet that's lighter but also has more protection.
VELSHI: They've really had to advance this. They were finding with these IEDs that sometimes the preferred shirts that these guys were wearing would melt on them. So they had to come up with things that wouldn't do that. So, a lot of actual advances being made in this war in terms of what soldiers wear.
Listen to this one. They say it'll shorten your attention span and maybe your love life. The online dating site, OK Cupid did a survey that found Twitter users break up sooner than people who don't tweet. According to them, Twitter addicts' relationships are five to ten percent shorter --
ROMANS: And they break up in 140 characters or less?
VELSHI: That's exactly right. The breakups are a whole lot shorter, too. The dating site founder says it's just a sign of the times. That people that tweet live their life it's in shorter bursts.
CHETRY: All right. That's a stretch for a correlation there.
VELSHI: You don't buy it?
ROMANS: It might be self-selective. I mean, people, maybe they're younger. Maybe they're --
VELSHI: Until we had Facebook, you never had that idea of people breaking up on Facebook when you find out that your significant other says they're single.
CHETRY: We were outraged by a Post-It note during the "Sex and the City" years but now -- now, it's 140 characters.
All right. We're going to take a quick break. Your top stories next.
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