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American Morning
Paterson, New Jersey Experiences Severe Flooding; Some Connecticut Resident See Homes Destroyed by hurricane Irene; FEMA Chief Surveys Hurricane Damages; Obama Declares Disasters in North Carolina, New York; Texas Wildfire Out of Control; Libya's Food Crisis; Are Unions Losing Their Voice?; New Jersey Battles Floods; New Jersey Battles Floods; Cure Heart Disease With Food; Do Companies Pay Less Taxes
Aired August 31, 2011 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Storm long gone, the suffering far from over, people running from their homes along rivers and returning to destruction along the beach, all in the wake of Hurricane Irene.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And fast-moving flames, not a drop of moisture to stop them. Homes already burning, 100 more in the line of fire.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And there's power in numbers. Those numbers are dwindling. With Labor Day around the corner, we take a serious look at whether unions in this country are dying and where the power lies now.
COSTELLO: And could food be the only medicine you need to cure heart disease on this AMERICAN MORNING?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Good morning. It's Wednesday, August 31st. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. In and amongst the stories of disaster that we're covering, you were talking about food and heart disease. Sanjay is going to be back with us about that special, "THE LAST HEART ATTACK," about whether you can just adjust your diet and dramatically reduce --
COSTELLO: Forget about the cholesterol lowering drugs.
VELSHI: Mostly I was trying to dodge exercise.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: There you go.
VELSHI: I'm not sure I can fix my diet.
ROMANS: I want to take you to live pictures out of Paterson, New Jersey, the race to reach higher ground. Several hundred people have now been evacuated in New Jersey as flooding continues now three days after hurricane Irene tore through. These are pictures you're seeing of Paterson where the water is ferocious at this hour.
In Vermont a dozen towns cut off by flooding had supplies airlifted in. More than 250 roadways cut off by high waters and the layers of mud and muck left when the water started to go down.
And in Connecticut, shoreline communities are in shambles, homes are torn to shreds, knocked off their pillars, the force of Irene bending steel. Look, sliding some of these homes in Connecticut off their foundations. And 43 people are now dead in 12 states, close to three million people are still without power.
We're all over the story still. Reports from many of the hardest hit areas. Alina Cho, she is live along the storm ravaged Connecticut shoreline. Also first, Mary Snow live along the raging Passaic River in Little Falls, New Jersey. Let's start with Mary. Little Falls is usually what you see behind you but much smaller, a Little Falls, Mary. Now it is a very dangerous, dangerous mass of water.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And Christine, if you take a look at the raging water behind me, consider the fact that this is a big improvement over the last 24 hours. The Passaic River here crested seven feet above flood stage. And I was here last night and it was even more intense than it is now.
But even though some of the waters are receding, county officials say that some places may be under water for several days. And rising waters on Tuesday forced evacuations, including Paterson, New Jersey, which is a nearby town from where I am right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: For a city that is used to flooding, this became too much. As people could no longer get out of homes on their own in Paterson, New Jersey, rescue crews in boats had to bring them to safety, from adults to babies. The Passaic River hit levels not seen in more than a century.
This woman had gone to her mother's house with her two children. And 30-year-old Connell Kelly said he ignored evacuation orders because he's experienced many floods before. He lives on the second floor, but when waters topped the door to his building, he waited by his window for help.
CONNELL KELLY, PATERSON RESIDENT: I had food, I had water, I had things to live and survive with. So I was pretty much all right. But it just got scary to me at a time. When I see the water keep elevating, I had to leave.
SNOW: This father and son were swept away by currents. This YouTube video shows crews rescuing them. They were said to be checking on their property when the water took hold of them. Rescue crews later found them holding on to a log.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were scared. They were more scared than anything, holding on and they yelled out in the beginning, a lot of people around, that couldn't get to them and they were the ones screaming.
SNOW: While Paterson has a history of flooding, city officials say what's different this time is that some areas not prone to flooding were underwater. It's just one of several communities in northern New Jersey seen here on Monday that have been inundated by water following the heavy rains dumped by hurricane Irene.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: And you're looking right now at live pictures over Paterson, New Jersey. This morning, you can see that a picture of a bridge just swamped by water. We spoke to the mayor of Paterson just a few minutes ago and he was saying those evacuations you just saw were going on until 10:30 last night, and in total he estimates more than 1,000 people have been displaced from their homes.
Christine, one of the things that caused some people to leave their homes, some of the high rises had to be evacuated because power was shut down. The town had to open a couple of schools in order to provide housing for people, many more people than they expected to be evacuated. Christine?
ROMANS: All right. Mary Snow, thanks, Mary.
COSTELLO: Trouble in Connecticut too. Connecticut is now ordering new evacuations as water surges downstream from places further north in New England. Also along the state shoreline there are scenes of total devastation. Alina cho is live in East Haven, Connecticut, which of course is east of New Haven, Connecticut. And the picture behind you, it's just unbelievable.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Carol. Good morning to you. Residents here describe this as a war zone. Really, all you have to do is take a walk along Cosey Beach here in East Haven, Connecticut, and for as far as the eye can see nearly every home here has been either damaged or destroyed. Three days after hurricane Irene made landfall here, residents are only just now beginning to assess the damage. And it's not pretty. So many homes, simply wiped out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DINO BRAINERD, COZY BEACH RESIDENT: The whole first floor is gone. This was the second floor actually.
CHO (on camera): This is the second floor?
BRAINERD: This is the second floor.
CHO (voice-over): The living room, kitchen, rooms that were once one floor up in Dino Brainerd's home are now hugging the beach at ground level.
(on camera) Oh, my gosh.
(voice-over) Homes sheered in half by what many here call the perfect storm.
BRAINERD: It's eerie. You come back and it's almost like it's so surreal.
CHO: Like this scene -- people enjoying their summer just feet away from total devastation.
(on camera) These are the pillars on which the homes were built to protect them. This is what's left after Irene. One resident told me it's as if someone picked up their home, threw it, and stomped on it. All of the homes here flattened and reduced to rubble.
MAYOR APRIL CAPONE, EAST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT: We believe that we have 25 homes that are a total loss and maybe another 20 that are uninhabitable.
CHO (voice-over): Adding to the heartbreak, Cosey Beach is tightknit, and many families have owned their homes for generations, like Jim Delusha.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did get a little water in here. That's very unusual.
CHO: And 65 of his 70 summers have been spent here. Delusha says with all the beach erosion over the years, owning a home on this stretch of beach is like playing Russian roulette.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't a question of if. It was a question of when.
CHO: Life-long resident Roberta Sabo ignored the mandatory evacuation order.
(on camera) What did you see?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the house coming down. I saw this, this coming down and at me.
CHO (voice-over): Her home was spared. But for Dino Brainerd and his family, there's little to salvage. Yet for him leaving the area is not an option.
BRAINERD: I would not let this stop me from coming back.
CHO (on camera): When you hear the name Irene now?
BRAINERD: I won't be naming any of my daughters or pets Irene.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Back live here, some of the homes along this stretch of beach have been described as toppled doll houses. Others quite literally have been sliced in half. And the sad part is there are so many memories in these homes, generations of families living here.
The good news, if there is any in this matter, is that the mayor tells me there were no fatalities, not even any injuries, following Irene. It appears that most, not all, but most of the residents did heed the warning. They did get out ahead of the storm.
As for the power situation, nearly a half million people are still without power in Connecticut, 15,000 right here in East Haven, Connecticut. And when I asked the mayor, when do you think they might turn the power back on, she told me, Carol, "That's a very good question. I have no idea."
COSTELLO: Oh, no. You're right, the best news, no one was hurt. Alina Cho, many thanks in East Haven, Connecticut.
And in just a few minutes we'll be joined by FEMA director Craig Fugate. Then at 7:30 eastern we'll talk to Mayor Jeffrey Jones of Paterson, New Jersey. He'll give us the latest on the water rescues and if there are more evacuations to be done, and also what his city needs to recover from this.
And in our 8:00 hour, 8:00 eastern hour we'll talk with Governor Dan Malloy of Connecticut about the recovery effort from where you saw Alina standing.
VELSHI: Meanwhile, unrelated to the hurricane, a devastating wildfire in Texas is burning out of control 50 miles west of Dallas- Ft. Worth. You're looking at these live pictures right now, spectacular video from our Dallas affiliate, WFAA. It's a 7,500 acre fire burned about 30 structures to the ground and has evacuated more than 125 homes. Officials continue to tell us that the blaze is zero percent contained and it is growing. This is the worst fire season ever in Texas, a record 3.5 million acres burned and ongoing drought.
(WEATHER BREAK)
ROMANS: Ahead, a father and his two young daughters holding on for their lives in a raging New Hampshire river, and it's all caught on camera.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DISTRICT CHIEF AL POULNE: We're talking within seconds of them letting go and then there's nothing between them and the falls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Holding on. We're going to show you how this desperate rescue turned out and why they were on the river in the first place when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Seven and nine years old, these little girls, they were nearly swept away while they were riding on a jet ski in the raging Meramec River. Now, look at them clinging to this dam cable. It was the only thing keeping them from going over a waterfall. Rescuers reached the family with just a few seconds to spare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saw them both, all three hanging on to that cable that was down there. I saw the two little girls on either side of the dad and knew that's what we had to grab first.
LT. PAUL SMITH, MANCHESTER FIRE DEPARTMENT: He was very disappointed in himself, but he saved his own family by first having PFDs on and then keeping them altogether.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: PFD, of course, personal floatation device or life jacket. Rescuers say that the father was slipping in and out of consciousness when they reached him. A few seconds later, all three of them would have been swept over the falls.
I mean, any - oh, wow. I mean, just don't go in the water, folks. I mean, it's really dangerous out there. This is not fun and games. Don't go in the water. That's evidence right there.
VELSHI: Just next door in Vermont, efforts are under way today to get supplies to people stranded in a dozen towns left isolated when floodwaters washed dozens of roads and bridges out. National Guard helicopters have been flying in food and water. Vermont ended up being a - a bit of surprise casualty in Hurricane Irene.
FEMA Director Administrator Craig Fugate just visited the state. He's going to be checking out the damage in New York and New Jersey a little later on. He's with us this morning from Albany, New York.
Administrator Fugate, thanks very much for being with us.
CRAIG FUGATE, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Good morning.
VELSHI: You've had, boy, you've had a busy year. You've seen a lot of destruction in this country. There are a lot of people in the northeast who continue to say that we dodged a bullet here. You've spent time up there. What's your evaluation of it?
FUGATE: Nobody that got hit with this flooding dodged a bullet. Loss of life, extensive damages, homes flooded, so it may not have been as big of a deal on the coast, but these flood areas definitely got hit hard.
VELSHI: Let's talk about money for a second. There's been a lot of talk in the last couple of days about FEMA having less than a billion dollars on hand, maybe running out of money and reallocating resources from some projects to others. Can you give me some sense of what's going on with money in FEMA?
FUGATE: Well, right now we're continuing our obligations to respond to all of the rescue operations, all of the immediate needs, as well as all of the survivors from all the previous disasters. Only thing we've done is said, look, we're not going to be able to fund permanent work from disasters that's not come in. We want to make sure we got enough money to go forward to the fiscal year. And, again, we are working - are doing our job to get ready for this as well as other disasters, but we are focused on the immediate response.
VELSHI: Let's talk about - there's been specific responses to money being diverted away from work in Joplin. Give me some sense of that and anything specifically, any other tradeoffs you've had to make.
FUGATE: Well, right now, we've done this for all open disasters that if you had permanent work that had not started, we're not going to be able to move forward. But for all the survivors getting assistance from FEMA, they continue to get that. For all the cleanup work, for all the emergency work, that is still being funded. But we are postponing the permanent work at this point, given the impacts of Irene on the system.
VELSHI: So, for people who don't know the role of FEMA, you and I talked prior to the hurricane and you were saying, look, the emergency, the rescue, all that kind of stuff is coordinated by local officials and you should listen to your mayors and your governors about that, what is FEMA supposed to do after? What's the role of FEMA after an event like this?
FUGATE: Well, when we're past a response and rescue operations and we begin talking about recovery, if it warrants, if the disaster is bad enough and the governor requests and the president declares a disaster, its financial assistance not only to the survivors that are eligible, but also to help state and local governments rebuild from the damages that weren't insured.
VELSHI: So I've heard that Alina Cho is in East Hartford, Connecticut where the mayor said we need FEMA to get in here and help us rebuild. What - what role does FEMA have in helping a place like that rebuild?
FUGATE: Well, again, it wouldn't be based upon that. It will be based upon the governor's request for a presidential disaster declaration. And if that disaster declaration is granted, then we do have the ability to provide grant funds to rebuild public infrastructure and repair damages with funding.
VELSHI: I know you go into places that have been damaged. You tour around and you sort of try and offer a helping hand, give people reassurance about FEMA being there to help them out.
I want you to listen to something - you know, Ron Paul has been talking about FEMA recently. He was on our air last night. I want you to listen to what he said and get a chance to respond. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: FEMA is not a good friend of most people in Texas because all they do is come in and tell you what to do and can't do. You can't get in your houses and they hinder the local people and they hinder volunteers from going in. So there's no magic about FEMA and more people are starting to recognize that because they are a great contributory to deficit financing and quite frankly they don't have a penny in the bank.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: He said a few things there, not a friend of people, gets in the way, great friend of deficit financing and not a penny in the bank. Your response?
FUGATE: We're doing our job supporting governors. We have teams on the ground. Urban search and rescue teams have been completing and doing rescues. When we were in Vermont, food and water that we have provided the state was being handed out.
We do our job. We're working hard. This is a team effort. We recognize the valuable role of our volunteers. We recognize the valuable role of the private sector and we're all in this together. Americans help Americans in disaster and FEMA is designed by Congress to support governors and bring all the federal assets together under the leadership of the president. We're doing our job. We're working hard and we are going to continue to work to support the survivors in the states impacted by these disasters.
VELSHI: And we're in a different world now where this deficit talk does continue. Eric Cantor is saying, you know, FEMA should get its funding, but it's got to be cut somewhere else. That's kind of not your battle, but what's your message to Congress to say in this time of real concern about funding, not to cut FEMA's?
FUGATE: In the country I grew up in, Americans come to Americans help in crisis. We've always done it. We'll continue to do it. I'm doing my job. We're working hard as a team. The president and everybody else is working hard to support these states and the local communities impacted.
We're focused on our mission. But in this country, we always come to each other's aids in this type of a crisis.
VELSHI: Craig Fugate, you're looking at Katia, this hurricane. There's some chance - there's a good chance it's not going to hit the United States, but it's out there. At what point do you start getting concerned about the next thing?
FUGATE: About one minute after whatever happens. There's no time lag between earthquakes and hurricanes. You don't know when the next disaster is going to strike. So even though we were all in on Irene, we were making sure that we were ready for the next disaster.
Peak hurricane season is in September. So we got ways to go just for this hurricane season. But as we saw with the earthquake in the eastern part of the U.S., some disasters don't come with warnings. That's why we tell people get prepared now.
VELSHI: Craig Fugate, good to talk to you. Thanks very much. Craig Fugate is the administrator of FEMA.
Twenty-two minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: "Minding Your Business" this morning.
A higher day barely for the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500. After an early hit from a weak reading on consumer confidence, markets recovered on hopes of more stimulus from the Federal Reserve. Now, nothing official has been announced, but minutes of the Fed's most recent meeting revealed some Federal Reserve numbers favor stimulus measures. QE 3, just the fact that another round of economic stimulus was even discussed was enough to encourage investors.
Right now, futures on the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 are all trading sharply higher ahead of the opening bell.
The mortgage mess remains a legal mess for Bank of America. Add U.S. Bank Corp to the list of companies filing lawsuits against Bank of America - to Bank of America, America's largest bank. The suit is related to mortgage-backed loans that went sour. The price tag on this one, $1.75 billion.
Banks are dropping fees, yes, you heard me right, banks are dropping fees. Some of the country's largest banks are cutting some slack for Hurricane Irene victims. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo are waving several bank fees like overdraft fees, late fees and ATM fees for customers affected by the hurricane. If you're coping with Irene's aftermath, you might want to check out with your bank and see if they're doing something similar to that.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.
COSTELLO: Just about 30 minutes past the hour. Good morning to you. Top stories now.
President Obama has declared major disasters in North Carolina and also in New York. Forty-three people now dead in the storm. Hundreds of people have been pulled from their homes in New Jersey as floodwaters surge into towns there. Close to three million people along the East Coast still have no electricity.
VELSHI: Devastating wildfires burning out of control 50 miles west of Dallas/Fort Worth and it is growing. It's a 7,500 acre fire. It's already destroyed about 30 structures and 120 homes have been evacuated. A live report from that area in our next hour.
ROMANS: And to Libya now where the fighting has triggered a humanitarian crisis in the capital. U.N. officials say 60 percent of Tripoli is now without power, without water or sanitation and two million residents face dire food shortages.
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon of the U.N. says they need to get U.N. personnel on the ground as soon as possible. He says time is of the essence.
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, are conservative women unfairly stereotyped? Take a look at this month's issue of "Elle" magazine. See the headline there, "The best and rightest."
That's OK, but the article also labels these young conservative women "Baby Palins" and that stings. Not because they dislike Sarah Palin, but because of all the negatives attached to Palin thanks to the media and "Saturday Night Live."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TINA FEY, COMEDIAN (acting as Sarah Palin): Ultimately what the bailout does is help those that are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, to help -- it's got to be alL about job creation too. And I can see Russia from my house. I don't know, is it. Boom, boom, boom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Karen Agnus was featured in the "Elle" article and also founder of the Conservative Network of Enlightened Women says the Palin brand has been so damaged by the media that the "Baby Palin" label serves the purpose of quickly stereotyping and delegitimizing us at the same time.
Not every conservative woman fits the Palin stereotype of a gun toting, not so bright mother of five. You know, like not all liberal women fit the stereotype of a man hating, hairy leg bra burner.
But the article's author, Nina Burlig, defends her work stating the women profiled are into guns and motherhood and low taxes. Rather new conservative female ideology first introduced to the national political discourse by Palin.
So "Talk Back" this morning, are conservative women unfairly stereotyped? Facebook.com/americanmorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
ROMANS: One of the best comments was unfairly stereotyped. That's an oxymoron, of course. Most often are.
All right, for generations, labor unions have been a major force in politics and the economy. Their influence helped build the nation's middle class, but you know, times are changing.
VELSHI: For instance, 45,000 Verizon workers, they're back on the job after the union called off a strike, even though they didn't get a new contract.
CNN Money's Poppy Harlow joins us now. Poppy, you recently spoke to one of the Verizon families fighting on behalf of unions for years. What's changed?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: You know, it's interesting. They went back to work as you said with no new contract and they're still going to fight for what they deem to be a good living for the benefits that they think they deserve and they need. And what's interesting about this family, is that they've been fighting for these rights for four decades.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My office, this is where I work.
HARLOW (voice-over): Roger Young Jr. spends his days in man holes, splicing cables for Verizon just like his father did 40 years ago.
(on camera): Are you a union proud family?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, absolutely.
HARLOW (voice-over): But lately it's not the phone lines they've been focused on. It's the picket line.
Verizon and its unions have been bargaining hard over issues that include contributions towards health care premiums, freezing pension plans and job security.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Verizon can hear us now.
HARLOW: But have unions lost their voice?
(on camera): Are you afraid that unions are dying in America?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think they're dying. I think they're ill.
HARLOW (voice-over): Once a part of the American way of life, membership has declined by the decade. In 1950, one third of American workers were unionized. Today, it's a mere 11 percent. Union members say outsourcing and technology have both contributed to eliminating some union jobs.
DR. HARRY KATZ: There are no doubt unions overall have less bargaining power than they had 30, 20 years ago. They have less political power than they've had because, you know, they've shrunk as a share of the work force.
HARLOW (on camera): Do you ever feel like you're fighting for the survival of unions for your kids one day?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I'm fighting for the survival of everybody's kids of unions someday because these are great jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unions are what made this country great.
HARLOW (voice-over): Unions point to higher wages, guaranteed pensions for most members and better health insurance than their non- union counterparts. All that, unions say, makes them strong contributors to overall economic growth. RICHARD TRUMKA, PRESIDENT, AFL-CIO: Our economy is 72 percent driven by consumer spending. Unless people have in their pocket money, they can't create that demand. We know that we can't have a low wage, high consumption society.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a decline in the middle class, but that decline in the middle class is directly related to the decline in unions.
HARLOW: That's the bigger question.
KATZ: If unions were stronger I think the evidence from other countries and history is, we wouldn't have an extreme polarized income distribution the way we have it now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our fight for our lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Now, what Roger Young told me is that the reason that he and all those workers are going back to work is because they really believe that Verizon is going to come to the table in the negotiation, the negotiations restart today. We'll see if that happens.
A few interesting points, first of all the importance of unions in Washington leading up to the election and also looking back in history to 1929, the professor we spoke with in this piece unions were left for dead and then the resurgence of unions during the great depression. We'll see if we see that now.
COSTELLO: I remember doing a story during the 2008 election. I went with union bosses, union leaders, they went door to door trying to convince their members to vote for Barack Obama because frankly union members weren't so hot on Barack Obama.
They liked Hillary Clinton at the time. So you have to wonder, how will these same union people feel about Barack Obama after, you know, the statistics we just heard in your story.
HARLOW: Yes, it's a very good point and there's two arguments. There's the argument in the numbers show it, that unions mean higher wages across an industry, not just for union workers, but across an industry.
The flip side of that, when you have the higher wages, then that can cause companies to want to outsource, to want to look elsewhere for workers. Do they create jobs? Do they create jobs in this country like they were telling us in this piece or do they actually mean less jobs because they make it too expensive?
ROMANS: And there's a backlash against unions from people who say, look, because you have held on to benefits and pay packages that are so much better than the rest of the middle class.
HARLOW: The average un-unionized worker. ROMANS: Then you hurt yourself, your own negotiating ability because you're asking for something that's not reasonable in this economy anymore and you're actually hurting the standing, the union by doing that.
COSTELLO: I'm saying that maybe union members will sit at home and not vote for anyone.
VELSHI: But if they don't help -- if they don't help Democrats get elected, they're not going to do any better under Republicans.
COSTELLO: I don't know. They're pretty disenfranchised right now.
ROMANS: Teachers have had their union troubles with what they see is their unions under attack, teachers are fired up. So maybe they will be going out to vote.
COSTELLO: I think Scott Walker is going to be on Piers Morgan, the governor of Wisconsin.
ROMANS: I asked him last week, I said are teachers better off in your state today than before you were elected and --
COSTELLO: You mean Scott Walker you interviewed?
ROMANS: He said yes. His state is in better shape.
VELSHI: I don't know.
ROMANS: I love this topic.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Poppy.
We're going to talk to the mayor of Patterson, New Jersey. As you know there have been water rescues going on there, still people to be evacuated. We'll get an update from the mayor just ahead.
VELSHI: Can diet alone cure or prevent heart disease? Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the surprising answer. It's 38 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 41 minutes past the hour. Good morning to you. Waters raging again this morning in Patterson, New Jersey, even as the Passaic River crested late last night.
Thousands of people are still in temporary housing, evacuated from their flooded homes including more than 3,000 people who were forced out of their high rise apartments.
Patterson joins six other New Jersey towns calling for mandatory evacuations so how is the town doing this morning? Paterson Mayor Jeffrey Jones joins us now. Mayor Jones, welcome.
JEFFREY JONES, MAYOR OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY: Thank you. Good morning.
COSTELLO: So are there still evacuations under way?
JONES: Yes, ma'am. As we speak now, all it takes is someone to call and say they're under distress and we're going out and taking people to safety.
COSTELLO: Do you have enough temporary shelters to house them all?
JONES: Yes, we do. If we find a need that arises as a result of evacuations, we're opening schools and whatever other properties we might have available to us and we have about 54 schools in the city.
COSTELLO: What kind of problems do you expect from here? Because the water behind you is -- looks pretty scary, actually.
JONES: Well, what's going to happen is, once the water starts to recede, then we'll have to go into our second phase, which is to go house to house and make sure that furnaces and hot water heaters that have gas and other kind of electrical components.
That those things are checked before they get restarted so as to avoid explosions and things of that nature. Those are the typical and traditional components that happen after you have flooding of this magnitude.
COSTELLO: You ordered people to evacuate these areas. For those who did not, for those rescue workers had to go in and rescue from their homes, what message do you have for them?
JONES: I don't know that I have as much a strong or stern message for them. I understand panic has taken hold. I don't think folks were aware or nor were we as aware it could get this extreme. We encourage them to continue to pay attention to what we ask and they know that we'll be there, regardless of whether they adhere to our rules.
What they've done is, those who chose not to go, they put themselves in greater danger as well as the rescuers. We're going to hope folks pay more attention as we move forward. We're going to continue to be flooding, unless, of course, we have some help and support from the Army Corps of Engineers and the state in terms of finding a different fix and remedy for this kind of condition.
COSTELLO: I just want to talk to you about FEMA for just a second. We're not there yet in the state of New Jersey or in Patterson. But there's this fight going on in Washington now over FEMA funds and whether there will be enough money to go around. When you hear of a fight in Congress over money -- over funding to FEMA, what goes through your mind?
JONES: Well, I'm outraged. I can only be outraged for those who can't speak for themselves, those who sit on Capitol Hill and don't quite understand America didn't put nous this place. We got here because the folks supposed to be paying attention, probably weren't or don't quite understand the magnitude of what we're all facing at this point in time.
To find that mother nature has a mind of her own and will of her own, we can't have the petty wranglings going on when we have folks who are in dire need. So I'm not comfortable nor am I happy, I'm very disappointed and I'm hoping, I still have hope, that folks who understand that this is a land of democracy and democracy means compromise and to compromise and let's get the job done.
COSTELLO: And also there has been, well, Ron Paul, I'm sure you've heard his comments about FEMA that FEMA is unnecessary. From your perspective, where you're sitting now, is FEMA necessary?
JONES: Well, FEMA is the only agency I know that comes in during disasters and provides relief and support to families in distress. You pick a condition by which it was considered to be extreme and what other agencies do we have that can go in there and provide that support? Until there's a better response, a better answer to something like FEMA, FEMA is the best game in town, and I'll stick with it.
COSTELLO: Mayor Jones, thanks so much for joining us. I know you're busy. We appreciate it.
JONES: Thank you. Have a good day.
ROMANS: Time now for today's "Romans' Numeral."
COSTELLO: It's back.
VELSHI: I love it.
ROMANS: We're bringing it back, the "Roman's Numeral." It's a number that gives you a little more clarity about a story, makes you think, boils it down into that wonky numbers way we like to do.
(LAUGHTER)
Today's numeral has to do with companies sitting on piles of cash and, at the same time, using the complicated American tax system to pay as little tax as humanly possible.
As you know, there's been a lot of talk recently about corporations pushing for lower tax rates, corporate tax rates. You might be surprised to learn just how many of these big-time CEOs earn more than their companies actually pay Uncle Sam in taxes.
The "Romans' Numeral" after the break.
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ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day. President Obama has now declared major disasters in North Carolina and New York after Hurricane Irene. Rivers are cresting and water surging into towns in the northeast where hundreds have now been evacuated. 43 people are now dead because of this storm. A developing story out of northeast Japan. A magnitude 4.7 earthquake has just rattled the coast about 86 miles northeast of Fukushima. That's where officials are still trying to contain a nuclear disaster from a tsunami that hit back in March.
Zero percent controlled, that's how officials describe a 7500- acre fire that's now spreading 50 miles west of Dallas/Ft. Worth. This fire has burned about 30 structures to the ground. 125 others have been evacuated.
The U.N. says the fighting in Libya has left Tripoli with a dire shortage of food and water. 60 percent of the capital is said to have no water or sanitation.
General David Petraeus is retiring. He'll bid a formal farewell to the Army in a ceremony today. The 58-year-old Petraeus has his marching orders, sworn in as the new CIA director next week.
The NCAA is suspending eight University of Miami football players for receiving cash and gifts from a former booster. They all have to pay back the amount they took before they're allowed to play again.
Former NBA player, Javaris Crittenton, will be arraigned in a Los Angeles courtroom today. He's accused of shooting to death a 23-year- old mother in Atlanta.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back in 50 seconds.
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VELSHI: All right, so, can you cure heart disease just with food? The question might seem strange, but our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has living proof of it. It is part of his fantastic special report called "The Last Heart Attack," which you can see this weekend on CNN.
Sanjay joins us live from Atlanta now.
Sanjay, you spent the last year looking into heart attack and heart disease for your special. You have a history of it in your family and you've really studied how people can get away from that and get out from under that. What if you don't want to use medicine, statins to reduce your risk of heart attack? Can you really use food as medicine?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting, Ali. Hippocrates has talked about this more than 1000 years. And I walked into this with an open mind. The answer is definitely yes, you can.
And we did find living proof of this. Sharon Kent is a woman we profiled. 66 years old, had a heart attack, was told by her doctor she needed to have heart surgery. And she said no. and she basically adopted this plant-based diet. As you can see there, she has been very strict about it, whole grains and lots of vegetables, been doing it for over a year. And it's quite remarkable not only in how much she had not had any symptoms of heart problems, but also in terms of her energy levels. This is something that I really focused on with her. She could barely walk before all of this. And literally, now a year later, on this plant-based diet, she is able to jump rope. Take a look at that, Ali. She couldn't do that before.
I'm not saying, obviously, being on a plant-based diet taught her how to jump rope, but people question, do you have enough energy still on one of these diets.
VELSHI: Right.
GUPTA: We profiled her just to demonstrate.
VELSHI: So, it's a pretty serious diet. It's a pretty extreme way to go. Is there science that proves it's working, other than the fact that she can jump rope and she is fit?
GUPTA: Well, yes. Is there a couple of different things? First of all, people really, often times, want objective signs to show that there is changes in someone's blood vessels. And we've talked about this before, Ali, not just in terms of showing a slowing of heart disease, but an actual reversing of heart disease.
In order to prove that, a patient would have to undergo another angiogram. Sharon is doing so well, she said she had no need to undergo another angiogram.
Let me show you a patient who did do that. This is over a period of a few years. Take a look over here. I don't know if you can appreciate this, where the arrow is. This is a coronary blood vessel and this is what one of those narrowings looks like. This is what a heart attack waiting-to-happen looks like. This is someone who decided not to undergo surgery, which was recommended, and instead is using food as medicine. Take a look now over here, same spot here, and that coronary blood vessel is essentially opened up. It's about the same normal caliber as the rest of the blood vessel. That is sort of what we are talking about here, Ali, in terms of, you know, providing some sort of objective evidence.
Remarkably, despite the fact that, again, Hippocrates has talked about this for over 1000 years, this is still a relatively nascent science.
VELSHI: Yes.
GUPTA: I think more studies are going to be done and you'll see more images like this.
VELSHI: We've talked a couple of times this week. We'll talk again about the different ways. I mean, you're not advocating just one way to prevent a heart attack.
But the special is called "The Last Heart Attack."
Do these patients that have been profiled, who have followed these diets to reduce their clogging of the arteries, have they prevented heart attacks?
GUPTA: Let me tell you -- yes. Let me tell the study that basically pivoted me into saying we should do this as a full hour. It's still a relatively small study because this is some emerging science, but Dr. Caldwell Esleton (ph), basically he followed patients for 12 years. What he found was six patients out of a group of about 18 dropped out of the study, and out of those six patients, they all had some sort of coronary event. Two patients died, four patients needed bypass surgery. Of the patients who stayed through and kept the diet and kept it going for 12 years, most patients were able to do that, only one patient died. In an autopsy, that patient did not have any evidence of heart disease.
So again, Ali --
VELSHI: Wow.
GUPTA: -- the evidence is pretty compelling, not only in terms of slowing down the progression, but reversing it. These patients needed to have heart surgery and then they essentially need no interventions whatsoever --
VELSHI: That is incredible.
GUPTA: -- in a 12-year period.
VELSHI: that is incredible that you can un-do that damage possible.
All right, Sanjay, thanks again for joining us to tell us about the special.
GUPTA: You've got it.
VELSHI: It's really worth watching.
You can see Sanjay's special report, "The Last Heart Attack," this weekend, Saturday night, 8:00 eastern here right here on CNN.
COSTELLO: OK, so we asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question this morning: Are conservative women unfairly stereotyped? This from ftetry65.
(LAUGHTER)
"Yes, they are perceived as radical. They are mocked openly and humiliated by the press. The media and politics don't like conservative women."
This was Skyler. "Are conservative women lumped together? Yes. Unfairly? No. But that's only because the prominent female leaders of the Republican Party are so closely alike. You can replace Palin with Bachmann and you'd never notice. If conservative women want a more accurate and rounded depiction of who they really are, they'll need more conservative women to step up in politics and make their voices heard." And this from Carl. "Women should be allowed to express their political views without retribution. Unfortunately, the media has been allowed to stereotype women. The media is trying to scare women away from the conservative ideologue. It's the worst act of discrimination."
Keep the conversation going, Facebook.com/AMERICANMORNING.
And thanks so much for your comments.
ROMANS: All right, very good ones.
Time for today's "Romans' Numeral." We have brought it back. And it's picked off the ongoing debate about whether companies are paying their fair share of taxes. The question: Of last year's 100 highest-paid CEOs, how many earned more than their company paid in taxes? The answer? 25. 25 out of a hundred. This is according to the left-leaning Institute of Policy Studies, a liberal think tank, yes. And this report is called "Executive Excess," so you can see --
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: -- their perspective when they come at it. Some of the companies mentioned in this study, Verizon -- they're pushing back, saying that they're deferring some of their tax payments to future years. Others say their taxes were lowered because of investment or research or manufacturing. With a very complicated tax structure, no question. But in this report, it found that when you look at the outlay, not state level, but, you know --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- income taxes at the federal level, the charge here is that many of these companies that are complaining about a 35 percent tax rate --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- are finding legal ways to aggressively not pay their 35 percent.
VELSHI: And that we know not just from a liberal think tank. That part we know is true, that while there is a mantra out there that we pay higher taxes than everybody else --
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: -- so many companies just don't pay taxes at all.
ROMANS: You might be interested in a couple of --
COSTELLO: Like G.E.?
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: -- a couple of these other companies. And this in -- and that is one of the 25 CEOs by the way. But $16.7 million is the average pay for those 25 CEOs, which is more than other CEOS in the S&P500.
VELSHI: So those -- that means those companies --
ROMANS: And the ratio of --
VELSHI: Their companies are not paying back in taxes.
ROMANS: -- CEO to worker, 325 to one now.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: The average CEO to the average worker.
325, that is your "Roman's Numeral."
VELSHI: Happy to have it back.
ROMANS: Have that for breakfast?
VELSHI: That is a good --
(LAUGHTER)
That is good to piece of conversation to take to work in the morning, make you seem smart, if you're not already smart.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Man.
VELSHI: Which you probably are.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: I think you're digging this hole deeper now, maybe.
VELSHI: This might be an excellent time for a commercial.
(LAUGHTER)
Coming up, Governor Dan Malloy of Connecticut will join us, live. Irene has hit his state with a one-two punch. The storm ran over beach-front homes and then the floods came. He is asking the feds for help. We'll talk to him on the other side. 58 minutes after the hour.
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