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CNN Sunday Morning
Midwest Bashed by Deadly Tornadoes; Threats from North Korea; Secret Service Scandal; Taxing the Rich
Aired April 15, 2012 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center, this is WEEKEND EARLY START. It is Sunday, April 15th. Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, look at the big monster (ph) that's coming down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: A tornado outbreak pummels the Midwest. Trucks overturned. A town flattened and now at least five dead. We'll hear from someone on the scene.
And a threatening message from a new leader in his first public speech. North Korea's Kim Jong-un says his nation's time has come.
Also, today is the 100th anniversary of one of the biggest maritime disasters in history. But while the Titanic remains silent in her watery grave, fascination with the ship still very much alive.
WEEKEND EARLY START begins now.
And good morning once again.
Now to the severe weather in the Midwest, where deadly tornadoes laid waste to parts of at least three states. This is what the storms left behind in Oklahoma City. Take a look. Homes and businesses severely damaged. It was a similar scene northwest of the city in Woodward, Oklahoma. At least five people were killed by the tornado there in Woodward.
And this is a tornado chewing through Salina, Kansas. There was damage reported at Wichita's Midcontinent Airport and at McConnell Air Force Base south of the city. The mayor of Thurman, Iowa, says almost his entire town was damaged by the storms. No serious injuries. Around 100 people had to find another place to sleep last night. One family had just rebuilt their home after a fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard the sirens probably a good maybe five minutes before it really picked up and so we were trying to, OK -- figure out, OK, get the kids downstairs. It was more of, oh my God, we've got to get downstairs. You know, the windows are blowing out and it was just panicky. There's just glass everywhere. There was stuff off our wall. There's grass just plastered. We had a house fire and we lost our first house. We'll get through it, but it's just -- it's like, really? I don't think I can do this again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And not far from Thurman is Creston, Iowa. A hospital there badly damaged by the storms, forcing the evacuation of several patients. And Joining me now on the phone to talk about the damage in Iowa is John Benson from the Iowa Office of Emergency Management.
Good morning, John. How are you? And how are things there in your community?
JOHN BENSON, IOWA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (via telephone): Well, it's been a -- it's been an interesting evening, to say the least, but it's been fairly quiet. I think we'll -- once the sun comes up this morning, we'll be -- have better information about the actual damages that have occurred. But it's been a quiet evening so far.
KAYE: Tell me what it was like as these -- as these tornadoes rolled through there.
BENSON: Well, I think one of the things that we noticed is that the weather service was very proactive about saying that this was going to be a very serious storm. We were having discussions about the potential on those on Friday. So that helped us out. But it's always, you know, whenever you have a tornado or a high wind event, it's certainly one that catches your eye and, unfortunately, with both Creston and Thurman, at least in terms of Iowa, they're the towns that had to bear the brunt of what happened.
KAYE: And give me an idea of what happened at this hospital. That was the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston.
BENSON: Yes, that's --
KAYE: Can you give me an idea of what happened there and the damage and the patients' conditions?
BENSON: Well, I think as you've seen on your video, it wasn't a structural failure. We didn't have the entire building collapse. But they did have a vast majority of the windows blown in and they had considerable damage to the roof. So they -- the administration at the hospital made the decision that it was more beneficial to move the 20 patients out of that hospital and transport them to neighboring hospitals in the area. They also did have a hospice attached to that and they had to move five patients out of there.
It's good to say that all of the patients that were transported had no problems. They're all now comfortably resting at their new hospitals. So as we go through the day, that will give a chance to the administration at the hospital to actually figure out, you know, if there's any structural problems they need to be dealing with and figure out a way to get that hospital back, because it's a vital part of the community.
KAYE: And what's the power situation there?
BENSON: Well, as we went through last night, MidAmerican Energy, which is one of the primary power suppliers in this state, across the state they had about 20,000 outages, but those have slowly been coming off the board. I know with Creston, you're starting to see most of the power come back there. Thurman did evacuate the town last night due to the fact that they didn't have any power, but they'll be working on those issues as we come into the this morning. And I would expect to see most of those outages come off the board.
KAYE: All right, John Benson, we appreciate the update there. Certainly wish you the very best as you recover from these deadly tornadoes. Thank you.
And for the latest on the storms, let's check in and say good morning to meteorologist Alexandra Steele in our severe weather center. She's in for Reynolds today.
Alexandra, so are we clear yet is probably the big question?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, no, absolutely not. You know, but John made a good point, and you've mentioned, there have been five deaths, and certainly that is awful. But, you know, really, when you see the gravity of this, it could have been so much worse. And I think that's really because in the 48 hours prior to it, there was such an alertness and an awareness of the severity of what was coming that people certainly heed the warning. So certainly that is some good news.
But look at this. These are the tornado reports. So I just want to show you kind of the line of them. This is Wichita, Kansas. Denver's over here. Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa really getting the brunt of this thing. And these are all tornado reports. Kind of just running along I-35. So certainly a pretty scary night. All right, so I want to show you that. Again, at least 50 tornado reports thus far. Again, preliminary. Of course the National Weather Service going out, assessing the damage.
Here's the big picture. This is the tornado watch as of this morning. It is posted there until 6:00 in the morning. Tornado watch, not a tornado warning. The tornado warning means, of course, that we have seen tornadoes. This is the damage and potential for tornadoes today. And you can see this line. When we come back, I'm going to show you really where the hot spots will be today. And you may be a little surprised how much farther north that we could see threatening tornadoes this afternoon and tonight.
We'll have much more coming up, Randi.
KAYE: All right, Alexandra, thank you very much for that.
And now let's check in on the tragedy in Woodward, Oklahoma. At least five are dead there. And joining me now on the phone is the mayor of Woodward, Roscoe Hill. Good morning, mayor. I'm so sorry to hear what's happened to your community, especially the loss of these five people. Can you give me an idea of the extent of the damage there?
MAYOR ROSCOE HILL, WOODWARD, OKLAHOMA (via telephone): Well, it's typically -- it's still dark here. I've had pictures e-mailed to me. And it's a typical tornado scene. It just flattened about probably the west -- the west part of our town.
KAYE: Are the buildings still standing or --
HILL: Oh, some of them are flat, yes. We've got --
KAYE: Have you lost any key buildings?
HILL: What?
KAYE: Have you lost any key buildings? Any major buildings?
HILL: Well, yes -- ah, we don't -- I don't know for sure. The emergency people are -- and rescue people are out working and they've kind of asked -- I'm still at home. I've been out a little bit, but we're out of electricity and it's pretty dark out where this took place. I've just had pictures with that were e-mailed to me. And we have a -- there's one pretty good size carpet store that looks like it's been flattened. And then it runs on down a street that we call Cheyenne Street. And it -- and a lot of it is just flattened. And we've lost five -- we've lost five lives. And we have -- our hospital has got 30 some people and several of those are critical too. We -- this thing comes in the middle of the night and it just -- it just caught us asleep, I think, mostly.
KAYE: Were there sirens, mayor? Any warnings?
HILL: Well, earlier in the afternoon, we had a -- I think it was a storm that was headed towards us and the sirens blew for about, well, over 30 minutes. And when I heard of this storm, I thought, well, I'll step out and see if our emergency alarm is going off. And it wasn't. And I am only assuming that either lightning hit it -- it's a state-of-the-art warning system. And I don't know whether the tornado itself hit it before the alarm could be turned on or if lighting hit it. I would probably assume that lightning must have got it first. The electricity went out in my house earlier for a minute or two, but our sirens, our alarm did not go off. No.
KAYE: Mayor, I understand that you spoke with your nephew, who lives up the street. And what was it that he saw in his front yard?
HILL: Well, he said he's -- he was -- he runs a Dairy Queen here and he started up to his house and it turned his pick-up around and a tree blew by him. And -- but it didn't get his house. And he went on to -- he we on to his house and then he got his family and left, but the storm -- that thing was traveling about 60-mile-an-hour and it just -- it just blew through town and took just -- just the west part of town. Just -- and an area where we have some really nice, expensive homes that have just been built in the last three to five years. So -- KAYE: Well, mayor, I -- we really -- we appreciate you talking with us. I know this is a very difficult time for your town, difficult morning for all of you. I'll let you get back to the work that needs to be done there. And, again, appreciate your time and wish you the very best.
HILL: Well, I appreciate you being concerned with us. Thanks.
KAYE: Once again, that's Mayor Roscoe Hill from Woodward, Oklahoma, sharing some new information with us, telling us that 37 people are in the hospital there, several critical. And just flattened the west part of his town. They've lost five people there. It came in the middle of the night, he said. "Caught us asleep" was his exact quote.
Here's a rundown of some other stories that we're working on.
You've seen the damage from those tornadoes that ripped through the Midwest. Ahead, one family's story of survival after their town was nearly wiped out.
And we'll take you to Kentucky, where the bourbon business is suddenly booming. So what's behind the growing demand?
Also, the Titanic sank 100 years ago today. We're dispelling some popular myths.
Plus, on the hunt for tornadoes. We'll talk to a storm chaser who's been very busy, as you can imagine, this weekend, as twisters slammed the Midwest.
You're watching CNN WEEKEND EARLY START, where news doesn't take the weekend off.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Let's get back to North Korea now and a rare, public speech from that country's new leader. In fact, his first televised speech since taking over. Kim Jong-un talking tough about his country's military strength and threats from the international community. CNN's Paula Hancocks joining me now us live from Seoul, South Korea.
Paula, good morning to you. How unusual would you say this speech was?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's very unusual. This is a real break with tradition that we saw from North Korea today. The first time that we have heard Kim Jong-un speak. And it's probably the first time that his people have heard him speak as well. So it really is a breakaway from the aloof tradition of his late father, Kim Jong- il. You did not see him making speeches like this.
So Kim Jong-un spoke for more than 20 minutes to a very vast crowd in one of the squares in Pyongyang. There were thousands of soldiers there. There was a very grand military parade as well, and also the military hardware of this country was paraded in front of Kim Jong-un. Rockets, missiles, tanks, and also goose-stepping soldiers.
Now what he said, though, was in line with what his father has said before. The fact that military comes first in North Korea. This policy that the military is the be all and end all. There's more than a million people in North Korea that are part of this army, making it one of the biggest armies in the world.
There was another break with tradition, though. He did actually acknowledge that his country had a food shortage. We didn't hear this from Kim Jong-il in the past. So Kim Jong-un saying that he understands that his people have had to overcome these hardships and he said his party would work very hard to try and make sure that there were not food shortages in the future.
His mannerisms, as well, were different. We saw him smiling and joking with generals as this significant military hardware was being paraded in front of him. So a very different leader, it does appear. Certainly in his mannerisms and in the fact he's willing to talk publicly on camera, but certainly when it comes to the military, he's very much following in his father's footsteps. The military is the most important thing in North Korea. At the end of his speech, he said to his people, let's go forward towards the final victory.
Randi.
KAYE: Paula Hancocks, thank you very much. Appreciate that update.
Let's talk tornadoes some more now. A tornado nearly wipes out an entire Iowa town.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started back in and windows was blasting out and out and out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: One family escaped to safety, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: A deadly tornado outbreak in the Midwest has left at least five dead, including two children. The storm system moved across several states. Someone caught this twister touching down yesterday in Marquette, Kansas. Take a look at that thing go.
In Thurman, Iowa, the mayor says 90 percent of his town was damaged. Reporter Natalie Glucklich with our affiliate KETV talked to one man who survived the storm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATALIE GLUCKLICH, KETV REPORTER (voice-over): This massive piece of metal blocking Larry Hill's refrigerator blew in just before dinner. LARRY HILL, LOST HOME TO TORNADO: That piece of iron had to come from a building. It was -- you know, it was no straight wind. It was a regular twister.
GLUCKLICH: Hill and his wife heard the siren and ran for their backyard shelter, but say a twister came too fast.
HILL: So we started back in and windows was blasting out and out and out. Go into the bathroom, like they always say. And before -- while we got here, the roof went here.
GLUCKLICH: With no other options as the walls began to blow in around them, the couple took cover in this coat closet.
HILL: I was more or less laying on her. Laying on her. And I had to get -- I had to get up. I was starting to shake pretty good.
GLUCKLICH: We were just west of the storm as it made its way into the tiny town of Thurman, Iowa. Thurman's mayor was right underneath it.
MAYOR ROD UMPHREYS, THURMAN, IOWA: It lasted three to four minutes probably. What seemed like an eternal.
GLUCKLICH: When Mayor Rod Umphreys surveyed the damage, he saw most of the town did not survive, but all of its residents did.
UMPHREYS: You know, we had a couple of trees that fell on some homes and people were unable to get out of them, but no major injuries, which is the greatest thing.
HILL: The good Lord was with us. He sure was.
GLUCKLICH: And as Larry Hill looks at what little is left of his home, well, there really aren't words.
HILL: It's -- it's about more than you can bare.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And, once again, that was Natalie Glucklich of CNN affiliate KETV reporting. Natalie, thank you.
A snowy reprieve in southern California. A late season storm dumps up to a foot of snow and gives the resorts an excuse to stay open just a little bit longer.
Plus, it was 100 years ago today that the Titanic sank to its watery grave. Ahead, I'll speak to the author of a new book detailing the disaster just hours after the sinking.
And, think you know your Titanic trivia? Well, all day we'll be quizzing you. First, how much did it cost to build the Titanic? $6.5 million? $7.5 million? $8.5 million? $9.5 million? You've got a lot of choices here. The answer coming your way, next.
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KAYE: Before the break we gave you a quiz asking how much it cost to build the Titanic. Well, there are your choices. The answer? $7.5 million. Hopefully somebody got it right.
All right, time now to go cross-country for stories making news from coast-to-coast.
In southern California, a late season snowstorm giving ski resorts an extra weekend of business. As much as a foot of snow fell in the Inland Empire Mountains on the very weekend that the slopes were set to close.
Just north of the border, Newfoundland. A U.S. Coast Guard plane diverted from a ceremony honoring the Titanic and sent to a modern day rescue. The plane was set to drop wreaths at the site of the legendary sinking, but instead scrambled to help a French sail boat that was in trouble.
Boston's Fenway Park celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. And to celebrate, it invited a 100-year-old fan to toss out the first pitch. Bill Hogan Jr. was six days old, six days old when the legendary stadium opened back in 1912. How great for him? That's so nice to see.
All right. Now some late night laughs from "Saturday Night Live." Republicans appear to have settled on Mitt Romney for their nominee, but the venerable show isn't ready to let go of the once crowded field. Here the crew pokes fun at Romney and the rest. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rick Santorum, it's good to see you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's good to see you, Mitt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here you go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great. Thank you. And I've placed your tip in this envelope. Make sure you give it to your husband when you get home. He'll know best what to do with it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And don't spend it on birth control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. Cheers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hope you aren't reminiscing without me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, it's Rick Perry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you guys -- you guys remember that weird game show we were all on and we were standing at podiums and answering questions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, Rick, that wasn't a game show, those were debates. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, well, well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, it's Michele Bachmann. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was even a moment when I was the frontrunner, and then it all fell apart when "Newsweek" ran a very creepy cover photo of my face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, that's right. Hey, come on, Michele, show us the "Newsweek" face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I couldn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALES (chanting): "Newsweek" face. "Newsweek" face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, fine, fine.
Does this bar serve food? I am starving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-huh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, well, we can always order a pizza.
UNIDENTIFIED MALES: Herm!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no, guys, Gingrich is here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-oh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe he's still in the race. I heard his campaign is completely out of money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-huh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man, look, he's stealing nuts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Oh, that is hilarious. The real Gingrich, by the way, admits that his campaign is running low on cash, but he says he'll stay in the race until Romney does clinch the nomination.
A tornado touches down and new warnings go up. One day after a deadly outbreak, the threat now shifts east. We'll have the latest on the clean-up and the new warnings.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back, everyone, and thanks for starting your morning with us. I'm Randi Kaye. It is just about half past the hour.
The death toll is rising from yesterday's outbreak of tornadoes across the Midwest. In northwest Oklahoma, five people are confirmed dead in the town of Woodward. At least two of the victims were children. There were 88 reports of tornadoes touching down in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa. When the sunrises in a couple of hours, search crews will begin canvassing for more victims.
In southwest Iowa the mayor of Thurmon says 90 percent of the town is damaged or destroyed. After the tornado more bad weather forced all 300 residents to evacuate to a nearby town.
Wichita, Kansas, is the largest city to have been struck, and emergency crews are still trying to assess the full extent of the damage there. A mobile home park and an airport are among the areas hardest hit. CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is in Wichita with the very latest for us this morning. Susan, I know it's still dark there but what have you been able to see?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been a rough night, certainly, for people here in Kansas, Randi, because throughout the night you had funnel clouds sited and many of them touching down as they were hopscotching across the state. We also heard sirens going off in downtown Wichita throughout that area, and late in the night they discovered that a funnel cloud did apparently touch down hitting a mobile home park that's about a half mile away from where we are. They have it closed off that area to us, so this is close as we can get at this point.
However, there is, well, relatively good news. Unfortunately, 10 to 15 of those mobile homes were destroyed. However, good news. No serious injuries reported. The most serious one reported was someone suffering a broken leg. Other than that, serious property damage, you can see over my shoulder here in the dark that they have a lot of power lines down. They have some polls down. You have seen those as well. And of course, Randi, they have been hampered by the darkness and the rain that's been going on all night, and certainly when the sun comes up, they'll be able to get a better assessment of the damage.
KAYE: Susan, what kind of warning was there? I mean did this community know what was coming, what was about to hit them?
CANDIOTTI: Oh, they sure did, and, you know, this is one of those rare times we spent the day yesterday at the storm prediction center in Norman, Oklahoma, and they were able to get out these warnings at least two days ahead of the storm telling people that very serious damage could erupt from many of these storms. High risk storms. Possibly catastrophic damage. Fortunately in this area we don't have any early indications of that, but a lot of warnings went out. Sirens were certainly sounded in this area. We heard them a lot.
And people did have ample warning. We would like to think that most of them took advantage of those warnings, made their preparations as they were repeatedly told to do. In fact, we talked with one woman whose home was spared, but she told our CNN that she wore a bicycle helmet, her and the family, and they hunkered down in their basement. Fortunately, they were spared.
KAYE: A bicycle helmet. That is some very good thinking there. Susan Candiotti, thank you very much. We will, of course, check in with you throughout the morning.
Top stories now. Celebrations in North Korea include a warning to the west. Our military is powerful and can handle any kind of fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM JONG UN, NORTH KOREAN LEADER (through translator): Our military has become a powerful military able to handle any kind of modern warfare with complete offensive and defensive capabilities. The foreign powers are not the only ones with monopoly on military supremacy and the days of their threatening and lying to us with atomic weapons is forever gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: That's North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un, in his first televised speech since assuming power. Today's celebration marks 100 years since his grandfather's birth.
About a dozen Secret Service members sent to Colombia, ahead of President Barack Obama's visit have been relieved of duty. They're accused of misconduct involving prostitutes. Two government officials say the agents and officers allegedly brought back several prostitutes to their hotel in Cartagena. None of the Secret Service members involved were part of the president's personal detail.
One person is dead, another four missing after a boating accident off the coast of San Francisco. The U.S. Coast Guard says 38-foot sailing vessel called The Low Speed Chase was competing in an annual yacht race when it ran aground yesterday. Three other crew members have been rescued.
And a member of the disco super group, the BeeGees is in a coma this morning. Robin Gibb has been dealing with a number of recent health issues including colon and liver cancer. His rep says doctors believe that he has a secondary tumor. He also has pneumonia. On his website the family says we are all hoping and praying that he will pull through.
We are following breaking news this morning out of Kabul, Afghanistan. CNN has confirmed that the Taliban is claiming responsibility for a number of explosions close to our CNN bureau there, so let's get right to Mohammed Jamjoom. He is live in Kabul for us this morning. Mohammed, what can you tell us? What's the latest?
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, these attacks started a little over an hour ago. We started hearing loud explosions since the beginning of the attack we heard in the neighborhood of 25 to 26. We're still hearing sporadic small armed gunfire. We've heard a lot of RPG fire as well. A very tense, very chaotic scene here in central Kabul.
Now I should talk a little bit about this neighborhood. This is a compound that houses a lot of embassies, a lot of businesses that are frequented by westerners. We spoke to one policeman earlier who said there was a hotel in the neighborhood in the vicinity of a round- about that's come under attack. We do not have any casualty figures yet. The Interior Ministry and the security forces have not given a lot of detail so far, but it is rare to have this kind of an attack in this part of the city. This is the heart of Kabul. The heart of the diplomatic area in Kabul.
Local media here have been saying that they believe that embassies may have come under attack, but, again, security forces here in the Interior Ministry have not confirmed that at this stage. Very rare to have attacks here because this is a very heavily fortified, very heavily guarded part of the city. Randi.
KAYE: All right, Mohammed Jamjoom. Mohammed, please keep us up- to-date on the very latest there this morning. Thank you.
An American original and an industry on the rise. Why is the bourbon belt enjoying such high times? We're heading to Kentucky to find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Well chances are the last few weeks haven't been kind to your portfolio. In fact, Friday's close cap the worst week for stocks this year. So what's on tap this coming week? Futures point to more of the same with the Dow, the S&P, and the Nasdaq all trending down.
The Middle East has oil. Africa has diamonds. America has bourbon. In a sluggish economy, that's something to brag about. Jobs that will never be outsourced. A product that is wildly popular around the world. Here's Poppy Harlow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN MONEY (voice-over): It's almost as old as this country.
FRED NOE, MASTER DISTILLER, JIM BEAM: Nectar of the gods.
HARLOW: Bourbon and perhaps not since prohibition had this many people wanted to drink it.
(on camera): What has happened just in the past few years to bourbon?
NOE: We're going through the renaissance. You know, the development of super premium bourbons. I've got people looking at bourbon. You know, exporting bourbon around the world. You know, people from Australia and Germany and the U.K. and the far east, they're discovering bourbon and liking it.
HARLOW (voice-over): The great grandson of Jim Beam took us on a tour of their distillery on Kentucky's bourbon trail.
This is bourbon country.
NOE: Yes, ma'am. Right where we're standing within 65 miles of where we are 95 percent of the world's bourbon is produced.
HARLOW: There are more barrels of bourbon in Kentucky right now than there are people. 4.7 million barrels aging in the bluegrass state.
NOE: We have almost two million barrels of bourbon aging here at our facility.
HARLOW (voice-over): But why the surge in popularity now?
MATT SHATTOCK, CEO: Because it's got a story to tell. It's America's native spirit. It has heritage. It has craftsmanship. It has authenticity, and people want to hear those stories.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why I got in.
HARLOW: Or maybe it's the "Mad Men" effect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doing my best here.
NOE: Bourbon was kind of considered your dad's drink or your granddad's drink. Nobody fooled with it much. We're starting to see the growth. It's going leaps and bounds.
HARLOW: Or maybe it's the women.
NOE: We're learning that, hey, the female market is a big market there, and for years everybody neglected the women because they never thought they would drink bourbon.
HARLOW (on camera): Last year alone almost $1.4 billion of liquor was exported from America. Almost 70 percent of that was whiskey, and a big portion, bourbon. Why? Because you can't make it just anywhere.
(voice-over): In 1964 Congress decreed bourbon a distinct product of the United States. Just like scotch only comes from Scotland. That's what's keeping these jobs in Kentucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is America's native spirit. This is as American as it gets.
HARLOW: And America still sells.
(on camera): Is this the busiest year you've had yet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
HARLOW: No question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No question.
HARLOW (voice-over): Maker's mark shipped out more than 12 million bottles of bourbon last year. Jim Beam turns out 180 bottles a minute, and the Kentucky bourbon trail gets 450,000 visits a year.
(on camera): This is one thing you can never outsource no matter what.
NOE: No, ma'am. This is something we do right here in Kentucky. We've been doing it for over 200 years, and we'll be doing it for 200 years in the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Poppy Harlow, thank you very much.
100 years after the Titanic tragedy, now there's a new book chronicling the first hours after the sinking and how the media, guess what, completely missed the story.
But, first, think you know your Titanic trivia? All day we'll be quizzing you, so how long did it take for the Titanic to sink? The answer is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: All day we're asking you about some Titanic trivia. How long did it take for the Titanic to sink? The unsinkable ship went down in two hours and 40 minutes.
A trans-Atlantic cruise with a back story that goes back 100 years. Maybe you've heard of it. The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank 100 years ago today. The world's fascination hasn't soured at all in the last century, though. One of the newest books is "Titanic, One Newspaper, Seven Days, and the Truth That Shocked the World." It's a collection of over 200 articles printed in "The Daily Telegraph of London" in the week that followed the disaster.
Stephen Hines is the author and joins me now from Nashville this morning. Good morning, Stephen. I want to start with the first article in your book published the morning that the Titanic actually sank. It says "the Titanic sank at 2:20 this morning. No lives were lost. All the passengers and crew have been lowered to lifeboats and transferred to the Virginian." It was really shocking to read all the misinformation. I mean, certainly that was wrong, so all of that misinformation was printed after the Titanic sank.
STEPHEN HINES, AUTHOR: Well, that's right. They didn't have cell phones back then. They didn't have satellite. They didn't have a lot of things. They did have the wireless telegraph. Of course, the Titanic sank so the wireless was not going to be communicating from there, and the other ships at sea didn't have very much information, so what they did was they went around to experts who speculated as to what might have happened, and they came away with some very wrong conclusions because they really didn't know, but they were relying upon the experts to tell them about what the probabilities were.
KAYE: I want to share another article that was written on Wednesday, April 17th. It says the French steamer "Terrain" got into wireless communications with the Titanic at 9:00 p.m. on Friday, April 12th. That's three days before the Titanic sank. They informed their commander of the exact position and the extent of the ice fields. She had followed the route taken by the Titanic and passed almost the exact spot where the disaster took place. So is there any proof, and do you believe, that the Titanic captain and crew knew of the ice dangers and maybe ignored the warnings?
HINES: Well, they certainly knew of the ice dangers, but they didn't have very good safety procedures on board the Titanic. In the previous 20 years there had only been 82 lives lost as a result of travel back and forth between England and the United Kingdom, so travel on the sea was considered to be very safe. Now, the procedure would have been for the crew in the crow's nest to see the iceberg, and they had these messages, of course, and they would see the berg and they would simply port around the berg, and there would be no problem. That is what had worked in the past. They saw no reason why it wouldn't work that particular fateful night.
KAYE: I don't have to tell you this, but certainly one of the most recognizable figures from the Titanic was that was the captain, E.J. Smith. He, of course, went down with the ship, but there are several accounts of how he died. One is that he shot himself. Another is that he stood on the bridge until the ship sank. He jumped overboard trying to get a small child into a life boat. He was found in the water by rescuers, but refused to get on a life boat. These are all the stories floating out there. Do you think we'll ever really know what happened to him?
HINES: I don't know. In history you really deal in probabilities. The probability is that he went down in the bridge area which would have been the traditional place for a captain to go down. This was the tradition started by the British that the captain would remain with the ship until it had been completely offloaded or else they went down with the ship, and with regard to what happened, the Captain Smith, the problem is that there were so many people seeing so many different things, it was dark. There did begin to be panic toward the end, and that's when they lost sight of the captain.
The best testimony we have, I think, says that he was probably somewhere in the bridge area.
KAYE: Certainly everyone knows the movie. Everyone has cried through that movie. I myself included. But is there one fact that you found, a real fact, while sorting through - we're not talking Hollywood here - while sorting through these articles that maybe some people don't know. I mean was there something that surprised you, so surprise me.
HINES: Well, it surprised me a little bit that in the recommendations that came out in both the U.S. Senate hearings and in the British wreck commission hearings they didn't really say anything about binoculars, and there were no binoculars in the crow's nest. If there had been binoculars, it would have been possible that they would have seen this berg earlier and would have gone around it safely, and we wouldn't be talking about the Titanic today.
When the recommendations came out from both of these committees in the United States and in the United Kingdom, they mentioned nothing about binoculars. It's left totally up to the choice of the individual shipping lines as to what you do with binoculars, and I thought that was an enormous oversight.
KAYE: That is really surprising and a very interesting bit of trivia for us this morning. Stephen Hines, thank you so much. Nice to chat with you.
HINES: Good to talk with you.
KAYE: Also, on this day in history, by the way, Jackie Robinson changed much more than a game when he shattered Major League baseball's color barrier in 1947. He changed the course of history. The Brooklyn Dodgers all-star went on to lead his team to six World Series appearances and one championship in his career. Special ceremonies are planned at ballparks across the country today, and all Major League players will also wear number 42 today in honor of Jackie Robinson.
Still ahead, a tornado touches down. Panicked residents scramble to get out of the way. Storm chasers race to get closer. We'll talk with one weather expert who is always on the hunt for tornadoes.
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KAYE: Today about five million people are on alert for more violent weather. It's being spun of by the same storm system that triggered yesterday's outbreak of dozens of tornadoes. We want to check in with someone that we talked to this time yesterday. Tony Laubuch is a professional storm chaser and meteorologist, and he joins us by phone from Russell, Kansas. Tony, good morning. I'm glad that you made it through the night. Tell me what you saw.
TONY LAUBUCH, METEOROLOGIST: Well, we - myself and my chase partners Ed Grub and Jennifer Grub, saw five tornadoes across central and eastern Kansas yesterday from starting about Rush Center, Kansas, all the way out to Manchester, Kansas.
KAYE: And give me an idea. I mean how fierce was it?
LAUBUCH: It was - it was insane. One of the tornadoes we saw was extremely violent. In fact, it looked a lot like the Tuscaloosa tornado from last year. It was weird as yesterday we were talking about the similarities of these outbreaks, and we ended up on a tornado that had a very similar look to that that, fortunately, remained over the vast open country of Kansas.
KAYE: So most of this - a lot of this, at least, was found in the rural areas, right?
LAUBUCH: Most of the early stuff was found in rural areas. As the night went on, we had several tornadoes that impacted Wichita. We had a serious tornado that, unfortunately, led to fatalities in Woodward, Oklahoma, after dark. So several towns were impacted later in the night. We're still waiting for day break to kind of find out what came about from that.
KAYE: How close were you able to get, and did you get some pretty great pictures and video? LAUBUCH: We were able to get within a quarter mile of one of the tornadoes to the northeast of Salina, Kansas, and we got some pretty amazing video of that as it moved through an open field. We eventually let it stop to cross the road as we were hoping it wasn't going to knock down power lines in front of us, and, fortunately, it did not.
KAYE: For anybody watching at home, I want to point out, you are a trained storm chaser, so give us an idea of what you have with you, some of your gear, and then how you go about doing this, so just in case you get into some trouble, you are still safe.
LAUBUCH: Well, yesterday we were relying a lot on the satellites. Internet was running kind of slow in some of those rural areas, but we always have up to the minute radar and satellite imagery, data coming to us every minute, so we're very well aware of the situation. Vehicle-wise, we have a good four-wheel drive car, well maintained so we know that we're going to have a reliable vehicle to get us in and out of situations if we need to.
KAYE: You know, most people run the other way, certainly, when they see a tornado coming. You run into it. Why? Is it just a rush?
LAUBUCH: I am. My parents, my mom and my dad, always told me I was born with a weather disease, and I have always been fascinated with what goes on, and to experience the weather, it is quite a rush, so it's - there's definitely stories to be told with that, and I think that peaks the journalistic side that I have always been interested in.
KAYE: Tony, well, listen, I think it's great what you do. Certainly exciting. Thank you very much. It was great to talk to you this weekend.
LAUBUCH: Yes, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
KAYE: Be safe.
President Obama is pushing the Buffett Rule. That's where millionaires would pay at least a 30 percent tax rate. He says it's their fair share, but would it make a noticeable dent in the deficit?
But, first, it's time for our last Titanic quiz this hour. Let's see if you can get this one right. How many life boats do you think the Titanic, the unsinkable ship had on it. The answer is next.
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KAYE: All right. This is our last Titanic quiz this hour. So let's see if you got this one. How many life boats do you think the Titanic had on it? Well, the ship, turns out, only carried 20 life boats.
And now it's time to take a look at your week ahead, what you need to know for the week ahead. Monday is certainly an important day for the suspects in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, shooting. They're going to appear in court. That was the case where three people were killed last weekend. We first told you about that. All of the victims were black and all of the suspects, the two suspects, are white.
Also on Monday, we have, oh, the beginning of - let me get that one over here. We're just getting to know these little Post-It notes. That's the Roger Clemens re-trial begins for him lying to Congress about his performance-enhancing drug use. And on Thursday we have the Discovery shuttle. Guess where it's going. It's going to the Smithsonian on permanent display. That's in Washington, of course. Friday we have the George Zimmerman bond hearing. That is, of course, the case of Trayvon Martin out of Florida. He is charged with the shooting death of that 17-year-old unarmed boy - * RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: -- Smithsonian on permanent display. That's in Washington, of course.
Friday, we have the George Zimmerman bond hearing. That is, of course, the case of Trayvon Martin out of Florida. He is charged with the shooting death of that 17-year-old unarmed boy just carrying Skittles and something to drink on his way home.
And on Sunday, Earth Day. Big day for the Earth. Do something nice for the planet. Do something nice for the environment. Go compost in your yard. Eat something green. Something like that.
Thanks for starting your morning with us. We've got much more ahead on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice-over): From CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, look at the big monster that's coming down.
KAYE: A tornado outbreak pummels the Midwest. Trucks overturned. A town flattened, and now confirmed deaths in Oklahoma. We'll take to you the scene.
A threatening message from a new leader. In his first public speech, North Korea's Kim Jong Un says his nation's time has come.
Also, the Buffett Rule goes to Congress as early as tomorrow. We'll break down exactly what it is and how it will affect your wallet.
Today is the 100-year anniversary of one of the biggest maritime disasters in history. But while the Titanic remains silent in her watery grave, fascination with the ship is still very much alive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: It is Sunday, April 15th. Good morning, once again. I'm Randy Kaye.
We start with that severe weather in the Midwest where deadly tornadoes laid waste to parts of at least three states. This is what the storms left behind in Oklahoma City -- homes and businesses severely damaged. It was a similar scene northwest of the city in Woodward, Oklahoma. At least five people were killed by the tornado there in Woodward.
And take a look here. This is a tornado chewing through Kansas. This was damage reported at Wichita's Midcontinent airport and at McConnell Air Force Base south of the city.
The mayor of Thurman, Iowa, says almost his entire town was damaged, but no serious injuries. Around 100 people had to find another place, though, to sleep last night.
Now, let's get more on the tragedy in Woodward, Oklahoma. At least five people are dead there.
And joining me now on the phone is Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill.
Mayor, how are things looking to you? Have you had a chance to get outside and see the damage for yourself yet?
MAYOR ROSCOE HILL, WOODWARD, OKLAHOMA (via telephone): Well, you know, it is still pitch black here. We haven't got sunrise at all yet. It's still -- it's still dark. I've been out talking to emergency management people. They're on a break at our break place, and they're talking the typical talk that you get from emergency people how, well, it's at flat there and there's nothing left there.
And it's -- I think it's going to be a fairly devastating scene when we can take a look at it. I think they've talked about maybe some missing people and we really -- we really don't know the extent of it yet.
KAYE: Are they going door to door? Are they looking for missing people?
HILL: Yes. Yes. Here -- we have the counties around us all of their emergency people are here. There was probably maybe 75 people sitting and having breakfast this morning, and in the break room, and they were filing back out to go out and dig through --
KAYE: Last we spoke, you had mentioned there were about 37 people in the hospital. Several of them critical. Do you have any updates on injuries, or are those folks in the hospital?
HILL: No. I haven't got a report from the hospital. I know -- I know -- I know of seven that was critical, and just a lot of cuts and things like that. They're really busy at the hospital. I know that.
KAYE: What time did this hit your town? Were you all asleep?
HILL: Well, you know, I had been up watching what was going on because we had the storm warnings all day. In fact, that was our second one. We had one further south of town and our sirens come on, our storm warning. And they lasted about 30 minutes, but that one went on by, and I kind of was staying up watching this.
And it kind of crept up on us at night, you know, and it was just a little bit after midnight. So everybody has -- went to bed and when those things go at night, there's no telling what's going to happen.
KAYE: I understand your town has some damage, and you're certainly in trouble there, and I'll let you get back to your town and being the mayor and trying to get to the bottom of exactly how bad the conditions are there.
Mayor, thank you very much and we wish you the best.
HILL: Well, thank you. Appreciate your call. See you.
KAYE: Mayor Roscoe Hill in Woodward, Oklahoma, this morning.
For the latest on these storms, let's check in once again with meteorologist Alexandra Steele. She's in for Reynolds today.
Alexandra, so, we're not -- we're not in the clear yet.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No. And, you know, to answer some of your questions you were asking him, the tornado in Woodward happened at 12:16, so 15 minutes after midnight this morning, and, of course, the devastation because, of course, it was so late. You know, also, he has said repeatedly that during the afternoon the sirens did go off, but then for that tornado that moved through, after midnight, there were no sirens that went off, and he has said that potentially lightning struck there. He said it was a very new siren system, so something happened to that siren system last night before that midnight tornado.
So I want to get to this. We do have our first tornado warning of the morning right now. I'll show you where it is in Oklahoma. This is the line of storms we're watching all the way from Wisconsin to Texas.
So, expecting things to fire up once again today. Not expected to be nearly as serious as yesterday in terms of the breadth and depth. Over 121 reports of tornadoes yesterday alone.
Here's Tulsa, Oklahoma. This pink box showing you a tornado warning where a tornado has been spotted on radar with the potential for a tornado. This storm system moving Northeast now at 60 miles per hour. The counties Osage, Rogers, and northern Tulsa County, that's where that is, and that is posted until 6:15 Central Time this morning.
I want to get to the big picture. Here's the same scenario, the same exact set-up. It's a little bit farther east, and a little bit farther north. Bull's eye today, believe it or not, Oklahoma and Texas and Kansas. It is not. It's up here. It's Wisconsin. It's potentially the Minneapolis -- this area. Much farther north than we've seen. So, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, more in the bull's eye for likelihood of tornadoes. This rest of this area -- let me show you some of the areas and some of the bigger cities that could be impacted -- Green Bay, Chicago, St. Louis, Little Rock, Houston.
Again, isolated tornadoes farther north, but hail and damaging winds the biggest threat at some of these cities. But Northeast, Randi, beautiful conditions -- 20 to 30 degrees above average in New York and Washington. Atlanta, the East is really seeing great weather.
KAYE: Well, that's nice for them, but the Midwest still in trouble.
All right. Thank you very much.
There's more information this morning on the prostitution scandal that's given the Secret Service a black eye. Representative Peter King tells CNN that some of the agents brought prostitutes back to their rooms in Cartagena, Colombia. Eleven agents and uniformed officers were sent home from Colombia. They've been put on administrative leave.
And here's the White House reaction from Colombia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a matter that's being looked into in an appropriate manner by the Secret Service itself. It would not be appropriate for the president to characterize something that's being looked into by the Secret Service at this time. All I can tell you is that he was -- he was made aware of it. But beyond that, I'm not going to characterize his reaction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: President Obama is in Colombia for the Summit of the Americas. Five military service members providing support in Colombia have been confined to quarters as part of the investigation as well.
A clear warning from North Korea for the rest of the world: we're heavily armed, and we're not afraid to fight. New leader Kim Jong Un made the comments during a rare public speech by a North Korean leader. It was at a military event in Pyongyang, during a celebration marking 100 years since his grandfather's birth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM JONG UN, NORTH KOREAN LEADER (through translator): Our military has become a powerful military, able to handle any kind of modern warfare, with complete offensive and defensive capabilities. The foreign powers are not the only ones with monopoly on military supremacy and the days of their threatening and lying to us with atomic weapons is forever gone. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Kim Jong Un making his first televised speech since taking over leadership of North Korea. It comes just days after that failed rocket launch.
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking. More than 1,500 people died that day. There are several memorials going on today, including this one, where wreaths are laid at the spot where the luxury liner went down. The wreaths were laid by another crew ship that's retracing the Titanic's route.
President Obama has a new tax plan. It's called the Buffett Rule. It would make millionaires pay at least a 30 percent tax rate, but would it really make a big difference? We'll let you know.
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KAYE: Good morning, Washington.
What I gorgeous shot of the capital there. It doesn't get prettier than that. Sun is up. Everybody is waking up, and so glad you're with us this morning for CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill tomorrow and President Obama is urging them to pass the Buffett Rule. He says the wealthy should pay a bigger share of their income in taxes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Most Americans support this idea. One survey found that two-thirds of millionaires do, too. So did nearly half of all Republicans. We just need some Republicans politicians to get on board with where the country is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Athena Jones joining us from Washington.
Athena, good morning to you. First of all, just break down the Buffett Rule a bit for those who might not be super familiar with it.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Good morning, Randi.
Simply put, the Buffett Rule would establish a minimum effective tax rate of at least 30 percent for people making over $1 million. It takes its name from billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who as the story goes, discovered not long ago that his secretary paid a higher percentage of her income in taxes than he did. He didn't think that was fair. Neither did the White House.
And so, they really have been championing this issue this election year.
KAYE: So how many people would be affected by this, if there is the change? JONES: Well, that's really an interesting question because even though there are lots and lots of millionaires in America, more than 3 million, a lot of them are already paying at least 30 percent. Warren Buffett himself in interviews has estimated that maybe 50,000 to 60,000 people would be affected. In a fact sheet that the White House put out last week they pointed to the number of 77,000 households who back in 2009 the last time the numbers -- good numbers are available, 77,000 households paid less than 30 percent of their income in taxes.
And so we're talking about thousands here. Certainly not millions of people. Not many, many thousands, Randi.
KAYE: Yes, which really begs the question: how much revenue would the Buffett Rule bring in then?
JONES: Right. Exactly.
According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, that's that nonpartisan committee in Congress that has accountants and economists and lawyers studying this stuff, four members of Congress, they estimate the Buffett Rule would bring in $5.1 billion next year in 2013, and then over the next 10 years, that it would bring in just $47 billion. So, that averages about $4.7 billion a year.
That's really a tiny, tiny -- less than 1 percent of the deficits we're going to be looking at going forward.
So, not a big budgetary impact, but certainly a big political one, at least as far as the White House is concerned.
KAYE: Yes. So, that may be why the Obama administration is focusing on this one because it won't have a big budget impact, but it is big for politics.
JONES: Exactly. You hear the word fairness a lot. The president has talked a lot about fairness. The bill that's going to be up for this procedural vote this week put forward by Rhode Island Senator Sheldon White House is called the Paying Affairs Share Act of 2012.
And so, the idea is to focus on fairness. The White House thinks this is a real winning issue, especially in this election year -- something that the middle class can really understand and something that appeals to them. And so, you're going to hear that word fairness a lot.
And even though this is not supposed to get through this procedural vote, this does not mean the White House is going to drop the issue. You are going to keep hearing about this because they think it's a winner -- Randi.
KAYE: Fairness and hope. We'll hear a lot about that. Athena Jones in Washington -- thank you very much.
JONES: Thanks.
KAYE: So, what do you see when you look at these images of Mitt Romney? I guarantee that you don't see what this guy does.
Comedian and talk show host Pete Dominick joining me next, drinking his coffee.
Wake up, Pete. Yes, you're going to join me for a very bizarre game of do you see what I see? All right. So, get that caffeine pumping.
We'll be right back.
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KAYE: Good morning, Big Apple. Good morning, New York. Everybody, wake up. It's time.
Twenty minutes after the hour. It is Sunday morning.
And because we're all a family here, we've decided to wake up and drag our friend Pete Dominick, Sirius XM Radio host and all-around funny dude, a friend of this show, drag him out of bed.
And kind of looks like you just got out of bed, Pete.
PETE DOMINICK, SIRIUS XM RADIO HOST: Randi, I do. But I'm having major, major pollen situation. It's all in here and in here. I am deeply, deeply suffering, and I want you to feel bad for me.
KAYE: I do. I'm suffering as well. We'll commiserate together.
But while we deal with our pollen situation, let's look at some of the week's most important pictures because I want to get your take. You got a cup of coffee ready? I know.
I want to play this little game of you of do you see what I see.
DOMINICK: Yes.
KAYE: So, let's take a look at the first one. I see President Obama and the man who wants his job, Mitt Romney, on the road campaigning. But I'm very curious what you see this morning.
DOMINICK: Randi, I'm beginning to think I'm seeing a mirror. We're seeing now the Romney campaign use some of the similar mantras that the Obama campaign has used. Two weeks ago, the Romney campaign was saying that President Obama is out of touch. This week, we heard this war on women rhetoric coming from the Romney campaign, and it's all getting very much too similar.
But I don't know how well it's going to work, this ouch touch war on women stuff. We'll see. Here is -- you know, people wonder is he out of touch? Twenty-one million dollars, Randi Kaye, Mitt Romney filed for that in 2010. At least we know he can relate to the American people because we just found out yesterday, Mitt Romney is filing for an extension like 10 million other Americans for last year's taxes.
KAYE: He must need it. He's been kind of busy on the road. He hasn't had time to do his taxes.
DOMINICK: Right. Right. No TurboTax on the campaign bus.
KAYE: No, definitely not.
All right. Take a look. We've been talking about this a little bit this morning. I see North Korea's Kim Jong Un in his first major public speech just two days after the country's failed rocket launch. There he is. What do you see?
DOMINICK: I see #fail -- failure to launch. The world is laughing at the North Korean regime right now. I mean, we got to stay on our toes and keep our eyes and ears on this situation, of course. But I don't know what they used for this rocket. Was it a Mentos and Diet Coke fuel, a vinegar and baking soda.
It broke up just after it launched like my rocket that I launched in a field behind my house when I was 14 years old.
KAYE: I was going to say that.
DOMINICK: Mine only cost $20 (ph), and his cost almost a billion dollars, for a country where its people are starving. So, probably not the best expenditure, Randi.
KAYE: I wonder if they had to put theirs together too by themselves. Who knows?
All right. Finally, Pete, I see Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker after rescuing a woman. What a hero -- rescuing a woman from a fire this week. His neighbor. What do you see?
DOMINICK: Well, I see a politician that people can finally look up to. Granted, he is a mayor in Newark, New Jersey.
But, you know, I don't see the mayor of New York, Mayor Bloomberg, running into any fires. I can perhaps hear him saying, um, there seems to be a fire. I'll pay somebody else to go in there.
But, Cory Booker, man, you got to hand it to him. This is going to be a good narrative if he ever does want to run for president. Most of us can't relate to this kind of -- I will say, Randi yesterday did liberate a salamander from my two daughters that was probably surely going to face imminent death. But I don't think anybody is going to give me a cake for that one.
KAYE: Was there a fire nearby or --
DOMINICK: No, but I did -- this morning while making my coffee, Randi, I did burn my finger, and I've had an ice pack on it all morning long. Daddy is hurt.
KAYE: You know, one day I'm going to have to have a real serious conversation with your wife, I think. Very serious.
DOMINICK: I'll give her your e-mail right away. KAYE: All right, Pete. Great to see you. Enjoy your Sunday.
DOMINICK: Have a great Sunday.
KAYE: You too.
Secret Service agents relieved of their duty for allegedly taking prostitutes back to a Colombian hotel come. Next, we'll tell you how many were involved and where any were part of President Obama's personal detail.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. Let's get a check of the top stories today.
We begin with major developments out of Afghanistan. The U.S. embassy in Kabul is on lockdown because of explosions and gunfire in the area. We've also learned four suicide bombers tried to attack an airfield in Jalalabad where U.S. troops are based. The airfield's commander says one of the attackers blew himself up. Police caught the other three.
At least five people have been killed in a string of suspected tornadoes. Two of the victims are children. By this morning, the National Weather Service received more than 88 reports of tornado touchdowns in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa.
About a dozen Secret Service members sent to Colombia, ahead of President Barack Obama's visit have been relieved of duty. They're accused of misconduct involving prostitutes. Two government officials say the agents and officers allegedly brought back several prostitutes to their hotel in Cartagena. None of the Secret Service members involved were part of the president's personal detail.
One person is dead, another four missing after a boating accident off the coast of San Francisco. The U.S. Coast Guard says the 38-foot sailing vessel called the Low Speed Chase was competing in an annual yacht race when it ran aground yesterday. Three other crew members have been rescued.
And a member of the disco super group the Bee Gees is in a coma this morning. Robin Gibb has been dealing with a number of recent health issues, including colon and liver cancer. His rep says doctors believe he has a secondary tumor. He also has pneumonia. On his Web site, the family says, "We are all hoping and praying that he will pull through."
More top stories at the top of the hour when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues. But, first, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." begins right now.
