Transcripts For CNN American Morning 20100426

destructive tornado outbreak this season. the governor calling it a scene of utter on lit race. hundreds of homes were damaged and destroyed and thousands of people still without power. in darlington, south carolina, the winds overturned mobile homes and ripped treed out of the ground. three people were injured there. further west, two deaths have been blamed on the storm. one carved the path of destruction across the city of al bertville. by far the greatest destruction from the weekend's tornado outbreak was in mississippi, the unstoppable force of nature claimed ten lives, including three children. in yazoo, the tornado measured a mile wide. it left behind nothing but depre. one resident said it was like looking into the eyes of death. ed lavandera is live with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, kiran. this is what's left of the hillcrest baptist church here. preliminary reports from the national weather service say at one point the storm that passed through here, the tornado measured more than a mile and a half wide with winds at 60 miles per hour. it cut a devastating line where four people died, including three young girls. >> i don't know if they do anything now. >> reporter: we found matthew mccray. their house blown 40 feet off the foundation. his guitar is muddyed but it's days like these that inspire the mississippi blues. ♪ >> reporter: what was it like being in there when this happened? >> that quick, like whoosh, then the tops were gone. >> reporter: was it incredibly scary? ? i started praying, asking the lord to save us. honey, i don't believe he's going to save us. >> reporter: the tornado killed its three youngest victims, two sisters and a 3-month-old baby girl. they were here with their parents when the storm hit. the force of the storm so powerful it essentially disintegrated their mobile home. the girls' grandfather tells us their bodies were found back in the woods over here. >> nice kids, good grades in school. just amazing. >> reporter: ron sullivan and five others were able to walk out of this grocery store. >> there's a coke machine turned over that kept the roof from falling on me. >> reporter: can we see it? >> certainly. when it hit, it blew me back. the next thing i felt was the wall falling backwards. they always say you hear the train. there was no train. there was a bomb. >> reporter: what goes through your mind when something like this is happening? >> the only thing, two things, don't let anything else fall on me and i hope my wife is okay. >> reporter: his wife was a few feet away. that 5,000 pound gasoline tank rolled this way. peggy sullivan was standing behind this white freezer. the tank lodged up against it and saved her life keeping her from getting crushed. kiran, what's interesting, what we've heard from people who survived this storm, this is hilly terrain through this part of mississippi, even though there were warnings and people knew the bad weather was coming, the massive tree line for most of this area kept people from actually seeing the storm coming. it wasn't until it was right upon them that they realized this tornado was causing so much damage. >> just to see all of the debris behind you, it's extraordinary. we're going to be covering much more on this this morning and the cleanup efforts as well. thanks so much, ed. >> amazing that one gentleman playing the guitar in the middle of that all of that devastation. for more on what to expect on the weather today. let's bring in rob marciano. that was an unbelievable sight, what happened in the southeast yesterday. >> yeah and how long the twitat which time twister was on the ground -- here's a look at the path and sightings along that. 57-mile stretch, eagle lake through yazoo city. i want to show you this time lapse, tremendous energy released in the atmosphere. and yesterday was no picnic either. we have a storm watch in south florida for next hour for tornadoes, especially south of tampa through the ft. myers area towards ft. lauderdale. to the north, general rain in the d.c. and mid-atlantic slight chance of seeing severe weather, but nothing like what we saw yesterday or over the weekend. it was a slow start to the 2010 severe weather season, guys. and we had great video from storm chasers in the plains on friday and thursday. we knew once it got into the populated areas of the southeast, there could have been deadly consequences and unfortunately this storm exploded over mississippi on saturday. we'll talk more weather in 30 minutes. back to you. >> it's shaping up to be a busy week at the white house, immigration, climate control, all high on the president's agenda. but wall street reform still priority one today. senate democrats are set for a key test vote, and that's setting off a lot of calls to try to get a bipartisan deal done. suzanne, can democrats and republicans wind up agreeing on something when it comes to financial reform? >> reporter: hard to believe that could be possible. i had a chance to talk to the president's economic advisers, larry summers and they believed that this is going to be passed at least by memorial day. but the democrats are not taking any chances. senate majority leader harry reid will be conducting a test vote to see if debate can start on the very important issue. they believe that they are going to be able to get enough support from republicans to move forward to debate financial regulatory reform. one of lessons learned from president obama and the health care debate, all of that was that you cannot allow the opposition to actually form and shape the message, the argument. that is why we're hearing from president obama. we heard from him on saturday, his radio and internet address, outlining this. using the auto industry as an example, once in the tank and they are roaring back. he believes with financial regulatory reform the same will happen with the big banks. >> these reforms will put an end once and for all to taxpayer bailouts and bring greater transparency to complex financial deals and empower oird consumers and shareholders in our financial system. >> the president is also trying to debunk this notion that this is going to be a big bailout type of fund for these big banks. it has allowed the taxpayers holding the bag once again. he says, that is not happening, that is not true. one of things that the white house, the president believes they have to do early on, which is to shape the debate and shape the message. that is why he is going once again on the road, the white house to main street tour. a couple of stops with the president in iowa talking to farmers and small business people, holding a town hall. then he heads to missouri as well as illinois, putting this out there, saying this is important. we want to get this done fairly quickly. kiran? >> suzanne malveaux live bright and early at the white house. thanks so much. also new this morning, if you see an alien, be careful. that is the warning for the smartest man on our planet, steven hawking, he says it's a mathematic certainty that there is other life out there in the gal axecies that exist. this is his warning and they may only want earth for the natural resources. you may want to think about independence day. it's set to air on discovery and he is serious about that. >> he says mathematically speaking, you have billions of universes, there has to be some other life. it may not be us. >> it may not be "star trek." >> tiny microscopic my kroebs, but they are out there. >> i'll take it from him. he's a smart guy. thousands turn out to protest arizona's new immigration law. there a chance this law will be overturned before it even has a chance to be put into action? we'll talk about it coming up. ten minutes after the hour. i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. a lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i'm going to work with kids. i want to fix up old houses. 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[ female announcer ] together we can discover the best of what's next at aarp.org. as having to decide to go for it? at the hartford, we help businesses of all kinds... feel confident doing what they do best. by protecting your business, your property, your people. you've counted on us for 200 years. let's embrace tomorrow. and with the hartford behind you, achieve what's ahead of you. ♪ i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. ♪ waking up on the bright side with the killers. protests are heating up over arizona's tough immigration law. the democratic congressman from arizona is urging the president not to acknowledge the law. and civil rights leaders say they will march in the street. >> thousands of people staged a peaceful protest in phoenix yesterday. the new measure requires police to request anyone they might believe to be an illegal immigrant. a soldier about to ship out to the war zone was among the protesters. >> reporter: his name is jose ma dill la, a soldier about to deploy. before he left, he sat down with us to talk about his feelings and fears over the new immigration law in arizona that could affect his family. ♪ >> i'm here because this is something that is close to my heart. i went off to protect this country and protect my family. that's what hurt. it's my job to try and save lives. >> reporter: private first class jose ma dill la is 20 years old and home on leave. >> when i first joined the military, they would ask where are you from? now they would say i'm from the great state of arizona, i was raised here and grew up here. i don't know if i could say that so proudly. i don't know if i want to live here any more. >> reporter: for him, this is personal. you were not born in the country? >> no, i wasn't. >> reporter: born in mexico? >> originally. >> reporter: now he has his green card. >> the country has given me so much. when i heard of the law that passed, i couldn't believe it because the america that i know, the freedom and liberties we enjoy, are for everyone. it's a shame, because i love the state and grew up here. but i state that doesn't want you here? i might take the uniform off and i'm another hispanic. >> reporter: why do people feel indig nant about producing an i.d. they ought to have? >> because you're not white. >> reporter: is it because you resent the fact you could be stopped and asked for papers while fighting for this country? is that what angers you? >> it's not so much anger. it's hurt that that could happen to me, could happen to my family and my friends. >> come on, man. >> reporter: hours before his flight, jose medina invited us to his going away dinner. >> may go to afghanistan or iraq. after this night, man, we may not see you again. you're offering your life for this country, for all of us, but you might maybe start tomorrow. >> that's my duty to go and do what i have to do. >> reporter: before jose medina left arizona, he told me he was leaving with a heavy heart. >> i worry will my family live in peace. what good is keeping us safe here if we lose ourselves, if we lose a part of what makes america so great? we drive with our own people's hearts. >> reporter: as a soldier, one of his biggest concerns is that under this law, somewhere in arizona, a gold star mother who lost a child could be racially profiled and detained. he says that would be the ultimate insult. jim and kiran? >> thelma, thanks so much. coming up at 8:30. we'll talk with jeffrey toobinabout the new law and the challenges it may face in court. >> we want to know what you think. sound off on our blog. coming up next on the most news in the morning, secret e-mails, how goldman sacks thrived as the economy collapses. christine romans has a preview. >> well, new e-mails show indeed goldman sacks even as the rest of the world thought housing would go up forever, was starting to get nervous and selling short. we have interesting inside e-mails about how executives were viewing their position and how they made money off the big collapse that hurt america. that's right after the break.  22 minutes past the ho. the hour. there's new evidence they not only bet on crash but bragged about it in some e-mails. it drives most of us crazy when we see it taking place, but the bottom line is this isn't different than what goes on in wall street all the time. >> goldman sachs in particular was making money on both sides of the housing market, standing there in the middle making money on both sides. the company told me recently in 2006 for ten days that row the internal alarm went off that housing was in trouble. they moved quickly to get rid of their long position in housing, not to be caught when housing crashed. at the time it looked smart. now we're looking at all of thees e-mails saying it looks arrogant and fishy. goldman made money on the way up and down by selling bundles of investments and betting the same investments would take a dive when housing prices dropped. they took positions on both sides. some are long and some are short, a bet that they are going to go sour. in one internal e-mail message released over the weekend dated july 25th, 2007, goldman's chief financial officer called it the big short. after the company made $51 million on bets on housing securities would drop. in may 2007, after long beach mortgage securities, a unit of washington mutual, said $50 million in loans are worthless. one trader wrote, good news because they made $5 million in profit because they shorted those bonds. quote, it pollute the financial system with the sour loans, yet goldman, apparently came out golden. goldman denied it made a big profit off the housing failure and said lawmakers cherrypicked the e-mails. i want to make a quick position about goldman's position during the housing debacle. it's one of the reasons why warren buffett invested billions into the company because they are seen as the smartest guys in the room in terms of risk management. >> a lot of people are saying, they made money on the way up and way down, why did they get billions in government bailout money? >> that is an argument going on for more than a year. everyone was hurt and still had different exposure. there was huge concern in the treasury department. if you gave money to some companies and not others, you would single out some people to have a run on the bank and the like. we've talked about did goldman need the money. sometimes they say -- yes, and they paid it back. the whole banking system got slammed. these e-mails -- >> you have to wonder if these are the tip of the iceberg? >> they turned over 20 million e-mails. there are hearings tomorrow, fabulous fab tourre, the vice president trader talking about how he was going to stand above the wreckage about the garbage, all of that comes tomorrow on capitol hill. >> coming up next, a recent ruling could allow corporations to pour millions into political campaigns. the push is on to level the playing field. it is 25 minutes after the hour. i hired someone to make my website... five months ago. we are building a website by ourselves. announcer: there's an easier way. create your own small-business site with intuit websites. just choose a style that fits your business and customize, publish and get found in three easy steps. sweet. all from just $4.99 a month, get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. welcome back. 27 minutes past the hour. democrats on capitol hill are getting ready to introduce a new bill targeting a supreme court decision on campaign finance rules. the five to four decision says blocking campaign cash from corporations violates our right to freedom of speech. a poll found that nearly 80% of americans disagree with the court's decision. carol costello is live with the story in our d.c. bureau. it was at the state of the union where the president criticized the ruling by the supreme court. you saw of them mouthing not true and shaking their heads during that. >> reporter: they weren't happy. the vonn hol len castle bill doesn't seek to overturn, only to blunt it. people believe there ought to be some regulation as to how much money corporations pour into political campaigns. they say it is a clear attempt by democrats to take away corporate rights and they are threatening a lawsuit. it sounds so simple, the supreme court ruled exxon equals joe citizen. corporations are people too with the same rights as individuals when it comes to political speech. >> i'm going to have to sign a few places -- >> reporter: citizens united the organization dedicate the to free enterprise, fought for the ruling, which benefits labor unions too. >> whether they are liberal or conservative, everyone wins. everyone can participate fully in the process. that's a wonderful thing for democr democracy. >> reporter: democrats disagreed, they said it allows them to use profits freely in the weeks up to an election and target specific candidates. some insist it's already happened in texas. >> all of a sudden, i saw this ad, what is this. >> reporter: chuck hobson is running for a seat in the texas state legislature. >> a friend of mine called and said there's a corporate ad against you in the paper. who is it? he looked it up on the website. >> reporter: it read, vote for a real republican and paid for kdr development inc.. the president had run unsuccessfully against hobson in an election. there was nothing citizen hobson could do except raise his own money to fight back. it's the sort of thing that keeps democratic lawmakers awake at night. imagine a fort tune 500 corporation doing this. democratic congressman chris van holenwill introduce a bill this week. it will require american companies to inform their shareholders about political spending and require ceos to appear in political advertising. maryland congressman donna edwards is taking the fight a step further. >> introduce a constitutional amendment so we the people can take back elections and our democracy. >> reporter: those who represent corporate america, say good luck with that. they say congress is overreacting. >> no corporation is going to run an ad, an express ad, which is what this is really about, saying, using the magic words, vote for or vote against and say, paid for by cnn. i'm just going to guarantee you that's not going to happen. >> reporter: because no company would risk alienating its customers. despite kdr's ad, chuck hobson won the primary with 61% of the vote. the measure would also require powerful trade groups like the u.s. chamber of commerce to identify the companies that fund its political-related spending. chuck schumer is trying to come up with a similar spending bill but there's no republican to join him so sources say he's waiting. as for citizens united, its president told me he will review the bill. if he doesn't like it and it passes both the congress and senate, he'll consider taking the government to court again. kiran? >> we'll see how it ends up. carol costello this morning. thanks so much. meanwhile, it's two minutes past the bottom of the hour, 6:32 here in new york, looking at the top stories right now. officials from fema make their way to mississippi in the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes. ten people were killed and three children. it was the worst outbreak of violent weather this spring. barbour has claimed a state of emergency and the threat of dangerous weather is not over yet. we'll be live with rob with the forecast. democrats are planning a test vote on the wall street reform bill. some republican leaders are hoping to negotiate a bipartisan deal. democrats will need support from at least one republican to get 60 votes and avoid a filibuster to move forward with a formal debate on the bill. they are hoping a robotic submarine can stop a dangerous leak in the gulf of mexico. one mile beneath the rig that exploded last week. it is offering to put in a shut-off device. will speak with the commander of the coast guard to get us up to date on those efforts. buckle your seat belts, florida governor charlie crist faces a tough decision. folks are wonder if he'll bolt the republican party and run as an independent. a big question this week. >> a big change of fortune. he is trailing republican rival rubio. he had a 21-point lead. the race is definitely getting interesting and could have a major effect on the future of the gop. the political editor of the "stxt petersburg times." will governor crist run as an independent in an effort to stay alive? what are you hearing? >> the betting is that he definitely will. as a few days ago he had not quite made up his mind. that looks virtually impossible for him to win doing. >> i was down in florida covering the race a couple of months ago. charlie crist was considered a front-runner for the vice presidential slot for john mccain in 2008. now trailing rubio by 20 points. he was once leading by 30 points. you're down there in florida watching this race every day. how do you account for this? >> i think it's a lot of factor. i think, number one, his decision to run for senate rather than run for reee governor had people wonder if he's about himself or governing. he misjudged the electorate. and the elect tore at shifted to the right. >> and that hug, as you remember -- >> no one wanted to hear it. i'm doing this because stimulus dollars will help florida. that was not the temperature of the elect tore rat. rubio is considered one of the brightest starts of the gop, gotten high profile endorsements and some call him the sweetheart of the tea party. how did he get all of that momentum? >> he was former house speaker, didn't come out of nowhere. he's a very skilled politician, and he was -- nobody gave him a shot in heck when he first started. but he kept building and building momentum and the electorate was right with them, with the direction that obama has taken the country. >> this is the amazing development. let's put this up on the screen. a recent poll showed crist would actually win in a three-way race declaring himself as an independent if this quinn pack poll is accurate, 32%, rubio 30% and meek down in florida trying to gain traction with 24%. how does that strike you, that poll, adam? it should be an interesting race if he does this. >> it is. it is absolutely unchartered territory. you throw the play book out the window. we're not talking about a two-person race. meek is a credible democrat. these are three very credible candidates and anything can happen. >> you're looking forward to watching this thing, right? >> you got that right. >> it's interesting because it has risen to the level of national interest for sure. a lot of people are saying, what does this say about the future of the gop as well? is there no room for moderate candidates, that somebody like rubio who had no traction a year ago has ousted -- in some ways in the polling, a very popular player in the gop? >> i think that's true. but it's broader than have the tea party candidates taken over. a lot of this is stuff that florida is a mess. economically right now and charlie crist, plenty of moderates have become disenchanted with charlie crist because he seemed to detached. >> you think it's anti-incumbent? >> yes, and the tea party, it all kind of feeds into it. >> we'll be watching, not as closely as you are but envying your position down there. this will be fascinating to watch. thanks for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> glad to join you. coming up next, is facebook going too far. it i've been growing algae for 35 years. most people try to get rid of algae, and we're trying to grow it. the algae are very beautiful. they come in blue or red, golden, green. algae could be converted into biofuels... that we could someday run our cars on. in using algae to form biofuels, we're not competing with the food supply. and they absorb co2, so they help solve the greenhouse problem, as well. we're making a big commitment to finding out... just how much algae can help to meet... the fuel demands of the world. my subaru saved my life. i won't ever forget that. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. here's what we can do with 4g from sprint. using the overdrive 4g mobile hotspot, jimmy's playing some video game online, jenny's video-chatting with a friend, and i'm downloading a huge presentation. and while that's happening, we'll enjoy some family time. 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[ male announcer ] experience 4g from sprint. it's more than a wireless network. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities, it's a wireless revolution. access www.sprintrelay.com. welcome back to the most news in the morning. the disturbing story about former poison front man, bret michaels remains in critical condition this morning. a message posted on his facebook page says he is in intensive care. he is suffering from a brain hemorrhage and rushed into intensive care on thursday for a sa severe headache. he had his abendism re -- appendix removed last week. >> he also suffered from diabetes and had some health problems that seemed to have gotten worse. we're hoping for the best and hope the news is good. new york toy company executive -- wearing a sandwich, anything to get attention, has finally found a job after more than two years. i am happy for that guy. >> absolutely, love this guy. >> 25 months he was out of work. he says he gave more than 100 interviews. we talked to him here on cnn. >> take off the sandwich board and put it aside and show it to the grand kids. >> do you know where he's working? >> i believe at a new toy company. new york senior senator wants federal guidelines to protect how social networking sites use and share your personal information. chuck schumer it's in response to new facebook features that track where you go on the web. the new features that allow you to share stories, allow social security across the web. you in particular should pay attention, you're a big facebook user? >> i'm not. i twitter more. he says he's making about half he was making at his peak, but he can work his way up. >> i was reading he was starting to lose hope and then this happened so. bet of luck to him. absolutely. 45 minutes past the hour. we've been talking about the severe weather that hit the south. rob marciano will have more on the aftermath of the tornadoes that hit many areas, hardest hit, many parts of mississippi but what we can expect today. >> in ten minutes, 3-d movies are becoming big business for hollywood, but are they really here to stay? we'll find out. but they look funny in their glasses. we'll stay tuned for that. i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. a lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. but look below the surface. your mouth is no different. brushing leaves teeth looking clean, but millions of plaque and gingivitis germs are left behind. a quick 30-second rinse with listerine® antiseptic cleans deeper. 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[ sighs ] [ male announcer ] ...for the deepest clean and the healthiest mouth. listerine®. clean deeper. get healthier. ♪ welcome back. miami doesn't look too inviting, does it? 76 degrees and cloudy. later 84 degrees and they are set for some thunderstorms as well today. >> i was about to say, i could use a little south beach this morning, but it doesn't look better down there in miami. let's turn to rob marciano. good morning, rob. >> good morning, jim and kiran. the storm that has brought the entire u.s., the past few days and now into the northeast, quite impressive. updated reports from the storm survey team saying at one point the storm was an ef-4 with 170. the path of this thing, 97 miles long. unbelievable, a mile and three-quarters in width. already, tornado watch in effect nor parts of florida. that's going to be allowed to expire. heavier rain and rush weather moving through the naples and ft. myers area. miami will be under the gun for the next few hours. there will be embedded thunderstorms at times today in the northeast, regardless, heavy rain and wind. that will slow down air travel if you plan on getting on an airport. new york city metro and boston, hour-plus delays there. pittsburgh and cleveland will say delays also. not a drastic cooldown beyond the front. more about this wrath of tornadoes over the weekend at the top of the hour, guys. >> we're looking forward to that system being ushered out. thanks, rob, we appreciate it. >> we have a lot of comments coming in about a number of different topics, leslie writes, this arizona law wreaks of racism. tourism will decline. >> brian h, i'm sure it is inconvenient to have your immigration status checked, you about how inconvenient is it for the legal citizens as well as families that have been kidnapped and murdered et cetera. you can join the conversation at cnn.com/amfix. >> also coming up, our top stories minutes away, including the governor called it katrina-like destruction. a deadly tornado on lit rating a town for 200 miles. rescue teams are sifting through the rubble looking for survivors. spilling 42,000 gallons a day, the oil rig explosion in the gulf, what started out as a human tragedy, now becoming an environmental one. we'll talk about the emergency effort to contain the leak. and at 48 minutes past the hour, will real aliens be more like e.t. or predator? the smartest man on earth says he has an idea and you may not want to know the answer. create your own business site with intuit websites. just choose a style, then customize, publish and get found. sweet. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. ♪ [ male announcer ] experience fast in all its forms. the is line. at your lexus dealer. welcome back. it is 53 minutes past the hour. time for your "a.m. housecall." kids not allowed to watch r rated films are less likely to try alcohol. almost a quarter of children who's parents let them watch "r qu " movies all the time started drinking earlier. >> one movie that's completely kid friendly, "how to train your dragon", getting a boost from the 3-d. >> the 3-d technology is nothing new, but it's actually growing in popularity lately. experts say that we're just now able to see the full potential of 3-d. >> we will send a message. >> reporter: "va", message, the highest grossing movie of all times, p $400 million coming from 3-d screens alone in the u.s. with so much money making potential, they are hoping this 3-d boom doesn't go bust. there's a movement under way to blaze this trail straight the future. is it fair to call you a 3-d gur ru? he began working in 3-d before it was cool. he works in sony's 3-d technology center. a hands-on course on how to actually film in 3-d, a method much different from converting 2-d movies to 3-d. that process drew mixed reviews from critics. >> some would say how important is this? does the audience see the difference? >> i think they already are. they are very vocal about the quality they see. we want to raise the bar. >> reporter: and stay above it, says jack mass ek who says his future depends on it. >> the language of 3-d is different than the language we utilize in 2-d. i don't want to be left behind. >> reporter: one executive who says he's ahead of the game is jeffrey cat zenberg. he recently blasted the 3-d to 2-d conversion process, warning it could turn audiences away. >> for the first time in well over a decade, we're seeing admissions go up and 3-d is the reason. >> reporter: and they are willing to spend more for that experience? >> and if you give them something great, everybody is being very protective of it right now, this is a beautiful golden goose and giving us golden eggs. >> reporter: in this golden age of advanced technology, where 3-d movies have fired up the box office, industry leaders like buzz hayes says the future looks bright. >> the key is that there are good movies in 3-d. we remember jaws in 3-d. >> kind of jumped the shark. "ava tar" was long to have on 3-d glasses. >> note to james cameron. >> we'll have your top stories coming up in three minutes. good monday morning to you. glad you're with us. it is april 26th. >> john roberts is off today. a lot to tell you about. here are the top stories we'll be telling you about this morning. tornadoes on a terror. homes are shattered and lives too. one town in mississippi is suffering a direct hit, at least ten people were killed, cars tossed at least 600 homes damaged. we're live on the ground. >> and the showdown on wall street reform could come to a head today. senate democrats are planning a test vote later this afternoon. republicans are trying to slow things down and some of them trying to work out a compromise deal. there's a backroom wheeling and dealing going on. efforts to plug a leak that's causing more than 40,000 gallons of oil a day to gush into the gulf of mexico, an update from the coast guard command center just ahead. the a.m. fix blog is up and running. we want to hear what's on your mind. go to cnn.com/amfix. stories of terror and survival after the tornadoes in the southeast. the storm system was fast and powerful and deadly. homes torn apart and trees knocked down in seven states, including south carolina. the worst and hardest hit, mississippi, one twister carved a path of destruction, 97 miles long. it killed ten people and injured dozens more and left many homes and communities unrecognizable. ed lavandera is live. when you hear the destruction and see what a big path of destruction it was, it is amazing more people weren't killed or injured. >> reporter: it really is. many people didn't have that much time to react. the warnings had gone out, they knew the storm was coming, but this area is full of hilly terrain with massive trees. it is hard to see on the horizon that this storm was coming. many people didn't realize it until it was right upon them. >> i don't know -- >> reporter: we found matthew mccray and his wife on a back road on choctaw, mississippi. his guitar is muddied, but it's days like these that inspire the mississippi blues. ♪ >> reporter: what was it like being in there when this happened? >> that quick, whoosh, then whoosh again then the tops were gone. >> reporter: was it incredibly scary? >> i started praying, asking the lord to save me, save me. i told my husband and said, honey, i don't believe he's going to save us. >> reporter: along the dirt road, the tornado killed its three youngest victims, two sisters and a 3-month-old baby girl. the girls were here with their parents when the storm hit. the force of the storm is powerful it essentially disintegrated their mobile home. the grandfather told us the bodies were found over here. >> nice kids, good grades in school, just amazing. >> reporter: ron sullivan and five others were able to walk out of this grocery store. >> there's a coke machine turned over that kept the roof from falling on me. >> reporter: can we see it? >> certainly. i never touched the ground. when it hit, it blew me back. the next thing i felt was that wall and myself falling backwards. they always talk about you hear the train. there was no train. there was a bomb. >> reporter: what goes through your mind when something like this is happening? >> the only thing that went through my mind, two things, please don't let anything else fall on me and i hope my wife is okay. >> reporter: his wife peggy was a few feet away. it launched that 5,000 pound gasoline tank into the back of the grocery store and rolled this way. peggy was standing behind the freezer and the tank lodged up against it and saved her life keeping her from getting crushed. kiran, to give you a sense of how massive this storm has been. we shot that story, that's choctaw county, 100 mile drive from where we are in yazoo. preliminary reports say the storm here at one point measured a mile and a half wide with winds at 160 miles per hour. >> how do you begin to protect yourself from something like that? ed, thank you. for more on what to expect from the weather today, let's bring in rob marciano. it's incredible the path of destruction. >> 97 miles and kind of coming off the ground and dropping back down. this thing could have -- the actual cell probably was on the ground for a good couple of hundred miles. here's a look at where the action is this morning. and south florida is getting it. a tornado watch just been allowed to expire. but there's a tornado warning out for hen dri county in the everglades. we'll watch that cell as it traverses towards more populated areas in west palm and ft. lauderdale. we're looking at rain today, maybe embedded thunderstorms that could become strong, but the main threat will be heavier rain with scattered thunderstorms. all right, back to what we looked at on saturday. 54 reports of tornadoes, a lot of those were probably from the same cell that produced the same tornado and to update what ed was talking about. 97-mile stretch, at one point an ef-4 strength. and a width of 1.75. there was a tornado that touched down in darlington and there were injuries in south carolina as well. the entire weekend was a rough one for much of the southeast. now the northeast will get a little bit of it today, not nearly as bad as what we saw in mississippi. back to you. >> thank goodness. today we may find out whether democrats and republicans can actually agree on something. it's a big day for the president in his pledge to wall street reform. democrats have scheduled a test vote on their bill later this afternoon in the senate. that has some republicans scrambling to try to cut a bipartisan deal. suzanne malveaux is live at the white house. when you look at reforming wall street, there are many things they agree on. when it comes to writing a bill, it doesn't seem so obvious. >> reporter: it looks like at this point perhaps democrats and republicans can find some middle ground. i had a chance to talk to the economic advisers, both of them seemed pretty optimistic that they can push through the reform. we'll see harry reid to at least do a test vote to see if they can start the debate on this issue. it is controversial, make no mistake about that. but it does seem members of congress are more concerned they are going to look like they are defending wall street, the big banks, irresponsible behavior against the little guy. that is what president obama is counting on. that is the message he has learned -- lesson learned from the health care debate. do not allow the opposition to control the message, to control the debate. we've heard from him over the weekend. his internet radio address saying, we saw the auto industry, they tanked. they have come rolling back. that financial regulatory reform is a way to allow big banks to recover as well but also be held accountable. take a listen. >> these reforms will put an end to taxpayer bailouts. it would bring greater transparency to complex financial geelings and empower ordinary consumer and shareholders in our financial system. >> reporter: kiran, one of things we'll be hearing from the president, he's also going to talk about this notion of bailing out the big banks, that is that is not true. that is one of things opposition and republicans have been saying, they believe financial regulatory reform could potentially bail out the banks. the president is saying, that is misinformation and will be taking that message to the road. he is continuing his white house to main street type of tour. i'll be with the president tomorrow. we'll go to iowa, three different stops and talk to farmers, small business owners. he'll have a town hall meeting and missouri and illinois. but clearly, trying to push forward and seize this momentum to get this thing done. they say they think they can do this by memorial day. >> suzanne malveaux with an update, thank you. 42,000 gallons of oil a day spilling into the gulf of mexico. we'll go live to the command center for an update from the coast guard on efforts to stop the leak. at 7:25, an "a.m. original" going surgeon shopping, the high cost of insurance forcing some to roll the dice. do people get what they pay for, or can you find bargains in the health care world? how the housing crisis was a win-win for goldman sachs. it is nine minutes after the hour. allergies? chlor-trimeton. hey, one dose of this, six hour relief. chlor-trimeton relieves itchy, watery eyes and sneezing for 12 full hours with less drowsiness than benadryl. it does all that? chlor-trimeton. less drowsy relief that lasts 12 hours. ♪ my subaru saved my life. i won't ever forget that. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. ♪ it's 7:11. an oil leak deep under water in the gulf of mexico is growing. along with fears of an environmental disaster after last week's oil rig explosion, the good news, the oil is expected to stay well offshore for the next few days. the bad news, more than 40,000 gallons of oil a day are spilling into the gulf. crews are deploying robot submarines to stop the leak. joining us from the command center in louisiana this morning, coast guard commander mark mckaden. thanks very much for joining us. we want to know, first of all, how serious this spill is. can you give us a sense in terms of perspective as to how serious this is? >> sure. of course, any oil spill is significant, but the situation we have here right now is that we have approximately 40,000 gallons of oil being discharged out of the relief pipe that is -- extends out of the well. and that you can figure the pipe itself is bent in several locations. and if you can figure like a garden hose would be restricted for its discharge, that is helping to curb the amount of oil that's coming out of the well that's pressurized. so the operations that are under way right now are focused on several con titingenccontingenc. there's a remote operating valve that the company, the oil company, bp, is working to act wait to stop the remaining flow of oil. those operations are ongoing right now with remote operating vehicles. we have vehicles to take a look at and we can actually monitor the discharge. i would say the situation of awareness here is very good. we're working very closely with partner agencies, mineral management service and bp, there's a unified command established there. >> commander, how much of this spill has to do with the explosion? was this unexpected, the fact that this leak is happening right now? because as far as last saturday, we were told that there was really no oil leaking at that point. then this developed over the weekend. was this unexpected? >> well, i wouldn't say it is necessarily unexpected. you never can be quite sure what's going to happen when a large rig like that sinks and has a significant amount of pipe to the ocean floor. but the initial appearance was that there was very minor residual oil rising to the surface. so further exploratory, we were able to determine it wasn't just oil residual oil from the rig, but in fact that there was some oil that continued to leak from the pipe itself. >> commander, this is a nightmare scenario for a lot of people that live along the gulf coast, especially the beach communities who are worried about the offshore drilling and exactly whether or not some of this oil might reach their shores and disturb some of those pristine beaches. should folks along the gulf coast be concerned about that at this point? >> well, i think, you know, certainly people are concerned and we're concerned here. that's why we're working very closely with all stake holders and the states and elected officials to keep everyone reinformed. right now the oil remains 30 miles offshore. the weather is looking favorable to continue with cleanup operations -- >> you don't think it will reach the beaches of the gulf coast at this point? or is it still a possibility? >> it is a possibility, but not at this time though, we're monitoring out three days. and we have reliable imagery from satellite as well as predictor models we're getting from noaa and from bp, several models that are matching up. the coast guard is bringing in a cutter to serve as the onscene commander for the operation. and we're working very closely. there are contingency plans developed by each state and by the companies that operate these wells. those plans are being implemented. i'd say our response post tour and robust. >> we appreciate your time very much. we know you'll be keeping an eye on it. thanks again, this morning for joining us. coming up next, kiran, we've got some economy news? >> we're talking about the economy slowly recovering, but the stock market simply taking off. why the disparity quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. i want to fix up old houses. ♪ [ woman ] when i grow up, i want to take him on his first flight. i want to run a marathon. i'm going to work with kids. i'm going to own my own restaurant. when i grow up, i'm going to start a band. 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[ female announcer ] together we can discover the best of what's next at aarp.org. 20 minutes past the hour right now. it's time for "minding your business." why do we see the stock market taking off and yet at the same time some of the other key indicators, like the jobs and housing market, aren't doing the same? >> this is the new normal. will it last all year? will we see a stock market -- it seems to be up. we haven't seen the stock market up eight weeks that row since 2004. remember 2004? oh, you could buy a house and new it would be worth more the next year. a lot of people had jobs and he had come out of recessions and things were looking up. the dow above 11,000. you were saying, i keep looking 11,000, how did this happen? it happened pretty consistently over the past year or so. it's been about 1200 points just from february to april. >> a lot of those fueled by impressive private members that we're seeing from the big companies out there. >> last week we heard from citigroup and american express and goldman sachs. we heard from apple, not just the banks. the banks made $18.7 billion in profits in first quarter. a lot of other companies making money too. they are making money in many sectors after cutting costs dramatically and making money compared with last year, which is utter anileation for corporate america. >> only had -- nowhere to go but up. >> corporate america is the most improved student. if you're most improved but still getting cs and ds, what does that mean for people without a job? >> they laid off many people, they are not paying full-ti full-employees benefits and such. >> last week, he said he's been looking at tax receipts and some other indicators and think there will be a sharp hiring push later this year. there are others who are saying companies cut so dramatically, that they are going to have to -- if the economy gains traction, they'll have to hire back pretty consistently. labor economists tell me there's this long-term unemployed that have been out of work six months or longer that are really out of luck right now this this recovery. there just really aren't the opportunities for them. you mentioned the contract workers. i think we have a record-high percentage of our labor market right now are contract workers. >> meaning freelancers? >> no benefits, no job security. they have to pay taxes four times a year, don't get unemployment benefits if they lose a job. it's not the big solid kind of labor base that you would like to see. >> the big problem is in the middle of the country, where so many manufacturing jobs have been lost over the last several years, this recovery we're seeing on wall street has no connection -- i'm about to go to detroit to do a story about bull dosing a quarter of the city to bring it back to life. to square that with these impressive things happening on wall street, i have a tough time with it. >> is this what it's going to look like? is this what it's going to look like after the recovery? >> no one knows. there will be real political implications and fiscal implications. how are you going to pay to sustain a country where so many people are out of work or so many parts aren't participating? is that right to have a two-speed or two-tier economy? i mean, the stock market has come back. the stock market is coming back. but that doesn't mean that we fixed all of our problems. i think we'll try to figure out the best things for people to try to adapt to what is the new normal. >> christine romans, thanks. when every dollar counts, people are always interested in finding a good deal. is it smart to do that with health care? elizabeth cohen with an "a.m. original" next. ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning, it is 7:26. our top stories just minutes away, first an "a.m. original" something you'll only see here on "american morning." everyone loves a bargain. is it a good idea to shop for rock bottom price when's it comes to health care? >> health prices continue to skyrocket and some americans are sniffing out cheaper surgery deals overseas. elizabeth cohen introduces us to one of them. >> reporter: you're quite the bargain shopper there, look at the coupons. >> absolutely. >> reporter: you've had to do this not just with food? >> you're quite right. >> reporter: what other things do you bargain shop for than pasta and apple sauce. >> the big ticket item i'm confronted with is having nasal surgery. >> reporter: you went surgeon shopping, went place to place to find the cheapest price because you don't have insurance? >> that's correct. >> reporter: how does one go surge an shopping? >> i can. it's quite an adventure. >> reporter: this is the first place you went to to get a price quote. what would have been the total bill for the entire procedure? >> almost $34,000. >> reporter: $34,000, you're sem my retired and no insurance, could you pay that? >> i wish i had 34,000 sitting around. no, we don't. >> reporter: what did do you? what was your next step? >> i thought, i'm going further. i'm going surgeon shopping again because this is ridiculous. >> reporter: let's go to that different surgeon and see what that price was. >> absolutely. >> reporter: god freed, that was your next stop, this surgeon's office. what would it have cost the entire procedure to have it done by these folks? >> it would have been approximately $33,000. >> reporter: only $1,000 less than the first place? >> that's correct. my shopping didn't do much for me, did it? >> reporter: you found that you basically could not afford to have your polyps removed in indianapolis? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: so you needed to think outside the box? >> i went way outside the box for this. >> reporter: you're going to go to the united kingdom. getting on a plane and getting the surgery in wales, what's that going to cost you? >> $3600. >> reporter: the cheapest price you could get here was $33,000? >> yes. terrible, isn't it? >> reporter: it's almost ten times less expensive. give me a call and let me know how it goes. and the best of luck. >> elizabeth cohen joins us now. this series of stories you've been doing on our outrageous medical prices has been fantastic. i have to ask, are prices for surgery higher in the u.s. than elsewhere? is this one of those outliar cases or is this across the board. >> reporter: take a look at prices for various procedures here versus in other countries. these numbers will make you go, oh, my goodness. first let's look at heart bypass surgery. if you want to have bypass surgery in india, it will cost you $8,500. in coasta rica, $25,000. do you want to venture a guess as to what it costs in this country? >> $100,000. >> $150,000. >> reporter: $144,000. look at the difference. if you're insured, insurance will pay for most of that. a lot of us have 20% co-pay. it is still a huge amount of money if it's lower than that. >> i don't know if i'm more amazed by the price in the united states or that kiran got it right. >> you look at the range of differences and is there a range of expertise? meaning, if you get it cheaper, are you putting your health at risk? >> reporter: right, that's what a lot of people want to know. how good are these? there are things that you can do now to try to assess the quality of what you're going to get overseas. if you go to cnnhealth.com. we tell you what you can do to try to figure that out. i want to say that godfried had a great experience, he did well. i was sitting next to him in the car. could i hear him breathing, wheezing through his nose. he was really struggling to get air in. he says now he's doing great. >> there you go. >> fabulous stuff. thanks so much. appreciate that. >> tomorrow morning we look at the outrageous markups on your medical bill. a doctor who was billed $863 for a pair of disposal forceps when she needed surgery. 6:00 a.m. on "american morning." it is time for this morning's top stories, a massive cleanup effort is under way across the southeast after reports of tornadoes in seven different states over the weekend. at least 12 people have been killed. this is the worst outbreak of violent weather this spring. governor haley barbour declared a state of emergency in seven counties. crews are using a robotic submarine to try to stop a stubborn oil leak in the gulf of mexico. this explosion and oil rig causing a lot of problems. 42,000 gallons spilling into the ocean off the louisiana coast where the rig exploded last week. the submab reen is attempting to shot off a device. a hearing on mine safety is set to begin in washington tomorrow. president obama remembering 29 workers who died in a mining disaster, promising to honor their memory by making conditions safe are for miners moving forward. >> all of that hard work and hardship, all of the time spent underground, it was all for the families, all for you. for a car in the driveway, a roof overhead. for a chance to give their kids opportunities that they would never know and enjoy retirement with their spouses. it was all in the hopes of something better. so these miners lived as they died in pursuit of the american dream. >> the nation's top mine safety officials expected to testify on capitol hill when hearings get underway. there is new evidence this morning that wall street's most profitable bank bet on the housing crash and in some cases even bragged about it. e-mails from goldman sachs traders themself and one that called worseless loans that ruin lives quote goodness. facing angry lawmakers when they testify tomorrow on capitol hill. joining me robin far zad and christine romans. there's a lot of populist anger out there. but goldman has towed the line that what they were doing was starting to short the market, betting against the housing market, just to manage their risk. i want to show you a couple of e-mails released by senators on saturday. one is from a manager in 2007 saying, we've got one manager saying, sounds like we'll make serious money, yes, we're well positioned. and cfo saying, tells you what might be happening to people who have the big short. that is in reaction to a $51 million profit from shorting housing securities. does this contrast with what goldman sachs publicly has said about their situation? >> not yet. some of the e-mails you saw from fab reese tourre, the 27-year-old who set fire to the global capital system, might have some of that in everything else, but nothing yet to suggest there was a dr. evil saying we're going to make a billion dollars off of this. >> this sounds like an awful lot of money to you and me, but when you look through the e-mails and sift through them. there were 21 million pages of e-mails they turned over they say they are cherry picking through them. these are different individual deals where goldman is showing, look we lost 2.5 million but good news made 5 million on this one. goldman was standing there in the middle of the mortgage crisis with some bets that were long and others that were short. a while ago they told me in late 2006 there were ten days in a row when the internal risk bell went off saying there was something wrong with housing. >> we need to come back closer to home. >> we have to get closer to home. >> there are some who argue they shouldn't be able to trade these as it is, that if falsely -- gives a false sense of prosperity that isn't necessarily there. it's a casino like atmosphere. these risky trades going back and forth for billions of dollars between companies. what are your thoughts? >> this part of the market -- the free market killed it, right? >> explain that for people, who say wait a minute, congress needs to step in and congress needs to make change soz this can't happen again. it's already dead? >> there's a disconnect for this. kind of holding your hand and take you, let's buy a factory and fund your acquisition, i think wall street has really changed in the past ten years, they've become more casino like but kill what you eat. go out and use your own capital and bet on the house account and have your own sense of what's going on and have self-determination as opposed to depending on dwindling commissions. >> they were betting its own money on things. not only putting a buyer and seller together the old-fashioned way but putting its own money at risk to make money. sometimes putting its own money gets its other company. the question is, did they create some really complicated structures that other people were buying and selling as well that may have contributed to the crisis? we know that goldman saw the crisis coming and profited from it. but did they cause it in any way, that's what congress is trying to find out. >> everyone is looking for the subprime villain. goldman is an he especially convenient villain. suddenly the e-mails are coming out and sec was accused of being asleep at the switch. i think it's going vexingly difficult to find an aha moment, a smoking gun to prove there was a cognac and cigar meeting. >> what about knowingly giving loans who people couldn't pay them back? >> goldman didn't do that you want a mortgage, i'm not defending anybody here. say your mortgage banker did that, was enabled by goldman because they could sell them downstream. it's never able to say this on capitol hill and no senator will, but america wanted this. >> one thing about the timing, we look at them and say this looks like an arrogant company that hurt america so terribly and gloeting about making money. everybody in the market was in a get rich quick scheme, they believed the housing would keep going up, from the homeowner, to the banks. and goldman had clients begging them for more of these things that they could bet on that housing was going to go up. when the e-mails were written as interesting as they are, at that time they didn't look so smart. >> does the s.e.c. have a fraud case? >> it's going to be vexingly hard to prove, to the extent goldman is going to capitol hill this week and it will be con shentous and you have senators that will try to paint this as a moral ethical thing and they will say we are market makers doing what we did legally. it's so difficult to prove. if insider trading is hard to prove, you can imagine this malicious attempt in a scandal hard to prove. one thing ir refutable, they have an enormous p.r. problem and might not outside help. some of these executives could be damaged goods, if for no other reason that america recognizes them. >> you can't just make money and say, all that matters to us is we make money and our clients are happy. the world has changed. the stubborn face of public relations has hurt them. this will be a hard week for goldman sachs. warren buffett thinks they are the smartest guys in wall street. what is he going to say about this? >> perhaps -- >> you're hearing whispers about this. warren buffett is in the twilight of his career and he did this before when solomon brothers was damaged. he swooped in and already lent his capital to goldman sachs. he can loan his reputation as well. >> robin farzad, thank you and christine, as always, thank you. jim? what is hot on our blog this morning? there's still time to join the conversation. c cnn.com/amfix. we'll be back with some of your comments. it's 7:40. 40 minutes after the hour. ♪ comments coming into our blog as fast as that song was moving there. i wanted to read you one because you just had the discussion on goldman sachs. they are just getting put through the ringer these days, but this viewer had a different perspective. in regards to goldman sachs, we're a country built on entrepreneurship and mad at goldman because they were smart enough to see a trend and possible housing slump. where were the government agencies responsible for monitoring the company? as we know there were folks spending too much time at the computer as opposed to regulating our market. >> watchdog found 33 different people surfing for internet porn. also a hot button issue was the arizona state law, requiring -- i mean requiring that police if they suspect is somebody is an illegal immigrant asking for prove that they are not. i think it's unfair to downgrade a race that wants to live peacefully among merngz. i hope they find enough people to do the jobs they leave behind. writing in to robert, when you i am great here legally, this has always been the case. you have to carry this documentation, a simple card in the event they question your status. i carry my driver's license all the time, i never felt the need to take offense i may be racially profiled. >> the talk is whether the white house should be pushing immigration reform and now there's talk in washington that perhaps the white house has no other choice but to confront immigration reform. democrats as well as they get through financial reform because of what's happening in arizona. this is really going to drive the debate and could go right into the summer. this is not one of those issues that's going to be legs lated easily. >> you're right. we're glad you're joining the conversation. we invite more people to get online. still ahead, deadly tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in the south, mississippi hit especially hard. rob marciano is along with where this storm is headed next. raspberry cheesecake... ...yeah, every night it's something different. oh yeah yeah...she always keeps them in the house. no no no, i've actually lost weight... i just have a high metabolism or something... ...lucky. 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[ female announcer ] 28 delicious flavors at around 100 calories each. yoplait, it is so good. indulge in new blueberry pie and new red velvet cake. yoplait light. it is so good. ♪ indianapolis, indiana, let's check in with you right now. it's 50 degrees and cloudy. don't worry, it's going up to 60 lat later. bring the umbrella because they are looking for rain throughout the day. >> it would be nice if things would settle down weatherwise across the country, rob. we had nasty weather in the south. how are things looking in the southeast, rob? >> florida is under the gun right now. good morning, again. a tornado watch has been allowed to expire. there's a couple of cells rolling across the everglades that have some pop in them. as they get closer to the populated area, these tornado warnings have been allowed to be extended. now we've got one in broward county. and as this cell continues to move off to the east, everything north of miami and pretty much north of hollywood towards ft. lauderdale and west palm beach, be on alert here. this is moving at about 30 miles an hour to the east. and it could possibly have a tornado. no confirmed reports of that touching down but this is likely a rain-wrapped event. much likely a rain-wrapped event. not the size and scope of what happened in mississippi but the danger of southeast tornadoes is that the hilly terrain coupled with the fact that often they are wrapped in rain, hard to see. south floridians, keep an eye to the sky and look out. rain heavy with scattered thunderstorms. we do not expect severe weather as the storm rolls up the northeast seaboard. we are going to take a quick break. when we come back, this morning's top stories minutes away. including a man with a gun near air force one allegedly playing cop. what he is saying and whether the president was ever in any danger. damage control over birth control, what the british government is saying about an embarrassing memo about pope benedict brand condoms. those stories and more at the top of the hour. wow! that's a low price! i'm sorry. did you say something about a low price? wow! that's a low price! i know! [ male announcer ] staples. that was easy. and now, cheer presents: next time on "brighten bay"... who's the angel that saved sandy? and more importantly, how does he get his whites so bright? find out with cheer. surprisingly bright at a new lower price. to chart a greener path in the air... and in our factories. to find cleaner, more efficient ways to power flight. and harness our technology... for new energy solutions. around the globe, the people of boeing are working together, to build a better tomorrow. that's why we're here. ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. a fiery comeback at the box office. have you seen this yet, the 3-d animation, raking in an estimated $15 million, the number one spot. jennifer lopez debuted at number two followed by "the backup plan." >> you were on a date with your wife. >> we were and we had a great time. it was a good movie. tina fey. how can you go sflong. >> the big moneymakers seem to be the 3-d movies. >> kareen wynter tells us, experts say we are just now able to see 3-d's full potential. >> reporter: "avatar's" message is that the future could mean big buck when is it comes to 3-d. created and shot with 3-d technology, it is the highest grossing movie of all times, $400 million coming from 3-d screens alone in the u.s. so much money-making potential, hopes are high that this latest 3-d doesn't go bust. there is a movement under way to blaze this straight into the future. is it fair to call you a 3-d gu roo? >> yeah, but there is a bunch of 3-d gurus out there. >> reporter: buzz is the leading instructor at sony pictures brand new 3-d technology center where they are emerged in an intensive course on how to film in 3-d, a method much different from converting 2-d movies to 3-d. that drew mixed reviews where it is used in "clash of titans." >> reporter: does the audience see the difference? >> i think people are very vocal about the quality they say, both good and bad. >> reporter: and stay above the bar says the director, jack masset, who says his future depends ton. >> the language of 3-d is different than the language we have tloernd utilize in 2-d. with the great increase in 3-d, i don't want to be left behind. >> reporter: jeffrey cassin burg blasted the conversion process warning that it could turn audiences away. >> for the first time in well over a decade, we are seeing admissions go up and 3-d is the reason. if you give them something great, that's the thing everybody is being very protective of right now. this is a beautiful golden goose giving us golden eggs. >> reporter: in this golden age where 3-d movies have fired up the box office, industry leaders like buzz hayes say the future looks write. kareen wynter, culver city, california. good morning, everybody. it is monday, april 26th. i'm jim acosta in for john roberts. >> good to see you. >> good to see you. >> i'm kiran chetry. we have a lot of big stories. sadly, the search goes on in the wake of a deadly tornado sweeping through the southeast. at least 12 people were killed. they are still looking for survivors amid tons of debris. mississippi getting the worse of it. in a matter of minutes, we are going to talk more about what is happening in the hardest hit areas with more than 600 homes damaged. >> crews are hoping a robotic submarine can stop an oil leak off the coast of louisiana. 42000 gals a day spilling into the ocean, one mile beneath the rig that exploded and burned. the robot sub is attempting to activate a shutoff device at the wellhead known as a blowout preventer. the u.k. apologizing to the pope after a government note surfaced suggesting some pretty bizarre things for the pope to do when he visits in september. we are tracking the controversy from london this morning. the am fix blog is up and running. go to cnn.com/amfix. we will be reading your comments throughout the hour. help is pouring into the southeast after deadly tornadoes tore through seven states and all 12 people were killed. by far, the greatest destruction was in mississippi where a tornado left hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed and thousands without power. our ed lavandera is live in yazoo city, mississippi. there are some stunning accounts of survival this morning. >> reporter: you hear it over and over. this was a deadly storm here in mississippi. we're in yazoo city where four people were killed about 100 miles northeast of here. five people were killed in choctaw county. this was a church u can see the destruction that was left behind here. what's really telling is if you look just behind the church, look at the tree lines. these were massive, tall trees. 100-150 feet tall. they were clipped off at the top. you see this kind of destruction straight back that way toward the northeast for more than 150 miles. the latest information from the national weather service has this storm at 1.75 at its widest point. at times, reach willing winds of 175 miles an hour, incredibly powerful. when we have talked to people who have survived this in the craziest of situations, we have talked to a family in their car. their windows exploded. you heard that over and over again, that this storm seemed to have fallen on top of them and things exploded. we talked to a man by the name of run sullivan who owned a little grocery store. he and five other people were inside that store. they had seconds to react. it just fell on them and the walls shattered. >> they always talk about you hear the train. there was no train. there was a bomb. two customers were walking in the door, approximately five feet away from me when they opened the door, it hit and blew me back. we are just lucky to be alive. we are very thankful. >> what goes through your mind when something like this is happening? >> the only thing that went through my mind, two things. please don't let anything else fall on me and i hope my wife is okay. >> reporter: jim, his wife was okay, just a few feet away. everything turned out well there. about a mile away from where that sullivan's grocery store was, three young people died, a 13-year-old girl and her 9-year-old sister as well as a three-month-old baby girl. many people survived this storm feeling lucky to be arrived. there are also tales of great sadness across the state of mississippi. >> some difficult days ahead for the folks in mississippi. ed, thanks very much. we appreciate it. these severe storms are still forming down south. how bad might it get today? we will get the latest from rob at extreme weather center. we saw how these storms stuck around and stayed powerful and formed for so long. >> such a slow-moving system. the larger system was so slow to move across the eastern two-thirds of the united states that the storms just lasted that long with the strong jetstream. all the ingredients that came together across the southeast. still seeing severe weather across florida. want to show you that. we have a severe weather warning, a tornado warning in effect for broward county. one for palm county has been allowed to expire as these storms go across the everglades. i want to show you these pictures coming out of south carolina. we had rough weather there yesterday, not only saturday but sunday as well. this tornado forming near darling ton, south carolina where it was confirmed to touch down. did some damage to homes. there were a few injuries as well. south carolina getting hit very hard with this part of the system now. today, it will be rolling across parts of the northeast. as ed mentioned, the yazoo city tornado was now upgraded to an ef-4 with winds of 170 miles an hour. at one point, almost two miles wide. often wrapped in rain. so difficult to see. it must have been a frightening, frightening place to be as that storm was rolling through. jim, kiran, back up to you. >> rob marciano, thanks very much. appreciate that. a developing story this morning. an attempted suicide attack in what has become a new front in the war against al qaeda. officials in yemen say the british ambassador barely escaped an explosion. they believed the attacker was wearing an explosives belt. no others were injured. off the coast of louisiana, a mile beneath an oil rig that exploded and sank, crews are trying to stop a dangerous sfil. month are than 40,000 gals of fresh crude now gushing into the gulf of mexico. they are trying to activate a shutoff valve at the wellhead 5,000 feet beneath the ocean surface. >> this was catastrophic. if they don't get a handle on it and it continues to spew, tens of thousands of gals of product a day and winds fupush it inlan we could have some real challenges in the fishing community. >> reporter: if they can't stop the leak, they are going to drill a relief to cut off the flow. the new immigration law announced. the arizona democrat telling thousands of protesters at the capital that the white house should fight the law which president obama has called misguided. it requires arizona police officers to question people about their immigration status if they suspect a person may be in the country illegally. we are going to be breaking this down and talking more about the legal aspects of this highly charged situation. senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin is going to be joining us. president obama is calling on democrats to get focused. in a brand new video message to more than 13 million supporters to have signed up on his "organizing for america" website, the president cautioning that key parts of the agenda could be reversed if republicans take back the congress. >> it will be up to each of you to make sure that the young people, african-americans, latinos stand together once again. if you help us do that, if you help us make sure that first-time voters in 2008 make their voices heard again in november, then together we will deliver on the promise of change and hope and prosperity for generations to come. >> there is the president. the democratic national committee is expected to spend $50 million on mid-term election toss support their candidates and house and senate races. also new this morning, if you don't see an alien, you are like most of us. if you do see an alien, don't talk to that alien. that's the warning from the smartest man on our planet, stephen hawking. >> he says it is a mathematic certainty that there is other life somewhere out there in the galaxies. quoting. i imagine they might exist in massive ships having used up all receipt sources from their home planet. such advanced aliens would perhaps become know mads looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach. we have to look at ourself to see how life might develop into something we might not want to meet. one example he gave was christopher columbus, when he came to the new world, stephen hawking said, it didn't work out so well for the native americans. we could be in the same boat. >> i hope they are not in a boat coming towards us. that's 100 billion galaxies to choose from. the british government is apologizing to the pope for a government memo suggesting that he launch benedict brand condoms. we are going to talk about what happened next. you know, when i grow up, i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i'm going to work with kids. i want to fix up old houses. 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[ female announcer ] together we can discover the best of what's next at aarp.org. welcome back to the most news in the morning. 12 minutes past the hour. an armed man arrested at the asheville airport as president obama was leaving north carolina for west virginia yesterday. police say 23-year-old joseph mcveigh was impersonating a police officer. authorities stress that the president was never in any danger e has been charged with a misdemeanor. two illinois state lawmakers want national guard to patrol the streets of chicago. violent crime, they say, is out of control. just last week, seven people were killed in one night. chicago's police superintendent says his officers don't need any help. former front man and reality star, bret michaels, remains in critical condition this morning. he is in intensive care under 24-hour surveillance. he suffered from a brain hemorrhage according to his publicist e was rushed into the icu thursday after complaining o have a severe headache. he also had his appendix removed last week. the british government is now apologizing to pope benedict after an embarrassing memo leaked from the foreign office. basically, the equivalent of our state department. >> the memo suggested that during the pope's visit in september to the u.k., that he launch his own brand of condoms. it didn't stop there. our sasha harriman is tracking the controversy from our london bureau. >> reporter: hi, jim. hi, kiran. this can be seen as a joke that went somewhat awry, a brain storming session if you like that went wrong. basically, they were putting together some blue sky thinking ideas ahead of the papal visit in september. some ideas were come up with, weren't meant to be out in the public domain. this memo was leaked. the ideas were asking to open an abortion clinic, bless a gay marriage, launch benedict-brand condoms, none of that was going to go down well with the catholic church once that got out. they are still reeling from child abuse allegations. the pope just mentioned that, talked about it last week. the u.k. foreign office have publicly apologized to the papacy for this moem mo. they have said this is clearly a foolish document that donlt in any way reflect u.k. policy. they went on to say the individual responsible for the memo has been transferred to other duties. they very clearly wanted to draw a line underneath this whole issue, didn't want to cause any problems for the future office visit in september. the u.k. ambassador to the vatican, they met papal officials as well. it remains to be seen how long the fallout is going to last. back to you. >> thanks. >> coming up next, goldman sachs and the fortune it made betting against the housing market. christine romans is coming up next to break it down. commande. 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[ laughter ] ♪ a heated debate right now. i said, save it for air, you guys. >> we are talking about goldman sachs and the s.e.c. and the timing of the investigation and the congressman from california, he would like to see an investigation. >> everyone is saying, funny how the s.e.c. charges goldman sachs as fraud just as the white house is going for its big push on financial reform. the s.e.c. says there is no political reasons why we are doing this. we are an independent law enforcement body. the inspector general has confirmed that, in fact, it will, the inspector general, will look into the timing of the goldman case to see if there is anything untoward there. they will probe the timing of that lawsuit. the republicans have questioned the s.e.c.'s independence and imp impartiality. >> people at the administration told me they didn't know it was coming down the pipe. the timing, they are going to look into it. meanwhile, we are looking into all these e-mails, 20 million pages of e-mails. >> that's a lot of e-mails. >> first of all, i want to show you some of them from lloyd blankfein, the ceo of goldman sachs. they have a lot of different positions. first of all, from lloyd blankfein, betting on the mortgage mess. of course, we didn't dodge the mortgage mess. we lost money and then we made more than we lost because of shorts. although it is not over. so who knows how it will turn out ultimately. a lot of people zeroing in on this e-mail, looking sort of gloatinging about the shorts on the housing market, america got hurt and goldman, all they cared about was making money. on the downgrade of mortgage security from a goldman sachs manager. sounds like we made some serious money. again, all as this whole housing market is starting to crumble. goldman sachs, lots of different e-mails like this, by the way. goldman sachs responds pretty forcefully. this is all ahead of a hearing on tuesday. all of this was released over the weekend. goldman sachs, the u.s. senate subcommittee has cherry-picked just four e-mails from almost 20 million pages of documents and e-mails provided to it by goldman sachs. it is concerning. the subcommittee seems to have reached their conclusion before holding a hearing. >> they are giving some indication of what their stance is going to be. it doesn't team to be hat in hand. >> this has been the tone of goldman over the past year. they are there to make money. that's what they do and, in january, i asked an official at goldman, what are you guys going to do about your global reputation problem. they said, we don't have a reputation problem. hour clients are very happy with what we do. on the conference call last week, when they reported those great earnings, $3.5 million in earnings, an analyst said, how is your reputation hurting your business? as you can see from our earnings. our clients are sticking with us, so there is still in this client mode and don't get that the rest of the country sees e-mails like this, even if this is the attitude. the attitude is, we made money on some of these deals and that's smart and good. >> interesting in that goldman executives can't show up at this hearing and say, we just didn't see it coming, because they were making money because they saw it coming. >> it's interesting too because at the end of 2006 when their little alarm bells started going off, some people thought they were crazy. >> lots of executives on wall street and folks in the former administration saying, we didn't see this coming. that is not the posture we are seeing from goldman sachs. at least it sounds that way at this time. >> you guys have to continue this later. >> we are going to keep argue being this. let's move along. we're talking also about another big story today. the growing split in arizona over immigration. what do you think of the new immigration law? we are talking about whether or not it can stand the test. senior legal analyst, jeff toobin joins us to break it down. 22 minutes past the hour. look at all this stuff for coffee. oh there's tons. french presses, expresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it, though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort of amped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah. priority mail flat rate box shipping starts at $4.95, only from the postal service. hey bets, can i borrow a quarter? sure, still not dry? i'm trying to shrink them. i lost weight and now some clothes are too big. how did you do it? simple stuff. eating right and i switched to whole grain. whole grain... [ female announcer ] people who eat more whole grain tend to have a healthier body weight. multigrain cheerios has five whole grains and 110 calories per serving. multigrain cheerios. try new chocolate cheerios with a touch of delicious chocolate taste in every bite. you know, the guys who always do a super job. well, it is. just go to superpages.com®. and look for a business with the superguarantee® shield. you'll get the job done right, or we'll step in and help to make it right. so, protect yourself with a business backed by the superguarantee®. only at superpages.com®. and let the good guys come to the rescue. it is 26 minutes after the hour. first, an a.m. original, something you will only see here. everybody loves a bargain. i know you do. i certainly do. is it a good idea to shop for rock bottom prices when it comes to your medical care. >> a lot of people are being forced to that. a lot of waste in the health care system. costs are continuing to skyrocket. some americans are trying to find cheap surgery deals by heading overseas. elizabeth cohen introduced us to a man from indianapolis who is doing that. >> reporter: so godfrey davies, you are quite the bargain shopper. look at those coupons. you have had to do this not with just food. what other things do you bargain for besides apple sauce and pasta. >> the big ticket item i am confronted with is having nasal surgery. >> reporter: you went surgeon shopping, from place to place to find the cheapest price, because you don't have insurance. >> that is correct. >> reporter: how does one go surgeon shopping? can you show me? >> i can. it's quite an adventure. >> reporter: let's go have an adventure. this is the first place you went to to get a price quote. >> that's correct. >> reporter: you are retired and have no insurance. could you even pay that. >> i wish i had $34,000 sitting around. >> reporter: what was your next step? >> i thought, i'm going further. i am going to start surgeon shopping again. this is ridiculous. >> reporter: godfrey, this was your next stop, this surgeon's office. what would it cost the entire procedure to have it done by these folks? >> approximately $33,000. >> reporter: so only $1,000 less than the first place. >> that's correct. my shopping didn't do much for me really, did it? >> reporter: so you found that you basically could not afford to have your polups removed in indianapolis. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: you had to go out the box. >> i did, way outside the box for this. >> reporter: getting on the plane and the airfare surgery, what's that going to cost you? >> $6,000. >> reporter: give me a call. let me know how it goes. the best of luck. >> it's fascinating to see the lengths that people will go. what are we looking at when we figure out how different prices are, higher or lower than in the u.s.? >> if you thought there was a huge price difference there for godfrey's surgery for his nose, take a look at these procedures. the differences are really more incredible. for example, if you want to have heart bypass surgery in india, it will cost you $8,500. coast sta rica, $25,000. if you want it in the united states and you don't have insurance and you need to shell is it out yourself, you will be asked to pay $144,000. unbelievable. here is another example. a hysterectomy, thailand, $5,000. mexico, $6,675. if you are uninsured and you need a hysterectomy in this country, you will be asked to pay $15,000. for a lot of people, the choice is clear. the numbers kind of tell it all. >> is the quality of care as good in these other countries. should folks be taking that into consideration, elizabeth? >> oh, absolutely. that's the big issue. there is a group called the joint commission on accreditation that accredits hospitals here and has started to credit hospitals and services outside the united states. if you look on cnn health.com, we tell you how to access them and go there. it has gotten to the point where some u.s. insurance companies are offering overseas operations as an alternative to the people they ensure, because it is so much cheaper for everybody. >> when you are running through the prices, it reminds me of that credit card commercial where the final one is priceless. it is incredible to see how much is being charged in this country compared to other nations for procedures that a lot of people need to stay healthy and lead active lives. elizabeth cohen, thanks very much. >> even if you have insurance, it makes a difference, because he are still often paying 20% of the bill. with that 20%, you could have the whole surgery overseas in some cases. >> she is continuing to look into this. tomorrow, outrageous markups on your medical bill. one doctor build $863 for a pair of disposable foreceps. a massive cleanup effort is underway on the southeast. this has been the worst outbreak of violent weather so far this spring. in mississippi, at least continue people were killed. more than 600 homes were damaged. governor haley barbour in mississippi has declared his state of emergency in 17 counties. >> it may take all day to determine whether a robotic submarine can stop a spill in the gulf of mexico. 42000 gals are spilling a day where the rig exploded and sank last week. a robotic submarine is attempting to locate and activate a shutoff device at the wellhead nearly a mile beneath the ocean surface. president obama in west virginia yesterday remembering 29 workers who died in a mining disaster there earlier this month, promising to honor their memory by making conditions safer for miners moving forward. >> all that hard work, all that hardship, all the time spent underground, it was all for the families. it was all for you, for a car in the driveway, a roof overhead, for a chance to give their kids opportunities that they would never know and enjoy retirement with their spouses. it was all in the hopes of something better. so these miners lived as they died in pursuit of the american dream. >> the nation's top mine safety officials expected to testify on capitol hill when hearings get under way tomorrow. a new immigration law giving broad enforcement powers to local police is generating controversy across the country. it is a law in arizona now. many are getting involved. governor sharpton is challenging the law. thousands of protesters rallied outside the state capital in phoenix yesterday. it will lead to racial profiling of hispanics. it is essential to securing the border to mexico. senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin. good morning. >> good morning. >> we have gone through a lot of the pros and cons of the last several days of the new law. a lot of people are asking, is this constitutional? >> that's a hard question. i don't think anyone can answer that question in the abstract. a lot is going to depend on how the law is put into effect. the terms are really rather vague. it says the police shall arrest anyone or shall stop anyone who has a reasonable suspicion of being an illegal immigrant. what does that sneen whmean? what does it look like? governor brewer when she signed it into law said there was going to be training of law enforcement officers, so, it is not simply, he is hispanic, he must be an illegal immigrant. it is hard to know how they will identify people and until you know that, i don't think you can know whether it is constitutional or not. >> legally speaking, a lot of people have talked about the problem if a local police officer know that is someone is illegal or when they arrest them for a crime, they don't ask about the immigration status, because that's supposed to be in the federal jurisdiction, right? there has been questions whether law enforcement of a state or county can enforce a federal law? >> that will be another separate grounds for challenge. there aceis a doctrine known as preemption. it's a federal responsibility. classic example, being in the u.s. military. arizona cannot decide to invade mexico. that's a federal responsibility. immigration is traditionally one of those areas. it is traditionally federal. states have some role. the question of whether this law is simply preempted by federal law will be another question the courts are going to have to deal with. >> there is a political to this. it has been uncertain as to whether or not democrats would go forward with climate change legislation and put that first. now, it appears they are going to try to go for immigration reform. this issue in arizona has put this immigration debate right in the forefrant. it has put it right out there. >> what's especially interesting about the political dimension is democrats have seized on this as a way to motivate hispanic voters to go to the polls. look at president obama last week taking the very unusual step of denouncing a state law. you almost never hear a president do that. harry reid has turned the senate schedule upside down to move climate change to the back of the line, move immigration to the front. is that to generate support in nevada where there are a lot of his responsible hispanic voters. >> the president has said openly he disagrees with. that to the democrats justifies putting immigration reform in the lead. climate change and immigration both have been going nowhere fast in the the senate. it is hard to know which one was going more slowly. it did look like climate change was going to be next in line after this financial regulation fight. now, it looks like immigration. i don't know if they will be able to get the 60 votes they need. certainly, the democrats think this is a political winner for them. >> i want to ask you also some of the questions legally speaking, sort of a lightning round, if you will. is stopping someone and asking for their immigration status or their i.d. or green card or whatever it may be inherently racial profiling? >> not necessarily. it depends on what the circumstances are. >> if you see a person who looks mexican walking down the street and that's the only reason you have to stop them is because they look mexican, and you say, can i just make sure you are a citizen of this country, is that racial profile sng. >> that would probably be seen as racial profiling. if there us a line of people who have traditionally gone to a certain spot to get picked up as day laborers and all have been illegal immigrants, that may not be seen as racial profiling. >> this is what the governor, jan brewer, said. she said, my signature today represents my steadfast support for enforcing the law against illegal immigration and racial profiling. critics say, how could you say that if your only going to pull over people that don't look like they come from the u.s.? >> that's the question. how do you identify an illegal immigrant by looking at him or her other than simply looking at the color of their skin? the governor says we are going to train the police to do it. we'll see whether she can. >> there are generations of mexican-americans that live in southern california, places like arizona, who say, we didn't cross the border. the border crossed us. you are going to have a lot of hispanic groups and a lot of folks in that community who are going to be outraged with this law until something is done about it. think about what it means. >> you have to carry your papers with you. suppose someone came up to me and said, prove you are an american citizen. i couldn't do it. i have a driver's license but i don't have a passport. >> we are asking a certain segment of our population to do that. >> we have had a fiery debate about it on the web and on our blog. i wanted to ask you about that. one of the people that wrote into our blog says if you immigrate here legally, your assigned documentation. all this law says is carry the documentation in the event there is a question of your status. he goes on to say, i carry my driver's license, social security card and insurance cards at all times. i have never felt the need to take offense when asked to produce them. the argument here is what's the big deal? >> if you are expected to carry this material anyway, what's the problem of asking you for it. it depends on what your perspective is towards law enforcement. is the attitude, well, if you have nothing to fear, don't worry if you are going to be asked or do we feel that law enforcement shouldn't be asking blind questions of random people just because, perhaps, of the color of their skin? a lot is going to tend on the application of the law. >> jeffrey toobin, thanks for talking about this this morning. i have a feeling we are going to be talking about this for a while. >> i hope so. >> jeffrey, thanks. what's hot on our blog. you bet immigration is. still time to join the conversation at cnn.com/amfix quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. ♪ jimmy meets world and starbucks sandwiches. >> i can eat a lot. let me tell you. >> we have a lot of comments. a lot of people weigh ng about the arizona law. >> let's take a look at a couple of comments while we have the time. here is one. of course, this is from durante reed. of course, there will be racial profiling. that's because there is only one race illegally crossing the border at such a rapid speed. >> another commenter wrote, arizona had to do something to curb the cost of crime caused by illegal immigrants. something had to be done. >> we have a couple people write ng about the situation with health ca health care costs and how huge they are. the cost of health care is outrageous. it's possible. surgeries overseas come with their own problems. >> that didn't happen to the gentlemen that elizabeth cohen profiled. everything turned out nicely and he saved a bundle. that is going to get people talking. i didn't even think that one could actually go overseas and do ta thing. elizabeth cohen just opened a whole new world. >> they sometimes talk about these plastic surgery vacations where people go to brazil and other places and have fun in the sun and get some work done. >> you can join the conversation. cnn.com/amfix. >> there is a lot more coming up in the last 15 minutes of american morning. we want to check in on the tornadoes that we saw in the southeast, severe thunderstorms in the south. it is raining in the northeast as well. a lot for rob marciano to talk about. he is coming up next. i needed more customers, so i got my nephew to build a website. i hired someone to make my website... five months ago. we are building a website by ourselves. announcer: there's an easier way. create your own small-business site with intuit websites. just choose a style that fits your business and customize, publish and get found in three easy steps. sweet. all from just $4.99 a month, get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. [ male announcer ] competition... it pushes us to work harder. to be better. to win. but sometimes even rivals realize they share a common goal. america's beverage companies have removed full-calorie soft drinks from schools, reducing beverage calories by 88%. together with schools, we're helping kids make more balanced choices every day. ♪ my subaru saved my life. i won't ever forget that. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. ♪ things are looking up in florida. you are looking at a live picture of tampa, florida. sunny and 70 degrees right now. later today, partly cloudy and 82. earlier this morning, we were looking at a shot of miami and it was rainy and cloudy. being gulf side, a little bit better this morning. >> there you go. that's a better place to be if you are in the great state of florida this morning. let's check in with mr. rob marciano. when i look at your weather graphics, all of florida looks pretty bad. >> this map paints a little more broad brush. this system moves so slowly across the u.s. it took a week to get from the west coast to the east coast and we are not done with it yet. the fact it moved slowly is one of the reasons the storms were so long-lived, a tail end. tampa, a beauty shot. ft. meyers, down in naples, across alligator alley across ft. lauderdale, not so pretty. we had severe weather earlier this morning. doppler radar scope. tornado warning issued earlier for broward and falk counties has been allowed to ex peer. thunder and lightning, gusty winds and heavy rain. rain gentle across parts of the area. a few scattered thunderstorms and enough rain and wind to slow down airport travel. i have some of the latest for you. a quick shop of abbie sunderland, a 16-year-old southern california girl trying to sail around the world nonstop. the autopilot broke on her rig and she had to stop in cape town for repairs. we have a 16-year-old climbing mt. everest with his homework and this is one of two 16-year-old girls trying to sail around the world unassisted nonstop. i feel like a big loser when i look at these kids and what they are doing at the age of 16. unbelievable stuff. >> these kids today, i tell ya. >> you have a lot of gumption and not a lot of fear. that's the time to get things like that done. when you get older, you think about all the things that could go wrong. >> exactly. >> thanks, rob. >> all right, guys. well, you know, there is a little bit of a barn burner of a race down in florida. >> it has been turning. florida waiting to see whether their governor, charlie crist, will stay a republican or change to an independent to survive the primary e was once the star and now he is fighting for his political life. 50 minutes past the hour. take up something more strenuous. you have different needs and desires. - i'm reading a book. - what's a book? so we tailor plans for individuals, featuring a range of integrated solutions. you at your usual restaurant? son: maybe. see you tomorrow. stairs? elevator. to see how our multi-faceted approach... can benefit your multi-generational wealth, look ahead with us at northerntrust.com. 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[ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum ta tum tum tums ♪ >> the anthem for this show. >> who needs sleep, because you are never going to get it. 50 minutes past the hour. welcome back. florida governor, charlie crist has until the end of this week to drop the republican party and run as an independent. >> time is not on his side and neither are gop leaders who are deciding to pull their support from a one-time party support. john zarrella is live. dick cheney doesn't even think charlie crist belongs in the party anymore. charlie crist has an idea or maybe not. >> reporter: you know, it really is shocking when you think about it, that just a couple of years ago, charlie crist was the darling of the republican party and now the republican party doesn't want him running for u.s. senate. what does charlie crist do? if you are charlie crist, you think about running as an independent. 2008, charlie crist is on top of the world. the republican governor of florida, crist's approval rating, near 70%. he was thought to be on john mccain's vice presidential short list. >> reporter: if you were asked, what would you say? >> well, i've got to continue to work hard as the governor of florida and i haven't been asked. so it is really kind of moot at this point. >> reporter: incredibly, crist's political future may soon be a moot point. so what happened? how did it all blow up? crist decided to run for florida's vacant senate seat e was a shoo-in. now, polls show he wouldn't make it out of his own party's primary. down more than 20% to conservative marco rubio, former state house speaker. >> ultimately, he made the decision he wanted as many federal dollars as he could get for the state even if it meant embracing obama, literally and figure rat tifl. >> reporter: the final straw, when he vetoed a republican-backed education bill. party leaders urged him to get out of the race. the people's governor, as he likes to be called, said, appropriately- >> i think i'll take the advice of people in florida, instead of the advice of people in washington. that advice has crist at least thinking about running as an independent. >> i want to make sure as best i can, i get it right. >> reporter: there is one problem, money. where will it come from with republicans abandoning him like he has the plague. bob is a former county party chairman and long-time crist friend. >> i know personally of folks that are talking about raising very large sums of money for charlie. they are poised to move. millions, whacker says but it is all contingent on one thing. >> if he were to leave the republican party, i would have to think long and hard. political observers think he might win over enough democrats and moderate republicans to make a three-way general election interesting. >> look, i went against my party's wishes for the good of the state. i brought in money we needed here in florida. that's a heck of a sales pitch. >> the people's governor just might become the people's senator. >> so now governor crist has a couple of things to weigh. can he win the election and can he raise enough money? those are the things he will be trying to figure out before the week is up and before his decision is made. kiran, jim? >> he is keeping us all in suspense. john zarrella, live in florida. >> talking about the money issue, how did joe lieberman imagine to get a lot of money when he decided to make a change and become independent? >> lieberman, surprisingly was able to raise funds. he had a lot of backers after all those years in the senate. charlie crist has not been in the senate. he should have an okay time raising funds. he has $8 million in the bank so far. there are folks saying he might be all right in that department. >> he withal see by the end of the week either way. >> stick with us. we will be back in a few minutes. it's 57 minutes after the hour. 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