Transcripts For CNN American Morning 20100506

>> all of this raising questions this morning, how much training, if any, did he receive in his native pakistan or was he just a wannabe. our susan candiotti has been following it since day bun she joins us. on this friday that the car was found in times square, what exactly did he do? >> all of this information comes from a lawn enforcement source. remember, he's talking to investigators, that's how we're finding this stuff out. first of all, he drove his white isuzu from connecticut, down to times square to kind of look the place over and then he parked the vehicle several blocks away. then he gets back on a train and goes back to connecticut. that's the dry run. >> he's got the isuzu parked in new york city, what happens after that? how does the nissan pathfinder get there? >> right. now, he's back home. he's got allegedly the bomb together. drives down from connecticut southbound on fdr drive along the east river. he pauses around 49th street, reaches in the rear compartment of the path find tore set the wheels in motion, activate what he had in the back seat. then he continues down towards times square. they said he randomly drove the street, 45th street, that's what he says. to make the corner. there was a spot there. he pulls over, he gets out of the car, the smoke starts to fill up then he goes uh-oh, he realizes that he left the car keys, the white isuzu, he left them in the pathfinder. he realizes he can't go back. he runs to the train station. about a half hour later, there's a time stamp on the train ticket that they found. he took the 7:00 train back to connecticut. >> whatever happened to the isuzu that was supposed to be his getaway car. well, it turns that when he got back to connecticut, he was able to get himself back to the white isuzu because he wound up driving that car to jfk, that was his getaway car. but we're also finding out, police have found a new surveillance video of him after they found that smoky car. they said he's in shubert alley and he's wearing a white baseball cap. maybe we'll get a picture of that today. >> there are other pictures that surfaced with him as well in times square with family and friends. >> that's right. maybe as far back about a year, two years ago. what an amazing thing to see him posed right there in times square, very close to where he wound up driving that vehicle. >> exactly. you talk about the police surveillance video. there was a lot made of the man removing his shirt. that turned out to be a lead that went nowhere, right? >> exactly. they're still looking at video. they still want to trace, where did the car go, to get back in the city. he apparently on all counts is still talking to investigators right now. amazing. >> susan candiotti this morning. thanks so much. there's also new information that could establish a link between faisal shahzad and the taliban. cnn is learning in july of 2009, shahzad met with one or two terrorism leaders in pakistan. nic robertson joins us from karachi. there's increasing belief that there's some sort of loose association between shahzad and the taliban. what have you found there? >> reporter: well, there certainly seems to be evidence supporting that now. we've heard from a senior pakistani government official who said he was picked up here in karachi and driven about 300, 400 miles to the border region with afghanistan which is where he was taken to, one or more taliban leaders. even government officials here now saying there is this link with the taliban. but we have heard as well from taliban spokesman here saying, yes, we applaud what he did in new york. but, no, we didn't give him any training. so you've got two versions of events. the government saying one thing. the taliban saying the other. what we have learned about the man who took him from karachi to meet with taliban leaders is someone who has jihadism movement ties. >> is there anything so far from where you are, nic, to confirm that he might have received some sort of bomb training in north waziristan? >> reporter: well, that's where he was going to meet the taliban leaders. i think from what we know from the police investigation so far, focusing the people that they've arrested have all been arrested here in karachi. the police are working out from his last visit to pakistan which was here in karachi in july of last year. he was here just two weeks before he took that trip further north to waziristan. the police here at least appear to be working outwards from karachi. so far, they're not saying that they have this positive link that he got training from the taliban. however, the footsteps he's walked are very similar to the footsteps that others have worked before. the jihadist group, the fellow who gave him a lift to meet the taliban leaders, this group as well associated with those five men from virginia who then traveled to pakistan looking to tie up with jihadists. so this group has a track record of having connections with people who want to become terrorists. john. >> a lot of leads there in pakistan. nic robertson in karachi, thanks. coming up in a little more than 30 minutes we're going to get the latest on the investigation here in the united states when we talk to congressman thomas hookster. police say they u-haul truck was abandoned on the triborough bridge. a toll booth operator who approached the truck reported a strong odor of gasoline. the heavily traveled bridge was closed briefly while the bomb squad examined the vehicle. they found no explosives and then the bridge was reopened. witnesses told police they saw the driver abandon the truck about 1,000 feet from the toll booth and then run off. also this morning, french investigators are closing in on the so-called black boxes on that air france jet from last july. a spokesman for the french ministry says new computers analyzing data from a submarine last year have narrowed the search area to about three miles. air france crashed into the atlantic ocean killing all 228 beam on board. another nicebook glitch. a bug made some users' private messages visible to all of their facebook friends. the site temporarily shut down the chat for about an hour. the problem was fixed that lets you see how your own profile looks to other people. the waters to recede in much of nashville are still under water after days of flooding. country star kenny chesney is one of the many victims. he thought his damage of his home. the floodwaters have also cost other stars millions of dollars in damaged gear. reynolds wolf looks at the extreme weather across the country. you see the picture, reynolds. you can understand how much rain fell in such a short period of time will. >> yes, it's mind-boggling. they had a month's worth of rain that fell in 24 hours. they will be getting a break in terms of hours, however, you have the water that has to recede. right now, speaking of water, we've got a strong line in parts of the northeast and the ohio valley. to the maps, you can see it plain as day. north of boston parts of mid-state and new york. for pittsburgh, the rain is going to come to an end for philadelphia, new york and boston, the rain is on the way. as we go out wet west, you're going to see heavy snow, some places a foot of snow in parts of the central rockies and take a look, possibly big storms in the midwest. guys to mention on the gulf of mexico where they're work on harnessing the spills, 2 to 3 feet can be expected today and tomorrow. let's send it back to you. >> reynolds wolf, thanks so much. still 0 come on the most news in the morning, it's made up of concrete steel, it's four stories tall. how officials hope the structure that's on the barj will help control the oil spill. hey, ask our doctor about garlique, okay? garlique's clinically proven ingredient maintains healthy cholesterol naturally. eat right. exercise. garlique. ♪ coming up now at 13 minutes after the hour, it's four stories high, weighs 100 tons, right now in louisiana, everyone is hoping it's their new superdome. >> very true. we're talking about this giant experimental containment well that's on the way to the gulf. british petroleum is planning to lower the device to capture the oil. >> david mattingly in venice, louisiana this morning, kiran mentioned the word, this really is a bold experiment to try to staunch the flow of oil? >> reporter: that's absolutely true. this is a one of a kind device for a one of a kind job. if this device doesn't work, if somehow this operation fails and it's damaged in its placement, then they don't have a backup. this has to work, or else they don't have anything ready to go to try again to stop this flow of oil into the gulf of mexico. they've never, ever tried to do something like this at this kind of depth. we're looking at a leak that is almost a mile down on the ocean floor. they've tried this technique with smaller devices with smaller leaks in shallower water, but never something this deep, john. >> how are they going to do it? if anything goes right, how is it supposed to work? >> reporter: if everything goes right. we're actually in the easy part of the operation right now, transporting that device out to the location which is about 50 miles from where i'm standing out in the gulf of mexico. but the way this is supposed to work, they will lower it from a barge. they will just simply very slowly lower it down to the ocean floor. now, the barge is going to be constantly adjusting its location using a gps stabilizer to make sure it stays in the exact spot that it needs to be in. they've located the exact spot where it's supposed to land. and that barge is going to be constantly stabilizing to lower this device right where it needs to go. this, again, is a very delicate operation. they're going to take a couple days possibly to get it all the way down to the bottom. again, they don't have a backup. this is the only device that they have that's capable of doing this. this say one of a kind job, never, ever tried before. >> so, david, this i take it is a temporary fix, it's just to stop the oil from spewing out. long-term, what do they plan to do? >> reporter: that's right. this is going to go over the largest of the leaks. they've got two leaks they have to cap still. this is go going over the largest of those leaks. it's going to funnel that oil to a containment vessel on the surface. it's going to contain 80% to 85% of the oil. so the leak will not be completely stopped once it gets down there. beyond that, the next plan that they've discussed publicly is to drill another well where they will pump concrete into this leaking well and finally seal it off for good. >> right. and that process hasn't started yet? or it has started yet? >> reporter: that drilling process has not started yet. they have to get these containment facilities into place over these two leaks before they're going to try the drilling. the drilling could take months. but this process here, they're going to try and trap this oil, they hope to have that done, well, in a couple days, have that facility on top of that main leak. and then in operation shortly after that. >> david magaziningly for us in venice, louisiana, monitoring all the developments, with them trying to cut flow of oil there on the sea. david, thanks. coming up on the most news in the morning, violence erupts in greece as that country faces financial problems. why americans should be concerned. christine romans is here. >> that's right, what does it mean for a fragile economy in the united states? i'll have that for you after the break. at quicken loans, we're obsessed with finding a better way... for you to get a home loan. we've got a way for you to check the status of your loan online. securely, any time, anywhere. our e signature technology lets you sign... your documents from home, at your convenience. we've helped over three-quarters of a million families... refinance or purchase their home. it's how we've done things at quicken loans for 25 years now. - that's why i love... - i love... i love being a home loan expert. ♪ 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. 19 minutes past the hour right now. to "minding your business," general motors recalling 162,000 hummer shchlt vs. they're doing it to fix a faulty hood vent. from 2010 to 2003 midsize h-2 hummers. gm says a clip that holds the large plastic flip on the hoods could fail and those hoods could fly off the vehicle possibly hitting another car. if you own one of those hummers involved you'll be getting a letter in the mail. >> the last three people who own hummers. protesting greece over severe cuts. three people died when demonstrators set fire to a bank in athens. the new government cutback slashed salaries and pensions for civil servants while raising taxes at the same time. they're being proposed agency conditions for an international bailout that greece needs to stay afloat. christine romans is "minding your business" with more of what's going on in greece. this is beginning to send shock waves through europe and concerns to other countries, right? >> that's right. let's talk, john and kiran, specifically, why the people are rioting in the streets of greece. greece has a problem with its sovereign debt. it's budget deficit is 13.6% of the size of its economy. that's much too big. the imf and e.u. say if they're bailed out they got to get that in line. that $146 billion bailout would help the country but big austerity cuts. it means the people of greece are going to live differently and people are rioting. why do we care about this beyond greece, a country that is one-fifth of size of california, relatively small? we're concerned about the p.i.g.s. po portugal, ireland and greece. it's a $1.2 trillion economy, it starts to matter when you other countries falling down, too. why could this potentially be our worry? it could be a banking crisis in europe, this what they're watching. will that hurt u.s. banks? no sign of that yet but our banks are pretty fragile, right? because they're exposed to an american consumer that is still in trouble. the weak euro. as the euro is weaker that means the dollar is stronger. and it's harder to export places, or more expensive, rather, to export to these places. i believe the dollar euro is 1.27. the euro has been weakening. this could be a threat overall to the global recovery. in 1987, had you an asian crisis that seemed to be contained in the beginning and then it spread and spread and hurt the rest of the world. that, john and kiran, is why we're watching what's happening in greece beyond the streets, beyond the pain and anger of the greek people, watching to see how this spreads and what it could mean for a very fragile recovery in the united states. >> a real mess. thanks very much. >> you're welcome. still to come on the most news in the morning, the immigration debate in arizona is now spilling over into many other places, including the sports arena. we'll explain. thing as taking a chance? 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. ♪ achieve what's ahead of you. i can't wait to just sit by the pool and relax. yea. [loud music playing and yelling] with chase sapphire you always get an expert advisor immediately. man: chase sapphire, this is brian. hi, brian. we're on vacation and would love to change hotels. you call. we answer. [faint music playing] problem solved. is the music too loud? ♪ ♪ go to chase.com/sapphire. enough plastic water bottles to stretch around the earth over 190 times. each brita filter can take up to 300 of those bottles out of the equation. tonight, to protest arizona's new immigration law the phoenix suns are wearing jersey that say "los suns." they're wearing jerseys made in china modeled are their best player steve nash. that is america! >> the whole bottle of wax in a nutshell there. 24 minutes after the hour. the world of politics colliding with the world of sports with the arizona immigration law. there are protests at the arizona diamondbacks game. and the phoenix suns took to the hard court wearing jerseys that say "los suns" to show solidarity. >> and billageardson talking about it. on espn. >> i know that a lot of you would rather be watching tonight's game, the spurs against los suns from phoenix. the day reminds us that america's diversity is america's strength. that's why i spoke out against the recently passed law in arizona. >> so the president getting in on it, he made those comments during the cinco demaio commemorations yesterday. protests hitting people hard and also making their way on to the courts. carol costello is here with "the gut check" even the hard court couldn't avoid the divisive political debate in spite of what happened in arizona. >> the divisive debate has integrated in our pop life, you hear it on television, on soap operas, in sports. the question, to basketball, baseball, any sport for that matter, get involved in politics? >> defending, 1:21 to play. >> reporter: with the suns in protest of arizona's enough new immigration law. their look was met with both support and protests. hundreds of people actually protested outside. but they were upset not at the phoenix suns, but the immigration law itself. look how many people. this was a march that went past where the suns played to city hall in phoenix. the suns guard, you know, the guy from canada, he did not -- steve nash said wearing the "los suns" uniform was important and so was jumping into the political fray. >> you know, we have a lot of love for our latino fans. we have latino players on both teams. unfortunately, that's the group that seems targeted by this bill. you know, it's a shame. >> he had a good game last night. of course, the suns won. not all fans were happy with nash and the suns' political stance. on the team's facebook page there are plenty of comments like this one from ryan, he said, sports are no place for politics. it sends suns fans into pickering factions not a good move. it allows police officers to ask for papers proving legal residencies. critics say it will lead to racial profiling. in case you're wondering, according to the phoenix business journal, arizona's baseball team is not taking a political stance, despite of the fact that ken kendrick, a republican, publicly opposes the law. some wish all of baseball would take a stand. new york congressman jose soriano wants them to pull major league baseball out of there in 2011. >> you can't on one hand talk about the diversity in baseball and celebrate it and then say you can discriminate against technically 40% of the organized players in baseball and then show up in a state where they're not welcome in so many ways. >> no comment from major league baseball, but sources tell me eventually commissioner bud selig will say something about this. but the question this morning is should he? what do you think, should sports teams jump into politics? we want to know what you think this morning so send your comments into our blog cnn.com/amfix. the question has been out tlont website, john and kiran, people are responding. they have very strong feelings about this. >> they do. one person is with solidarity with with the suns, the other said they should be banished as an nba team. >> there is precedence, remember back in the day, jfk day, they didn't want to celebrate it, arizona pulled the super bowl out of arizona because of this. of course, now arizona recognizes martin luther king day. so there is precedence for sports teams and sports organizations getting involved in politics. >> it's so funny, people are plugging saying, why don't they just go for it all and say "los sol" instead of "los suns." right? there's always another game. >> did you see the people in the stands wearing sombreros. >> cinco demaio. >> maybe they were drinking too many margaritas. >> thankings, carol. terror failed, he forgot the keys. new information this morning about the accused times square bomber. authorities say he made a dry run the day before. planted a getaway car in the city and then left the keys to it with the bomb that didn't go off. and also, we're following the latest in the aftermath in the flooding in nashville. the waters are starting to recede. the people across tennessee are beginning to assess the damage. what you're actually looking at right now, though is, a drill pipe, this enormous container box on a barge right now heading to a gushing oil well in the gulf of mexico. they've never attempted to do this before. but they're trying to use it to contain the oil and then siphon it off, collecting as much as 85% of the oil spewing out of that well, if, and that's a big if, it's successful. and right now, voters in the uk are deciding the fate of prime minister gordon brown and his labor party. labor has been in party for the past 15 years. the latest polls are giving edge to david cameron and the conservative party. because the party has several smaller parties, there's a good chance of a hung parliament where no one wins the majority. and to the flooding takes place in tennessee, people beginning to assess the damage as the floodwaters start to recede. they got an unprecedented amount of rain, 17 inches in two days. it decimated the city. our martin savidge is there with the aftermath. they're saying this damage could top more than $1 billion. how are people dealing as they begin to seat damage? >> reporter: good morning, kiran. the sound that you hear in the background is a constant drone. that is the sound of generators and sump pumps. they've been going nonstop in nashville. what they're essentially trying to do is remove the cumberland river in many of the basements. it's the beginning of the busy tourist season. if 95 weeks you've got the cma music festival which normally brings in $22 million alone for this city. but for fans, it isn't about the business, nashville is the mecca for their music. to understand what country music means to nashville and the millions who love it, we learn to somebody who knows it. country performer, jo dee messina has had nine million singles albums. the first thing she did was "get me on stage". >> you can speak in a natural voice here and the person in the last row can hear it like they're standing in front of you. >> reporter: and none of this was flooded or damaged? >> right. >> reporter: in a city that loves all music, that was a relief. then she took me to a real disaster, the basement, 18 feet drowning instruments. somewhere down there are two steinways? >> yes, two steinways, concert steinways. >> reporter: with the electricity out, the humidity and smell are overwhelming. she doesn't just know music, with five feet of water in heir own basement, she also has a feel for what many in nashville are going through. i think people think that some of you like that doesn't happen to people like. you. >> it happens. >> reporter: she takes me to another place that flooded. the country music hall of fame where everything country lives. or did. rumors were a lot have been lost. and judging by the sidewalk, it didn't look good. in the basement, the theater had flooded to the third row. upstairs, we found caroline tate and her team working in the dark. they were surrounded by what could only be called the crown jewels of country music which they had guarded and cared through all through the flood. it may not have looked pretty or organized, but it was all there, including a squirrel scum tour belonging to hank williams. music awards, even vince gill's very first music guitar. and she even found new meaning in an old song. nice acoustics here, too. but i guess you'd expect that here, wouldn't you? >> yes. >> reporter: do you think that has meaning here at a time like this? >> it all has meaning. >> reporter: and the circle is unbroken, the good news for country fans is that the country music hall of fame will reopen this weekend. as far as that other i kaurngs the grand ole opry house, the news not so good. we're still trying to get in. the flooding is said to be extensive. when we do, we'll bring it to you, kiran. >> wow, a lot of rebuilding this morning for sure. thank you. all right, we're going to take a quick break and "american morning" will be right back. ♪ 39 minutes after the hour. new picture emerging this morning of a fumbling and confused times square bombing suspect. but there are reports this morning saying american investigators say there may indeed be a link between him and the taliban in pakistan. not the taliban that we're fighting in afghanistan. it could be a game-changer as well if they're able to hit the homeland. joining us from capitol hill hill is congressman peter hoekstra. he's the leading member. what have you heard between the potential lunk between faisal shahzad and the taliban? >> well, we won't get our first official briefing until later today. from a number of other sources, i'm gleaning the information that there probably is a strong link between this individual and the taliban in pakistan. you're absolutely right, if this is accurate, it would be a game-changer. >> if indeed there is that link, this would be at least potentially the third time that there's been been a nexus between a planned attack in the united states and pakistan. if that is found to be true, what needs to be done? >> what we really need to do at that point in time, john, we then have two organizations that are foge cuffed on attacking the american homeland, bkd on the irarabian peninsula, and then the taliban in pakistan. we need to make sure that the intelligence community has every tool in its tool box to go after what we call these one-ops. smaller attacks in the united states. these are very, very difficult to detect. they are going to be very, very hard to stop. word is, we're going to get much more aggressive and perhaps more creative in terms of how we gather intelligence to find the plots and find individuals to stop them. >> congressman, much of the narrative has surrounded the speed at which investigators identified who this suspect was, and managed to get him in custody about 53 hours after the perpetrated attempt in times square. but at the same time, he managed to get that suv into times square, loaded with an explosive device. what about the strategy to prevent terrorism. how are you feeling about that this morning? >> obviously, we saw what happened at foote hood, what we saw on christmas day and times square, the strategy of quick law enforcement. i give total credit to the new york police department, the fbi, for being so good after the fact but just think if the guy in times square were a suicide bomber hand decided to stay in the suv and saw that something was going on and started messing with the wires and these types of things and had an explosion. i don't thing we're all that far away from having suicide bombers cupping into the united states. at which point in time, prosecution, law enforcement after the fact really doesn't make any difference at all. the focus has to be on the front end, stopping these things, not law enforcement. >> you know, when you take this together with the christmas day attempt, neither one of the explosive devices detonated. have we just gotten lucky here? >> that would be my perspective. and i'm sure the taliban, and i'm sure that al qaeda on the arabian peninsula. they're saying, what went wrong? were there problems with the materials? problems with the individuals? do they need more training? you can bet they're evaluating each of these incidents. they're going through and correcting them, just like we should be in terms of, you know, analyzing the procedures that we are using to keep america safe. like i said, this is very, very hard. we got to be at the top of our game to be able to stop these things. right now, i think we need to expand the tools that we are using to find these folks and to stop them. >> in terms of expanding tools, too, there's an idea to expand the tools that investigators have when it comes to terrorism after the fact. senator lieberman is going to be introducing a measure today that would strip any terror suspect of their american citizenship. is that something that you would sign on to? >> senator lieberman and i, we've talked about this, we're going to take a close look at that legislation to see exactly what options it opens up for us in terms of investigating. sure, i think that this is something that we should consider. you know, this guy was a naturalized citizen. he pledged loyalty to the united states. he then went out and tried to, you know, perhaps kill hundreds of americans in one day. he is broken that oath to the united states. and we ought to clearly evaluate whether we should strip him of his citizenship. and what that would mean in terms of providing us with, you know, more opportunities to interrogate and investigate exactly what he did. >> and there's a controversy and discussion over whether or not he should have been read his miranda rights when he was arrested. where do you come down on that? >> i mean, i don't know all the specifics in this case. it appears theys were fully cooperating. they may have made the right call. i do know as they went through this process, they've really improved the coordination between the intelligence community. the law enforcement community, to make sure they were focused on intelligence. i think there's more indications this time around, versus what happened on christmas day. they got this more right than wrong. >> congressman hoekstra, always nice to catch up with you. >> thanks. they're attempting a never before tried fix for the gulf of mexico with a 100-ton dome over the leak. will the weather allow for that risky mission? plus, the aftermath in tennessee. we're watching the weather. reynolds wolf have will the weather right after the break. i just told him, do your best. build a car you're proud of. ♪ of course, winning's not bad either. the subaru forester. the most award-winning small suv. isn't it nice when honest virtues win ? ♪ a shot this morning, new york city, where it's 60 degrees. mostly sunny right now. a little bit later, it's going up to a sfie of 77. there could be rain and scattered thunderstorms possibly in the afternoon. >> it's time for the "a.m. house call." if you're using over-the-counter drugs for headaches pills like naproxen and others it could make the situation worse. doctors say if you exceed the recommended dose that could trigger so-called rebound headaches. we'll get more on this with our dr. sanjay gupta who has more on this with his own headaches. and too much sleep could be as bad as not enough. we know if you sleep less than six hours. it's not considered a good thing. in cases it's linked to diabetes. also sleeping more than nine hours also ups your chances of dying early. the authors of the study say sleeping too much could be a sign of some underlying illness or depression. they say the best bet is to get between seven and eight hours a night if you can. that's a pipe dream for most of us. >> i'm going to die this afternoon of diabetes. before you head out to work today, you might want to take note, forbes.com published a list of phrases that you should remove from your office vocabulary because they could make you sound noncommittal. topping the list, the word "try." remember "star wars," yoda, "there is no try." and also "maybe," i don't know, how about "i'll get back to you, if, but, yes, i don't know, i'll get back to you, if, yes, but, i guess, we'll see." >> there you go. >> my favorite weenie phrase is "i don't disagree with you." >> i cannot stand that one either. 50 minutes past the hour. let's get a check of this morning's weather. reynolds wolf in the weather center. you certainly have a lot to talk about, watching the waters off the gulf coast as well. as they're going to attempt, as you know, a very experimental operation to try to lower that dome down to the seafloor. >> absolutely. in a situation like that, you have to have picture-perfect situations throughout, 2 to 3-foot swells so it should be just fine for them but we're talking about a risky endeavor. one risky endeavor is the situation with the cumberland river in tennessee. good news, 41.1 feet but expected to drop within 12 hours, well below flood stage and action stage which means the water in the river is going to drop. the cleanup is we're looking at about $1 billion cleanup. unbelievable. something that should be working favorably for nashville is the forecast. breezy conditions on friday. possibly a few stray showers. but more rain into early next week. but even then, the rain is nothing in the magnitude of what we've seen in the last week or so of parts of nashville. what you can expect, as you're traveling out and about, look for potential in delays in spots like kansas city, it's going to be a thunder day four. breezy conditions in denver. then the central rockies, the drivers might have a tough time. some places could get up to 1 foot of snow. and yes, the situation in parts of the northern rockies. california looks pretty nice. beautiful in texas. breezy and warm in parts of florida. all your major airports in boston, new york and possibly d.c. that's the forecast. >> do you have a favorite wimpy office phrase, reynolds? >> basically, what i go with is your yoda impression. forget about everything else. the thought process stopped right there. >> you should stick with shrek. that's your best one so far. and shrek would never have a cop-out phrase, right? shrek would do anything. >> no cop-out with shrek. this morning's top stories just minutes away. including cracking the case and getting in the head of a suspected terrorist. is he connected with the taliban or just a wannabe? and also intense anger as greece spirals into an economic black hole. there are concerns that other countries, including the u.s., would feet everythings. and at half past the hour, cover, contain and capture. will a 100-ton dome put a cork on a catastrophic oil spill? ♪ your momma don't dance and your daddy don't rock 'n' roll ♪ good news for rocker bret michaels he's speaking for the first time after the brain hemorrhage that put him in the hospital for nearly two weeks. the singer said he first thought a burglar shot him in the back of head. that's what that hemorrhage felt like. he said it sounded like a handgun -- like it literally popped. doctors expect michaels, though, to make a full recovery. a scene that could be straight out of seinfeld. the star of the show bought her walk on the hall of fame. they misspelled july la lewis dreyfuss. they spelled it l-u-i-s. >> that was very seinfeldesque. a woman working the overnight shift in the california newsroom is making news herself. i wonder if she'll be back tomorrow. she and her won the $266 million mega millions jackpot. her husband was laid off a few weeks ago, he bought the only winning ticket on his way home from jury duty. the family, needs to say, overjoyed. >> yes, it was quite a shock, and we're absolutely elated. it's absolutely unbelievable experience. >> the store, by the way that sold the winning ticket gets a $1 million bonus. she said she's coming back. >> that won't last long. just to get back to the julia louis-dreyfus, kramer went out to get the star and they were trying to save money. top stories coming up. ♪ of course, winning's not bad either. the subaru forester. the most award-winning small suv. isn't it nice when honest virtues win ? i thought you said carl was our best presentation guy. [ worker ] well, he is. last week he told my team about fedex office print online for our presentations. we upload it to fedex office, then they print, bind, and ship it. the presentation looks good, right? yes, but -- you didn't actually bring carl with you. good morning! but i digress. [ male announcer ] we understand. you need presentations done right. and right now save 20% on all online printing purchases. visit fedex.com/print. i think i'll go with the preferred package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning to you. it is 7:00 here in new york this morning on this thursday may 6th. thanks for being with us on this "american morning." i'm kiran chetry. >> good morning, i'm john roberts. good to see you here. here the big stories coming up in the next 15 minutes. blunders of accused terrorist. authorities say the suspect, faisal shahzad rehearsed the attack the day before but still apparently needed a lot of practice because you will not believe what he forgot. an american city rich in history under water this morning. epic flooding devastated nashville, the heart of country music. and some big stars are among the victims. so are everyday people who live there. road equipment and instruments underwater arrive in nashville just ahead. and a 100-ton dome could be there for the disaster. british petroleum is hoping to lower the 100-ton device over the leaking wellhead to cap tutor gushing oil and then funnel it to an awaiting tanker above. of course, the a.m. fix blog is up and running. head to cnn.com/amfix. and there say new picture emerging of a bumbling would-be times square bomber. authorities believe that the suspect, faisal shahzad made a dry run the day before in what was supposed to be his getaway car. >> but besides not being able to get the bomb to work. he had another problem. our susan candiotti has been following this since day one. and she joins us. what did he do? >> well, it started on friday night. he decided to make a dry run. he takes a white isuzu, drives it through new york city, through times square, checking things out, then had goes several blocks away from there and parks that isuzu to make it his getaway car. the thing is this. he then takes a train back to connecticut. now, it's saturday night. so now, he's got that nissan packed with explosives. this saul coming to us from a law enforcement source who is aware of what he's telling investigators. he drives along the east river to the 49th street exit. that is where he pulls over and sets into motion the process needed to set off that homemade bomb. from there, he continues driving. he enters times square, then he picks a random spot, he told investigators, turning right on 45th street to pull over. but the thing is, he had accidentally left behind in the car, when he got out of the car, he left behind the keys to his getaway car, to what white isuzu. now, he realizes he can't go back and get them. the car is beginning to smoke. witnesses reported to the authorities. so instead of going back and getting the keys, he's got to make a run for it. he runs for the train station and gets on a train going north to connecticut leaving behind the keys. now, obviously, he had to the next day get back to that car. so he must have had a spare set of keys. this is where it getting a little murky. in fact that white isuzu, he did get down and lee treev the car somehow. and that's the car that he drove to jfk airport to try to escape. >> he actually returned to the scene of the crime? >> uh-huh. >> and then there's also a possibility. you've been hearing there is a tape, we haven't seen the video of him in times square? >> oh, yes, there definitely is another tape. my sources tell me that there is. knack, they found him on the surveillance tape on shubert alley. this is an alley very close to that scene. he's seen wearing a baseball cap in this video. it's just moments after, my sources describe to me, moments after witnesses start seeing the smoke. they're analyzing this video. looking for other videos, and hopefully, we'll get a chance to see that. >> just a random place. any connection between via com, comedy central, the prophet muhammad? just coincidence? >> we're get nothing indication of that at all. he told investigators he pulled over there because it was an empty spot and he took advantage of it. >> by the way, it's also very interesting and it should be noted that your sources are telling you that he is still cooperating with investigators and still giving a lot of information? >> still talking. that is why we have not seen him in court, apparently. remember, he was supposed to appear in court the other day but because he's still talking, evidently he's not been processed into a jail. he's still cooperating. >> susan, thanks. the details of the times square bomber is revealing baffles gaffes. authorities did not notify all airlines that faisal shahzad was heading their way. they only notified a few domesticle carriers. emirates airlines did not check for updates soon enough. the government has now closed that saying they have to update the no-fly list every two hours. there az also a growing body of evidence the taliban in pakistan played a role. according to the "the new york times," the suspect, faisal shahzad, is telling investigators that the pakistani taliban helped train and inspire him in the months leading up to the attack. one senior obama official tells the paper, quote, there's no smoking gun yet. that the pakistan taliban was find the bombing." an official familiar with the session said that shahzad felt that islam was underattack. jeanne meserve is live with details on what she's learning about the possible motive. good morning. >> good morning, kiran. one of the big threads in this investigation, who exactly was shahzad working with. >> reporter: a photograph from "dawn news" as faisal shahzad as he went through immigration in pakistan on july 3rd, 2009. according to a senior pakistani official, a few days later on july 7th, he was driven to peshawar on to waziristan where he's thought to have met with one or more pakistani leaders. with shahzad, a man believed to have strong ties to aneesh mohammed. rehan was taken into custody on discuss. officials say there's nothing definitive connecting shahzad to any international group. >> there are international implications to what occurred in times square, we are investigating those. but as to where that investigation takes us, it's still way to early to make that judgment. >> reporter: a federal law enforcement official says there is no indication that shahzad had any associates here in the united states. but he appears to have prepared and placed the bomb in times square on his own. just how close were authorities to losing him? according to an administration official, shahzad was added to the no-fly list 12:30 monday afternoon, nine minutes later, an automated message went out to air carriers advising them there was a special add to the list but shahzad's name was not cut to emirates airlines at 6:30 when he made his reservation while driving to the airport or at 7:35 when he showed up at the counter and bought his it can't with cash because the airline had not yet updated it's no-fly list. to close that loophole, the ta-r ts assessment is now requiring that airlines update that list within two hours of getting a special notification from tsa. as susan mentioned, shahzad has continued to talk with investigators who are drawing on the expertise of members of the newly created high-value interrogation group or haig. kiran, back to you. >> thank you. coming up at 11 minutes after the hour. addressing or assessing the damage from epic damage in tennessee. we're going to show you what one of country music's biggest stars have lost. we're live. also, a 100-ton concrete dome standing four stories high could be the last hope for change the oil spill in the gulf. there you see it on a barge as it's heading towards that well. a desperate attempt to stop an environmental disaster. but how are they going to pull it off. david mattingly joins us with an update. and at 16 minutes after the hour, could medication be causing your headaches? ♪ well, some good news this morning for water-logged tennessee. the swollen cumberland river is final receding and expected to go below flood stage. as the water goes down, the human toll becomes clear, across the state, 19 people have died in nashville. countless homes and businesses are heavily damaged. the city expects the disaster to top $1 billion in damages. >> country music star kenny chesney lives in nashville. he came back home to find his house flooded. he took his video of the destruction. a spokesman said chesney's house will actually be don condemned. he talked about it with anderson cooper last night. >> i've been affected by this tragedy, but there are so many people in nashville that are really hurting that, you know, the things i lost, i can replace, thank god. but there have been people that have lost their lives and their livelihood. there's a lot of people in the city is really hurting now. and i've never seen anything like it. you know, just i was out of town when it happened. and as i was flying back home, you could see all of it from the air. and i couldn't believe what had happened. >> and kenny chesney's not alone. it's a music city mess for other music stars. brad paisley was prepared for his h 20 tour, yes, his h2o tour. keith urban lost his gear. and vince gill with his guitar collection. and leann rimes with road gear destroyed. and some escaped with minor damage, others were almost a ruin, martin? >> reporter: absolutely. it's a real problem in a city that is so much at the heart of country music fans. john, maybe you can hear in the background, there's a constant drone, and that is the sound of generators, but more specifically, the sound of pumps that have been running option nonstop for days. on top of that, the pumps are going because the cumberland river is still in the basements of many of the buildings here. the problem is, they keep refilling over and over again. this really couldn't have come at a bad time for nashville. the top of the tourist season. and in five months, the cma music festival. that brings 22 million alone to the city. for country music fans, it's not about the business, this town is the mecca for their music. >> reporter: to understand what country music means to nashville and the millions who love it. we turned to somebody who knows it, country performer jo dee messina has had nine hit singles and sold over nine million albums. the first thing she did was get me on stage, not at honky-tonk, but nashville symphony. >> you can speak in this voice and the person in the last row can hear it like they're standing in front of you. >> reporter: and none of this was flooded or damaged? >> right. >> reporter: in a city that loves music that was a relief then she took me to the real disaster, the basement. somewhere down there are two steinways? >> yes, two steinways really beautiful concert ones. handpicked for the hall. >> reporter: with the electricity out, the humidity and smell are overwhelming. jodee just doesn't know music. he has a feel for what goes on in nashville. i think people think stuff like this doesn't happen to people like you? >> it has. >> reporter: she took me to another place that has flooded. the country music hall of fame where everything country lives or did. rumors are, a lot have been lost. and judging by the sidewalk, it didn't look good. the museum's wood floor and walls sat in piles. the basement had flooded to the third row. upstairs, we found carolyn tate and her team working in the dark. >> it's kind of a mess around here. >> reporter: they were surrounded by what only could be call the crown jewels of country music which they had guarded and cared for throughout the flood. including a sculpture belonging to hank williams, music awards. and vince gill's guitar. jo dee found music. you have nice acoustics here, too. but i guess you'd expect that, wouldn't you? >> yeah. >> reporter: you think that has meaning here at a time like this? >> it all has meaning. >> reporter: that's the appeal of country music to millions. it does have meaning, in all of their lives. and the circle is unbroken. we can tell you that because we were one of the few to get in and see the country music hall of fame. the news not so good, though, john, about the grand ole opry house. we haven't been in, many have not been in because it's still too flooded. but it does not sound good when we do get in, we'll bring you that information. >> martin savranage, thanks so much. at 10:00 eastern, we'll talk with the governor phil brennasen. he's actually talk about scams. he's warning people don't be fooled by the scams. meanwhile, if they go under, will you pay? there's absolute chaos in the streets of combrooes. how many dominos have to fall before the economic disaster really hits us here. christine romans will explain that. >> kiran and john, chaos in greece are big concerns. angela merkel says the successful bailout of greece is nothing less than the future of europe. very incredibly yoorimportant i europe. 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. 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. 20 minutes after the hour. there are some frightening pictures to show you this morning coming out of greece. things there are are spiraling out of control. intense anger on the streets there. 100,000 people rioting, many of whom have lost their jobs, their pensions, everything, as the country threatening to tumble into an economic abyss. we've already taken an economic hit here because of it. and the stock market, the dominos may keep on falling. our christine romans, "minding your business" this morning. wall street getting skittish about what's going on, and the rest of europe. >> that's right. two tough days. today, the future is looking up here. but really, this say story of what a small world it is, as angela merkel, the german chancellor said, this is nothing but the future of europe here. what's the problem with greece? why is this small tourism country causing so many ripple effects? well, first of all, this is a country that is living well beyond its means. because of the economic crisis and other things. but it's budget deficit is 13.6 of the size of its economy, that is too big to be sustainable. that's why all of these people are being asked to take huge cuts in benefits and public of thes as part of a $146 billion bailout to try to sustain this country so it doesn't literally go bankrupt. among the things that we're talking about here are cuts to pepgs, as you pointed out. we're talking about major tax hikes. we're talking about aggressive tax collection among other things. among other things, this austerity plan incredibly popular, three people killed in a bank yesterday in athens. this is more than just about greece. you're going to hear about p.i.g.s. portugal, ireland and spain, these are all countries weakened by a tough situation. spain, it's the fourth largest economy in the euro zone. it has a budget economy of 11.2% gdp. and 20% unemployment already there. let me tell you quickly why we're concerned about here. we're concerned about a new potential banking crisis in europe. our banks so far seem to be insulated but just don't know. in 19 everyon87 that spread aro world. the euro is weak. the euro is weakening. that could be a pit for u.s. exports and u.s. jobs. and then it's also a threat to the global recovery. things are quite fragile. having trouble in europe comes at a very, very bad time. they're having trouble because of the financial crisis and the fragility in the crisis. futures, you guys, are looking higher. so two tough days, it's looking as though investors have found their common ground. but the concern over the p.i.g.s, portugal, ireland, greece and spain, not going away. >> the latest on the vote, a fun look at how much you know about politics there. it's 23 minutes past the hour. ♪ ♪ london calling beyond the world ♪ 25 minutes after the hour. right now, voters in the uk are deciding the fate of prime minister gordon brown and his labor party. new pictures this morning of gordon brown off to vote. labor has been in power for the past 13 years, but the latest polls are giving an edge to david cameron and the conservative party. here's cameron going to vote. because the country has several smaller parties, there's a good chance nobody will be able to get a majority to form a parliament, a government. so they'll have to do some negotiating after the results are all in. >> and, while it's been said that the u.s. and britain share a special bond. we've also been called two countries divided by one language. what do we on this side of the pond know about politics on the other side. let's bring some our own international relations expert richard rupp. we got a small taste of it when we heard the open mike disaster with gordon brown. >> yes, anchors are also familiar, i know, in cnn history, with open mikes. yes, the polls are open in britain. -their citizens voted by mail from the usa. i wandered down to a section of the new york city where you tend to find some of the queen's subjects and rurals who are found of them to see where the election is being followed. nicky perry follows the british election from her store in greenwich village. it's called "tea and sympathy." but she's not everying any tea or especially simple paththy to any of the three candidates. >> i don't believe what any have to say. what happens with the election, they all promise a huge amount, when the election is over, nobody does anything. >> reporter: what do you expect them to say? they want to win? >> what do i expect? i expect if they say they're going to do something, then they should bloody well do it. >> reporter: emotions were also high during the first ever televised debates in the uk. a few former columnists were watching. >> you tend to think that there's americanization taking place. >> reporter: this area is known as little britain. the white horse tavern is where a man allegedly drank himself to death. but they view the election campaign as over there. are you following the election of the prime minister today? >> not at all. >> reporter: why not? >> because i got high head full of the politician around here. i didn't go across the pond. >> reporter: so much for the special relationship that the usa and great britain have maintained? are you attract to british men with accents? >> yes. >> there will always be a problem between the uk and america, you know. answer there will always be a strong bond. >> reporter: that means americans can rk nice england's james bond, 007. do they know the man running to be the next prime minister? who is this man? >> i don't know. >> reporter: who's that man? >> oh, that man is the prime minister of the uk. >> reporter: gordon green? no? gordon brown? no. gordon black. identifying rick haig was much harder. >> i don't know. >> reporter: where are you from? >> new york. >> reporter: it looks like that guy from "family ties" but i'm not. >> reporter: the current candidate shouldn't feel too bad. >> oh, my innocence. i've seen that face but i don't know his name. >> reporter: that's winston churchill. >> this is bad, is this live? >> reporter: yes, many don't know how churchill lost during world war ii. and today, it's nicameron and claig. nick claig, the outsider may have a big role to play. >> some people say coalition governments are better for the country because you get different points of view in there. there's got to be negotiation. what are we thinking, liberal democrat and conservative? >> i'm surprise allowed few people really that i talked to had been following the election. even one woman said it doesn't have any impact on us, but it does, because of this special relationship and agreements in afghanistan. the economy. >> all right. interesting stuff. good luck. >> richard roth, thanks so much. half past the hour now. that means it's tile for the morning's top stories. new information about the plot to blow up a suv in times square. law enforcement officials believe the suspect faisal shahzad made a dry run in efforts to drop off his getaway vehicle. but on the night of the attack, authorities say shahzad left the keys in the suv that he was trying to blow up. the deadly and record-setting flood wares are finally beginning to recede in nashville. they're leaving behind $1 billion in damages. the flood killed 19 people in the past several days, including nine in nashville where they are missing. president obama declaring the area and several other counties a major disaster. in a scare overnight in new york city, police say a u-haul truck was abandoned on the triborough bridge. the span was shut down in both directions and the city's bomb squad was brought in to examine the vehicle. authorities are still looking for the driver who left the truck there, though. well, cover, contain and capture, that's the mission for an scompiermental four-story concrete dome that's been hauled out to sea on a barge. here's a look right now, 100 tons of concrete, a giant containment cylinder now arriving on the scene in that gushing oil well. what they're planning to dough is lower it over the main leaking wellhead on the ocean floor. it's a long-shot attempt to contain and capture more than 200,000 gallons of oil now spewing into the ocean every day. >> that leak has created a 2,000-mile square mile slick so far. here's a map of where officials think the slick is going today. right now, situated just a couple miles off the louisiana coast. david mattingly is live in venice, louisiana, most of the way down the mississippi delta there. dave, the coast guard going out to inspect all of the oil booms today. when that going to happen? >> reporter: well, it's going to be happening just about now. now that the sun is coming up. they're sending crews out. we've been getting reports from fishermen that oil had gotten past some of the containment booms and may have made contact with the land here on the islands off the coast of louisiana. we know that satellite imagery has shown at that sheerngs the oil on top of the water, has been here for a couple of days, and we know it was accumulating on the edge of those booms that had been deployed. now, we're hearing reports that it may have gotten past those booms and made contact with the islands. if they find that, they have crews going to clean it up to mitt great whatever damage may be occurring and to find a way to keep it from getting past the boom, if that's what's happening. >> so we're talking about this barge, this big boat carrying the big contraption, where is it right now in relation to the well head? >> reporter: well, i talked to the coast guard just a few minutes ago. we're hearing reports that it's now in location. it's gotten to where it's supposed to be. we know it left 12 hours ago from port. it was a 12-hour journey. it should be there. we're waiting for word from the coast guard. once it's there, that's where they're going to start the del indicate operation of lowering, this massive object, this containment vessel, down one mile below the surface of the water to the ocean floor. this is going to be exactly where that leak has been occurring for the last two weeks now, pumpinging almost 5,000 barrels of oil into the gulf of mexico every single day. but, again, this is very delicate. as you were talking before, you were saying this is sort of a long-shot. it is the only shot they have. they don't have a backup containment vessel ready to go if this one doesn't work. so it's going to be very careful. it's going to take a couple days for them to lower that down over the top of the largest leak that they have. they have two leaks left to cap. this will be going over the largest one. if they are successful, they hope to capture 80% to 85% of the leaking oil. >> and as you said, david, if they're successful, and that's the key phrase here. i guess the physics of it are that oil is lighter than water. they put this down and the oil floats to the top. they think they'll actually be able to get that oil out of that karen, and 5,000 feet, back up to a barge? >> reporter: that's what's supposed to happen. if you look at this container, it looks like this big box. with a funnel on top of it. the oil's going to be accumulated in there. and it's going to go up to a containment vessel on the surfa surface. that's the plan. that's why this is going to work. that's why they're going to continue to put the coil in containment vessels instead of struggle go out to the gulf of mexico. but they're going to be so sensitive in the way they're handling this facility because they're going to have to make sure it is secured just right. they're going to be very slow in taking it down. it's going to be lowered from a barge. it's going to a gps, a guidance system, to keep the barge perfectly in place while they lower this down. it is going to be just grueling and very del sit the entire time they're doing this. >> yeah, gault the wind, the waves, the currents all coming into play there. so a very tenuous operation. david mattingly for us this morning. thanks so much. in ten minutes time, rob marciano is live in biloxi, mississippi, he's reporting from country's top rehab centers. they're bracing for an onslaught of manatees and sea turtles that may be sickened by the spill. and what can be done to stop and identify the suspected terrorists before it's too late. >> is there a profile we'll ask national security contributor frank found send and pat demora, former assistant director of the fbi. and while that's happening, dave will attempt to explain to our boss why he left the one thing he was responsible for back at the office. okay, got it. what can you do with 4g? [ male announcer ] get a free 3g/4g card from sprint. it's more than a wireless network. it's a wireless revolution. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities, access www. sprintrelay.com welcome back. 38 minutes past the hour. there are new details that the possible moat tip behind the times square bomb plot and officials who is familiar with the investigation tells cnn that the suspect faisal shahzad felt that islam was under attack. since september 11th there have been 11 attempts to attack new york city. are we any safer? joining us cnn national security contributor, frank townsend and pat demora, chairman and ceo of giuliani safety. pat, i want to ask you to weigh in. federal officials say there was this dry run that took place. he actually came to times square to park what would have been the getaway before. and our susan candiotti said he actually left the keys. but what about the dry run before the plot? >> that's a common practice for members that train with al qaeda or groups like al qaeda over in afghanistan or pakistan. those areas. in east african bombings they did trial runs to see if they could get by the gates to get to the embassy. it's a common practice to do dry runs. >> fran, i want to get your thoughts, the decision by law enforcement not to call all the airlines to tell them directly once they had put shahzad on the no-fly his, they had called some of the airlines but not the snashl airlines. is that a concern? in some cases, these airlines are owned partly by foreign governments, did they not trust everyone? >> that's exactly right, you don't know all employees. once you send that information out, you're unable to control who has access inside foreign airlines that do have foreign ownership. so there is a concern. i think they've now, with the new rule put in place yesterday, requiring them to update their downloads. update their lists, within two hours, that's part of the solution. but ultimately, you have to get a secured flight where the u.s. government takes responsibility for managing the lists and checking the manifests where you don't have to involve foreign airlines. >> it's interesting, it seems we make a tweak or adjustment based on the last threat. the fact that we can't bring over three ounces of liquid. we have to take off our shoes. the last situation with abdullah mutallab, are we behind what terrorists want to do? >> security is ever-changing. it has to change constantly. because the terrorist is changing. he's learning from what security measures we take and they try to avoid those. >> that's right. that's why i think profiling doesn't work. if you have a static profile that you're targeting against, the bad guys figure that out. you want a dynamic-based targeting system in order to make sure you're moving with the terrorists. >> you just mentioned profiling. we're talking about this is the 11th attempted attack since september 11th. some of the things we dug up, some of the detailed information of the people involved. their ages, their backgrounds, citizenship, one common thread, even though a lot of variables, was islamic radicalism. they were inspired or had ties to training in pakistan or afghanistan. how do you zero in on these guys before it's too late? >> many of those, when you look at the 11 case, many, not all, are here in the united states legally. that represents a real challenge to federal officials. they've become u.s. citizens, they're here on a valid visa. not all, but this makes it really difficult. i think when you talk about trying to identify those who are going to become radical united statesed, this say real challenge, in this case, looking back now, what were the common themes, the fact that he left his family for five months. and their house was foreclosed and he had small children. what was he doing being gone that long? we're going to have to look for choose. >> the country, too, the administration seems to not to want to call it what it is. it's radical fundamentalists, period. you can call it profiling, call it whatever you want. that's what the problem is that's the common theme. the other common theme in this. it's historical, it goes way back to bin laden in 1988. look at the targets most of targets that are trying to attack. financial sector, transportation loans. i think out of the 11, there are only two that don't fit that. >> right, the synagogue. >> but in that synagogue plot, they were also planning to bomb the airport. >> it's interesting, when talk about what just said which is that it's unusual perhaps to leave your family for five months. i mean, my family from nepal, oftentimes, can be get over here on a work visa. and the other people do have to stay behind. with pakistani-americans we have over 200,000 of them, every person can't be under suspicion because of country of origin. how do you different and big out red flags without making a group feel profiled? >> that's right, kiran. part of that is your relationship with your foreign parter ins, your allies around the world, they have a better sense than we do oftentimes of things out of the norm. we're going to are to learn to build those relationships. we've got a very good relationship with our pakistani partners, for example. but it's been inconsistent over the years. sometimes, it's better than others. but we're going to have to build our trust there and get them to identify -- this say guy that said he trained in a camp in waziristan. we haven't confirmed that yet, law enforcement officials. but if that's true, that's the kind of information if we got it from our partners would have been useful to us. >> the waziristan area, i think the pakistani people are having problems trying to control that area. that area is no man's land. and we're going to have to take further action to shut down those training camps out of that region. >> fran and pat, thanks for joining me. john? a new report that could complain all the chronic headaches you could be getting, they could be caused by over-the-counter pain medications. dr. sanjay gupta explains the rebound headache. preparing for the best but preparing for the worst. rob marciano has a look into a premiere facility that caters to animals covered in oil and brings them back to health. in biloxi, mississippi. >> reporter: good morning, john. the fact remains, lots of oil and sea creatures that are going to get mixed up in that oil. there special plates they're taken to. we'll show you on "american morning." from her sister. [ banker ] but someone else bought it before they could get their offer together. we really missed a great opportunity -- dodged a bullet there. [ banker ] so we talked to them about the wells fargo priority buyer preapproval. it lets people know that you are a serious buyer because you've been credit-approved. we got everything in order so that we can move on the next place we found. which was clear on the other side of town. [ male announcer ] wells fargo. with you when you're ready to move. 47 minutes after the hour. it will be ground zero for oily sea mammals all along the gulf coast. one of the country's top marine wildlife rehabilitation centers is bracing for an onslaught of dolphins, manatees and sea turtles. our rob marciano has gotten a live behind the scenes look in biloxi, mississippi. good morning, rob. >> reporter: good morning, john. there's really two battle lines on the gulf of mexico, of course, trying to stop the leak out here, trying to get rid of, in one shape or form, the oil on top of the water and trying to contain it and keep it away from the sensitive wildlife area. the fact of the matter is, 2,000 feet of the gulf is on top of oil. the sea kreecreatures are going come in contact with it. when they do, they're taken to a special place in gulfport, mississippi. as experts try to contain an oil leak the size of mexico, sea turtles continue to swim. dolphins were swimming near but not in the oil spill this week, but if they do get into the slick and are rescued, dolphins and other oiled mammals will be taken here. >> this facility is designed to rescue and rehabilitate dolphins. >> reporter: dr. moby salangi runs the institute for marine studies in golfport. he said marine animals are vulnerable. >> you and i take small breaths. these animals -- >> reporter: holding it for several minutes, allowing the toxins to go right in the bloodstream. inside the medical facility, simple things like dawn dish washing liquid are used to clean off the oil. along with more advanced treatments for injuries. these are pills? >> we put it in and we conduct surgery on larger animals. >> reporter: what's it like having a manatee on this table? >> it's a big difference. >> reporter: the dolphins and larger animals are stored in these salt water pools. >> these are the tubs that we're using. this is where we clean them and wash them out. >> reporter: this week, 38 sea turtles washed up on coastal beaches but none showed obvious signs of oil. not entirely unusual but -- you have that many of this species, that's a bit of a red flag? >> that's right. >> reporter: lots of uncertainty as the region braces for a potential environmental disaster there's lots we don't know. we still don't know the official word on those turtles. we're waiting on the chemical tests to come back from their tissue samples to see if they were affected by that oil at wl at all. the other issue is these dispersementes they are using, how bad is it for the environment, for animals, for people? nobody seems to know. there haven't been a lot of scientific studies used to dilute the oil. to use the catch phrase and everyone seems to be using it, it is the lesser of two evils. they will take every piece of ammunition they can to battle back this oil spill. >> the company says that that dispersement, it is called correctsit. >> that's the issue. instead of being on top of the surface, it brings the oil in a diluted form to about 30 meters down into the water column. long-term, we don't know. they are trying to do the best they can with the ammunition that they have to offer. >> rob, good to see you. thanks so much. >> to learn more about the institute for marine mammal stud dis, go to cnn.com/impactyourworld. i can't wait to just sit by the pool and relax. yea. [loud music playing and yelling] with chase sapphire you always get an expert advisor immediately. man: chase sapphire, this is brian. hi, brian. we're on vacation and would love to change hotels. you call. we answer. [faint music playing] problem solved. is the music too loud? ♪ ♪ go to chase.com/sapphire. -d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d 54 minutes past the hour. we are focusing on a new consumer report that says americans are taking too many over-the-counter pain medication. our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta. good to see you this morning. we all do it. we take advil and aleave ave. we think we are getting rid of the headache. >> it may be counterintuitive. the number one reason people see doctors like me, neurologists, neurosurgeons. people start to take medications. they start to take them over and over again. what you find is rebound headaches, a frequent headaches caused by overuse of these types of medications, over-the-counter medications. they may take a medication in the morning, advil, take a sinus medication in the afternoon and a nighttime medication in the evening. they just start to get into this pattern so much so that they become dependent on it. what's surprising is how frequent this problem is. when you look overall, 31% of people don't follow dosage directions for these over-the-counter pain medications. it is predicted that about two-thirds of people who have chronic headaches have it because of this very reason. they are taking too many medications and suffering withdrawal when they stop taking it, therefore, causing them to take eve morn more, kiran. >> how much is too much? >> with over-the-counter medications, the guidance is a little less clear. no more than two times a week. certain medications have caffeine in them. if your taking them, that may make you more vulnerable to rebound headaches. if your taking a lot of caffeine on your own in addition to these medications. here is a list of the most common, tylenol, some nonsteroidal medications, common medications with caffeine. two times a week and really trying to cut down on the caffeine as well if you are using it to control your headaches. >> the bottom line. as a doctor, if somebody is coming to you or they feel the need to overuse these medications, there is probably some underlying problem. if they have always having headaches, they should get that checked out. >> yes. the first step is to actually start to taper down these medications. you may have a headache for a little while because of the withdrawal but gradually that headache should dissipate. that should be the case for the vast majority of people. in some cases, rare cases, the headache may be due to something else, a migraine, something that needs to be checked out by somebody. >> good advice this morning. always great to see you, sanjay, thanks. >> top stories coming your way. . good thursday morning. i'm john roberts. >> i'm kiran chetry. a major american city rich in history under water this morning. people in nashville still reeling from the epic flooding. we are going to get a live report on the muddy mess in music city just ahead. >> terror error. authorities say the bomber made a dry run the day before, planted a getaway car and left the keys to it with the bomb that didn't go off. >> oops, we are going to have much more about some of the details that are emerging today. a facebook glitch opens up private conversations to a whole lot of people online. the glitch was fixed. is it just a bug or does facebook have another privacy program. christine romans is here. >> the am fix blog is up and running. we begin with the massive cleanup ahead in nashville after epic flooding. much of the city under several feet of water. the power is out all across downtown. 1 million people have been flooded out of homes and businesses. nashville's mayor expects flood damage will cost the city more than $1 billion. martin savidge live in nashville this morning. what does it look like where you are? >> reporter: well, it is still a very big problem, john. the good news is that most of the water, at least in the areas the tourists would see have receded. that doesn't mean the problems have gone away. what you are having is the adrenaline-pumping couple of days where people were rescuing and surviving and now the recovery. that's hard. we took some pictures of what's going on. the drone in the background is the sound of generators and pumps that have been going nonstop for 24 hours. there is no electricity down here because of of theus. water got into the wires. until they check them out, they can't turn the power back on. they hope to do that either today or tomorrow. in the meantime, the water in the basements, the cumberland river, you may not see it but it is still here. it is underground. there is a lot of water in these buildings. due to hydrostatic pressure, the water keeps pouring into the basements. for country music hall of fame, the artifacts, the humidity could do great damage. r now, they say they have kept humidity levels down. symphony hall, 18 feet of water in the basement. that could distort the building and change the acoustics. that's just two examples. >> martin savidge, thank you so much. the cumberland river is finally receding. when will the flooding end? is more on the way? reynol reynolds wochl joins us. >> nashville needs a stretch of good weather. take a look at what we've got for you. going from sunny skies, high ns the 80s. breezy conditions. a few scattered showers. in terms of heavy rainfall, that is not going to be the picture for friday. saturday, same story. monday, a chance of thunderstorms. the rain that those thunderstorms should bear will not be anywhere close to the magnitude of what caused the flooding in the first place. meanwhile, in the northeast, rain could be a big picture. you see this frontal boundary, getting close to new york, washington. meanwhile, out west, not rain we are talking about but rather snowfall that could be especially heavy in parts of the central and northern rockies. that snowfall we can expect could be very heavy up to a foot of snow believe it or not. that boundary right in the middle of the country, across central parts of the plains, could see some storms. certainly, keep that in mind and also out in the gulf of mexico where they are going to be dealing with the leak. the biggest leak, they are going to try to contain that. seas running 2-3 feet. things should be picture perfect out of the water. all things considered. >> reynolds, thanks so much. at ten minutes after the hour, we are going to talk with tennessee's governor about the flooding disaster and the big job cleaning it all up. it still lice ahead. four minutes past the hour. this morning, traffic is back to normal over the triborough bridge in new york city. it connects manhattan, queens and the bronx. they are searching for a man that abandoned his u-haul truck near a toll booth and fled. the operator reported the smell of gas line. bomb squad examined and found no explosives. a new picture of a bumbling, angry and confused time squares bomb suspect. he made a dry run the day before in what was supposed to be his getaway car. he still made some serious basic errors along the way. >> he had another problem. he left the keys to the getaway car in the suv that was supposed to explode. susan candiotti has been following this since day one. he joins us to walk us through both the dry run that happened the day before and also some of the errors and mistakes that thankfully prevented this from exploding. >> reporter: thankfully. the more you hear, you think, what the -- a good thing it didn't work. here is what we are hearing about the suspect, faisal shahzad and what he is telling investigators. he is saying that on friday shahzad drove an izuzu and scoped out times square and parked the cars which was to be his getaway car, several blocks away. he took a train back to his home in connecticut. now, it is the next day, d-day, saturday. he takes the pathfinder now filled with explosives and drives into new york southbound along the fdr drive to the 49th street exit. it is a wide area. he is able to pull over. he reaches into the rear compartment of that suv in the pathfinder to set in motion the process needed to set off that bomb. then, he continues along his way. he goes into times square. then, he turned right on to 45th street. it is completely a random event. he picks that street because he saw a spot and he grabbed it. hard to find in new york but he accidentally left the keys in the pathfinder. when he gets out, he realizes he can't go back. the car is now smoking. people are starting to notice it. so he has to make a run for it. he goes to a train station, hops on the train. there is a ticket that is stamps 7:00 p.m., about a half hour after the call was made to authorities to investigate this car. he gets on a 7:00 train back to connecticut. >> what eventually happened with the izuzu. >> we don't know how it happened but he must have had a spare set of keys back at home. he did retrieve it back in new york. then, that is the car that when he did make his escape. >> monday night. >> on monday night out of jfk, that's the car that he drove. >> that still wasn't necessarily pivotal with them catching up with him. they were able to find that vin number. >> sure. that's one of many clues. they were able to trace his cell phone number, the phone he had called the person who had sold him the car, they were able to trace that phone record, in their records, their immigration and customs records and that was how they were able to get his name. fascinating stuff. this is what happened. >> again, we get lucky. it just didn't work. that's twice in a row. thanks. >> you are welcome. a major disaster declaration in tennessee. they think $1 billion in flood damage in the nashville area hit so hard. what is the outlook for people living there? we will be speaking with the governor of the state of tennessee joining us life next. it is proof that good things come in small packages. ricky "time's "most influence people. how he does it and what we have coming up. back at the office. okay, got it. what can you do with 4g? [ male announcer ] get a free 3g/4g card from sprint. it's more than a wireless network. it's a wireless revolution. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities, access www. sprintrelay.com welcome back to the most news in the morning. as the floodwaters start to recede, people in nashville are getting the first look at utter devastation there. 1 million people have been flooded out of homes and businesses. >> nashville's mayor figures this will cost his city more than $1 billion in damages. at least six tennessee counties have been declared major disaster areas. the governor of the state, phil bredesen is joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> thank goodness the floodwaters are starting to recede. what is your assessment of how much work lies ahead? >> there is an awful lot of work. nashville is the power head, a well-known city. there are so many other counties in the state and the areas in the general area. a lot of people didn't have flood insurance. they are looking at a total loss of their home at this point. it is very, very tough on a lot of people right now. we are just trying to reach out and help those people. >> governor, how great is the need going to be in your state and what is the need going to be? can you quantify it for us at this point and qualify it as well? >> well, i don't have numbers. we are doing assessments right now. we are working with fema. fema has done a good job coming down here. they were down when the drops started falling. administration has been in touch with us through all this. what we are trying to do right now is get a handle on the amount, obviously, for people that didn't have flood insurance. there is no amount of help that's going to make them whole again. it is a very tough time. we are through the part where the first responders have done just a great job in saving lives. now starts the cleanup and figuring out where people go from here. >> when you say the first responders have sort of been able to make their way through and make sure no one else needed rescuing. how many died as a result of this flooding? >> we have counted right now 21. there are still -- we still have some missing people. that number could go up just a little bit from here. >> that's in the state of tennessee alone? >> pardon? >> 21 in the state of tennessee alone? >> 21 in tennessee, yes and it is broader across the south. i don't have the updated numbers for the enteire region that was affected. we have 10 counties that have been declared as disaster. we applied for 52. i suspect many more are coming along. >> a moment ago, we saw some aerial pictures of entire neighborhoods that have been inundated with floodwaters, 10, 12-feet deep. nashville famous for its country music landmarks. the grand ole opry hit very hard. what's the situation there? >> as best i know, they were hit very hard with the floodwaters. they have relocated kind of back downtown here from where they went 30, 40 years ago. they are going to keep going and broadcasting. the old opry home has had a lot of water in it, a lot of water around it. there is a lot of cleanup to do in that whole area. >> for the thousands of people that had to be evacuated from their homes, are people able to go back in to survey the damage. are there areas off limits that could be opening up within the next day or so? >> yes. the waters are starting to go down. a lot of people are getting back into their homes to survey what they have and figure it out. of course, the blood waters, they are dirty. you don't know what's in them. it is muddy. a lot of people are coming to grips with what they really have to deal with and face in the weeks ahead. we are trying to help in every way we can. we've got a good partnership going between the city here and the state and the federal government. we are going to get through. >> there is also an unofficial partnership, governor, between the city and country music stars who call it home. we saw keith urban, vince gil, brad paysly, kenny chesney, they all lost a lot. they have the power to get out there and raise a lot of money. vince gil is doing some sort of benefit concert. do you expect the country music will ban together to help country music get on its feet? >> yes. also gospel music. there are a lot of very well-known people that live here that have had neighbors and friends affected. they are pulling together to get money into people's hands through these benefits. a lot of times, we can't help, if somebody has lost their entire home. a lot of times people need walking-around money, the ability to buy pumps and get cleaning equipment and clean things out. they can help with that. >> you are talking about a lot of these forces for good. there are many out there. sadly, there are bad people out there as well. you gave a warning about some con artists maybe trying to prey on people that are desperate right now. what do you want people to be aware of if they are somebody whose home has been affected or community and they are approached about repair work? >> well, there is unfortunately always people that will try to take advantage of these things, i have suggested to people, i have seen it before, where people come in. they particularly prey on elderly people that may have some problem in their home that they can't deal with in the home. i have said, first of all, ask them to see a contractor's license. if you are a tennessee contractor and have a contractor's license, there is a lot more capability we have to right anything that's wrong. if you need some help looking at a contract or something, give us a call. we will try to find somebody to help you. there is also something new, identity theft. people will say, i am from the state or fema scanned for information. your mother's maiden name and all those kinds of things and people will get scammed with that. >> governor, thanks so much for joining us. really good to see you. i know you are very, very business xwri. >> thank you i appreciate the way you are handling this and the attention you are giving to it. >> of course. we are all pulling for you guys and everyone wishes you the best of luck. >> on anderson cooper, el be reporting from the devastating floods in nashville as survivors go home. two of country music's biggest stars, tim mcgraw and faith hill, are going to be joining daern son at 10:00 tonight. omg, another facebook bug. have you ever accidentally sent reply all when you try to send a personal e-mail. facebook did that for you. christine romans with the details coming up. it's a little bit of nature... a little bit better. and nature approves. granola nut clusters from nature valley. [ music playing in distance ] ♪ ...sun shine in ♪ let the sun shine [ male announcer ] open yourself up to a whole new driving experience. introducing a mercedes-benz convertible that controls the wind and keeps you comfortable in any season. the e-cabriolet, newest member of the amazing e-class family. the thrill of opening it up. here is some car news. nissan is recalling 135,000 infinity g-35 to address an air bag problem. when toyota heard that, they were oh, crap, air bags. nigh we forgot something. >> they are probably not laughing at it over at toyota. 20 minutes past the hour. christine romans, "minding your business." she joins us. no toyota news today. >> no, but i did hear something funny. last year, one of the slogans was moving forward or moving forward rapidly. one of those things we laugh about. we are now laughing about a facebook buzz yesterday that has privacy experts and people concerned about privacy howling again about facebook. what happened yesterday was for some people, you were suddenly able to see the private conversations of your friends and friend requests as well. hmm. this is if you were using the preview my profile feature. facebook, when they heard, shut down that feature and said that it was a glitch, a software glitch and that they are fixing it. a software error that allowed them to view their friend's private conversation. don't put anything sensitive, even if you think it is private. i tell young people that i talk to. >> they don't lis zen ten. >> i make it a rule, no private conversations just nude photographs. >> no one is watching this anyone. they have all logged on to see john. >> that would be a scary thing. >> welcome to breakfast. >> people are trying to eat, come on. >> earlier this month, facebook added features to see what kind of products or things you are reading online. that has some concerns. >> and how much are they monitoring your other activities outside of being on facebook. >> this is something they are asking the ftc to look into it and they are asking facebook to tamp down all of the stuff -- if you think that things that you are talking about -- >> you know what i love, i love the fact that the network community loves the internet because they say it gets us away from big brother. in some ways, it is inadvertently becoming big brother. >> don't you think there are millions of companies and people out there that want to know what you are looking at and what you are talking at so they can make money off of you. facebook has to be very careful about protecting your privacy and the thing that makes them so great. >> terrible for the people it happened to. a good reminder is that anything you put in an e-mail on facebook or any where is not private. you do it from a computer that is not yours either. >> 130 is the number. >> the average number of friends that people have. >> dand you know that you share 70 pieces of information that month. i don't think i do. do you share 70 pieces of information every month? >> i share nothing. >> i thought you said you shared nude photos. >> that's not information. that's entertainment. >> actually, it's comedy. thanks, christine. >> still, there are new reports that the oil has gotten past the buoys, coast guard sending crews to confirm these unconfirmed reports. this barge carrying what could be fingers crossed the solution to temporarily capping the spill is now heading closer to the scene. we will have a live report next. 24 minutes past the hour. ♪ [ male announcer ] winning more awards for quality and customer service than any other luxury manufacturer the last 10 years says something. yet, the award we value most is the fact that lexus has had more repeat, loyal drivers, in more of the last 10 years, than any other luxury automotive brand. to express our thanks, we're featuring our best values of the year. giving you unprecedented access to lexus. at your lexus dealer. tonight the phoenix suns temporarily renaming their team against the spurs. they remain it first plan was for the players to wear sombreros. instead, they renamed the team los suns, which is something. here in l.a., the clippers, even though they didn't make the playoffs, they are also showing their support. they are now, the los ers. the word of politics gliding were the world of sports. last night, more protests at the arizona diamondbacks game and as jimmy kimmels just mentioned, they were the los suns. >> this came up during president obama's remarks about cinco de mayo. >> i know a lot of you would rather be watching tonight's game, the spurs against los suns from phoenix. today reminds us that america's diversity is america's strength. that's why i spoke out against the recently passed law in arizona. >> our caroline costello is here with a gut check. a lot of people fired up about the situation in arizona. there were mixed reactions to the suns show of sol darity. >> there were. the question this morning, should basketball or baseball or any sport get involved in politics? >> the phoenix suns wore jerseys that said los sundas. it was met with protest. a group led by al sharpton. back at the basketball arena, there weren't many protesters and the suns guard didn't flynn. the guard said wearing the uniform was important and so was jumping into the political fray. >> we have a lot of love for our latino friends and latino players on both teams. that's the group that seems targeted by this bill. it's a shame. >> he had a good night. the suns won, by wait. the arizona law is designed to prosecute and import illegal immigrants that allow police officers to prove legal residency. according to the phoenix business journal, arizona's baseball team is not taking a political stance, despite the fact the managing partner, kentucky dri kendrick opposes the law. new york congressman, jose serrano, wants them to pull the all-star game out of arizona in 2011. >> you can't on one hand talk about the diversity in baseball and celebrate it and we should celebrate it and then say that you can discriminate against technically 40% of the organized players in baseball and then show up in a state where they are not welcome in so many ways. >> no comment from major league baseball. the sources tell me that bud selick will say something about it. we asked you to post some comments. i have a couple of them. this is from bellen. she says, of course, los suns should use it to express their political beliefs. baseball players have a job to do. that does not include political debate. they play baseball, not only to fulfill their own dreams but to entertain the masses as well. after their day is done and over and their jobs are done, they are free to go home and get involved as individuals if they so choose. so i don't think sherry would be happy if any baseball player would have anything on their uniform in protest of this law in arizona. >> a little controversy. should sports teams stay out of it, keep themselves apolitical or get in there with sol darity? >> we have 70 comments on this, carol. people fired up with their issue. a spirited debate, always a good thing. we love for people to keep the comments coming should sports team get involved in politics? head to our blog. cnn.com/amfix. your top stories. he forgot his keys. new information about the accused times square bomber, how he prepared to attack new york city and escape. authorities say he made a dry run the day before, planted a getaway car and, oops, left the keys with the bomb that didn't go off. >> traffic back to normal in new york city this morning. there was some scary moments overnight. the rfk triborough bridge was shut down after a bomb scare. police are searching for a man that abandoned his u-haul truck and fled. a toll booth operator smelled gasoline and no explosives were found. floodwaters receding in nashville. much of the city still under several feet of water. 1 million people have been flooded out of homes and businesses. the nashville mayor expects it will cost his city billions of dollars to repair the damage. >> blamed for 21 deaths. >> a coast guard rapid response team is checking to see whether oil has breached the containment booms along the louisiana shore. they are indicating the spill has made it to the mississippi delta and the environmentally sensitive chandelier islands. you have been in contact with the coast guard. any update? >> no updates yet. they haven't confirmed that they actually have those boats in the water yet. but, it is going to be something that they have to check out to get visual confirmation to see if the oil has actually touched the ground of these environmentally sensitive islands. in the past couple of days, we knew that oil was pooling up on the booms that were surrounding some of these sensitive areas. we now are hearing that some of the oil may have gotten past the booms. we are waiting for the coast guard to get out there, look at it and tell us if that has actually happened. if it has, they will have teams ready to go to go out there and mitigate whatever damage might have been caused. we keep calling these environmentally sensitive islands, it is all because the brown pelican, the louisiana state bird, one of the great environmental success story, brought back from the brink of extinction after so many years of exposure to ddt. those are the nests areas for the brown pelican and this is nesting season. everyone very sensitive about protecting those islands and that ecosystem that protects those birds. >> and also, david, this concrete dome we have been keeping an eye on this morning about to be deployed, they have to lower this 100-ton device a mile down. how is it going to work? >> it's going to work very, very slowly. they've got only one of these vessels. if it gets broken for it doesn't work, they don't have a backup ready to go. it could cost them weeks. so what they are going to do once they have it secured at the site where they are going to lower it down, they are going to have a barge that's going to be on a gps stabilization system to keep it located exactly in the same spot as they lower it down for 5,000 feet to the bottom of the ocean. this is going to go over the largest of the two remaining leaks. once it is over that leak, they hope it will contain 80-85% of the leaking oil that's been going into the gulf of mexico every day now for two weeks. >> well, we are going to keep our eye on that. well be checking in with you. thanks so much, david. well, ricky gervais has an effect on you e is one of the 100 most influence people in the world according to "time" magazine. we will ask him how the heck he does it. he is coming up next. stay with us. 36 minutes past the hour. with " premium starbucks via ready brew. now available wherever you buy groceries. ♪ and at holiday inn, you always can. holiday inn. stay you. and stay rewarded with the hit it big promotion-- earn up to five hundred dollars at over three hundred retailers. ♪ 38 minutes past the hour. it all started out with a british tv show called "the office." >> the original british version has been watched in some 90 countries, spawned seven different remakes. here is a sample. ♪ >> call me when you get in. >> bye. >> no, mike. >> the man behind it all, ricky gervais, has now been named one of "time" magazine's most 100 influential people. good morning to you. the little paragraph on you was written by your friend and fellow comedian said of you, michaling ricky, 48, influential would be like einstein's mam calling einstein a genius. i doubt she ever did. with friends like that, you have no problem staying grounded. >> that's exactly right. nothing can go to my head. i have friends and family that just bring me down to immediately. not only am i one of the most influential people in the world, that's clear. i'm also live on cnn via satellite from london with an ear piece and everything. it's like i have got really important breaking news. this is a dream come true. >> you do. we have the global resources to bring it to the world. >> you are in every airport in the entire country this morning. you talk about being grounded. you did declare that may 1st would be world gervais day. how is that celebrated? >> it's not taken off like christmas but, i mean, it took a long time for christmas to really take hold. so i'm hoping in a few hundred years that it will be a much bigger day. i also like the fact that as you introduced me as one of the most influential people in the world, you show a click where i am basically dancing like a crab. >> that was good. >> yeah. i like to think it was because i created a world famous show but i think it's because i was with mel gibson at the golden globes. >> you are not afraid to take on sacred cows. you talked to the golden gloves about mel gibson's drinking. you made fun of paul mccartney's divorce. you talk about all the people in hollywood who get plastic surgery. have you always been a troublemaker? >> well, look, if you can't have a go at some of the most famous, richest successful people in the world, who can you have a go at? you know, i'm making fun of people more fortunate than myself so i can sleep at night. they know it is no. they can take it. the a-list is the finest. the b-listers, they don't take it so well. >> and the d-list, you don't twoont make them mad. you have to lock your doors. you said the guinness book of world records for the most shows downloaded. "the office," this show, people love it across the world. it started out as just bringsti humor. >> yes, firstly, getting in the guinness book of world records, you can get in that with running backwards with a bottle of milk on your head. let's take that off the list. the success of "the office" is about recognition. everything i have done is a labor of love. i used to make up little story tos to make my nephew laugh. if you are passion nat about something and you have won already, i don't think i ever try and get more famous or bigger or richer or any of those things. they are byproducts of what you do. this is fun. i talk about my work until the cows come home. i know how privileged i am. the privilege for me is that i can get up in a morning and have an idea and try to put that into practice. that's the fun for me. >> it's a good thing that you have a terrible sense of balance, otherwise, you might be in the guinness book of world records for running backwards with a bottle on your head which would be nowhere near as lucrative. >> or just growing my hair and nails. literally, for doing nothing, not even basic hygiene. >> what you have done, ricky, is that you have given everybody who has dreams of a second chance, a career, something to hang on to, because you didn't start comedy until age 40. literally, everything you have touched since then has turned to gold. what is it that you have got that taps into what people want? >> i don't kneow. if i could at all be inspiring to anyone, that would be the greatest goal, really. >> i suppose i thought about it recently that i did start very late. i am living proof that you can start late i didn't get into this business until i was 38, "the office" at 40 and getting in shape at 48. i still have my own teeth, though. i still have got my own teeth. >> if your as successful as getting fit at the age of 48, you are going to turn into the old version of arnold schwarzenegger. do us a favor. can you hang in past the break? we want to chat with you a little more. >> i would like that too. >> we will be right back with you. >> 45 minutes past the hour. >> thank you. [ female announcer ] breathe right asks... [ woman ] could i ask you to strip on the street? absolutely! i have a lot of stuffiness at night. it wakes me up. i have allergies. ♪ you're right. i'm getting more air. -oh, yeah. -oh, wow! [ female announcer ] for two free samples, go to breatheright.com. we are back. i want to ask you a question. your "office" as well, you chose to end it after two seasons. do you ever think that maybe i should have kept going with it? >> no, no, i don't. lickly for me, my laziness is sometimes mistaken for integrity. >> we did it all ourselves. we don't have writers. we write and direct and produce everything. it is intense. that was three years of my life. it is never over. i still manage the estate of "the office" every day. the original clips. we own the format for remakes. the one we are most involved with apart from the original was the american one with steve correll. so it's not over. it still exists but it exists in a very sort of perfect and finite form. when i say perfect, i'm not talking about my own work being perfect. i mean perfect for me. that's what you try and do as an artist. you try and please yourself. that sometimes sounds arrogant. it is not at all. what i mean is, i don't care what anyone things thinks about what i do, as long as it turned out exactly as i wanted it, you are bullet proof. >> you do seem to be perfectly in tune with the tastes of an awful lot of people around the world. hoist comedian who you really respect and appreciate? >> well, you know, the obvious ones, the reason i did standup, jerry stein feld a jerry seinfeld and louie. i do a little piece of his show called louie. i learned so much from laurel and hardy. comedy is about empathy. >> we should mention too, you have a couple of standup shows in new york coming up. is it next week? >> yes. i am playing madison square garden on the 12th and 13th. >> it's a shame you couldn't find a big arena to play in. >> and then i'm off to l.a. i'm playing on the 15th and 16th. the nbc jet that they bought me. >> your new show on hbo, the ricky gervais show is starting up on friday nights. so people can look forward to that. >> that's happening. i haven't even seen the money for the send kags yet. >> the check is in the mail. >> thanks so much. congratulations and continued success. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. >> what a great guy. >> such a great guy. dr. sanjay gupta answers your questions. will the oil spill affect our health? the doc is coming right up. ten minutes to the top of the hour. premium starbucks via ready brew. now available wherever you buy groceries. ♪ [ 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. ♪ male announcer: be kind to your eyes with transitions lenses. transitions adapt to changing light so you see a whole day comfortably and conveniently while protecting your eyes from the sun. ask your eyecare professional which transitions lenses are right for you. female announcer: ask your eyecare professional for your transitions lenses certificate of authenticity for your chance to win back the purchase price of your eyeglasses. welcome back to the most news in the morning. 54 minutes past the hour. time for your a.m. house call. stories for your health. >> dr. sanjay gupta joins us live. the first question comes from twitter. how will the oil spill affect our health? >> you know, it is interesting. there is a couple of ways to think about this. for the vast majority of people who don't live in this area, one of the things we have been getting a lot of questions about is with regard to food, gulf seafood. the short answer is as it to whether it will affect health or not, probably not, at least not in the short-term. fishing in that area has been halted. the existing gulf seafood on shelves was there before the spill. it was harvested before the spill. now, oil can bio accumulate in fish for some time. the fda is going to have to be really diligent about inspecting gulf seafood. something else people think about is the fumes that people breath in. first responders may be breathing in fumes and the fumes from the dispersements as well. people that have asthma and emphysema and chronic bronchitis. >> the next question is from susan in virginia. her 15-year-old son suffered a concussion during a soccer game. she says his ct scan came back okay but wonders if he is at greater risk of having another concussion? >> there are only three things to remember about this i think about con can you gocussions al. you don't need to be knocked out to get a concussion. that's a myth. your brain changes as a result of the concussion, making you more vulnerable for a second concussion for a period of time. third of all, it is not just add tiffly worse. it can be exponentially worse. usually, four to seven days, you want to wait after a first concussion before allowing someone to play again, especially if they are playing a contact sport. also, make sure they don't have any symptoms, they can be mild, headache, dizzyness, blurry vision. i would keep those players off the field until they are back to normal. >> good advice. really scary, thoerks when you are dealing with that and you don't know when your kid can go back to playing. you don't want them to get hurt again. >> it happens at the high school level as well. people think about this in college and high school as well. >> doc, thanks for being with us. >> about 3:30 to the top of the hour. we'll be right back. the only body moisturizer with an spf this high. its nutrients match the same nutrients naturally found in healthy skin... for a great clean feel with the best uva/uvb protection. see you later alligator. advanced therapy spf 30 is here... lubriderm. your moisture, matched. go to lubriderm.com for $2 savings. ♪ that's going to do it for us. th

Related Keywords

Cumberland River ,Kentucky ,United States ,Louisiana ,North Waziristan ,Federally Administered Tribal Areas ,Pakistan ,East River ,Connecticut ,China ,California ,Portugal ,Biloxi ,Mississippi ,Gulfport ,Washington ,District Of Columbia ,Mexico ,Arizona ,Greenwich Village ,New York ,Nepal ,Hollywood ,Ireland ,Jersey ,Spain ,Karachi ,Sindh ,Rockies ,Canada General ,Canada ,Greece ,Peshawar ,North West Frontier ,Germany ,Texas ,Afghanistan ,Philadelphia ,Pennsylvania ,Florida ,Boston ,Massachusetts ,Virginia ,Ohio Valley ,Capitol Hill ,Tennessee ,London ,City Of ,United Kingdom ,Denver ,Colorado ,Waziristan ,Pakistan General ,Athens ,Attikír ,Arabian Peninsula ,Saudi Arabia General ,Saudi Arabia ,Phoenix ,Mecca ,Makkah ,Nashville ,France ,Salangi ,Baghlan ,Americans ,America ,Greek ,Pakistani ,Britain ,French ,British ,German ,American ,Winston Churchill ,Jerry Stein Feld ,Reynolds ,Arnold Schwarzenegger ,Faisal Shahzad ,Einstein Mam ,Al Sharpton ,David Cameron ,Paul Mccartney ,Kenny Chesney ,Steve Correll ,Jo Dee ,Atlantic Ocean ,Rick Haig ,David Mattingly ,Uva Uvb ,Julia Louis Dreyfus ,Gordon Brown ,Foote Hood ,Tim Mcgraw ,Anderson Cooper ,Caroline Costello ,Al Qaeda ,Richard Rupp ,Vince Gill ,Jose Soriano ,Mel Gibson ,Jose Serrano ,Peter Hoekstra ,Los Sol ,Ricky Gervais ,Angela Merkel ,Jerry Seinfeld ,Caroline Tate ,Martin Luther King ,John Roberts ,Frank Townsend ,Jo Dee Messina ,Carolyn Tate ,Vince Gil ,Ken Kendrick ,Susan Candiotti ,Bret Michaels ,Steve Nash ,Richard Roth ,Madison Square ,Christine Romans ,Brad Paisley ,Hank Williams ,Phil Bredesen ,Nicky Perry ,Carol Costello ,Sanjay Gupta ,Jeanne Meserve ,