Transcripts For CNN American Morning 20110412

can tell you all about that. big bumper planes at jfk. we begin in japan where officials have declared the crisis at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant a major accident. the threat level has been raised from a category 5 to a 7. the maximum on the international scale. that's on par with the chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. the accident at pennsylvania's three mile island in 1979, it was a level 5. meantime there's been a new round of aftershocks in japan. cnn's paula hancocks is live in tokyo. this continues to be just nerve shattering for people who are there in the country and now the latest news about the nuclear crisis and the level there. what's the latest? >> christine, certainly have been a bit of a shock for many people in japan hearing that change in number. this tuesday morning, they were on a level five and then all of a sud then skipped a level. there was no 6, they went to the highest level there could be, the level 7 which constitutes a major accident. it constitutes a major release of radiation with widespread health and environment effects, that's according to the iaea, the nuclear watchdog. that's what they call it. this doesn't mean there has been a sudden deterioration in the situation. it basically means that the government has caught up to what is happening and they've realized this could be on the level of chernobyl. of course that's going to panic people. it's going to make the concern that this is as bad as cherno l chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster from a plant point of view that we have seen in the past. from that logistical point of view, it doesn't make a difference to those on the ground. there sayss still an evacuation zone. the people within the 12 mile evacuation zone are still living in emergency shelters. we understand from the government that further out to 18 miles, people are being encouraged more forcefully now, to move within the next few weeks or so because they're worried about the longer term radiation effects. certainly it is a concern, but it doesn't constitute an immediate and a sudden deterioration in the situation. >> okay. paula hancocks in tokyo, thank you. in just a few minutes we'll talk more about japan's nuclear alert, with michael freedlander. >> a runway collision involving the world's biggest passenger jet. the air bus a 380 and a commuter plane. it happened last night, captured on tape. look at this. amateur video posted on the wnbc new york website shows the air france, wow, hitting a delta connection flight as it taxied for takeoff. that delta plane is a crj 700, about a 70 seater, not a tiny plane, but compared to the a 380 it is. jim bittermann was on board the paris bound flight. >> pull away from the gate and was going five, seven miles an hour, something like that, made the turn away from the gate and slight rumble and felt to me like, you know, maybe they hit a rough patch of pavement or something. the pilot immediately stopped the plane and within i would say a minute or two, the fire trucks started arriving around the plane. >> no one was injured in the accident. both planes are now being inspected for damage. another horrifying discovery on the beaches of long island, new york. this time a human skull found by police yesterday. the ninth set of remains, the ninth possible victim of a suspected serial killer. jason carroll with the latest developments this morning. >> yeah. what they've done is basically called off temporarily suspended the search this morning so they can focus on making identifications. again, investigators did find more remains late yesterday afternoon near a bird sanctuary in a remote beach area. police found the remains after spending the day searching the brush along a parkway for more victims of a possible serial killer. it's all been very startling. all of it has been. i don't have a reaction because it's just amazing that we're finding these things. so, obviously, we have a lot of work to do. >> the discovery comes on the first day authorities expanded their search. since december, police have found the remains of eight people, all eight in the same area. that area located just a few miles from where police found yesterday's remains. so far, four victims have been identified, all worked as prostitutes who advertised on craigslist. police suspect a single person may be responsible for the murders. >> collectively, we want to bring to justice this animal that has, obviously, taken the lives of a number of people. >> well, the missing persons case that prompted the investigation involves shannan gilbert. gilbert was an escort and last may she was seen in the area when a witness says she banged on his door, begging for help, saying someone was trying to kill her. called 911, gilbert ran away and has not been seen since. an update on the search, police did find another set of remains, but they could not confirm if that set of remains are human, so what they're going to do is continue doing their testing and if that next set of remains also proves to be human, that would bring the total to ten. >> you know, if you live in this area, you've seen a lot of coverage of this in the newspapers, but there's some sense that police have been saying they're wondering who this serial killer might be and whether it might be somebody in law enforcement. >> what they need is more evidence at this point. we've heard some of those reports out there. they've got to collect their evidence and it's difficult when you're dealing with a lot of these remains. >> bird sanctuary where you've got sandy dunes, who knows how long the remains have been there. >> right. >> they were killed some place and dumped there, how far. >> still trying to -- still trying to confirm if it is one person they're dealing with. >> some sense that the remains are not all from a timeline. >> correct. >> over a long period of time we're talking about. that also adds to the challenges they have, to identify the remains. >> we're on top of it. thank you. new details coming in this morning about the last-minute budget deal that stopped a government shutdown. it cut spending by more than $38 billion. now we know what's actually going as a result of those cuts. the bill trims $10 million from the food safety and inspection. the epa's budget, environmental protection agency's budget cut by about $1.6 billion, also for the first time, the amount of money going to the department of homeland security will be going down. the bill eliminates about $2.9 billion for high-peed rail. the house is scheduled to vote on the bill tomorrow. as of now, looks like it's going to pass. in libya no deal, a cease-fire proposal offered to opposition leaders has been rejected. under the african union plan gadhafi would have agreed to stop all hostilities and allow international forces to enter libya to keep the peace. rebel leaders say that any plan that does not include the removal of gadhafi is unacceptable. the u.s. military believes a long, drawn out stalemate may be emerging in libya according to a a u.s. official, who says one third of gadhafi's ground armor has been destroyed and most air defenses. the military officials say the rebels or gadhafi's forces have the man power or resources to make significant advances from the positions they happen to be in right now. this is pretty incredible. the national weather service confirms ten tornadoes touched down in wisconsin during a severe storm on sunday. we were talking about the tornadoes and the weather in the upper midwest. >> that's right. >> the town of merrill took the brunt, about 200 miles northwest of milwaukee, trees uprooted everywhere, the governor is considering asking for federal help, that would mean declaring a state of emergency. more than 20,000 people in central alabama lost power during a violent storm overnight. a lot of destruction is being reported in jefferson and shelby counties where dozens of homes and cars have been flattened by uprooted trees. >> jacqui is in the extreme weather center and knows extreme midwestern weather quite well. has the system moved on through or are there still more dangers today? >> they're done in the midwest. for the most part, the major severe weather is over with. we'll be watching places like the delmarva, across places like virginia and north carolina. we think later today, for that threat. but it's very much reduced compared to what we saw yesterday and over the weekend. the squall line that caused that damage in alabama, has run its course too. you can see it fizzling out against georgia and south carolina. things will be better and spotty showers. watch out for lightning this morning. you're definitely going to need to leave early if you live in nashville towards louisville and cincinnati and columbus, ohio, because the rain is going to be heavy and we might see some urban flooding. the roadways especially some of the intersections could get covered in water. you see that red area, that's the spot we're going to be watching for severe weather. i think wind damage is going to be our primary concern. we'll also be watching the threat of those wildfires continuing to grow across parts of texas and oklahoma that orange area, highlighted because the winds will really be gusting. new storm system on the horizon. looks like thursday and friday could be rather brutal across the plains and east once again. we'll talk about that and your temperatures, you know, you mentioned the midwest, they hate to mention the "s" word, might see a little bit of that this week. >> not the "s" word that usually doesn't happen after winter, not that "s" word. >> that's the "s" word we're talking about. >> oh, man. i know you folks, both of you, from the upper midwest are hearty, but that's -- i'm canadian, used to cold weather and the "s" word, but this is crazy. >> hard when you warm up and go back down. >> doesn't mean we can't complain. >> thank you. coming up next on "american morning," while this one almost surprised me coming a month after the nuclear -- the earthquake in japan, but the severity of japan's nuclear crisis is on par with the meltdo meltdown? chernobyl. we're going to talk to a nuclear expert about what does that mean, what does that maximum threat level mean at the fukushima daiichi plant. >> in ivory coast, strong man out. after weeks of bloody fighting another civil war comes to an end after the world steps in. >> back here again, d.c.'s mayor, arrested, protesting outside the capital. he says the new federal budget has handcuffed his city. we'll tell you why. 11 minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] nature valley sweet & salty nut bars... they're made from whole roasted nuts and dipped in creamy peanut butter, making your craving for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, by nature valley. the death toll this morning rising after a rush hour subway blast in the nation of belarus. officials say 12 people were killed in this explosion after another victim died at the hospital. more than 120 people were also injured. russia's president is calling it a terrorist attack and has offered help in the investigation. >> some celebrations of liberation in the ivory coast. the african nation's president calling for calm after the arrest of strong man laurent gbagbo. gbagbo's refusal to step down after losing an election last year plunged that nation into civil war. an assault last week by french and u.n. war planes was the beginning of the end for him. he surrendered yesterday after french troops stormed his compound. >> he held out for an awful long time. >> he stayed in that bunker, surrounded several times. he is the definition of a strong man, but out now and the duly elected president is in. d.c. mayor gray released from jail overnight after arrested on capitol hill yesterday. he was one of about 40 people protesting a part of the budget deal that congress struck over the weekend. protesting in particular banning the district from spending its money to provide abortions for low income women. under federal law the city's local budget needs approval from congress. >> something we were discussing last week with their dele gait eleanor holmes norton who says this is a frustrating matter for d.c. japan's nuclear crisis have gone from bad to worse officially. government officials are raising the threat level at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant from a 5 where it was, to a category 7. now that indicates a major incident, the highest level on the international scale for nuclear accidents. on par with the chernobyl disasser. >> what does the shift really mean? michael friedlander a operator at three plants. we're told the amount of radiation emitted from this plant is not as much as chernobyl, but it reaches this level, i guess, because of the long-term implications of how serious this disaster is. to you what does a 7 mean going forward? >> well, it's a very good question and i think probably the question that people are most worried about are -- is this a signal or somehow a sign that things have dramatically taken a turn for the worse or could potentially get worse? i think that, you know, of course it's difficult to predict the future. as much as we can say, the power plants are in a stable configuration right now and what this really represents is the authorities having gone back and looked at data that was -- that what they thought was going on several weeks ago, when the releases were going on, they have probably it should have been categorized as a 7 back then and now they're coming to the realization. >> it's playing catch-up with the events we know and the deterioration of the events we know. i'll tell you, ali and i both, the day after this earthquake and the tsunami, right away there were assurances from the iaea and others that all four reactors had been shut safely down. from the beginning they've been behind the crisis a little bit. >> yeah. there's absolutely no doubt. it's been one of my frustrations as well. you know, sitting here from a distance trying to piece together information like a jigsaw puzzle where the piece is missing, i've been as frustrated as you are. so i understand it. >> michael, when we think about chernobyl, we think about miles and miles, tens of thousands of miles, uninhabitable for a long time. what is happening to this? as we go to a 7, we've concurrently increased the amount of space around nuclear plant where they don't want people to live or evacuating. is this going to be habitable again? >> yeah. we should separate the two c topics. the issue in terms of the amount of radiation that's gone into the air a good news/bass nude. -- bad news. we've had meters on the ground and people walking around. it's not a theoretical issue any more. we have a sense of what's on the ground. from the standpoint of a public health matter or public health policy, we're actually in a pretty good position to make some recommendations for the long-term health of the public. now in terms of the evacuation order that has been issued, i've heard a lot of dialog going on in terms of maybe we should have evacuated earlier. when the protective active recommendations are made you take a look at the circumstances that you're presented with in the moment and trying to make a judgment call in terms of are people going to be better served or better protected by staying put in shelter as opposed to evacuating. it has -- takes into consideration the passage of a radioactive cloud and things like that. what the pars don't address and and where we sit what do you do afterwards. after the radiation has deposited on the ground what do you do now? >> what do you do you now? that's the big question here. they're trying to contain the crisis, but what's next? >> it's a great question. and again, if we can make a bit of a leap of faith and i believe that there's substantial justification for it, that the crisis at the power plant proper is not going to degrade materially any further. in other words there's not going to be any more major releases of radioactivity, the operative question becomes to your point, exactly, what do we do with these thousands and thousands of square miles of contaminated ground. and the reality is, is that there's only one solution and we have too get heavy equipment in there, we have to remove topsoil, remove the tons of debris because remember we had a tsunami as well as an earthquake, houses that are collapsed, cars all of that is connam nated with low level contamination and has to be disposed of properly. >> let's assume it's not going to degrade further. yesterday we heard of more aftershocks, more problems at the plant. what is -- what could make it worse? is it the continued aftershocks, another earthquake with another tsunami? >> it is exactly that. you know, the power plant was severely damaged. we don't exactly know what the condition it's been in, but one data point, the fact that we're sitting here a month after the event, we're still not on a long-term situation of core cooling, still don't have a backup emergency power supply, and we're still injecting off of water that was brought in by the u.s. navy several weeks ago, is a disturbing situation. and so what that indicates is that the power plant has been severely damaged. how you characterize another earthquake or another tsunami, could absolutely put us back where we were a month ago. >> michael frooedslander, thank you for joining us, appreciate your perspective. >> thank you for having me. >> a script to a horror movie but wouldn't be believable. >> the horror movie would end. >> right. >> it's sad to see how this continues. just ahead on "american morning," you've seen their commercials, you know their jingles, but is the credit score these websites selling the real deal. a lot of people have been asking about this. >> if you're paying money to monitor your credit score you have to see this. if you thought kfc's double down was a beast, it's the newest creation from burger king. wait until you hear what's in it. 21 minutes after the hour. anyone who grows things for a living will tell ya... a plant is only as good as the soil you put it in. look, both these potted plants got the same sun. same water. only difference? this. miracle-gro potting mix. rich organic ingredients with miracle-gro plant food mixed right in. it even feeds plants for six straight months. want this result? gotta start with this soil. miracle-gro potting mix. success starts with the soil. by giving me huge discounts on rooms hotels can't always fill. with unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. where you book matters. expedia. okay. >> awful early in the morning for the next story. >> two of us like fast food, we're not scared of unhealthy things. this one intimidates me a little bit. meat lovers dream come true, burger king's meat monster. >> what is in there? >> two burger patties, chicken breast, topped with bacon and cheese. this edible heart attack is only available in japan, by the way, where it will cost you a little less than ten bucks. certainly get your mind off of other issues in japan. no calorie count. if you do the math comes to about 1,160 calories, 24 grams of saturated fat and a little less than 2300 milligrams of sodium. >> any chance that thing is going to come here. that looks so american to me. nothing more big in american than that. >> the japanese enjoying that. i think it's on its way here soon. >> you've no doubt seen the commercials for a free credit score. i mean yeah, you've seen them. exactly what score are they selling you and do you even need it? carmen wong ullrich minding your business. >> you don't need it. >> i don't think you do either. >> here's what we're talking about. a lawsuit in california, regarding experience selling their plus credit score. this is a attached to those ads that you see and i won't even repeat the name. you know you've seen them. now there really are no free credit scores of use. unless and here's what the new card act and legislation, if you've been rejected for a loan, you are allowed to see for free the credit score the lender was looking at. credit scoring is a big, big business, over a dozen credit scores available and more even growing. but only 80% of lenders, only use fico scores. that's from your transunion and equifax credit reports. credit scoring is a big business if you need to check your credit, for free, once a year, look at your credit reports over an annual credit report.com. the only place to go, through federal mandate. go there and look at it and get an idea of the shape of your credit. if you need to look at your scores before applying for a big loan, then you go to myfico.com, the scores most lenders look at. be careful. don't subscribe to ongoing services. a lot of times they like to wrap you up in monthly credit monitoring services. >> it's hard to negotiate through that site. >> there is one link to go look and look for. don't look for -- here's a lint, look for the $19.95. it does cost more but keeps you for paying every month for a service you don't need. >> if you pay your bills on time, don't need to borrow money, and if you are just minding your own business, what in the world do you need to know your credit score for? >> you don't. that's the thing. this has turned into a business, because people like to see the numbers go up and down. key is you're applying for a loan, look at your reports and that's all you need to do. >> if someone has stolen your identity usually your credit card companies give you e-mails anyway. >> that's the facts. >> thank you. just ahead, an about-face from president obama. he wants to raise the nation's debt limit now. we've been talking about that. five years ago, he voted against that. the white house tries to explain, next. >> and olympic champion carl lewis running for political office. it's 28 minutes after the hour. 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commuter jet as it taxied for takeoff. video of the incident posted on wnbc's website. >> moving like a toy. >> imagine sitting on that plane holding a baby, unfortunately standing up to get something and you shouldn't have been. the regional jet had arrived from a flight from boston and was waiting for a gate. no injuries reported. the super jumbo a 380 is the largest passenger plane. >> i think to myself, why do they need you to stay still until it's over, that's why. details of last week's budget deal are being made public. the bill cuts the epa's funding by $1.6 billion. food safety and inspection services would get $10 million less than last year. funding for high-speed rails slashed by $2.9 billion. and the house is scheduled to vote on the deal tomorrow. the senate will vote on it shortly after it is expecting to pass. now to the president's about-face on raising america's debt limit. in 2006, senator barack obama voted against doing that calling it a sign of leadership failure. those are his words. fast forward five years and now president obama is lobbying congress hard to do just the opposite and raise the debt limit. leaving white house spokesman jay carney to offer up this explanation. >> the president, as david plouffe said yesterday, regrets that vote and thinks it was a mistake. he realizes now that raising the debt ceiling is so important to the health of this economy and the global economy that it is not a vote that even when you are protest iing an administration's policies you can play around with and you need to take very seriously the need to raise the debt limit so that the full faith and credit of the united states government is maintained around the globe. >> america will reach it debt limit of $14.3 trillion by may 16th. the congress doesn't raise it. the government could default on its national debt and that's serious. >> we were talking about the budget and debt ceiling and throwing around figures in the billions and trillions. it's tough to digest. a trillion dollars is an awful lot of money. let's take a closer look here. by law, the u.s. caps the amount of debt it can carry. congress sets a limit and it's currently at $14.294 trillion. the problem, right now our debt stands at $14.208 trillion or just $186 billion shy of the limit. that means the united states has to keep borrowing money to keep funding itself, to keep going, but hit that debt ceiling. it's always been moving higher here. our debt ceiling hasn't been this high. look at november 1990. way back here it was about $3 trillion. the first debt limit was set in 1917 at $11.5 billion. if you look at the last 20 years, below $5 trillion to almost $15 trillion we are now. that's a big number. we're going to try to break down what a trillion dollars looks like, get our head around what a trillion dollars is. if you look at $1 trillion in one dollar bills, all stacked on top of each other, you would be able to circle the globe with them 2.75 times. together, stacked up, ali, 67,866 miles. i know it sounds silly. why are you looking at $1 trillion. just to try to get a sense of how much money this is in the context of a $14 trillion economy, a very big economy, with a very big pile of debt. things we've already spent that we haven't paid for. >> excellent explanation. mitt romney taken the first step in his bid to become president. the former governor of massachusetts announced he is setting up a presidential exploratory committee. the second major republican candidate to do so. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty announced an exploratory committee three weeks ago. former olympian carl lewis still running for a living, but the finish line is the new jersey state senate in trenton, new jersey. the ten-time olympic medalist decided to run for office because his charity work wasn't solving enough of the state's problems. on the democratic ticket and plans to focus on two big issues, education and making the state more affordable. ahead on "american morning" -- red river rising. right along with the national guard, we're going to take a look at one of the worst spring floods ever in the north. >> and an out of this world flute duet. i was going to say that didn't sound right. you're looking at it right there, astronaut katie coleman, tracking her mission for months, we're going to talk to katie about it live from space and that duet she's doing right now. >> announcer: this past year alone there's been a 67% spike in companies embracing the cloud-- big clouds, small ones, public, private, even hybrid. your data and apps must move easily and securely to reach many clouds, not just one. that's why the network that connects, protects, and lets your data move fearlessly through the clouds means more than ever. as you know we've been following astronaut katie coleman's journey to space for the past year, on board the international space station now for almost four months. >> katie joins us live from the international space station. 220 miles above the earth along with commander kundretiv, ron gerrand, and alexander semikuti. great to see you. katie, you welcomed on wednesday evening, i don't know how you keep time up there, wednesday evening you welcomed some new guests to the international space station. tell us about that and how it's going up there? >> you know, it is so nice to have these guys up here. i think when we're up here for a long time, we actually begin to take it just a little bit for granted and when new people come and they're so excited about being here and reminds us of all the things just unique, looking out the window, floating, and just loving every minute of living almost on a different planet. >> my next question to the flight engineer, i want to ask you about a warning that we heard last week that the headlines maybe there was a piece of space junk you guys were on the lookout for for the international space station. first nasa warned of an evacuation but nothing came of that. do you get a little nervous up there with all that space junk? >> well, no, we've got many people on the ground that track all that and so they keep us advised when anything gets close. we have procedures we can take shelter in our soyuz spacecraft if something gets too close or need be, we can move the station and boost it to a higher orbit or, you know, do other maneuvers to get out of the way of anything that might be coming our way. >> katie, want to ask you about the flute duet we saw, our viewers saw, we're showing them more. you recently made history playing the first ever space/earth flute duet with ian anderson of jethro tull. tell us about this. >> well, there's a delay in the communication, which makes it actually quite challenging for us and to what we had to do was, he recorded on the ground the base track, the sort of the guitar rhythm and things like that, and we agreed what we would play and then i recorded to that track up here, sent my flute track down there, and then he's actually playing these in concerts in russia this week, where he sees me on the video and playing and he plays along with me. it's the way that we worked out to play together and i think it just shows that music is universal and that real people live up here and we have hobbies and things we love like people on earth. >> it's truly amazing that we're speaking to you all. the flight engineer, i wanted to ask you, last tuesday the 50th anniversary of man's first journey into space, the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch, what does it mean to you guys to be up there together from different countries, astronauts and cosmonauts who are, you know, together in space exploration? >> well, the month of april, it's a very important month. it's also my birthday. but -- no -- 50 years ago, 50 years ago, the human kind kind of leaped forward outside of this world and the journey, the exploration, has continued then and keep bringing -- bring us and pushes us forward. it is one of our things that we do and we do best. it's really interesting how altogether we can feel like a human race, not any more any single country, it's very nice and all these countries up here on the station, but also overall on the ground, can work together and build something that transcends boundaries and societies and pushes us over. this is really nice. >> hey, flight engineer ron geran, a lot of parents watching us getting ready for work and their kit kids are no different than we were as kids saying they want to go into space and become astronauts. the space program is changing so much. pretty much commercial vessels shuttling astronauts to the international space station. can kids still dream of being astronauts and what will it be like 20 years from now, kids who decide to be astronauts be doing, ron? >> yeah. of course kids can still dream of becoming astronauts and, you know, hopefully what we're trying to do is, you know, nasand at other government agencies want to get out of the business of lower earth orbit and go beyond that and explore further near the solar system and that's what the big organizations, big governmental organizations do best. they can push the engine of the envelope and that's what i see, the astronaut in the future doing. just as you said, you know, hopefully very soon, going to lower earth orbit will be no different than getting on an airplane and flying to a different country or somewhere else in the world. it will be commonplace. when that happens we will see further and further exploration and we'll always have room, you know, the universe is a really big place so we'll always have some place to explore. >> you stay safe up there. great talking to you, ron, katie, palo, dimitri, andre and alexander, good luck up there. >> bye everybody. nasa announcing where you will see the retiring space shuttles. john zarrella is live with details on which cities are in the running. 44 minutes past the hour. from whole roasted nutse and dipped 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[ male announcer ] engine light on? come to meineke now for a free code scan read and you'll say... my money. my choice. my meineke. around the fukushima plant. trouble on the car mack at new york's jfk airport. check this out, an air france air bus a 380 the largest passenger plane collides with a commuter plane as it taxis out for takeoff. no one was injured. investigators are trying to figure out what happened. we know that ten tornadoes touched down in wisconsin on sunday. lincoln county, 200 miles northwest of milwaukee got battered. dozens of homes damaged or destroyed. the governor is considering asking for federal help. jurors in the barry bonds perjury trial return for a third day of deliberations this morning. bonds is charged with lying to a grand jury in 2003 when he said he never knowingly took steroids or human growth hormones. the next time you see them they'll be getting married. prince william and kate middleton made their final public appearance yesterday before the royal wedding which is now just 17 days away. you're caught up on the day's headlines. "american morning" is back in 60 seconds. yesterday we were looking at those pictures from out of iowa, the tornado that occurred on sunday. now we have news of ten tornados in wisconsin also at the same time. jacqui jeras covering all of the extreme weather. there is extreme weather in the country today. she's at the extreme weather center. good morning. >> hey, guys. it's the same storm system still on the move, could produce more severe weather today, but we're going to be looking at this area, north carolina, virginia, in parts of maryland and the delmarva peninsula. that's the spot where we could see things trigger up later on this afternoon. one of the other things we've been dealing with with the system is putting down a lot of heavy rain along with snow melt means a lot of flooding. we've been dealing with a lot of that across parts of the midwest. take a look at the pictures out of fargo and morehead area, out of the red river of the north, which crested this weekend. that's the good news, we hit the crest. the bad news, it hasn't budged since then. very little recession on this river and it's going to stay at flood likely for at least the next week. they still really need the sandbags to continue to hold. now, the northeast, we're going to be a little concerned about some flooding for you as well as this rain begins to move in along with that snow melt. new england, a lot of those major rivers will start to rise in the days ahead. tough travel conditions in louisville as well as cincinnati towards nashville with the heavy rain. if you're going to be flying today, expecting delays this afternoon, new york city, d.c., philadelphia, atlanta the wind is going to be a problem for you, charlotte, thunderstorms later on, a couple delays in orlando and tampa because of the thunderstorms as well. cooler air on the back side of this system and windy conditions again in parts of the southwest means that fire danger remains high today and a new storm system moves in from the west will mean more severe weather western it hits into the plains later this week. enjoy the temperatures above average. 68 degrees in minneapolis. >> it was nice and toasty yesterday and today, even in new york. i have to go to atlanta later today. >> good. >> this wind, is that going to be an issue? >> maybe 15 it to 30, i'm not too worried about it. >> thank you. >> jacqui is never all that stressed. >> she's seen it all. >> the morning's top stories minutes away. she was stopped by a security guard at the masters on a thrilling sunday. a female reporter, barred from the locker room by the way, at a club that still doesn't allow female members. she's speaking out. >> an eye-opening poll about the civil war that started 150 years ago and a line still divides some of us. we'll tell you what i'm talking about. it's 51 minutes after the hour. in this. one day, i'll park this in a spot reserved for me. it's got 26,000 miles on it now, but i'm gonna take it to a thousand million. 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[ male announcer ] to get the flights you want, sign up for a venture card at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? uh, it's okay. i've played a pilot before. water, we take our showers with it. we make our coffee with it. but we rarely tap its true potential and just let it be itself. flowing freely into clean lakes, clear streams and along more fresh water coast line than any other state in the country. come realize water's true potential. dive in-to the waters of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze. but with zyrtec® liquid gels, i get fast, 24-hour allergy relief. so i feel better by the time we tee off. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. another chilling discovery on a long island beach. this time it's a human skull and could be the ninth victim of a serial killer who remains on the loose on this "american morning." good morning. it's tuesday, april 12th. welcome to "american morning." i'm ali velshi. >> i'm christine romans. de kiran has the day off. the d.c. mayor being released over a budget protest. his city is handcuffed by congress. we caught up with him as he walked out of jail. crisis at america's gas stations, soaring prices distress drivers. when will see $4 gas? probably not long from now. >> we have begin with a scare on the tarmac at new york's jfk airport, the whole thing captured on tape. video posted on wnbc's website. >> watch this. >> it shows an air france air bus a 380 taxiing and colliding with a delta commute plane that had just landed after a flight from boston. look at the commuter plane just moving. >> moving like a toip. the a 3800 the biggest around, a doubledecker. other commuter jet carrying about 70 people. the big one can carry over 500. you can see the damage to the wing that the -- on the a 380. the airplane holds a lot, one on board was cnn's jim bittermann. >> was going five, seven miles an hour, something like that, made the turn away from the gate and slight rumble and it felt to me like, you know, maybe they hit a rough patch of pavement or something like that, but the pilot immediately stopped the plane and within i would say a minute or two, the fire trucks started arriving around the plane. >> the port authority, which is the body that manages the airport, says no one on either plane was injured. the faa is investigating. there are new developments this morning in the case of an air traffic controller caught sleeping at the knoxville, tennessee, airport this year. the faa suspended 27-year-old jonathan poindexter. now, officials say he's on p probation for an incident last year where he allegedly threatened his girlfriend with a gun. he was given an administrative position and then reintated a month later. a search for a serial killer in new york is intensifying after police discovered what appears to be a human skull near a long island beach. it could be the ninth victim of a suspected serial killer. jason carroll joins us with the latest developments. this thing has been up folding for months. >> now victims so far, possibly ten. investigators did find more remains late yesterday afternoon near a bird sanctuary in a remote beach area. police found the remains after spending the day searching for the brush along a parkway for more victims of a possible serial killer. >> it's all very been startling. all of it has been. i don't have a reaction for you because it's amazing that we're fining these things. obviously we have a lot of work to do. >> well, the discovery comes on the first day authorities expanded their search. since december, police have found the remains of eight people, all eight in the same area. that area located just a few miles from where police found yesterday's remains. so far, four victims have been identified, all worked as prostitutes who advertised on craig's list. police suspect a single person may be responsible for their murders. >> collectively, we want to bring to justice this animal that has, obviously, taken the lives of a number of people. >> well, the missing person's case that prompted this entire investigation involves shannan gilbert. gilbert was an escort and last may she was seen in the area when a witness says she banged on his door, begging for help, saying someone was trying to kill her. he called 911. gilbert ran away. there is another bit of an update we have for you this morning on the search. police did find another set of remains yesterday, but they could not confirm if that set of remains are human. if they, in fact, do, that would then bring the total to ten instead of nine. >> keep saying possible serial killer. yet, officials say they think that one person may have been responsible for this. we don't know yet. >> because more evidence has to be collected and when you're trying to collect evidence from the remains, some of them that have been out there more than a year it's very difficult. they're saying one person, possibly more than one. >> what a story. jason, thanks very much for that. >> okay. we're getting a closer look at the deal to cut government spending by more than $38.5 billion. that was the agreement that prevented a shutdown on friday night. it trims $10 million from food safety and inspection, the bill also cuts the epa's budget by about $1.6 billion, also for the first time, the amount of money going to the department of homeland security will be going down. >> the bill eliminates about $2.9 billion for high speed rails, priority of president obama's. the house is scheduled to vote on president obama's 11th hour compromise tomorrow. the senate shortly after. d.c. mayor vin gent gray released from jail after arrested on capitol hill yesterday. he was one of about 40 people protesting a part of the budget deal struck on the weekend which bans the district of columbia from spending its money to provide abortions for low-income women. he sent out a tweet yesterday saying i am calling on all residents of d.c. to join us now at the hart senate office to stand for our freedom. then he tweeted, getting arrested on the hill for d.c. autonomy. here he is after he was released early yesterday morning. he paid his $50 fine and then he spoke to reporters. >> the importance of this, to me, is that we needed to make a statement that what has happened in this budget process and what has happened repeatedly to the district of columbia, is just completely unacceptable. these riders that have been placed on our budget, are completely unacceptable. the fact that we were pulled into this process in the first place, completely unacceptable. and it's time for the people of the district of columbia to stand up and let this nation know, that we want to be first-class citizens like everybody else. >> he's referring to being first-class citizens. under federal law, d.c. isn't like everybody else in the country. the city's local budget, the city's budget, has to be approved by congress. a new round of tremors overnight in japan including another 4.6 magnitude earthquake that struck on japan's east coast about 120 miles from tokyo. meantime officials say the radiation risk from japan's crippled fukushima nuclear plant is worse than previously thought. the nuclear threat level has been raised from five to seven, the highest level on the international scale, on par with the chernobyl disaster in 1986, the worst nuclear accident in history. by comparison the three mile island accident was classified as a category five. earl yes on "american morning," former plant operator michael friedlander says while fukushima isn't exactly chernobyl, the signs aren't good. >> the power plant was severely damaged. we don't exactly know what the condition it's been in, but just one data point, the fact that we're sitting here a month after the event, still not on a long-term situation of core cooling, we still don't have a backup emergency power supply and still injecting off of water brought in by the u.s. navy several weeks ago is a disturbing situation. >> japanese officials have widened the evacuation zone around the fukushima plant. u.s. nuclear regulators are investigating an accident at a nebraska power plant. officials say three plant workers were accidentally exposed to radiation last week. those workers triggered alarms by incorrectly moving a radioactive tube. the nuclear regulatory commission believes they were not exposed to radiation above safety limits. a female sports reporter barred from entering the men's locker room during the final round of the masters, she says the way she was treated at the augusta national golf club is inexcusable. >> tara sullivan with "the bergen record" trying to interview rory mcilroy after he coughed up a four-shot lead. a female security guard wouldn't let her follow the golfer into the locker room. she tried to tell the guard it was against the law to stop her from doing her job. >> i didn't get into any sort of shouting matches or start quoting the federal law that mandates equal access once the locker room is open. it almost stunned me. i was focused on trying to finish my job and do my reporting it wasn't until later when i tweeted that everything seemed to take off. >> augusta national is apologizing for the guard's action. they said it should not have happened. we will work as hard as we can to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> can women be members of augusta? still to come, republican front runner makes his move, mitt romney taking the next step toward a run for the white house. >> how his announcement is going and why he thinks he's presidential material. >> extreme weather damaging homes, knocking out power for thousands of people in the south. we're tracking the latest forecast after the break. you're watching "american morning." they blur one into the next. we lose ourselves in the fog of everyday life, and drift away from what matters. but like a beacon in the night, it finds us. the light of more than 100 lighthouses, burning through that fog, and beckoning us back to what's real and true. this light shines for us all. this light is pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org just got more powerful. introducing precise pain relieving heat patch. it blocks pain signals for deep relief precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. parts of north dakota remain under water devastated by some of the worst flooding the state has seen. in fargo the red river has broken its banks reaching 39 feet, normal levels are, you know, somewhere shy of 20 feet. three people have been killed by these floods. more than 20,000 people in central alabama lost power during a violent storm overnight. a lot of destruction reported in jefferson and shelby counties where dozens of homes and cars have been flattened by uprooted trees. >> 11 minutes past the hour. jacqui jeras is here now, spring all over the country, that means tornadoes, floods in north dakota and it means one day it's 80 degrees, the next day you could have snow by the end of the day. >> i know. bundle up. you need the winter jackets in parts of the midwest by the end of the week. snow back in the forecast and those severe storms we're just getting started with the season. in fact, we see more tornadoes in the month of may than any other month. we've got a long ways to go here. what about the threat today? we're going to be watching the delmarva peninsula, watching eastern virginia as well as eastern north carolina and i think damagining winds will be r concern but can't rule out an isolated tornado and developing midday into the afternoon hours. this is a same system that clocked the midwest this weekend. today it's going to be bringing showers and thundershowers up the seaboard and heavy rain across parts of tennessee as well as into the ohio valley. the line that was producing the severe weather in alabama last night, look at that across georgia and south carolina, it's really fizzled out. just spotty showers for you. we're concerned about some flash flooding in parts of kentucky into louisville, into cincinnati, as that heavy rain continues to come down. it's going to be a slow and wet commute for you folks. that system kind of lingering into the northeast through tomorrow. behind it, is a little cooler and it's certainly windy and dry and that is a worry for the fires that continue to burn in parts of texas and oklahoma as well. that is a critical area highlighted today as that relative humidity is extremely low. we're going to get a nice break for the most part in the weather come tomorrow, but thursday into friday, we might see that next outbreak of severe weather and yeah, that wintry weather which is going to be arriving. we'll talk about that in your travel impact in the next half hour. >> thank you. mitt romney taking the official first step in his bid to become the president of the united states. the former governor of massachusetts announced yesterday that he is setting up a presidential exploratory committee. the republican front runner says the country is going into the wrong direction and he is the man to turn it around. >> from my vantage point in business and government, i've become convinced that america has been put on a dangerous course by washington politicians and it's become even worse during the last two years. but i'm also convinced that with able leadership, america's best days are still ahead. >> former owe limben carl lewis is trying to reach a new finish line. he says he's running for office because his charity work isn't solving enough of the state's problems. he's on the democratic ticket and plans to focus on two issues if he wins, education and making new jersey more affordable. >> impressive guy, carl lewis. beyonce giving the first lady a boost in her attempt to tackle childhood obesity. she is releasing a video called "let's move flash workout" a reworked version of her hit "get me bodied" and released across middle schools across the country on may 3rd. >> we could do dancing here. >> for more on these stories and all things politics logon to cnn.com/politics. forking out more money for gas. how high can we expect gas prices to go? the answer, right after this. >> announcer: this past year alone there's been a 67% spike in companies embracing the cloud-- big clouds, small ones, public, private, even hybrid. your data and apps must move easily and securely to reach many clouds, not just one. that's why the network that connects, protects, and lets your data move fearlessly through the clouds means more than ever. hey susie, why don't you use this ? it's got a calculator. thanks, dad. this is the neighborhood. you get elm street and you get main street. thank you. and that's just the first quarter. so you want a slide in your office ? or monkey bars, either one. more small businesses choose verizon wireless than any other wireless carrier. where's susie ? is she expecting you ? because they know the small business with the best technology rules. i use a kindle. >> you do? >> yeah. and so there's this neat idea, they're letting you save 25 bucks on a new kindle but a catch, you have to be willing to put up with ads that will pop up on the bottom of the home screen and as screen savers. i don't mind the concept. i'm not sure $25 bill do it for me. >> maybe a kindle for 25 bucks would make it. >> then show me the ads. >> the prices have been coming down for the handheld readers anyway. >> lot. people say once they get to $100 -- >> the trial made famous in the social met kwoshg may be over. a federal appeals court ruling cameron and tyler winklevoss. >> the winklevii can't back out of a settlement deal in 2008. they claim mark zuckerberg stole their idea and later they charged facebook, misrepresented its stock value in the settlement. they got a settlement, they got reportedly millions to settle with zuckerberg. >> the judge said maybe they misrepresented, maybe they didn't but you accepted the terms of the deal. appleby's promising now to change its drink policy after a 15-month-old had to be rushed to the hospital because he was served margarita mix instead of apple juice. sink in for a second. >> tequila in the mix? >> the restaurant chains says juice will only be poured from single serve containers at the table because at least two other incidents like this one have been reported at apple be's since 2006. how does that solve the problem if you're not supposed to serve alcohol to people. >> to babies. >> evidence that there's a bottle. there should be a better system. >> sounds like they're going to use juice boxes. >> how about you don't serve booze to kids. >> gas prices on the rise. already americans starting to apply the brakes when it comes to spending elsewhere. carmen wong ullrich minding your business. >> good morning. that's good business not to serve booze to kid. very good business move. yes. gas prices, they are something else. 70% of the nation's gas stations are now reporting that for the past five weeks, we've been buying less gas. as we approach $4 a gallon at the national average a lot of folks are not happy. take a listen. >> $4.19 a gallon, that's ridiculous. absolutely absurd. >> i have to drive and they don't pay mileage. it's really, really sticking me. >> getting all the bailouts and the brakes and we're getting squeezed. >> it's l.a., so it's even worse than most places. >> how high can it go? oil analyst tom clausea places his bets of going over $4.11, at around 40%. those would be good odds there. what happens beyond $4 a gallon? he says $4 a gallon for an extended period of time, dire consequences for the consumer economy. and this makes some sense. with folks cutting back at the pump they're going to be cutting back at spending as well. retail sales numbers released tomorrow, expect those to be lower. summer travel, this will impact not only driving but the airlines as well. now the last time gas was this high, it was during the recession. but now we are in a period of growth. it's going to be interesting to see how we react to this in terms will it cut that deep. >> people might not feel that payroll tax holiday they have this year. you get extra money in your paycheck because of the payroll tax holiday, except spending it on gas and then some. >> i would venture increasing price of damage is psychologically more damaging than the benefit of a payroll holiday. >> absolutely. the smaller cars, the fuel efficient cars, those sales, through the roof. suvs way down. that's a trend that that's going to stick. >> more fuel efficient cars. >> at least we're not paying $8 a gallon like in europe. for your market check, markets flat. dow up 1, nasdaq down about 9, s&p down almost 4 points. one. >> might as well stay home on a day like that. >> thanks. we've been talking a lot about your kids' health at school from food allergies to the type of food your kids are being served. this morning, one-time staple in cafeteria is is coming under attack. chocolate milk. >> no! >> no booze in it. something critics claim is nothing more than a sugar packed snack drink. the number of schools have banned it. in fairfax, virginia, a low fat version is back on the menu after parents complained about it. students, nutritionists and special groups interests were also involved in that. >> i got two little boys who love chocolate milk. in one chicago school a mom's home made lunch is no longer an option. the little village academy banning brown bagged lunches from home unless a student has a medical excuse. nutrition wise, the food they serve is healthier. not all parents are on board with the school's decision. we want to know what you think. should your child be allowed to bring his or her lunch to school. weigh in at cnn.com/am and also on twitter at cnnam. the end of an era the nasa. the space shuttle program shuts down this summer. a lot of museums will find out if they landed a piece of history. >> once commanded u.s. troops in afghanistan, now general stanley mcchrystal will lead a new effort to help soldiers and their families. 22 minutes past the hour. they're two of a kind. and, just like toddlers, puppies need food made for them. that's why there's purina puppy chow... with all the essential nutrients your growing puppy needs. purina puppy chow. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] with amazing innovation, driven by relentless competition, wireless puts the world at your command. ♪ [ male announcer ] you always dreamed of living in a place like this. but the land can be challenging. that's where our expertise comes in. your john deere dealer will find the best solution to get the most for your money and the most out of your property. because we know you love your land... every last bit of it. deere season is going on now. go to johndeere.com/tractors and get 1,000 dollars off 2520 and 2320 compact tractors with the purchase of two or more implements. we were just talking about -- space junkies an that's not that weird. every kid is. >> part of american history, you go to cape canaveral or many places in florida or houston, amazing to see things from the apollo or air and space museum, see the birth of american space travel. >> and now there will be another big piece of history with america's space shuttle program being phased out. dozens of museums are hoping to land a little bit of that history. >> nasa will announce where the retiring shuttles will go on permanent display. john zarrella live in florida this morning. >> he is a space junky more than anybody. >> hearing the stories about them and now think the shuttle program is part of that history. >> yeah. and today, you know, it really crystallizes and finalizes the fact that this is it. the space shuttle program is coming to an end. and today is decision day. nasa administrator charlie boldin is going to be here at the kennedy space center this afternoon for a ceremony that marks the 30th anniversary of the very first space shuttle flight, john young and bob on board "columbia" lifted off from here april 12th, 1981. he's going to use that opportunity to announce which sites around the country will be awarded space shuttles. one wall of the new space gallery is already up at the museum of flight in seattle, it's like hoping if you build it, a space shuttle will come. >> i think confident might be too strong a word. hopeful is a better one. nasa put together a set of requirements for museums to respond to. we think that we have responded positively. >> reporter: the seattle museum is one of nearly two dozen museums, planetariums and visitor centers across the country looking to land a space shuttle orbiter. in texas, home of the johnson space center, members of congress publicly lobbied for their home state. >> there's no community in the world, none in the world, that deserves an orbiter more than houston, texas. >> reporter: the drama mirrors the bidding to host an olympic games with good reason. if your city gets one the iconic winged flying machines will again rate tens of millions in increased revenues every year. the inpid museum in the big apple translates to 30% in increased attendance. >> over 300,000 people additional to the intread. i to the new york city, couple that with the $106 million in economic benefits we think that's a pretty good deal. >> reporter: because the price tag for each orbiter, "discovery," "atlantis" and "endeavour" is $28.8 million. the cost to nasa for cleaning up and making them museum ready. now this subtle you see behind me, that's not a real one. that's a mock-up here at the kennedy space center. visitor complex. but because nasa administrator boldin is coming here to florida to make the announcement, it's believed that right here, where you see this display, all that's going to be torn down, and it's believed that one of the shuttles, probably "endeavour," which is flying in a couple weeks, will end up on permanent display in a building made just for it probably in about a year and a half from now. ali? >> to go on them, john? >> well, a lot -- you probably can't. you're going to be able to go up to them, walk right up next to them, and get very close. it's doubtful that you'll be able to actually get on board one of these, on board one of the space shuttles because they're just too priceless an artifact. i'll tell you, it's believed dayton, ohio, might get "atlantis." the air force museum there. they're one of the favorites. "discovery" goes to the smithsonian and then "enterprise" which sits in the smithsonian will go to one of these other locations at a reduced price because it never flew. >> only hope that it becomes a draw for some of these towns and allows them to, you know, the cafe and the gas stations, everybody make a little money. >> this is the first year. museums always want things. but in this case i think this changes the equation. if you didn't have a real space shuttle and you get one, it creates an entire industry. >> all right. >> without a doubt. no question. they think 200,000 more visitors a year here, 15 million to the local economy, if they get one, and certainly seattle, washington, tulsa, oklahoma, houston. it's going to be huge for which ever of these cities gets one, lands one of the shuttles. maybe it will be with you at the intrepid museum. >> lands one of the shut les. a good way of sneaking the puns in. half past the hour. the faa investigating a runway collision at new york's jfk airport. >> this is crazy. >> the video posted on wnbc's website. air france super jumbo jet hitting a delta commuter plane as it was taxiing for takeoff. the commuter plane just landed, just waiting to enter a gate. no one on either of the planes was injured. >> as far as runway collisions go that was one of the better ones. it clipped the tail of the delta plane and sort of spun it around. >> you got 600 people together on both of those planes, it could have been much worse. japan raising the threat level from its crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant, raising it to a category 7. that puts it on par with the chernobyl disaster in 1986. officials citing the totality of the radiation leak that has contaminated the air, ground and water. state of florida getting a $30 million boost from bp. a grant from the oil giant will be paid to seven counties in the florida panhandle over the next three years. it's designed to help florida's tourism industry recover from the gulf oil spill. the former top military commander in afghanistan, general stanley mcchrystal, taking a new leadership post with the obama administration to support service members and their families. barbara starr has the details for us live at the pentagon this morning. tell us about this, barbara. >> maybe you can go home again. at least general mcchrystal seems to be going home again. he will be back at the white house for the first time since he was fired last year by president obama. of course for those disparaging remarks in a "rolling stone" article. however he is back at the invitation of first lady michelle obama. general mcchrystal is going to be part of a new group called joining forces. this is a group that is going to try to encourage schools, businesses, local communities, to lend a hand to veterans and military families suffering years of stress, now from war deployments. so what is general mcchrystal been up to before stepping back on the public stage today? well, he's largely stayed out of sight. he's writing a book. he has done some lecturing, some teaching, but he has stayed very, very quiet. this will be his step back on to the public stage and perhaps serving the obama administration fairly well, because he remains very respected in the military community. there have been a lot of bad feelings about what happened last year, so now, they reach out to him, he comes back a little bit into the public arena, and everybody feels pretty good about it. but general mcchrystal really addressing a serious problem, veterans unemployment, military families stressed, post-traumatic stress, really serious issues, and he's been a long-time advocate for the troops. this is something, by all accounts, he has really wanted to do. >> when he did what he did, made those comments to "rolling stone" the administration worked very swiftly on that. he was out on a dime. he was out before that plane landed that was bringing him back from afghanistan. aren't they worried about that signal, that you can do something, you can speak against the president, you can speak out of turn in the military, and you can come back home? >> well, you know, i think president obama pretty much laid the ground work last year, the day he fired general mcchrystal, he made clear he felt he had no choice because of what had happened, but he also made clear that general mcchrystal has served the country and military honorably for many years. it was basically viewed as a very serious lapse in judgment, but a lapse in judgment. not something that was a court-martial offense. general mcchrystal himself has said to friends over the last year we know that he feels that this is something he will always be remembered for and a burden he will bear. these are judgment calls. a four-star, very respected. >> barbara, thank you so much. americans love a second chance and redemption. we've seen it in all kinds of different industries, sports figures, politicians. >> as barbara said, he's respected by the troops. >> still to come, it's been called financial doom's day. what happens, what really happens, if america hits its credit card limit? renowned harvard economist weighs in on the debt ceiling debate next. >> scientists say there is a delicious, juicy fruit that can ward off a deadly form of cancer. i'll tell you what kind of it although you can probably guess from the pictures on the screen. your am house call is just ahead. >> is it blueberries? as we reported the nation is $86 billion away from hitting its debt ceiling. the white house said that would be armageddon like for the economy. strong wording here. but are they right? if the debt ceiling is not raised by congress do we really face a doom's day scenario? >> we keep equating this to people's credit limits and if you were in charge of your credit limit you couldn't just keep on increasing it. seems obvious you can't keep doing it. >> the government does over and over again. >> what happens if the government this time doesn't? >> joining me now, kenneth, a professor at harvard economics wrote the book on economics. tell us a little bit about -- you say it would be like committing suicide if they don't raise the debt limit. in layman's terms, explain what does the world look like if we don't raise it? >> the problem is, it's one thing to say okay, we're done, we're not borrowing anymore. but we have plans, our government has plans, to spend more than a trillion dollars than it takes in. and if we don't raise the debt limit, we have to come up with the money another way. raising taxes, cutting government spending. i mean we just can't do that. that fast. so we probably end up defaulting on our debt. we do it by not paying our debts. and that -- something like that hasn't happened before. it would make what happened a couple years ago look minor. it would just be a meltdown, the dollars, the center of the universe. >> but let's --? in the world credit market. >> when you say we might default on some debt, it would be all debt, bonds, basically somebody wouldn't get the payment they were going to get on a bond. what happens that day in the world, in the economy? >> well, so many things in the world are linked against the dollar. it's the gold standard. trade in asia, the trade in europe, everything. your bank accounts, everything. it would be a freeze in financial markets. i mean, we could get hyperbolic about it, but it really is hard to imagine. greece defaulting is one thing. this would be times a thousand. like nothing we'd ever seen. >> this is why over and over, no matter what, republicans and democrats come together and they raise it and they raise it again and they raise it again and they stand and they say it's a lack of leadership. the president himself said in 2006, it shows a lack of leadership, we have to stand here and keep voting about raising the debt limit. he voted against raising the debt limit. but overall, congress does it again and again. i want you to listen to this sound bite yesterday from the president's spokesman who was asked about what would happen. >> the consequences as secretary geithner and many others including the speaker of the house, senate minority leader, congressman ryan have pointed out, the consequences of failing to raise the debt ceiling, would be ar me getten like in terms of the economy on the impact on interest rates, on job creation, on growth would be devastating. >> can my question to you is, this conversation we're having today, is this a result of congress not doing its job before today? i mean isn't this about figuring out how it's going to run the country and how it's going to spend our money? >> well, of course, christine, that's right. but on the bright side, there actually is some serious conversation going on in washington about what to do, not just this year, about the next ten years. their proposals by the centrists senate group is, the gang of six, by the ryan, president obama's coming out with his proposal. it's about time. so it took this brinkmanship to get the conversation going. that's good. but for goodness sake, hope they raise the debt limit at the end of the day. >> ken, michelle bachmann, the republican member of congress from minnesota, who leads the tea party caucus, is one of those who says we are not voting to increase this debt limit, the debt ceiling, without some major concessions. now the bottom line is, it's playing with fire, but it is going to so important to raise that debt limit that might politicians have to go along with that threat and cut elsewhere in the budget just to get this done? >> they do. i mean let's look at the deal they just cut on, you know, allowing the government to spend money again. republicans holding only the house were able to cut a pretty good deal and the tea party looks and says do more for us. they have a lot of leverage. it's, you know, if they're threatened to act you can sometimes get something done. just by accident goes too far and we do end up defaulting as the white house said, it really is armageddon. it would be a catastrophe. >> interest rates go up, the dollar, oil, all it tied in. i'm telling you there is a theme here that plays. to the american people who see washington continually spending more money than it brings in, $14 trillion pile of money we haven't -- borrowed and haven't paid back, enough is enough. what does the world look like, can going forward as we deal with that mountain of debt? should americans be prepared for higher taxes, fewer services, budget cuts and the like? >> we americans have been voting for this. if someone comes and says, i'm going to cut taxes, we love it. if they spend more money, we love it. we've been voting for it for a long, long time. it isn't our politicians, it's us. we'll have to make an adjustment. we can't do it quickly, but we were spending way more than we take in. we need a wholistic fix of our whole system. it's not a simple thing, get rid of some of the tax deductions and things like that at the same time, but there are good ideas out there, but there's just no traction on them and a little bit here, but i suspect it will pass after they raise the ceiling. >> ken, thank you so much. and ken talks about tax reform too. we'll talk about that, how we can fix the tax system as part of this wholistic approach. >> thank you. >> good to see you. it's us. take responsibility for making those polling ittitions fear that if they don't lower your taxes, and keep spending where it is, they're not getting back. >> politicians feeding into what america wants, a bigger middle-class lifestyle on the same or -- it's a good argument. up next on "american morning," two planes collide on the runway at jfk. one of them the biggest passenger plane in the world, we'll tell you what happened. >> we'll show you. nissan looking into a problem with its all new electric leaf. we'll have details on that. 44 minutes after the hour. too much on your plate? 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[ female announcer ] thinking mexican tonight? hamburger helper has five festive flavors like crunchy taco. hamburger helper. one pound. one pan. one happy family. a lot going on this morning. here's what you need to know to start your day. a collision on the tarmac at new york's jfk airport. a giant air france air bus a 380 taking off, taxiing for taxoff, when it hit a commuter plane that had just landed. the search for additional victims of a suspected long island serial killer turning up a human skull. it's the ninth set of human remains found since december. washington, d.c., mayor vincent gray, released from grailover night. he was arrested on capitol hill while protesting the budget deal congress struck. maximum nuclear alert. the threat level at japan's crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant has been raised to a category 7 on par with chernobyl. and officials have widened the evacuation zone around the plant. nissan now investigating problems with its new all-electric leaf. drivers in the u.s. and japan have complained that it doesn't start all the time. the nissan hasn't issued a recall saying it's not a safety issue. u2's 360 world stadium tour is the highest grossing road show ever. so far taking in more than $554 million in ticket sales. when the tour wraps up in july it's expected to have made more than $700 million for bono and the boys. you're caught up on the day's headlines. doubtful, you love me. hey, you can't take allegra with fruit juice. what? yeah, it's on the label. really? here, there's nothing about juice on the zyrtec® label. what? labels are meant to be read. i'd be lost without you. i knew you weren't allergic to me. [ sneezes ] you know, you can't take allegra with orange juice. both: really? fyi. [ male announcer ] get zyrtec®'s proven allergy relief and love the air®. [ male announcer ] get zyrtec®'s proven allergy relief have you ever been next towith a that car that pulls up to athis? stop light and it sounds like it's metal to metal? so these are your pads... and this pad... that is definitely destroyed, beyond worn out. right. it's a sad face pad. well, it could also be a happy face pad. it could be. but it's not. because it wasn't changed. get a free brake inspection and a $40 rebate on motorcraft complete brake service. any questions? change your brakes. the cast of my favorite reality show is getting a huge raise. they'll get to spend it shooting next season in italy. "jersey shore". >> the cast has wrapped up contract negotiations, some reportedly pulling down $100,000 an episode. snooki gets a raise. >> i would guess snooki is the higher in that group. >> spending $100,000 in beautiful italy. america's cultural export to italy, "jersey shore". >> someone tells me jacqui is not a big "jersey shore" fan. >> i've never seen a whole show. >> i haven't either. >> i'm proud to say it. >> have you -- you watch it? >> i'm a total addict. >> really? >> i once said to the crew, it's not like that on "jersey shore." the guys are like yeah, it is where we go. >> we need to party with them. >> what you what do you got? any party weather out there? >> a lot of people partying on spring break, that's going on. speaking of spring breakers, watch out for the thunderstorms. florida today, is going to be an area we'll be watching. also a threat of rip currents. if the red flags are flying, stay out of the water. just saying. here's the storm system that produced the severe weather over the midwest and the weekend. also caused damage in alabama overnight. take a look at the pictures we have out of the huntsville area where winds in excess of 60 miles per hour toppled a whole bunch of trees, landed on top of houses, cars. a lot of damage and thousands of people are waking up without power in that area this morning. now that squall line has pushed off to the east. good news is, it's weakened a little bit. we can see it just looking at your garden variety as we call it, showers and isolated thundershowers. be aware ofthundershowers, be aware of that as they headed toward the coast. we look at the backside of the system, really heavy rain, along i-65 now from nashville to louisville up toward the cincinnati area, watch out for water-covered street, a good possibility that heavy rain continues to come down that will push into the northeast, guys doing good for the commute, new york city, but say another couple hours from now, that rain is going to start to move in the threat of severe storms will be midday into the afternoon hours, probably waning down after sunset for a change, across the delmarva, eastern virginia and north carolina as well. i think wind damage will be our primary concern. nation's midsection here looking pretty good, pretty warm, not a bad spring day for you, watching out for those dry and gusty conditions across parts of the southwest where those wildfires continue to burn. thousands of acres, unfortunately, still burning here, winds not help situation. temperature-wise good across the nation's midsection, cool across the east. hope you guys enjoyed the nice temperatures yesterday new york city. >> we sure did, jacqui, thank you. >> i'm heading that way today, a routine trip, going from new york to atlanta but i'm crossing the mason-dixon line. these days, 150 years after the civil war started, don't think this as a big deal, a new poll by cnn opinion research show two-thirds of americans sympathize more with the union. 23% of americans sympathize more with the con fed ras circumstance today. if you break it down to just white southerners, the number of people sympathizing about with the union drops to just 48%. fewer than half of white southerner notice united states sympathize with the union today. 39% sympathize with the confederacy, very eye-opening. >> showing a he very complex -- complex history 150 years later. >> the same poll breaks down to why you thought the war was fought. again, big break down whether it was slavery or states rights. it -- there's some of those matters that haven't been resolved in some people's minds 100 years later. >> ponder the poll results on your trip across the mason-dixon line. >> i will do that she tried to become the youngest woman to sail around the world, she was stopped by a 50 root rogue wave. she is lucky she escaped with her life. abby sunder lynn is here to tell us why that didn't sink her dreams. >> 52 minutes after the hour. ♪ [ male announcer ] escape convention. ♪ escape definition. ♪ escape compromise. ♪ introducing the most fuel-efficient luxury car available. the radically new... 42 mile per gallon ct hybrid from lexus. ♪ welcome to the darker side of green. ♪ eating strawberries may be a good way to protect yourself against esophageal cancer. scientists at ohio state's cancer center collaborated on a study with researchers in china. they found strawberries decreased precancerous lesions and reduced cancer-related molecular events city, that ten times fast in patients predisposed to getting cancer of the esophagus. researchers aren't sure which ingredients in strawberries deterring the cancer. they found a link. >> the kind of studies i like, yummy foods that do good things for you. two existing drugs taken together could help obese patients lose weight and reduce their blood pressure and cholesterol. the study gave over 2400 people pent ter mean and topamax in time-released doses. the average weight loss, 18 to 22 pounds. vivis is trying to get the combination drug approved by the fda. if you need to lose a few pounds you might want to blame your children a study by the researchers at university of minnesota found mothers of young children are heavier and eat more unhealthier foods than childless women. scientist says moms are so busy they often reach for something quick like prepared foods, processed foods, higher in fat and calories and eat the scraps. >> i think that's what it is with me, when i'm around kids, give me some of that kid, you aren't going to finish that give me mac and cheese and dip foods in it. >> kid's food, everything the same color. put strawberries on that. >> there you go. the next is a meat-lover's dream come true, burger king's meat monster, look at this thing, look that the to understand what it is a chicken breast, on top, two burger patties topped with bacon and cheese. incredible heart attack is only available in japan where it will cost you a little less than $10. there's no real calorie count, if you do the math it comes doubt about 1,160 calories, 69 grams of fat, 13 grams of sugar and 54 grams of carbohydrates. >> a whole lot of sodium. whoa. >> top stories coming your way in just two minutes. 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[ female announcer ] wish granted. lean cuisine has a fresh new bag. lean cuisine market creations steam meals. like new chicken poblano with tender white meat chicken, crisp veggies, in a savory cheddar sauce. new from lean cuisine. biggest commercial plane on the planet coming through. i'm ali velshi a collision on the runway at jfk. not only is there video, we'd reporter on the flight. >> i'm christine romans, maximum nuclear alert, officially talking about another possible chernobyl. japan raises the crisis to the highest level on the international scale on this "american morning." good morning. it is tuesday, april 12th. welcome to "american morning." clearson off today. >> let's start with disaster averted. when david meth goliath on the tarmac at jfk airport, video posted on the wnbc website shows an air france super jumbo airbus a-380 tax sig and hitting a delta connection flight. the commuter plane had just landed, was heading to a guy. the airbus a-380 is the world's biggest passenger plane, capable of holding to to more than 500 people and cnn's jim bittermann happened to be on board. >> pulled away from the gate. going probably 5 to 7 miles an hour, probably something like that made the turn away from the gate and the slight rumble felt to me like they hit a rough patch of pavement or something like that but they immediately stopped the plane and within, i would say, a minute or two the fire trucks started arising around the plane. >> no one on either plane was injured but i cannot imagine what it must have been like to have been on that delta flight to have whipped around. jfk is investigating that. >> i'm always on a plane as it lands, somebody tries to get up, please, sit down, get in your seat, keep your seat belt on. >> very irritated flight attendant saying, no, no, no, wait until you get to the gate. japan's version of chernobyl, the nuclear threat level at the fukushima daiichi plant has been raised from a category 5 to a category 7 that is the highest level on an international scale t reflects a major incident. also on par with chernobyl, the worst nuke cheer accident in history. official says only a tenth of the radiation that escaped at chernobyl escaped from fukushima plant. >> fraying nerves, a fresh round of tremors today it, including one with a magnitude of 6.3. there have been hundreds of aftershocks in january since the march 11th quake and tsunami. many have been stronger than 6.0. jacqui jeras is looking that the for us, she is in atlanta. seismologists say this could go on aer i don't, look at a 9 magnitude quake, these aftershocks will be big and frequent? >> absolutely. yeah. the bigger the shock, the more frequent and the bigger the aftershocks tend to be what we have been seeing, you know, seems terrible and seems excessive, doesn't it? seeing an aftershock an hour, easy, look at the averages and the numbers. not only could this go on for a year, this could go on for years, plural, maybe even a decade or more. take a look at the map you see there behind me. that is the latest in terms of what we have seen for aftershocks after the big quake. you there see the big 9.0 on march 11th there all of the orange dots you see are earthquakes that happened in the last 24 hours. all of the yellow dots are ones that have happened just in the last week. so as we take a look at the numbers and we break this thing down, we have had a total of nearly 1,000 aftershocks. now, when you look at 4.0 or so in japan, you know, most of these buildings are really built to withstand something like that so, that's not that big of a deal, when you see 500 of those but you start seeing 6.0s, start seeing the 7.0s, that is major. and we have seen, you know, more than 506.0 and above. so when you break it down on average, when you get an earthquake magnitude 9.0 or so what would you expect in terms of how many more aftershock russ going to see you usually see about one, on average. again, not everything runs by averages right, 8.0. you usually see 10 7.0. we are almost half there already. 6.0, see about 100, 1,0005.0 and about 10,0004.0s. so just to put it in perspective, we are going to continue seeing more and more of these and yes, it is possible that we are going to see another quake 7.0 or greater, you know, in the upcoming days, weeks, months, year ahead. >> jacqui jeras, thanks, jacqui. >> in a manufacturing country where they manufacture so much precision stuff -- >> absolutely. >> even those small earthquakes, they have to recalibrate everything, can't keep working. >> the rolling blackouts too, on top of the small earthquakes. >> very difficult to get back to normal. police on long island, new york are stepping up their search for a serial kill they are morning after investigators discovered what appears to be a human skull along a beach highway yesterday. now, they believe it could be the killer's ninth victim. earlier in the day a police officer and his cadaver dog spotted another set of remains about half a mile -- about a mile and a half away. they are working right now to determine if those remains are human and if they are, that could possibly mean a tenth victim. ten people, including a former coach and two former players, at the university of san diego have been charged with trying to fix the school's basketball games. among those indicted, brandon johnson, all-time leading scorer at the university of san diego. the alleged bribery ring involves using proceeds from marijuana sales to wry trialter the outcome of games. a cease-fire proposal offered to opposition leaders in libya has been rejected. under the african union plan, moammar gadhafi would have agreed to stop all hostileities and allow international forces to enter libya to help keep the peace. rebel leaders say any plan that does not include the removal of gadhafi is unacceptable. and elsewhere in africa, celebration of liberation in the ivory coast. the nation's president is calling for calm this morning this after the arrest of strongman laurent gbabgo, seen there gbabgo's refusal to step down after losing an election last year plunged that west african nation into civil war. an assault last week by french and u.n. warplanes was the beginning of the end for him. he surrender after french troops stormed his compound yesterday. now we are learning the u.s. had tried to cut a deal with gbabgo to get him to leave. our zain verjee live in london with exclusive details. he was lodged in the presidential palace. he was not moving despite an assault on the premises and he finally got out. the u.s. was working behind the scenes to get him out? >> right. and what we have learned from two senior sources who are familiar with the negotiations that were going on back and forth and what was, in fact, on the table, was basically that laurent gbabgo was given an opportunity to go to boston university and become a resident or some kind of a lecturer at a program they have there called the african presidential archives and research center, based at that university. also, they said if you wanted to go and lecture anywhere else in the u.s., he could do that, too. now, i just spoke to boston university and they totally deny there was ever any deal for laurent gbabgo on the table. i spoke to the head of the center, charles stiff, said had laurent gbabgo left right after he election, even if he was under protest, just for the good of the country, he would have considered him as a potential candidate of the residency program at boston university. so, there are a lot of questions about this but it seems like he is denying it, but two senior officials have told cnn that that's not the case, that it was floated out there so we need to get to the bottom of that. >> what about the u.s. state department? what do they know? >> it is interesting, because according to the oklahoman, they say a high-ranking state department official asked senator jim inhoff to intervene in the ivory coast. this is a senator known a lot of africa, said to met and know laurent gbabgo and his wife as well. we con takted inhoff's office and his spokesperson says inhoff refused to communicate a bu offer from the state department to laurent gbabgo. so, according to that reporting, it was out there and the state wanted him specifically to make that offer about bu and he said no way. >> zane, i want to turn the corner for a second, 17 days before the royal wedding and not going to see any more of the prince and kate? how are you going to manage this? how are you going to cover this? >> we will find a way. that's lots to talk about. there's the dress to talk about it's the guests, as that kind of leaks out there is what will harry be doing? there will be a a lot of color coming out. people gearing up for it is exciting you. our bureau is getting a good buzz. >> zblain, good to see you. >> watch zblain every morning at 5 a.m. on world one here on cnn. >> coming up ahead, japanese officials consider the country's nuclear crisis as serious as chernobyl. we will talk with a nuclear engineer what that means. olympic champion carl lewis is still running, only this time it is for political office. [ male announcer ] america's beverage companies are working together to put more information right up front. adding new calorie labels to every single can, bottle and pack they produce. so you can make the choice that's right for you. ♪ so you can make the choice that's right for you. home to the lateste depadeal making technology. our highly advanced thingamajigs and whatchamacallits are constantly gathering intelligence on the best deals for you. with name your own price, they're yours for up to 60% off. but we're always looking to improve. for instance, what does this have to do with finding hotel deals? we're not sure. yet. >> it brings your best minds and their brightest ideas together. it helps the largest of companies seize opportunity like the smallest of startups. it's the network-- the intelligent, secure cisco network that lets your employees, partners, suppliers and customers innovate and share so you can unleash the power of your most valuable asset: your people. mitt romney has taken the first official step in his bid to become president. the former governor of massachusetts announced yesterday he is setting up a presidential exploratory committee. he is the second major republican candidate to do so. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty announced an exploratory committee three weeks ago. former olympian carl lewis wants to run for a living you about the finish line these days, the new jersey state senate in trenton. the ten-time olympic medalist decided to run for office because his charity work wasn't solving enough of the problems. he is on the democratic ticket and plans to focus on two big issues, education and making new jersey more affordable. now to japan's nuclear crisis and this morning, the nation is on maximum nuclear alert. government officials have raised the accident level at that crippled fukushima daiichi plant from a category 5 oh give lent to three mile island in 1979 to a category 7, indicating a major accident. that's the highest level on the international scale for nuclear accidents and it is on par with the chernobyl disaster. >> what does that spike mean? what does that change in the warning level mean? joining us from burlington, vermont, nuclear engineer arnold gunderson. good see you again. tell us, quite frankly, what this means. >> well, chernobyl had a single reactor that melted down and they have three. plus, the fuel pool. so, it has been pretty clear all along that this was on par with chernobyl what it means is that the emergency planning zones are getting pushed out but i think that should have happened sooner anyway. >> well that is one of my questions, arnold, because it feels as all along the way, we have been playing a little bit of catch up in terms of officials telling us the severity of it and i understand you can't get in there -- couldn't get in there to see what was going on. do you feel as though officials have a handle on this and they are going to be able to see it through from here on out? >> well, i think this is the first time they have really recognize,000 serious it is. >> right. >> before that you are absolutely right, they have -- they have been way behind the 8 ball on that one. >> arnold, we -- experts have said that really only one-tenth of the amount of radiation that chernobyl gave off has come out or is likely to come out of these reactors so what should be the public be thinking about this level this change of level from 5 to 7? does it mean more people are going to be irradiated? >> yeah. you know, chernobyl was -- had a -- was covered by this point in time. and here this accident is just continuing on. what this means is there have been 10,000 trillion disin the grate glacials every second have been released already from the plant. so, this is based on what has already happened and the really it can get worse as you look forward. >> when we talk about all of these aftershocks and still looking at pictures right now of just the buildings still look so damaged, are you concerned about the cleanup phase or we still in a containment phase yet? >> the buildings are designed to be dry but they are trying to flood them with water. while that is good to cool in an after shock, these buildings can't take all that weight. >> so, when you said that chernobyl by this time was already covered, what was different that there that we could cover chernobyl that quickly that we can't do in japan? >> chernobyl was a single reactor and here, if you work on one, you're being contaminated by the others. even though releases maybe the same, you essentially have seven ball notice air at the same time, the three reactor cores in melt down and four fuel pools, including unit four, so, there's not a single problem to focus on. but in fact, you have got to successfully juggle seven balls at the same time. >> talking earlier to a guest who told us it is going to require unbelievable heavy, you know, earth-moving equipment and getting all of this rubble out of the area and the scope of the nuclear contamination around this area what do you think is the risk for humans, for the broader environment, but more importantly, for the people in this region of japan and how -- how they are going to ever be able to clean this up? >> well, i think within 10 kill lombors to six miles, they are not going to clean it up within a generation. and people are not going to come back in the 6-mile zone. out -- if there's one good thing here, it's that predominant lit wind has blown out to sea. if the wind had been blowing across japan the other way, this could be even worse. >> arnold, is there anything you -- you see that's being done or obviously not being done that could end this sooner? something they are missing or have he they got the world's brightest minds working to solve this? >> you know this is the best outcome that could have happened, given where they were a month ago. they really have played their cards as well as they could and still, we have, you know, an unimaginable catastrophe on our hands. >> the only thing you seem critical of they should have widened the perimeter which people were not allowed earlier? >> yes. especially for pregnant women and children. i have been saying out to 25 miles three weeks ago. that was pretty evidence to me. >> arnold gunderson, chief engineer, fairwinds associates. thank you for joining us. we really appreciate your perspective. >> thank you. up next on "american morning" we still know women make less money than men but could than changing in the years to come? generation y, will women be the boss then? and hoping to land a piece of had history, nasa is set to announce new homes for its retiring shuttle fleet. 16 minutes -- 17 minutes after the hour. carmen wong you will rick is with us, minding your business. christine was saying -- >> generation y. >> what will change in the next generation in which women earn more than men, on average? >> we were here yesterday talking about women still make less but things are changing quite a bit. listen, we are on track to get paid on par with men, at least by 2020 a new report by emerging research, the future of financial services found by that year, seniors, 65 and over are going to start small business venture in force. and 60% of this group are women that's on one end. more small business news, women are going to be the drivers of personal and small businesses grow egg from 26 million now to 33 million businesses in 2020. and on the other end of the age spectrum, female millenials, 20-somethings, will earn income equal to or greater than males. the study's aim was to look at who is going to need financial services and banking more as well as financial literacy by 2020. and that answer is because they will have more money in their pockets, women. >> starting more businesses and they will be a big driver of small business growth. we know that there's so many women in college. we know that -- >> many, many more. direction of millenials, women are more -- going to be more educated. >> half the workforce is college-aged women. >> look at medical schools, jeff, too, and i were talking about this law schools, they are full of women. at some point, going to have to earn more. >> we all develop in personal finance and i think we have all found that even where women are not the key earners in the family, still more flood personal finance advice. >> absolutely, because women control over 85% of household income and spending it is really, really smart to look at women as drivers in the new economy. >> really good. all right. >> thank you. it is a bird it is a plane it is actor nicolas cage's stolen superman comic book this is not just an ordinary comic is supermans adebut, valued at $1 million. the comic was stolen from cage's home back in the year 2000. turned up in an abandoned storage unit. nobody knows who stole it yet. >> the next time you see them, they are going to be taking their royal vows, the entire world will be watching. prince william and kate middleton made their final public appearance together before their april 29th wedding. the couple was doing what they seemed to do best, greeting well wishers, american morning is the place to get all of the royal wedding details leading up to our complete coverage of will and kate's big day. >> when they say their final public appearance, they can't go any where get fish and chips and something or that's public -- like scheduled public appearance? >> scheduled public appearance but i have a sneaking suspicion they are going to be staying apart into the a lot of photographic evidence of them together, builds momentum and anticipation for the big day. >> how excellent. it is already working. i'm already anxious to see them again. coming up next, the changing face of a southern state. we are talking -- we are going to take you to the heart of oklahoma where there are now more spanish radio stations than country music stations. 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[ both slurping ] ♪ [ female announcer ] the irresistible taste of cinnamon toast crunch. crave those crazy squares. welcome back to "american morning". according to the latest u.s. census you can the latino population in oklahoma nearly doubled in past ten years and they now make up 9% of that state. now that means hispanics have surpassed native americans as the largest minority group in oklahoma. our ed lavandera on the changing landscape in the plains. >> reporter: inside the oklahoma history center, the story of american indians takes up a large wing. the influence of native americans is deeply engrained in the state. the latino history of oklahoma fits in a modest corner. >> you look at the media. >> reporter: but michael dean says that is quickly changing. >> today there are more spanish radio stations in oklahoma city in the metro area than there are country music stations. >> reporter: in 1900, state historians say they could only count 134 mexican families that lived here in the state of oklahoma. today, the latino population of this state is more than 332,000 people. this man's story is like a dream come true, came to oklahoma illegal any 1979, started washing dishes in a restaurant, became as you citizen. 32 years later, he owns 12 restaurants, a tortilla factory, two meat markets and a banquet hall. who are these guys here? >> my brothers. >> reporter: and brought most of his family to oklahoma, too. but garcia says his success as a mexican businessman often raises suspici suspicions. >> they think i'm going to run them out of oklahoma. >> reporter: mario runs a native american jewelry store and seen his own culture slowly disappear and urges latinos hold onto their culture. >> i'm talking folklore and ethnic food, these things over time are lost through generations. my dream was to have a little restaurant, myself and my family. but i think i passed 100 times. >> reporter: for garcia, oklahoma is a land of unlikely opportunity. ed lavandera, cnn, oklahoma city. bottom of the hour, top stories, a collision on the tarmac at new york's jfk airport a giant air france airbus a-380 taxiing for takesoff, it hit a commuter plane when it landed. it was caught on tape no one injured in that accident. look that the delta flight flip around there. maximum nuclear alert, the threat left at fukushima daiichi plant has been raised to a category 7 on par with chernobyl. and officials have widened the evacuation zone around the plant now. going even deeper for oil, transocean, the owner of the controversial deepwater horizon oil rig, it has announced it set an offshore drilling depth record of 10,194 feet off the coast of india. the deepwater horizon rig was leased to bp which, as you remember, was the source of historic oil spill in the gulf of mexico. well, with america's space shuttle program being phased out this summer, dozens of museums across the country are hoping to land a piece of history in the form of a space shuttle. >> later today, nasa will announce where the retiring space shuttles will be going on permanent display. john zarrella is waiting for the scoop live from kennedy space center in florida this morning. wherever these go, it will be a big boone for the community you won't it? >> reporter: yeah, there's no question about it christine, ali. this is huge for whatever communities get t and you know, quite clearly, because nasa administrator charlie bolden is coming to florida today to make the announcement of where these vehicles will go, it's pretty clear that the kennedy space center visitor complex, here where i'm standing is going to get one of these space shuttles. and without doubt, the places that get them are going to experience a real economic boom. one wall of the new space gallery is already up. at the museum of flight in seattle, it's like hoping, if you build it a space shuttle will come. >> think confident might be too strong a word. hope system a better one. nasa put together a set of requirements for museums around the country to respond to. we think that we have responded positively. >> reporter: the seattle museum is one of nearly two dozen museums, plan tear yum and visitors centers across the country looking to land a space shuttle orbiter. in texas, home of the johnson space center, members of congress publicly lobbied for their home state. >> there's no community in the world, none in the world that deserve an orbiter more than houston, texas. >> reporter: the drama mirrors the bidding to host an olympic games, with good reason are. if your city gets one, the iconic winged flying machines will generate tens of millions in increased revenues every year. the intrepid museum in the big apple estimates an orbiter translates to a 30% increase in attendance. >> figure over 300,000 people additional to the intrepid to new york city. couple that are with the 106 million in economic benefit we think that's pretty good deal. >> reporter: a pretty good deal because the price tag for each orbiter, "discovery," "atlantis" and "endeavour" is 28.8 million. the cost to nasa for cleaning up and making them museum-ready. now, they call this orbiter here behind me at the visitor complex a morbiter, mean it is a mock orbirth, into the real one this entire assembly here would be removed and a climate-controlled building to house one of the real shuttles would be put up right here. and you know what else, today is a big day it is also the 50th anniversary of yuri gear garren, the russian cosmonaut, first human in space and 30 years ago marked the first shuttle flight, bob crippen, john young, lifting off here from the kennedy space center, nasa is using that anniversary to -- as the stepping stone to announce where these orbitters are going. christine, ali? >> so john, let's just talk about it how many shuttles are there to give away and where do you think they are going? we have mentioned a few names here. >> reporter: yeah, well it looks like "endeavour" would come here. that is the one that is flying at the end of this month. "atlantis," which flew a lot of department of defense secret missions might end up at the air force museum outside dayton. they want one badly. "discovery" has already been promised to the smithsonian. as you guys know, they have got ent "enterprise" there a shuttle that flute initial drop test, never flew into space from dropped from the 747 to test the ability to re-enter the earth, re-enter and land that is the wildcard. you know, right now if all these things fall into place, where does "enterprise" end up? and any of these other sites could very easily get "enterprise." >> no question i'm taking the kids, the closest one i can. >> well, as he said, might be intrepid, here, off the edge of new york. >> yeah. ahead on "american morning," at 16, 16 years old she tried become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. the trip nearly ended in tragedy she lived to tell her story. the unsinkable abby sunderland joins us. >> will she do it again? we will ask her. he is not just an nba star, ron artest is an advocate for mental health issues. he talks to our sanjay gupta in this morning's human factor it is 33 minutes after the hour. mental health issues. all right. you might recall the name abby sunderland, daled to sail solo around the world at the young age of 16, trying to become the yoings ever to accomplish that feat. shnchts get quite a distance but her dreams were shattered on the high seas, a 50-foot wave, a rogue wave destloird sailboat. abby had to be rescued. now she has written about the rescue in the new book called "unsinkable, a young woman's courageous battle on the high seas." >> abby joins us now. you know this wave this wave that turned your boat upside down, we have got, i think, animation of this dramatic -- a rogue wave by definition, you don't see it coming, flips the boat over, that must have been terrifying where were you and what happened to you when that wave knocked you out? >> luckily, i was down below and i got hit by that -- really lucky if i had been outside, i probably wouldn't be here right now. but it was definitely unexpected, i wasn't planning on that happening. >> that ended your quest to sail solo around the world, to be the youngest person. >> your brother had done once before and his record was beaten pretty quickly? >> i held the record for two months. >> >> at 16, what makes someone at 16 decide that this is a good idea to solo, you know, circum navigate -- i mean that is very dangerous. >> definitely not for everyone. but sailing has been in my family my entire life. i growl up sailing. i can't remember a time when there wasn't boats in the family and i have always loved having, you know, big challenges and goals and things like that. so for a girl who loves to sail, sailing around the world alone was the ultimate challenge. >> you were -- you were a bit upset with some of the criticism of your parents, people who said how could they possibly let a 16-year-old girl go out. tell me how that worked out for you, because while you had been close to it, this doesn't -- isn't a common thing for 16-year-olds to do. >> yeah, you know, it's a little weird when you see all these people criticizing you and you're like -- but like sometimes it feels like they just don't understand but we had a lot of preparation going on. i had a team of experts routing me. also a team of experts that went over my boat and did all the systems. and you know, my background is sailing is really extensive. so you know, the book kind of explains that and goes into a lot more detail about that, i think that will help late of the people who were criticizing to see the full story. >> you talk about, the end of the book, talk about when they picked you up, rescue -- the search and rescue people found you, when they picked you up and something you said to the captain, you said, and i think we have a full-screen quote of this you said to the captain, that you missed your boat, that there you were, you were sad and that essentially, you missed -- you missed the boat. he said, look, you can replace the boat. you can't replace you. that -- did it hit you then that you could have been killed, your family could have been in mourning, all of these search and rescue people could have spent all this time looking for hand you was really -- a big deal for a 16-year-old? >> yeah, you know, i still miss the boat today. who wouldn't? i mean it becomes like your best friend after a while. but the captain on board that boat was the best guy ever, really nice and everybody is really nice. and yeah it was -- >> would you do it again? >> yeah. >> even knowing you could die, you would do it again? >> definitely. >> why? >> you know, sometimes the things most worth doing in life have the biggest risks and to me, that's been a dream my whole life. one day, i'm going to sail around the world. >> your parents really push to you follow this dream, even though they know they could lose their daughter? >> they don't push me at all but they do encourage me to follow my dreams and do work hard to put me in a position where i'm capable of achieving my goals. >> what do your friends say? you know, girls are going to the movies, getting a driver's license or preparing for college, you are preparing for a trip around the world if you can get the sponsorship, doug it. what do your friends think? >> some say it is going to do terrible things to my skin. wear sunscreen and a. what but it's nice having my friends back home where i can go and just be a teenager and goof around and stuff. >> teenagers are constantly in communication with each other. the thing that struck me about your trip is it's absolute isolation. what do you do? who do you talk to? do you talk to yourself, talk to the boat? how much communication were you in with other people? >> never reached a level of insanity where i was talking to myself. >> okay. >> and but it is a hard thing. you get lonely out there but you know, you find things to deal with it. for me, i've always loved single-handing and i have done a lot of it. >> single-handing means one person on the boat? doing something on your own? >> you learn when you do something single handedly, that comes from boating. >> yeah. yeah. so i have just done it so much, i love being out in the ocean alone. it was pretty easy for me, whereas some people like my brother would rather not be alone for three months. >> i would rather not be alone for three months. >> none of us will be challenging. >> not only am i not as young as you, i don't have that desire to go around, but it is amazing, you know, when you talk about goals and goal setting. you think you are going to do it again? >> definite thely. one day i'm gonna do it. >> all right. abby sunderland, the book is called "unsinkable, a young woman's courageous battle on the high seas." thanks, abby. trouble on the tarmac at jfk in new york as a giant airbus a-380, the biggest commercial jet out there and a small commuter plane collide. it's all on tape. we will show it to you after this break. if you are shopping for a new kindle there is a way you could save 25 bucks there is a little catch, as you there always is. it is 41 minutes past the hour. in new york as a giant airbus always is. -why? -why? -why? [ female announcer ] we all age differently. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade. roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you. a lot going on this morning, here is what you need to know to start your day. the faa investigating a runway collision, watch it here, last night at new york's jfk airport. looking at amateur video from wnbc's website of an airbus a-380 hitting a delta commuter plane as it was taxiing for takeoff. no one hurt. japan is raising threat level at its crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant to a category 7. that is the highest level, putting it on par with the chernobyl disaster in 1986. parts of north dakota remain under water this morning. in fargo, the red river has broken its banks, reaching 39 feet. three people have been killed by the floods. amazon offering to save you $25 on a new kindle, but here's the catch. you got to put up with advertisements that will appear at the bottom of the kindle's home screen. faster lines at airport security checkpoints could be on the way. the tsa is about to begin testing on a plan to allow pilots and crew members to bypass scanners. and that could translate into shorter waits for everyone else. if your bea to face a judge, try do it first thing in the morning or right after lunch a study of israeli judges found those times produced the most favorable rulings. u2's 360 world stadium tour is now the highest grossing road show ever, so far taking in more than $554 million in ticket sales. when the tour wraps up in july it is expected to have made more than $700 million. all right. you are caught up on the day's headlines. "american morning" back in 60 seconds. a nice day in denver and santa fail. 45 minutes past the hour. jacqui jeras is going to give us our morning weather need-to-know. hi there, jacqui. >> hey, guys. not a bad day overall. we got some storm wes got to worry about once again today, nothing compared to what we have seen the last couple of days and our biggest worry will really be maybe some wind damage out of isolated storms. here is that big system he though, still rolling along. you can kind of see that little swirl of our upper-level system bringing in some really heavy rainfall. there was some wicked storms overnight that plowed through parts of mississippi and tennessee as well as alabama. thousands of people without power this morning around the huntsville area. that line has just petered out. there is nothing strong about this any longer. so, that's some good news but it will be wet on the roadway still and you might hear a few rumbles of thunder. now the heavy showers around louisville are up toward cincinnati, right along i-75 there pittsburgh had had a wet go of it this morning. now starting to see this snake into the northeastern corridor. look out new york city and philadelphia, you are just a couple of hours away from that rain coming down. in terms of travel delays by the airways, we have got nine-minute delays, ali velshi, if you are listening, in atlanta, due to runway maintenance now, those deklice get lengthier as the wins pick up today. new york city over an hour possible due to the rain coming in as well as the d.c. met trees in philadelphia. we mentioned atlanta. charlotte expecting thunderstorm also this afternoon and orlando and tampa could have a few delays because of thunderstorms later on for today. but real gusty conditions in the backside of the front, beautiful conditions for a change across parts of the midwest, temperatures pretty mild here as well, but windy into the southwest and critically dry conditions mean those fires that are still burning across parts of texas and into oklahoma will continue to get that fuel unfortunately to feed those fires. temperature-wise with, we are coolish across parts of the west as well as into the northeast, but above average in the nation's midsection. we have got another big storm, guys, that's going to be rolling on through the plains and the east late this week. this is going to be another severe weathermaker and also going to be a snowmaker for some people again across the midwest. don't blame me. just -- >> she didn't just say snow? >> she did but said don't blame me. >> there you go i don't know about a nine-minute delay at laguardia. it is a half hon hour delay when there is no delay. >> thanks, jacqui. this next story i love. >> we both take the subway, love the subway here in new york and sometimes it can get pretty cram bud check this out, a video going viral right now, 28 new york city strap hangers, what you call riders here, stuck in an elevator. only way to get the number one train at the -- >> look at the firefighter coming down. >> goes down 130 feet. >> commuter posted on a blog on friday, people were hot, they were scared but mostly remained calm, 28 people in one with elevator, folks, one little girl suffered an asthma attack. fire department came to the rescue about an hour later. >> why everybody loves firefighters, all the good stuff, come down, help you out. you're mad at everybody, mad at the subway, still the best deal you can get in new york for two bucks. >> it is not a very comfortable place to be, new york city subway elevator, one person with you, let alone 28. next on "american morning" nba star ron artest probably best known for a brawl in 2004 is working hard to change that we will show you how. a police officer claims he was trying to protect kids from a potentially dangerous squirrel. but now he has some explaining to do jeanne moos has that story, 49 minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] nature valley sweet & salty nut bars... they're made from whole roasted nuts and dipped in creamy peanut butter, making your craving for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, by nature valley. welcome back to "american morning" when he is not chasing down his opponent's best players, nba star ron artest spent time raising money and awareness for mental health program. here is dr. sanjay gupta with this morning's "human factor." >> today, visited a school in englewood. yesterday, we visited a clinic, visited a health clinic in south central. you know, and so i move around a lot, try to stay involved. >> reporter: after practice, this is what l.a. lakers forward ron artest does in his free time. he is raising awareness about mental illness. >> artest for 3. >> reporter: while it is not exactly what most people would expect from the man who made the cover of sports illustrated for storming the stands in detroit after a fan threw a drink at him. that was back in 2004. >> you know, people watch the videos and you like, they will forever, when you were angry. >> yeah. >> a very different ron artest today. >> definitely. definitely. just having the confidence let people know, yeah, aid problem and as midded a problem. yes, i did see a psychologist. yes i do still -- still before game seven. >> reporter: after lakers won the nba championship last year, arte artest's first shoutout to sigh h -- to his psychologist. then heravelled off his championship ring, the proceeds went to his kids do off diagnosed mental illness? >> i don't have a mental illness. at the age of 6 years old, i had anger management problems, a lot of frustration and tens in my household. i got older, man, i'm always mad for some reason. >> do you have anger management issues anymore? >> not as bad as i used to. >> reporter: he does say there has been a lot of mental health issues in his issue and counseling helped him deal with these issues and help others, too, but they have to have access to therapy. >> i'm still not perfect. i tell people i'm an example, you know? i'm no longer a statistic, i'm an example, i'm a solution and trying to to be a role model, international airport a role model yet. one day i will be. >> dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, los angeles. 100% delicious. 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