continuing the conversation on today's top stories. go to our blog at cnn.com/amfix and let us know what you think. >> a lot of good comments today. we'll read some on air as well tomorrow. meantime, the news continues. right now "cnn newsroom" with kyra phillips. >> good morning. and we start with the terrorist strike underground. >> translator: i felt scared. i have to walk to get to work because there is no way i'm going by metro. >> exploegsions rip through two moscow stations and the percussions are felt as close to home as new york. what can you achieve in 36 hours. so little time, so much to get done. prioritizing the war in afghanistan. what did president obama tell the troops? and our inbox still jammed with your health care reform questions. we'll answer them straight from our health care desk. we begin now with women strapped to the explosives killing dozens of people in moscow's crowded subway system. russian state security says two female suicide bombers carried out those attacks. those attacks timed perfectly to strike two subway systems during rush hour. more than 30 people dead, more than 60 injured. attacks like these are nothing new. subway systems have been attacked before. but this morning, chechen rebels are claiming this one. now russian president dimitry medvedev has ordered heightened security for public transit. security also stepped up in new york. police say it's just a precaution and president obama released this statement. the american people stand united with the peemp russia in opposition to violent extremism and heinous terrorist attacks that demonstrate such disregard for human life. prime minister vladimir putin also now weighing in, vowing to destroy whomever is responsible for those attacks. cnn's senior national correspondent matthew chance in moscow this morning. what does he mean by destroy, matthew? >> reporter: well, hasn't been an attack like this in moscow for well over six years. muscavits must have felt they were protected from the insurgency raging with separatist fighters battling against the government. but it seems that they are not because there have been two devastating explosions ripping through the heart of this capital. the metro stations, the first one here at lubianca, very close to the kremlin, right under the headquarters of the former kgb, the current security services. the perpetrators of this attack sending a very clear message that they can strike not just at the heart of the capital but also at the heart of the security services in this country. 8:00 local time, the bomb in the metro station exploded killing at least 23 peefl, injuring 20 or 30 others. the site has now been cleared. forensic teams are on the ground trying to build a better picture of how this attack could have happened. just 30 minutes later at the height of rush hour, another attack, this time at a metro court park, not very far from here on the same metro line, very packed with commuters being detonated again killing at least 12 people, injuring about 20. now no claim of responsibility has been made for these attacks. we had some earlier information which proved to be incorrect. but the authorities here in russia are pointing the finger of blame very clearly at rebels from the north caucuses region. here's what the head of the russian security services had to say. >> translator: our preliminary assessment is that this act of terror was committed by a terrorist group from the north caucuses region. we consider this the most likely scenario based on investigations conducted at the site of the blasts. evidence taken from fragments of the suicide bombers' bodies found at the blast, according to our preliminary findings, indicate that the bombers were from the north caucuses region. >> reporter: concerns now about what will happen later on in the day and indeed over the coming days because just because there's been two suicide bombers detonating their explosives this morning, it does not mean there may not be more attacks in the days in the hours or in the weeks ahead. matthew chance, cnn, moscow. >> we'll be keeping an eye on this story throughout the morning. next hour we'll dig deeper into the chechen separates and the black widows, a startling part of the separatist movement. severe weather worries. tornado warning in effect for miami-dade and broward counties, rob? >> miami-dade county and now, yes, broward county as well. a couple of items to talk about here. this one, this rotating cell just to the west of homestead. this is the miami-dade county. tornado warning in effect for the next, at least 15 minutes. pretty strong rotation here. this is not a populated area right now. but once it gets out of the everglades and gets over towards western miami-dade we get into some serious population issues here. so we're watching this very carefully. no confirmed reports of this touching down on the ground yet. as it comes closer to -- avenue then we'll see it. we did have reports of a tornado earlier this morning across oakland park, north of ft. lauderdale. there was a report of debris along i-95 from a trained spotter. this is a different cell. but right now we have a rotation in this thing. no confirmation of this touching the ground. this was closer to ft. lauderdale proper. we're watching these two cells all within this watch box in effect until 11:00 this morning. tornado watch for all of south florida peninsula as we continue to get pulses of convection off the gulf of mexico. this one just across miami-dade county. certainly the one that's the strongest. we're watching that as it gets closer to homestead. then eventually moving towards the northeast at 35 miles an hour towards miami. all right. the carolinas last night. you had your share of rough weather. over 20 homes damaged. winston sail tome greensboro, charlotte as well. all those cities affected by the storms last night. now it's weakened to a rain storm. it will turn into an ocean storm and strengthen in intensity over the next 12 to 24 hours that will bring wind and more rain across parts of the i-95 corridor across the northeast. that means travel delays as well. watching this entire situation right now. the hot spot as south florida, kyra, and then the carolinas. we'll talk more about them. they had their cleaning up this morning after the rough thunderstorms that rolled through that area last night. >> all right. we'll track it. thanks, rob. president obama landed back in the u.s. just moments ago after he slipped out of the country for a surprise visit to afghanistan. he made it there and back in less than 36 hours. this was his first trip to the country since he took office. me he met with hamid karzai and pumped up the troops at the air base. this trip came after the president's big victory on health care. suzanne, that was last week. probably his most successful week since he took office. what's he hoping to get out of this trip and why now? >> reporter: well, kyra, he was building on the momentum of his success, his domestic agenda and also the nuclear treaty with russia as well. both of those things huge for this administration. so clearly he's in a position of strength. there were two things that he really wanted to get out of this meeting, this very quick trip. one of them, of course is to thank the troops for their sacrifice, to tell them how proud he was, to boost their morale. the other thing that was equally important here is his 30-minute meeting that he had with afghan president hamid karzai. the back story is there's been a lot of frustration and some concern from president obama and officials here at the white house about the state of afghanistan since hamid karzai was re-elected in august. an election that largely would seem was seen as fraudulent. the president made it very clear. first, the problem is karzai is not dealing with some key problems in his own administration. that is fighting corruption, as well as taking on this drug trade. the drug trade that essentially is financing the taliban, the insurgents and their activities here. that has really hurt the credibility of the karzai government. the second thing, the second problem here is that karzai has been moving away from his western allies. he's been meeting with other leaders. the leaders of pakistan, of china and iran just within the last month. as a matter of fact, he was actually visiting with mahmoud ahmadinejad in iran over the weekend. went back to kabul and arrived in kabul just a couple hours before president obama arrived. the president wanted to make it very clear that the u.s. relationship with afghanistan is critical, not only to a military success here, but also a civilian one. this is how the president put it, kyra. >> we have seen already progress with respect to the military campaign against extremism in the region. but we also want to continue to make progress on the stability process, ensuring that agricultural production, energy production, good governance, rule of law, anti-corruption efforts, all these things resulting in an afghanistan that is prosperous, more pure, independent. >> reporter: what was striking was that the person who was actually traveling with the president, general jim jones, the national security adviser, said, look. they want a strategic rapport with hamid karzai. this is not a warm and fuzzy relationship. it's not even a close relationship like we saw between president bush and karzai. they need to improve this relationship. that is why we heard the president extend invitation or karzai to come here to the white house on may 12th. we understand that karzai has accepted that invitation, kyra. >> we'll follow it. suzanne malveaux, thanks. chris, the president's trip was limited to the northeast part of afghanistan. but you are embedded with troops much farther south in helmand province. how did they feel about the president's surprise pop-in? >> reporter: kyra, i was in a room full of marines about to go out on patrol when we got the word the president was in the country. they pretty much just shrugged and said he's probably not going to come to a base like this one down here. they are right. up north, it's safer. it's more stable. much more dangerous down here in helmand province. the marines that i've been with here in nazad, they have been hit by an ied every single day since we've been on this embed. and although none of them have been seriously injured, some of the locals haven't been quite so lucky. in this part of helmand province, there really could be a bomb on any corner. a mine around every curve. >> by all accounts, we think nazad is one of the most heavily ied'd cities in the world. >> reporter: 20,000 residents abandoned this area four years ago when the taliban came back to confront british soldiers. the taliban and british forces went at each other here for four long years, but neither side was strong enough to kick the other one out. the taliban used ied toss protect their line of defense. dozens, hundreds and by the time u.s. marines took over last year, thousands. in fact, four of the villages in this area are so heavy lemined with explosives, they are completely uninhabitable. some afghan families have been killed trying to return home. now the u.s. state department is spending nearly $2 million to de-mine the area. 75 professional afghan de-miners have relocated here. and they are training another 70 locals to help clear their valleys. >> what can we do as a team to identify who is planting ieds in the road? >> reporter: every week the marines meet with a new district governor and local mullahs. it's hours of smalltalk and tea before one of them asks us to turn off our camera. and then he tells the marines. look, the taliban are coming between 6:00 and 8:00 at night hiding among the sheep herders to plant new bombs. >> it takes several hours, a great deal of patience and, you know, several kinds. but that patience is paying off. as a once bust ling bazaar shows its first signs of life. merchants who believe the mines may soon be gone. now the marines have been work with the local government. a big part of their mission here. historically, two tribes have a dispute, it's only settled one of two ways. death or one tribe gives one of its daughters, a young girl, to the other tribe. but a few weeks ago there was a dispute between two tribes. and they actually came to the local government to settle it. now that's not the kind of headline that will be on the front page of cnn.com and "the new york times," but it is a watershed moment for the marines here as they try to bolster this local government and get the local afghan people to start to trust it. kyra? >> chris lawrence, appreciate it. so americans are actually getting more optimistic about the war in afghanistan, according to a new cnn/opinion research poll. 55% think things are going well in afghanistan. that's a huge 23-point jump from november. and the opinion is split almost down the middle. 48% are in favor of the war. 49% are against it. that's the first time opposition has dropped below 50% in more than a year. they follow the word of jesus christ and follow it up with smoke, grenads and automatic weapons. is a christian militia group being targeted by the fbi? it's great. i eat anything that i want. key lime pie, pineapple upside down cake, raspberry cheesecake... ...yeah, every night it's something different. oh yeah yeah...she always keeps them in the house. no no no, i've actually lost weight... i just have a high metabolism or something... ...lucky. 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[ female announcer ] 28 delicious flavors at around 100 calories each. yoplait, it is so good. indulge in new blueberry pie and new red velvet cake. yoplait light. it is so good. ddon: ...no matter where youfe walmart's $live.-day generic prescriptions... don: plus get free shipping on over 3,000 other prescriptions. don: call 1-800-2-refill for your free home delivery. save money. live better. walmart. well, plenty of damage in the wake of last night's severe weather in north carolina. in fact, parts of the tar heel state were under a tornado watch up until just a few hours ago. here's what the storm did near charlotte, tossing several trailers and peeling part of the roof of a nearby warehouse. one eyewitness said it was raining sheet metal. >> i knew something bad was about to happen. that's when i seen the big red dust cloud just drop. and i seen all this metal start flying over. i was thinking the whole trailer park was about to get wiped out. >> the national weather service is heading to to access whether similar funnel cloud reports across the state if those indeed were tornados. rob, you've been watching it all. >> looks like it to me. the way things were rolling last night and judging from the damage, probably so. we had eight reports, unconfirmed reports. usually when you get that many unconfirmed, at least one or two is going to pan out. with the setup we have, the number of fronts that were in that area, the number of -- the amount of converging winds, it's not surprising. it was very, very active. obviously, some of that damage not good news. some of this energy has moved to the south in through florida and we've been watching south florida all morning long for the potential of tornados. we did have one confirmed report from a trained spotter just north of ft. lauderdale about an hour ago in oakland park where there was some debris reported on i-95. we had a weaker tornado warning posted for that area. but what we're concentrating on within this watch box is this warning that was just posted for -- from miami. miami-dade county and this includes homestead. this was the one we spoke about about ten minutes ago. the warning itself has been allowed to be extended another half an hour until 9:45. that includes the community of homestead. in and around homestead motor speedway. princeton as well. cutler bay. this storm moves to the northeast at about 30 miles an hour and you see it right in through here. this glob of red just coming out of the everglades now heading toward south miami. so miami-dade county residents certainly the southern half of that county right now. you want to take cover and ride this thing out. we are seeing some rotation within this storm as it moves off towards the north and east. this entire area under a tornado watch until 11:00 this morning. so conditions are ripe for the next couple of hours to see some tornadoes pop as we go through the next hour or two. shawn if you could click gustav for me. i'm going to roll this toward the north and east toward the carolinas which saw their fair share of severe weather last night. shawn if you could give me a little space board action on that. that severe weather has rolled east off the coastline and it is now going to kind of develop into an ocean storm. and as that happens we're looking for rains to be on the increase across the northeast with heavier rains expected tonight and on top of what they've already seen, we're looking at three to five inches of rainfall. so that means flood warning is -- flood watches are in effect for this area. total of three to six inches over the next 36 to 46 hours. jersey especially because of the rivers there very spoelen and close to flood stage. it will not take much for communeities to be flooded. we will see wind tonight. grad saturated plus winds. that means some trees will be down and likely power outages tomorrow. this is a two-front storm on the east coast, kyra. and to top things off, our friends on the west coast just waking up. northern california through the northwest, they are going to see a heavy duty storm today as well with wind in higher elevation blizzard conditions. back over to you. >> not a good thing to wake up to. at least seven people are in custody after a series of fbi raids in a rugged part of michigan as well as in ohio and indiana. within the next hour, we should know what they are looking for exactly. national correspondent susan candiotti joins me now. do we know anything about these people they arrested? >> very little right now until these charges are unsealed in court. but we do know that the fbi is not telling us, nor are prosecutors, whether these people actually belong to a militia group. we do know from prosecutors, as you said, that seven people have been arrested at various locations in michigan, ohio and indiana. and that helicopters were used in some areas as authorities executed search warrants. now people who live near those michigan sites describe some of those involved in the operation as being part of a christian militia group. >> let's talk about this militia group. it has a website. it has videos. this is new to a lot of us. >> i had not heard about it either until now. so we've been looking it up. and on this group's website, they have posted, for example, it's called utari. there's an insignia that shows a cross. sometimes you can hear gunshots. there are also some statements posted on the site. one of the statements on the site reads like this. "we believe that one day as prophecy says, there will be an anti-christ. all christians must know this and prepare just as christ commanded." >> so do we know if authorities here or internationally have known anything about this organization? is this coming out of nowhere? do we know if it will be a terrorism case, a domestic case? >> according to a law enforcement source, that this does not involve domestic or international terrorism and that the arrests do not involve anyone in a conspiracy to target anything involving the federal government. in any way, shape or form. but again, neither in the fbi nor prosecutors have pin pointed yet a militia group per se. these charges are kept under seal. they are telling us repeatedly and that they will be unsealed within the next hour. so we'll know very, very soon. >> all right. susan candiotti. appreciate it. it's like these groups are just popping up at random all over the place. you wonder what the continued influence is. >> certainly we hope to be able to find that out. once we know more about what this group is we'll be able to delve more into the intricacies of it, how well known they are, how many members there are, if, in fact, this is the group being targeted. >> got it. susan, thanks so much. it's the kind of driving that would make burt reynolds proud. but this high-speed space ain't smokey and the bandit. the driver isn't old enough to drive. high-speed through the land of enchantment. - sure, cake or pie? - pie. - apple or cherry? - cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream. some use hydrogenated oil. reddi-wip uses real dairy cream. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. reddi-wip uses real dairy cream. how do we know how how mmany roads we need?e, the census helps us know exactly what we need, so everyone can get their fair share of funding. we can't move forward until you mail it back. 2010 census. all right. he's coming to the defense of the pope. on palm sunday, the archbishop of new york stepped up to the pulpit and preached all you naysayers are just plain wrong. as you know, pope benedict is under heavy criticism for his handling of a milwaukee priest who admitted molesting hundreds of deaf boys. how did catholics take the message? listen. >> certain sources seem almost frenzied to implicate the man who, perhaps more than anybody else, has been the leader in purification, reform and renewal. >> short, straight, right to the point. said what he needed to say. i was very touched by it. it was just what the congregation and the catholic church, everyone needed to hear. >> the scandal is not keeping the faithful from the pope's doorstep. he celebrated palm sunday with thousands of the faithful in the square. he said it won't interfere with his holy week duties. back in the states, the scandal has people talking. >> i am saddened that we hadn't done a better job as a church in protecting the young. but it hasn't shaken my faith in the whole institution. >> what's happening with the catholic church at the moment is exploding in their face and the things that are coming out are pretty outrageous by anyone's standing. >> reporte . >> the sentiment of a handful. this demonstration was organized by a coalition of groups under the banner protest the pope. on wall street, stocks have been climbing, slowly but surely. the dow is up six of the past seven weeks it looks like, right, steph? let's talk more about that. maybe we'll continue to go on that upswing. >> maybe the markets will be all excited because kyra phillips is in new york. maybe that will help out. >> maybe it is because stephanie elam is going to be having a baby and i want to be a godmother again. oh, okay. we'll keep that in mind come june when she decides to make her debut. >> her appearance. >> i'll have to come down so you can visit with the niece a little bit later here after your show. as for now, though, we're taking a look at the markets. we've had some nice rallies. none of them have been huge. we've seen nice rallies over the past few weeks. and all of that has led to a nice gain. over, let's see, about 900 points over the past month and a half. today we are expecting another higher opening. so we should see what's going on there. but i have to tell you, there's nothing really major driving this. what we're seeing is the expectation that the economy is healthier. and because of that, that's leading the stocks to trade higher and higher. it's really something that we'll be keeping our eyes on, though, is friday because that's when we get the monthly jobs report for, what is this, march. because we're going into april. so we'll be get that report. that should give us an idea if the economy is really getting stronger. analysts are expecting to see a gain. but investors are just not going to be able to react about that until monday because friday is good friday so the markets will be closed. that's something to keep in mind there. also, i want to tell you about other news that's happening here. volvo, they've got a new owner now. ford has gone ahead and sold the brand to a chinese carmaker. the deal there about $2 billion. ford is going to take a loss on this one, though, because it paid more than $6 billion for volvo just over ten years ago. and you know, the other hot story everyone is talking about, the ipads from apple. turns out they may be running out of them at this point. that's because apparently the demand has been so high that it's been helping them out so much. originally said if you ordered them online you'd get them by april 3rd. now april 12th. still people who order them early, though, should be fine. keep your eyes on that. to the upside because kyra is in new york. dow up 27 and nasdaq better by nine, 2404. that's the kyra rally. >> you always make my day, steph. i'll see you in about an hour and a half. >> okay. sounds good. one man's journey and one soldier's story. for months we've followed a young man from his high school days to his journey in the u.s. military. and today we check in on a decision that could send him to war. and in case you missed it, these are pretty cool pictures from saturday night. the lights went out on landmarks around the globe such as the empire state building and big ben. you may know the symbolic switch-off was to mark earth hour 2010. since 2007, the world wildlife fund has asked people to turn off their lights to raise concern about the planet's future and a lot of people did. i drove my first car from my parent's home in the north of england to my new job at the refinery in the south. i'll never forget. it used one tank of petrol and i had to refill it twice with oil. a new car today has 95% lower emissions than in 1970. exxonmobil is working to improve cars, liners of tires, plastics which are lighter and advanced hydrogen technologies that could increase fuel efficiency by up to 80%. for the last several months, cnn has followed the path of a young man from his small town to his coming of age in the u.s. military. today in the sixth part of a soldier's story, we check in at a pivotal point of his young military career. a weigh station that could well lead to war. cnn's jason carroll joining us with a closer look. we don't often get chances to follow somebody for such a long period of time. have you watched him grow up? >> i have. i've watched him grow, watched him change in just a short period of time. it's been fascinating to watch his transition. what we want to do now is show you what happens to a private once the training wraps up. what happens. where do they go next? will mclain and the others are about to find out. >> go, go, go, go. go faster! >> reporter: urban warfare training. >> what are you shooting at? >> reporter: one of a series of crucial exercises soldiers like will mclain undergo in missouri to become combat engineers. learning how to secure buildings in hostile regions is key. >> get in the fight. >> reporter: nearly 13 weeks into his training, will is beginning to learn how to become a leader. >> friendlies coming out. take a right. go right. >> go, go, go. >> reporter: but on this dairb it's hard for all of them to stay on top of their game. >> get from behind this corner, son. you can't shoot around corners. you're not superman. >> reporter: why is this day a distraction? now that will has completed basic and is wrapping up specialized training, he and the others will get orders for their first station. it's where the army will send new soldiers for more training before many are deployed to afghanistan or iraq. >> we're actually talking to will now before he's actually gotten his orders. how are you feeling about that? >> it's kind of like i'm anxious to see what i'm going to get. because i know of so many places. >> reporter: thousands of miles away back home in rosamond, california, his mother lori is anxious, too. >> so i'm waiting for his call. i can't be tough and discuss it because it just pulls my strings right out. >> reporter: lori mclain has seen dramatic changes in will in the three months he's been gone. he dropped 54 pounds and more. >> it was kind of a symbol of him growing up and doing his thing, more like i'm not your baby anymore. tough stuff. he's always my baby. >> first group, hamburg, germany. >> reporter: now seconds away from another major change. >> ft. stewart, lewis, mclain. >> ft. stewart, georgia. that's all right. i can deal with it. it's down south and warm. maybe a good drive to texas. >> i'm living it up in hawaii. >> reporter: new assignments always come with a few jokes. >> get yourself a georgia girl. some good home cooking. >> reporter: mclain will have a familiar face with him at ft. stewart. his battle body gheem russ daniels. the recruit assigned to be his partner during basic training. >> having somebody i can avoid trying to get in trouble with. all that fun stuff. >> we were prepared to part ways, but i think it's good that we're still together. >> reporter: welcome news for his mother back home. >> i was just calling to let you know, we got our orders in today. >> and? >> yeah, i'm stationed at ft. stewart, georgia. >> he's not going to be put into a war immediately, thank you, lord. >> halt. danger. >> reporter: not immediately, but for soldiers like will, war is still a very real possibility. >> fire in the hole. >> reporter: well, at ft. stewart, georgia, will and the others will receive even more intensive combat engineer training which could last for months. this is very similar to the path many soldiers follow before they end up being deployed. >> you see a mom like that and it's -- your heart just goes -- that lump in your throat. but he, like you mentioned, could very well go overseas and probably will. your going to go with him and keep following his story? >> absolutely. the reason we want to do this is because with such a commitment to places like afghanistan and iraq, we want people out there to get a better sense of who these men and women are and what they go through before they get there. so we'll be following right along. >> yeah, and then what happens to them after they've been there. that's a whole other follow-up as well. great stuff. thanks, jason. and what other changes are headed your way under the health care reforms? we're answering your questions at our health care desk. that's next hour here. teenage girls gone wild. the automeative episode, police in santa fe, new mexico, say a 14-year-old girl and her friends led law men on a high-speed chase through town. nearly all of it caught right here on the police cruiser's dash cam. the driver blew through red lights, parking lots, even doing the old one-way, wrong way against traffic trying to lose police. didn't work. those stop spikes are hard to dodge. the underage driver and her bffs wracked up a laundry list of charges. imagine looking out your window and seeing this. at least eight unconfirmed tornadoes actually touched down in north carolina last night. mobile homes were tossed around, trees uproot and three people were hurt. we should know more about damage as the day goes on. and that's where our rob marciano jumps in. he's following it all for us. >> good morning. we're watching -- that certainly looked like a tornado on the videotape. and the damage we're seeing highlights that. i'm checking out the latest tornado warning for miami-dade county. includes homestead and aranja and princeton. these areas are under the gun now for seeing a rotating storm that may bring some damage. here it is on the doppler. south miami heights. this is heading toward the northeast. may clip south miami itself. right now heading over toward the speedway moving northeast at about 30 to 40 miles an hour. no confirmed reports of that being -- having a tornado on the ground. certainly we're watching for that possibility. the entire area of south florida under a tornado watch until 11:00 this morning. so we still get pulses of energy and convection off the gulf of mexico. so that's why they've kept that watch in effect for the next hour and a half. carolina, you saw the rough weather last night. just rain in the low country. that's going to help develop a low pressure system that will spread a lot of rain across the northeast and maybe a flood watch and warning posted for the already very, very soggy tri-state area. we'll talk more weather throughout the morning. that tornado warning we are hoping is about to expire in the next few minutes. if they extend it we'll get back on the air for sure. >> thanks, rob. californians live with the threat of earthquakes every day. millions of americans have no idea that the same danger lurks beneath their feet as well. one southern city that suffered one of the most devastating quakes in u.s. history. $$$$$ killer earthquakes. we've seen them strike in california and haiti. there are some places in the u.s. you might not expect. cnn neertologist jacqui jeras joining us with more on that. >> the majority of earthquakes happen out west. some of the most powerful have actually happened in the midwest and the south, believe it or not. we'll take you to charleston, south carolina, where they could experience an earthquake similar in magnitude to the one that happened in haiti in january. >> it was the most catastrophic earthquake ever to hit any place east of the mississippi in all of u.s. history. struck charleston with a ferocious roar. >> reporter: author and researcher richard kotay describes the horror that filled the steamy charleston air on august 31st, 1886. an estimated 7.3 magnitude quake devastated this charming southern city. >> two-thirds of all the brick structures in charleston were either destroyed or severely damaged. >> reporter: and it was felt from montreal to nebraska, cuba to bermuda. so this is the church building. and this was severely damaged in the earthquake? >> this was one of the most magnificent churches. the entire bell tower separated with a huge crack through the side of the building. >> reporter: amazingly, the building was put back together with earthquake bolts. >> these are charleston's legendary earthquake bolts. what you see is not actually the earthquake bolt itself. that's the long iron rod that runs all the way through the buildings. >> what we are going to see at the fort? >> we're going to be seeing the effects of the earthquake. >> reporter: retired geology professor has spent decades studying the fault. it runs right through dorchester. the 1886 quake was one of at least seven to happen here. >> the frequency of earthquakes we are getting is about every 500 years, on an average. >> reporter: so it's not a matter of if another powerful quake will rattle charleston, but when. and is the city prepared? charleston mayor joseph riley says quakes are fused into charleston's history and future. >> we've made our buildings stronger, so they would more well withstand an earthquake than they did 144 years ago. and then we're poised and ready to get through it and to recover. >> reporter: the south carolina emergency management division released the results of a study that outlines what could happen today if a 7.3 magnitude earthquake were to strike the same area. the report estimates that 900 people would be killed. 800 bridges would be damaged beyond use. 36 million tons of debris would be generated and total economic losses would reach $20 billion. so those are just some incredible numbers there. scary to think about, you know, but we say this happens maybe every 500 years. it's not an if but a when scenario. but unfortunately, it doesn't work like clockwork. we're not going to say exactly 500 years this could happen. in reality, this could happen next year. this could happen in five years or this could happen in another 300 years or so. what are some -- it's more likely for this to happen maybe in the next 50 years. and so look at some places here into arizona, into nevada, into utah up into parts of wyoming. here you can see the big bull's-eye there over the charleston area we were talking about. and the new madrid fault zone. more people are more familiar with that in the midwest from illinois extending down towards arkansas and in two weeks from now we'll take you to memphis, tennessee, where a powerful quake there could have impacts not just locally but across the globe. >> jacqui, appreciate it. toyota has done a lot of research and a lot of work, and we've been open 24 hours a day -- 7 days a week. and we've made a tremendous amount of progress. you know, safety and reliability is top priority. i mean i got a family, too. i got a mother, a grandmother, kids, and we all drive in these cars. i am 100% confident in the product. 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[ male announcer ] experience 4g from sprint. it's more than a wireless network. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities, it's a wireless revolution. access www.sprintrelay.com. each year food executives come to grasse, france to work with roxane. here in this centuries old town cargill creates flavors. and food companies come to collaborate with cargill. creating unique tastes from thousands of rare flavors. helped by roxane... an ingredient mixing robot. and a team of flavor experts. food companies find the recipe for success. this is how cargill works with customers. ♪ jesus is just all right >> well, so much for the show must go on. gay jesus won't be taking the stage after all. we're talking about the play in stevensville, texas. corpus christi was going to focus a gay jesus and apostles. it didn't sit well with folks and the school got lots of complaints. but the university president said it was free speech and expression. apparently the sentiment only goes so far. the school cancelled the play citing safety concerns saying they were flooded with threatening calls and e-mails in the days leading up to saturday's performance. so gay jesus didn't die for your sins. he was killed by e-mail. a lot going on this morning as cnn crews are working hard to bring you the details. let's check in with our correspondents beginning with poppy harlow in new york. >> we're talking about health insurance. if you have coverage through your employer you will see major changes to your benefits. we're bigging deeper on whether you will have to pay more starting next year, coming up in the next hour. >> i'm stephanie elam, also in new york where we are covering a case of identity theft. more than three million americans' information was stolen. more on that in the next hour. >> i'm rob marciano in the severe weather center. last night tornados tore up real estate from greensboro to charlotte, north carolina. weather is at the top of the agenda at 10:00 a.m. kyra? >> thanks, guys. also ahead, militias in the midwest. is this what they mean by christian warriors? the fbi raids three different states. 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[ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. the real definition of tax burden -- your ability to pay is outweighed by your tax assessment. guess what? more people will feel the burden as april 15 draws closer. christine romans from "your money" has cash saving tips for us. don't worry too much. take it away. this is the last thing people want to hear. >> most people will get a refund. there are a lot of goodies in the stimulus, but there is another group that will have a big tax bill and no money in the bank to pay for it. here's what you have to do. do not hide from the irs. you would be surprised how many people put their head in the sand. file on time even if you can't pay. try to find a pay other than with a credit card. not a fan of paying with the credit card. if you don't have the money in the bank you won't have the money to pay the credit card with the fees and interest. talk to the irs. get an installment plan. if you think you can come up with the money in the next three, four months you can do online payments with the irs. if you have to, you can make a deal with the irs. tax experts say it's not like advertisements on tv that say, oh, we'll help you for pennies on the dollar. it's not like that. but you have to talk to the government to try to fix it. most people are going to get a refund. that's the good news. the refund may be up to $3,000, but a group of people will have a big bill and no cash to pay it. after $2,400 of the jobless check it's taxable. if you made more than $2,400 you have to pay taxes on it. some people changed their withholdings to have more money in the bank. >> you may have to pay it back. >> that means you will have to pay taxes at the end. pay attention. >> why doesn't is irs go after the bernie madoffs of the world and leave the hartd-working taxpayers alone. >> i love that most people will get a refund. that's what i love. >> thanks. >> sure. >> all right. [ chanting ] >> hundreds of people rallying in los angeles in support of cuban political prisoners and the ladies in white. some of the women activists beaten by civilians during a demonstration in havana last week. sunday marked the 7th anniversary of black spring. the cuban government locked up 75 human rights advocates and independent journalists. french president nicolas sarkozy visiting the u.s. this morning, speaking at columbia university this hour in new york. later on he'll meet with the united nations secretary general ban ki moon. we're keeping tabs on the status of former first lady barbara bush. she's been in a houston hospital since saturday undergoing routine tests. a spokesperson said she was not feeling well for a week but described the hospitalization as not serious at all. well, it's battening down and getting serious in south florida. a tornado watch under way. cleaning up in north carolina where up to eight funnel clouds were reported yesterday with a band of severe thunderstorms that ripped up homes, trees and in one case gave a driver a "wizard of oz" ride. >> it picked my car up which is this heavy cadillac and lifted it into the air. it turned around almost twice before it drops back on the ground. i was about three foot in the area, i guess. and the houses down here come apart. there's cars and buses down here. houses that's gone. telephone poles torn out. looks like a combat zone to tell you the truth. >> quite a swath of storm damage. upward of a hundred miles long. the national weather service has yet to determine any reports as confirmed tornado touchdowns. let's head straight to rob marciano. >> good morning, kyra. it was 150-mile stretch of real estate where the storms rattled through. the i-85 corridor ond now the energy is in the south. a number of warnings posted for parts of south florida. the one we spoke about last half hour that was headed through hamstead to coral gables and miami, they allowed that to expire. the cell weakened but gusty winds, lightning and hail possible with this thing that's really now across south beach. here's what it looks like. wsvn, nasty across the bay in miami. heavy rain and certainly dark clouds in the offing. the watch itself, tornado watch meaning conditions are fantastic rabble for tornados to develop, that's in effect for the next hour. we have pulses of convection coming off the gulf of mexico. unlike a lot of tornado watches that they kind of overdo how long it will be in effect, this one they may extend. i don't know. there is another pulse of energy coming just south of naples and marco island heading across alligator alley. in the carolinas, that's now shifting to the coastline and turning into a low pressure ocean storm. that's going to ride up the eastern seaboard and bring he y heavy, heavy rain and up through philly, jersey and new york, boston as well. this is an area saturated already in fr the rains they have seen this month. over twice the amount of rain they should see for march they have seen so far. they will get another half foot potentially on top of that. that will be an issue as is what's coming across the coast. don't forget our friends on the west coast. a strong storm from san francisco up through seattle. high winds and heavy mountain snow expected for those folks. we'll update you with the travel situation. there's definitely airport delays now. we'll talk more about it in the next weather hit. >> thanks, rob. let's go to afghanistan now. talk about going back and forth in less than 36 hours. president obama touched down in the states an hour ago after a surprise trip to the war zone. he visited with hamid karzai and they pledged to keep the partnership going between the countries. then he ditched the suit jacket for a bomber jacket and talked to 2,000 trips at bagram air base. >> there is no visit that i considered more important than this visit i'm making right now. i have no greater honor than serving as your commander-in-chief. it is a privilege to look out and see the extraordinary efforts of america's sons and daughters here in afghanistan. my main job is to say thank you on behalf of the american people. >> the president met with general stanley mcchrystal, the commander of allied troops in afghanistan. americans are getting more optimistic about the war in afghanistan according to a new cnn opinion research poll. 55% thing things are going well. that's a huge jump from november. the overall opinion is split almost down the middle. 48% in favor of the war, 49% against it. that's the first time opposition has dropped below 50% in more than a year. militias in the midwest? yeah, it made our heads turn also. at least seven people are in custody after a series of fbi raids in a rugged part of michigan as well as in ohio and indiana. any moment now we should know what exactly they were looking for. our affiliate in detroit says the raid in michigan centered on a property where suspected members of a christian militia are living. one of the arrests was in hammond, indiana. we're told the agents are targeting a christian militia by the name of hutari. you have notes and you're marking things down. you just got the charges. let's go. unravel it. >> well, all right. this turns out to be a grand jury indictment against a group we were talking about all morning long. the group has been identified as a militia that appears to be based in michigan. we'll get more about that in a moment. let's lay out what the charges are. we heard at least seven people were arrested. nine people are named in this federal indictment just unsealed by a grand jury and the prosecutor's office in detroit. there appear to be four charges involved in this conspiracy and they are talking about a group they say that ultimately is describe bid the government as an anti-government extremist group that, according to this document, advocates violence against local, state and federal law enforcement officers. the material says they had been planning since 2008 to advocate violence, to carry out attacks by at some point luring in police officers if they could. if i may, this is interesting what they say right here. to lure government officials, to prompt some sort of response by carrying out some kind of action. then they are discussing possible violence including killing a member of law enforcement after perhaps a traffic stop, this says. and then it says killing them or their family at home, creating an ambush that may involve a fake 9-1-1 call to get them to respond and they could continue along these lines. all of this is to create a buzz to generate attention for the group called hutaree. >> exactly. they are talking about using attempted weapons of mass destruction. by that they are specifically talking about explosive mines that they would use to throw against law enforcement officers, their vehicles, and undescribed targets of some kind. they don't mention it per se in here. we're looking at the website right now. you told us about it so we have been taking a look at it. what's on the website? do we know anything else? it looks like they define hutaree as a christian warrior. do we know if the fbi has been following them for a long period of time? how did they find out about this organization? >> well, we'll continue to learn more as we go through this document. we do know at the very least they have been looking at them for a couple of years. it mentions 2008 that they have been around this group. they could have been looking at them for that length of time. it shows this website. it shows people in uniform. their faces are covered. at times you see them using weapons. it also shows at various times an insignia that shows a cross as well as some spears running across the bottom of it criss-cross. and there's been music running underneath this as well. you can hear the music underneath there. ♪ >> we also had quotes we talked about previously. i don't have it handy, but they talk about carrying out some sort of an attack or that it goes along with their theme. here's the quote. we believe that one day as prophecy says there will be an anti-christ and all christians must know this and prepare just as christ commanded. so the thing is now clearly we need to find out more about this group, who belongs to it. these are certain members that have been identified by the government as being members of this group. >> these nine people that were named in the suit. >> exactly. so they are appearing in court at this hour, making their first appearance. >> keep us updated. it's fascinating. you think of the midwest as good values, good people. you don't expect this out there. thanks, susan. >> you're welcome. you have health insurance and now you have questions. we'll look at the charges to your benefits if you get insurance through your employees and then women strapped with explosives killing dozens in russia. prime minister putin vowing to destroy the terror leaders. also -- >> i'm saddened that we hadn't done a better job as a church in protecting the young. it hasn't shaken my faith in the institution. >> testing the faithful, reaction from a parish where the catholic sex abuse scandal hit home. ♪ well, look who's here. it's ellen. hey, mayor white. how you doing? 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[ whirring ] [ female announcer ] the new community. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco. homeless in america -- you can find them in big cities and small towns, but you will find wildly different numbers than how many there are. today the census bureau launches an initiative and it could be the first step toward finding answers. happened to me. i'm on an aspirin regimen now. my doctor told me it's the easiest preventative thing you can do. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. see your doctor. simple. security stepped up in the new york subway system this morning. also in d.c. both just precaution in the wake of deadly terror attacks in moscow. two female suicide bombers carried out the attacks. the blast timed perfectly to strike two subway systems during rush hour. 38 dead, more than 60 injured. attacks like these are nothing new. subway systems including moscow have been attacked before. this morning chechen rebels are claiming this one. president obama has pledged prayers for the russian people. part of the statement, the american people stand united with the people of russia in opposition to violent extremism that demonstrate such disregard for human life. more now from matthew chance. >> reporter: there hasn't been an attack like this in moscow for more than five years. they must have felt insulated from the insurgency raging in the region with separatist fighters battling against the government. but it seems that they are not because there have been two devastating explosions ripping through the heart of the capital. the metro station, is first here at lubyanka, close to the kremlin under the head quarters of the kgb, the security services. the perpetrators sending a clear message that they can strike at the heart of the capital and at the heart of the security services in this country. 8:00 local time, the bomb in the metro station in lubyanka exploded killing at least 23 people, injuring at least 20 or 30 others, according to emergency workers here. the site has been cleared. forensic teams are on the ground trying to gather what evidence they can to build a better picture of how this kind of attack could have happened. just 30 minutes later at the height of rush hour, another attack, this time ott a metro called park kultury, not far from here on the same metro line, very packed with commuters being detonated again killing at least 12 people, injuring about 20. now, no claim of responsibility has been made for these attacks. we had earlier information which proved to be incorrect, but the authorities here in russia are pointing the finger of blame very clearly at rebels from the north region. here's what the head of the security services had to say. >> translator: our preliminary assessment is that this act of terror was created by a terrorist group from the north caucusist region. evidence taken from fragments of the suicide bombers' bodies found at the blast, according to our preliminary findings, indicate they were from the north region. >> reporter: concerns now about what will happen later on in the day and indeed over the coming days. just because there's been two suicide bombers detonating explosive this is morning, it does not mean we'll take a look at the terror tactics used against we all have questions. cnn has the answers. five minutes from now, you know what that means. insura through your employer? we're going to talk about our in box, how full it is and hopefully get answers to your e-mails that have been swamping folks at that time health care desk. stealing your good name and credit, both potentially wrecked. identity thieves working overtime to get your information. millions caught up in new fraud cases. they're okay in an emergency. s are more than just answers. they're the first step toward a happier, healthier community. we can't move forward until you mail it back. 2010 census. so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro. turning to health care desk now that the health care bill is law, what the heck does that mean if you get insurance through your job? a lot of people want to know. poppy harlow with more. here's the question everybody wants to know. is it going to cost me more money? >> i think bottom line, probably. there is no clearcut answer to that, but most likely. and the reason is a lot of deductibles and what was in effect and is in effect now won't become open enrollment next year. they talk about dependent coverage. you usually fall off your parents' coverage by high school or when you turn 21. that is now changing. the first obvious change will be the dependent coverage goes until you are 26 now. you have kids graduating from college or looking for a job. they can be on your insurance. if you have insurance through your employer it will cost more and they will pass it onto you. another change is there is no more lifetime maximum limit on coverage. your employer probably caps your benefits at $1 million or $2 million. most of us don't need it but the law says if you have a catastrophic accident or serious illness and the cost of health care goes above that, they cannot cap it. they have to continue to pay. so, kyra, it appears that companies will have to pay more. we saw it this year with the insurance plans. they get more expensive. yeah, it will probably cost the average person more. >> on the cap, i don't know if you remember the story about the little baby -- >> 10-day-old baby. >> right. who is already at $1 million because of surgery on the brain and everything. >> right. >> the parents are completely freaked out. they think, she's going to have tons of surgeries and basically the insurance company is saying, sorry, the baby won't have insurance. but we are fighting that. we covered the story. we'll have a follow up tomorrow. it looks like the insurance company may work something out. >> look what happens when you bring those stories to light and people hear what's going on. >> because bottom line we all pay insurance for so many years. you look at a 10-day-old baby and it's like, no, you have to -- >> most people don't use any of the insurance they pay for really. >> speaking of money, i see poppy bringing the credit card. oh, you're buying lunch. obviously not ibuprofen. >> we all have a little card. i put a few hundred on it a year. families put a lot more on it. you used to buy advil, aspirin, whatever you want over-the-counter with these tax-free. you put the money in a flexible spending account. now you can't buy over-the-counter medicine unless you have a doctor's note. who get as doctor's note for aspirin. you should pay attention to that. also the limit, what you can contribute to the account is now going to be capped at $2,500 a year. that doesn't start until 2013. i was talking to my producer, kyra. she puts in $5,000 a year. people with families put in a lot of money. now you have to put in just up to $2rks 500. an example consumer reports has is someone in the 28% tax bracket is going to lose their tax break worth $700 a year. bottom line, people are going to pay more, but people that don't have insurance are going to get it as a result. it's give and take that we are seeing. our employers will pay more, so we're going to pay more. >> thanks, poppy. we appreciate you bringing these to us. we have more coming up this week. >> you got it. we have been getting buried under an avalanche of your questions. poppy and everybody else is trying to sift through the pile, answer them to the best of our ability. today, manning the health care desk is ken thorpe. you may remember he's the chairman of the school of public health at emery university. good to see you, ken. i want to get in as many questions as possible. >> okay. >> this one comes from camille. i have insurance through my job, but it's a plan that we all hate. will i have the option of switching to a better plan without paying a ton more? >> well, if you work for a smaller company, say under a hundred, when the health insurance exchange has come into play in 2014 you could switch and buy coverage through those exchanges which will give you a broad choice of health plans. some with high and some with low cost sharing f. you work for a bigger company you can get a voucher from your employer to basically take the dollar that the employer was contributing and take it through the exchang exchanges. there will be options for most employees in this country. >> that's good news. samuel wants to know for those of us with medical conditions without jobs or health insurance, what constitutes or qualifies us to the, quote, critical pool? and how soon can we see assistance? >> this is the good news of the reform effort. within the next 90 days there will be a national high risk pool available for individuals if they meet two conditions. one, they have to be uninsured for six months. second, you have to have a pre-existing condition like heart disease, cancer, asthma, diabetes. look for that within the next 90 days. >> from michelle, is there a definition of whom companies will be required to offer health insurance to? i can see many companies dropping people to part-time status to avoid being required to offer them health insurance. >> well, in 2014, if you're an employer that has 50 or more workers defined as full-time workers, working 30 hours or more and even part-time workers. if you have two 15 hour a week workers, that's one full-time offer. they have to offer insurance or pay a penalty. for the employer of 50 the penalty would be about $40,000 if they don't offer coverage. if they do, they will have to contribute toward the cost of the premium. >> all right. one more. all right? >> absolutely. >> this is coming from j. will permanent residents and illegal immigrants be included in this medical coverage? we have had a number of people asking that question. >> well, that's a good question. u.s. citizens and legal residents will be covered. if you're an illegal immigrant you're not covered through this health care plan. you really can't even buy coverage with your own money. it's focused on u.s. citizens and legal residents. >> ken thorpe from emery university. we'll talk to you again, hopefully this week. thank you. >> thank you. the catholic church is being challenged and the faithful are speaking out. 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>> reporter: his message to young people which was published ahead of world youth day which it was on palm sunday was not to fear the call to the priesthood. we went down to st. peter's square to meet some of the thousands of young people who traveled from all corners of the world to come see the pope and hear him speak. here's what some had to say about whether the scandal has shaken their faith. rome's boy scouts are put to work in the early hours of palm sunday, handing out palm fronds to the faithful. an expression of faith in itself for this young believer. >> translator: for us scouts, faith is a lifestyle. we live following and believing the lord's word. >> reporter: david and his girlfriend came all the way from mexico to celebrate palm sunday mass at the vatican. i asked him what catholocism means for him. >> our culture, like one big family. people who are so close to religion. to be here, to see the pope, it's -- like i said, one time in a lifetime opportunity. >> reporter: 14-year-old mike is here from the philippines with his sister. there is a big scandal involving the church right now. >> yeah. >> reporter: does that worry you, shake your faith? do you feel different about the church? >> no. i figure it's not the religion. it's the people who were teaching it who are wrong. >> reporter: mike's dad feels differently. >> it's a huge disappointment. for me personally, it's driven me away certainly from the catholic church per se, not away from the precepts of living a good life, but from the institution of the church. >> no, it doesn't shake my faith at all. you know, we all have our weaknesses. we all have our struggles in life. >> reporter: the vatican is certainly struggling to calm a tidal wave of abuse allegations. perhaps what an instruction made in the homily to ignore the chatter of prevailing opinions was refearing to. but most young people didn't come to calm a crisis in their faith. >> i greet you especially the young people present celebrating the 25th world youth day. >> reporter: it was to hear the pope address them nation by nation, to celebrate mass in st. peter's square, to stand by rather than turn away from the church in what they say is its hour of need. >> i believe that now we must stay together all. >> and pray a lot. >> pray a lot, yes. >> reporter: it was interesting, kyra, that it was actually only a father, an older person than all the younger people there prepared to say that not just was he disappointed in the church, but that he was disappointed in the pope. >> so did the pope himself make reference to the scandal in detail? >> reporter: he didn't specifically refer to it, no. but he did say in his homily that jesus taught his followers to not listen to the chatter of prevailing opinion, he said. that's been widely interpreted as a reference to what the vatican has been calling a smear campaign on the part of the media. kyra? >> we'll continue to follow it. that's for sure. thanks, diana. stealing your good name and where credit. millions caught newspaper a new fraud case. and a tornado ripping through the southeast taking aim at mobile homes along the way. one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. 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[ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com how do we know how how mmany roads we need?e, the census helps us know exactly what we need, so everyone can get their fair share of funding. we can't move forward until you mail it back. 2010 census. names, addresses, social security numbers, all stolen. a new case of identity theft puts three million americans at risk. stephanie elam has the details. who is in danger? we have heard this story before. >> reporter: oh, right. i know. this is not the first time it's happened, kyra. this is a scary situation where you're like, i didn't do anything wrong. i can tell you that this is something that was affecting people with student loans. that's who could have been hit here. a thief stole personal information from educational credit management, a company in minnesota. the info is on 3.3 million people. that's what was taken here. some people are calling it the biggest breach of student loan information ever. it was done the old fashioned way. not a super high tech way. there were no computer hackers. someone snagged a portable device with all the information on it and just walked away with it. it had names, addresses, birthdays and worse, the all important social security number as well. it's really mind-boggling that they could walk away like that. >> you know, a lot of us -- i mean, talk about how easy it is. it's also easy to throw stuff in the trash and not think about our documents, on the mail. we definitely should get the shredders on a regular basis. >> shred, shred, shred. >> exactly. what do we do if it happens to us? for these people that got their information stolen, what should be the next step? >> right. so the people who should have been affected or who may have been affected, educational credit management will send letters to those people. you can go to ecmc.org for more information on the situation. the most important thing to do though is if you think you could have been affected, watch your credit. so far there have been no reports of misuse, but it doesn't hurt to be safe. the company is giving anyone affected free credit monitoring services but you have to sign up for it. if you have business with the company, watch out for the letter in the mail to do it. the most important thing you can do is shred. i was shredding for an hour last night. i practice what i preach here. on wall street, stocks are getting a boost. consumer spending picked up last month and the dow industrials are higher. up 38 points to 10,888. nasdaq is higher by 11 at 2406. we'll keep eyes on it throughout the day to see if the kyra rally holds on throughout the day. >> thanks, steph. definitely not the way you want to end your trip. a bomb threat forced a cruise ship to make an unscheduled stop four miles from port. investigators allowed the ship to dock just in time for passengers. >> we're trying to fly home and we're hoping we can make our flight. >> we're just glad to go home. >> one passenger was arrested for allegedly making the threat. $1 million a month is the amount expected to bes toed out at the divorce hearing today. billionaire frank mccourt owns the dodgers. his wife jamie was the ceo before being fired in october. the $1 million is temporary support but frank mccourt doesn't think she could get a dime. she wants $9 million now to pay for her attorneys. teenaged girls gone wild. the automotive episode. police in santa fe, new mexico, say a 14-year-old girl and friends led lawmen on a high speed chase, all of it caught right here on the police cruiser's dash cam. the driver blew through red lights, parking lots and did the old one way wrong way against traffic. didn't work. the driver and her b.f.f.s all got a complimentary ride to juvie. ncaa final four set. a lot of the brackets busted after big upsets. sinld rel la team butler plays michigan state saturday. that's also when west virginia takes on duke. the winners play next monday for the national championship. you probably have a bracket in your office. maybe you don't want to talk about it. all right. we'll tell you about our show's bracket. even though the k.u. team was bounced early, eddie williams, the third in his first. followed by bev jermaine doing better than her alma mater unc. lisa giving me a whoo hoo in the ear. doug, did you write this? he got help from his 1-year-old son mikey. good enough for fourth. meteorologist rob marciano should stick with hockey stories and rounding out the group, writer ed perry. i still love you. terrorists or freedom fighters? separatists strike a blow against russia taking aim at people to make a point. a message written in blood many times before. the return of the fishing boats. their safe arrival is highly anticipated. as is something else. a shipment of natural sea salt from cargill, essential for preserving the catch. we deliver the salt on precise schedules and ship it efficiently all along the alaskan coast. saving the fishermen money and their catch. this is how cargill works with customers. women strapped with explosives killing dozens of people in moscow's crowded subway system. russian state security says two female suicide bombers carried out the attacks. more than 30 people dead. more than 60 injured. the blast timed perfectly to strike two subway systems during rush hour. now russian president dmitri d medvedev issuing a statement. people afraid to get back on the train. >> translator: it's dis gusting. i don't know who did it and what they wanted. life is so short. >> i feel scared. i'll have to walk to get to work because there is no way i'm going by metro. >> i do feel a bit scared now to go by metro. i'm worried for my family, my loved ones. we use the metro every day. >> chechen separatists claim responsibility. remember the school attack? how about the moscow theater stand-off? joining me to talk about the history of the purpose behind the attacks, from the carnegie moscow center, why don't we talk about what fuels this chechen hatred and anger toward the russians. then we'll unravel it from there. >> well, first of all, i don't think it's fair to ascribe it to chechens alone. we are talking about north caucasus. they said the explosions today are most likely linked to north caucuses, a territory with several regions, we call them republics. all have lots of problems. radical islam being one of those. the population there is predominantly islamic. of course chech knee i can't was the scene of two wars -- one in the '90s and one in early 2000. since the war was over there, north caucasus in bigger terms, not just chechnya, began to stabilize. there are two regions dagestan and another which have been the site of kidnappings, assassinations, have come on a routine basis in recent months. >> we have told this story before in different parts of the world. it comes down to a fight for independence. and then, as you mentioned, there is violence that's trig r triggered on a number of realms, including the extremist part, as you mentioned, the arab connection. why doesn't russia want to give chechnya independence? is there a lack of trust because of the violence that hasn't stopped? >> well, in fact, secessionism is no longer an issue, not even in chechnya. it was in the '90s which is why they fought the first war. since then, this has long stopped being an issue. in fact, all the regions in north caucasus, all the republics have pro-moscow governments that depend for their funding on moscow. those are very poor areas not sustainable without allocations from moscow. first and foremost, the governments there are pro-moscow, not just leaders but governments as a whole. we are not talking about secessionism. in fact, in the '90s there was a period between the wars when chechnya was independent. but it was not a viable state. so by the time the second war began it was no longer about secessionism. people there do not seek independence from russia. this is not to say there are not people there who want to take revenge over the past wars in chechnya or over use of force in other republics. we're talking about extremists who were pushed away from the foreground because, again, governments there are pro-moscow. but these groups exist and the pro-moscow leaders prove incapable to keep things under control. >> of course, there's the chechen's movement, a group called the black widows. we talked about the female suicide bombers. this is not the end of the story. we appreciate your time today masha. they were having a quiet dinner at a restaurant when the tornado hit. >> i was in the dining room. we were told, okay, let's go in the freezer. we got in the freezer and they said, we have to start praying. >> the amazing story coming straight up. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 if it was up to me? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 investment firms wouldn't even dream of overcharging people. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 in fact, they'd spend all of their time dreaming up ways tdd# 1-800-345-2550 to give us more for our money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i guess i'd just like to see a little more give tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and a little less take, you know? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 if it was up to me, they'd spend a lot more time tdd# 1-800-345-2550 worrying about my bottom line. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 (announcer) at charles schwab, investors rule. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 are you ready to rule? all right. what's up with the tornados, warnings, extreme weather, rob? >> we have the tornado watch in effect for south florida. it's gotten a little bit more calm compared to where it was this morning, especially north of ft. lauderdale. new pictures coming in. oakland park north of ft. lauderdale. heavy rain here. we had some flooding and also there was a tornado spotter that saw a tornado. there was damage as well aside from this. this is probably the best video we have seen. there have been reports of damage from oakland park. right now, we're seeing another band of convection coming in south of marco island across the everglades toward broward and miami-dade county. right now none of these look to be severe. this severe watch box is in effect for ten minutes. they may extend it because we continue to get a little bit of energy off the gulf here. it's been holding strong all morning long. all right. where we saw severe weather across the carolinas, especially north carolina, that moved to the east. we're seeing it morph into a coastal storm throwing rain across parts of the northeast. on top of the saturated ground they have, that will create trees down and flooding, especially in jersey. we'll see travel delays also. check out the numbers. two-hour delays in philly. san francisco seeing an hour. charlotte, 45 minutes. new york laguardia, 55. and ft. lauderdale with travel delays as thunderstorms rumble across south florida. that's the latest from here, kyra. back to you. 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[ male announcer ] we're grateful to technicians like ronny who are helping us provide you with safe and reliable vehicles. for more information, please visit toyota.com. there seems to be a starbucks on almost every corner, but the company's top man looks beyond the profits for what he says is a business with a purpose. next hour, see his exclusive interview with poppy harlow. we have been telling you about the arrests of several members of a christian militia group. a short time ago the charges were unsealed in a detroit courtroom. susan candiotti joins us with the details. nine guys were named. what do we know? >> six people from michigan, two from ohio and one in indiana. according to the indictment, they are saying the group called hutaree is described as a right wing christian militia group. they say they considered local, state and law enforcement authorities as the brotherhood and they considered them as the enemy and they wanted to engage them in battle. here's the scenario that the government says they were involved with. they planned to kill a law enforcement officer as part of the conspiracy and then that would prompt a funeral to take place. then the members of the group would then target the additional people who would show up to the funeral by using explosive devices, homemade bombs, this kind of thing. and they would attack even more law enforcement officers. now, the people involved involves a couple, the couple's two sons and other people as well. they say the leader of the group they identified as david stone is alleged to have used the internet to look up how to make these explosive devices. he would e-mail the diagrams to someone say it is government thought he could help make this device. that could indicate that perhaps there was an inside information going on, perhaps an informant. it is unclear at this time. but then the leader of the group sent others out to pick up the ingredients to make the home made bombs. so we know they appeared in court today. this would have been their first appearance. ultimately, they would face, because of the explosive devices which are considered weapons of mass destruction, potentially life in prison, if convicted. >> you know, for such a long time we have been talking about extremist groups popping up here in the united states tied to 9/11 and -- >> even farther back, the oklahoma city bombing. >> recently, i mean, it's been -- had a middle eastern tie to the troops in iraq and afghanistan. now out of the blue in the midwest, if you look at the video, all these white men dressed in fatigues playing music and talking a