people dead here. four adults, three children, including an infant. and an elderly couple. we don't know what the relation is. but two of them in their 80s. a law enforcement official tells me that the driver of the suv appears to be one of the women who was inside the car. we know that one was aged 45, and the other was 30. they said that the suv was traveling at a very high rate of speed on the bronx river expressway, parkway, and for some reason, they don't know why at this point, it hit a barrier and went flying over the overpass, about 50 to 60 feet into the air. and the same distance down before it came crashing down in the very heavily brush area of the southeast perimeter of the bronx zoo. we're standing at the -- one of the side entrances right now. not near any of the animal exhibits or any of the investigate tors, totally out of the public view. this suv was crushed. it landed upside down. and all the people inside were pronounced dead at the scene. because it landed in such a heavily brush area, they had to bring in a heat-sensing camera to see whether any of the victims had possibly flown out of the vehicle. as i said, a horrific scene, a terrible one. and of course, the investigation is ongoing. alison? >> one question for you, susan, you said they were driving at a high rate of speed. was it erratic? did drivers who saw this happen, did they see the suv driving in an erratic fashion? >> reporter: well, this is what's interesting. they've talked to at least one eyewitness, i am told, who said that it wasn't apparent to them what caused the suv to suddenly cross over, hit a barrier and go flying over the bridge. so if something had happened, if they were distracted by something, whether it was a medical issue, it's far too soon for authorities to say what caused the vehicle to go flying over the overpass. >> okay. susan candiotti in new york with the latest, thank you for joining us. still no official confirmation from china or the united states that a prominent human rights activist is under american protection in beijing. questions about the exact whereabouts of chen. cnn's stand grant is in beijing. >> reporter: a lot of speculation that in fact is behind these walls here at the u.s. embassy. now, according to an activist, a friend of chen's who spoke directly to cnn. he says he brought chen here after he escaped from his captives in this village a matter of days ago. this activist said that he has the photos to prove it. these photos show huhja and his wife meeting chen. he said these were taken just in the past few days. >> chen escaped from house arrest in china a few days ago. he was convicted of organizing protests against the government. fire officials in st. louis, missouri, are launching an investigation after a sports bar tent collapsed during a severe storm over the weekend. one person was killed, 16 were seriously hurt. and almost 100 others suffered minor injuries. officials say 50-mile-an-hour wind gusts lifted the tent right off the ground. >> i got hit with the metal pipes. the wire, we've got electric inside this tent. we had a mess of about everything that could happen here. we had live wires on the ground. we had severe injuries to quite a few people. >> we understand there were 100, 150 people under the tent at the time the weather came in. the music was loud. people had been in attendance at a ball game all afternoon. and i don't think they were really aware the seriousness of the situation. >> three people are dead, a fourth is missing after an accident during a california-to-mexico sailing race. race organizers say the sailboat likely collided with a much bigger vessel. rescuers are still searching for the fourth crew member. the deaths are the first in the race's 6 r5-year history. londoners are shocked to learn the british army may be setting up surface-to-air missiles right in their neighborhood. it's preparation for the summer olympic games. the army passed out the leaflets in the east london neighborhood warning them that they may see antiaircraft missiles as the games get closer. some residents say it's an overreaction. it's one of the best-known american tragedies, the assassination of robert f. kennedy. now there's a new account of what happened that night in 1968. sirhan's attorneys are hoping for a new trial. among the evidence they may present is the story told by nina rhodes hughes. she was there at the ambassador hotel the night kennedy was shot. in an exclusive interview with cnn, she says there's part of the story the fbi has ignored all these years. listen to this. >> there were more than eight shots. and interesting that you read whatever the fbi issued, everybody said eight shots, not. i wish there were some recordings of me that night. i did give an interview to someone with a microphone where i said there were at least 12, maybe 14. i know there was, because i heard the rhythm in my head. and i know the first two or three shots, as i said i thought they were flash bulbs. what has to come out is that there was another shooter to my right. and robert kennedy was also to my right where sirhan sirhan was almost straight ahead. and to my left standing on some steel, you know, raised platform. and there were two shooters. it must come out who they were. it must come out who the other shooter was, because there definitely was another shooter. >> now, rhodes hughes was never called as a witness in the original trial. but she says she just wants to get her story out. a federal judge is reviewing that story right now. i'll talk with nina rhodes-hughes in our 5:00 hour. this week president obama officially kicks off his presidential campaign. last night he was busting out the jokes at the white house correspondence dinner. the question is, was he really funny. find out when ron brownstein weighs in. president obama is planning to officially launch his campaign against mitt romney this week with rallies in the key states of ohio and virginia. republicans are already accusing him of misusing taxpayer funds by campaigning on trips the administration has labeled official business. mitt romney is trying to convince a couple of his republican opponents to endorse him now that they're out of the race. ron brownstein joins me now from washington to talk about the latest twists and turns in the campaign. hi, ron. >> hey, alison. >> president obama has been doing lots of traveling in the united states. the gop chairman accused the president's administration for using taxpayer funds to campaign. is this kind of just that general sign that the general election fight is off and running to the races? >> you know, the fact is, the president did make a series of appearances here on college campuses that happened to be in swing states. in support of his view on holding down the interest rate on student loans. i think the republican complaint is something we often hear in a race with an incumbent president. i would say it seems to have gotten the administration's attention because they have as you pointed out had the rallies next weekend that are officially launching the campaign as campaign rallies in the critical states of ohio and virginia. >> and switching gears to gingrich. newt gingrich is going to announce he's dropping out. how hard is romney going to have to work to get santorum and gingrich onboard? >> i remember at the front end when people announced when they were going to announce for president. now announcing you're going to be leaving the race. you know, you don't want to leave the race and have people say, hasn't he already left the race? in that sense, i think both gingrich and santorum have to worry about overplaying their hand. the parties really do consolidate quickly behind their nominee. mitt romney is polling very high among republicans. i think if santorum and gingrich drag this on too long, they're diminishing themselves and romney. >> it's almost becoming laughable that gingrich is announcing he's getting out. does it really matter whether he endorses him or not? >> is he still in? you kind of had that reaction from many voters who have the sense of the republican race as having been decided. i think in the end, everybody will endorse mitt romney. obviously it is a tremendous priority for republicans to unseat obama just as it was in democrat to unseat george w. bush. compelling everybody to come together. when the party is this committed to the incumbent president, if you do seem to be doing anything to get in the way of that goal, it has costs to the long-term viability of the party. i think both santorum and gingrich have more to lose by dragging this out than romney does. >> you write that the official role of the federal government in american life, the distance between obama and romney may actually be wider than the differences than any two nominees since lyndon johnson and barry goldwater in 1964. is the economy going to be the battleground where we see the biggest fight over these differences? >> i think it will be two places, the economy will be one, how to control the federal deficit is the other. the republicans and mitt romney and republicans in congress are arguing that the key is cutting taxes further, cutting regulation and cutting spending. president obama arguing we have to made building block foundational things like alternative energy, and infrastructure to build what he calls a stable foundation for prosperity. you also have an equally big gap on the question of what to do about the long-term federal deficit where you have the republicans talking for about across the board tax cuts and the romney world it would be 28%. president obama would let it revert it back to what it was. he changed medicare from the current format from something like a premium support or voucher system. the president would have some cuts but would maintain the current form of those programs. we are talking about a very big debate that is not only about the last few years, but really the way the federal government is operated in many effects since lyndon johnson. >> one last question for you. one issue mitt romney has been -- he's certainly been outspoken on is illegal immigration. you say it could give a life line to the community. will romney take that chance? >> romney is being very cautious about it. if you recall in the primary, mitt romney used immigration to try to undermine the rivals, whether rick perry or newt gingrich. as a result he moved to conservative positions on the whole range of immigration issues, talking about self-deportation for 11 million illegal immigrants. see the results of that in the post-primary polls where president obama is running at least as high as 67% among the hispanics. here comes marco rubio from florida, he says he has an alternative version of the crdrm act for people who were brought here illegally by their parents. romney was asked about it, he was very cool. again, didn't dismiss it, but kept their distance. this is a high stakes decision. because on the one hand if he embraces it, it could help him build bridges back in the hispanic community, but if he publicly snubs it, it could compound the problems he's already having. >> thank you. enough with the serious political news. time to give you a glimpse into last night's white house correspondence dinner. >> four years ago, i looked like this. today i look like this. and four years from now, i will look like this. >> mr. president, you remember when the country rallied around you in hopes of a better tomorrow? that was hilarious. >> you know, there's a term for guys like president obama. probably not two terms, but -- >> we've got men in tuxes, women in gowns, fine wine, first-class entertainment. i was just relieved to learn this was not a gsa conference. >> anyone who has tickets to the gsa afterparty, the plane is leaving for dubai at midnight on the dot. kont be later, you'll miss out on your complementary white tiger cub. >> it's good to be here this evening in the vast, magnificent hilton ball room. or what mitt romney would call a little fixer upper. >> we have numerous members of the media in the present. what's black and white and red all over? nothing anymore. >> even sarah palin's getting back into the game. guest hosting on the "today" show. which reminds me of an old saying. what's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? a pit bull is delicious. >> i do have a lot of jokes about the secret service. i told them for $800 i wouldn't tell them, but they only offered $30. >> i really do enjoy attending these dinners. in fact, i had a lot more material prepared, but i have to get the secret service home in time for their new curfew. >> it's one of the big yardsticks we measure to use how the economy is doing. we'll hear how the employment report is more important than usual. every communications provider is different but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company. ♪ we link people and fortune 500 companies nationwide and around the world. and we will continue to free you to do more and focus on what matters. it's a big week coming up for the u.s. economy. we'll be getting a very important gauge of the job markets on friday with the april jobs report. and the burning question is, whether we're headed for what's considered a double-dip recess. i want to bring in todd, managing principal at the black bay group. hi, todd, how are you? >> doing great, alison. thanks for having me. >> tell me about the trifecta of jobs, employment, jobless claims, sort of the trifecta of jobs report we're getting this week. what's the expectation for friday's big jobs report especially? >> well, wall street is looking for 162,000 jobs. now, that's critically important because if you look at last month, we saw 120,000 jobs reported. and in the preceding three months before that, we saw over 200,000 per month. so looking forward, we really need to start seeing tremendous job growth. 160,000 jobs is great, but it's not magnificent. that's what this economy really needs. >> are we seeing a stalling out of the jobs market? or the jobs momentum we saw in the few earlier months of the year? is this more of a trend or was that sort of a blip? >> well, it sure looks like it, alison. when you look at the jobless claims figures we've been seeing, and they come out every thursday, those numbers have actually been going higher. people are losing their jobs and that's usually a a sign companies and pliers are not hiring as fast. >> i'm making sure, you mean it's a trend? >> it is a trend. and more importantly, though, if you look at the last six months, 70% of all the jobs created in this country are of the low-income variety. jobs in leisure, and hospitality. you want to see job growth but you want to see the jobs that are of the higher income variety because those are the employers -- or employees who will be more likely to purchase a car or home. you know, the big ticket items. that's ha this economy really needs. >> personal income and spending numbers for march that come out this week, will that give us any insight into whether we're falling backwards at this point? i'm talking about these numbers are actually the numbers of how much income people made, what people made and what they spend. so tell me about that. >> yeah. you're right, alison. that number comes out tomorrow at 8:30. what's critically important about this number is it will show you how much money americans are making. the estimate is we'll see a .2 of 1% rise over the preceding month. and the personal spending number, we're looking at .5 of 1% on this. this will be down. when you think about the higher oil prices which obviously translate to higher prices at the pump, and higher food costs at the grocery store, that could translate to a lower spending number. that will impact the economy going forward, because we need consumers to go out and spend. >> we got a gdp number, the numbers came in worse than expected on friday, 2.2% compared to the fourth quarter of 3%. it feels like we're going backwards. but you look deeper in the gdp numbers, consumers are spending. we're getting a mixed picture. how is the economy moving? s >> when you look behind the curtain, you'll notice that the savings rate went down. this was the first time in nine months that we've seen this number go down. it went from 4.4% down to 3.9%. that's a sign that americans right now are not saving as much obviously, but then they're clearly having to dip into other maybe credit cards to try to cover their monthly obligations. we've seen revolving debt actually increase over the last 30 days. so that's a critically important number. because moving forward you need this economy, you want americans to save. you want them to spend. but more importantly you don't want them to fall further into debt. and everything is really pointing to dire times. >> quickly, yes or no, are we headed to a double-dip? we're getting that talk again. it's coming back into the picture. yes or no? >> yes, we are, alison. no question about it. >> okay. well, we shall see these numbers on friday. todd, thanks for joining us. >> thank you, alison. so while we're on the subject of money, $80 million, that's what experts are predicting will be the starting bid for the iconic painting "the scream. "it goes up for sale tuesday in sotheby's in new york. the authwuthor of the book behi the scream. i asked why they're selling the last known privately owned version of the pasting. >> he feels it's such a great thing, it really should be in the public domain rather than in private hands. and with the money that he's raising, he is going to build a new museum devoted to the art of edvard. >> munch painted four versions of this in oslo and the third is at the national gallery in norway. nearly a year since osama bin laden's death, the fight against terrorism is far from over. but al qaeda is no longer the biggest threat. details coming up next. 0 years. but thanks to them... and her... and especially this guy, all those years were just a prologue to this. ♪ it's amazing how far you can go with a little help along the way. td ameritrade. proud sponsor of the 2012 u.s. olympic team. td ameritrade. every communications provider is different but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company. ♪ we link people and fortune 500 companies nationwide and around the world. and we will continue to free you to do more and focus on what matters. at bank of america, we're lending and investing in communities across the country. from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn... financing industries that are creating jobs in boston... providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community... and lending to ensure a north texas hospital continues to deliver quality care. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible. see life in the best light. [music] transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. three people suspected militants killed in northern pakistan today. intelligence officials there say an american drone fired missiles at a school where the militants were hiding. it happened in a part of pakistan widely believed to be a haven for taliban and al qaeda operatives. fighter jets from su can attacked military units across the border in south sudan. look at this. soldiers in this tv news group ran for cover during the air strikes. several south sudanese troops were hurt. south sudan split from sudan last year after a long civil war. the two nations are still at odds over where the border should be. and how to share oil production. back here in the u.s., new details about that bumpger standoff near seattle. it ended yesterday when the s.w.a.t. team blew a hole in the bunker and found the body of peter keller. he was accused of killing his wife and daughter. here's what they found once they got inside that bunker. supplies of food and other things, but mostly a lot of guns. police say keller apparently shot himself to death. a year ago wednesday, u.s. commandos flew into pakistan with an extremely dangerous and difficult mission ahead. conducting a raid on osama bin laden's compound. the world's most notorious terrorist was killed after a decade on the run. cnn's athena jones takes a look at the threat from al qaeda now and the global fight on terror. >> reporter: it was an historic moment. >> tonight i can report to the american people and to the world the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda. >> reporter: after a risky overnight raid, america's enemy number one was dead. >> i think the one thing all of us feel pretty good about, that were involved in this operation, is that as a result of what we did, america's safer. >> reporter: shared by national security analysts. peter bergen said al qaeda is in terrible shape. >> they vice president mounted a successful attack in the west since july of 2005 in london. that brand is severely tarnished. >> reporter: government officials and experts warn that the fight against global extremism isn't over. so-called lone wolf attackers like the man who plotted to bomb times square, the underwear bomber and the person who killed seven people in france earlier this year remain a threat. bruce rideel is a former operator. >> yemen, iraq, which remain dangerous, and we have the idea of al qaeda. the idea of global jihad, which inspires a small minority of fanatics to carry out mass murder and commit suicide. >> reporter: reidel said americans should underestimate them. u.s. counterterrorism efforts are aimed at keeping up the pressure on al alawaki's sponsor. the arab spring has changed the game. >> the arab spring shows the dictators could be toppled through twitter, not terror. and that's not al qaeda's m.o. >> reporter: peter bergen said it's important to maintain perspective. >> 11 people have died in the united states by al qaeda. about 300 americans die every year in accidental drownings. >> reporter: athena jones, cnn, washington. at a time when church attendance is dwindling, joel osteen's church packs them to the rafters. [ pilot ] flying teaches me to prepare for turbulence. the key is to have a good strategy. the same goes for my retirement. with the plan my financial advisor and i put together, a quick check and i know my retirement is on course. [ male announcer ] with wells fargo advisor's envision plan, you always know where you stand. in fact, 93 percent of envision plan holders say they will retire on their own terms. get started on the plan you need today -- wells fargo advisors. together we'll go far. wells fargo advisors. high schools in six states enrolled in the national math and science initiative... ...which helped students and teachers get better results in ap courses. together, they raised ap test scores 138%. just imagine our potential... ...if the other states joined them. let's raise our scores. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. cnn's belief log covers aspects of the biggest stories. one story that caught our eye was an interview with joel osteen from lakewood chump, often called the biggest church in america. dan joins me now from washington. hi, dan. >> hi, alison. >> osteen is in washington for a big event at national stadium and you got a chance to sit down with him for a conversation earlier this week. and this, of course, was between him taking batting practice with the washington nationals and delivering opening prayer in congress. you know, at a time when most churches in this country are shrinking, osteen's lakewood church in houston boasts 40,000 weekly members. what is his secret? >> that's right. it's funny, most churches are shrinking right now. but if you ask osteen, he thinks christianity has never been in better shape. because his church is growing, and all of the churches of his mega pastor friends are growing, too. i think one of his secrets is a message that's all about self-empowerment and self-help. and he doesn't talk a lot about sin, it's about as far away from fire and brimstone as you could get. i think on the one hand this is his attraction. tens of thousands of people are headed to his church each week. on the other hand he's becoming sort of a controversial figure. there are other christians who criticize him for preaching with a christianity light. >> this is someone no doubt has also had political influence. although reluctantly. i want to show you what he had to say to our wolf blitzer this week about mitt romney's faith. look at this. >> i just think it's different calls that you feel called to. billy graham is a mentor of mine and a bit of a friend to me and all. when he was here, he was an evangelist going out from city to city, preaching repentant and you need to come to know christ. the people i'm preaching to at the church each week, you know, probably 95% of them know the lord so i can't just keep going, guys, you've got to get to the cross jesus died for us. i do do that, a lot of times at the end of the message. but a lot of my message is, okay, i know the lord. i believe in the cross. i believe he was raised from the dead. i believe in the blood of christ and all that. now how do i live my christian life. >> clearly it wasn't with wolf blitzer. but this was about his calling. how important is this, dan? >> he's an important political figure. this week he said to us, that he thought that mitt romney was a brother in christ. mitt romney is a mormon. i think that really is a big deal. one of the top goals of romney's advisers that work on religious outreach is to get vak evangelicaling to come out and say it's okay to vote for a mormon. now, osteen didn't endorse him, far from it. by coming out, though, and saying he is a christian, romney is a christian, one of us, that goes a long way in lending him legitimacy and making it, quote, okay for evangelicals to vote for him. i think it is a big deal. >> this church is no doubt massive. it preaches its own version of christianity to a degree. you asked him a little bit about this. what was his response? >> yeah, you know, he doesn't wade into politics. i think that's a big key to his appeal. i think you might see more preachers following his lead in this election. i think that a lot of americans are tired of religious leaders talking about polarizing politics, talking about hot-button issues. so even though osteen is controversial, i think you might see more preachers preaching a message like his, very soft, very appealing, very light on politics. even in an election year like this one. >> okay, dan, thanks for being with us. >> good to be here, alison. thanks for having me. >> go to cnn.com to read more on the interview. a group of american christian singers got a rare chance to visit north korea. they're going to share their experience with us right after this. 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[ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. right now, very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 equinox ls for around $229 a month. but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... interviewer: you were there the day the priceline negotiator went down in that fiery bus crash. sister kathleen: we lost a beautiful man that day but we gained the knowledge that priceline has thousands and thousands of hotels on sale everyday so i can choose the perfect one for me without bidding. ooh, my. this one has an infinity pool. i love those. they just...and then drop off... ...kind of like the negotiator. narrator: save right now on thousands and thousands of hotels during the spring sale at priceline. when most of us think of north korea, we think of dictators, rocket launches and extreme poverty. it's not the place you would expect a southern baptist singing group to get standing ovations. the chorus and orchestra is just back from a trip it made to north korea. it's believed they are the largest musical group from america to ever visit north korea. conductor john duncan is here to talk about his extraordinary trip. john, let me start with you. what did you think when you heard you were heading to north korea? >> well, it's been a three-year process, and seeing this come to fruition. it's as a result of global resource services that is humanitarian aid organization that the georgia baptist convention participates with and helps and supports. and part of their program is not only humanitarian aid, it's food distribution and medical supplies, but they also have education exchange and cultural exchanges. one of the primary functions of the cultural exchange with dprk, their international music festival. and so they asked grs to select a group from the united states to represent the united states there for that festival. a so when the opportunity presented itself, we thought that would be an interesting challenge and we wanted to be part of it. >> were you a little nervous going to north korea? >> it's always a little bit nervous, because just acquiring the visas can be a real challenge. it's kind of hard to plan too far in advance. >> now, darwin, you were in north korea during the failed attempt by the government to launch a rocket during the new leader's first public speech. did you know anything like that was going on? >> no, alison, we didn't know anything about the political part that was taking place in north korea. our primary objective was just to try to be friendly and do a good job musically. and to be as accepting as possible to the things that take place. >> so you were there to sing, as a christian group, in a communist country. but were there any kind of restrictions on what you could sing? >> well, we anticipated that there might be some restrictions. however, when it came right down to it, there was outstanding freedom has allowed us to sing songs from our classical repertoire, musical show tunes and also songs of faith. >> and you were also asked to sing in korean. i don't know if we heard some of this before. let's go ahead and play some of that. >> sure. ♪ >> how did you prepare for that, to sing that song? >> well, we worked on all our korean music very diligently. we had korean translators that would help us, selected the music that was appropriate. at the same time, help us understand the language, articulate it well. because we didn't want to present something that was less than excellent. >> what was the most memorable moment for you? >> i think when the response of the congregation, when we sang the korean number. when we opened up with the first words of it, they applauded, and hollered, screamed. it was difficult to keep a good tone going, to keep all the emotion from stirring up. >> did you interact with any of the north koreans? >> very little. we had some pens, music pens that we tried to give. but there was very little reaction. they somewhat accepted it, and some would not. >> very interesting. >> thank you. >> thank you. mix the in with a little cajun music, an all-star group of musicians join a jazzfest in new orleans. for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years. ♪ [ camera clicks ] ♪ it's hard to resist the craveable nature of a nature valley sweet & salty nut bar. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. that's just some of the new orleans jazz and heritage festival under way right now. some of the best's known musicians are bringing more to the festival than just music. they're joining forces to save the louisiana's coast line. cnn's fredricka whitfield talks with one of the group's founders. >> last time we spoke, we were talking about the wealthlands. >> yeah. >> the oil spell. and the damage. and the recovery. >> yeah. >> since that time, what have been your observations about the wetlands you've been so committed to? >> well, i really haven't seen the commitment from, you know, the federal government to step up and do what needs to be done here. this is a federal government issue. it's a corps of engineers issue and it needs to be addressed. we're still losing an acre an hour. >> is that what's at the root of your music, the voice of the westlands collaboration, you, neville, dr. john? >> yeah. we got together before katrina. i'm a pilot, so i spend a lot of time flying pipeline patrols along the coast and looking at it from the air, you can see where we're messing things up. you can see how we can do it differently. i started getting with the guys who are musicians in town and trying to get a group together to make some noise and tell everybody, look, we've got to address this. and this is pre-katrina, you know. especially new orleans. i knew new orleans was vulnerable and we had to talk about it. >> was it hard to do? >> it was really hard to do. all of this information is just not out there, where you can go find it. if you didn't hear from people like myself who knew what was going on, you didn't hear it at all, you know? it would be a little blurb in the paper where a decision was made to do something there. but none of it was in a big way significant enough to stop coastal erosion. because the erosion process is happening because the river's not feeding the delta. we've got to -- we need water to compete with water. you know, we've got to get fresh water to keep the saltwater from eating everything alive. >> at what point did you realize, or come to the realization that music could really be a conduit to help convey that message, and could also help activate some solutions for some remedies? >> i realized when people tried to get me to run for public office and i realized that i knew people that went that route, and once they got elected, they lost power. they lost the ability to tell the truth. they lost the ability to go out there and say, this is what i see, this is what needs to happen. i understood that. so i figured, look, we've got a platform already where we can say whatever we have to say and whatever we want to say. we're not obligated to say it one way or the other to keep our people happy. we can tell the truth. and music around here is the truth. you know, it always has been. that's why the music is so powerful around here. because we've gone through powerful things. >> and coming up next hour, fred's going to be talking with irma thomas, the soul queen of new orleans, a straight-up gospel singerer. she said she uses music to get through tough times. it's been one year of wedded royal bliss. we're going to take a look back at kate's first year as a royal, next. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. 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this is big news. but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% saw improved skin. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics. severe storms in st. louis, missouri, turned deadly this weekend. one person was killed and more than a dozen people were seriously hurt after 50-mile-an-hour wind gusts tore through a sports bar tent. jacqui jeras is in the weather center. hail had a lot to do with the storm damage? >> damage to buildings, damage to cars. this is just outside of the st. louis area, there were more than 200 reports of severe hail. and much of this was between golf ball and baseball sized. look at that, compared to the size of your hand. imagine that accelerating at you around 100 miles per hour. still assessing the damage. our ireports catching pictures, this is from kathy outside of louisville, kentucky. she said most of those cars in that parking lot were damaged from that hail. taking a quick look at this, how big these things are, when we talk about severe hail, it's about an inch in diameter, that's about the size of a quarter. some of this stuff was as large as tea cup sizes, three inches in diameter, just shy of a grapefruit. we are watching some thunderstorms here that are developing way out in parts of colorado and new mexico. those could develop into some hailmakers. now, the threat of severe weather really stems from that area all the way into st. louis. once again, we've got the stationary boundary that's just been parked there all weekend long. and it's really the demarcation zone between the cool air to the north and warm to the south. we're just two degrees shy of the record in atlanta. while you're looking at freeze and front advisories in the northeast. they're even getting helicopters out there to try to protect some of the crops in the northeast. you can see where the advisories are, and more storms along this boundary. they'll continue tomorrow. unfortunately our weather kind of repeating itself here kicking off the work week. can you believe it? final flies. it's already been one year since kate middleton and prince william tied the knot. the couple shared their wedding with the world, of course. but they're celebrating their anniversary in private. cnn's max foster takes a look back now at the duchess of cambridge's first year of royal life. >> reporter: the biggest day of her life, and one of the biggest media events in history. she entered west minister abby as kate middleton and emerged as her royal highness the duchess of cambridge. she was the newest member of the royal family, but already one of its most famous. the duchess' first big test as a working royal was with prince william of north america. >> i'm excited to be able to share this with katherine, because she's told me -- >> reporter: she appeared to relaxed, so composed, she prompted comparisons to her late mother-in-law, diana, who also had a talent for wooing the crowds. katherine's visit to canada was the highlight of her year, a senior royal source has told me. by the time the tour hit los angeles, katherine was declared one of the biggest stars in the world by many of the hollywood a-listers and studio execs who clamored to meet her. on her return to the uk, catherine accompanied her husband to visit his causes, while she researched her own. in january, her charities were announced. and they focused on art, addiction and hospice care. although it was nearly always what she wore that made the headlines first. >> i'm really sorry that william can't be here today. he would love it here. >> reporter: with her inaugural speech, catherine completed the full range of public duties expected of a royal. the palace sources confirmed that her induction is complete and she's a fully fledged member of the royal family. william can't take all the credit for her success. his father, prince charles, is also playing a key role in helping catherine adjust as has the queen. cnn has learned that charles and catherine have become so close, they now go on private visits together to art galleries and opera houses. how does catherine herself feel about the past year? i'm told she enjoyed all of those public engagements. but she would never rate her own achievements, only saying she has achieved her objectives. alison? >> thanks, max. we'll take a look at how kate