Transcripts For CNN American Morning 20100511

40 homes destroyed and 100 others damaged. no power for thousands of families and businesses. in medford, even seasoned storm cha chasers were stunned when the twisters started dropping before the sky before their cameras. >> there comes one right there. look at them, they are all over! >> pretty incredible storm system. jackqui jeras has been tracking the storm. >> we do think there may be more severe storms this afternoon and evening but it won't be nearly on the scale of what we saw yesterday. this is what we call a multiple vortex tornado. this happens sometimes -- we have four different rotations or funnels within the main storm. these happen within the main rotation and some of it has to do with friction. some of it has to do with the incoming and rising air. it's a big reason why sometimes we'll see a lot of damage and right next to it a home that wasn't touched at all. they are extremely strong and violent. we expect it to continue into the evening. we have the setup once again into the same areas could get hit once again. western oklahoma towards the panhandle of texas spreading into the mississippi river valley as we have the greater threat. we do think we'll have hail makers again today in addition to tornados but the risk is slide. yesterday was a high risk day. we only see a handful of days like yesterday in a calendar year. >> all right, jacqui, thanks so much. the oil spill in the gulf of mexico getting more serious by the hour. 4 million gallons of oil has leaked and of course, it is still gushing. >> before this was an environmental disaster, it was a human tragedy. last night i spoke to one of the men who got off of that sinking rig alive. >> absolutely. that was the main thing going through my head. it hit me in my stomach. there's no way we're getting off here. we're all dead. >> amazing. did he explain more about how some survived and others did not? >> he was trying to get to a crane operator who was blown off his crane and another firefighter. he was trying to crawl across the deck there. all of a sudden the massive fireball. leaving that fellow behind was one of the hardest things he's ever done. >> now this still continues as you said, human tragedy, now the environmental impact still not known. more than three weeks after that explosion and fireball. right here is the only look we've gotten at the source of the leak, which is 5,000 feet under water. critics are blasting the company for being able to contain the flow of information better than they've been able to contain the flow of oil. and ed lavandera is live with more. >> reporter: we've been talking to environmentalists and scientists and they continue to tell us what we're seeing on the surface is just the tip of the iceberg, the real damage of this oil spill is happening underneath, thousands of feet under the surface of the water. the problem is, bp isn't allowing us to see what's going on. this is the most revealing image we've seen so far of the actual oil spill in the gulf of mexico. showing robotic arms capping one of the leaks. look closely and briefly in the background. you can see a dark cloud shoot into the water. three weeks after the explosion, this is the only glimpse of the leak bp has released. they are in control of the video. we are told by multiple sources these cameras have captured extensive images. cnn has asked bp for video of the leak. but companies officials will only tell us they'll look into it. they say bp's unwilling to share this video highlights a bigger problem with the response to the oil spill and some say the lack of transparency about the disaster. the gulf restorgs network, a group that has been critical of the response to the oil spill -- >> bp doesn't exactly want the public to see what's happening. they want to control the message and information. the public needs to see what's happening, both at the surface and sea floor. >> reporter: on monday we asked bp officials about releasing the video. once again they said they would look into it. they insist it isn't about controlling the message. >> we're been extraordinarily open and sharing tremendous amounts of information. >> a bp spokesman says it's a question of priorities. the bp public relations team is finding time to post videos on the company website touting their response. that's tony hey waay ward showsn four videos. >> i'm incredibly proud of the way i can see bp and people of bp are responding to in terrible mess. >> reporter: the bp videos do show the company's widespread response to the disaster. but they don't show you what it looks like when 5,000 barrels of oil a day spill into the gulf of mexico. bp officials have also told us over the past couple of days, one of reasons they haven't pushed for putting this video out there is that many of the people involved in capping this leak and getting the situation under control are extremely busy in these days and weeks. they don't want to bother them. kiran. >> it is interesting to get that hook and see that cloud as you describe it of oil shooting out of here as the submersible robots try everything possible to stop it. >> reporter: right. it is a small glimpse. that was a 2:15 video released and that was about 1:45 into the video. it wasn't the focus of what the video was about. the reason they put out the video was to show how the robotic arms had capped the third leak in the riser coming out of the gulf floor. even though you can kind of see what was going on in the background, that wasn't the purpose of releasing the video. >> very interesting look nonetheless. thank you, ed. the confirmation battle has begun over president obama's supreme court case. they are zeroing in on a stand that kagan took while dean of harvard law. she upheld the position to block military recruiters because of the pentagon's don't ask-don't tell policy. suzanne, the criticism of kagan coming in from both sides of the political spectrum. >> it certainly is, john. it's not a surprise to white house officials, aides who are trying to shepherd her in through the process. they believe she will get the nomination. because she never served as a judge somehow she's unqualified for the position. they will bring up two points, the fact that conservatives were not complaining when william rehnquist was nominated, a conservative himself and they are going to point to his own experience outside of being a judge. that would be her serving as dean at harvard law school, those kind of things. the second obstacle, the lack of a paper trail, not much known about her social position on abortion or gun control, hot button issues. the white house says they are going to focus on her ability to build consensus. and she has a record with the clinton administration. what you brought up in the beginning, her own stand as dean on some of these issues that conservatives are upset about. one is banning military recruiters from being on campus facilities at harvard law because of the university's stand against don't ask-don't tell. they believe it's discrimination. they believe she will explain that and will be confirmed. >> looking for where the writings when she was working for president clinton back in the 90s. what's the next step? >> reporter: today meeting with patrick leahy and also elena kagan tomorrow will head out to the senate and making kourtcy calls. people will start to get to know her. she hoping they will peel back the layers. obviously they won't give up too much information before the process. but they are going to try to get ahead of the criticism that's been pouring in. >> suzanne malveaux, thanks. also new this morning, barbara walters announcing she's undergo heart surgery. she told viewers she needs to have a faulty valve replaced. walters, who is 80, has known about the condition for some time and decided the summer will be the best time to recoup rate. a glitch on twitter left most feeling they had no friends. can you imagine? this is 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defeat in parliamentary elections last week. the move could clear the way to keep brown's party in power, none of of three parties won a majority. >> twitter was fixing a glitch that let users force anyone they wanted, celebrities and all to follow their tweet. while it was underway, the number of users following you were set to zero. the problem seems to be fixed but the folks at twitter are keeping quiet about it. the huge rally on wall street yesterday, but, you know with anything when you overindulge, you're left with a little bit of hangover, upset tummy. christine romans? >> all of that raw enthusiasm for europe's bailout caused the best day for stocks in 14 months. today they are rethinking maybe they were a little too enthusiastic. dow futures down 9 2 points. i'll explain right after the break. that's why i use covergirl's simply ageless makeup with olay regenerist serum. a department-store brand can glob up in lines and wrinkles and actually make you look older. simply 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business." christine romans is here following the wild roller coaster. yesterday was a crazy day and today, hangover? >> let's talk about the day to relish it for a moment. it is the best day for stocks in 14 months. the dow was up very nicely, back above 10,785. it has been unbelievable week. last week was the worst week in 14 months. yesterday was the best day that year. i'm telling the volatility is back, wild rides and big swings and nerve racking kind of behavior. if you're looking at your 401(k), the morning won't be the same as when you look at it in the evening. they thought they would be a silver bullet for europe. this morning they are saying, wait a minute, the europeans have to follow through. are we fixing another debt problem in the world by issuing more debt? >> you have a trillion dollars plus going towards it, but it doesn't solve the reasons why they got into that situation in first place. >> and doesn't prevent rioting in the streets and other countries. for countries having to take the bailout measures they might have to have higher taxes, lower public spending or work longer, might lose their jobs. you still have that. this morning here, layer on here the concerns about chinese inflati inflation. people are concerned about inflation in china, what that government has to do. europe -- now you're talking about china? all of these are factored in here. risk versus safety. day to day investors with trillions of dollars at their fingertips are deciding do i want to go into the dollar or something that will get me some money. you're seeing money moving around around the globe making the volatility really wild. >> the home in the chinese countryside a little bit more expensive today? >> yes, it is. i'll have to put that off. coming up, in our special series addicted, we've been following one teen named melissa. how she nearly died before turning her life around. time for new zyrtec® liquid gels. they work fast. so i can get relief from the 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[ male announcer ] staples. that was easy. ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. 25 minutes past the hour. today the white house will release a new strategy to battle america's drug problem. shifting the focus from law enforcement to prevention and treatment. a new focus on prescription drug abuse. krog across the nation, more and more teenagers are abusing prescription pills. in our ongoing series, "addic d "addicted", melissa hit bottom and tried to take her own life. >> i went over to her friend's house and thought i was having a good time. i ended up trying to commit suicide. i felt really lonely and i guess of lot of times when you're using drugs that's how you end up feeling. i felt worthless. i don't remember calling an ambulance or how it got to me. i went to the hospital. i was in intensive care for four days. they told me i was 15 minutes away from death. >> reporter: what did you take? >> benadryl, tylenol, aleve, advil, some prescription pills in there. i took those as well. i went for anything i could get my hands on. >> reporter: after you came to in the hospital, what was the first thing that went through your mind? >> the first thing that came through my mind was wanting to get high and thingi thinking tht i needed to be high. i've bb in rehab and it wasn't enough for me. being 15 minutes from death, that was my bottom. that's as low as i can get. and it made me realize what i need to do. >> reporter: after being released, she was sent to a mental health facility, where after years of abusing prescription pills as well as alcohol and pot, she made the decision to get clean. >> reporter: what was the withdrawal like when you were at the mental hospital? >> it was terrible. it was absolutely terrible. i had really bad nightmares and i just felt unease and uncomfortable all the time. you think you're going to stop doing the drugs and maybe things will start to get better. but it gets worse before it gets better. >> reporter: that meant getting the proper diagnosis. during her counseling, she learned she was bipolar and started receiving the right treatment and moving to north carolina and living with her sister and escaping the temptation. we gave her a video camera and asked her to document her recovery. >> i woke up so far feeling good, no cravings. this isn't easy. i don't know what went wrong. for some reason, i want to get high. i have to keep on the right track and i feel really positive. everything has been going good. >> reporter: she had been clean for three weeks, however -- >> i guess i'll have to see what happens when i get home and i'm scared. i'm definitely scared getting sober and cutting [ bleep ] is really scary. >> reporter: the real challenge for melissa lies ahead. she's back in her hometown, been here just a day and she knows how easy it could be to slip back into the same habit. you're back living with your mom and your mom does have prescription drugs. how is that working out? >> it was a little scary at first. but, you know, she got a lock box and put them in a lock box. and more for my concern was coming home to my hometown where people are going to send me 'text message, hey, i got my script or something like that. >> reporter: today it's 46 days sober for melissa and she says she sees life differently now. >> what's your first thought when you wake up in the morning now? >> typically i wake up and look outside and just kind of wonder what's going to come throughout the day. wonder what it will bring. >> reporter: and you were using drugs, what was your first thought when you woke up? >> normally i feel like -- and i'm tired and want to go get high. >> reporter: do you wonder sometimes i got off lucky? >> i got off extremely lucky, i don't know how i didn't die with the drugs i put into my system. >> reporter: and addiction she has left a scar she hopes will leave over time. >> i couldn't say i loved myself. i thought i was beautiful. now i think i'm an extremely beautiful person, more so on the inside. that's all that matters, i'm happy with myself. >> 46 days and counting. >> good for her. >> she was really a changed person when we saw her. you could always tell she was bright and there was something better for her. but she was mired in that addiction. it took, as she said, hitting bottom and trying to get the right treatment for what she was dealing with mental and emotionally. she's on the right road. >> it's always important to get the right treatment. she talked about the fact she's still tired, got ledger gi, las tud as well as after effects of the addiction. are there other lingering effects? how do you do that much drug and not have psychological problems or cognitive problems? >> the good news is she's young and that does make a difference. she did liver damage from the attempted overdose, attempted suicide. she takes one medication right now that's prescribed by her psychiatrist to help her. and she's doing great. so all she really has to do is just stay away from drugs and alcohol and the people around her are doing everything they can to support her. her mother does take prescription pills. drew pinsky said that, lock up your medication. >> we'll talk about the problem with prescription drug addiction. will the new white house policy do more to help americans struggling with prescription drugs. we'll talk with that with the drug czar joining us now on the most news in the morning. five people are dead and there is widespread damage in oklahoma this morning. tornadoes tearing up the central part of the state last night. dozens of homes destroyed and thousands without power today. as oil executives get ready to face congress today, we're getting an up close look at the underwater oil tank in the gulf of mexico. bp releasing the video three weeks after. mayor bloomberg is in london looking at the security cameras known as the ring of steel. after the botched car bombing, he is questioning whether cameras discourage attacks or simply just record them. we know this morning the times square bomber, faisal shahzad went looking for the taliban's help and it's not the first time someone has done that. ryan neil venus was raised catholic in a middle class neighborhood in long island. converted to islam after a series of personal misfort tunes and joined a group with an anti-western and pro islamic message. >> reporter: the next day, he was gone. on september 10th, 2007, brian flew from new york to pakistan. it had been five years since he had been a u.s. army recruit, a little less since he converted from catholic to islam. he was on his way to afghanistan to attack u.s. troops. brian can't do it alone. never been there before. but one of his radical friends was returning to his home in pakistan, which is where we tracked him down. >> we had planned to come back together, but my flight was delayed for a few days. he arrived before me. >> he claims brian tells him only he had come to pakistan to attend a religious school. >> reporter: u.s. security officials tell us not only did he know about the plan to fight u.s. troops, but also helped him hook up with contacts here in pakistan who then introduced him to militants on the border of afghanistan. he denies this. >> it seems like he's involved with military action out there. >> reporter: he actually joins militants on a mission targeting u.s. troops in afghanistan. >> we almost called him the forest gum p of the jihad. he seems to find this way to get himself involved in operations or attacks that seem way beyond 20-some odd convert from long island should be involved in. >> it was resourceful and persistent. he made a number of zigs and zags between taliban militants and even volunteered to become a suicide bomber. what he really wanted to do was connect with al qaeda. he was determined. he disguised himself as a woman and set off alone to find the al qaeda camp. one of those times he gets himself beaten up in north waziristan but he does make it. he gets training in explosives and gets involved in an attack against u.s. troops across the border in afghanistan. that is before he leaves the al qaeda camp. more to come on that liter. >> faisal shahzad and nick venus seem to have a lot in common. middle class and well educated and both went to pakistan for training. an increasing profile among would-be terrorists. it opens up the question of sat for the united states. >> when you have these people, they need something when they come to pakistan to get to -- in shahzad's case, pakistani taliban or venus's case, al qaeda. they need connections. the latest is he came back here to pakistan with the intention of getting those connections to get to the taliban. that's what he did. what if means is that you now have more places where more people intent on getting the frani training to come back and you have a widespread network of people to tap into here in pakistan. we saw that with brian neil venus, the guy you saw in the video clip was the one who put him in touch with the militants, eventually getting into al qaeda. they are coming here to make those connections but it seems those connections to be made here in karachi and many other places make it a bigger problem to stop, john. >> very difficult. they only have to get lucky once. nic robertson in karachi. "american al qaeda" p.m. only on cnn. bile broadband card to download the multimedia client presentation my associate dave here was supposed to bring. and while that's happening, dave will attempt to explain to our boss why he left the one thing he was responsible for back at the office. okay, got it. what can you do with 4g? 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real attention to prescription drug abuse. joining me is director of the white house national drug policy. thanks for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> in your estimation how big a problem is prescription drug abuse in the grand scheme of fighting drugs? >> i would say right now it's at the top of the list. when we see the deaths due to overdoses, they are driven large by by prescription drugs and young people don't realize the danger that exists. >> we've done several investigations where we saw just how easy it was to get prescribed this opiates. now it's 180 million. painkillers were once given only to people in extreme pain. what are you doing and is the administration doing to try to adduce the issue of overprescribing? >> several important steps. one is we're working with medical schools. quite frankly doctors don't get the amount of training about addiction and pain management in medical schools that they should. the more knowledgeable they can become, the better. the other 40 states have prescription drug monitoring programs. those are programs electronic data basises that help public health officials and law enforcement look at doctors who may be overprescribing. and certainly for patients who may be doctor shopping. >> you talk about the monitoring program. some experts say it's voluntary and some doctors choose not to do that. they are afraid if the patients are suffering from real pain they are going to be suspicious so because it's voluntary many choose not to take part. is there a call for tighter regulations on what doctors prescribe? >> there is a push. these are in their infancy in many ways. as states experiment and get better with these, and the last thing anyone wants is someone who is truly in need of these powerful pain medications to not be able to have them. that just really isn't the case. the other problem, of course, is these things are being taken out of medicine cabinets in a variety of ways. we can help to prevent this by educating parents about the importance of what is in there medicine cabinet. >> it's interesting you went there. i was about to ask you about that. we had a cdc study that said a lot of parents, as well as teens, 40% believe that abusing painkillers that are prescribed, prescription drugs, is actually safer than using street drugs. there's another stat that shows one out of five americans admitted to using prescription drugs for nonmedicinal purposes. there's this belief, i guess, as wrong as it may be, that they are somehow safer if they are not getting them off the streets. how do you educate and combat that perception? >> i think the important part is what you just mentioned and that is education. not just education for health care professionals but education for parents about what's in there but also helping young people understand how powerful and addictive the substances can be. we're seeing another trend because they are fairly expensive if they are bought in the underground market. when they are no longer able to get them, they move to heroin. >> one of other things, you have a little bit of a personal experience. a son arrested for drug abuse before, marijuana possession. what would you tell parents based on your experience? are there signs to look for before it gets to that point? >> we have advertisements but we have a great website, anti-drug.com. that is very helpful. we work to make sure the media messages get out there. parents by far are the most powerful influencer of young people. and they can be quite helpful in letting kids know about the dangers. also, teachers, the faith leaders and people in the community can all make a big difference in educating kids. >> well, we know it's a growing problem and we hope that there's more attention put on it for sure. thanks for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. deadly tornadoes tear through the plains and more severe weather is expected for today. jacqui jeras is up after the break. stay with us. 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clouds will clear up, partly cloudy day with a high of 75 degrees. not too bad at all there. but not exactly hot. >> not for may, that's for sure. jacqui jeras is in the weather center. quite a mess in the plain states. >> a little bit better today. we had what we would call a tornado outbreak. more than 20 tornadoes. today we're hooking at a slight risk of severe weather. much fewer tornadoes and we'll likely see a couple of super cells develop along the dry line. we'll watch some of the same areas too from the panhandle of texas, oklahoma into kansas again. and spreading over towards the st. louis area. this should be firing up late this afternoon and into the evening hours. now, i want to show you where the storm system is. the one that caused all of the damage yesterday. today it's already advanced all the way up here into the great lakes region but it's not severe anymore. showers and airport delays in minneapolis, milwaukee and chicago and detroit and cleveland. this will make its way into the northeastern quarter but we don't think it will hit until the afternoon hours maybe into this evening as you have a hot of dry air in place. watch out for the heavy downpours especially on the interstates. take a look at the highs today. 46 in minneapolis, 60 degrees in boston. 56 in chicago. temperatures here about 10 to 25 degrees below where you should be for this time of year. little bit warmer across parts of the south but overall a coolish kind of may day. back to you. >> we'll be happy for that come july. let's compla let's not complain. at 13 minutes past the hour, imagine if this exploded in times square. feds below up an suv in the middle of the desert. we'll look at what could have happened if the times square bomber was successful. at half past the hour, oil-covered birds, the growing threat to rare wildlife. rob marciano shows us why their existence may be at stake. imagine if it were this easy to spot the good guys. you know, the guys who always do a super job. well, it is. just go to superpages.com®. and look for a business with the superguarantee® shield. you'll get the job done right, or we'll step in and help to make it right. so, protect yourself with a business backed by the superguarantee®. only at superpages.com®. and let the good guys come to the rescue. - for the better. - we really listen to you. and that helps us recommend a home loan option that's perfect for your needs. we'll close your loan at your own house if you want. you don't have to come to us. we'll come to you. my cell phone's always on. if you need me, i'm here for you. every client. every time. - no exceptions. - no excuses. that's what we're all about. - and that's why i love... - i love... i love being a home loan expert. ♪ it looks like the supreme court justice could be a new yorker, elena kagan -- [ applause ] >> yeah. now, she has never -- here's the catch, never argued before a judge before. but living in new york city, she's argued in cabs and subways. she's argued in delis and in her apartment. she's yelled at her super. and argued in line. >> life in the big city. time now for the moos news in the morning. supreme court nominations are some of the biggest decisions a president makes. >> things got awkward after a kiss that missed. jeanne moos breaks it down like only she can. >> reporter: elena kagan may be a nominee for the supreme court, but the only courting she got was an awkward kiss one of those which cheek dilemmas, things could have been worse. at least he didn't steal her from a spouse. sometimes public cheek kissing comes off like looking at amateur wife swapping. >> she is confident and she is short. >> reporter: so short at 5'3" that president obama pulled out a pedestal for her to step on to. not that we in the press use anything to make us easier to see. it may hinge on the argument that she's never been a judge. >> hasn't spent one day that robe. >> reporter: oh, yeah? what do you think about her in a robe and gavel in her high school year back? >> the judicial monastery. >> vice president biden wasn't talking like a monk. the last big ceremony in the east room. this time we waited with baited breath and started whispering next to the open mike. >> go get 'em kid, love i can't, that's not a gaffe either. you should have been listen to the golf champ. when tiger woods withdrew because of a possible bulging disk injury. >> he says he's been playing with a bad neck and believes it could be a bad [ bleep ]. >> reporter: another broadcaster made the same mistake. got the giggles over it. at least her kiss didn't leave her with a bulging disk. >> got to watch how quickly you twist the neck there when going for the twist. every move, people watch by jeanne moos. your top stories -- >> every word being listened to. >> we'll have your top stories right after the break. we'll be right back. hey, ipz don shula, and i lost 32 pounds on nutrisystem. and i'm mary anne shula, and i've lost 23 pounds on 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glad you're with us on this "american morning." i'm kiran chetry. >> i'm john roberts. hering the big stories we'll be telling you about. it was a terrifying night in oklahoma. five people killed and thousands remain without power and the horror may not be over because more extreme weather is on its way today. >> here's the first look at the underwater oil leak in the gulf of mexico. bp releasing the video three weeks after the explosion and catastrophe. why the company has been good at controlling the flow of information, but no so good at finding a way to stop the flow of oil. stay seated and keep your hands inside the car at all times because it could be another roller coaster ride on wall street after falling last week, the bdow finished 400 tims higher. that's not the dow but sometimes feels like that. of course, the a.m. fix blog is up and running, join the live conversation, go to cnn.com/amfix. five people are dead and thousands of people are without power today. the sun about to rise over oklahoma and we're getting a clearer picture of the damage being done by a series of terrifying tornadoes that ripped through the heart of the state last night. take a look at this incredible video from medford, south of kansas border. even seasoned storm chasers were stunned when twisters began dropping from the sky before their eyes. dozens of injuries reported. at least 40 homes destroyed and more than 100 others damaged. >> they called this one the elephant trunk twister. touched down at the dinner hour near the city of norman. three people were killed and one victim found underneath an rv. all of that extreme weather is by no means over. jacqui jeras is monitoring it for us. what a mess. so heartbreaking to see people lose their life and so many property damage from the extreme weather. >> the kind of situation where you really need to be underground in order to keep yourself safe. these were such strong and violent tornadoes. we knew it was going to be a big outbreak day yesterday. we saw more than 37 reports of tornadoes now. take a look at these pictures again out of medford. they are incredible. this helps tell the story of why this was a unique situation yesterday. these are multiple vortex tornadoes. take a look at this video. we actually see four different twisters -- you'll hear them call it twisted sisters. when you get the multiple vortexes they can cause quite a bit of damage. you'll see damage on one home then another one next to it just fine. they suck the energy and spin in the atmosphere and stay on the ground for a very long period of time. out in the plains where everything is flat, you can get pictures like this because you can see for miles and miles. today we have a severe weather threat again. hopefully we won't be seeing more pictures like these. we do expect to see things firing up this afternoon and evening again. this time into western oklahoma and panhandle of texas. we'll also be watching parts of kansas and central parts of missouri. we could see twisters today but don't expect to see nearly as many. we also expect to see quite a few hail makers. we do have the remnants of that storm system in the plains, made its way across the upper midwest. nothing severe with this weather here today. from minneapolis through chicago down towards cincinnati. that will move into the northeast. we have another piece of energy coming into the plains this afternoon. it's the dry line, hot air blowing off the desert meets up with the warm moisture from the gulf of mexico and that's when things fire. >> good to have you on the job for us today. thanks. whose fault is it? oil executives from four different companies including bp and halliburton will be called to capitol hill today. there are three hears on tap today. one in louisiana over the oil rig explosion that triggered that environmental disaster. before it was a disaster it was a human tragedy. the deepwater horizon rig exploded in a massive fireball. 11 of the 126 people on board at the time now presumed dead. last night i spoke to one of men who barely got out alive. >> when i first woke up, i woke up to an explosion, didn't know that's what it was. i kind of turned and set on the edge of my bed and i sat there and waited to see if there was another sound or what the deal was. and that was a lot bigger explosion after that. i knew that there was no way we were putting that fire out. i knew we were more than likely going to abandon the rig. i was still in shock, didn't expect to see that. that was the main thing going through my head. it hit me in my stomach, all of kept thinking, there's no way i'm getting off of here. we're all dead. >> he also served as a firefighter and said he and another crewman tried to save a crane operator who had fallen 40 or 50 feet to the deck but things just kept blowing up and there was no way they could get to that crane operator and leaving him behind was the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life. >> has to be so tough. probably feeling an immense amount of guilt as well. >> people were overcrowding the life boats and jumping off the rig into the water. for a split second he unbuckled the seat belt, i'm not going to burn to death too. then they got the life boat going. bp is finally giving us a look firsthand at one of the three leaks. this is a shot 5,000 feet under water, the robotic submersibles trying to close the third leak. in the background you can see the oil gushing out leaking at the astonishing rate of 5,000 barrels a day. critics are blasting the company to control the flow of information better than the leak. ed lavandera is live with more. that video they showed was what was considered to be a success as to the failure to cap off the biggest leak. that was how they got the third leak, a much smaller one actually shot off. >> reporter: that was done last week in the video showing that portion of what was going on under water. of course in the background, you can see presumably some of that oil leak. environmentalists and scientists we've been talking to over the past couple of weeks say the biggest danger they see right now is deep under the surface. the sheen and oil we're seeing on the surface is the tip of the iceberg. the problem is being able to assess that kind of damage is very hard. the only people that have video images of what the oil leak looks like is bp. they are not sharing. >> reporter: this is the most revealing image we've seen so far of the actual oil spill in the gulf of mexico. it shows robotic arms from an underwater vehicle tapping one of the leaks. look closely. in the background you can see a dark cloud shoot into the water. three weeks after the explosion, this is the only glimpse of the leak bp has released. bp is in control of the video recorded by the underwater robotic vehicles. we're told by multiple government sources that these cameras have captured extensive video images coming from the site of the leak 5,000 feet under water. cnn has asked bp repeatedly since the explosion for video of the leak. but company officials will only tell us they'll look into it. environmentalists and scientists say bp's unwillingness to share the video highlights a bigger problem with the company's response to the oil spill. the critics say that the lack of transparency about the extent of the disaster. aaron viles is with a group called the gulf restoration network, a group critical of bp's response to the oil spill. why do you think we haven't seen much of the video yet? >> if i had to guess, bp doesn't want the public to see what's happening. they want to control the message and information, but i think the public needs to see what's happening at the surface and sea floor. >> reporter: we asked again about releasing the video and they said they would look into it. they insist it isn't about controlling the message. >> we're being extremely open and sharing tremendous amounts of information. >> reporter: a bp spokesman said it is a question of priorities. when it comes to putting out videos, the public relations team is finding time to post videos on website tauting its disaster response. >> this is another report from the front line. >> reporter: that's bp's ceo tony hayward. he shows up in four videos. >> in the mobile incident command center, i'm incredibly proud of the way in which i can see bp and the people of bp are responding to this terrible mistake. >> reporter: it does show the company's widespread response to the disaster, but the videos don't show what it looks like when 5,000 barrels of oil a day spill in the gulf of mexico. john and kiran, environmentalists and scientists we've been talking to think the release of the video would help them on various fronts, either have independent sources, maybe offer up ideas on how to get it under control but they also want to use it as a gauge. whether or not the actions of bp taken to stop the oil leak are working. being able to get a sense of what's going on under the water would help them determine that over the course the next few weeks. john and kiran? >> interesting stuff. ed lavandera, good piece. thanks. coming up at 7:30 eastern, we'll look at the growing threat to rare wildlife and why some animals may have to go back on the endangered species list because of the oil leak. and preparing for the worst. we'll show you how thousands of first responders train for terrorist attacks. we've got dramatic video from a classroom in the middle of the new mexico desert. we'll share that story with you coming right up. 11 minutes after the hour. hey -- who's our best presentation guy? carl. i thought you said carl was our best presentation guy. 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[ male announcer ] we understand. you need presentations done right. and right now save 20% on all online printing purchases. visit fedex.com/print. negotiator: a guy named his own price, wants a room tonight for 65 dollars. manager: we don't go lower than 130. negotiator: big deal, persuade him. manager: okay. $65 for tonight. negotiator: you can't argue with a big deal. announcer: big deal days are back on rental cars. name your own price and save up to 40% off the other guy's best prices and get an exclusive look at winning rental car bids. book your big rental car deal now, because big deal days won't last long. only at priceline. ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. there are new developments in the case against faisal shahzad as the state department reveals he looked for help from the taliban to plot an attack. sources say shahzad may have already had a plan when he traveled to pakistan. the white house believing that the taliban, a close alli with al qaeda coordinated and helped pay for that attack. more than a week later, shahzad is a no-show in the courtroom. he voluntarily waved his right to a first appearance on terror charges, although he's cooperating, legal experts recommend the government assign him a lawyer and put him in front of a judge very soon. 14 minutes after the hour. something you'll see only on "american morning", it's hard to know how bad the times square bombing could have been. the device itself was not sophisticated and may have never detonated. we're about to give you a look at the powerful effect of a car bomb. taking us to the new mexico desert where first responders learn how to assess the danger. >> reporter: imagine if this blew up in times square. what you're watching is the result of 300 pounds of explosive grade fertilizer. because the times square suv had nonexplosive grade fertilizer this is more intense than what could have happened in new york, according to the experts here who conducted the xmoegs as part of a training course for first responders. knowing what you know was in the vehicle, what type of damage would that have done? >> it was a very amateur device. the debt nation, if it could have gotten something to detonate would have been low order and would have spread stuff all over the street and it had a lot of fuel. we would have had a small explosion, it would have been a big fire. >> reporter: the federal government has trained 300 first responders through this explosives training. they see firsthand what the explosives like this briefcase bomb can do. >> more damage to the seal. this is going to be a rich environment and we want to make sure we protect that. >> reporter: we spent the day with the class that had law enforcement from d.c. and atlanta and other places. most of the teaching is in a classroom setting. seeing the explosions and after math is what really hits home. >> three, two, one! [ explosion ] >> you can see the circular blast. you can actually see it. >> right over here we have spring hangers. by that we can tell exactly where the explosives were placed in the vehicle. >> reporter: worth it? >> absolutely. the people that will go to any type of event, they are going to be your first responders, your police officer and firefighters and paramedics, they need to have some idea what they've come across and the danger it poses. we have a chance of catching whoever is involved. >> reporter: nobody knows exactly if the bomb went off in new york how much damage it would have caused. if it is anything close to what we saw here, it would have been of devastating. >> when you think that is 300 pounds of fertilizer, if somebody got a hold of a really sophisticated explosive, packed it full of that, the extent of devastation could be. >> makes you think. four days after the dow mysteriously dropped 1,000 points in half an hour. they still don't know the exact cause of the heart-stopping plunge, but they may have a plan to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> we have a pretty good idea of what happened now. they are calling it the flash crash, computers driving down stocks, 998 points last thursday. we'll tell you about this tale of man versus machine right after the break. ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. it's 20 minutes past the hour. christine romans is "minding your business, hey, christine. >> they are trying to figure out why the market went down 998 points. we have some clues. there was no computer glitch. this wasn't some software problem that sent stocks lower. we know for sure there was no fat finger trader. you remember before the market was down 1,000 points people were speculating that somebody hit the button. it never seemed very likely to a lot of people who are veterans of the market because you can't hit a button and send market down 1,000 points. that is looking less and less lately. they've looked and there's no fat finger trade that sent this down. this was man versus machine during a crisis. what do i mean? it used to be the new york stock exchange controlled the big cap stocks, in and out you have the new york stock exchange and nasdaq and all of these electronic exchanges trading the same stocks at the same time. the problem is they have different rules at different venues and what happened in the new york stock exchange, when you have the market down sharply, suddenly you have the stock exchange, nysd because of the high volatility in greece and market down almost 500 points, the new york stock exchange started to slow trading of key stocks of the on the other exchanges they were still trading the stocks. and the computers were sensing the differences here and started to sell voraciously. you had computers selling stocks like crazy, there were no buyers, but things were slowed down at the stock exchange. many of the computer model detect slight differences between stocks and relationships. suddenly you had one cent bids for stock like accenture and have the computers trading like nuts and that's why you had a mark sell-off. it does come down to man versus machine. it shows you how quickly things have changed. it used to be it was people who were trading stocks and now it's computer programs trading stocks and that seems to be what the evidence is pointing to. >> part of the by matrix, not really our money either. >> a stone tablet with a hammer. >> i like that idea better. the california clinic seems to be giving spinal injury patients amazing results with simple treatments. is it a miracle cure or medical hoax? alina cho has the story just ahead. ♪ welcome back. first an "a.m. original." something you'll see only on "american morning." for people were spinal cord injuries, the dream would be to walk again. spinal cord patients were given a lot of attention because of christopher reeves. >> the results seem to be medical miracles. alina cho has our "a.m. original" this morning. >> reporter: your eyes are not deceiving you, these are spinal cord patients, told they would never walk again. taking steps, moving their legs. it looks like a miracle. but is it? >> it's not brain surgery. >> i tell everybody that. it's not brain surgery. when i try to explain it. it's too simple, why isn't everybody doing it? >> reporter: ted founded project walk in 1999, a controversial outpatient rehab facility for the paralyzed, in carlsbad, california. he believes as long as you can wiggle your thouoe there's a che you can walk again. repetitive motion can help train the body to remember how to walk. on a limited basis it appears to be working. like this man, who is walking with ski poles and drives on his own. one of more than a half dozen people we spoke to who claims similar success. the director of spine services at the hospital in san diego said he has sent patients to project walk. >> traditionally these type of injuries are heart to treat. >> reporter: the key, there must be some feeling below the point of injury. that's the case with 29-year-old kendall hall, the former volleyball player paralyzed from the chest down. six months ago the car she was riding in crashed on a dallas freeway. everyone walked away but her. >> they told her the most we could ever hope for is that she would be able to feed herself. >> reporter: look at her now. after just a month of therapy at project walk, kendall is already freely using her arm. that's not a surprise. but this is. lifting her legs. with help she's even standing. >> how does that feel? >> good. >> reporter: mom, when you see kendall today -- >> i'm blown away. >> reporter: kendall says getting out of the wheelchair on her own is next. >> realizing i'm not so fragile. once you have that attitude, you're not scared to push yourself. then it's like, wow. >> doctors say statistically there's a small chance she'll ever walk again. >> reporter: is this giving people false hope? >> i think there is a huge potential for abuse of people's hopes. >> reporter: a spine surgeon at u.c. san diego medical center has never heard of project walk and worries patients are being taken advantage of and losing their money too. thousands of dollars a month. we showed him video of kendall's workout routine and he was not impressed. >> this looks like a show to me where someone is holding someone up and everyone is standing back say, look, she's standing. >> reporter: you freely admit, you've been called a conartist and voodoo. >> we have doctors referring and researchers coming here. >> reporter: he says he never guarantees they will walk again and if they weren't doing something right, nobody would come back. what's your dream for kendall? >> get her life back. >> it's up to me and i'm going to make this happen. i will walk again. >> she has a great attitude. to be clear though, only a small percentage of those who train at project walk actually walk out of there on their own. the key question, is was the patient injury complete or incomplete? with christopher reeves, his injury was complete, he had no feeling below the point of injury. that does not mean his spinal cord was severed. kendall hall, the woman we profiled in the piece, her injury was incomplete. there was feeling below the point of injury. with that, there is a very small chance that she can walk again. now, every doctor we spoke to say, very, very slim chance she will walk again on her own. proponents of project walk say at the very least this exercise is beneficial, and in christopher reeves case they say it lengthened his life because it made his breathing capacity better. he was able to fight off disease for far longer than he would have had he not done the exercises. but it is very controversial. it is just lots of exercise. some people think it works. others do not. >> decide whether or not you want to go for it. >> thanks so much. it's time for this morning's top stories. five people dead in oklahoma, a series of powerful tornadoes sweeping through the state destroying 40 homes and damaging more than 100 others. dozens of people are hospitalized and there's more rough weather on the way today. iran says it will allow the mothers of three jailed american hikers to visit them in a tehran prison. they have been behind bars for nine months. they are charged with espionage. iran's foreign minister says visas have been ordered for all three mothers. the leaking oil well deep at the bottom of the gulf of mexico, as oil executives get ready to face congress, we're getting a look at the source of the leak. bp finally releasing the video three weeks after the oil regular explosion that triggered this environmental disaster. developing story out of one of the states dealing with the disastrous impact. many animal species are in jeopardy. you may think their wings could carry them from danger. rare birds are finding it hard to escape the wild sludge. wildlife expert are calling the situation catastrophic this morning. that's where rob marciano joins us live now. it's heartbreaking, the animals have no idea what is happening to them but they are covered in this oil. in some cases they could be back on the endangered list because of it. >> reporter: yeah, kiran, the brown pelican, state bird of louisiana and mainstay on the gulf of mexico recently came off the endangered list. they have been thriving relatively speaking but they are certainly flying around the gulf of mexico and nesting around some of that oil. the impacts of this oil spill on humans, not necessarily happening right now for sure. but on what's going on in the wildlife and the sea life there in the gulf of mexico is more immediate. and the birds that feed on that sea life, well, they could be in trouble. >> okay, folks, we have dolphins coming up. if you hook to your right -- >> i saw another one! >> reporter: west chip island is the destination, part of the natural seashore and home to more than 300 types of birds. the captain's family runs this tour company for the national park service. the oil spill threatens his protected paradise ten miles offshore. >> they can't get this thing capped off, this is going to be a ka tras trow fee for our natural resources. katrina is long in our past. that's nothing compared to what's out there. >> have a good time, today. >> reporter: the scenery here was definitely changed. >> the main thing they want to know, is the oil here? >> reporter: not yet so the beach tours continue. we'll go this direction down the beach and see what we find. only minutes later, more uncertainty. >> not sure that that's an oil casualty. >> reporter: rangers bhef the death was natural. meanwhile back on the mainland, life begins anew. as common as traffic is along highway 90 are birds. between this road and the gulf of mexico lies this nesting area of least terns where they lay their eggs and nests. and like most parents, they are protective. spekled eggs as mommys and daddy circle the sand. birds don't have an anti-oil instinct. >> they are trying to survive and i don't thing they are really looking at oil. they are looking what could potentially be their only meal for that day. >> reporter: so far just one oil pelican has been rescued and released back into the wild. >> you may not see this directly right now but there is going to be an impact. >> reporter: not even the tip of iceberg yet? >> no, it's going to be almost that sense like a domino effect. >> reporter: this is one of the nesting areas and this year it looks like they've gone down the beach a little bit. there are so many of these areas, not only these birds but other birds nest here along the mississippi gulf coast. it is just teaming with wildlife. as far as the rescue efforts are concerned, yesterday they sent out eight field crews to search and recover in some cases wildlife. four helicopters sent out and still, remarkably, only two oiled birds have been rescued and recovered. therein lies the good news. not one expert i've talked to on this story kiran, has said that that's going to be the end of it, even if we don't see any more oil birds and we certainty hope we do. feeding on the wildlife out there and the nesting area is affected. they'll certainly have a long-term effect and that has everybody nervous here along the gulf of mexico. >> can't get that leak plugged, most upsetting thing of all. rob marciano thanks so much. 4 million gallons may have leaked into the water since the leak and at this point it would surpass the xt exxon valdez" as the worst pispill. we'll talk about the far-reaching effects on the eco system and food chain. president obama says his supreme court nominee would make the high court more reflective of america. but forget about gender, what about religion, education and geographic diversity? we'll look at what could be the court's new makeup after the break. hey, ipz don shula, and i lost 32 pounds on nutrisystem. and i'm mary anne shula, and i've lost 23 pounds on nutrisystem. nutrisystem silver for 2010, the weight-loss program designed for older americans to lose weight and feel great again! let's face it, the older you get, the harder it is to lose weight. not anymore, honey. it's easy with nutrisystem. for a limited time, get our best tv offer: four weeks free! that's 112 meals absolutely free. even the shipping is free. i look and feel so much better, and so does coach. i'm back to my playing weight. see how nutrisystem silver can change your life. trust me, you will lose weight. don't miss our best tv offer: order now and you can get an extra four weeks of delicious meals. that's right, you can get an extra 28 breakfasts, 28 lunches, 28 dinners, p9 and 28 desserts, 112 meals ú$ee. call or click now. get back in the game. president obama says his pick of elena kagan to be the next supreme court justice will help the court be more reflective of america. her confirmation would mean more women on the court, consider this, kagan would join six catholics and two jewish, meaning there would be no protestants on the court ever, ivy leaguer born on the west coast or east coast and one in georgia. is this a reflection of america? let's bring in joan, the supreme court reporter and legal correspondent for slate.com. jill, no protestants for the very first time in the court's history, when you consider 50% of america is protestant and quarter is catholic and 1.7 is jewish, what kind of effect does that have on the court? >> it is stunning. it really might not have any difference on the law though, john. because you figure the justices are not supposed to be a representative body the way members of congress are supposed to be. they are looking at the law and looking at the facts of the case. it more what it signals pore people in america. for the most part what people want to see is folks who are fair and folks who can understand the law and be em pathetic. i was thinking john paul stevens who seems to be able to identify with a lot of people who are poor and disenfranchised and unrepresented themselves. >> does religious persuasion have any effect on how a justice would rule? >> i don't think there's much evidence that there is a cathol cathol catholic jurs pruns, one has a need to see oneself reflected on the court. whether that comes up through religious diversity, racial diversity, when you see a court that in no way looks like you, people do get anxious. on substantive matters, there's no evidence that religion makes an enormous difference to the way judges rule. >> what do you think? does this court if elena kagan does become the ninth justice, does it look like america? >> it depends on who you ask. president obama would say i massively diversified the court. for the first time in 40 years i put someone on the bench who doesn't come off the bench and somebody who isn't plucked off the courts of appeals. i think it depends on how you define diversity. he would say this is much more diverse than the bench we've seen where every single person was formerly a judge. i think you're quite right. if you define diversity geographically or based on ivy league education, this is one of the least diverse courts in history. >> what do you think about that particular point, the fact she has no experience as a judge, first time since 1972? william rehnquist was one of the final people who had no judicial experience and republicans were saying anything about his lack of experience at that time. it was taken during that time that somebody who had a more diverse background wasn't from the monday ast teri might be good for the court. >> that's right. they weren't formal lower court judges as all nine members now are. i do think it's good to have people with varied experience. but it also takes them a little bit more time to get up to speed on the law and the cases before them. that will not be a problem with elena kagan. even though she hasn't been a judge, she's been in this setting arguing before the justices and writing legal briefs. so enviewed in the type of legal matters that the justices will be hearing, i don't think she'll have trouble getting up to speed. for many observers of the court, any kind of breadth of experience brings a little plus factor to the court itself. >> dolly, what about geographical disver versety, now you have six people from either new york or new jersey, couple from california, one from georgia. there's a big swath of america not represented. is that important? is that significant? >> you know, it's so interesting because historically there was a time when geographic diversity was determine tif. there was a western seat and new york seat. it was the most important thing to have a broad swath of the country represented. it's interesting that we talk about it almost not at all know. we're talking about it now but most americans care much more about other forms of diversity, racial diversity and gender diversity. i think it's because we're not anxious about geography the way we used to be. the country has become so home mow genius, it's all the same. i think we go through the cycles where we care more about one form of diversity than the other. >> are you worried at all that all of the justices come from either harvard or yale? >> well, there were a couple of candidates in the mix with state school agrees. it does send a signal you have to be on a certain path to get to the supreme court. i think that's a lesser marker for people than race and sex before the justices. when school kids come in they see a court that looks a little more varied. >> none of them could find a good school to go through. good to talk to you this morning. thanks so much. 45 minutes now after the hour.  ah! silver one. that's not a volkswagen. ♪ [ tires screech ] ♪ [ sighs ] ♪ that's two for doubting. 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[ male announcer ] the volkswagen cc. award-winning design starting under $28,000. it's a whole new volkswagen, and a whole new game. time to check on this morning's weather headlines. jacqui jeras is in the weather center. some areas hit yesterday could again get a storm system passing through? >> absolutely. we do have the severe weather threat again. it won't be nearly as widespread and we don't expect nearly as many violent tornadoes. but a few could spin up as well as hail makers. and wul watch parts of texas and oklahoma into kansas as well as into the nation's midsection. but the main energy is pulled up to the north now. we're looking at that wet weather pushing into great lakes and making its way into the northeast. it is not severe but it is going to be a nuisance if you're trying to travel. from minneapolis down through milwaukee, and chicago and detroit and cleveland. cincinnati getting in on it. most of that will push into the northeast as we head into the later evening hours and into the overnight. if you're traveling along i-80 and i-95, expect wet roadways. we do expect travel delays at the airports for all of the cities i mentioned. chicago is getting into the action, an hour delay. when you start out of the gate that early with problems, that tends to last throughout much of the day. our open other top headline, the temperatures are way below where they should be, particularly the northern third of the country, 10 to 20 degrees below where you should be. grab a sweater. >> hadn't noticed, jacqui. >> or in my case, zip up the down coat. it was pretty cold this morning at 3:00 a.m. >> a couple of records too. 38 degrees. >> 38. poor folks in long island. >> thanks, jacqui. it's 50 minutes past the hour. top stories are minutes away. including a first look at the oil isn't b.p. letting us see more of the effort to stop it. teens hooked on pills overusing and abusing prescription drugs. how one girl nearly died from her addiction and managed to come back from the brink. at 50 minutes past the hour getting tips from your first triathlon from lance armstrong. how cool is that? we are going to check in with dr. sanjay gupta and team a.m. those stories and much more at top of the hour. t runs through d where pollen floats through the air. but now, with the strength of 24-hour zyrtec® to relieve my worst allergy symptoms, indoors and outdoors... let's go before the fish stop biting. they won't wait for us. but that's okay. zyrtec® is the fastest 24-hour allergy medicine. today, we battle wits with the trout. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. ♪ [ male announcer ] looks clean, doesn't it? but look below the surface. your mouth is no different. brushing leaves teeth looking clean, but millions of plaque and gingivitis germs are left behind. a quick 30-second rinse with listerine® antiseptic cleans deeper. 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[ sighs ] [ male announcer ] ...for the deepest clean and the healthiest mouth. listerine®. clean deeper. get healthier. barbara walters surprised her audience when she announced she is taking some time off to undergo heart surgery. here is what the co-host of abc "the view" had to say about her health. later this week, i am going to have surgery to replace one faulty heart valve. lots of people have done this. i have known of this condition for a while. my doctors and i have decided this is the best time to do the surgery. >> elizabeth cohen joins us from atlanta and explained this is elective in a way and it is not an emergency that she has to have it done right now. what exactly is she getting done? >> what she is going to have done is replace a heart valve. we don't know exactly which one. when people hear about heart disease, they think, someone didn't eat right or didn't exercise right. that's not the case with heart valves. they are basically something that is worn out. with age, valves just often stop working the way that they should. so this is a very common operation. this is done all the time. so, again, we don't know which valve is being replaced but it is likely it is the aortic valve. often, that's the one that needs to be replaced. that's the last valve that the flood goes through. when it is working well, the blood flows easily. when it is not working well, the little flaps that are supposed to close, they don't close all the way. that's a problem. then, some blood can leak back into the heart and the heart does not pump efficiently. the valve she is going to get, we don't know if it would be from a pig. sometimes they use pig heart valves to put into human beings tore might be a plastic valve. kiran? >> how long does the recovery take? i think she said she was going to be gone for three months. >> that's definitely possible. that's in the realm of what usually happens. she will likely be in the hospital for about five to ten days and her recovery, her out-of-commission time will be about six to ten weeks, about up to three months. that's normal for this procedure. >> all right. we wish her the best. if she wants to come back, she is read do i go. hopefully, everything goes well. elizabeth cohen, thanks so much. top stories coming your way after a quick break. do not go away. cream. some use hydrogenated oil. reddi-wip uses real dairy cream. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. good morning. welcome to american morning on this tuesday, may 11th. i'm kiran chetry. good morning. i'm john roberts. here are the big stories we will be telling you about. it was a terrifying night in oklahoma. tornadoes taking out dozens of homes. foif people killed. thousands without power. the horror may not be over. more extreme weather is on the way today. first, look at the underwater oil leak in the gulf of mexico. b.p. releasing video three weeks after the explosion and catastrophe. here it shows the underwater submersible robots trying to close off the third leaking well, which they did successfully here but behind, you can see the gush and the flow of oil that is still leaking. we will take a look at what's going on with the flow of information as well as the flow of the oil. stay seated, keep your hands inside the car at all times. you must be this tall to go on this ride. it could be another roller coaster on wall street. the dow bounced back. it finished 400 points higher. christine romans breaking it all down for you. the a.m. fix blog is up and running. go to cnn.com/amfix to weigh in. we begin the hour with the aftermath of a horrifying night in oklahoma. five people are dead. more than 100 homes reportedly damaged or destroyed. tornadoes tearing through the heart of the state last night leaving dozens of people hospitalized. the devastation is widespread. mark upgrand of koco in oklahoma has surveyed some of the damage. >> reporter: i am here in choctaw, oklahoma, right along i-40. you can see back behind me, this used to be a love's convenience store. a lot of truck stop people coming to get gas. believe it or not, there was 40 people inside this building when the tornado came across. everybody was taken to the back of this building and kind of gotten into the cooler area there. everybody, believe it or not, walked out, which is kind of hard to believe when you see all this devastation around us, all the metal. this stuff came from the awning, just thrown around. look at this right here. the ready cooler. i didn't know there was any ice in here. you can see, these things are very heavy. a lot of damage around here. in fact, there are several, probably a couple dozen, homes in this area were damaged. we talked to some of the homeowners when we were here last night about how they barely had enough time to jump in the storm shelters or the closets when the storm came through. most of the people were okay. we do understand there were five fatalities from the storm. the storm system spawned about 25 tornadoes across central and north central oklahoma throughout late afternoon. a lot of people are going to be getting up this morning trying to get back to their homes. they weren't allowed to go in last night. a lot of cleanup to do. once the light comes on, once the sun comes up, you are going to have all the first responders and emergency managers are going to go out to go back to door to door to make sure everyone is okay. in choctaw, mark hopgrande. we think this will start firing up late this afternoon and into this evening. we have a slight risk of severe thunderstorms. more into western parts of oklahoma, the panhandle of texas and kansas. we are not expecting widespread outbreaks with a lot of supercell tornadoes. we could see a couple of rotators as well as some large hail makers. let's show you some video and talk about how unique yesterday was. it was a high-risk day where you get the individual storms that stand out there all by themselves and take up all the energy. this video you are looking at, you can see this tornado in medford had multiple vortices. that's the nature. you can get multiple vortices in the water as well as hurricanes. they tend to cause more damage and you get these little fingers that move around. it has to do with the environmental winds. some incredible pictures. you only get pictures like this really out of the plain states where the land is flat and there is nothing out there. they were firing up along the dry line. the dry line will advance during the day. the temperatures heat up and then it will retreat back to the west at the nighttime. so, today, we will watch for more advancement. you can see days of these types of thunderstorms igniting, while we many get them again for today. we don't think it will be nearly as bad as the situation yesterday. john and kiran, back to you. >> those were pretty amazing pictures, like fingers of destruction reaching up into the air. thanks, jackie. also developing this morning, the oil spill in the gulf of mexico. it is getting more serious by the minute. they may have just lost more time. crews are using deep-sea robots and chem cass icals to try to d the oil gushing. now 4 million gallons and counting. along the louisiana barrier islands, they are stacking one-ton stacks of sand to keep the oil away from wildlife. forecasters say that shifting winds are pushing more oil into the mississippi delta and areas west of the river. today, con sgres will hold hearings on the explosion and the fireball that started this all. last night, i spoke to one of the men who was on that rig when it went up. >> absolutely. that was the main thing going through my head. it just hit me in my stom stomach. i kept thinking, there is no way we are getting off of here werks are all dead. >> ed lavandera joins us live from new orleans. good morning, ed. >> reporter: good morning, ken. those hearings from washington have the potential of being rather intense today as the company officials from all of the major players in this oil rig disaster will be showing up. you have executives from trans ocean which owned the oil rig. you have b.p. which was in control of the drilling operations. you also have halliburton which really hasn't been talked about as much as the other two companies. halliburton was contracted by b.p. to put in the cement plug, which is what was supposed to go into these wells to really prevent the escape of natural gas from rising back up to the surface, which many believe so far, which is what triggered this massive explosion, deadly explosion as well. what you are probably going to see here today, john and kiran, is the beginning of that blame game, where these company officials have already hinted that they are blaming each other's work for what happened here and transpired here. what's at play, millions and millions of dollars. there have been hundreds, if not several,00 thousand lawsuits fi against these companies. you can imagine attorneys will be watching very closely what is transpiring in washington. >> there has been some frustration with b.p., critics saying they are much better at controlling the message than controlling the oil from the sea floor. >> reporter: one of the things they won't to that highlights what many critics of b.p. say is this effort offer not being transparent enough with their disaster response. they have robotic vehicles under water. you can see video images that they released last week from one of the robotic vehicles. arms that were showing how the machine capped one of the leaks on that rise ir comir coming ou floor of the gulf of mexico. in the background, you can see that cloud of what we presume is oil coming from one of those risers as well. we do know from one government source that b.p. has oil leaks. we have talked to many environmentalists and scientists that say, being able to see the video might help independent sources to verify what's going on and gauge the cleanup process and the attempts to get this well under control are actually going. b.p. says that they have been more than open with government investigators about how they are conducting business under water there. critics say that really this is an attempt by b.p. to control the message and the image of this disaster. >> why do you think we haven't seen much of that video yet? >> if i had to guess, it is that b.p. doesn't exactly want the public to see what's happening. they want to control the message and the information. i think the public needs to see what's happening at the surface and the sea floor. >> we are being extraordinarily open and transparent, whether it is ourselves or the government agencies involved. we are sharing tremendous amounts of information. >> we've asked b.p. repeatedly over the last few weeks to get a glimpse of some of this video. they keep telling us they will look into it. they say their number one priority is capping that well. anything beyond that is extra. we have heard extensively from critics, john and kiran, that they think they would like to get a better view of what's going on underneath the surface of the water. >> makes you wonder what it is that they don't want to show us, ed. >> environmentalists and scientists have been saying that what's going on below the surface of the water is very different from what we are seeing on the surface. that they believe that what's going on underneath is where the majority of the oil is and where the greatest environmental damage is occurring. coming up in 40 minutes, we will be speaking with epa administrator lisa jackson about this very issue, the threat to the sensitive wildlife and the chemicals being used to clean up the oil spill. could they be just as harmful? explosives class for first responders. what would have happened had that bomb in times square been one that could have actually detonated. that's what 300 pounds of explosive grade fertilelizer will do. we will have the whole story coming up. nine minutes after the hour. what did we make better ? communities. industry. energy. her. this. lives. how ? by bringing together... information. ... people ... ... machines ... ... systems ... ideas... verizon helps businesses worldwide... including fortune 500 companies... find and achieve... better. better. better. better. i view the process of selecting a supreme court nominee as among my most serious responsibilities as president. i will seek someone with an independent mind, a record of excellence and integrity, a fierce dedication to the rule of law and a keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the american people. it will also be someone who knows that in a democracy, powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. this is power with efficiency. this is an interior that exceeds even the promise of the exterior. this is the all-new jaguar xj. the stunning result of taking a very different road. welcome back to the most news in the morning. iran agreeing to allow the mothers of three jailed american hikers to visit them in a ter ran prison. they have been behind bars for nine months charged with espionage. iran's foreign minister says visas have been ordered for all three mothers on humanitarian grounds. >> more than a week later, faisal shahzad is a no-show in the courtroom. he is cooperating, legal experts recommend the government assign shahzad an attorney and put him in front of a judge very soon. now, to an a.m. original, something you will see only on american morning. it is hard to know just how bad the attempted times square bombing could have been. the device itself was not sophisticated. >> we are about to give you a look at the powerful force of bombs similar to the one planted inside the suv at times square. >> imagine if this blew up in times square. what you are watching is the result of 300 pounds of explosive grade fertilizer. because the times square suv had nonexplosive fertilizer, this one is more massive than what would have been. >> reporter: knowing what you know was in that vehicle in times square, what kind of damage would that have been? >> from what we have seen on the news, it was a very amateur device. the detonation, if they could have gotten something to detonate, would have probably been pretty low order but it would have spread stuff all over the street. they had a lot of fuel. there is a lot of gas and other things associated with that. while we would have had a small explosion, it would have probably been a very big fire. >> the federal government has trained more than 300,000 first responders. they see firsthand what explosives like this briefcase bomb can do. >> obviously, it has done more damage to our manican. >> reporter: most of the teaching is in a classroom setting. seeing the explosions and the aftermath is what really hits home. >> three, two, one. . >> you can see the blast. >> right over here, we have spring hangers. just by that, we can tell exactly where the explosives were placed inside this vehicles. >> reporter: is this worth it? >> absolutely. the people that are going to go to any type of event, they are going to be your first responders, your police officers, your firefighters, paramedics, they need to have some idea of what they have come across and the dangers that poses and also evidence issues. we have a chance of catching whoever is involved. nobody knows exactly if that bomb in new york would have gone off how much damage it would have caused, if it was anything close to what we saw here, it would have been devastating. john, kiran? >> amazing. >> it's an interesting classroom, isn't it? >> exactly. the largest games in more than a year erased. now, stocks are set to slide again. christine romans with me again, up and down roller coaster. the volatileity of the markets. 16 minutes after the hour. ♪ toxic by britney spears. >> boy, that's hummable. 18 minutes after the hour. christine romans here "minding your business." dow after going up yesterday is going to go down today. >> so the dow was up 405 points, a very big move because there was some optimism. it looks like a big european rescue plan was something that rescued stocks yesterday. the dow had the best day in 14 months. a really good day, really, 405 points. very rare to see such a big move. today, dow futures down 105 points. if things hold, ul take a quarter of that nice day's gain away in the very early going. a lot of the things we were talking about yesterday they are still chewing over. how are they going to implement this rescue? will there be the political will to take some tough medicine to get these loans. maybe the bailout won't solve the crisis. we are solving a problem about borrowing too much money by borrowing too much money. talking about china and signs of inflation. people have been carefully watching how strong china's economy has been and how any kind of slowdown there will affect the u.s. and if there isn't a slowdown, whether inflation will be a problem for the chinese currency and the like. there is this real push back and forth between today we want to be in safe assets. today, we are going to go into risky assets. there is a lot of volatility in the markets. >> the average person who is putting money away or just dollar cost averaging each month should ignore this. >> if your the average person dollar cost averaging every month, all of the people that i talk to, the financial planers say, you should still be completely engaged in your long-term strategy. you are picking up stocks at all different kinds of prices and it smooths out in the end. so they say, don't wake up and get indigestion over this. the stock market is still down about a quarter. 25% from where it was in 2007. most of us are still under water on our 529 plans, our 401(k)s. >> it is taking a hit but it is coming back. >> it has been coming back. even today, there are people who are saying -- >> why are you laughing? >> because we always say, it is coming back, it is coming back. >> it has coming back. the question is, does it keep going or has it lost all of its steam because of the global recovery. >> i read a story earlier last week about william schaffner and price line. in the dotcom publ, price line went down $1.20, it is $250 now. >> the wise words offer william schaffner. >> too bad i can never pick stocks like that. that's my particular problem. >> i thought about buying it but i thought if it is at $1.20, it will soon be at 80 cents, that is. >> someday, i will tell you the story of lucindet. >> someday i will tell you about the story of not taking the opportunity to buy the initial share of trivial pursuit. >> this is why, dollar cost averaging. i don't have this problem. thanks, christine. reality check in the gulf oil spill's environmental impact. the e pechltpa administrator co this morning. >> i will take science for a piece of the pie. just kidding. we will check back with lisa as she tries to get sober in her struggle with prescription drugs. did she turn over a new leaf. 22 minutes past the hour. an never be fully answered, it helps to have a financial partner like northern trust. by gaining a keen understanding of your financial needs, we're able to tailor a plan using a full suite... of sophisticated investment strategies and solutions. so whatever's around the corner can be faced with confidence. ♪ northern trust. look ahead with us at northerntrust.com. pacific life can help... retirement, using 401k savings, life insurance, and annuities to provide a dependable income for the rest of your life. with more than 140 years of experience, pacific life can help you achieve your vision of the future. ask your financial professional about pacific life... the power to help you succeed. - 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. 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strategy to battle america's drug problem shifting the focus from law enforcement to prevention and treatment. there is also new attention being given to prescription drug abuse. across the nation, more and more teenagers are abusing prescription pills, oftentimes pills they find in their family's medicine cabinet. we are checking back in with one teen named melissa after battling a bill addiction for years, she hit bottom and tried to take her own life. >> i went over to a friend's house. i thought i was having a good time. i ended up trying to commit suicide. i felt really lonely and i guess a lot of times whether you are using drugs, that's how you end up feeling. i felt really alone and i felt worthless. i don't remember calling an ambulance or how it got to me. i went to the hospital i was in intensive care for four days. they told me i was 15 minutes away from death. >> what did you take? >> i took benadryl, tylenol, aleve, advil and some prescription pills that were in there. i took some of those as well. i'm not sure what they were. i basically went for anything i could get my hands on. >> after you came to in the hospital, what was the first thing that went through your mind? >> the first thing that came to my mind was wanting to get high and thinking that i needed to be high. i've been in rehab and it just wasn't enough for me. it didn't strike me as that serious. being 15 minutes away from death, that was my bottom. that's as low as i can get. it made me realize what i need to do. >> after being released from the hospital, melissa was sent to a mental health facility. after years of abusing prescription pills as well as alcohol and pot, she made the decision to get clean. >> what was the withdrawal like when you were at the mental hospital? >> it was terrible. it was absolutely terrible. i had really, really bad nightmares. i just felt unat ease and uncomfortable all the time. it's like you think you are going to stop doing the drugs and maybe things will start to get better but it gets worse before it gets better. >> that meant getting the proper diagnosis. during her counseling sessions, melissa learned she was bipolar and began receiving the right treatment. she also made the tough call to leave home temporarily. moving to north carolina to stay with her sister and escape her daily temptations. we gave melissa a video camera and asked her to document her recovery zich recovery. >> i woke up today so far feeling good. no temptations or craveings. i have to say this isn't easy. i don't know what went wrong. for some reason, i want to get high. i have to keep on the right track. i feel preelly positive. everything has been going good. >> she had been clean for three weeks. however -- >> i guess i'm going to have to see what happens when i get home. i am scared. definitely getting scared. being sober and cutting it out is really scary. >> the real challenge for melissa lice ahead. she is back in her hometown. she has been here for just a day. you are home, back living with your mom. you say your mom does have prescription drugs. how is that working out? >> it was a little scary at first but, you know, she got a lockbox and put them in a lock borks b box. more concerned is coming home to my hometown where people are going to send me a text message, hey, i got my script. >> today, 46 days sober for mel slas and she says she sees life differently now. >> so what's your first thought usually when you wake up in the morning now? >> typically, i wake up and look outside and just kind of wonder what's going to come throughout the day, wonder what it will bring. >> and when you were using drugs, what was your first thought when you woke up? >> normally, i feel like crap. i'm tired and i need to go get high. >> do you ever look back and say, man, i got off lucky compared to what could have happened? >> i got off extremely lucky. >> an addiction she says has left a scar that she hopes will fade with time? >> i love my life. i couldn't say that a while ago. i couldn't say that i love mide self. i couldn't say that. i thought i was beautiful. now, you know i think i'm an extremely beautiful person, more so on the inside. that's all that matters, is that i'm happy with myself. >> great to see how much progress she has made. >> she looks like a whole different girl than the one we first met back in early march. 46 days being sober. you know in the beginning it is hard. day by day by day, she is doing it. she has a whole different outlook. perhaps one of the most important things is that she is being treated properly for chemical imbalance in her brain that perhaps helped her down the road of addiction. >> you have to wonder, did she do herself any damage when she was doing drugs so intensely? >> she said when she was in the hospital the first four days, they said her liver was very badly damaged but that it would come back. she would improve. she is young. she is 18. the chances of being able to make a full recovery physically are also very high because of her age. she admits, she got lucky. the people who treated her in the days after that ambulance was called say she was lucky. >> we wish her well. krogs the half hour, time for this morning's top stories. at least 14 militants have been killed and several others injured in the suspected u.s. drone attack. officials say 18 missiles were fired at two vehicles and several compounds this morning near the border of afghanistan. a lot of heartache in oklahoma. five people are dead after a series of powerful tornadoes destroyed the area. supreme court nominee, elena kagan, will start meeting with senators. republicans say they plan to use this time to take a long hard look at her record. right now, senate democrats have more than enough votes to confirm her. >> it could be a tense day for president karzai for day two of what's being called frank talks. relations between afghanistan and td u.s. continue to be strained at best. >> he is under pressure to do something about his corrupt government. our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, joins us live from washington it talk about what's at stake here. >> good morning, john and kiran. this whole visit is design today publicly bolster the u.s./afghan relationship, improving how to fight the taliban, improving economic development, things that could lead to u.s. troops coming home. there are plenty of simmering tensions, not below the surface. >> reporter: the commander of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan had an unpleasant message. the war is about to get worse. >> well encounter increased violence as our combined security forces expand into taliban-controlled areas. >> reporter: violence is up nearly 90% from this time last year. roadside bombs up a staggering 240%. general stanley mcchrystal's next target, dan har, the heartland in southern afghanistan. there are worries the taliban have already stockpiled weapons for a counter assault. the u.s. efforts depend heavily on afghan president, hamid karzai. things haven't been so diplomatic. karzai increasingly irritated with u.s. demands, he cracked down on corruption and the drug trade. >> afghanistan is -- >> reporter: after more than eight years of war, relations with kabul, still a work in progress. >> you don't always get to pick your partners and you have to do the best you can with what you have. >> reporter: at a press conference designed to show unity, u.s. ambassador, carl iken bury, struggled to give the impression he was confident in the afghan president. >> do you think that prz c president karzai is -- >> he is an elected president of afghanistan. i highly respect president karzai in that capacity. i have cautious optimism that we are making progress. >> so you were skeptical of those successes before? >> we are going to let these guys get back to work. thank you both for coming by. >> an abrupt end to a white house press conference there underscoring the bottom line reality. 8 1/2 years of war. the u.s. ambassador still publicly uncomfortable endorsing hamid karzai and questions across washington about whether the afghan leader can control the violence in his own country. john, kiran? >> barbara starr for us this morning. thanks so much. the oil leak in the gulf of mexico, try as they may, b.p. has barely made a dent in stemming the flow of toxic crude. the potential for ecological disaster growing by the day. we will check in with the administrator of the epa, lisa jackson. stay with us. 35 minutes past the hour. and now there's lubriderm advanced therapy spf 30. the only body moisturizer with an spf this high. its nutrients match the same nutrients naturally found in healthy skin... for a great clean feel with the best uva/uvb protection. see you later alligator. advanced therapy spf 30 is here... lubriderm. your moisture, matched. go to lubriderm.com for $2 savings. [ male announcer ] how can rice production in india affect wheat output in the u.s., the shipping industry in norway, and the rubber industry in south america? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment objectives, risks, fees, expenses, and other information to read and consider carefully before investing. welcome back. 38 minutes past the hour. b.p. is turning to plan "b." the first plan was to drop a 100-ton dome. that failed. >> yesterday, they shot a chemical down into the mouth of the leak to try to dilute the oil and disperse it a little bit. it is another untested, unproven method. some experts say that they may pose an environmental risk as well. joining us from new orleans is lisa jackson, administrator of the environmental protection agency. we see tar balls washing up on the barrier islands. some of the main land beaches. the oil continues to flow out of that well unchecked. historically speaking, how bad could this get? >> it has the potential to be worse than anything we have seen. it also has the potential to be stopped sooner. what we need is we need a break. >> we certainly do. the attempts to stop the leak haven't worked. we are entrusting b.p. to stop it yet all of these potential solutions have not worked. we don't have any idea of the scope of the spill. are you confident that b.p. is up to the task of stopping the leak? >> the president has made it clear that this is not just a matter of entrusting b.p. he has asked everyone from the minerals management service to e.p.a. and steven shchu, the secretary of energy, between them and commandant allen at the coast guard and the department of defense, there has been every asset that we at the federal government can think of and we are involving states and local governments as well. >> when you say this could be the worst that we have ever seen, could you help to sort of illuminate that for us when you are talking about those sensitive areas around the mouth of the mississippi river and those wildlife refuges and sensitive salt marshes, what could we see there along the gulf coast? >> el wiwell, you know, the rea say it could be the worse is the amount. every spill is different. this one is unprecedented it is a long-term release of oil. we don't have a day we know that will stop. when you talk about ecosystem, you are talking about a way of life. people live in wetland and marches, off the land tichlts their culture. to the east, your talking about beaches and all the recreation and tourism there. when you talk about a great city like new orleans, my hometown, you talk about everything from the restaurants to the port that could be impacted if we don't stop this flow of oil. >> how long could the impact last? is. >> right now, we don't have a date certain which we know the release of oil will stop. even once the release stops, we will still deal with the oil that's already been released and its potential to make landfall. >> i think the thing that is just so heart blabreaking to se thousands upon thousands of oil are still gushing. nothing b.p. has done has worked so far. they are asking all bright minds to come forward and how confident are you that they will get this plugged and soon? >> well, the only thing i can be confident now is that everything we can think of to direct them to do or ask them to do or work with them to do is being done. that being said, i like commandant allen's analogy. this is like apollo 13. we are in this sub sea environment where we can see the problem as it occurs. you are talking about robots for the most part that have to do the actual work. there is a real frustration about wanting to try things and realizing that the environment you are in causing problems. >> we talked about this at the beginning, administrator jackson, this release of dispersemen dispersements yesterday. these disperse ants, while not as toxic as the oil carry tox isty with them. you met with scientists at lsu. how do you make the cal collusion regarding the tradeoff, adding more toxins and trying to disperse this oil? >> we are talking about tradeoffs. that's what the response to this spill is going to continue to involve. yesterday at lsu, today down at tullane. my alma mater. we do know the toxicity of the dispersant is less than that of the oil. whether you can use less dispersant if you use it at the sub sea than you can by using it at the surface. we have been using it at the surface all along. what we don't know, quite frankly, is the fade and the transport of that oil over time. what we can assure folks and what i want people to know is that as head of the epa, we have a monitoring plan in place to watch oil dispersion and to stop any application of disperse ants. >> what assurances can you give the american public that something like this, this scope of disaster with this oil rig explosion won't happen again as we look to expand offshore drilling? >> well, you know, i don't think that we can -- at someone said at lsu, humans are involved. when humans are involved in an endeavor, things can go wrong. what i think we have to learn is what the real worse case scenario is and what we need to do to make sure we are ready for that going forward including ways to prevent it. obviously, this all goes back to a prevention system that didn't work. >> right. this was worse case scenario. many, many said it wouldn't happen and it did. >> well i think just like with any other disaster, people will later scratch their heads and say, maybe there was a little bit of arrogance on our parts not to think we would face this. >> administrator, lisa jackson, from the epa, good to talk to you this morning. thanks so much. >> thank you. cold and rain in the northeast and severe storms possible yet again in the midwest and south. jackie tracking all the ex traem weather still ahead. my name is chef michael. and when i come home from my restaurant, i love showing bailey how special she is. yes, you are. i know exactly what you love, don't i? 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[ woman ] introducing chef michael's canine creations. so tasty and nutritious it's hard to believe it's dry dog food. chef-inspired. dog-desired. chef michael's canine creations. ♪ [ male announcer ] winning more awards for quality and customer service than any other luxury manufacturer the last 10 years says something. yet, the award we value most is the fact that lexus has had more repeat, loyal drivers, in more of the last 10 years, than any other luxury automotive brand. to express our thanks, we're featuring our best values of the year. giving you unprecedented access to lexus. at your lexus dealer. good morning. omaha, nebraska, where it is cloudy and 49 degrees. it will probably remain cloudy. a chance for more severe weather across the midwest. jacqui jeras tracking all of it for us. harks good morning. >> good morning, guys. omaha, we will see some thunderstorms later on today. the bulk of the severe weather will be just to the south of there. we will be watching states like kansas as well as missouri and northwest arkansas and oklahoma could see more severe weather, including tornadoes and hailmakers. the severe weather threat is different than yesterday. we may see ice latsolated storm. 2% chance of a tornado today as compared to yesterday. still watching the next system as it moves into the plains and tracks through. in the meantime, our system from yesterday that caused all the severe weather is now making its way across the upper midwest and pushing towards the northeast. heavy downpours. it will be impacting your travel from minneapolis to milwaukee, chicago, down through cincy, detroit, cleveland and making its way to the northeast. chicago, midway arks ground stop. nobody is taking off to get there. delays in philadelphia of about 30 minutes as well. our other top weather story is that the temperatures are really, really cool. today, the northern tier of the country, looking for highs about 10-20 degrees below average. 46 in minneapolis today. only 59 in monew york city. you will have to get the severe norms to go along with it. john and kiran, back to you. >> jacqui jeras for us. she will be on the job as all the severe weather breaks across the country. thanks. we seal you again soon. we have told that you dr. sanjay gupta and a group of cnn viewers are train forg a triathlon. >> he is not busy enough. >> he needs to find things to do. they have been train forg swimming, running. there is a cycling component to it as well. wait until you see who they were training with for the cycling component. maybe you got an idea. fit nation coming up. stay with us. ten minutes to the top of the hour. this is power with efficiency. this is an interior that exceeds even the promise of the exterior. this is the all-new jaguar xj. the stunning result of taking a very different road. you know, the guys who always do a super job. well, it is. just go to superpages.com®. and look for a business with the superguarantee® shield. you'll get the job done right, or we'll step in and help to make it right. so, protect yourself with a business backed by the superguarantee®. only at superpages.com®. and let the good guys come to the rescue. welcome back to the most news in the morning. 68 days and counting until race day for cnn's chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta. he is competing in the new york city triathlon. >> sanjay and the fit nation team went to austin, texas to get some cycling tips from a serious pro. you can probably guess who it is. >> one of the things all of our athletes told us was they would love a chance to meet lance armstrong, arguably one of the most inspiring athletes in the world. there he is right there. say hi to the man over there. >> nair >> reporter: there you go. you are right on cue. these guys have been very excited to meet you. >> hi, ricky. nice to meet you. >> laura. >> nice to meet you. >> i'm linda. >> nice to meet you. >> dean, a pleasure. >> reporter: all of these athletes have never done a triathlon before. they are very interested in the cycling part of it and wanted to see if you had any specific ideas or tip force a first-time competitive cyclist. >> i guess the key is to really enjoy it. obviously, nutrition, hydration super important, especially if the weather is like today when it is hot and humid and steamy. big mistakes can be made if you don't fuel up before the race, the days before, the hour before, and then also during. >> reporter: what did you have for breakfast today? >> don't ask me what i had today. we don't want to talk about that. >> i have a question real quick. i am a cancer survivor, last april i know you talked about how cancer survivors, it's a community. what advice do you have for those of you who are going through cancer or just getting beyond it? >> i have never forgotten those days. never turn your back on this thing, this enemy, this foe. the support around you is really critical when you are diagnosed and being treated. even afterwards, those people have to be great teammates just like they were when you were sick. >> when you get to points in the race when you find yourself getting really mentally exhausted, what do you tell yourself at that point? >> we all get to that point. i'm hurting so bad. i can't get any deeper. you think i am doing this for the american cancer society or for the leukemia society and think about all the people that would love to be doing what i am doing today, suffering. so that helps. >> you guys did great. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, c cnn reporting. >> it's an interesting philosophy when i says i am hurting so bad, i can't take it anymore and so many other people aren't here. there may be others that won't make it unless i race. good excuse to dig deep. >> it is. also for those trainers that are trying to figure this out and trying to get ready for their first triathlon. what inspiration to have lance armstrong there saying, you can do it. >> i want to borrow his legs just for one day just to see what it's like, just to see if it would make spin class any easier. >> you need his legs and his lungs. you need his lung capacity. >> he wants your chest and your legs, matt, but for reasons. >> don't be twisting what i say. >> for different reasons than most women do. 57 minutes past the hour. we'll be right back. ♪ hey bets, can i borrow a quarter? 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