Oklahoma Ravaged by Tornados; FEMA Trying to Put Itself Back Together; Obama Cabinet Under Scrutiny
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: It's 7:00 right now here in New York. A look at the top stories this morning. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill could reach a final deal on the president's stimulus as early as today. Democratic leaders from both chambers met behind closed doors with the three Republican senators who also support the bill. Nine hours of negotiations ended just before midnight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying, "We're not there yet but we made a significant amount of progress." Satellite radio provider Sirius XM is reportedly getting ready for a possible bankruptcy. According to the "New York Times," it's unclear how that could affect customers. Sources involved say it's unlikely the service would be interrupted but the company may have to end high price contracts with stars like Howard Stern and Martha Stewart. And you might need to start stocking up on two cent stamps. The price of a first class stamp will go up from 42 to 44 cents. It doesn't start until May 11th. The postal service says the increase is needed because of rising production costs and that it matches the rate of inflation. We begin the hour with breaking news, a string of powerful tornadoes and severe thunderstorms pounding the Midwest. Eight people are dead and dozens more hurt. Cars left mangled, trees uprooted, residents huddling in their basements and closets. Take a look at this. The severe weather hammering a string of states in the Midwest, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas. Multiple tornadoes touching down around Oklahoma City, and all of these deaths happened in the small town of Lone Grove. It's just north of the Oklahoma/Texas border.</s>MICHELANN OOTEN, OKLAHOMA DEPT. OF EMERGENCY MGMT.: We have eight official fatalities at this point. They were able to recover yesterday after the tornado had come to the community, they have 14 injuries reported. And this morning at daylight, they'll begin the process of continuing to look for any others that may be unaccounted for.</s>CHETRY: There were people hurt across the state, nearly 50. That number is expected to increase, though, as rescue efforts continue this morning. Our Samantha Hayes is standing by on the line. We also have Rob Marciano tracking the storms from our Severe Weather Center, and Jim Acosta in Washington looking at FEMA's readiness. That agency still without a permanent leader. Samantha, though, let's start with you. What is the latest this morning?</s>SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, you just heard from Michelann Ooten. She is the director of Emergency Management in Oklahoma. She's on the scene here and yes, she said that eight people died in the storm last night. And you know, she looked at me this morning and she said, "It's going to be a tough day here," and it is. And they're waiting for the sun to come up so that they can, you know, go street by street in this neighborhood and try to assess the damage, try and make sure that they haven't left anybody unaccounted for. In terms of going back and looking at property damage, one of the things they may do, you know, is assess the damage to homes, cars, everything they can find and figure out if this area might qualify for federal aid and in that case you might see federal agencies come in but for right now, state agency they're handling it. The Oklahoma National Guard is also going to come in today to provide some barrier control, some perimeter control. And the Red Cross also has a shelter open in nearby Ardmore City, just east of here. So it is going to be a difficult day. The damage is extensive. We've just this morning been driving around to get a look ourselves and Kiran, it's what you would expect from a tornado. You know, some homes seem to be fine, and then there are others that are demolished and I mean brick homes that are -- they're completely wiped off their foundation. I'm looking at one right now, and there's also a furniture store just down the road from me that also its furniture has been strewn everywhere. There are big sheets of metal that are hanging over a power line, almost looks like somebody, you know, hung up clothes to dry. That's kind of the visual, some of the bizarre things you see in the aftermath of the tornado and certainly we'll see more as the sun comes up here shortly. We'll be providing reports for you throughout the newscast.</s>CHETRY: Samantha Hayes for us in Lone Grove, Oklahoma, this morning, thank you.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's now bring in our Rob Marciano. He's tracking the storm system from the weather center. Rob, this thing is on the move. Where is it headed?</s>ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's headed east rapidly in about 40 to 45 miles an hour, but the threat for tornadoes today will be less than yesterday but there still is a threat. We want to bring you back and start off with what happened last night. Squall line moving through this area. Here is the border of Texas and Oklahoma and that little cell and the cells this time of year that form ahead of squall lines will typically be the ones that will be the strongest and it just had a little bit of a purple blip there, indicating some hail and probably that tornado ripping right across Lone and Clark County last night or right around dinnertime. That's part of the system at least has weakened. But the main part, the mother part, the low itself is strengthening and that means it's going to encompass a larger amount of real estate. We still have a couple of tornado watches that are in effect. These will probably be allowed to be expired. The center of the storm as it continues to march off towards the north and east will spring a trail of showers and thunderstorms, some of which could produce some severe weather mostly in the form of hail and straight line winds, but a slight risk of seeing tornadoes today. And up just east of St. Louis, here is your line with the showers and storms. All right. I mentioned the main threat today will be the low itself, which will be strengthening. And as it does so, it will be not only giving us a slight risk for severe storms but also winds around this low that will be gusting at times to 50 or 60 miles an hour. So a high wind warning posted from a large part of the country from Memphis, all the way down up to southern Michigan today, or winds that could possibly do some damage and this is going to go over an area, John, that we mentioned earlier, the ice storm that affected these folks a couple of weeks ago, some still without power. Certainly trees and tree limbs still weak. We'll be enduring winds that could certainly take down some more power lines today. Back up to you.</s>ROBERTS: Is that going to move into the northeast tomorrow?</s>MARCIANO: It will but it will weaken and then most of it will go into Canada. It will be much weaker by the time it gets to the northeast tomorrow.</s>ROBERTS: All right, good. We don't need any more problems at the airports here, Rob, that's for sure. Rob Marciano tracking the weather for us this morning. Rob, thanks so much. These deadly tornados in Oklahoma along with the recent ice storms underscore the importance of FEMA and its ability to quickly respond. Right now, the agency is still without a permanent leader. It's also under intense scrutiny after its poor response to Hurricane Katrina and that was back in 2005. Jim Acosta is tracking that part of story for us this morning. What's going on, Jim? Why no new leader at this point?</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they say they're working on it over at the White House. And we know all too well that FEMA matters. Katrina, for example, was more than a hurricane, it was a government fiasco. During the campaign, President Obama promised to dramatically change the way this country responds to disasters, but as of yet, as you just mentioned, John, the new president does not have his own appointee running FEMA.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): When the first disaster on President Obama's watch, an ice storm, hit parts of the south, it was a holdover from the Bush administration on the scene for FEMA. The agency got good marks from state officials.</s>NANCY WARD, ACTING FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Eliminate the peanut butter portion of the meal.</s>ACOSTA: But in its response, FEMA may have mistakenly sent salmonella-tainted peanut butter in its meal kits to evacuees. Nobody got sick but it was a reminder.</s>PROF. RICHARD SYLVES, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: FEMA is under a spotlight. It's under scrutiny.</s>ACOSTA: The Bush administration's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina was one of the Obama campaign's favorite targets.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can talk about levees that couldn't hold, about a FEMA that seemed not just incompetent, but paralyzed and powerless, about a president who only saw the people from the window of an airplane instead of down here on the ground.</s>ACOSTA: He promised to fix FEMA saying as president the head of the agency would report to him and have real emergency experience.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.</s>ACOSTA: Translation, no more brownies. Today, former FEMA chief Michael Brown says the one thing he learned from the Katrina debacle is that the agency should have a direct line to the president, something Brown claims he did not have.</s>MICHAEL BROWN, FMR. FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: You simply cannot have that in a crisis situation. You can't have that on the battlefield. And a disaster is like a battlefield. Somebody has to be in charge.</s>ACOSTA: Another Katrina veteran argues leadership is what counts.</s>KATHLEEN BLANCO, FMR. LOUISIANA GOVERNOR: I would hope that the next FEMA administrator is someone who has had direct experience with managing a very large disaster.</s>ACOSTA: A Democratic official says the names being mentioned include Florida's emergency management director, Craig Fugate.</s>SYLVES: You need a director that can go toe to toe with screaming governors, with governors who are saying we need help now.</s>ACOSTA: Another name that has floated out is a former emergency manager in Iowa, but this is just the third week of the Obama Administration and officials tell us they are making progress in their search. And a Democratic official points out the cabinet secretary in charge of FEMA, Homeland Security's Janet Napolitano, did make it to Kentucky just yesterday and is promising more help for storm victims there -- John.</s>ROBERTS: Jim Acosta for us this morning. Jim, thanks so much for that.</s>ACOSTA: You bet. You got it.</s>CHETRY: Well, the president has called out people leaving failed companies with golden parachutes, but many on his money team may be walking away from their old jobs with some pretty sweet checks. So is it a double standard?</s>ROBERTS: A whiskey river on the steps of Kentucky's capitol, sort of a modern day Boston Tea Party with a little bit of an extra kick more than 200 years later. Yes, I know. It's still about taxes. The details straight ahead. I assume that wasn't their prime grade stuff.</s>CHETRY: No. No blue label there. Well, our special conversation with the captain and crew of US Airways Flight 1549, how they stayed cool under pressure. What it was like in the actual cabin, in the moments of that landing, and has some of this caught up with them since? It's 10 minutes after the hour.