approach to solutions that we're seeing here today. >> when there was the oil spill, we didn't know where the plumes were, we never had that data, because the satellites can only see the top few meters of the water column. >> basically, what's happened is, many countries subsidize their fishermen, because they cannot make ends meet. >> ladies and gentlemen, $101 million is what we have just raised. ♪ >> why weren't you dancing there? >> i didn't know the camera was looking at me. that was will.i.am. >> so they'll create a prize, a big one, and solve world problems in the process, we hope. >> we hope. >> ali, great. >> great to see you this morning. >> great to see you. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello starts right now. >> i'm kind of glad he didn't

dance. not that i'm saying anything about you, ali. >> you're very right. i'm with you on that. >> okay. have a great morning. thank you. it is 9:00 a.m. on the east coast, 6:00 a.m. in the west. in new york, the search for a possible serial killer turns to the laboratory. experts will determine whether bones found in the water near long island are human. if so, the next challenge will be finding a connection to the eight bodies that have already been found in the area since december. today is the deadline to file your tax return with the irs and tea party groups are seizing on voter anger and disgust. the weekend rallies culminate today in cities around the country. and this morning, syria's government is accused of unleashing deadly force on its own citizens. witnesses say that's the sound of government security forces opening fire on protesters. an opposition source tells cnn that at least three people were killed. wow. 230 tornadoes reported over

three days from oklahoma to north carolina. and now hundreds of wildfires are burning in texas and they aren't just threatening rural areas, they've reached the doorstep of austin, the state capital. we're covering both disasters for you this morning. david mattingly is in a small north carolina community, devastated by those storms, and ed lavendera is on his way to the fires in texas. let's start in texas. ed, are you there? >> reporter: i'm here, carol, it's going to be another exhausting day for thousands of firefighters across the state of texas, who have been battling intense fires. it seems like it's been going on all year long, but really, the last week has really intensified. just to give you a sense of how bad this fire season has been in texas, since the beginning of the year, more than 7,800 wildfires, 1.5 million acres of charred land across the state. this has basically affected every corner of the state from far west texas to as you mentioned yesterday, a dangerous fire on the outskirts of austin.

we're on our way out to west of ft. worth in palo pinto county, where two large fires have been threatening to emergency. that has kept firefighters busy. they've evacuated several small towns. really urging people to be careful. more than 250 homes have been lost so far this year. and really, this is going to be just another dangerous day across the state. low humidity, high winds and warm temperatures and we haven't had a lot of rain throughout most of the year, so it's going to be another devastating and dangerous day across the state. >> okay. we'll let you get on site, ed. back to you in the next hour. thank you. now on to those tornadoes. watch this time-lapsed look at one funnel cloud slam into downtown raleigh. wow. it's one of the many reasons for the state of emergency in effect right now in north carolina. statewide, more than 20 people were killed. nearly half of them in one small community. cnn's david mattingly is in that small community, bertie county, north carolina. david, bring us update.

>> reporter: bertie county is a rural county, very sparsely populated. the fact that you have 11 fatalities from this storm should tell you just how powerful this storm was when it roared through here. take a look at the examples all around us. this is a telephone poll right here. it's covered with mud on one side where the wind was coming through, snapped off at the base. you know how tough those poles are. look at this tree right here, completely ripped out of the ground. all the branchs are broken. every single leaf that was on there from the spring has now been ripped off. and the human toll here, this is a good example. this home right here, completely blown off of its foundation. there's not one single scrap of metal, wood, or personal belongings left at that location. that tells you, as this storm was coming in, that the people caught in its path found that there was truly no safe place. >> as you said, it's sparsely populated county where 700

square miles, 21,000 people. very, very rural county. so if it had hit a more populated area, i would suspect that there would have been more deaths. but 11 deaths are a whole lot of deaths. i don't want to minimize that. you know, we've never seen anything like this. >> reporter: and a couple of things contributed to the casualties that we see here. one was that this is a rural area. there are no sirens to warn people of a tornado in the immediate area. also, this area is very low, close to sea level. they have problems with high water table here, so very few people have basements or storm shelters to go into. so, again, if they were caught in the path of this storm, and quite a few people were, then there really was no safe place. carol? >> david mattingly in bertie county, north carolina. thank you. those storms left behind some surreal pictures. this picture from about 100

miles south of where david mattingly is now at the camp lejeune marine corps base near jacksonville, north carolina. take a look at this tree. it looked like it could have been made of rubber. the storm destroyed or badly damaged up to 70 homes on the base. a toddler was critically hurt. let's head right over to the severe weather center and jacqui jeras. i want to talk first about these fires in texas. because they don't have enough personnel to even fight them right now. >> no. and they're saying it's probably going to take months, even if they're going to be getting help in. it's just incredible. with so many fires that have been burning, and it's really the quote/unquote perfect storm so to speak, in terms of getting these fires going and putting them out. this is on google earth. what this is, this is basically satellite-derived information showing you the hot spots of fires in the last 48 hours. so all of these areas that you see is where we've seen heat signatures. so those are the fires. it's very widespread. here, it's not just texas, we've

got it over there into new mexico. we've got it up into oklahoma as well as into parts of kansas. we've got extremely dry conditions. we've got very low relative humidity. we've got strong winds, which have been coming in. and you put all of these things together, along with above-normal temperatures, and that brings the high fire danger. so this map is showing you, basically, the brighter the color here, the greater the fire potential. and this is as we head into this evening tonight, and into tomorrow. and drought conditions. forestry officials are telling us, in parts of the texas, that this is the driest that things have been in almost 100 years. so that is just amazing. exceptional drought into west texas. and it's going to take a long time to recover from this. and really, no rain in the forecast for western parts of texas. >> just briefly, on all of those tornados that hit in the southern united states, has that bad weather moved out now? >> that bad weather has moved out. however, we are expecting more severe weather for tomorrow. but this will be in the nation's

midsection. we're talking about the middle mississippi river valley, a moderate risk for day two. you don't see that that often. so that tells me that, you know, they're expecting a significant outbreak, once again pip also think we're gong to see linear storms. so storms that line up and can cause a lot of wind damage and some of this is going to come at night. that's a concern, because you won't be able to see the tornadoes and you'll definitely need your noaa weather radio, because people will be sleeping. we've heard all kinds of things of how many tornadoes there were over the weekend or how many there were in north carolina. you have to go in and look at each individual storm reports. lots of times, more than one person reports the same tornado. so those numbers are elevated and they're high and we're starting to get some of the survey results. i just want to show you, for example, it was one tornado that moved through sanford, north carolina, on up through raleigh and the northeast. it was 63 miles long this thing was on the ground. and at its greatest intensity, it was an ef-3 with winds of 165 miles per hour, three miles w sn

it moved through sanford, an ef-2 when it moved through raleigh. >> so scary. jacqui jeras, thank you. remember when candidates tried to win votes by convincing us they were just an average joe, an everyday person? well, that approach has been trumped. flamboyant billionaire donald trump says if he plans to win for president, his personal wealth should be considered a selling point. and he dismisses newly announced candidate mitt romney. that's because romney, he's just a millionaire. >> and i have thousands and thousands of jobs that i've created over the years. hundreds of thousands. >> so just a better businessman, you think, that that's a selling point for you? >> i'm a much bigger businessman and i have a much, much bigger net worth. my net worth is many, many times mitt romney. >> time to get our money's worth. paul steinhauser is our deputy political director. he joins us now from washington. he's entertaining? >> yeah, more smack talk, i guess you could say, from donald trump. i reached out to the romney people with mitt romney and they obviously do not want to comment on that.

>> there's not even a need to comment. >> they're just like, leave it alone. in his defense, romney has an investment firm, a consulting firm. he managed the 2002 winter olympics out in salt lake and ran massachusetts for two years when he was governor. romney, he's announced an exploratory committee. he says he'll maybe make the final announcement later this year. as for trump, we keep know, he says he'll have a decision by june if he wants to run for the white house. >> i'm holding my breath. let's talk about these tea party rallies going on all over the country today. >> let's talk about them. a big one today is in south carolina, michele bachmann, the congresswoman from minnesota, a darling of the tea party movement, she'll be a big head liner at this one. today's the tax deadline day for americans. and ever since friday, the traditional tax deadline day, you've seen tea party rallies across the country. if you're running for the presidency on the republican side, where else would you rather be than one of these anti-tax rallies, tea party groups, because the tea party has all the excitement, the energy on the right, it seems,

and they were very influential in last year's republican primaries and i bet they will be in the race for the white house. >> let's talk about the left, because there doesn't seem to be much exciting news coming from that end of the political spectrum. >> yeah, but something new today. and this is interesting. you know, senate democrats say that they think they can grab that open senate seat in texas and maybe win it. but you know what, they haven't had candidate. now, today, sources on the democratic side tell me they think a retired general, a guy called ricardo sanchez, who's from texas, obviously, a mexican american, that he may run for the senate as a democrat in texas. a lot of big names on the republican side. sanchez is interesting, carol. if you remember, he was the commanding general at the time of the abu ghraib prison when there was that controversy over the torture of iraqi prisoners. stay tuned to this one. we'll see if he actually jumps in. should be interesting if he does. >> paul steinhauser, thank you. your next political update in one hour. and as a reminder for all the latest applying news, go to our

website, cnnpolitics.com. coming up, imagine finding out that the pilot flying your plane is not a pilot. fake credentials at the center of a big corruption scandal. and there's no doubt that his book and the charities that have thrived because of it have helped thousands of children in afghanistan and pakistan, now but now the facts in greg mortenson's best-selling book "three cups of tea" are being called false. destined to shape our future. automobile magazine's 2011 design of the year. the jaguar xj. learn more at jaguarperforms.com. coldwell banker. we never stop moving. but afraid you can't afford it? well, look how much insurance many people can get through selectquote for less than a dollar a day. selectquote found, rich, 37, a $500,000 policy for

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than the bmw 7-series or mercedes s-class... making the decision to own a jaguar just as rational as it is emotional. learn more at jaguarperforms.com. a huge corruption scandal in india has airline passengers

flying scared. it turns out some people in the cockpit are not properly qualified. more than a dozen government officials, middlemen, and pilots have been arrested so far in connection with a licensing scam. now authorities are combing through thousands of certificates, looking for more fake pilots on the flight deck. >> we found that there are around seven pilots who had obtained this license on the basis of false documents. >> this all started coming to light after a botched landing in january. authorities found the pilot had repeatedly failed parts of her licensing test, but submitted passing marks instead. in the meantime, we've got our own airport problems that the government is scrambling to sort out. the heads of the faa and the air traffic controller's union kicked off a cross-country tour today, where they will chat one on one with tower staff. this follows several cases of

controllers falling asleep on the job. the latest one happened saturday in miami. transportation secretary ray lahood says rules are being changed to make sure controllers have enough downtime between shifts, but ultimately, he says, the responsibility is on them. >> the bottom line for me is this. controllers need to take personal responsibility for the very important job that they have. secretary lahood will talk to cnn's suzanne malveaux in the 11:00 eastern hour of newsroom. now for the latest on the disaster in japan. the death toll from last month's quake and tsunami has risen to 13,843 with another 14,000 still missing. in the meantime, some concern over high radiation levels recorded in and around reactor buildings at the fukushima nuclear plant. robot-mounted probes came back with new numbers. officials are not sure what's causing the spikes. this comes just as the plant's

owner announces a six to nine-month plan to store normal cooling systems there and shut down those damaged reactors. the royal family refined, polite, and frankly, a little stiff. coming up, how you've never seen the royals before. dancing to hip hop. [ male announcer ] in 2011, at&t is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity... and making a substantial investment to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible.

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now to the controversy over "three cups of tea," you know, the book. the author, greg mortenson of

that best-selling book is defending the book against claims by cbs' "60 minutes" that key stories in his book are false or exaggerated. in an e-mail to supporters, mortenson writes, "the 06 minutes interview paints a distorted picture using inaccurate information and innuendo." mortenson sold millions of books about his adventures in afghanistan and pakistan. he used these stories to raise tens of millions of dollars for charity, most notably, efforts to improve girls' education in pakistan and afghanistan. now some are wondering if the whole thing is too good to be true or completely false. here's another best-selling author, john crackhower on "60 minutes last nigh minutes" last night. >> it's a beautiful story and it's a lie. if you go back and read the first few minutes of that book, you realize, i'm being taken for a lie here. >> strong stuff. nick, one of the key claims in

this book is that mortenson was kidnapped and held captive by the taliban. you actually talked with one of those kidnappers this morning. what did they tell you? >> reporter: he's a researcher here, but he says he was identified as being one of the kidnappers. he held him for eight days in 1996 in south waziristan. he says he knows mr. mortenson, that mr. mortenson came to their village to stay as a guest, as a friend, and the episode of the kidnapping is a lie. he said that he's going to sue the author for the damage that's done to his image and that that's done of his family and tribe. >> greg mortenson says that you kidnapped him. did you? >> no, he's lying. he's lying. we didn't kidnap him. he was our guest and we treated him as a guest.

not someone -- we have not kidnapped him. he used to move around with us, to different places, in waziristan. he was a chief guest. >> what do you think he said this about you? >> just to sell his book. because people in 2005 or 2006 wanted to know about the taliban and waziristan, so he thought that it's good to make this story. >> if you saw greg mortenson now, what would you say to him? >> i would just say that why you have defamed me, my family, and my tribe? we treated you well. we housed you in our homes, so why have you made all these lies about us. i intend to sue him, because he defamed me, my family, my tribe.

>> reporter: well, mr. mortenson has since the "60 minutes" report was broadcasted released a statement that he stands by the story that he was kidnapped by the taliban for eight days in 1996 in south waziristan. it was possible money was taken from him, and he was not allowed to leave. he also says when he was moved around the area by vehicle, a blanket was placed over his head. he's very cat goric about the events depicted in the book. >> he used this book to raise money around the world to build schools for girls in afghanistan and it turns out his charity built far less schools than previously thought. can you tell us about that? >> reporter: well, some of the allegations in the "60 minutes"

report suggest that not as many schools was built by the central asia institute and mr. mortenson was involved him as previously claimed. that's refuted by the central asia institute, but it's important to put this in context. mr. mortenson has been a symbol of hope, often held up by the u.s. military and claims against him don't do anything to help america's image in this part of the world. carol? >> nick patten walsh, live from pakistan this morning. taking a look at stories making news cross-country now, match.com says it will begin screening users against the national sex offender database. this comes after a california woman identified as jane doe filed a lawsuit against the company, saying she'd been raped by someone she met on the site. near long island in new york, divers are back in the water today, searching for more bodies as the investigation into possible serial killings continues. so far, investigators have found the remains of at least eight

women nearby. four have been identified. in idaho, rescue workers are digging through rocky soil, trying to reach a miner trapped about a mile underground. there's been ongoing communication with the trapped miner, caught underground in the inappropriately named lucky friday mine. how much would you pay for a fabulous pair of shoes? what if they were solid gold? we'll show you the extravagant shoes and tell you how much they'll cost. ♪ [ male announcer ] lately, there's been a lot of talk about fuel efficiency, hybrids, and plug-in vehicles.

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on wednesday, millions of people along the gulf coast will remember the day their lives changed. that would be the anniversary of the bp oil rig exploding and the beginning of the worst environmental disaster in our nation' history. this week, cnn is focusing on the problems that still haunt the region and the tales of success that have emerged from the catastrophe. it's part of our coverage, "cnn in depth: the gulf a year later." today, emotions are sure to raise high as federal officials face the public over the cleanup and the compensation for their losses. the extent of the damage is still being measured and some say it could take decades for the disaster to fully reveal itself. that's because much of the oil clings to remote marshes or lurks far beneath the water's surface. cnn's david mattingly boarded a boat to see for himself. >> reporter: louisiana officials are watching their worst predictions come true. bp oil spill damage to some sensitive marshes may be permanent.

are these marshes done for? >> this area is likely going to be open water in a few areas. >> reporter: this is what this 40-acre section of marsh looked like when the oil hit last may. the syrupy crude i saw bloati f on the surface of the water then was just the beginning of the problem. >> it's wiped out the birds that used to be here, the fish, the shellfish, everything in this area. >> reporter: returning ten months later, the louisiana governor's office gave me an exclusive and disturbing look inside this damaged ecosystem. i could still see oil everywhere, sticking to the plants. it's like tar. so sticky. look at that. it's also saturated the fragile soil. you can find it a foot below the surface. >> right down here. yeah, it's down into the roots. look at that. it's like a paste. and louisiana officials still look at all this oily black and see red.

>> that is bull [ bleep ], okay. because don't piss me off, because that is bull [ bleep ]. this confrontation was in december as parish president billy nungesser accused the coast guard of not doing enough to speed the clean up. after months of study, the coast guard now tells me digging out the oil in some areas will do more harm than good. >> you can actually go in, you can trample oil into the marsh, where it would make it even worse than it would have been if you would have just let it alone. >> reporter: but letting nature take its course could mean watching more of these vanishing marshes wash away. >> we're losing and trying to prevent the loss of -- >> wait a minute. the wind just shifted. you know what i smell? it smells like freshly poured asphalt. >> it does. >> reporter: and there's fear that the oil we see in the marshes is only a fraction of what's here. there's oil under water too. this is how most people find submerged oil out here. it looks clean right now, but not far long. hit it.

watch what happens as a couple of quick spins from our airboat churns up the sediment below and releases the hidden oil. >> that's not mud we're looking at, is it? within seconds, a telltale sheen begins to form, a reminder that the losses suffered in this spill are far from over. >> as long as this oil is here, it's just going to keep killing anything that tries to live here. >> it will keep killing and the birds will come back and get re-oiled and they'll go fly somewhere else. so, yeah, the impacts are going to continue. >> reporter: and that, officials say, could go on for decades. david mattingly, cnn, louisiana. the opening bell ringing right now, but wildfire we get to the stock market in general, let's talk about gas prices. because gas prices continue to climb with apparently no end in sight. today, the 27th straight increase. felicia taylor is at the new york stock exchange with a closer look at where things

stand. oh, flelicia, i know this has bg implications for the economy, right? >> yeah, of course. because, you know, with higher gas prices, that means, basically, that we have less money to spend on other things. goldman sachs has cut its outlook for the first quarter economic growth. now the national average is at $3.83 a gallon. but gas prices are up 33% from last year. oil prices are up 32%. six states now are paying the average price above $4 a gallon. and most analysts basically say that prices are going to keep rising over the next few weeks, especially as we head into the summer driving season. carol? >> felicia, it is tax day, i want to remind all those procrastinators out there, because if you haven't filed by now, maybe you deserve the penalties. i've done it myself. but there's some interesting story outs there about who exactly pays income tax and who doesn't. so fill us in.

>> yeah. i have to tell you that this is a bit of a shocker to me, because i'm paying taxes and i'm not quite sure why. 45% of all households don't owe the federal government anything. this comes from the tax policy center. people are making less, so, basically, they owe less. and of course, there are hundreds of tax breaks that people can take. for instance, you've got the college tax credit, to home buyer credit, supplemental income credits, and the end of the bush-era tax cuts. most of will still stay state, local, property, and local sales tax. so not good news, but it is tax day, and we've all got to face it once a year. major sell-off on the market. stocks are down about 175, 178 points. we're worried about europe's debt problems, but s&p cut its outlook for long-term rating here for u.s. debt. citigroup also saw first quarter revenue fall and that has citigroup stack down 1 1/3 percent already in the first

three minutes of trade. >> fleeshsha, thank. this pair of shoes is being billed as the world's most expensive shoes. they cost $230,000. that's because they're made out of solid gold and they're covered with more than 2,000 diamonds. the designer said he wanted to create a unique form of jewelry that you can wear on your feet, but you'd be afraid to walk anywhere in those shoes, at least i would. some surprises in the nba playoffs. jeff rochelle from nbc sports is here with a preview of today's big play. i didn't think you'd want to talk about shoes. >> a shoe fetish anywhere, here, no? >> i thought they were beautiful, but i'd be afraid to wear them, because i couldn't afford them. >> come on! >> that's more than i make, man. >> i thought you made the big bucks. nba, the lakers going for a third straight championship had better wake up, and fast. the new orleans hornets, a better team. kobe bryant wasn't even the best

player on the court. chris paul was in a word, awesome. wouldn't be surprised if he was out selling hot dogs at halftime. he was busy all over the court. despite that huge shot by the lakers. i'll have highlights from several games. plus, you have to see the end of yesterday's nascar race. i'll prove to you that nascar has never had a better finish. and of course, some baseball too. i'm getting a visual image and it's painful, let's just say you better bring a helmet. that in 25 minutes. in libya, rebel fighters hold on and the government troops bear down. where the fighting is worse today as moammar gadhafi lays siege to one rebel city.

taking a look at stories making news later today, secretary of state hillary clinton is giving president obama and vice president biden a rundown on her trip to japan. japan is dealing with the aftermath of that march earthquake and tsunami that triggered a nuclear crisis. a group of clergy holding an 11:00 a.m. eastern news conference in dearborn, michigan. they're encouraging freedom of religion ahead of a protest at the islamic center of america. that will happen later this week. and at columbia university in new york, this year's pulitzer prize winners and nominated finalists will be announced this afternoon at 3:00

eastern. the prizes will be awarded on may 42th. . in libya, the fighting grows worse. the casualties more heartbreaking. we'll take a look at a city under siege and the children caught in the cross fire. and a semi takes a turn and goes out of control. more details on this coming up. [ male announcer ] in 2011, at&t is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity... and making a substantial investment to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. in an effort to give you the best network possible. fiona, am i crazy or is well, mike... a lot of tires? don't answer, just tell me what the occasion is. big tire and brake sales event. you say you can beat any advertised price on tires. correct. anywhere. yes. like this price? yes. seriously?

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we're following new developments this morning in the battle for libya. moammar gadhafi's troops have intensified their shelling of misratah as they try to recapture the rebel city. an opposition source tells cnn that at least 21 people were killed, just yesterday. and the bullets and mortar make no concession for age. dozens of children have died there. >> this is a densely populated area. there are very large numbers of children, while the heavy shelling, the mortars, the sniper fire, whilst any form of conflicts continues in misra that, children are going to continue to die. it's overused to say it's unacceptable, but we've reiterated the cause made by the united nations secretary general for all parties for the immediate establishment of a cease-fire. there really is a necessity now for this siege to stop. >> well, let's get more on this. fred pleitgen is in tripoli.

he joins us now by phone. we've also heard that children are being targeted by government forces. have you heard that? >> reporter: it seems to us more or less children are caught up between the front lines, especially in the town of misratah. i can tell you, from the time tlii was there, there were a lot of children who has been hit by mortars and had shrapnel wounds. whether or not these are targeted attacks, but yes, there are many children who are caught between the front lines. and it's very difficult to get any sort of medical attention to them, especially in places like misratah, where it's almost impossible to evacuate anyone after they've been injured. there's lots of places still under attack, and a lot of the ships that have been trying to get people out of this place are not actually able to dock in misratah because there's so much shelling going on that it's impossible for them to come in. >> we also hear there are tshl

sand storms and nato is patrolling the skies right now and the rebel forces are pretty angry about that? >> it seems as though nato is still patrolling the skies, but they're not conducting air strikes. it's hard to ascertain whether or not that's due to sand storms. that's certainly what the rebels, saying. they're saying that nato told them because of the air strikes, this weren't able to target accurately. they were afraid there would be civilian casualties. yes, there have been sand storms going on, especially in the ajdabiya area, not so much in the misratah area, simply because there's such an urban area. there the big problem is that the gadhafi forces are deeply entrenched in urban areas. it's a very, very dense urban area. the gadhafi forces have their tanks and other weapons hidden and they're using civilian casualties. the main issue that nato has is they don't want to hit any, because that would be a huge

blow to the coalition. obviously, that is leading to a lot of criticism from the rebels o have pulled out who's to take more risks and bomb more targets, especially in misratah. >> fred pleitgen reporting live from tripoli. thank you. let's step away from war for a minute and talk about the royal family. heir refined, they're polite, and frankly, they're a little stiff. coming up, how you've never seen the royals before. dancing to hip hop. [ male announcer ] surprisingly priced at $15,995, the 2011 jetta has arrived. discover german engineering and premium style on the jetta s with best-in-class rear legroom, as well as no-charge scheduled carefree maintenance, all standard. that's great for the price of good. hurry in, and for a limited time while they last get a 2011 jetta for $179 a month. visit vwdealer.com today. ♪ i've seen the sunrise paint the desert.

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taking a look at stories cross-country, a small tennessee community is offering $25,000 for the tip that leads police to a 20-year-old nursing student. authorities believe someone kidnapped holly bobo from her home last week. her brother says he saw a man wearing camouflage leading her into the woods. church members in the area had a special service yesterday and prayed for bobo's safe return. a church in bertie county, north carolina, was forced to hold services outside on sunday. this is the community that tornadoes devastated over the weekend. 11 were killed. and former fed chairman alan greenspan is weighing in on the budget debate. he says the bush era tax cuts

should be allowed to expire. time to look at your top international stories. british royalty is often portrayed as stiff and refined and not usually the sort that would bust out and shake their whatever. we'll show you that in a moment. but first, we've all wondered how those big semitrucks could take corners so fast and not flip over. and zain, now we know that sometimes they actually do flip over. >> they do, carol, hi, how are you and happy monday. take a look at this incredible video coming out of china. you see the semi, it's just there, and what it does is it tries to take a left turn, just before the light goes red. and look at it go. you can see a pedestrian just on the top right. there's a circle around him and the truck flips, like that, and the guy actually survives. now, his bike doesn't. but look at that. absolutely incredible. he was so lucky, carol. >> you're not kidding. how frightening and why was the

truck driver taking the turn so fast in the middle of a city? >> yeah. it was just dumb. >> i like you, zain, you just say it like it is. i love that. let's head to westminster abbey, not really the real westminster abbey, but it sure is funny. >> it westminster abbey. not the real westminster abby. but it sure is funny. >> who said the royals were boring? take a look at the wedding rehearsal. this is an ad by t-mobile. and look at them go and shake that thing. we've got camilla and charles. down to the altar. a little bit of spinning and dancing. and there's the queen clapping away. and prince philip right behind her. and in comes harry, pelvis thrusting, dancing around and rocking his way to the altar. >> look at these look-alikes. >> they're pretty uncanny, though. a little bit later on william comes in. and leapfrogs over harry.

it's so funny. >> i have to see cate. what's she doing? >> here she comes. the bride booingies away. they pump their fists. they make their way to the altar. you see, they're not boring, are they? >> if the real wedding were like this, i would watch it. i'm not sure i'm going to, but if it was like this, i'd be glued to the set. >> that's what everyone's saying, if it were only really like this. this ad by t-mobile got something like 3.5 million hits in a couple of days. so people love this stuff. this guy looks totally like harry, right? he's hot. >> i think it's time to go now. thank you, zane. thanks for making us laugh. we needed that on a monday. we're following a lot of developments in the next hour of the "cnn newsroom." let's check in with jacqui

jeras. she's in the severe weather center. >> hey, carol. after a weekend of deadly tornadoes, the worst outbreak in the u.s. so far, more severe weather is expected for tomorrow across the nation's midsection. we're talking the mississippi valley and the ohio river valley. the latest on that, and the science of these tornadoes, coming up. i'm stephanie elam in new york, where we are tracking gas prices. six states are now paying gas -- paying for gas above $4 a gallon. i'll tell you which six those are. four states not far behind. i'll tell you what's going on. that's coming up in the next hour. carol. >> thanks to both of you. also ahead, a best-selling author on a mission to help educate girls in pakistan and afghanistan now defending his best-selling book. the author of "three cups of tea" accused of making it all up. still, some say, a lot of good came out of it. we'll talk with an ethicist about the controversy, next.

coldwell banker. we never stop moving.

leading up to earth day, april 22nd, we're taking a look at the problems facing our planet and the people trying to make a difference.

in new york a group of volunteers goes to stores and restaurants and takes their leftovers and then they give those leftovers to those in need. here's the story from photojournalist deb brunswick. >> right now i'm picking up a food donation that we give out to the people that is hungry. my name is cruz, cruz cuella. i work as a truck driver for city harvest. >> city harvest is the world's first food rescue organization. we'll rescue food from all segments of the food industry. so restaurants, corporate cafeterias, farmers, manufacturers. and we'll deliver it to new york's hungry men, women, and children. this year we'll rescue more than 28 million pounds of fresh fruit. and our expertise is in rescuing highly perishable foods. more than 60% of which will be produce. >> thanks a lot.

>> the fact that we cook here for pleasure. you know, we cook here for people to enjoy food for food's sake. and while we're doing this, there's people out there who don't have enough food for their basic necessity of life. so it's very important. anything that we have that's fit to serve goes to se good use somewhere. >> we're not eating crappy food. we're not. we're eating quality food. you know? it's a blessing when i come here. >> before i worked for city harvest i was having financial problems. i had no choice but to go to soup kitchens and stuff like that. now i have the privilege of taking the food to those soup kitchens. >> one, two, three. >> i feel very good going to work. not like other jobs that i had before. at least now i feel i'm doing something for the community. i'm helping out. i speak for the other drivers when i say that it's like an honor to do this. it's like an honor.

a shocking way to start the nba playoffs. jeff fishel from hln sports is here. jeff, two of the fates to win the nba title both lost. >> not a great way to start. you're the lakers and spurs, you've won nine of the last twelve nba champions. today they looked beatable. slow, old, they looked like they're not the teams to beat. let's go out to l.a. the defending champs have won the last two titles. the lakers facing the new orleans hornets. remember kobe bryant got the big fine for using the gay slur last week on the court. before yesterday's game in high school he said he would beat up kids who teased his gay friends. well, he had 34 points. it wasn't enough. chris paul was fantastic. 33 points, 14 assists. the hornets shocked the lakers in game 1 of their series. the spurs had the best record in their conference. they couldn't stop shane battier and the grizzlies in game 1 of their series. battier, called it the craziest day of his life. under 30 seconds to go. the big three-pointer to win it for memphis. and then a few hours later after the game he announced his wife

gave birth to their second child. great day for battier. the celtics looked like they were in trouble, too. under 20 seconds. down one to the knicks. but when you have the greatest three-point shooter in nba history you're never in trouble. ray allen buries it to put boston up two. one more chance for new york. camerao anthony trying to be a hero in his first playoff game for the knicks. he can't hit. the celtics escape. more playoffs of course tonight. one of the best finishes ever in yesterday's anascar race at talladega. final lap, eight drivers within a second of each other at the finish line. jimmie johnson. no. clint bower. johnson celebrating but is he right? johnson the 48 car on top beats the 38 car by .002 seconds. that ties the nascar record for closest finish ever. and let's finish with some baseball, shall we? sometimes things don't go right and other times they do. matt kemp wins it for the

dodgers. the big hero yesterday for l.a. just three outs to go before it looked like they were going to lose their sixth in a row. but he wins it with a two-run shot, beating the st. louis cardinals. all right. and for you guys, you know i mean, you know this is -- oh, arizona diamondbacks catcher miguel montero. right in the man region. >> the man region? >> he was able to continue. but later in the game, in the 11th inning, the giants' pablo sandoval -- >> oh! >> just a rough day all around, that game. yeah. really? twice in a game? done. >> that makes me wince, and i don't even have a man region. >> i appreciate your sympathy for us. >> thank you, jeff. i hope they're okay. they are. it is 10:00 a.m. on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. in the west. i'm carol costello sitting in for kyra phillips. this morning we're following two stories that show the force of nature. on the left, wildfires race across texas. they are the worst in nearly a

century, and there is no relief in sight. on the right a three-day outbreak of tornadoes. 230 in all reported from oklahoma to the carolinas. at least 45 people were killed. air traffic controllers getting a visit from their bosses today along with a new list of rules. that's after a half dozen incidents of controllers falling asleep during their overnight shifts. the new rules will require more rest time between shifts. today is the deadline to file your tax return with the irs. and tea party groups are seizing on voter anger and disgust. this weekend rallies culminate today in cities around the today in cities around the country. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com killer winds, widespread fires. we're covering both this morning. a tornado outbreak over three days saved the worst for north carolina. 22 people killed statewide. more than 100 people hurt. and boy, is there widespread damage. we'll take a closer look at the outbreak of these tornadoes that hit in more than a dozen states, from oklahoma all the way to

virginia. but first let's talk about hundreds of wildfires burning right now in texas. all but two of the state's 254 counties are affected. cnn's ed lavandera covering the story for us. and ed, are there enough firefighters to battle these blazes? >> reporter: well, yeah, they're bringing in firefighters from all over. many volunteers, other firefighters coming in from less affected areas to help out those that are in the real line of fire this morgan. but it's going to be another day of extreme fire danger all over the state. one of the areas of biggest concern right now is just west of the town of ft. worth near a lake called possum kingdom lake where a massive fire has been burning. several small towns in that area have been evacuated in the last 24 hours. that's where we're headed right now to kind of catch up with what's going on out there. but it has been an extremely dangerous situation here in texas the last two weeks, where we're told about a million acres have burned since april 6th. and that has kept firefighters

extremely busy over the last few weeks and exhausted at this point. one firefighter was killed friday afternoon in the fire where everything had become so smoky and so much fire that visibility was zero. and that firefighter was hit by a truck. it kind of goes to show you just how dangerous these situations are. not just because of the fire but because of all the manpower that's being used to put out the flames here. another day of low humidity, high winds gusting 20, 30, 40 miles an hour, depending on where you are. and that's just a recipe for a dangerous situation, carol. >> boy, you're not kidding. not just in rural areas, either. the city of austin now threatened. ed lavandera reporting live from texas for us. the heads of the faa and the air traffic controllers union kick off a cross-country tour today where they will chat one on one with tower staff. this follows several cases of controllers falling asleep on the job recently. the latest one happened saturday in miami. in a joint op-ed ahead of their tour randy babbit and paul rinaldi write, "these recent

incidents have cast doubt on whether our nation's controllers are truly committed to keeping the skies safe. we want to tell you they are. we have the safest aviation system in the world, but we know we can do better." part of trying to do better, some new rules changes. details from sandra endo in washington. >> reporter: when planes come in for a landing, the communication shouldn't be like this, of a pilot trying to get in touch with an air traffic controller. >> they're not answering the phone line either. >> we're going to need to land. >> landing will be at your own risk. >> but it reportedly happened at least seven times at airports across the country since the start of the year because of controllers falling asleep on the job. but now the faa and transportation secretary ray lahood are making immediate changes to the schedules for controllers. >> we will not allow controllers to sleep on the job. we simply will not. >> reporter: under the new guidelines controllers will now have a minimum of nine hours off

between shifts instead of eight. they'll no longer be able to swap shifts unless they get nine hours off in between. controllers will not be able to work an unscheduled midnight shift following a day off. and there will be more faa managers covering the early morning and late-night hours. the problem of fatigue has been around for years. back in 2007 the national transportation safety board recommended the schedules of air traffic controllers be revised to address the issue. which begs the question, why wasn't more done sooner? >> i was not the secretary in 2007. i'm the secretary today. as soon as i learned about this, these controllers were suspended. >> reporter: congress holds the pursestrings for funding the faa, and a key lawmaker says the issue is not the number of controllers employed but how they're used. >> air traffic controllers who make on average $163,000 apiece are professionals. but even the best professionals

need some recurrent training. and with the changes in technology and procedures we think it's important that we revisit that. >> reporter: what do you say to the flying public? should they have confidence in this system? >> absolutely. i believe that the airline industry in america is the safest in the world. but we can do better. and we will do better. >> reporter: faa officials and the air traffic controllers union are starting a nationwide tour in atlanta to talk to controllers to hear their concerns but to also hammer home the issue of safety. sandra endo, cnn, washington. >> and stay tuned. cnn's suzanne malveaux will talk to transportation secretary ray lahood about all of this in the next hour. let's head to the new york stock exchange and phylicia taylor because the markets are quite frankly tanking. why? >> well, basically, what happened this morning is stocks opened sharply lower about 180 points, but that was because of

an issuance from s&p which gave a negative outlook on u.s. long-term debt. but that again is an outlook. it didn't actually change the rating. it has affirmed the u.s.'s aaa credit rating. but all this centers on the uncertain political debate we've seen over the last couple of weeks especially over the fiscal problems of the united states. you know that budget wrangling we've been hearing about last week. rising debt. there's no really clear path on how to resolve it. the s&p is concerned that long-term fiscal challenges in the united states are going to go even beyond 2012. in other words, we don't have a clear path to fix it. right now the dow is down 237 points. the ntds composite is down about 2%. the s&p is off 1.75%. banking shares are down pretty much across the board. carol? >> ouch. phylicia taylor, thank you. overseas this morning, syria's government is accused of unleashing deadly force on its own citizens. witnesses say that's the sound

of government security forces opening fire on protesters. an opposition source tells cnn that at least three people were killed, 13 more wounded. casualties were even greater in the nearby town of talbiza. government troops reportedly gunned down mourners at a funeral. a second opposition source tells us that four people died and more than 40 were wounded in syria. explosions and gunfire echo today in misrata as libya's troops try to recapture the rebel city. an opposition source telling cnn that at least 21 people were killed and the bullets and mortars make no concessions for age. the humanitarian group unicef says dozens of children have been killed in the crossfire. as the civilian death toll grows, so does the international impatience with the allied offensive. cnn's zane verjee joins us again from london with headlines from around the world. zane, fill us in. >> hi, carol. the british prime minister david cameron basically said there is absolutely no way british troops are going to be on the ground in

libya. let's take a look at the headlines for the "daily mail." this is what it said. "operation bungle just gets worse." it says, "our interference in libya but failure to do so decisively has exposed its people to far greater harm than they'd have faced if they'd risen against gadhafi on their own." pretty scathing. look at the united arab emirates. this is what "the national" was saying. they actually had a guest editorial that argues, "it's time for nato to uphold its mandate in libya." it goes on to say, "at best nato is presiding over and maintaining the status quo, one that threatens a bloody stalemate. libya's people, increasingly under fire and on their own, deserve better." i spoke to this one guy today, carol, in misrata, and what he said to me was that nato was just not up to the job. he said in misrata there had been no strikes for three to four days, and he said if that keeps going it's just going to be a catastrophe there for the civilians. >> zain verjee, many thanks.

live from london. an outbreak of tornadoes seemed to have saved the worst for north carolina. people there still can't believe what hit them. >> the windows broke out. the roof went. the walls went. there's nothing left. there's a tree on my daughter's truck. i don't know where my cats are. >> that's just one of the many sad stories coming from the storms' aftermath. more on that coming up. and a best-selling author on a mission to help educate girls in pakistan and fans is nafghan now defending his book. the author of "three cups of tea" accused of making it all up. still some say a lot of good came out of it. we'll talk with someone about the ethics and the controversy next. presenting miracle-gro liquafeed. the only garden feeder... that works with ready-to-use liquid miracle-gro.

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personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke. now to the controversy over "three cups of tea." the book greg mortenson wrote that huge successful book. he's now defending his work against claims by cbs's "60 minutes" that key stories in the book are false or exaggerated. in an e-mail to supporters, mortenson writes, "the "60 minutes" interview paints a distorted picture using inaccurate information and innuendo." mortenson sold millions of books about his adventures in

afghanistan and pakistan, and then he used those stories, moving stories, to raise tens of millions of dollars for his charities. most notably his work to improve girls' education in pakistan and in afghanistan. and now some are wondering if the whole thing is just too good to be true. here's another best-selling author, jon krakauer, on "60 minutes" last night. >> it's a beautiful story, and it's a lie. if you go back and read the first few chapters of that book, you realize, i'm being taken for a ride here. >> joining us now is dr. arthur kaplan. he's the director of the center for bioethics at the university of pennsylvania. welcome. >> hi, carol. >> so my first question is -- and you know, mr. mortenson says he didn't exaggerate or make up these stories. but others say he certainly did. for example, he said he was kidnapped by the taliban and held at gunpoint. it turns out -- and actually, we

interviewed the alleged kidnappers in afghanistan, and they said mr. mortenson was never kidnapped by them. why lie about something like this? >> well, you know, carol, there really -- the burden of telling a lie falls on the liar. we presume it's wrong. two exceptions. one, you protect someone who's about to be harmed. do you tell the nazis that anne frank is in the attic? and most people say, well, you could lie. another accepted lie, you deceive your enemy. you say the troops are over here when they're someplace else. we all understand that lying in a military or game context might be acceptable. but not if you're trying to help those in need. and the reason i say that is it undercuts the public's willingness to support the charities. you may gain in the short run. but if you're lying, you're going to lose in the long run. >> i've got to tell you, though, that we've been reading tweets from people out there. and they say, well, so he may have exaggerated or even downright lied about things that

happened in the book, but it's enabled him to raise these millions of dollars to build these schools for girls in afghanistan, so hey, what's the problem? it's the greater good. >> well, you know, in the short run you might be able to al truftically lie. in the long run you dry up people's generosity. you dry up their charity. nothing is more toxic to altruism, than to giving than for people to feel like they've been tricked, deceived or duped. they hate it. and if you wind up doing this in one instance to help a particular group, you're going to wind up damaging our willingness to be charitable to others in the long run. in other words, you're going to sacrifice a lot more just for short-term gain. i have to say, too i'm not sure that our author in this case, mr. mortenson, didn't personally gain. did he really give every penny of what he made from the book sales back to his causes? >> well, if you listen to the

"60 minutes" report, no. just a final question. because as a journalist i just don't understand how you can totally make up stories, put it in the book, and then travel the country and the world saying that those stories are true. it's just something i would never think of doing. why do people -- >> well -- >> and let's take it away from mr. mortenson. why would people do that? >> well, i think we all understand the temptation to embellish. it's a good story, but if i make it a bit better people are really going to buy the book, i'll really impress them in terms of the need of those who are out there without schools, without education being oppressed. that temptation to embellish is very real. it's psychological. but as you say, if you're going to be in the non-fiction business, if you're going to be in the world of news, you just can't do it. trust in the news, trust in non-fiction. it all depends on truthfulness. and this author, if he really did make this up, really did long-term serious damage to

credibility. >> arthur caplan, thanks for joining us. and again, mr. mortenson stands by his book. he says he didn't exaggerate, everything in there is true. we'll continue to follow this story. here's a look at stories making news across the country now. in idaho rescue workers are digging through rocky soil, trying to reach a miner who's trapped about a mile underground. they've been able to communicate with him. a small tennessee community is offering $25,000 for a tip that leads police to a 20-year-old nursing student. authorities believe someone kidnapped holly bobo from her home last week. her brother says he saw a man wearing camouflage leading her into the woods. and managers of a lowe's store in sanford, north carolina are being called heroes. they spotted a funnel cloud coming saturday, gathered up about 100 shoppers and employees, and moved them all to a safe area at the back of the store. moments later that store was nearly destroyed. in the end no one was hurt. let's head to the severe weather center and talk with jacqui jeras.

reportedly, 230 tornadoes from oklahoma to virginia. how is that possible? >> well, it's not -- well, probably not. in this case there's multiple reports of the same tornadoes. right? so you have to-k you've got storm chasers out there, you've got the public out there who's obviously seeing stuff. and you've got law enforcement that's out there check on things. so we've got to go through the numbers and weed them out. so the national weather service has been out surveying the damage, trying to figure out how many tornadoes touched down across the u.s. over the weekend. so those numbers are very preliminary, and they're going to change. and it might be a while before we find out exactly how many it was. so here's an example. in the frs national weather service out of raleigh, north carolina. this is from the tornado that went through harnette county in the city of dunn. what they do is go out, get in helicopters and look at the paths of the storm and then they get on the ground and look for this damage. and they look for things like this, like twisted metal that's out there. they look at what direction things have fallen. is it all in one direction or is it in multidirections to try to get a handle on how this damage

occurred. that's all done on the ef scale. for example, they've done this in north carolina and they've determined that some of the reports were just one tornado, like this one that moved through sanford. from the video that you saw and pushed through raleigh. and then northeast of there. that was an ef3, by the way, when it went through the sanford area. risk of storms tomorrow again. and yeah, we could see tornadoes as well as damaging winds. this is the nation's heartland, middle mississippi valley and ohio valley for tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow night. carol? >> jacqui jeras, thanks for putting it in perspective. we appreciate it. coming up, women, many of them prostitutes, are showing up dead in new york. police say they suspect a serial killer or killers. we'll talk to sex workers about something else stalking their lives, fear. that plus the latest in the investigation. that's straight ahead. [ male announcer ] in 2011, at&t is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity... and making a substantial investment to improve your wireless network experience.

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a serial killer mystery is stalking the beaches of long island, new york. so far investigators have found the remains of at least eight women. four remain unidentified. the other four we know worked as prostitutes. and as our susan candiotti reports, many sex workers in the area are living in fear. >> and for the record -- >> reporter: stacey swim is not embarrassed to say what she does for a living. >> i'm a sex worker. >> reporter: an independent escort for seven years. a dangerous job for at least four women whose bodies were unceremoniously dumped in

tangled scrub brush along a long island seaside highway. possibly at the hands of a serial killer. >> why are you speaking publicly and on camera and not in silhouette about this? >> i can't be silent anymore. >> reporter: swim also is an activist with s.w.a.p., sex workers outreach project. it believes that decriminalizing prostitution will make it safer. >> this is why predators target us and try to abuse us because they know we can't trust the police for help. >> reporter: police officials say they treat crimes against prostitutes like they would for any other victim. but the mother of victim melissa barthelemy says valuable time was lost getting new york city police to start looking for her daughter once they learned she was a prostitute. she had to hire an attorney to get things moving. >> something needs to be done about that. >> people need to know that these people that we're talking about, you know, sex workers, are wives and husbands, they're

mothers and fathers, they're sisters and brothers. >> i spoke with prostitutes who work on long island and advertise on the internet. all declined to go on camera, but each told me they're now taking more precautions like bringing a friend along to watch out for them. one woman said she's now carrying a gun. as to the danger, another said it's part of the job. why then take the risk, especially now? >> sex work is often the best option for people engaged in the profession. and then at the end of the day there's people who love what they do and who really are in sex work because they enjoy their work. >> reporter: until investigators make an arrest, activists are asking for amnesty. so prostitutes feel more comfortable bringing tips to police without fear of arrest. in hopes that one might lead to a killer. since we know that the first four women have been identified as those who advertised their services on craigslist, it certainly will be interesting to

see what medical examiners learn about the identities of the other four sets of remains, if in fact they are women and what they did for a living, then carol, of course there might be yet another similarity among those two groups of remains that have been found. >> the woman you interviewed mentioned amnesty. in other words, that a sex worker could go to police, the police wouldn't prosecute them for what they're doing because it is illegal. is there any chance of that happening? >> reporter: well, you know, they've asked, the organization that represents these sex workers, has asked prostitutes to flood the office of the local prosecutor with phone calls asking for this. they say that it has worked in the past, that amnesty was granted, for example, in atlantic city when there were a rash of similar murders there. so they're trying to see whether that can happen. we tried to reach out to the prosecutor's office and so far have not had a response yet as to whether they plan to give these women that kind of help. >> and just the investigation itself. do they have any leads at all?

>> reporter: well, you know, the fbi is sending up in the air a blackhawk chopper this morning. they've already closed off the roads there because there can be no movement while it's working. you know, they did something similar last week. again, they're using high-tech imagery to look at that area. they won't give specifics about what they hope that imagery will show. but presumably it might help pinpoint additional areas that authorities want to search. divers are not going back in the water right now. we did learn that on friday they did pull something out that they're examining, a bone, in fact. but at this point it's really unclear whether it was human or animal. >> susan candiotti reporting live from new york. thank you. just ahead, the online dating game. you're bound to meet some duds. now one site is trying to make sure none of them are dangerous. new steps to screen out sex offenders. and donald trump says he can handle the pressure as the nation's chief executive. he says a key selling point to voters is, well, he's rich.

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cornell belcher leans left. and as always, comedian pete dominic will lend his own unique political perspective. so first question. gas prices have risen for 27 days in a row. why aren't lawmakers looking at ways to lower our fuel prices? will. >> well, they're not looking at lowering gas prices right now because as of now, carol, we don't live in a third world banana republic where the government interferes in markets and manipulates the prices of products. but you know, that could always change. >> cornell. >> i do love will so much. by the way, why is the republican always on top? we're not lowering gas prices because it's working out exactly the way it should. remember you just had a president and vice president who were both big oil men. you had a ranking member of the gop on the on the committee apologize to bp. how dare we call bp in front of, you know, the government and ask any questions of them. and their answer to our oil problem, oh, let's drill more. >> let's drill more. pete. >> i disagree with will and

cornell. and it's not just because i'm so much better-looking than both of them. carol, oil markets are artificial. they're not real. they are volatile and they're very short term. and last week goldman sachs said $27 more is how much a barrel of oil costs because wall street speculation. government unfortunately is working for wall street and not the american people. that's my answer. >> question two. one of the loudest would-be candidates for 2012 is donald trump. i want you all to listen to this clip from cnn's "state of the union" where he talks about another possibility candidate. >> mitt romney is a basically small business guys. if you really think about it. he was a hedge fund. he was a fund guy. he walked away with some money from a very good company that he didn't create. he worked there. he didn't create. >> he did create companies. >> well, but look, he would buy companies, he'd close companies, he'd get rid of jobs. okay? >> basically, donald trump says he's a better businessman than

mitt romney and he's much, much richer. so cornell, let's start with you. what does mr. trump want? >> well, as a political professional i've got to tell you i love trump's message. his message seems to be barack obama's a birther and i'm really, really rich. that's got to be a winning message. and i think it speaks to sort of -- and i feel sorry for my republican colleagues because it speaks to sort of how weak their bench is if this talk show hustler can now move his hustle to politics and move to the front of the party. >> will. >> you know what donald trump wants, carol? he wants attention. there's this wonderful myth that at the end of the revolutionary war george washington turned down a chance to be king. it's probably not true, but we know he declined a chance for a third term. now, let me ask you this. do you think an insecure narcissist would turn down a chance to be king for power, for all that attention? answer that, and you'll know everything you know about trump. >> pete, i can't wait. >> well, listen, what does donald trump want? will is right. he wants publicity. he wants attention. but this is such a weird

narrative, that size matters. that i have more money than you have, which makes me more successful. i mean, both of these guys, trump and mitt romney, were born into insane wealth. is that the narrative that either of them want to run for president on? why don't we just elect scrooge mcduck? is he real? i think trump thinks scrooge mcduck is real. >> final question. when you think of dynasties, names that come to mind might be adams, kennedy, clinton, bush. but do we need to add another name? should the polls be considered another libertarian dynasty? because another son wants to run for political office. will. >> ronald reagan once said that libertarianism was the heart and soul of conservatism. so yeah, i guess the pauls are now the heart and soul of republicanism. my liberal friends would say they're radicals. they would have you believe that anyone that doubts their intentions is a radical. >> they're not radical if you

don't have a problem with going back to the gold standard, i think is one of paul's things is. and the other part of this is, you know, freedom of expression and action. as long as that action or expression doesn't have to do way woman's health and a woman making choices about her own body. quite frankly, i don't even know what libertarian means anymore because it doesn't seem to mean what it means in the book. >> pete. >> well, will cain in his household doesn't have any rules apparently. and i know this because i've been to will's house. there are no rules. that's what rand and ron paul like. expected but not required. i'd like to see that be adhered to by the oil companies and by wall street. live in a country where there's really no regulations or rules. we'll just do the right thing. trust us. everything will be fine. i can't wait to see rand and ron -- d' oh! >> thanks to all of you. will, cornell, pete, it was extra fun today. and we'll see you again on friday. >> see you guys. checking some of our top stories now, the fbi shutting down three of the largest online gambling sites in the united states.

11 people are charged with fraud and money laundering. the indictment claims the offshore companies got around gambling laws by disguising payments as purchases from fake online stores. subway's cutting back on the salt. the company says that starting today it is cutting the salt from the so-called fresh fit sandwiches by 28% compared to 2009. and hundreds of wildfires are burning in texas. governor rick perry says it's so bad the state doesn't have the capability to fight them all. experts blame a combination of dry weather, heat, and wind for the problem. now let's talk tornadoes. watch this time-lapsed look at one funnel cloud slamming into downtown raleigh, north carolina. it's one of the many reasons for the state of emergency that is in effect right now in north carolina. statewide, more than 20 people were killed. nearly half of them in one small community. cnn's david mattingly is in

bernie county, north carolina. and david, just the devastation behind you says it all. >> reporter: that's right, carol. 11 people lost their lives in this rural county. keep in mind that it's sparsely populated here. that just goes to show you how widespread and how powerful these storms are. and we're about to show you something we very rarely get to show you. it's what a house looks like inside after it's been hit directly by a tornado. and this is the house right here. it starts with going up the steps. first thing you notice is the house has been pushed completely off of its foundation. there's now a one-foot gap between where the steps ended and the house used to begin. now, stepping inside, nothing in here but destruction. everything in here is broken. there's mud all over the walls. the window here in the front completely blown out. something to think about, the roof over our heads is

collapsed. at least the front part is. in the back the roof is completely gone. it was blown off. the attic was exposed. all the belongings in that attic, some of them blown away. stepping in a bit further, you can see all of the furniture here is covered with mud, covered with debris. the blinds shatters. going into the back room here, much the same, debris blown all the way into the back of the house. and now here going into the kitchen, going to let you get a front row look here. into the kitchen. you can see some of the cabinets have been blown open. the glass shattered, blown across the kitchen. debris from probably the field across the street blown in here and stuck all over the walls. but again, a terrible mess. and this is one of the few houses here that was hit directly that's still standing. the people across from us here, the two lots next to us, the two houses there, those people were not so fortunate. three people over there died

when those two houses were completely wiped off of their foundations and torn to pieces. now, there is some good news for the couple that lives here. the owner tells me that his wife actually became ill and he had to take her to the emergency room. they were gone when the storm hit. if they had been here, they would have been sitting in this room and possibly watching that tv that is now damaged and broken right here in front of me. so if there is a good side to an emergency room illness, that family has definitely found it by not being here when that tornado hit. >> and she's okay and all better today? >> reporter: as good as she can be knowing what's happened to her house. again, even though this house is one of the few remain -- that remains standing, you saw how it's off the foundation, half of the roof is off, all their belongings are messed up. it may be a total loss here. and there's still some doubt as to what sort of the future might hold for them here as well. >> i know if the house is knocked off its foundation what

can you do? david mattingly, thanks for that sad yet fascinating look. we appreciate it. we all know that gas prices are going through the roof. an industry analyst says we ain't seen nothing yet. we'll talk more about gas prices next. and superheroes that fly. but what if we could go to a place where real superheroes lived. ones who moved mountains. lifted an entire people. and taught the whole world how to fly. come see america's greatest history attraction, the henry ford. and ignite the spark of imagination in all of us. as we watch our heroes come alive in pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org.

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stock market opening bell just rang an hour ago. do we even want to check on the numbers?

boy, the numbers are tanking. and we have kind of a sneaking suspicion as to part of why. the price of crude oil down today. that sounds like good news. but don't be too sure. let's head to stephanie elam now. she joins us from new york. first of all, tell us about the numbers a little bit and why they're tanking on wall street. >> yeah. well, a lot of it, carol, has to do with the fact the s&p came out today and while they did reaffirm the credit rating for the united states, saying that it's top notch, they did give an outlook that is negative. and that's what you're seeing playing into the markets here today. and so that's what you're seeing. it's been affecting the markets. we were looking for a down opening earlier anyway. but we'll keep our eyes on it anyway. phylicia taylor at the stock exchange will be looking at the it too -- >> thanks for filling us in. because you see those numbers you think oh, my ghes, what's happening? the ceo for citizens for affordable energy saying we could be looking at five bucks a gallon. wow. >> i know. and that number just freaks people out. let's give you the numbers first

of all, carol, to let you know where we stand. the national average for a regular gallon of gas stands at $3.83. that's up 27 days in a row now and it's an increase of about 29 cents from just a month ago. so there are six states now that have an average price that is actually above four bucks a gallon. and you take a look at those states, across the country you're talking about alaska, new york, california. you've got connecticut in there, illinois, hawaii of course, and d.c. i know it's not a state. but hey, let's give them their due already. they are also paying above $4 a gallon. now, there are four states that aren't far behind. those four states, michigan, nevada, washington state, and wisconsin are very close. look at those prices right there. you can see michigan at $3.96. they're already feeling it. moving from there to look at the highest. hawaii, $4.48. and then wyoming is at $3.54. so just imagine the pain there in hawaii. so consumers obviously responding to this, it seems, by buying less gas already. but keep in mind, carol, the

summer driving season isn't even here yet. so people tend to drive more during that time. if they scale back, that could affect the already fragile recovery we've seen. goldman sachs has gone so far as to cut their growth outlook for the united states for the fourth quarter because they're saying consumers will hold back and that spend will go affect the quarter. but the citizens for affordable energy are saying if things don't change, yeah, that five bucks, take a listen. >> in the short term, like this year, i think we'll see a little bit more upward movement depending upon what happens in the middle east. i'm more worried about next year. if the u.s. doesn't pick up its contribution to that crude oil production, we'll be looking back at $5 in a couple of years. >> and note he's not really worried about right now, he's worried about what happens next year. if things don't change. and obviously, there's a lot of unrest and there's a lot of uncertainty going on in the middle east. when that happens, then we don't know when oil will come down and

we don't know -- really come down and we don't know when gas prices then will follow suit. >> sadly we're all well aware of that. >> walks, jobs, bike rides, skateboards. you know. mopeds. whatever. >> we'll be more fit. it will be good. >> yeah, everyone will be a little slimmer. >> it's true. stephanie elam, many thanks. slapped with a lawsuit, the dating site match.com is getting serious about screening out sex offenders. details on that coming up. it's just the way you like it-- with carbohydrates for energy and protein for muscles. [ woman announcing ] beneful incredibites. another healthful, flavorful beneful. now in a convenient bag.

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every year hundreds of thousands of people find love on match.com. that's what the dating site boasts anyway. well, one member says she found and was assaulted by a sex offender. she lapped match with a lawsuit last week. and now the company is making some serious changes. joining us to talk about all this, social media expert paul gilhen. welcome, paul. >> thank you, carol. >> so this woman says she was sexually assaulted. match.com comes out and says hey, we have new rules into place. i just want to read you a bit of their press release, what they sent to us. it says, "with millions of members and thousands of first dates a week, match.com, like any other large community, cannot guarantee the actions of all its members." should that make us feel better about this or worse? >> well, they've never been able to guarantee the actions of their members. what they have failed to do is

tap into legally and publicly available databases of sex offenders to match them and give warnings that are associated with the people that others may meet on match.com. i think that there was an oversight and a tragic one in this case of match.com failing to do something that should have been a very basic service to its members. >> right. and this woman was set up on a date with a sex offender, and she was assaulted. i want to just read you a bit more of their press release. and you were talking about the sex offender database. this is from match.com. "for years we've been periodically evaluating the practicality of conducting these checks in connection with our service. however, their historical unreliability has always led us to conclude against it." so they're saying that they checked these registries -- >> that's -- >> go ahead. >> it's ridiculous. i mean, the registry -- whether the registries are valid or not, the fact is it would have been simple for match.com to provide a link to publicly available

information on a geographic base thais members of the site could check out themselves. so i think that this was a blatant oversight on their part. they don't have to integrate the sex offender information into the profiles of their members, but they certainly can link to publicly available information and let members decide for themselves. this sounds to me like a business decision. they didn't want to discourage people from using the site or signing up for the site. they didn't want to give them a lot of negative information about dating. there is -- there are warnings on the site about how to -- what to watch out for when meeting people anonymously. but they really i think missed the opportunity on this one to provide a valuable service that would have prevented this kind of negative publicity. >> paul, thank you for being with us. we're going to follow the story much more tomorrow when this jane doe, this woman who was sexually assaulted, is supposedly going to come out and talk about what happened to her publicly. paul gillin, many thanks. this is tax day. a time for taxpayers to pay up

and tea partiers to lash out. >> the tea party movement wouldn't exist without barack obama. >> sarah palin speaks, the tea party movement roars. a closer look just ahead. so right now volkswagen has deals on all of these? yup, but they're going fast. impressive. mm-hum. oh, i really like the tiguan. it is a top safety pick. let's take it for a test drive. ok. ok...maybe that one. ♪ oh geez. follow me, i got one in the back. [ male announcer ] great deals on any 2011 volkswagen are here.

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a midnight deadline is ticking for american taxpayers who have not yet filed their tax returns. and that means the time is right for tea party groups to seize on voter anger over high taxes. cnn political producer shannon travis, who follows the tea party for us, he's in washington with a closer look. rallies taking place all over the country today, right? >> actually, they were over the weekend. a few smaller rallies today. today, as you mentioned, is the deadline for americans to file their taxes. but a lot of the tea party groups held their protests between friday and saturday. pretty busy weekend for a lot of the presidential, potential presidential candidates as well. one of them, sarah palin. she was in madison, wisconsin on saturday. and you and a lot of our viewers will remember, carol, that the governor there, governor scott walker, was in this big fight over collective bargaining rights for public union employees. sarah palin was there as a show of support for the tea party

movement and for scott walker. she said that the governor is basically trying to save jobs, save pensions. you'll remember, carol, when a few months ago sarah palin said the republican establishment should, quote, man up. well, she took that and raised that a few points. take a listen. >> what we need is for you to stand up, gop, and fight. maybe i should ask some of the badger women's hockey team, those champions. maybe i should ask them if we should be suggesting to gop leaders they need to learn how to fight like a girl. >> sarah palin using the same kind of rhetoric of manning up. there you have it, carol. >> fight like a girl. you've got to hand it to her. she comes up with some good lines. >> she knows how to make headlines. >> she sure does. shannon travis, many thanks. we'll have your next political update in one hour. and a reminder, for all the latest political news go to our website, cnnpolitics.com. as you're stressing to get that return done by tonight's deadline, think about this.

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taking a look at stories making news later today, at 3:00 p.m. eastern this year's pulitzer prize winners and nominated finalists will be announced at columbia university in new york. the recovery of the gulf of mexico following last year's big oil spil