t.j. holms is in the "cnn newsroom." good morning to you, t.j. >> i will try to live up to that guys and get to everything in the next couple of hours. you all enjoy the rest of your monday. hello to everybody out there. >>> a quick look at what we will be covering. we will never forget, the worst home grown terror attack on home grown soil. some 15 years later, oklahoma city hasn't forgotten. the country hasn't forgotten. how can you forget images like that? memorial services getting underway within the hour. >>> blocking out travel and trade from iceland, germany, russia, to all points between and beyond for the past several days. gloom and plume some are calling it. today, maybe a little bit of light at the end of the volcano. >>> spirit airlines is going to start charging for some carry-on bags. but at least five other airlines promised they won't do the same. we'll be talking about that this morning. >>> like we say, there could be a glimmer of light shine tlug that volcanic ash cloud. here is the latest. >>> a shor

t.j. winick is tracking the overnight developments for us. t.j.? >> reporter: the explosion at the undergrod coal mine happened about 3:00 monday afternoon. miner steve smith was working nearby. >> we were going on our way to go to the other side of the mountain. we got called up. it was almost like a tornado. it stopped us dead. we couldn't go any farther because it was so much air towards us. >> reporter: over two dozen are now confirmed dead, and at least four others are still missing more than 1,000 feet under ground. the search has been suspended because rising methane gas levels in the mine made it a risk for another explosion. >> as catastrophic as this was, if another explosion had occurred and we would have lost 50 rescuers, it could have been -- it would have been just something unfathomable. >> reporter: the massey energy company's upper big branch mine is about 50 miles south of charleston, west virginia. just last year, massey paid $4.2 million in corral and civil fines, following a fire in one of its mines that killed two people in 20

>> t.j. winick in augusta for us live this morning. thank you, t.j. and espn's coverage of the second round of the masters begins this afternoon at 4:00 eastern time. >>> the head of north carolina's republican party is calling for rnc chairman michael steele to step down. it follows controversy over the party's lavish spending, including a costly night out at a los angeles bondage strip club. the north carolina branch is the first state party to call for steele's resignation. some republicans are worried about how all of this could impact november's elections. >>> a former producer of "survivor" is a prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife after a family vacation in cancun. his wife's body was found in a sewer at the resort where the family had been staying. doctors determined that she died of asphyxiation or a blow to the head. >>> if you suffer from allergies and going out in the pollen-filled morning air's probably not a good idea. and as steve osunsami reports, with the latest heat wave gripping much of the northeast, it's doubly troubling

i'm t.j. holmes. >> and i'm kate bold dwin. >> wherever you are, volcanic eruption felt around the world. ten ever thousands of flights grounded since thursday. these are some of the latest pictures of the thick ash from that still erupting volcano in iceland. the problem is the ash can get into the jet engines and cause them to shut down. this thing is spreading across northern europe right now. spreading to the east, affects airports, two dozen countries keeping hundreds of thousands of international travelers on the ground. no one has any idea when things will be back up and running an back to normal. now, those who can are driving. taking trains as well. including some dignitaries planning to attend tomorrow's funeral of poland the president and first lady. polish airspace closed indefinitely. we may not know for sure whether president obama will try to fly to poland until later today. so far, it's still on sweshl, and the president is going to be there. that's the plan right now, to atten

>> t.j. winick in washington, thank you. >>> well, president obama is promising to work for greater safety in the nation's coal mines after that explosion killed 29 workers earlier this month. the president spoke at beckley, west virginia, attendeded by about 3,000 people. >> most days, they'd emerge from the dark mine, squinting at the light. most days, they'd emerge sweaty and dirty and dusted and cold. most days, they'd come home. but not that day. >> before the memorial service, president obama met privately with the families of the miners. >> and before attending the miners' memorial, the president visited with billy graham. according to graham's son, the two men chatted about golf and prayed with each other. >>> and now to the environmental threat off the gulf coast, oil is now gushing off that platform that sank last week. it could go from louisiana to florida. matt gutman reports. >> reporter: for the first time, we got a notion of how long this disaster could last. the coast guard sa

t.j. winick is tracking the

>> t.j. winick joins us from washington with more. good morning, t.j. >> reporter: good morning, jeremy and vinita. the economy appears to be roaring back. or maybe not. it depends on who you ask and how much stock you put in the stock market. is it a sign that good times are here again? after all, the dow industrials closed above 11,000 monday for the first time in a year and a half. >> the market is a misleading indicator. >> reporter: not so fast, according to some market analysts. >> it's not a leading indicator. in fact, i'm not sure the dow is an indicator of anything at all. >> reporter: there are those indicators that are indisputable. according to the labor department, employers added 162,000 jobs, the largest gain in three years. >> production is on its way up. hiring and temporary employment is on its way up. these are indicators that the labor market will strengthen over the course of this year. >> reporter: and some would argue the stock market is a reflection of this good news.

good morning, t.j. >> yeahmy, good morning to you. president obama has already been hard on work on this issue even before the conference begins. just yesterday he met with leaders from such countries as india and pakistan. >> reporter: leaders from around the world are converging on washington on what many feel is the most urgent security issue in the world, how to prevent a devastating nuclear attack. >> the single biggest threat to u.s. security, both short-term, and long-term, would be the ponlt of a terrorist obtaining a nuclear weapon. >> reporter: on sunday, secretary of state hillary clinton talked about how the threat for nuclear weapons has changed over the years. >> the threat of nuclear war, nuclear tact as we zbru up in the cold war has diminished. the threat of nuclear terrorism has increaseded. >> reporter: president obama hopes to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials within four years, though intelligence experts believe may be unrealistic but necessary. >> world's got to treat the nuclear threats that we face with

t.j. winick has the latest. >> reporter: the deep water horizon burned for more than 24 hours, before sinking below the surface of the gulf of mexico thursday. for the family of the rig's 11 missing crew members, hope of their rescue is fading. >> they may have been aboard the rig. and not able to evacuate. >> reporter: calling the chances of survival slim, the coast guard will call off the search before dawn this morning. >> just come home. that's all we want. now. we can't wait another day. >> reporter: 115 workers are known to have survived the blast. jay kersey's son was one of them. >> he'll be here in an hour. i can't wait. >> reporter: authorities are facing another race against time, environmental. a sheen of oil surrounded the drilling rig, even before it sank. >> coming from the lower seabed. and that's all we can say at that time. >> reporter: more than 300,000 gallons of crude oil a day may be coming from the site. and the rig also carried about 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

and as t.j. winick reports, the president is about to take his support for it on the road. >> reporter: president obama will head to wall street thursday, to argue for his plan to overhaul the financial industry. >> we don't mark the second anniversary of our financial collapse by having in place the same rules that led to that collapse. >> reporter: as treasury secretary timothy geithner huddled with moderate republicans, debate on the bill began with harsh words for republican critics. >> wall street sees no need to ensure this type of crisis ever happens again. so far, neither do our republican friends. >> reporter: senate republican leader mitch mcconnell had been calling the bill a bailout, citing a $50 billion fund to unwind failing banks. now, democrats say, they'll remove that fund. >> both parties agree on this point. no bailouts. in my view, that's a pretty good start. >> reporter: progress comes just as the powerful wall street firm, goldman sachs, is facing charges of fraud. goldman i

>> all right, t.j. winick in washington, thank you very much, sir. >>> well, president obama is still selling his health care reform plan asking americans to be patient for elements of it to kick in. he held a rally in maine telling the crowd that critics have been too quick to judge the new law and then during a fund-raiser in boston the president eluded to how his plan hasn't brought about the doom some predicted. >> well, it turns out health reform wasn't my waterloo. and it turns out the day after i signed the game was no armageddon. no asteroids fell. the earth didn't crack open. >> he added he will continue to reach out to republicans in an effort to change politics. >>> before that stop in boston, president obama visited emergency workers in the new england flood zone. he's promising federal help for hard hit rhode island as the state fends off possible contamination from sewage and other floating debris. yunji de nies has more. >> reporter: during an unscheduled stop outside boston president oba

as t.j. stiles writes, a few 19th century businessman equals bad about in his impact in american history. and of those who did, arguably none proved to be so influential and so fundamental a level over a period so, did for so long. born in 1794, the commodores live to be 82 and played a significant role in so many of the leading events in his tumultuous life. from the beginning of steamboat travel on the hudson river, to the seminal supreme court case, given the ogden right to regulate interstate commerce and destroying the revenue of feudal culture in america, to transatlantic travel, the california gold rush and the growth of the united states to a continental nation. the start of travel across central america and a planting of the sea that was to become the panama canal. the crushing of the notorious american filibuster, william walker, in his attempted up scarred with the country of nicaragua. the construction of the confederate ironclad merrimack and the safeguarding of the union gold sh

back to you. >> thank you, t.j.. if congress is preparing for another partisan showdown over extending unemployment insurance. the senate will vote today on whether to end debate on a measure extending jobless benefits, cobra subsidies, and flood insurance. senate republicans are holding out over concerns about the growing budget deficit. >> it is 6:18 on this monday morning. we will check with brian van de graaff for the latest on what to expect. >> it was a gorgeous weekend. can we expect more of the sample >> near 70 by the afternoon. temperatures will slide back tomorrow. if clouds will increase. showers possible by tomorrow evening. looks gorgeous. clear skies today. the wind is out of the north because of a weak front sinking south as we speak. let's show you some other numbers. 57 i boey. 46 in frederick. 54 in leesburg. 55 in marshall, 54 in culpeper. there is a thin line of clouds across the metro area. that is our cold front that will sink southward across the region. that will shift our wind out of the nor

pulitzer winners here that were just announced and in that category of biography or autobiography, t.j. stiles won, as you said. number two was "cheever: a life" by blake bailey and number three was "woodrow wilson: a biography" by john milton cooper. >> blake bailey is a friend of mine and he is a really fine -- he'd written a biography of richard yates, the novelist before cheever. he had great access to the cheever archives and john cheever has probably influenced more of our recent great novelists, anne holmes or david gates and many others. so we needed a cheever biography, and this book really delivers on it. it has won, i think, a circles book award. it could have won the pulitzer, brilliant literary biography. and john milton cooper in my -- has sort of replaced in many ways arthur link who used to do all these multiple binds of woodrow wilson at princeton. john milton cooper is a professor of history at university of wisconsin madison. he is superb. his book "the warrior and the priest" comparing theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson is a classic, and this is the best single v

t.j. winnick as the latest. >> when it comes to pushing financial reforms for wall street, the president sounds ready for a showdown. >> if these folks want a fight, i'm ready. >> the white house is focused on derivatives, but between power players on wall street and around the world on whether certain businesses will succeed or fail. the banks say the derivatives have turned enormous profits in the past 20 years, helping fuel the economy and they are against heavy regulation. >> the system would grind to alt. >> senate leaders need at least one republican vote on wall street reform legislation to avoid a filibuster. and there's a proposal that banks pay fees in case of a bailout. after speaking near wall street tomorrow, president obama will take his message to main street. he traveled to iowa, missouri, and illinois. -- travels. >> mourning the loss of a civil rights icon. local leaders are paying tribute to the life of dorothy height. >> the traffic alert for anyone up early. we will te

t.j. winnick has more. >> according to the federal parliament, toyota knew about the problems of sudden accelerations and the brake pedals by september, but waited until january to tell regulators. later today the automobile giant agreed to pay a $16.4 million fine, for the maximum civil penalty allowed. >> this is a black eye for toyota because it shows the company did not care about safety, that it covered up the issue in the united states. >> while the company is likely to admit no wrongdoing, by paying the full civil penalty, it is accepting responsibility for hiding the safety defect in violation of law. >> it was once considered invincible and has taken a fall. >> its chief executive testified before congress and insisted the company had not tried to hide anything. >> in the name of the company, it has a longstanding tradition of pride, we never run away from problems or pretend not to notice them. >> federal officials say they would have levied a fine of $14 billion, had it been all

. >> thanks, t.j. >> see you. >> you nailed it. have a great day. thanks a lot. >>> a serious threat across parts of the south particular. the stage is set for what could be an extremely dangerous tornado outbreak today. watches and warnings already posted in so many states. the highest risk areas right now, live pictures of, right now of memphis, but mississippi, alabama. also in the bull's eye, and now looking at new orleans. they are also keeping a close watch of a potential for severe weather today. bonnie schneider is in the cnn severe weather center. take a look and what's narrowing in on the potential for these areas? >> fredricka, tracking tornado warnings that worked they're way from mississippi into alabama and back off farther towards arkansas. an extremely active morning. heading into the afternoon, get ready for things to fire up even more. little rock, arkansas, facing intense weather now with intense thunderstorms. on this picture now you can see the frequent lightning strikes happening across the area due to this widespread severe we

>> my favorite picks are t.j. maxx, aeroposteal and kohl's. they were formed during the economic slow down because they delivered the message of value and they built consumer loyalty which results in strong same-store sales. >> what about the run these stocks already had. i'm looking at abercrombie trading at 2010 earnings. jan, give me one that hasn't already had a significant run or where it isn't priced and you think there's more room? >> i like collective brands. payless shoe source and they're about a $40,000 household income company. they really haven't seen the run yet, but they're doing a great job. they have product and keds is in gap now and spery is in j. crew and now fashionable and will get business from that lower-end consumer when she comes back. if gas prices doesn't kill us -- >> that's a good point. stay with that for one second. if gas prices don't kill us, what is your risk assessment there? >> if we see $3.50 gas, my love of collective brands payless shoe source may be somewhat less. >> we'll leave it there. thanks to both

>> some of those names i like, t.j. maxx is one i've had for a while. i also like best buy. those are our biggest exposure. and aro. american eagle. >> peter, you're still worried about higher rates. you're talking about the consumer, wall street's getting more bullish consumer discretionary of late after the stocks have had monster runs so far this year. why are you raining on this parade? >> well, typically, in recessions you purge at the excess of the previous expansion. and we did that in housing. but inning ayegate debt levels we have not because of the a debt the government is taking on. so as we're further on in this economy interest rates are still heading higher in a still very leveraged economy, i'm very concerned about the double dip implications from that because higher rates raising the cost of capital not only at the corporate level, it's going to izz rat cost of capital at the consumer level, at the same time commodity prices are going up, at the same time income zbroeth very sluggish, job gains are very sluggish, and i see this recovery in the economy more as

is t.j. in there? okay.e to start wrapping and then they come to me. >> yeah, well -- >> dave wexler, the name's dave wexler. >> thank you, dave. >> oh, my. that was something. we'll bring you more "morning joe" when we come back. : so word's gettin' out that geico can help people save in even more ways - on motorcycle insurance, rv, camper, boat insurance. nice work, everyone. exec: well, it's easy for him. he's a cute little lizard. gecko: ah, gecko, actually - exec: with all due respect, if i was tiny and green and had a british accent i'd have more folks paying attention to me too... i mean - (faux english accent) "save money! pip pip cheerio!" exec 2: british? i thought you were australian. gecko: well, it's funny you should ask. 'cause actually, i'm from - anncr: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. chances are your soil is like this: compacted, drained of nutrients. it'll hold your plants but it'll also hold 'em back. the solution: miracle-gro garden soil. th

megyn: t.j. -- trace, thank you very much. new fall out on the war of words between media analyst bernie goldberg and combdy central's jon stewart. bernie joins us next hour to reveal the ugly byproduct of an honest clash of view points. >>> and look what we uncovered. do an internet search for goldman sachs and sec, meaning the securities and exchange commission, and you will get directed right to a website that raises money for the president. we now know who's behind that. >>> plus, this was the scene in iraq, six years ago. celebrating on the streets after four americans were brutally killed. we'll show you after the break. their bodies, burned or dragged through the streets, and hung. the alleged mastermind of that attack, captured. now alleges he was assaulted and is in custody today, one of the three navy seals accused of mistreating him faces court marshal in baghdad. we've got the very latest. stay tuned. some lunch. you hungry? yeah. me too. (door crashes in) (broadview alarm) (gasp and scream) go! go! go! go! go! go!

t.j. frost can tell us that, international commercial airline pilot, he has a website, d.j.st.com. good morning to you. what does this do to a jet engine if you're flying through volume cannish ash? >> bill, glad to be back with you. it's almost like you are trying to ride a jet ski through sand or you see people trying to drive a car through a big, flooded, muddy area, it's going to get within the engine, enclosing it up. engines are designed to run with air going through them, not with small rocks or other particles and as you saw last year, with sully and the birds going in the engine, airplanes don't run very well with a what of what they call foreign objects. bill: and airplanes don't make good gliders. >> they don't. bill: this could bring down a plane, right? >> oh, absolutely, and it happened in the 1980s with a british airways plane flying through volcanic ash in the in the philippines, they actually lost all four engines and they became one of the world's largest gliders, in fact they set a new gliding record for a 747, they glided from about 33,000 feet, down to 1

t.j., great job on the breaking news. we'll pick it up from here. have a great day, my friend. the breaking news from the nation's highest court, supreme court justice john paul stevens saying he is retiring. that announcement coming 11 days before his 90th birthday in a letter sent to president obama this morning justice stevens says he will step down when the court finishes its work for the summer. this gives the president his second opportunity to appoint someone to the nation's highest court. among the possible nominee, federal appeals court judges diane wood and marek garland and janet napolitano, we haven't mentioned the solicitor general, elena kagan right now. joining us from washington right now is cnn's john king and on the phone is our senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin. my friend, we were talking about this in a series of e-mails after your appearance on fresh air with terry gross. there were clear signs that this day was coming and coming soon. >> yes. i interviewed justice stevens for "the new yorker" earlier this spring and on march 8th he told me that he would

. >> from t.j. maxx, originally 4 million, i just don't it for under $100.to take her to the nfl draft. >> stay safe. >>> we're going to make over a sandwich. >> with salad, apparently. there's wine, don't worry. coming up. [ female announcer ] you know what stilettos do for your legs. va va voom. now do it for your lashes. with maybelline new york's lash stilettos. the #1 lengthening mascaras. our longest lashes ever... choose original stiletto black... for staggering length... sleek and tapered. and now stiletto voluptuous red... for length with volume... lush and full each with that trademark black patent shine. it's hotter than ever. [ female announcer ] lash stiletto original and voluptuous the #1 lengthening mascaras. maybe she's born with it. ♪ maybe it's maybelline 100% natural nuts and granola in bite sized clusters. it's a little bit of nature... a little bit better. and nature approves. granola nut clusters from nature valley. and nature approves. you look beautiful tonight. allow me. it's tough to reach that five servings a day if you don't alway

you have t.j. stiles on his bioon vanderbilt, and you have lea writing about the lords of finance. do we learn history again through current events? because all of them deal with history in a sense but at the same time all very current. >> guest: i think anyone who's a teacher understands that there is a challenge in a web world of getting people's attention. how do you get -- and particularly, you know, young people. they're the future, obviously. how do you get people's attention? well, if there's a current event that is a sering, traumatic, explosive, important event, you can get people to understand the past a little bit better because you say, you know what? it's like that. analogies are not perfect, but at least you've got a little hook on which you can hang the past. that's why you find that major momentous moments in american history don't just produce histories of that period, but also retrospective looks at the past to look for analogies and parallels. >> host: paris call for tim -- first call for tim comes from new york city. go ahead, new york. >> caller: yeah, mr. and