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American Morning
Florida Shaping Up as Key Election Battleground
Aired March 09, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The political pendulum is swinging from President Bush to Senator John Kerry. New polls on what voters really care about.
Martha Stewart has to walk away from her empire as she tries to save it.
And the price of gasoline is reaching an all time high with nothing in the near future to bring it back down. We'll explain ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
S. O'BRIEN: And good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Bill Hemmer is off today.
Miles O'Brien is with us, though. So thank you very much.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's good to be here.
S. O'BRIEN: Nice to have you.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you.
Other stories that we're following this morning, really starting in Florida.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, Florida is every bit the battleground it was four years ago. And we don't mean chads, necessarily. But we will look at today's primary and who looks to have an edge right now, looking toward the general election. Joining us will be Senator Bob Graham, who, there's some talk, could end up on the Democratic ticket, as well as Congressman Mark Foley.
S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, when "Consumer Reports" asked readers what cars they liked best, American cars did better than they have in 25 years. We're going to show you that list this morning.
O'BRIEN: Jack drives an American car, right? CAFFERTY: Indeed I do.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Well, actually, there are several cars in the family. Some of them are American.
Coming up on the Cafferty File -- my kids drive those, I don't know what they are.
M. O'BRIEN: Non-Detroit products.
CAFFERTY: Yes. It's one of the non -- I don't understand what they drive.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.
CAFFERTY: Remember the guy who jumped off Niagara Falls and lived? Well, his 15 minutes of fame is so over. Wait till you hear what he's doing now.
And we'll tell you about a woman who will stop at nothing to have twins -- no offense. It has nothing to do -- this is beside you.
S. O'BRIEN: It's not me, is it?
CAFFERTY: No, no, no, no. This is a different woman.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, whew!
M. O'BRIEN: We'll pay attention to that one.
CAFFERTY: I mean wait till you hear the story. This woman really wants twins.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow!
M. O'BRIEN: We will wait.
S. O'BRIEN: Jeez, all right.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
Let's check the news.
Formal sentencing set today for convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad. A jury has recommended Muhammad get the death penalty for the killing of a man in Virginia, one of 10 people killed during the October 2002 sniper attacks in the D.C. area. A judge today has the option of upholding the jury's sentence or reducing it to life in prison without parole.
Martha Stewart may leave the board of her namesake company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. The company's stock has been slipping since Stewart was convicted Friday on four counts, including obstruction of justice. A source is telling CNN Stewart will either resign her position or simply not run for reelection.
Attorney General John Ashcroft will likely undergo surgery today as part of his treatment for gallstone pancreatitis. Doctors expected to make a final decision this morning. The attorney general has been in the intensive care unit at George Washington University Hospital in Washington. He was admitted on Thursday.
A class action lawsuit has been filed by the families of cadaver donors against UCLA. The lawsuit claims the director of the Willed Body Program has been illegally selling bodies and parts with the knowledge of other UCLA officials for profit. The families are asking for the program to be shut down until safeguards are in place. University officials have apologized and promised to revamp the program.
Some weather. A bit early for parts of California, record high temperatures being felt all across the state. Los Angeles recorded 93 degrees for a high yesterday. That breaks the 89 degree record, which was set eight years ago. And in San Francisco, the temperature at 82, beating out a record of 78, which was set 112 years ago. Having fun on the beach there, aren't they?
S. O'BRIEN: It's always a good weather for somersaulting with your friends.
M. O'BRIEN: That's what I do when it's 93. Right? Right, Chad?
S. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, that's really warm temperatures, in San Francisco, certainly.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Here, what is it? It's 36 degrees here in New York today. Oh...
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thirty-six.
M. O'BRIEN: Thirty-six.
MYERS: Thirty-eight...
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: That's a six.
S. O'BRIEN: It's a six. It looks like an eight.
M. O'BRIEN: It could be an eight.
MYERS: Yes, it's a six.
M. O'BRIEN: It could be a six.
MYERS: No, that's exactly a six on my map, too. M. O'BRIEN: Either way it's a long way from L.A. That's all we know.
MYERS: So we just get -- if it's hot, we get gratuities shots of girls in bikinis, is that what this is...
S. O'BRIEN: Always. Chad, come on now. You know that.
MYERS: Yikes.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, you really have a one track mind, don't you?
S. O'BRIEN: Duh.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: He's just pointing out the obvious.
MYERS: Anyway, all right, exactly.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thanks.
The Democratic presidential primaries is being held in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas today should push Senator John Kerry to within touching distance to officially becoming his party's presidential nominee. And Senator Kerry goes into today's voting with some good news from a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed said they preferred him for president to the 44 percent that said they preferred President Bush.
Senator Kerry and the president traded campaign trail blows yesterday about funding for Iraq and intelligence purposes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because I voted against $87 billion because I thought I was being very decisive in saying that if we're going to pay that $87 billion for Iraq, it ought to come out of that $690 billion tax cut that's going to the wealthiest people in America. I thought that was decisive.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Once again, Senator Kerry is trying to have it both ways. He's for good intelligence, yet he was willing to gut the intelligence services, and that is no way to lead a nation in a time of war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: As it was four years ago, Florida is shaping as a key election battleground. And the question of whether Senator Kerry can win Florida in November is definitely in play.
Florida's senior senator, Bob Graham, has been mentioned as a possible running mate for Senator Kerry.
Senator Graham joining us live now from Capitol Hill.
Good to see you again, sir.
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: Good morning.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's get it out first.
Are you hopeful that you'll be joining the ticket?
GRAHAM: I'll do whatever John Kerry asks me to do that will help him become president of the United States. This president has failed the American people. And one of the most important areas in which he's failed is as it relates to intelligence. Thursday will be two and a half years since 9/11. This president has shown no curiosity about what were the intelligence failures that led to 9/11 and even less leadership to try to reform the intelligence agencies so that they can protect you and other Americans from future attacks.
M. O'BRIEN: Senator Graham, let's take a look at the latest numbers coming out of the "Miami Herald" and the "St. Petersburg Times." You are as astute a viewer of Florida politics as any person I know. Give us your take on this. Is this a kind of Super Tuesday bounce for Mr. Kerry or is something more deep rooted at work here?
GRAHAM: My take is, first, that Florida is going to be in play in 2004. Second, that it'll be very competitive. And, finally, the issues that Floridians indicated were of greatest interest to them -- Medicare, Social Security, jobs, access to health care -- those are the kind of issues in which John Kerry has a strong, aggressive program and where the president, I think, is unusually weak.
M. O'BRIEN: But let's just talk about the numbers. You know, Florida is very difficult to get a handle on, as you well know. There are so many different factions and so many different groups that candidates have to go after.
Can you figure out a common denominator that is going to be a turning point or the hot button issue for Floridians?
GRAHAM: The hot button issues are going to be Medicare. Florida has one out of the five of its population over 65, on Medicare and Social Security. Jobs, we've suffered the same kind of job loss as the rest of the country. And access to health care, we have a significant number of Floridians who do not have any kind of health care and the legislature is imposing restrictions on even the children qualifying for a health care benefit.
So I think that those are the issues that John Kerry has been advocating for the last two years of his candidacy and will be very effective in confronting George Bush during the general election.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, I guess a 537 vote margin is something we'll probably never see in our lifetimes again. But nevertheless...
GRAHAM: I hope not.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, let's not go through that again, please. And we know there are not going to be the chads. They've got computers now. They'll probably be some glitch in that. But nevertheless, do you see Florida as pivotal and do you think that you can help a Kerry ticket by being at the bottom of that ticket?
GRAHAM: Well, Florida will be pivotal. It -- of the large states in the nation, it is the largest state that is not already assigned to either the Republican or Democratic column. So it represents exactly 10 percent of the electoral votes necessary to be elected president. So it will be pivotal. It will be competitive and it will be Democratic.
M. O'BRIEN: And the question about whether you can help?
GRAHAM: That's a decision that Senator Kerry is going to have to make. We'll work hard and we'll be successful in Florida whatever his decision might be.
M. O'BRIEN: OK. And just quickly, look at those numbers there. A Kerry-Graham ticket versus a Bush-Cheney ticket in Florida, we're told, gives a 49-44 swing. So at least for now, the numbers look good for you Senator Graham.
Good luck to you.
GRAHAM: Thank you very much.
M. O'BRIEN: And thanks for being with us.
We appreciate it.
GRAHAM: Great.
Joining me now Republican Congressman Mark Foley of Florida has a different view on the potential of another presidential cliff hanger in November.
He joins us now from Washington, as well.
Congressman Foley, good to have you with us.
REP. MARK FOLEY (R), FLORIDA: Thanks, Miles.
It's good to be with you, as well.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, let me ask you, what do you think of Bob Graham on the ticket?
FOLEY: Well, I think he'd certainly help Senator Kerry. But the ultimate answer is going to be in November when George Bush wins the State of Florida.
M. O'BRIEN: And... FOLEY: I'll take you back two years ago when Jeb Bush was running for reelection. Everybody said he was going to lose. This was going to be payback for 2000. Jeb Bush won 56 percent of the vote. George Bush is going to win this one.
M. O'BRIEN: And what makes you so sure of that?
FOLEY: Well, I feel comfortable. If you look at all of the factors -- we have a huge defense industry in Florida. We've got a lot of bases on the I-10 corridor. Senator Kerry's voted virtually to cut every program that's important to the veterans and to the fighting forces of America.
If you look at the Jewish vote this year, Senator Kerry tells the Palestinians he's against the fence, it's divisive, then tells the Jewish audience he's for the fence for their protection.
If you look at the...
M. O'BRIEN: All right, well, let me...
FOLEY: ... at the Miami vote...
M. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you, though...
FOLEY: ... the Cuban vote, he's for Castro loosening the embargo. So there's a lot of issues. When Florida gets to know him, they're going to like him a lot less.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, well, let's talk about swing voters for just a moment in Florida. And we can assume for a moment that people that are entrenched are going to sort of stay in their camps.
According to that recent poll we were just talking about, that "Miami Herald" poll, only one in three of independent voters would support President Bush.
That's troubling news for the Republicans, isn't it?
FOLEY: Well, if you look at what's happened over the last, say, eight months, he's had nine candidates running against him, then seven, then five, then three, two, and now one. He's been beaten up pretty well by the Democrats. But the ultimate answer is going to be when President Bush starts talking about what he's done for the economy, how we see the stock market gaining strength. We are seeing a pickup of the job market. Jobs are being added to the economy. I think things are going to be a lot...
M. O'BRIEN: Well, actually, there are a lot of...
FOLEY: ... better off.
M. O'BRIEN: There are a lot of numbers that would suggest the jobs are not doing so well. It depends, I guess, on which numbers you look at. Don't you get a sense, though, when you're out there talking to voters, that there's a sense of dissatisfaction which the president needs to address?
FOLEY: Well, he has to address a lot of issues. And when he comes to Florida -- he's been there 19 times. People see and like what they see. I call our community the sixth borough of New York. A lot of people came from New York and have now moved to Florida. They respect what the president did after 9/11. They remember the memories of their loved ones who died in that carnage. So they're going to look at a commander-in-chief who's proven his mettle in fighting for the things they believe in.
They're also going to see Senator Kerry, who comes from my native state of Massachusetts, derisively known as Taxachussetts. He's looked at taxes and raised taxes and wants to rescind the tax cuts that this president put in place. When people focus on the issues that affect their wallet, they're going to see they'll be better off with President Bush. Those are important things people decide. They're not deciding today.
There is a bit of difficulty in the polling data, but it reflects the constant harangue given to the president over the last nine months.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, it certainly is the season of the harangue.
Would you agree, if there's anything you can agree on with Senator Graham, maybe it would be this, that Florida will once again be pivotal in this election?
FOLEY: Oh, there's no question. We welcome the scrutiny. We certainly welcome the attention. Florida fared well after 2000. Again, we won in 2002 with Jeb Bush. We have a majority. We have solid Republican representation on the cabinet. We have the statehouse, the state senate. And so I think the prevailing winds are at our back. It looks very, very good for us.
But Florida will be, once again, the epicenter of the election 2004.
M. O'BRIEN: But please spare us the chads.
FOLEY: We will spare you the chads. Now with the new electronic voting, all 67 counties have implemented very good technology to deal with this year's votings. We will not have the delay nor the chaos created by the hanging chads last time.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Mark Foley is a Republican from Florida.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
FOLEY: Thanks very much, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. S. O'BRIEN: And Still to come this morning, some important new information on cholesterol. It could give heart patients a greater chance of survival. We'll explain.
M. O'BRIEN: And what's fueling rising prices at the gas pump? We'll have some answers for frustrated motorists.
S. O'BRIEN: And how do American cars stack up against the imports? We take a look at a new report on the best cars ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The grades are in. The annual "Consumer Reports" auto issue hits newsstands today. And for the first time in 25 years, American automobiles are generally rated more reliable than European vehicles. Here are some of the magazine's top 2004 picks. The Ford Focus tops the small sedan category. "Consumer Reports" says it's well laid out and fun to drive. The Volkswagen Passat and Honda Accord share the top family sedan title. The magazine says that they provide an excellent balance of comfort, roominess and handling. And the Toyota Sienna is the top rated minivan. The report says it leads the class in comfort and in safety.
There are plenty of other categories, as well.
We're going to talk with someone behind the survey during our next hour, at 9:00 Eastern time.
Now onto the gas prices. Fill her up and watch your wallet. Gas prices are soaring to record highs nationwide. The average price in California and in Hawaii and Nevada is now more than $2 a gallon. Experts say New York City not far behind.
So what exactly is behind the pumped up prices?
Can we expect things to get worse before they get better?
Justin McNaull is a AAA spokesman.
He joins us from Washington this morning.
Justin, nice to see you.
Thanks for being with us.
JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA: Hey, good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: So give us a sense of what exactly explains these massive price increases that we've seen.
MCNAULL: Well, gasoline comes from crude oil and crude oil prices are up. It's about $37 a barrel. And crude oil prices have been high for several months now. And a lot of this rests with simple supply and demand. OPEC has cut back what it produces. Venezuela is not producing like it did, at the same volumes, a year or two ago. And so there's a little bit of tension on the futures market there.
But at the same time, demand is strong. The economy is revving up worldwide and China is using a heck of a lot more crude oil than people thought it would be.
S. O'BRIEN: But all those things that you're explaining would seem to make prices rise across the nation. Why have we seen such huge variation in some places, like California, for example, Nevada, Hawaii, we were just talking about, above $2 a gallon, and in other states, actually, the prices are significantly lower than that? Why that big variation?
MCNAULL: Well, California's prices tend to be almost the leading indicator for what the rest of us in the country are going to see. You have -- they tend to cross over into summer blends of fuel a little earlier than the rest of us and disruptions or surprises tend to hit there a little faster than they do in the rest of the country.
But even the cheap states where we're used to seeing inexpensive gas -- Georgia, South Carolina, Oklahoma -- are pushing $1.60 a gallon. So this one really has tracked across most every state and even West Virginia is at a record high now.
S. O'BRIEN: How far, how long before we see those states, the cheaper states, as you like to call them, bumping up to $2 a gallon? Is that a reality?
MCNAULL: It really is hard to guess what we're going to see price wise. I mean you're talking about a $0.40 a gallon increase. It's hard to fathom something like that happening simply because OPEC has come out and said that April 1st rollback, that reduction in production they were thinking about doing, they might not do that. They appreciate the impact that high energy prices have on the world economy. And as much as they like to make a lot of money on the crude oil they sell, they still want to be able to sell a lot of it by having a vibrant economy.
S. O'BRIEN: Is your expectation that we're going to see the highest prices still to come in the summer when, of course, more people are out actually on the roads? And do you expect that that's going to be -- mean many people will say, you know, I just can't afford it, I'm not going to be driving?
MCNAULL: Gas demand picks up 10 to 15 percent in the summer versus those non-summer months. And we're still going to end up using more gasoline every day than we can actually produce here in the U.S. So things are going to be tight in the summertime. We're optimistic that we'll still get some of the imports from Venezuela or from Europe, actually, a finished product of gasoline to help keep prices somewhat moderate. But in the past and in the surveys we've done, high prices for gas really haven't kept people home. The records that we're touching now were set around last Labor Day, when, at the same time, we were looking at record holiday travel.
So it might not be the summer that you pack the family in the car and drive all the way to the Grand Canyon and back, but people will still go camping and they'll still go camping in the mountains. They'll still go to the beach. People will still take vacations.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's read through some of your tips.
MCNAULL: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: And they're pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just kind of run through them all.
MCNAULL: You bet.
S. O'BRIEN: You say to save at the pump, you really want to drive the sensible car. So if you've got the big gas guzzler versus a sensible car, drive the one that's going to save you some money. Maintain your car properly. Get the junk out of your trunk. Car pool or use mass transit, obviously. And shop with steering wheel. What exactly does that mean?
MCNAULL: When we have prices moving quickly like they have been, you're going to find some real variability -- $0.10, $0.15, $0.20 a gallon, as you travel through your day. So if you find cheap gas on your way to work in the morning, take a couple minutes, fill up then.
S. O'BRIEN: Interesting advice.
Thanks so much for being with us.
We really appreciate it.
MCNAULL: You bet you.
S. O'BRIEN: All right.
Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, this year's best actress winner meets with the president of her country and she gets a lump of gold. That's not bad. Thanks from South Africa for Charlize.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: The country of South Africa is praising its homegrown Oscar winner. President Thabo Mbeki welcomed Charlize Theron home yesterday. Look at the height difference there. He says the actress represents South Africa's move from agony to achievement. Theron, who grew up in a small South African town, was named best actress for her role in the movie "Monster." The win makes her one of South Africa's most visible international celebrities. And she did, she got a little hunk of South African gold.
S. O'BRIEN: Gold.
M. O'BRIEN: Pretty cool, huh?
S. O'BRIEN: That's a nice little gift, isn't it? M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I should say.
S. O'BRIEN: Get the Oscar, get a hunk of gold, not so bad.
M. O'BRIEN: Not bad.
S. O'BRIEN: Jack, the Question of the Day -- good morning.
CAFFERTY: Give back the Oscar and get two hunks of gold.
Martha Stewart will leave the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Yesterday, she met with a probation officer at the federal courthouse here in New York City and she will be sentenced on June the 17th, on a conviction for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements in connection with the sale of her ImClone stock. Experts say she'll probably get somewhere between 10 and 16 months in a federal prison.
The question this morning is should she go to prison at all?
Here's some of what you're writing to us. Jeffrey in Alexandria, Virginia: "Love or hate Martha, from what we know about the trial, she lied and she covered up. Who hasn't? If the government can lie to the people, why can't the people lie to the government? In Martha's case, at least, nobody had to die."
Jay in Hedgesville, West Virginia: "For most, wealth confers privilege. For Martha, it delivered arrogance. If she had simply told the truth, she would have received a slap on the wrist from the SEC in a civil action. Her high-handed approach has now come home to roost and for that she must go to jail."
Kevin in Osaka, Japan, where we're on in prime time. It's nighttime over there for Kevin. "Definitely not. Our prisons are already jam packed with white collar criminals. If she is, indeed, guilty, fine. Give her hours upon hours of community service and a huge fine so she can do something for society, rather than making the taxpayers pay to house a person who poses no threat whatsoever to anyone."
Bob in Eugene, Oregon: "Martha, Martha, quite contrary, how do your investments grow? With insider trading and a bit of post-dating, your sell awaits you, now go."
And Doug in Toronto writes this: "I still can't get over that O.J. was acquitted. Now this. Will I ever be able to turn off the TV and get off my couch?"
Am@cnn.com.
S. O'BRIEN: Sarcasm.
M. O'BRIEN: A loyal viewer.
S. O'BRIEN: Appreciate that.
All right, that's interesting.
Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, presidential hopeful John Kerry may have the lead in a new poll, but Ralph Nader still could be a thorn in his side. We're going to have all the numbers, when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING quick news, not to be confused with spam. It's at cnn.com/am.
Still to come in the program, California considers lowering the voting age. And what a vote is worth. We'll explain, coming up.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired March 9, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The political pendulum is swinging from President Bush to Senator John Kerry. New polls on what voters really care about.
Martha Stewart has to walk away from her empire as she tries to save it.
And the price of gasoline is reaching an all time high with nothing in the near future to bring it back down. We'll explain ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
S. O'BRIEN: And good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Bill Hemmer is off today.
Miles O'Brien is with us, though. So thank you very much.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's good to be here.
S. O'BRIEN: Nice to have you.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you.
Other stories that we're following this morning, really starting in Florida.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, Florida is every bit the battleground it was four years ago. And we don't mean chads, necessarily. But we will look at today's primary and who looks to have an edge right now, looking toward the general election. Joining us will be Senator Bob Graham, who, there's some talk, could end up on the Democratic ticket, as well as Congressman Mark Foley.
S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, when "Consumer Reports" asked readers what cars they liked best, American cars did better than they have in 25 years. We're going to show you that list this morning.
O'BRIEN: Jack drives an American car, right? CAFFERTY: Indeed I do.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Well, actually, there are several cars in the family. Some of them are American.
Coming up on the Cafferty File -- my kids drive those, I don't know what they are.
M. O'BRIEN: Non-Detroit products.
CAFFERTY: Yes. It's one of the non -- I don't understand what they drive.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.
CAFFERTY: Remember the guy who jumped off Niagara Falls and lived? Well, his 15 minutes of fame is so over. Wait till you hear what he's doing now.
And we'll tell you about a woman who will stop at nothing to have twins -- no offense. It has nothing to do -- this is beside you.
S. O'BRIEN: It's not me, is it?
CAFFERTY: No, no, no, no. This is a different woman.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, whew!
M. O'BRIEN: We'll pay attention to that one.
CAFFERTY: I mean wait till you hear the story. This woman really wants twins.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow!
M. O'BRIEN: We will wait.
S. O'BRIEN: Jeez, all right.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
Let's check the news.
Formal sentencing set today for convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad. A jury has recommended Muhammad get the death penalty for the killing of a man in Virginia, one of 10 people killed during the October 2002 sniper attacks in the D.C. area. A judge today has the option of upholding the jury's sentence or reducing it to life in prison without parole.
Martha Stewart may leave the board of her namesake company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. The company's stock has been slipping since Stewart was convicted Friday on four counts, including obstruction of justice. A source is telling CNN Stewart will either resign her position or simply not run for reelection.
Attorney General John Ashcroft will likely undergo surgery today as part of his treatment for gallstone pancreatitis. Doctors expected to make a final decision this morning. The attorney general has been in the intensive care unit at George Washington University Hospital in Washington. He was admitted on Thursday.
A class action lawsuit has been filed by the families of cadaver donors against UCLA. The lawsuit claims the director of the Willed Body Program has been illegally selling bodies and parts with the knowledge of other UCLA officials for profit. The families are asking for the program to be shut down until safeguards are in place. University officials have apologized and promised to revamp the program.
Some weather. A bit early for parts of California, record high temperatures being felt all across the state. Los Angeles recorded 93 degrees for a high yesterday. That breaks the 89 degree record, which was set eight years ago. And in San Francisco, the temperature at 82, beating out a record of 78, which was set 112 years ago. Having fun on the beach there, aren't they?
S. O'BRIEN: It's always a good weather for somersaulting with your friends.
M. O'BRIEN: That's what I do when it's 93. Right? Right, Chad?
S. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, that's really warm temperatures, in San Francisco, certainly.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Here, what is it? It's 36 degrees here in New York today. Oh...
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thirty-six.
M. O'BRIEN: Thirty-six.
MYERS: Thirty-eight...
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: That's a six.
S. O'BRIEN: It's a six. It looks like an eight.
M. O'BRIEN: It could be an eight.
MYERS: Yes, it's a six.
M. O'BRIEN: It could be a six.
MYERS: No, that's exactly a six on my map, too. M. O'BRIEN: Either way it's a long way from L.A. That's all we know.
MYERS: So we just get -- if it's hot, we get gratuities shots of girls in bikinis, is that what this is...
S. O'BRIEN: Always. Chad, come on now. You know that.
MYERS: Yikes.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, you really have a one track mind, don't you?
S. O'BRIEN: Duh.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: He's just pointing out the obvious.
MYERS: Anyway, all right, exactly.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thanks.
The Democratic presidential primaries is being held in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas today should push Senator John Kerry to within touching distance to officially becoming his party's presidential nominee. And Senator Kerry goes into today's voting with some good news from a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed said they preferred him for president to the 44 percent that said they preferred President Bush.
Senator Kerry and the president traded campaign trail blows yesterday about funding for Iraq and intelligence purposes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because I voted against $87 billion because I thought I was being very decisive in saying that if we're going to pay that $87 billion for Iraq, it ought to come out of that $690 billion tax cut that's going to the wealthiest people in America. I thought that was decisive.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Once again, Senator Kerry is trying to have it both ways. He's for good intelligence, yet he was willing to gut the intelligence services, and that is no way to lead a nation in a time of war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: As it was four years ago, Florida is shaping as a key election battleground. And the question of whether Senator Kerry can win Florida in November is definitely in play.
Florida's senior senator, Bob Graham, has been mentioned as a possible running mate for Senator Kerry.
Senator Graham joining us live now from Capitol Hill.
Good to see you again, sir.
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: Good morning.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's get it out first.
Are you hopeful that you'll be joining the ticket?
GRAHAM: I'll do whatever John Kerry asks me to do that will help him become president of the United States. This president has failed the American people. And one of the most important areas in which he's failed is as it relates to intelligence. Thursday will be two and a half years since 9/11. This president has shown no curiosity about what were the intelligence failures that led to 9/11 and even less leadership to try to reform the intelligence agencies so that they can protect you and other Americans from future attacks.
M. O'BRIEN: Senator Graham, let's take a look at the latest numbers coming out of the "Miami Herald" and the "St. Petersburg Times." You are as astute a viewer of Florida politics as any person I know. Give us your take on this. Is this a kind of Super Tuesday bounce for Mr. Kerry or is something more deep rooted at work here?
GRAHAM: My take is, first, that Florida is going to be in play in 2004. Second, that it'll be very competitive. And, finally, the issues that Floridians indicated were of greatest interest to them -- Medicare, Social Security, jobs, access to health care -- those are the kind of issues in which John Kerry has a strong, aggressive program and where the president, I think, is unusually weak.
M. O'BRIEN: But let's just talk about the numbers. You know, Florida is very difficult to get a handle on, as you well know. There are so many different factions and so many different groups that candidates have to go after.
Can you figure out a common denominator that is going to be a turning point or the hot button issue for Floridians?
GRAHAM: The hot button issues are going to be Medicare. Florida has one out of the five of its population over 65, on Medicare and Social Security. Jobs, we've suffered the same kind of job loss as the rest of the country. And access to health care, we have a significant number of Floridians who do not have any kind of health care and the legislature is imposing restrictions on even the children qualifying for a health care benefit.
So I think that those are the issues that John Kerry has been advocating for the last two years of his candidacy and will be very effective in confronting George Bush during the general election.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, I guess a 537 vote margin is something we'll probably never see in our lifetimes again. But nevertheless...
GRAHAM: I hope not.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, let's not go through that again, please. And we know there are not going to be the chads. They've got computers now. They'll probably be some glitch in that. But nevertheless, do you see Florida as pivotal and do you think that you can help a Kerry ticket by being at the bottom of that ticket?
GRAHAM: Well, Florida will be pivotal. It -- of the large states in the nation, it is the largest state that is not already assigned to either the Republican or Democratic column. So it represents exactly 10 percent of the electoral votes necessary to be elected president. So it will be pivotal. It will be competitive and it will be Democratic.
M. O'BRIEN: And the question about whether you can help?
GRAHAM: That's a decision that Senator Kerry is going to have to make. We'll work hard and we'll be successful in Florida whatever his decision might be.
M. O'BRIEN: OK. And just quickly, look at those numbers there. A Kerry-Graham ticket versus a Bush-Cheney ticket in Florida, we're told, gives a 49-44 swing. So at least for now, the numbers look good for you Senator Graham.
Good luck to you.
GRAHAM: Thank you very much.
M. O'BRIEN: And thanks for being with us.
We appreciate it.
GRAHAM: Great.
Joining me now Republican Congressman Mark Foley of Florida has a different view on the potential of another presidential cliff hanger in November.
He joins us now from Washington, as well.
Congressman Foley, good to have you with us.
REP. MARK FOLEY (R), FLORIDA: Thanks, Miles.
It's good to be with you, as well.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, let me ask you, what do you think of Bob Graham on the ticket?
FOLEY: Well, I think he'd certainly help Senator Kerry. But the ultimate answer is going to be in November when George Bush wins the State of Florida.
M. O'BRIEN: And... FOLEY: I'll take you back two years ago when Jeb Bush was running for reelection. Everybody said he was going to lose. This was going to be payback for 2000. Jeb Bush won 56 percent of the vote. George Bush is going to win this one.
M. O'BRIEN: And what makes you so sure of that?
FOLEY: Well, I feel comfortable. If you look at all of the factors -- we have a huge defense industry in Florida. We've got a lot of bases on the I-10 corridor. Senator Kerry's voted virtually to cut every program that's important to the veterans and to the fighting forces of America.
If you look at the Jewish vote this year, Senator Kerry tells the Palestinians he's against the fence, it's divisive, then tells the Jewish audience he's for the fence for their protection.
If you look at the...
M. O'BRIEN: All right, well, let me...
FOLEY: ... at the Miami vote...
M. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you, though...
FOLEY: ... the Cuban vote, he's for Castro loosening the embargo. So there's a lot of issues. When Florida gets to know him, they're going to like him a lot less.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, well, let's talk about swing voters for just a moment in Florida. And we can assume for a moment that people that are entrenched are going to sort of stay in their camps.
According to that recent poll we were just talking about, that "Miami Herald" poll, only one in three of independent voters would support President Bush.
That's troubling news for the Republicans, isn't it?
FOLEY: Well, if you look at what's happened over the last, say, eight months, he's had nine candidates running against him, then seven, then five, then three, two, and now one. He's been beaten up pretty well by the Democrats. But the ultimate answer is going to be when President Bush starts talking about what he's done for the economy, how we see the stock market gaining strength. We are seeing a pickup of the job market. Jobs are being added to the economy. I think things are going to be a lot...
M. O'BRIEN: Well, actually, there are a lot of...
FOLEY: ... better off.
M. O'BRIEN: There are a lot of numbers that would suggest the jobs are not doing so well. It depends, I guess, on which numbers you look at. Don't you get a sense, though, when you're out there talking to voters, that there's a sense of dissatisfaction which the president needs to address?
FOLEY: Well, he has to address a lot of issues. And when he comes to Florida -- he's been there 19 times. People see and like what they see. I call our community the sixth borough of New York. A lot of people came from New York and have now moved to Florida. They respect what the president did after 9/11. They remember the memories of their loved ones who died in that carnage. So they're going to look at a commander-in-chief who's proven his mettle in fighting for the things they believe in.
They're also going to see Senator Kerry, who comes from my native state of Massachusetts, derisively known as Taxachussetts. He's looked at taxes and raised taxes and wants to rescind the tax cuts that this president put in place. When people focus on the issues that affect their wallet, they're going to see they'll be better off with President Bush. Those are important things people decide. They're not deciding today.
There is a bit of difficulty in the polling data, but it reflects the constant harangue given to the president over the last nine months.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, it certainly is the season of the harangue.
Would you agree, if there's anything you can agree on with Senator Graham, maybe it would be this, that Florida will once again be pivotal in this election?
FOLEY: Oh, there's no question. We welcome the scrutiny. We certainly welcome the attention. Florida fared well after 2000. Again, we won in 2002 with Jeb Bush. We have a majority. We have solid Republican representation on the cabinet. We have the statehouse, the state senate. And so I think the prevailing winds are at our back. It looks very, very good for us.
But Florida will be, once again, the epicenter of the election 2004.
M. O'BRIEN: But please spare us the chads.
FOLEY: We will spare you the chads. Now with the new electronic voting, all 67 counties have implemented very good technology to deal with this year's votings. We will not have the delay nor the chaos created by the hanging chads last time.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Mark Foley is a Republican from Florida.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
FOLEY: Thanks very much, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. S. O'BRIEN: And Still to come this morning, some important new information on cholesterol. It could give heart patients a greater chance of survival. We'll explain.
M. O'BRIEN: And what's fueling rising prices at the gas pump? We'll have some answers for frustrated motorists.
S. O'BRIEN: And how do American cars stack up against the imports? We take a look at a new report on the best cars ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The grades are in. The annual "Consumer Reports" auto issue hits newsstands today. And for the first time in 25 years, American automobiles are generally rated more reliable than European vehicles. Here are some of the magazine's top 2004 picks. The Ford Focus tops the small sedan category. "Consumer Reports" says it's well laid out and fun to drive. The Volkswagen Passat and Honda Accord share the top family sedan title. The magazine says that they provide an excellent balance of comfort, roominess and handling. And the Toyota Sienna is the top rated minivan. The report says it leads the class in comfort and in safety.
There are plenty of other categories, as well.
We're going to talk with someone behind the survey during our next hour, at 9:00 Eastern time.
Now onto the gas prices. Fill her up and watch your wallet. Gas prices are soaring to record highs nationwide. The average price in California and in Hawaii and Nevada is now more than $2 a gallon. Experts say New York City not far behind.
So what exactly is behind the pumped up prices?
Can we expect things to get worse before they get better?
Justin McNaull is a AAA spokesman.
He joins us from Washington this morning.
Justin, nice to see you.
Thanks for being with us.
JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA: Hey, good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: So give us a sense of what exactly explains these massive price increases that we've seen.
MCNAULL: Well, gasoline comes from crude oil and crude oil prices are up. It's about $37 a barrel. And crude oil prices have been high for several months now. And a lot of this rests with simple supply and demand. OPEC has cut back what it produces. Venezuela is not producing like it did, at the same volumes, a year or two ago. And so there's a little bit of tension on the futures market there.
But at the same time, demand is strong. The economy is revving up worldwide and China is using a heck of a lot more crude oil than people thought it would be.
S. O'BRIEN: But all those things that you're explaining would seem to make prices rise across the nation. Why have we seen such huge variation in some places, like California, for example, Nevada, Hawaii, we were just talking about, above $2 a gallon, and in other states, actually, the prices are significantly lower than that? Why that big variation?
MCNAULL: Well, California's prices tend to be almost the leading indicator for what the rest of us in the country are going to see. You have -- they tend to cross over into summer blends of fuel a little earlier than the rest of us and disruptions or surprises tend to hit there a little faster than they do in the rest of the country.
But even the cheap states where we're used to seeing inexpensive gas -- Georgia, South Carolina, Oklahoma -- are pushing $1.60 a gallon. So this one really has tracked across most every state and even West Virginia is at a record high now.
S. O'BRIEN: How far, how long before we see those states, the cheaper states, as you like to call them, bumping up to $2 a gallon? Is that a reality?
MCNAULL: It really is hard to guess what we're going to see price wise. I mean you're talking about a $0.40 a gallon increase. It's hard to fathom something like that happening simply because OPEC has come out and said that April 1st rollback, that reduction in production they were thinking about doing, they might not do that. They appreciate the impact that high energy prices have on the world economy. And as much as they like to make a lot of money on the crude oil they sell, they still want to be able to sell a lot of it by having a vibrant economy.
S. O'BRIEN: Is your expectation that we're going to see the highest prices still to come in the summer when, of course, more people are out actually on the roads? And do you expect that that's going to be -- mean many people will say, you know, I just can't afford it, I'm not going to be driving?
MCNAULL: Gas demand picks up 10 to 15 percent in the summer versus those non-summer months. And we're still going to end up using more gasoline every day than we can actually produce here in the U.S. So things are going to be tight in the summertime. We're optimistic that we'll still get some of the imports from Venezuela or from Europe, actually, a finished product of gasoline to help keep prices somewhat moderate. But in the past and in the surveys we've done, high prices for gas really haven't kept people home. The records that we're touching now were set around last Labor Day, when, at the same time, we were looking at record holiday travel.
So it might not be the summer that you pack the family in the car and drive all the way to the Grand Canyon and back, but people will still go camping and they'll still go camping in the mountains. They'll still go to the beach. People will still take vacations.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's read through some of your tips.
MCNAULL: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: And they're pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just kind of run through them all.
MCNAULL: You bet.
S. O'BRIEN: You say to save at the pump, you really want to drive the sensible car. So if you've got the big gas guzzler versus a sensible car, drive the one that's going to save you some money. Maintain your car properly. Get the junk out of your trunk. Car pool or use mass transit, obviously. And shop with steering wheel. What exactly does that mean?
MCNAULL: When we have prices moving quickly like they have been, you're going to find some real variability -- $0.10, $0.15, $0.20 a gallon, as you travel through your day. So if you find cheap gas on your way to work in the morning, take a couple minutes, fill up then.
S. O'BRIEN: Interesting advice.
Thanks so much for being with us.
We really appreciate it.
MCNAULL: You bet you.
S. O'BRIEN: All right.
Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, this year's best actress winner meets with the president of her country and she gets a lump of gold. That's not bad. Thanks from South Africa for Charlize.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: The country of South Africa is praising its homegrown Oscar winner. President Thabo Mbeki welcomed Charlize Theron home yesterday. Look at the height difference there. He says the actress represents South Africa's move from agony to achievement. Theron, who grew up in a small South African town, was named best actress for her role in the movie "Monster." The win makes her one of South Africa's most visible international celebrities. And she did, she got a little hunk of South African gold.
S. O'BRIEN: Gold.
M. O'BRIEN: Pretty cool, huh?
S. O'BRIEN: That's a nice little gift, isn't it? M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I should say.
S. O'BRIEN: Get the Oscar, get a hunk of gold, not so bad.
M. O'BRIEN: Not bad.
S. O'BRIEN: Jack, the Question of the Day -- good morning.
CAFFERTY: Give back the Oscar and get two hunks of gold.
Martha Stewart will leave the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Yesterday, she met with a probation officer at the federal courthouse here in New York City and she will be sentenced on June the 17th, on a conviction for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements in connection with the sale of her ImClone stock. Experts say she'll probably get somewhere between 10 and 16 months in a federal prison.
The question this morning is should she go to prison at all?
Here's some of what you're writing to us. Jeffrey in Alexandria, Virginia: "Love or hate Martha, from what we know about the trial, she lied and she covered up. Who hasn't? If the government can lie to the people, why can't the people lie to the government? In Martha's case, at least, nobody had to die."
Jay in Hedgesville, West Virginia: "For most, wealth confers privilege. For Martha, it delivered arrogance. If she had simply told the truth, she would have received a slap on the wrist from the SEC in a civil action. Her high-handed approach has now come home to roost and for that she must go to jail."
Kevin in Osaka, Japan, where we're on in prime time. It's nighttime over there for Kevin. "Definitely not. Our prisons are already jam packed with white collar criminals. If she is, indeed, guilty, fine. Give her hours upon hours of community service and a huge fine so she can do something for society, rather than making the taxpayers pay to house a person who poses no threat whatsoever to anyone."
Bob in Eugene, Oregon: "Martha, Martha, quite contrary, how do your investments grow? With insider trading and a bit of post-dating, your sell awaits you, now go."
And Doug in Toronto writes this: "I still can't get over that O.J. was acquitted. Now this. Will I ever be able to turn off the TV and get off my couch?"
Am@cnn.com.
S. O'BRIEN: Sarcasm.
M. O'BRIEN: A loyal viewer.
S. O'BRIEN: Appreciate that.
All right, that's interesting.
Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, presidential hopeful John Kerry may have the lead in a new poll, but Ralph Nader still could be a thorn in his side. We're going to have all the numbers, when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING quick news, not to be confused with spam. It's at cnn.com/am.
Still to come in the program, California considers lowering the voting age. And what a vote is worth. We'll explain, coming up.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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