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American Morning

'Kamber & May'; Wild Weather

Aired January 12, 2005 - 08:30   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: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. There are reports in "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" today. They say search for WMD in Iraq now over, ending without fanfare, in fact, last month. We're going to talk about what this means for the administration with Kamber And May, just ahead.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, that wet weather in California. Chad predicted it last week. Did "The Farmer's Almanac" predict it months ago? We'll talk to the managing editor of the almanac about how they see so far into it future, and try anyway; and based on their accuracy rating in the past, they do a pretty good job. So we'll get to that in this half hour as well.

Headlines first, though, with Kelly Wallace. Hello. Good morning again.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. Good morning again, everyone.

Now in the news, we begin with that grim news coming out of California. Rescue crews have pulled three small bodies from the debris in this week's mudslide in La Conchita, California. The death toll now stands at 10 people. Emergency workers, though, say they are not ready to quit yet. They are continuing efforts to find several people still missing since Monday, and the state's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, will tour the devastated area today.

The wicked weather that's been causing havoc in California is doing the same thing in Utah. Some dramatic pictures there. Massive flooding across southern Utah has destroyed homes, stranded residents and damaged roads. The floods in the St. George area are the worst in 15 years, and the region is bracing for even more rain today.

In western Colorado now, the search resumes this hour for a cross-country skier missing for more than three days. Crews found the man's wife and daughter yesterday morning. He apparently separated from them Sunday night to look for help after the family got lost during a ski outing. High winds and sub-zero temperatures in that area have made those rescue efforts very difficult.

And NASA is planning to launch its comet-busting space craft, Deep Impact, this afternoon. The mission success depends on whether the spacecraft ends up colliding with the comet at a speed of, get this, about 23,000 miles per hour, 82 million miles from earth, and that is not scheduled to happen for about six months. But again, the launch set for today, so we'll keep you posted. Reading about this, scientists don't even know about the surface of the comet, if it can be really hard like concrete or just flimsy, so they have no idea, when that impact happens, if it happens...

S. O'BRIEN: Could go right through?

WALLACE: Could go right through, could have been a piece of cake.

S. O'BRIEN: Keep me posted. In six months.

WALLACE: In six months.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Kelly, thanks.

WALLACE: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: As we just heard from Howard Dean himself, the former presidential candidate is running for a new office. Joining thus morning from Washington D.C. to talk about that and some other news as well, Democratic consultant Victor Kamber and Cliff May, the former RNC communications director, now with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Good morning, gentlemen. Nice to see you. Let's get right to Howard Dean this morning. You heard him just a few moments ago on our air. He says he does not care what the people inside the beltway think about his running, in his answer to his critics.

Cliff, let's start with you. What do you think of Howard Dean running and what do you think of his chances?

CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMM. DIR.: Well, look, I think he's got good chances. I think he's an honorable man. I think he's a talented politician, but I think he's the wrong choice for the Democrats right now, because he's out of the mainstream on the key issue of national security. I think he will present a face to the public of a kind of Democrat that is unlikely to win, certainly in presidential elections, a kind of Ben and Jerry's Michael Moore Democrat, and I think it would be a mistake for the party.

S. O'BRIEN: Vic, what do you think? Out of mainstream? Or is that sort of his whole point?

VICTOR KAMBER, DEM. POL. CONSULTANT: I think he'd be terrific. I'm not endorsing him, by any means, but I think he'd be a terrific chair of the party. The chair of the party's responsibility, raising money, organizing within the states, administering and modern technology. This man -- and being a spokesman. This man can do all of the above. There's probably not a single American that has ever voted for a president, a governor or a senator because of the chair of either party. And frankly, probably if we asked most people, they wouldn't know who the chairs of past parties have been.

When Terry McAuliffe won four years ago, Democrats won the governorship of Virginia, the governorship of New Jersey and lost the mayor of New York. I don't think anybody ever said congratulations, Terry, you did a great job, or Terry, you lost New York. The fact is the chair's job is to raise money, is to organize in states, is to be a spokesperson. Howard dean will be terrific at all of that.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's move to out next topic. Did you guys hear? The search for WMD is over. No one really mentioned it. It happened a couple of weeks ago.

Vic, why don't you take a stab at this one for us. Why do you think there was so little fanfare about this?

KAMBER: Well, I think because most Americans knew it was over before it started, or knew it was over after it started immediately. We haven't seen weapons of mass destruction from the beginning. That was clearly either a mistake or an outright lie, and the administration certainly was going to bury it quietly if they could, because they didn't want the fanfare. Frankly, the election's over. There's no advantage anymore to keep touting it by Democrats. So we move on after 1,300 loss of lives and 13,000 wounded.

S. O'BRIEN: Cliff, do you think this is an admission that no WMD is ever going to be found, or do you think it's a statement that there are more pressing issues that need to go to the front burner right now?

MAY: Well, it may be a little bit of both. What's unfortunate is that there are key mysteries here that are still unsolved. Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. It appears that some time after the first Gulf War and before the second Gulf War, he got rid of them in some way. We don't know how. We don't know if he destroyed them, or hid them or transferred them. We don't know what happened.

It's important to understand, it's not that he didn't have weapons of mass destruction; he got rid of them secretly, and we don't know why he did that. There are only theories about that.

We do know there are other more pressing things. We're fighting war against Saddam Hussein's cronies and against Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, who is the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq. So it's not easy to look in basements for traces of anthrax and sarin gas.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's turn and talk about our last topic this morning. Cliff, I'm wondering if, are you going to the inauguration?

MAY: Actually, I probably will not. I may actually be out of the country next week.

S. O'BRIEN: I was going to ask, if you were going to go to all the parties, you know, there is going to be nine black tie balls, 20 major events overall, three candlelight dinners, several parades. The goal to raise $40 million. Cliff, as you well know, critics have said, you know, considering we're at war, as you just pointed out, and there's great need in Asia now in the week of tsunami, great need in Africa, as everybody knows, wasn't this kind of over the top? Isn't this kind of a little bit of a waste of money?

MAY: Well, one of the things is that the people who are going to these events will be going to these events and paying their own way. They're very expensive to go to. This is private money, not government money for these various balls.

S. O'BRIEN: Isn't the security for these events, though, private money?

MAY: There will be some. Look, we have had an inauguration -- for 200 years, every four years, we've had an inauguration. In 1996, when Bill Clinton was inaugurated for the second time, the war was raging in Bosnia. I don't remember anyone saying there shouldn't be an inauguration then.

The inauguration is not really for the president or even the people who come to the balls; it's for the American people. It's a celebration of the fact that for 200 years, we have transferred power Democratically.

Also this inauguration is special because it is a tribute to the people who are fighting, and it is particularly framed that way, as a tribute to our soldiers.

S. O'BRIEN: Final word to Vic this morning. It is called, in fact, saluting those who serve. Any of the money going to those who serve?

KAMBER: I'm not aware of it, and I don't know. Frankly, where I differ with Cliff, I do believe Republicans have a right to celebrate. They did elect. They won fair, it looks like this time, so they should be able to enjoy.

I would have hoped this president and his leadership would have toned it down, and made it more recognition about the war, about the crisis, as well as the crisis here, as you showed on television, in California and Utah. I mean, it is over the top they didn't need to do all they're doing. They can celebrate and help those that need help out there.

MAY: You can celebrate too, Vic. I'll give you my tickets.

KAMBER: I don't plan to be here.

S. O'BRIEN: Hello, I'll go to a ball or two, come on.

MAY: OK, you can have mine.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, you guys, as always -- I'm just joshing you. Cliff May and Victor Kamber, nice to see you, as always. Thank you -- Bill.

HEMMER: Parts of the United States have seen a wild start to the new year. Deadly mudslides and flooding in the West, and these big snowfalls from California to the Midwest. "The Farmer's Almanac" is known for predicting the weather. Did it predict all this? Good question for my next guest. Sandi Duncan is the managing editor of "The Farmer's Almanac."

Nice to see you. Good morning.

Did you see this coming?

SANDI DUNCAN, MANAGING EDITOR, "FARMER'S ALMANAC": Good morning.

Well, we did predict very stormy conditions in the past couple of days in California and the Southwest states, but unfortunately we didn't see how much rain might fall.

HEMMER: Yes, I understand even you were caught off guard by this, right?

DUNCAN: We were slightly. You know, I think the rain just came down really, really hard and wouldn't stop. We had predicted some stormy conditions, and we're kind of seeing some fair conditions. Overall, we thought it would be kind of a mild and not-so-wet winter in the Southwest.

HEMMER: If you look at what we're seeing in Utah, and California and Nevada, how often do we see this intense in that part of the country?

DUNCAN: Well, you, in "The Farmer's Almanac," part of the weather predicting formula, we do look at history, we look at weather patterns. But we also kind of think that Mother Nature has a way of balancing out the checkbook, so to say. In the past, for how many years, it's been so dry out there so long, and it kind of seems like nature kind of does its thing. And unfortunately, too much too fast, but kind of balances back out.

HEMMER: You know, that's an interesting answer there about the balancing act of Mother Nature. How do you factor that into your predictions?

DUNCAN: Luckily, I'm not the one responsible for doing the predictions. There is an actual person. His identity is top secret, but he is an actually person. It's a mathematical and astronomical formula that takes a lot of things like sun spot activity, tidal action of the moon and position of the planet into factors. And as I mentioned, he looks back at past weather patterns, but it really is a very astronomically based formula. And even sometimes Mother Nature throws us for a curve ball as well.

HEMMER: I can understand the tidal influence there. I've read about that. What does sunspot activity have to do with predictions?

DUNCAN: The sunspot activity is basically the magnetic storms on the sun, and they go through cycles. And right now, we're kind of in a lull cycle; there's not a lot of sunspot activity. And usually, looking back, and there are a lot of people who follow this theory, that when there's a lull, there seems to be a lot stormier winter conditions, as well as cold and pretty much rain.

HEMMER: So it tends to be colder then.

DUNCAN: Colder, and rainier and wet. HEMMER: What explains in New York with us going to 70 degrees tomorrow.

DUNCAN: I don't know, but if you check "The Farmer's Almanac," we said "Juneuary," we said warming up right up. But stay tuned for February.

HEMMER: All right, accuracy rate over the years is what, Sandi?

DUNCAN: People that follow our forecasts, there were about 80 percent to 85 percent accurate.

HEMMER: All right, thanks, Sandi, for coming in. You're brave here this time of year, by the way.

DUNCAN: Thank you.

HEMMER: Sandi Duncan, from "The Farmers Almanac "

Tomorrow night -- make that tonight, on Wednesday night, a special edition of CNN's "NEWSNIGHT," Aaron's going to devotes his entire program to the extremes of nature -- tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding. Is the Earth trying to tell us all something? Have a look for you tonight, 60 minutes at 10:00 Eastern here on CNN.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Get a break here. Disneyland, no longer the happiest place on Earth today. Andy tells us why in a moment here. Back "Minding Your Business" after this.

S. O'BRIEN: Plus, steak lovers beware. Looks like there's a new reason not to sink your teeth into a big hunk of red meat. We'll explain ahead, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We're paging dr. Gupta about a link between red meat and colon cancer. Sanjay's back with us now, more on a new study.

What did you find out, doctor? Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Bill.

We're really beating up on red meat this morning, first talking about mad cow, and now the link between red meat and colon cancer. A couple things to point out. First of all, colon cancer is the third most common form of cancer in the United States. It's also one of the most preventable types as well, which is why researchers are always looking at ways to try and prevent this type of cancer.

What they looked at specifically was the relationship between red meat and colon cancer. Specifically, they followed about 150,000 people over a period of time and found specifically those with the highest red meat consumption had a 30 percent to 40 percent increased risk.

Also, if you're eating the processed red meats -- those are cold cuts, bacon or hot dogs -- up to a 50 percent increased risk.

Bill, they defined highest consumption as those eating three to four ounces of meat a day. That's typically about a large burger's worth of red meat a day, a typical Bill Hemmer diet, for example.

Let's put this into perspective for a second. The lowest category, those who are in the lowest category of red meat consumption were those who are eating no more than three times a week. Also -- and obesity and inactivity as well had a major impact. In addition, moderation, though, being the key here, Bill. No one is saying eliminate red meat completely from the diet. But again, those who had the highest consumption, a significantly higher risk of colon cancer versus those with the lowest consumption.

HEMMER: Would you believe it, I ate fish yesterday. What is the recommended advice for a colonoscopy? And what age? When did you start worrying about that?

GUPTA: Well, again, it's one of the most preventable forms of cancer, so colonscopy is a good screening test. It's been around at some time. Starting at age 50, typically a colonscopy every 10 years, if you're not in the high-risk category. A flexible sigmoidoscopy (ph) every five years as well. Those are some of the standard screening guidelines as they stand today, Bill.

HEMMER: All right, thank you, Sanjay. Looking forward to Monday, too, "The New You Revolution." We'll see you up in New York then.

GUPTA: All right, thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: Talk to you later -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ski resort operators out West are not just seeing just snow in the mountains this season. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business."

Good morning to you.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you. They're seeing dollar bills, Soledad, and I'll tell you why in a second. You might be able to guess.

Let's talk about the markets, first of all. Down day on Wall Street yesterday, 64 points down on the Dow. Not a lot of reasons to be buying, it appears, although this morning, futures are looking bright because Intel reported some good numbers after the close yesterday.

Another stock that could be in focus today, the Walt Disney Company yesterday, chief operating officer, Bob Eiger, saying that the poor weather -- and you can't see it in these shots. The poor weather in Southern California, all that rain, has had an impact on their park business, particularly the one in Anaheim, of course. My understanding is that the sun is coming back out in the L.A. area.

Now another weather-related story, though, Soledad, and that has to do with the ski business. Apparently, the ski operators are primed for a record year this season, and it's no surprise why. Huge, massive amounts of the white stuff coming down in the Sierra Nevadas, and also in the Rockies. Squaw Valley, where Rob Marciano our own snow stud, has been stationed. There he is, the snow stud, 185 inches base there.

And AMERICAN MORNING has done the math for you. That's over 15 feet of snow as a base. And a ski resort likes to have at least five feet. So that's three times the normal amount.

The other thing going on is there's the weak dollar, so a lot of Europeans will be coming here to ski, and also it's a warm winter in Europe, so the Alps aren't quite as nice as itself Sierra Nevadas. A lot of Europeans are going to be coming here. I'm thinking maybe Jack Cafferty might want to put some of them up at his manse in New Jersey, because he always does; he's so generous that way.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks.

HEMMER: Our quest for knowledge this morning bring up our favorite Brit from overseas. Richard Quest in studio in fact.

How are you, Richard? The dish on Jerry Springer, and the dish on President Bush, he says, bringing his euros overseas. Back in a moment with Richard Quest, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the prodigal son returns. Timewise on Fridays on this broadcast, we jumped cross the pond to check in with Richard Quest for a segment we called "Over There." Well, he's over here now. It's been a long time since I've seen him. We're delighted to have him in the studio here in New York. He's actually in town on assignment and was kind enough to give us a couple of minutes. Nice to see you.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed. Good to be here.

CAFFERTY: Our president's's being inaugurated next week for a second term in office. How is he being viewed these days by your countrymen?

QUEST: Oh, no better than he was before the election. There's been no improvement, let's be honest about it. Particularly if you go over the channel into continental Europe, even worse. And I think a lot of Europeans simply cannot believe not only that he was reelected, but that the American people reelected him. And that there is still a wonderment about what took place. They can't understand it. And they are looking for any sign that the president is going to build bridges to Europeans and to other nations.

CAFFERTY: And they're convinced it's up to our president to build the bridges to them? Are you aware of the Oil-for-Food scandal and the possible activities that are in conjunction with that on the part of, perhaps, the French government and some of the other European dignitaries? Had you read about any of those in the tabloids?

QUEST: Oh indeed. But the Oil-for-Food scandal. See, that's another example of where the rest of the world looks at the United States and particularly the president and says, now, hang on a second. This Kofi Annan business. You got rid of one U.N. secretary general before, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and now you're at it again.

CAFFERTY: And they think this guy's doing a great job, this Kofi Annan. On to other things. The Jerry Springer opera, which is even more twisted and disjointed than the Jerry Springer television show.

QUEST: Now, come on, hang on, hang on. What is twisted about an opera? A musical opera that has Jesus, Mary, that has God, that has Ku Klux Klan...

CAFFERTY: As guests on the Jerry Springer show.

QUEST: Tap dancing away on the stage, that has enough swear words that frankly, I could take all our careers down. Be afraid. Be afraid, Bill, be very afraid.

CAFFERTY: Some idiot put this on television over there, right?

QUEST: On BBC-2, the second national channel in Britain, yes. They broadcast it live and they got 47,000 complaints and forced the director of BBC's networks to go into hiding.

CAFFERTY: I'm not surprised. Tasteless stuff. You got any money?

QUEST: Grovel. Come on, come on. This is powerful stuff. This is first world currency. What's this third world rubbish?

HEMMER: Fightin' words.

QUEST: I'm afraid it's the wrong way around, actually, Jack. I'm afraid you've got it...

CAFFERTY: It ain't worth much, but give it back.

QUEST: It is so cheap over here, I cannot tell you. You can go out -- I mean, you know, a simple example. Subway ticket over here...

S. O'BRIEN: $2.

QUEST: $2. But for you coming over to Britain, subway ticket over there, $4.20.

CAFFERTY: Really? Wow. So you'll do a little shopping while you're here? Perhaps take the staff of AMERICAN MORNING out to a big dinner?

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's so sweet.

CAFFERTY: At a fine New York restaurant.

QUEST: Shall we put this away somewhere?

CAFFERTY: All of a sudden, the money disappears.

QUEST: Absolutely. Like CNN, small checks.

CAFFERTY: Stop in anytime. It's nice to see you again.

HEMMER: By the way, that's a pound there, right, Richard?

QUEST: That is a pound.

HEMMER: Are they still using those?

QUEST: Yes, we're still a bit antiquated. We still have the pounds. See, it's got her face on it. Do you see a similarity?

S. O'BRIEN: Nice to see you. Thanks for coming to visit with us.

QUEST: Thank you. Thank you very much.

S. O'BRIEN: We appreciate.

QUEST: It nice here.

S. O'BRIEN: History in the making. Jack taking money out of his pocket. I hope we rolled tape on that.

CAFFERTY: No moths came out, either.

S. O'BRIEN: Today's top stories are just ahead this morning, including the very latest on that California mudslide. How much longer before the rescue mission becomes a recovery effort? We'll look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: 2005 marks our 25th anniversary here at CNN. June 1st is the exact date. What are the top 25 innovations since it all began? Miles O'Brien this morning counts down numbers 15 through 11. Here's Miles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The top 25 innovations that changed the world and our lives during CNN's first 25 years. We asked experts at Lemelson-M.I.T. Program to come up with a list. At 15, a shocker. Nickel metal hydride and lithium ion batteries. Without them, cell phones, laptop computers and video cameras wouldn't last nearly as long.

Number 14 is automatic teller machines, ATMs. Changed how we deal with dead presidents forever more.

Number 13, vehicle air bags have saved thousands of lives since they exploded on the market.

Who are you? Number 12 knows. DNA fingerprinting changed forensic science forever.

PROF. SIR ALEC JEFFREYS, GENETICS UNIV. LEICESTER, UK: We could see from that very first DNA fingerprint not only it's potential for biological identification, but also for sorting out family relationships.

M. O'BRIEN: 11 is a mini marvel used for everything, from inkjet printers to sensors for those air bags. MEMS, or micro electrical mechanical system.

Stay tuned as we count down to number one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired January 12, 2005 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. There are reports in "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" today. They say search for WMD in Iraq now over, ending without fanfare, in fact, last month. We're going to talk about what this means for the administration with Kamber And May, just ahead.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, that wet weather in California. Chad predicted it last week. Did "The Farmer's Almanac" predict it months ago? We'll talk to the managing editor of the almanac about how they see so far into it future, and try anyway; and based on their accuracy rating in the past, they do a pretty good job. So we'll get to that in this half hour as well.

Headlines first, though, with Kelly Wallace. Hello. Good morning again.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. Good morning again, everyone.

Now in the news, we begin with that grim news coming out of California. Rescue crews have pulled three small bodies from the debris in this week's mudslide in La Conchita, California. The death toll now stands at 10 people. Emergency workers, though, say they are not ready to quit yet. They are continuing efforts to find several people still missing since Monday, and the state's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, will tour the devastated area today.

The wicked weather that's been causing havoc in California is doing the same thing in Utah. Some dramatic pictures there. Massive flooding across southern Utah has destroyed homes, stranded residents and damaged roads. The floods in the St. George area are the worst in 15 years, and the region is bracing for even more rain today.

In western Colorado now, the search resumes this hour for a cross-country skier missing for more than three days. Crews found the man's wife and daughter yesterday morning. He apparently separated from them Sunday night to look for help after the family got lost during a ski outing. High winds and sub-zero temperatures in that area have made those rescue efforts very difficult.

And NASA is planning to launch its comet-busting space craft, Deep Impact, this afternoon. The mission success depends on whether the spacecraft ends up colliding with the comet at a speed of, get this, about 23,000 miles per hour, 82 million miles from earth, and that is not scheduled to happen for about six months. But again, the launch set for today, so we'll keep you posted. Reading about this, scientists don't even know about the surface of the comet, if it can be really hard like concrete or just flimsy, so they have no idea, when that impact happens, if it happens...

S. O'BRIEN: Could go right through?

WALLACE: Could go right through, could have been a piece of cake.

S. O'BRIEN: Keep me posted. In six months.

WALLACE: In six months.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Kelly, thanks.

WALLACE: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: As we just heard from Howard Dean himself, the former presidential candidate is running for a new office. Joining thus morning from Washington D.C. to talk about that and some other news as well, Democratic consultant Victor Kamber and Cliff May, the former RNC communications director, now with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Good morning, gentlemen. Nice to see you. Let's get right to Howard Dean this morning. You heard him just a few moments ago on our air. He says he does not care what the people inside the beltway think about his running, in his answer to his critics.

Cliff, let's start with you. What do you think of Howard Dean running and what do you think of his chances?

CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMM. DIR.: Well, look, I think he's got good chances. I think he's an honorable man. I think he's a talented politician, but I think he's the wrong choice for the Democrats right now, because he's out of the mainstream on the key issue of national security. I think he will present a face to the public of a kind of Democrat that is unlikely to win, certainly in presidential elections, a kind of Ben and Jerry's Michael Moore Democrat, and I think it would be a mistake for the party.

S. O'BRIEN: Vic, what do you think? Out of mainstream? Or is that sort of his whole point?

VICTOR KAMBER, DEM. POL. CONSULTANT: I think he'd be terrific. I'm not endorsing him, by any means, but I think he'd be a terrific chair of the party. The chair of the party's responsibility, raising money, organizing within the states, administering and modern technology. This man -- and being a spokesman. This man can do all of the above. There's probably not a single American that has ever voted for a president, a governor or a senator because of the chair of either party. And frankly, probably if we asked most people, they wouldn't know who the chairs of past parties have been.

When Terry McAuliffe won four years ago, Democrats won the governorship of Virginia, the governorship of New Jersey and lost the mayor of New York. I don't think anybody ever said congratulations, Terry, you did a great job, or Terry, you lost New York. The fact is the chair's job is to raise money, is to organize in states, is to be a spokesperson. Howard dean will be terrific at all of that.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's move to out next topic. Did you guys hear? The search for WMD is over. No one really mentioned it. It happened a couple of weeks ago.

Vic, why don't you take a stab at this one for us. Why do you think there was so little fanfare about this?

KAMBER: Well, I think because most Americans knew it was over before it started, or knew it was over after it started immediately. We haven't seen weapons of mass destruction from the beginning. That was clearly either a mistake or an outright lie, and the administration certainly was going to bury it quietly if they could, because they didn't want the fanfare. Frankly, the election's over. There's no advantage anymore to keep touting it by Democrats. So we move on after 1,300 loss of lives and 13,000 wounded.

S. O'BRIEN: Cliff, do you think this is an admission that no WMD is ever going to be found, or do you think it's a statement that there are more pressing issues that need to go to the front burner right now?

MAY: Well, it may be a little bit of both. What's unfortunate is that there are key mysteries here that are still unsolved. Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. It appears that some time after the first Gulf War and before the second Gulf War, he got rid of them in some way. We don't know how. We don't know if he destroyed them, or hid them or transferred them. We don't know what happened.

It's important to understand, it's not that he didn't have weapons of mass destruction; he got rid of them secretly, and we don't know why he did that. There are only theories about that.

We do know there are other more pressing things. We're fighting war against Saddam Hussein's cronies and against Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, who is the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq. So it's not easy to look in basements for traces of anthrax and sarin gas.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's turn and talk about our last topic this morning. Cliff, I'm wondering if, are you going to the inauguration?

MAY: Actually, I probably will not. I may actually be out of the country next week.

S. O'BRIEN: I was going to ask, if you were going to go to all the parties, you know, there is going to be nine black tie balls, 20 major events overall, three candlelight dinners, several parades. The goal to raise $40 million. Cliff, as you well know, critics have said, you know, considering we're at war, as you just pointed out, and there's great need in Asia now in the week of tsunami, great need in Africa, as everybody knows, wasn't this kind of over the top? Isn't this kind of a little bit of a waste of money?

MAY: Well, one of the things is that the people who are going to these events will be going to these events and paying their own way. They're very expensive to go to. This is private money, not government money for these various balls.

S. O'BRIEN: Isn't the security for these events, though, private money?

MAY: There will be some. Look, we have had an inauguration -- for 200 years, every four years, we've had an inauguration. In 1996, when Bill Clinton was inaugurated for the second time, the war was raging in Bosnia. I don't remember anyone saying there shouldn't be an inauguration then.

The inauguration is not really for the president or even the people who come to the balls; it's for the American people. It's a celebration of the fact that for 200 years, we have transferred power Democratically.

Also this inauguration is special because it is a tribute to the people who are fighting, and it is particularly framed that way, as a tribute to our soldiers.

S. O'BRIEN: Final word to Vic this morning. It is called, in fact, saluting those who serve. Any of the money going to those who serve?

KAMBER: I'm not aware of it, and I don't know. Frankly, where I differ with Cliff, I do believe Republicans have a right to celebrate. They did elect. They won fair, it looks like this time, so they should be able to enjoy.

I would have hoped this president and his leadership would have toned it down, and made it more recognition about the war, about the crisis, as well as the crisis here, as you showed on television, in California and Utah. I mean, it is over the top they didn't need to do all they're doing. They can celebrate and help those that need help out there.

MAY: You can celebrate too, Vic. I'll give you my tickets.

KAMBER: I don't plan to be here.

S. O'BRIEN: Hello, I'll go to a ball or two, come on.

MAY: OK, you can have mine.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, you guys, as always -- I'm just joshing you. Cliff May and Victor Kamber, nice to see you, as always. Thank you -- Bill.

HEMMER: Parts of the United States have seen a wild start to the new year. Deadly mudslides and flooding in the West, and these big snowfalls from California to the Midwest. "The Farmer's Almanac" is known for predicting the weather. Did it predict all this? Good question for my next guest. Sandi Duncan is the managing editor of "The Farmer's Almanac."

Nice to see you. Good morning.

Did you see this coming?

SANDI DUNCAN, MANAGING EDITOR, "FARMER'S ALMANAC": Good morning.

Well, we did predict very stormy conditions in the past couple of days in California and the Southwest states, but unfortunately we didn't see how much rain might fall.

HEMMER: Yes, I understand even you were caught off guard by this, right?

DUNCAN: We were slightly. You know, I think the rain just came down really, really hard and wouldn't stop. We had predicted some stormy conditions, and we're kind of seeing some fair conditions. Overall, we thought it would be kind of a mild and not-so-wet winter in the Southwest.

HEMMER: If you look at what we're seeing in Utah, and California and Nevada, how often do we see this intense in that part of the country?

DUNCAN: Well, you, in "The Farmer's Almanac," part of the weather predicting formula, we do look at history, we look at weather patterns. But we also kind of think that Mother Nature has a way of balancing out the checkbook, so to say. In the past, for how many years, it's been so dry out there so long, and it kind of seems like nature kind of does its thing. And unfortunately, too much too fast, but kind of balances back out.

HEMMER: You know, that's an interesting answer there about the balancing act of Mother Nature. How do you factor that into your predictions?

DUNCAN: Luckily, I'm not the one responsible for doing the predictions. There is an actual person. His identity is top secret, but he is an actually person. It's a mathematical and astronomical formula that takes a lot of things like sun spot activity, tidal action of the moon and position of the planet into factors. And as I mentioned, he looks back at past weather patterns, but it really is a very astronomically based formula. And even sometimes Mother Nature throws us for a curve ball as well.

HEMMER: I can understand the tidal influence there. I've read about that. What does sunspot activity have to do with predictions?

DUNCAN: The sunspot activity is basically the magnetic storms on the sun, and they go through cycles. And right now, we're kind of in a lull cycle; there's not a lot of sunspot activity. And usually, looking back, and there are a lot of people who follow this theory, that when there's a lull, there seems to be a lot stormier winter conditions, as well as cold and pretty much rain.

HEMMER: So it tends to be colder then.

DUNCAN: Colder, and rainier and wet. HEMMER: What explains in New York with us going to 70 degrees tomorrow.

DUNCAN: I don't know, but if you check "The Farmer's Almanac," we said "Juneuary," we said warming up right up. But stay tuned for February.

HEMMER: All right, accuracy rate over the years is what, Sandi?

DUNCAN: People that follow our forecasts, there were about 80 percent to 85 percent accurate.

HEMMER: All right, thanks, Sandi, for coming in. You're brave here this time of year, by the way.

DUNCAN: Thank you.

HEMMER: Sandi Duncan, from "The Farmers Almanac "

Tomorrow night -- make that tonight, on Wednesday night, a special edition of CNN's "NEWSNIGHT," Aaron's going to devotes his entire program to the extremes of nature -- tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding. Is the Earth trying to tell us all something? Have a look for you tonight, 60 minutes at 10:00 Eastern here on CNN.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Get a break here. Disneyland, no longer the happiest place on Earth today. Andy tells us why in a moment here. Back "Minding Your Business" after this.

S. O'BRIEN: Plus, steak lovers beware. Looks like there's a new reason not to sink your teeth into a big hunk of red meat. We'll explain ahead, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We're paging dr. Gupta about a link between red meat and colon cancer. Sanjay's back with us now, more on a new study.

What did you find out, doctor? Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Bill.

We're really beating up on red meat this morning, first talking about mad cow, and now the link between red meat and colon cancer. A couple things to point out. First of all, colon cancer is the third most common form of cancer in the United States. It's also one of the most preventable types as well, which is why researchers are always looking at ways to try and prevent this type of cancer.

What they looked at specifically was the relationship between red meat and colon cancer. Specifically, they followed about 150,000 people over a period of time and found specifically those with the highest red meat consumption had a 30 percent to 40 percent increased risk.

Also, if you're eating the processed red meats -- those are cold cuts, bacon or hot dogs -- up to a 50 percent increased risk.

Bill, they defined highest consumption as those eating three to four ounces of meat a day. That's typically about a large burger's worth of red meat a day, a typical Bill Hemmer diet, for example.

Let's put this into perspective for a second. The lowest category, those who are in the lowest category of red meat consumption were those who are eating no more than three times a week. Also -- and obesity and inactivity as well had a major impact. In addition, moderation, though, being the key here, Bill. No one is saying eliminate red meat completely from the diet. But again, those who had the highest consumption, a significantly higher risk of colon cancer versus those with the lowest consumption.

HEMMER: Would you believe it, I ate fish yesterday. What is the recommended advice for a colonoscopy? And what age? When did you start worrying about that?

GUPTA: Well, again, it's one of the most preventable forms of cancer, so colonscopy is a good screening test. It's been around at some time. Starting at age 50, typically a colonscopy every 10 years, if you're not in the high-risk category. A flexible sigmoidoscopy (ph) every five years as well. Those are some of the standard screening guidelines as they stand today, Bill.

HEMMER: All right, thank you, Sanjay. Looking forward to Monday, too, "The New You Revolution." We'll see you up in New York then.

GUPTA: All right, thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: Talk to you later -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ski resort operators out West are not just seeing just snow in the mountains this season. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business."

Good morning to you.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you. They're seeing dollar bills, Soledad, and I'll tell you why in a second. You might be able to guess.

Let's talk about the markets, first of all. Down day on Wall Street yesterday, 64 points down on the Dow. Not a lot of reasons to be buying, it appears, although this morning, futures are looking bright because Intel reported some good numbers after the close yesterday.

Another stock that could be in focus today, the Walt Disney Company yesterday, chief operating officer, Bob Eiger, saying that the poor weather -- and you can't see it in these shots. The poor weather in Southern California, all that rain, has had an impact on their park business, particularly the one in Anaheim, of course. My understanding is that the sun is coming back out in the L.A. area.

Now another weather-related story, though, Soledad, and that has to do with the ski business. Apparently, the ski operators are primed for a record year this season, and it's no surprise why. Huge, massive amounts of the white stuff coming down in the Sierra Nevadas, and also in the Rockies. Squaw Valley, where Rob Marciano our own snow stud, has been stationed. There he is, the snow stud, 185 inches base there.

And AMERICAN MORNING has done the math for you. That's over 15 feet of snow as a base. And a ski resort likes to have at least five feet. So that's three times the normal amount.

The other thing going on is there's the weak dollar, so a lot of Europeans will be coming here to ski, and also it's a warm winter in Europe, so the Alps aren't quite as nice as itself Sierra Nevadas. A lot of Europeans are going to be coming here. I'm thinking maybe Jack Cafferty might want to put some of them up at his manse in New Jersey, because he always does; he's so generous that way.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks.

HEMMER: Our quest for knowledge this morning bring up our favorite Brit from overseas. Richard Quest in studio in fact.

How are you, Richard? The dish on Jerry Springer, and the dish on President Bush, he says, bringing his euros overseas. Back in a moment with Richard Quest, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the prodigal son returns. Timewise on Fridays on this broadcast, we jumped cross the pond to check in with Richard Quest for a segment we called "Over There." Well, he's over here now. It's been a long time since I've seen him. We're delighted to have him in the studio here in New York. He's actually in town on assignment and was kind enough to give us a couple of minutes. Nice to see you.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed. Good to be here.

CAFFERTY: Our president's's being inaugurated next week for a second term in office. How is he being viewed these days by your countrymen?

QUEST: Oh, no better than he was before the election. There's been no improvement, let's be honest about it. Particularly if you go over the channel into continental Europe, even worse. And I think a lot of Europeans simply cannot believe not only that he was reelected, but that the American people reelected him. And that there is still a wonderment about what took place. They can't understand it. And they are looking for any sign that the president is going to build bridges to Europeans and to other nations.

CAFFERTY: And they're convinced it's up to our president to build the bridges to them? Are you aware of the Oil-for-Food scandal and the possible activities that are in conjunction with that on the part of, perhaps, the French government and some of the other European dignitaries? Had you read about any of those in the tabloids?

QUEST: Oh indeed. But the Oil-for-Food scandal. See, that's another example of where the rest of the world looks at the United States and particularly the president and says, now, hang on a second. This Kofi Annan business. You got rid of one U.N. secretary general before, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and now you're at it again.

CAFFERTY: And they think this guy's doing a great job, this Kofi Annan. On to other things. The Jerry Springer opera, which is even more twisted and disjointed than the Jerry Springer television show.

QUEST: Now, come on, hang on, hang on. What is twisted about an opera? A musical opera that has Jesus, Mary, that has God, that has Ku Klux Klan...

CAFFERTY: As guests on the Jerry Springer show.

QUEST: Tap dancing away on the stage, that has enough swear words that frankly, I could take all our careers down. Be afraid. Be afraid, Bill, be very afraid.

CAFFERTY: Some idiot put this on television over there, right?

QUEST: On BBC-2, the second national channel in Britain, yes. They broadcast it live and they got 47,000 complaints and forced the director of BBC's networks to go into hiding.

CAFFERTY: I'm not surprised. Tasteless stuff. You got any money?

QUEST: Grovel. Come on, come on. This is powerful stuff. This is first world currency. What's this third world rubbish?

HEMMER: Fightin' words.

QUEST: I'm afraid it's the wrong way around, actually, Jack. I'm afraid you've got it...

CAFFERTY: It ain't worth much, but give it back.

QUEST: It is so cheap over here, I cannot tell you. You can go out -- I mean, you know, a simple example. Subway ticket over here...

S. O'BRIEN: $2.

QUEST: $2. But for you coming over to Britain, subway ticket over there, $4.20.

CAFFERTY: Really? Wow. So you'll do a little shopping while you're here? Perhaps take the staff of AMERICAN MORNING out to a big dinner?

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's so sweet.

CAFFERTY: At a fine New York restaurant.

QUEST: Shall we put this away somewhere?

CAFFERTY: All of a sudden, the money disappears.

QUEST: Absolutely. Like CNN, small checks.

CAFFERTY: Stop in anytime. It's nice to see you again.

HEMMER: By the way, that's a pound there, right, Richard?

QUEST: That is a pound.

HEMMER: Are they still using those?

QUEST: Yes, we're still a bit antiquated. We still have the pounds. See, it's got her face on it. Do you see a similarity?

S. O'BRIEN: Nice to see you. Thanks for coming to visit with us.

QUEST: Thank you. Thank you very much.

S. O'BRIEN: We appreciate.

QUEST: It nice here.

S. O'BRIEN: History in the making. Jack taking money out of his pocket. I hope we rolled tape on that.

CAFFERTY: No moths came out, either.

S. O'BRIEN: Today's top stories are just ahead this morning, including the very latest on that California mudslide. How much longer before the rescue mission becomes a recovery effort? We'll look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: 2005 marks our 25th anniversary here at CNN. June 1st is the exact date. What are the top 25 innovations since it all began? Miles O'Brien this morning counts down numbers 15 through 11. Here's Miles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The top 25 innovations that changed the world and our lives during CNN's first 25 years. We asked experts at Lemelson-M.I.T. Program to come up with a list. At 15, a shocker. Nickel metal hydride and lithium ion batteries. Without them, cell phones, laptop computers and video cameras wouldn't last nearly as long.

Number 14 is automatic teller machines, ATMs. Changed how we deal with dead presidents forever more.

Number 13, vehicle air bags have saved thousands of lives since they exploded on the market.

Who are you? Number 12 knows. DNA fingerprinting changed forensic science forever.

PROF. SIR ALEC JEFFREYS, GENETICS UNIV. LEICESTER, UK: We could see from that very first DNA fingerprint not only it's potential for biological identification, but also for sorting out family relationships.

M. O'BRIEN: 11 is a mini marvel used for everything, from inkjet printers to sensors for those air bags. MEMS, or micro electrical mechanical system.

Stay tuned as we count down to number one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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