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American Morning
Barry Bond Indicted; Deadly Common Cold Warning about Mutated Virus; Presidential Debate Views
Aired November 16, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- hope that it's both accurate and not right out of the Republican playbook.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Our exclusive one-on- ones. Grand jury slam.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This record is not tainted at all.
ROBERTS: Home run King Barry Bonds indicted for lying about steroid use. What now for his records and for baseball?
Plus, the common cold turns deadly. What you need to know as the feds spread the word on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning to you. It is Friday, November 16th. I'm John Roberts in Las Vegas, the city that really doesn't sleep, where this morning people will wake up digesting what happened last night at the Democratic debate. Did Hillary Clinton stop the bleeding, or is she still vulnerable? We'll be talking about that a lot this morning.
Good morning, Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, you got a busy couple of days. You and the producer certainly didn't sleep at all handling all the debate stuff.
We got a lot of good, interesting things to talk about as it relates to the Democrats debate, so we are going to do that throughout the hour. I'm Kiran Chetry. But, we start of this morning with the news of baseball's home run king, Barry Bonds, bracing now for the fight of his life.
A federal grand jury just indicted him for lying about steroid use and now a strikeout in court could mean prison time. The charges, though, sparking reaction from sports bars around San Francisco all the way to the White House.
CNN's Kara Finnstrom is working this story from San Francisco and she joins us this morning. Hi, Kara.
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these charges mean that instead of heading to the Hall of Fame, Barry Bonds could be headed to prison for 30 years, up to 30 years. Quite a term there, although that's not considered likely.
Now just behind me here, you can see AT&T Park. This is where he slugged out so many of those homers. The claims of prosecutors is that that powerful swing was supported at least in part by steroid use, and they say that he lied about that to federal prosecutors who were investigating the use of such drugs by professional athletes.
The big question is what's their evidence? On a 10-page indictment, they do say that they discovered evidence that Bonds tested positive for using these types of drugs. There's also been some question about whether his former personal trainer Greg Anderson could have flipped on him. He had refused to answer questions about Bonds and spent a year in prison.
Well, his personal attorney saying to the "L.A. Times" now that he has not flipped. He's actually not talking. Bonds own attorney is not doing much talking either, but they have said that they don't think prosecutors have enough evidence to support all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL RAINS, BONDS ATTORNEY: Now that their bias allegations must finally, finally be presented in open court, they won't be able to hide from their unethical misconduct any longer. The public is going to get the whole truth, not just selectively leaked fabrications from unanimous sources.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINNSTROM: And Bonds is expected to make his first appearance in a San Francisco courtroom on this on December 7th. He did not resign with the San Francisco Giants, so this is actually a bad time for all of this to be happening to him. He is now looking for a new park to call home -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Kara Finnstrom from San Francisco this morning on this story. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Coming up to four minutes after the hour, just how much of what the candidates said last night was completely on the up and up? Time for a post-debate fact check this morning.
AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence has been taking a closer look. There were a couple issues in particular, Chris, that really sparked a lot of, shall we say, healthy discussion. What are you looking at this morning?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Senators Obama and Clinton really came after each other early on their health care plans touting the benefits of their plan and slamming the liabilities of their opponents. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He talks a lot about stepping up and taking responsibility and taking strong positions but when it came time to step up and decide whether or not he would support universal health care coverage, he chose not to do that. His plan would leave 15 million Americans out.
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do provide universal health care. The only difference between Senator Clinton's health care plan and mine is that she thinks the problem for people without health care is that nobody has mandated, forced them to get health care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Some of what Senator Obama said is true. We took a closer look at both their plans. In Senator Obama's plan, he would require every child in America to have health insurance. He would also guarantee eligibility, meaning no one's going to get turned down for preexisting conditions, and employers who don't offer health insurance would have to contribute to the national plan.
Compare that with Hillary Clinton's plan, she would allow you to keep your current plan or choose from some of the same options as members of Congress. There would also be some shared responsibility, meaning that some of the employers would have to contribute. That the insurance companies would not be able to reject someone for a preexisting condition and the individual, meaning you, would have to get and keep health insurance.
The difference being she would require that for everyone, John, adults and kids. That's where she comes up with that $15 million digit.
ROBERTS: Was that mandatory coverage for everybody as opposed to just children? Another issue last night, some say Obama fumbled almost as badly as Clinton did a couple of weeks ago is the issue of driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. There was one candidate in particular who's got a lot of experience with this because his home state allows that.
LAWRENCE: That's right. Governor Bill Richardson was the only one that step up or one of the few to step up and say, yes, I would give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. In fact, he already has in his state. Here's what he says about his plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My answer is yes and I did it. My law enforcement people said it's a matter of public safety. What we need is public safety, a reduction in traffic fatalities. We wanted more people to be insured. When we started with this program, 33 percent of all New Mexicans were uninsured. Today, it's 11 percent. Traffic fatalities have gone down.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LAWRENCE: Now, we checked some of that out, and he's right in a lot of cases. The number of uninsured in New Mexico has gone down. The traffic fatalities are down from about 449 in 2002, to 340 through the end of last month. So it's on track to be much less.
He says insurance premiums have dropped. They have but they dropped in other states other than New Mexico as well. Some of that has to do with that new credit scoring system that the insurance companies are now using our credit scores to better gage how much we should pay for auto insurance. They say that is giving people a better idea of what they should pay, so a lot of our premiums are dropping not necessarily because of the driver's license.
ROBERTS: It's how you put it together, isn't it?
LAWRENCE: Exactly.
ROBERTS: Chris Lawrence keeping them honest this morning. Chris, thanks, good to see you.
Right after the debate, by the way, I spoke with the three leading candidates who had even more to say about the issues and each other. And some of them were in quite a hurry to get back out there on the campaign trail. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I thought a lot of good questions were asked, and it was great having, you know, all of the voters actually participate because after all, that's what it's about.
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the fair assessment is that there were a lot of Senator Clinton supporters in the room, and that's just the way it is. I mean, we don't concern ourselves with that. This is not about her or about me. That's what's so fundamental. I mean, this is about what kind of country we're going to live in and whether we can take the democracy back.
OBAMA: If you compared her to Mitt Romney tonight on Social Security, it evoked a rousing boo from the crowd.
ROBERTS (on camera): Oh, over the line?
OBAMA: Well, no. What I said was to use the figure of a truly middle class tax increase is a classic Republican line that's used, and it doesn't apply in this situation. If you raise the cap, that's 6 percent of the population that could be remotely affected not middle class Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And from there, there he goes back out on the campaign trail. In fact, I had to employ some old high school blocking tech -- football blocking techniques there to keep him in front of the microphone for a little while. We'll have our entire exclusive interview with Barack Obama along with Hillary Clinton. That's coming up later on AMERICAN MORNING. And don't forget, now it's time for the GOP to debate, and this time you get to ask the questions.
Go to CNN.com/YouTube debate. Post your questions for the Republican presidential candidates. Wednesday, November 28th, your voice will be heard only on CNN, your home for politics. Now, let's go back to New York with more news. Here's Kiran.
CHETRY: We have some breaking news this morning out of Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf appointing a new cabinet reportedly made up of his own allies. This is new video coming in to us, including a new prime minister. They'll be in charge until national elections early next year.
This comes as Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte arrives in Pakistan today. Zain Verjee joins us live from Islamabad with more on what this new cabinet appointment means, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The new cabinet appointment basically means that it's less and less likely that Pakistan will really have free and fair elections, Kiran. Basically, what General Musharraf has done is to pick all his loyalists and put them in his cabinet. And this is the caretaker government that's supposed to take Pakistan toward elections next year.
The prime minister himself is one of Musharraf's key loyalist. His name is Mien Mohamed Sumo (ph). He's both the prime minister and the chairman of the Senate. So under the constitution, that wasn't allowed. General Musharraf has also given President Musharraf some more powers, so he can decide when he feels like lifting the state of emergency with anyone else -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Zain Verjee reporting from Islamabad this morning. Thank you.
We're also following some extreme weather in Bangladesh where at least 500 people have been killed by a tropical cyclone. Local government officials across the region telling CNN the number of dead is expected to rise even higher. The storm triggering water surges, washing away livestock, crops, homes. One hundred thirty mile-an-hour winds leveled houses and knocked down trees and power lines. More than half a million people living along the coast have been evacuated.
Our Reynolds Wolf is at our weather update desk tracking the cyclone in Bangladesh as well as weather here in the States. Hi, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. I really don't expect conditions really to improve much in parts of southern Asia. In fact as we look at the computer, you will see what is left of that storm. Now, in this area of low pressure still producing quite a bit of rainfall in the high elevations. We're going to see some snow.
One of the reasons why the storm died so quickly is because of this gigantic mountain chain you see here, the Himalayas. Up to 29,000 feet at its highest point really did cause the storm to lose a great deal of its energy, but still a significant rainmaker and flooding is going to be an issue. We'll also going to see the possibility of flooding right back here at home, especially up in the northeast. As we zoom in, we're going to take you right up to Maine right along parts of I-95 corridor, into Penaske (ph) County.
Any place where you happen to have poor drainage, low lying areas, you're going to have some issues there. But in the higher elevations, we're not talking about rain. We're talking about the potential snowfall especially in places like New Hampshire, Vermont, and, of course, back out into Maine. We're also seeing that lake- effect snow action.
We've got wind coming in from the northwest so from Buffalo to Rochester and even into Syracuse, you could expect a few snowflakes this morning and into the afternoon. That is the complete weather story we've got for you. Now, let's send it back out to John in Las Vegas.
ROBERTS: Reynolds, thanks very much. A CNN health alert to tell you about this morning. The Center for Disease Control is warning us about a new strain of the common cold virus. At least 10 people have died from it.
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the medical update desk in Atlanta. Sanjay, people dying from the cold, this sounds unusual and frightening.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it can be and some people even called this the killer cold although the CDC says maybe that might be a little bit extreme. But, John, this is a virus that you probably already heard about. It actually led to the death of a 12-day-old in New York City. It led to the death of a 19-year- old as well in Texas, and that got some people's notice.
We're talking about the adenovirus, but more specifically the adenovirus 14. We got a picture. You can take a look of what it looks like there, if you care about this sort of thing. This is a type of virus and it's doing what viruses do, which it evolves and sometimes becomes nastier. And in this case, it's found in boot camps as well. People living in close quarters seem to be the most -- the most susceptible to getting sick from this.
It's been around the country as you mentioned, John. Oregon is where it was first found in 2005. If you take a look at some of the numbers there in terms of people getting sick, 31 cases there, seven deaths. That was the most of any state. In Texas, 106 cases, the most cases. And the one death that I mentioned, that 19-year-old at the Lachmund Air Force Base. And also in Washington, three cases and one death. And in New York City, the one death as well, the 12-day- old.
But again, this was a virus that's actually been around since 1955, but it changes, John. It evolves. It's become a nasty one, and people got their eye on it, John.
ROBERTS: As we know, Sanjay, there is no cure for the common cold and this is a virus not a bacteria. So you can't treat it with antibiotics. How do you treat this if somebody catches this deadly strain?
GUPTA: Well, there are things known as antivirals, which are similar to antibiotics, although not nearly as effective against bacteria as antibiotics are, but they can help in certain situations. With this particular adenovirus, they haven't found it to be that effective.
The other thing is, you know, John, is that sometimes people will also get bacterial infections on top of the viral infection. In that case, antibiotics might be helpful. And finally, you know, it sounds silly saying this. But, you know, washing your hands in terms of trying to prevent spread is really, really important. And, John, let me just say for you in particular, I've seen you up like over the last two days straight, getting sleep and just taking care of yourself, that helps as well, John.
ROBERTS: Yes. Yes. Thanks. In place of sleep, I'm doing megadoses of vitamins B and C to try to keep myself healthy. Sanjay Gupta, thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks, man.
ROBERTS: We'll check back with you a little bit later on different topics. All right, Sanjay -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Lindsay Lohan in and out of jail in just 84 minutes yesterday. She was arrested back in July when she took the now famous mug shot on the right. On the left, her new mug shot. In August, she reached a plea deal on drunken driving and cocaine charges and got four days in jail. That was later knocked down to a day because she did community service.
But yesterday because of jail overcrowding, she only did 84 minutes in a holding cell and never had to put on a prison uniform. Nicole Richie also served just 82 minutes in the same jail back in August. Were they just tough on Paris then for no reason?
Well, still ahead, march on Washington. A live picture now of the capital. Thousands on their way to D.C. in a sign of solidarity against hate crime. What's driving the call for justice. We're going to talk about it. Coming up live next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Just marking 18 minutes past the hour, and some of the shots you got to see in "Quick Hits" now. A roundup on an interstate in Shreveport, Louisiana. An 18- wheeler carrying more than 100 cows flipped over. Police on horseback chased the cows down and caught most of them but say that they didn't get them all. A few may still be out on the loose there.
Check out this towering inferno on I-35 near Dallas. A tanker truck exploded. One person was killed, another severely burned. Both sides of I-35 were shut down for several hours. Police say it started after the truck driver failed to see traffic was slowing down and slammed into a retaining wall trying to avoid it. And Boston said thanks to firefighters who saved 16 lives on Monday. They heard screams from a trapped child and raced up ladders to the fire in a burning building. One of them found a 2-year-old boy, gave him his oxygen mask and then passed him out of a window -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, unbelievable bravery on the part of these firefighters. Thanks, John.
Well, thousands are expected at the Department of Justice in Washington today, for what's being called a March for Justice. They're arriving right now. In fact, for a protest that's been organized by the Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network, there you see a live picture right now, they're calling for tougher prosecution to hate crimes including anyone who hangs a noose.
CNN contributor Roland Martin joins us live from Freedom Plaza in Washington. He's also doing his radio show there this morning, and we're being simulcast right on WBVN in Chicago. Hi, Rowan.
ROLAND MARTIN, HOST, "THE ROLAND MARTIN SHOW": Hi, Kiran. How you doing?
CHETRY: Good to see you this morning. Now, you're going to be attending this today. What are the events that led up to this National Action Network to organize this?
MARTIN: Well, there are a multitude of issues, of course. The Jena-6 case so many of us aware of. You also have the Megan Williams torture case out of West Virginia, where many people are calling for hate crime laws to also be instituted in that case. You look at -- look at the Genarlow Wilson case. I think you can also expand this, you think about the Georgia voter I.D. case.
And so there's a serious concern as to this Justice Department, as to whether or not they are committed to civil and social justice all across this country. Clearly in those cases where you have hate crimes, but also, you know, on the whole issue again -- applying the law equally across this country. And so, that's what people are rallying behind. So it's a continuation frankly, of what took place after Jena to be able to keep folks unified and go to the next step.
You might recall three weeks ago, Reverend Al Sharpton testified before Congress on this whole issue as well. So that's one of the issues there, in terms of how do you keep the momentum going to get the attention of the Justice Department.
CHETRY: You're also going to be circling around the Justice Department seven times. Explain the historical significance of that.
MARTIN: Right. Well, actually, that's a biblical reference and so in terms of in the bible when they circled around the walls of Jericho seven times, and then the walls came tumbling down. So the symbolism there is that those people who are supporting this issue of pushing the Justice Department, the idea is to have the walls of injustice to come tumbling down and have the Justice Department intervene.
And so again, one of the purpose of marches and rallies like this is frankly to bring awareness. So a lot of folks, you know, may not be aware when they begin to connect the dots of the cases that take place all across the country. And so they might see Jena as an isolated incident. They might see West Virginia and Megan Williams as an isolated incident.
But all of a sudden, when you begin to connect the dots and you see it. There are a number of stories all across this county, a number of incidents that frankly, don't get the level of attention. And once you put them all together then people say, wait a minute. Now there's a body of evidence here to suggest the Justice Department is not doing enough. That's the purpose behind it.
CHETRY: That's because according to the FBI statistics, hate crime reports have decreased by 11 percent over the past 12 years, and the actual number of people being charged with hate crimes is also down. Do organizers take issue with those stats?
MARTIN: No. I don't think the issue is whether or not hate crimes being reported are down 11 percent. The issue is, are there being hate crimes are taking place? Now, are they being prosecuted? And so even though you may see a decrease in terms of it being reported, the question is, are they still going to prosecute it?
So let's say you have 5,000 hate crimes cases last year, the 4,000 this year, the reality is, you should have 4,000 in the United States of America in 2007. That's what the real issue is.
CHETRY: All right. I want to get your reaction to this story that's been in "The Chicago Tribune" reporting at least earlier this week.
MARTIN: Sure.
CHETRY: And these are pictures of one of the Jena Six suspects, Robert Bailey, with hundred dollar bills. He's holding them. A couple of the pictures, he has them in his mouth. The pictures are from his MySpace page. They were made into a video on YouTube.
MARTIN: Right.
CHETRY: We're not exactly sure who made the video.
MARTIN: Right.
CHETRY: But "The Tribune" is reporting potential mismanagement of about $500,000 donated to the Jena Six legal defense fund. We actually reached out to the attorneys for reaction. We haven't gotten a response yet. Bailey's mother is saying he earned the money as part of his job, though. But what do you make of this?
MARTIN: Well, actually, that "Chicago Tribune" story did not necessarily focus just on those particular photos. The overall story had to do as to what we know. What is happening with the various legal defense funds for this case.
Now, look. We covered this on my radio show three months ago. We talked with James Rucker of Color of Change, where they discussed that process. I think what has to happen is there has to be, again, an independent body taking that is taking the legal defense funds and being able to disperse to the various lawyers.
And so, sure, I was looking about giving money, and they see those photos. They may put the connection together, but we don't know where the money actually came from. And so the real issue is, how are the families using that money and being able to disperse it to ensure that people's intentions, and that is being able to pay for legal defense is actually going to that.
And something the families are sensitive to that. And frankly, they have no choice. They need to really go to the third party that is sort of independent of the group to be able to handle that. That way you don't have any questions, any, you know, allegations or impropriety. That's what's most important.
CHETRY: Right. All right. Well, Roland, great talking to you this morning at the Washington Freedom Plaza today. Let us know how it goes. Thanks for being with us.
MARTIN: Will do. Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: Crisis in Pakistan still ahead. The U.S. point man arriving today. Can the U.S. do anything to stop the violence, the upheaval. We're going to be speaking to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She's joining us in our next half-hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Time now, 7:26 here on the East Coast. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" this morning.
(CROSSTALK)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Have you seen "American Gangster"?
CHETRY: Can I borrow a dollar?
VELSHI: You can't borrow. Have you seen "American Gangster"?
CHETRY: No, I have not.
VELSHI: All about money. It's about the drug trade, but it's about money. It's about enterprise. It's set in America, and by the way, it was set in America long before there were euros. But the theme song from there "Blue Angel," which was performed by Jay-Z when he opens the -- I'm going to show you this in just a second.
When he opens a briefcase in there, it's full of euros, which a lot of people are taking as a statement about the strength of the euro over the dollar. Well, DJ "Henry P." -- that's right. I can call him that. Henry Paul is the treasury secretary of the United States. In his speech just about half an hour ago, he said that -- this is what he said -- we've a very much a strong dollar policy. That's in our nation's interest.
Now, here you go. On your right, you have DJ "Henry P." and on your left, you got Jay-Z. Which one are you going for? Who are you going to trust?
CHETRY: I mean, who --
VELSHI: The guy in the right has got a good haircut.
CHETRY: Who would I want to be at a party with? Or who --
VELSHI: I mean, it's interesting. We had that rumor going around about the Giselle bunch and the supermodel saying she wanted to be paid in euros. Her agent denies that she said that. But the fact is, there is definitely this cultural shift toward the euro. I mean, I think a lot of Americans who went and traveled to Europe have never seen a euro, and now we're seeing it in music videos. There is nothing about Jay-Z's video that said outside --
CHETRY: However, he stopped the video on the streets of New York City.
VELSHI: Yes. There's nothing about there that would be -- that would cause there to be euros except some sort of a cultural shift. Now, there's an OPEC meeting this weekend. A number of the OPEC leaders are saying that they want to talk about pegging oil to a currency that is not the dollar.
The United Arab Emirates mentioned that yesterday. The Central Banker this morning, Nigeria's finance minister has said this. Finance ministers from Cutter and Bahrain. This is going to put more downward pressure on the dollar. Right now, the dollar strengthened a little bit against other currencies. But you make up your mind. Jay- Z or "Henry P."
CHETRY: All right. Thank you. I didn't know Henry Paulson rapped. Maybe he doesn't.
VELSHI: Maybe.
CHETRY: He doesn't admit a thing. All right -- John.
ROBERTS: Baseball's home run king Barry Bonds bracing for the fight of his life. A federal grand jury just indicted him for lying about steroid use and a strikeout in court could send bonds to prison for 30 years, which brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote."
Is Barry Bonds being unfairly targeted? Cast your vote at CNN.com/AM. Right now, 42 percent of you say yes. Fifty-eight percent say no. We'll continue to update the votes throughout the morning. And a story coming up at our next half-hour that you just can't miss. Achieving perfect health through your diet. Omega3 and omega6 fats said to control everything from our mood to our risk of heart disease. But why doctors say a proper balance between omega3's and omega 6's is really the key.
We'll have that story. We'll also going to have another look at the debate from last night. You saw Candy Crowley's head crossing through the bottom of the screen. She's getting ready. She'll be with us in just a second. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Welcome back. It's Friday, November 16th. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts in Las Vegas. We have got some new news to tell you about this morning. We continue to follow the breaking news in Bangladesh where a terrible cyclone rolled in and the death toll from that cyclone has reached now reached 500. The number expected to go even higher. The storm slammed into the southern coast of Bangladesh packing 130-mile-an-hour winds flooding, washing away livestock and crops. The high winds leveled homes and knocked down trees and power lines. More than half a million people have been evacuated from coastal villages.
Also new this morning, a push for new sanctions against Iran. It's coming from the White House after the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear wash dog said Iran is restricting access to its current atomic work and expanding uranium enrichment.
Another step forward in relations between North Korea and South Korea. The two countries agreed to start cross border train service. You can see the train here during a test run earlier in the year. The freight train service will launch next month. It will be the first to operate between the two countries in decades. The countries are also working on other projects including highways, shipyards and a joint fishing area. Kiran.
CHETRY: John, thanks. Well, there are new 911 tapes being released from that helicopter crash that happened in Phoenix, Arizona over the summer where two news choppers collided in mid-air while covering a police chase. All four people on board were killed. Calls came flooding into 911 after that incident.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
911 DISPATCH: What is your emergency/
CALLER: Do you guys have the helicopters that just hit central?
911 DISPATCH: The what?
CALLER: Helicopters. You have two helicopters that just hit each other in the air above central probably around Indian school. There was news helicopters.
911 DISPATCH: Hold on a second, you guys got that? I'm sorry hold on.
CALLER: That's OK.
PHOENIX POLICE: Let me find out where command is and see if they need more...
PHOENIX MEDCARE: Yes, you got this? Yes, one helicopter hit the other.
PHOENIX POLICE: Yes, flew into the bottom of the other one, right?
PHOENIX MEDCARE: Yes, well one was hovering and the other just was still moving and flew right into it. It was freaky.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
CHETRY: The four people killed if the crash were pilots and photographers from two local TV stations.
Well, the strike situation may be about to go from bad to worse over at CBS. The network's news writers will vote again today on whether or not to strike. They have been working without a contract for more than two years since back in April of 2005. The contract covers more than 500 people that are working in New York, D.C., L.A. and Chicago. If there is a strike vote it would not take effect until Monday.
ROBERTS: Well, we're continuing our debate wrap-up this morning. A little bit of analysis for you on who did well and who did not do so well and how the issues came out. We're joined now by our CNN senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley. Part of course of the best political team on television. We saw a different Hillary last night than we saw two weeks ago in Philadelphia.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You really did. I mean, she came loaded for bear this time. Just to sort of backtrack a little, when you look at all of the other debates, the last time I heard Hillary Clinton mention anybody else's name was complementary. She never went after them. She always went after George Bush. But this was very different this time, John.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're democrats. And we're trying to nominate the very best person we can to win. And I don't mind taking hits on my record, on issues but when someone starts throwing mud at least we can hope that it is both accurate and not right out of the republican playbook. People are not attacking me because I'm a woman. They're attacking me because I'm ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CROWLEY: Which worked very well as you know, John. I mean, all of the headlines today are about Hillary Clinton regaining her footing.
ROBERTS: You know, here in Nevada, she has 51 percent. She's got majority support here. 28 points ahead of Obama who's running second. Well ahead of John Edwards. And we almost had an eighth candidate in the house last night and that was the audience. And they didn't seem to want to hear the candidates attacking each other. Take a listen to what happened when John Edwards at the end of the first part of the debate tried to go after Hillary Clinton on being in the pocket of special interests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Clinton defends the system, takes money from lobbyists and does those things. And my point is simply that people have -- wait a minute. Voters have those choices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Wow. You know, I have not seen him booed down before where he had to say to the audience, no, wait a minute, let me finish. You usually say that to the moderator.
CROWLEY: Like Barack Obama, which was interesting. I mean, you were in the hall. Did you get the sense that this was a pro-Clinton crowd or was this an anti-rough stuff crowd?
ROBERTS: I think it was an anti-rough stuff crowd because at the very beginning when it started going back and forth, back and forth between Hillary and Obama and they were all making very good, they were both making very good points. You heard the catcalls coming down from the audience saying there is five other candidates on stage. We're tired of listening to these people. Let's hear them. So, it wasn't all about back off on Hillary. It was let's get off the mud and let's have a discussion. Could you believe what Bill Richardson last night about national security and human rights? I mean, it's a lovely premise. And I think Obama threaded the needle quite well when he said that, you know, they're not contradictory ideas but.
CROWLEY: And Dodd came back and said, well, listen, national security trumps everything. No. I mean that was one that really perked up your ears. There are so many times you listen to these debates and you think, in general, they're all kind of in the same ballpark with possibly the exception of Dennis Kucinich and so it really sticks out when you have someone like Richardson who has enormous international credentials, say yes, there are times when human rights trump national security.
ROBERTS: I think Obama got it just right when he said they're not contradictory ideas. Can you imagine what the republican party would be doing this morning when one of the front-runner said that? Candy, thanks very much. It's always great to see you. Now it's the GOPs turn to debate. This time, you get to ask the questions. By the way, go to cnn.com/youtube debates. Post your questions for the republican presidential candidates coming up on Wednesday, November 28. Your voice will be heard. The GOP youtube debate only here on CNN. Now, let's go back to New York and here's Kiran with more news
CHETRY: John, thanks. Well, desperate diplomacy at this hour. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte arrives in Pakistan today and he is walking into a state of emergency crackdown that's been going on for nearly two weeks now. This morning President Pervez Musharraf swearing in a new government after just disbanding parliament. Militant said to be gaining ground so what should the U.S. role be?
Madeleine Albright joins us now, the former secretary of state. Madame Secretary, thanks for being with us this morning. So, we're watching these developments change in Pakistan and you have called this White House policy on Pakistan incoherent saying they're not acting decisively enough. What should we do at this point to help with democracy?
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, our options are not too good because it's been too little too late and giving mixed signals. I think that Secretary Negroponte has a very difficult job. As you pointed out, President Musharraf has basically dissolved everything but there cannot really be legitimate elections unless he lifts the emergency regulations and so phony elections are no elections. And I think that what we have to do is say that he has to return and move towards restoring the constitution and having real elections by lifting the emergency and allowing Benazir Bhutto and the opposition parties to really field candidates and get involved in it. I think it is very worrisome because we depend so much on Pakistan for what we're doing in Afghanistan and it puts us in a very difficult position of what to do when a military dictator is not in fact allowing his people to have any voice.
CHETRY: Military dictator who at this point has been sympathetic toward the war on terror. When you talk about democracy, are we willing to stand back and say, whoever is in power whether or not they support trying to route out the Taliban in that mountainous region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, are we OK with that?
ALBRIGHT: But we need help on that but according again to the news this morning, things are not going very well in that valley. And in fact, there is a resurgence of violence there and so at the moment, Musharraf isn't really not delivering on either aspect of this, on the national security part or the democracy part but I think we have to recognize as Americans that what goes on in Pakistan is very important to our national security and we have to find a government there that is willing to cooperate on dealing with the issues and at the same time allowing a very vibrant Pakistani middle class to have a role.
CHETRY: You're also heading up this Genocide Prevention Task Force. You're going to be heading it up with former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. In fact, there's been a lot going on in the world and we have sat back and watched a lot especially of course the plight in Darfur. What does this task force hope to accomplish?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I think really the issue here as you point out is we sit and watch and we have for decades and the U.S. government is not really set up in a way to look at how to prevent genocide before it ever gets there and then how to deal with it. And so the purpose of this task force is to look forward and to try to figure out what has to be put into place within our government in order to make sure that never again is not just a slogan but something we can live up to.
CHETRY: Quickly, I want to ask you about Iran. They've reached a milestone. 3,000 centrifuges that could in theory, the experts are saying, may be used to produce enough uranium for a nuclear weapon in as little as a year. What is the best policy in terms of trying to reign in Iran?
ALBRIGHT: Well, there's no question that we have problems with Iran. They are going forward on a nuclear program. But I think the best policy is vigorous diplomacy. We can not achieve anything with anybody if we're not talking to them. And if we make what is the subject of the negotiations their giving up their nuclear program, a condition before we even get into discussions with them so I believe vigorous diplomacy is an essential part with the threat of more economic sanctions.
CHETRY: Certainly, a lot of challenges ahead for our state department and White House.
ALBRIGHT: Definitely.
CHETRY: Thanks for being with us this morning.
ALBRIGHT: Good to be with you, Kiran.
CHETRY: And still ahead, good omega versus bad omega. What you need to know about fatty acids. We're paging Dr. Gupta. He has some new information on some new studies out ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: We got some breaking news. We want to show you these flames coming to us from KMOV. This is in St. Louis, Missouri. Firefighters there trying to get a handle on a very, very severe looking house fire. There you see the home fully engulfed. They say this is a three alarm and began about 5:00 in the morning. This is in Desoto, which is about 30 miles south of St. Louis. They say it's a large house that's located on a farm. They do not know if anyone was in there at the time. They have no word of injuries. But again, the pictures of the flames are really astounding as the firefighters try to get a handle on that this morning. We're going to give you more information as soon as we get it out of Missouri.
Meanwhile, 46 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano is off today. We have Reynolds Wolf in the CNN Weather Center, tracking extreme weather. And boy, the winds here, at least in New York City kept me up last night. I don't know what was going on weather wise. REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: I'll tell you, Kiran. From New York southward all the way to Atlanta, Georgia, we've had some strong winds because this big system, this big area of low pressure in that frontal boundary has been zipping out into the Atlantic and right behind it a lot of winds been developing, giving us lake-effect snowfall in parts of New York and back into Ohio.
But in the high elevations, we are seeing snow in spots like Vermont. Take a look at this video that we have for you. Looks pretty nice, doesn't . There it is. We see the beautiful snowflakes coming down. They could see anywhere from maybe two to three inches of snow there today but in the highest elevations it could get a bit deeper. We're talking snowfall, possibly around a foot or so. Already that snow moving equipment is coming out. Sanding roads and doing what they can. In Hardwick, you see right there. Just to make things manageable for people as they are make their way throughout the day.
Let's go back to the weather computer and show you again what we're dealing with. Raindrops in the low elevations but high up is where we're seeing that snowfall. With that prevailing wind that you were talking about Kiran, out of the north and the northwest. That's what we're seeing is picking up the moisture off the lakes and then mixing it with that cool air aloft and that's giving us that light dusting of snowfall and the wind. That's the latest. Now let's go to John in Las Vegas. John.
ROBERTS: Reynolds, thanks very much. Coming up to 12 minutes to the top of the hour now. Call it a battle of the omegas - Omega 3 versus Omega 6. They are fatty acids directly linked to your mind and mood. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has reported extensively about the impacts of diet and behavior. Sanjay is live from Atlanta this morning. Sanjay, what are the differences between omega-3s and omega-6s? Where do we find them?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of people know the omega 3s. People started to hear that term much more and that's in the avocados, that's in the (inaudible), that's in the good kind of fishes. Fewer people heard about the omega-6s. You need some of these as well but far fewer than the omega-3s. Look at this demonstration here, John. Typically, this is in a lot of foods that we eat, much more so nowadays than in the past. It typically comes from food like burgers and fries and allows the very fatty food to actually, in this demonstration, actually blend that up. You actually see that burger oil. Looks tasty there, does it? You fry oil. These are loaded with omega-6 fatty acids.
Now, John, as I mentioned, you will need a combination of both but you know, about a hundred years ago we used to get 1 percent of our overall omegas from omega-6s and nowadays it's about 10 percent. So, far more than we used to and we only eat about a third of the omega-3s that we need. And they're also good for our brain health. They're starting to get more and more evidence about the impact on mood as well, John.
ROBERTS: So what is the impact on mood? What's the difference between omega-3 and omega-6? What you eat actually make you depressed?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting because the American Psychiatric Association has gone so far as to say that they looked into recommendations regarding omega-3 as a possible treatment for depression. That's a starting point. But here's what we found and when we were researching the documentary is that low levels of omega-3 seem to lead to low levels of serotonin.
Remember, serotonin is something that you want. That's something that elevates the move so studies would show that actually lower levels of the omega-3 lead to possibly more depression but even more interesting to me was one of the studies looking at pregnant woman in particular. If they actually abided by the recommendations to eat two to three servings of fish, and, you know, not that the fish have a lot of mercury in it but the ones that have a lot of omega 3s, they would actually have a better chance of trying to ward off post-partum depression as well. So there does seem to be some relationships between the omega-3s and overall mood and depression later on.
ROBERTS: Interesting. But again, stay away from the fish that can be prone to having mercury in it. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks. By the way, don't forget to join Sanjay for his own show "House Call" this weekend. The focus is on your vote and your health. "House Call," Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
It's a much different morning after for Senator Hillary Clinton than it was after the debate in Philly. How does she feel about her performance last night? My exclusive post-game interview with her coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Six minutes now to the top of the hour. We saw a more aggressive Hillary Clinton debate her fellow democrats last night, much different than she was in Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago. She warned John Edwards about throwing mud and taking pages from the republican playbook. I caught up with the senator right after the debate to ask her about her performance.
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ROBERTS: About tonight, were you happier with tonight's performance than Philadelphia?
CLINTON: Well, I felt really good about tonight. I thought a lot of good questions were asked. It was great having, you know, all of the voters actually participate because after all that's what it's about. It's about, you know, answering their questions and, you know, making sure that they're going to participate in the process and especially because Nevada is having this caucus it's really significant to have the debate here and try to raise a lot of interest in it.
ROBERTS: Senator Obama tonight again complained that he wasn't hearing straight answers from you. Is that fair to say that perhaps in the past that was the case? You seem to be more direct tonight.
CLINTON: Well, I'm very happy to have participated. I'll let voters make their minds up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And with that she kind of turns her back and says get out of my way, John. We also talked with Senator Obama. It's interesting to note that the top five candidates don't necessarily like to talk after a debate. They like to let what they said during the debate sort of sit there and simmer with people and they're afraid that if they conduct another interview afterwards and on occasion they might get thrown off of the message that they had. You'll be interested to know that when we show you Senator Obama how he kept on bobbing and weaving and trying to get away from us. That's coming up in our next half-hour.
And thousands of kids kicked out of school. The parents brought before a judge. What is going on in Maryland? A surprising story that you can't miss ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Two minutes before the hour. Ali Velshi is here "Minding your business." Your job is the business correspondent/host...
VELSHI: And read magazines actually.
CHETRY: And talk about the euro but I think that it would be topping the list of people who are happy with what they do.
VELSHI: I'm very happy with what I do. "Time Magazine" has done a day in the life of America which we're talking about this morning. Really, it's a great place to look at your own self and compare things to what you do and they've done this listing of people who are the happiest in their job. Nine out of 10 working Americans say are moderately or very happy with their jobs. But looking at the people who say, the percentage of people within a particular industry who say that they are happiest, two-thirds of all priests say they are extremely happy with their jobs.
Firefighters rank next and then ticket agents at about 56.5. I don't know who these ticket agents are. They're not the ones I get into a fight with, apparently. On the most miserable, in fairness to the "Time Magazine," the least happy, gas station attendants are at the top of that list.
CHETRY: Especially lately. I'm sure (inaudible)
VELSHI: I'm sure they hear it from everybody, right. Nobody is happy with them. Roofers and I've always thought this, every time I see somebody doing the roof, I'm thinking to myself - it's hot and that stuff smells and I almost feel good for them that are recognizing but that's a tough job, and construction workers. CHETY: Most construction workers I come into contact with seem very happy. They're willing to pay you a compliment, say hello and most ticket agents do not seem happy.
VELSHI: But maybe most of the ticket agent are getting into it with you. They sort of they got the rules, that's where it is and can't change that ticket. The rules are at the back of it. By the way, journalists ranked at about 35 percent, about a third of us say that we're very happy.
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