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Dems to Face Off in Iowa Debate; Mitchell Report to Name Names of Steroid Abusers in Baseball; Snow Expected in Northeast; Mixed Report for Retailers; Mutant Gene Linked to Breast Cancer

Aired December 13, 2007 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Republicans yesterday, Democrats today, three weeks before the Iowa caucuses. And Democratic candidates for president, most of them, anyway, get one last chance to face their opponents and wow the voters.
And while they're slugging it out in Iowa, some of baseball's heaviest hitters will be sweating over the Mitchell report on steroids. A former senator names names and may change the rules of the game.

Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. And you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

An hour from now, the Democratic presidential candidates, minus two, gather in Iowa for their final pre-caucus debate. We'll bring it to you live at 2 Eastern. Four of the six invitees are senators who flew to Iowa and took their chances with the weather after a couple of important votes this morning in Washington. We won't be hearing from two of the candidates, though. Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel failed to meet the standards set by debate organizers.

Let's start that debate preview with CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. She's in Johnston, Iowa.

Candy, what's the atmosphere heading into today's debate?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a little tense, at least between the frontrunners. As you know, there is a tie here in Iowa, a tie in New Hampshire. And there has been some back and forth between the Clinton campaign and the Obama campaign.

The latest, we are told, by the Clinton people is that she personally apologized to Barack Obama for a suggestion from her New Hampshire co-chair that Republicans would make hay with Obama's admitted drug use while he was a teenager and perhaps suggest that he dealt drugs. That came out. It was quickly taken back by the co- chair, but it kind of dogged Clinton into today. So we are told, again, by the Clinton people that she has personally apologized.

So a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, amidst what the real facts are about this debate. It is the last time that these candidates have to talk statewide to Iowa voters. So it's also a time in the campaign when, traditionally, things turn positive. And we do, in fact, have some evidence the Clinton campaign is trying to do this. They put out an ad today featuring Clinton's mother who, you know, actually lauds all of her good qualities, as you might expect, and then says even if Clinton wasn't her daughter, she'd still vote for her.

So there is this mix of the tension, Kyra, of the polls with the idea that at this point the candidates probably have to go positive.

PHILLIPS: You know, just on the note of the drug issue, I mean, Hillary Clinton apologized. Could that staffer lose the job?

CROWLEY: Well, see, it's not a staffer. It's the co-chairman of her campaign in New Hampshire. But you know, things like this have taken down people before. So you know, if she's managed to put this aside by this apology, then, you know, I suspect he would stay.

It's also a time when, you know, the Clinton campaign wants to stay away from any suggestion of turmoil. They need to kind of keep their eye on the ball. They believe things are -- even though they admit she's had a pretty bad month, they say, "Listen, they've thrown everything at us for several months. We are still tied in the polls in most places or ahead. We're way ahead in the national polls." So they're trying to kind of even-keel the ship here.

So you know, sort of a high profile, you know, "Could you please leave?" might not be the message they want to send out at this point.

PHILLIPS: All right. Candy Crowley. We'll be talking again in just a little bit. Thanks so much.

And again, the Democratic candidates' debate in Iowa. That starts at 2 Eastern. You can stay with CNN for live coverage in a little less than an hour.

Now baseball's hour of reckoning. Some of the brightest stars of the past generation today facing exposure as cheats and drug users. The Mitchell report on steroid use is due in about an hour. And some hints already are trickling out, and they don't bode well for the grand old game or for those still to be believed as heroes.

With the story live from New York, senior correspondent Allan Chernoff.

Allan, a lot of big names we're expected to hear.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this does not bode well for New York Yankee fans like myself. Yet another embarrassment for New York fans. And of course, lots of fans have lost their idealism about America's pastime, but there are still many heroes whose image is about to be tainted.

ESPN is reporting that Roger Clemens, one of the greatest pitchers in the ball game, as well as his Yankee teammate and friend, pitcher Andy Pettitte, are named in the Mitchell report. They have shared the same trainer, who reportedly cooperated with the Mitchell investigation and said that he provided performance-enhancing drugs to the pitchers.

ESPN has also reported that as many as 80 ballplayers will be named. Major League Baseball and the players' union certainly will be getting some very sharp criticism, as would be inspected. The Mitchell investigation is laying blame from top to bottom for the rise in the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

And it's recommending that baseball outsource drug testing to an independent organization, upgrade that testing and improve the transparency of this whole process to the public.

As you said, Kyra, Senator Mitchell will be releasing the report in less than an hour.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Allan, what's the word from inside sources? Could this completely change the face of baseball with regard to drug testing, who does the drug testing, mandatory drug testing before every single game? I mean, there's a million ways this could go.

CHERNOFF: And there are a lot of ways it could go. It's really up to baseball, though. Senator Mitchell was asked by the major leagues to come up with this report, do the investigation, but it's up to the commissioner, up to the game itself to reform itself.

Right now they oversee all the testing. They have to decide what is necessary to cleanup the ball game. And that has been a problem, as you know, for years.

So this is opening up Major League Baseball to the problem, to the extent of the problem. Let's see how they respond. That will really be the story days after today.

PHILLIPS: Sure. Not getting any better. Allan Chernoff, appreciate it.

And later this hour we will hear from a man who's been at the center of the steroid scandal. Victor Conte did prison time for running a steroid distribution ring. Now he says he wants to clean up the sport. Victor Conte, 1:30 Eastern, only on CNN.

And if you're heading into or out of the northeast today, beware. It's getting pretty nasty out there, which means roads and runways are going to be a mess.

In Binghamton, New York, they've been loading up sand trucks since yesterday. As much as a foot of snow is predicted in some areas. This is the same storm that left hundreds of thousands of people in the Midwest without power. Many are still in shelters as power crews work to get the lights back on.

Chad Myers, I'll tell you what. It's been a rough week for parts of the Midwest.

MYERS: Yes. Yes, a little bit busy here in the weather office, for sure. And here in New York...

PHILLIPS: Hey, Dennis (ph)?

MYERS: Go ahead?

PHILLIPS: Oops. Sorry about that, Chad.

MYERS: And now for New York City, we are seeing this rain mix with snow and even some sleet at times. But more snow the farther you get upstate. And that's going to be the case all day long.

In fact, look at this map. Here's where most of the snow is now west of Scranton, about Williamsport, really. And then it's going to spread all the way across, and everywhere that you see this dark purple, that's six, seven or eight inches everywhere.

And probably in the middle, even more than that. Could be some ten-inch stripes there right around some of the southern-most ski resorts. That's great news. But also through Hartford, Connecticut, even into Rhode Island and also even almost out to the cape, although the closer you get to water, the closer you get to the Atlantic ocean or the Long Island Sound there, you're going to be warmer. And so therefore you won't have as much snow. It will be more kind of just a messy mix.

This next storm is going to come out of the plains tomorrow, making snow for Wichita and all those places that had such a bad time with the ice storm. Looks like the ice will be in Oklahoma with this storm right now.

We do have some airport delays, Kyra. They're not really significant, but we are seeing the airport delays at La Guardia, because they're treating the runways. White Plains the same way. Philadelphia and also Newark, seeing some runway delays because of the snow that's coming down.

It's in a major storm system for the city, a couple of inches. But tonight after the ground freezes again you're going to have a bunch of icy spots, especially White Plains, Westchester and then points north from there. If you're Staten Island southward, it's just going to be very wet and sloppy.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: OK. Wet and sloppy, we don't like that. Those are two words we don't want to use.

MYERS: It's better than snowy and icy.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I guess that's true. All right. Or just not bearable.

MYERS: Right.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Death and destruction across the Dominican Republic. Taking a bit of a turn here. At least 25 people have been reported killed in the wake of a tropical storm. We're talking about Olga. Most of them, victims of the flooding that's left dozens of communities isolated. More than 34,000 people fled their homes ahead of this rare post-season storm.

And a week after the Ohama [SIC] -- Omaha mall shootings, rather, the young shooter's mother is speaking up. Hear about how she feels about what her son did.

Genetic testing for breast cancer. Is it really a good idea for every woman? You might be surprised.

And man's best friend goes to war. Dogs coming to the aid of America's men and women in uniform.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, there is good news and bad news on Wall Street, but the bears have been in control since the opening bell.

I think the best news is, though, Susan Lisovicz is back from her incredible vacation, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with all the details of that and the bears and the bulls.

But I know we don't have a lot of time to talk about your big trip.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and that will be discussed at length later on.

PHILLIPS: All right.

LISOVICZ: But in the meantime some things haven't changed. We did get good news, Kyra, but it comes with an asterisk. There's a disclaimer.

Here's the headline. Retail sales last month came in much stronger than expected, double what Wall Street was expecting, up 1 percent pretty much across the board, whether it was appliance stores, or furniture stores, department stores.

But yet we are seeing the retail sector under big pressure today. Big retailers like Dillard's, JCPenney, Target, Nordstrom's, all down sharply -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, why is that?

LISOVICZ: Yes, well, it sort of defies, you know -- defies your, you know, common sense, because we've had so much gloom and doom predictions about consumer spending. The fact is one of the reasons why consumer spending or retail sales were so strong in November is because there's lots of deals. You open the newspaper, you go online, discounts, sales, one-day sales, auto showrooms, lots of incentives. And when you have those kind of sales it could drive traffic, but it cuts into corporate profits.

There's also concerns that you might pay Peter -- you borrow from Peter and, you know, you take away from Paul. The fact is, December is an even more important month for retail sales. And so that's a problem, too.

The other thing is that we also got another report today on inflation. Inflation was up sharply last month. In fact, it was the biggest monthly increase in 34 years, up more than 3 percent.

And when you have inflation and you have the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates because of a slowing economy, there's concern that the Fed might, in fact, not be so inclined to cut again when you have that kind of big jump in inflation.

(STOCK REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll be talking again. Thanks, Susan.

LISOVICZ: You've got it.

PHILLIPS: One-fourteen Eastern Time. Here are some of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Two survivors have been rescued after their small plane crashed off the Florida Keys. They were the only people aboard the plane when it went down. And the Coast Guard says they were not hurt.

President Bush has called the Algerian president to express condolences. This week's twin bombings in Algiers left dozens dead, including 11 United Nations workers.

Former Senator George Mitchell is posed to -- or poised, rather, to release his long-awaited report on baseball steroid abuse. He's going to announce those findings in less than an hour, and he's expected to name names.

The mother of Omaha mall shooter Robert Hawkins is finally talking. She talks about the tragedy and why she thinks he did it.

Plus, scientists figure out how mutant genes can keep the body from fighting breast cancer. Should women get tested for these genes or not?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A scientific discovery has a lot of women wondering: do they need to get tested for certain genes that can stop the body from fighting breast cancer? The pros and cons from our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Fortunately, very few women have these mutant breast cancer genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2. But if you want to find out if you have these genes, there are several issues that you need to think about.

First of all, genetic testing is not for everyone. It's only for women who have a certain kind of family history of breast cancer, and we explain that more in our CNN.com article.

Second of all, if you are going to get tested, you need to think through the consequences of getting that test before you have it, preferably with a genetic counselor. Are you willing to take drugs or even have your breast removed if you're positive? You need to think about that first.

And lastly, remember that, even if your genes are normal and your test results are negative, you can still get breast cancer. In fact, the vast majority of women who do get breast cancer have normal genes and no family history.

Now if you want to read more about this, go to CNN.com/health, and you'll see our "Empowered Patient" article.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And a vaccine alert for those of you with young children. The drug company Merck is recalling more than a million doses of the common H-I-B vaccine, or Hib vaccine. It protects against meningitis, pneumonia and other infections.

A Merck spokeswoman says that doses shipped since April may be contaminated, but experts call this an inconvenience, not a health threat.

A statement from Merck reads, in part, "We are taking this action because we are committed to ensuring the quality of our vaccines."

If your little one has gotten a Hib shot recently, then check for rashes. If you have any questions, call your pediatrician.

Naming names from baseball's so-called steroid era. Former Senator George Mitchell is about to release his long-awaited report on who is or was on steroids. But do the fans really care?

Here's CNN's Richard Roth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): George Mitchell has won praise for taking on some of the toughest jobs in the world: the Middle East and Northern Ireland.

GEORGE MITCHELL, FORMER SENATOR: We call upon the parties to implement an immediate and unconditional cessation of violence.

ROTH: Mitchell's latest mission impossible: investigating performance enhancing drug use in the sport associated with Mom and apple pie in America. Some players and fans feel Mitchell is in the wrong game this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the Mitchell guy should mind his own business.

ROTH: Despite infamous drug cases in other sports, it's baseball that's been under the microscope.

ALAN SCHWARTZ, REPORTER, "NEW YORK TIMES": Baseball has always been held to a higher standard than any of the other major sports and just about any other industry in the United States. It's seen as this sort of Petri dish of virtue.

ROTH: Baseball's image, though, has been whacked by suspicions of widespread steroid use: players bulking up to hit and pitch better.

Mark Maguire, who broke the single-season home-run record in 1998, discussed the issue before Congress in 2005. But when asked if he had ever used steroids, the slugger struck out, refusing to answer.

MARK MAGUIRE, FORMER BASEBALL PLAYER: I'm not here to discuss the past. I'm here to be positive about this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bonds is one home run away from history.

ROTH: San Francisco outfielder Barry Bonds, who broke Maguire's single-season home-run record and is now the game's all-time home-run leader, has been dogged by allegation of steroid use for years and has been the lightning rod for the steroid debate.

In 2003, Bonds testified before a federal grand jury that he never knowingly used steroids. The government believes he lied and recently indicted him on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty.

Major League Baseball claims it has the strictest drug-testing program in American sports, but it took pressure from Congress to get it there. And some believe the sport ignored the problem, because fans like to see home runs. Now, some of those fans are angry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think baseball should have done something about it a long time ago, not wait 30 years. And now it's a bigger problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's disgusting. They're role models. Kids look up to them. I think they should be thrown out of the game.

ROTH: Still, fans stormed the gates, setting revenue and attendance records this year. And with so many other steroid scandals, involving Olympic athletes like Marion Jones and cyclist Floyd Landis, there's a sense in America now of doping fatigue. SCHWARTZ: I think that the baseball world, in many ways, has moved on. And it's taken so long for this to come to light that people have lost interest.

ROTH (on camera): Mitchell's investigation took more than 20 months and two full seasons of play to complete. Its conclusions will determine if America is truly still interested and if the national pastime is finally ready to move forward and leave its so-called steroids era behind.

Richard Roth, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Mitchell's report is due at the top of the hour. You can follow his briefing live from New York at CNN.com.

Suspicions still follow former police officer Drew Peterson. The latest on his explanations for what happened to his missing wife.

And time critical. A little girl is born three months early and right in the middle of an ice storm. It's a story you don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. And you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're just half an hour away from today's Democratic presidential debate. Like the Republican face-off yesterday, it's the final Democratic debate before the January 3 Iowa caucuses.

It comes in the wake of polls showing a much tighter race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and tensions appear to be running high. Clinton personally apologized to Obama this morning for a campaign aide's remarks about Obama's teenage drug abuse.

In yesterday's Republican debate, we heard a lot of promises. Can the candidates keep them? Well, our Tom Foreman is "Keeping Them Honest."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Energy was a hot topic. John McCain says he has a plan for America to quit using foreign oil.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we will in five years become oil independent.

FOREMAN (on camera): But the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research says no way. Sixty percent of our oil is imported. We haven't built a new refinery in a long time. So, even if we found enough replacement oil here, we could not process it. We could cut consumption and push alternative fuels, but the institute says all of that would still not produce oil independence so quickly.

Mitt Romney criticized the government for having too many different programs addressing the same problems.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have 13 different programs to prevent teenage pregnancy, although they're obviously not working real well. And we can probably cut it down to one or two that are making a difference.

FOREMAN: Here is the context on that. The United States does have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the industrialized world. But teen pregnancies have fallen dramatically over the past two decades, and some say government-education programs were one big reason. Rudy Giuliani says by promoting the alternative of adoption he significantly reduced the number of abortions in New York City while he was mayor.

RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would like to see limitations on abortion. I brought those about in New York City. We reduced abortions. We increased adoptions by 135 percent.

FOREMAN: According to the Guttenmacher (ph) Institute, which studies such things in Giuliani's New York abortions did decline 18 percent, but nationwide they dropped 13 percent in the same time. So abortions were pretty much going down everywhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well again, the Democratic candidates debate in Iowa. It starts at 2:00 Eastern. Stay with CNN for live coverage. It's going to happen in a little less than half an hour.

Baseball is bracing for the Mitchell Report. The long-awaited look at steroid use is expected in half an hour, and the dozens of players who stand to be accused apparently include some of the game's brightest stars. Victor Conte served time for his roll as a steroid supplier. He's now a convert to the cause of cleaning up athletics. Earlier in the NEWSROOM he spoke to our Heidi Collins about the report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Will there ever be a chance for there to be no steroids, no performance-enhancing drugs in sports again?

VICTOR CONTE, BALCO FOUNDER: Let me start by talking about the upside and the downside of what I've already seen here that's been leaked out regarding the Mitchell Report. The upside is they're talking about having an independent agency conduct this drug testing program. I think that's great. I think having the fox guard the hen house is a very bad idea.

PHILLIPS: Is it realistic? CONTE: Well, I'll be able to tell you that shortly. The downside and very much so a deficiency of what I've heard already is that the Mitchell Report does not address the issue of the use of amphetamines or stimulants.

COLLINS: Exactly.

CONTE: Stimulants are equally as bad for you in terms of adverse health effects as steroids, and they just seem to be glossing over that at this point in time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And again, Mitchell's report is due at the top of the hour. You can follow his briefing live from New York at CNN.com.

The mother of the Omaha mall shooter says she's sorry. Maribel Rodriguez went on national television today to say she is deeply devastated by what her son did. Nineteen-year-old Robert Hawkins killed eight people, as well as himself, a week ago yesterday. His final message to his mother was left on her voice mail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIBEL RODRIGUEZ, OMAHA SHOOTER'S MOTHER: The only thing I can say, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And believe and know absolutely, without hesitation or reservation, that I am deeply devastated with you, deeply. And if you want to hate Robert, then hate Robert. You don't need that pain. You absolutely don't need that type of pain in your heart and mind, because it destroys your soul. I can only tell you that as his mother, I loved him deep and without end. And I love my heavenly father first and foremost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Rodriguez says that she did her best to raise her son the right way, but in the end, quote, "He was without hope, he was without faith and he was without courage."

Denials, court motion and a shuttered Web site, plenty of new developments in the case of Drew Peterson and his missing wife, Stacy, much of it coming from Peterson's lawyer. Joel Brodsky say that a recently launched Web site soliciting money for his client's defense -- defense fund rather, was shut down yesterday after it met its short-term goal.

Brodsky also went before a judge yesterday, demanding the return of almost a dozen weapons seized by police from Peterson's home. A decision on that is expected Monday. Later on Nancy Grace's show on Headline News, Brodsky offered an explanation to a claim made by Stacy's sister that Drew once tried to shoot his 23-year-old wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL BRODSKY, ATTY. FOR DREW PETERSON: What really happened was this -- Drew bought Stacy a Glock, a nine-millimeter Glock, as a present. Stacy used to like to handle the gun from time to time. She was up in the bedroom handling the gun and it accidentally discharged, striking the floor. She was embarrassed. Nobody called the police, because she was embarrassed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Later still on CNN's "AC 360," Anderson Cooper spoke with Stacy Peterson's sister about the incident in question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON CALES, STACY PETERSON'S SISTER: I was in her bedroom and she had told me Drew had gotten off work, and he was changing out of his uniform and he sent her down to the fridge to get a soda, and while she was in the garage getting a soda for him, she heard a bang or a pow and she didn't know what it was. And when she returned upstairs to give him his soda, he had said that his gun had went off on accident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Drew Peterson denies any involvement in his wife's October disappearance, contending she left him for another man. Peterson's son and a former friend are reportedly before a grand jury this afternoon for a second time.

Al Sharpton is crying foul about subpoenas served at the crack of dawn on his associates. At a news conference this morning Sharpton saw yesterday's move by the feds as part of a long-time pattern of harassment against black leaders like himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. AL SHARPTON, POLITICAL ACTIVIST: It's the kind of abuse that people in my community go through every day, which is why fight and why I will continue to fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The reports say that as many as 10 Sharpton supporters were ordered to hand over reports and testify before a grand jury. The investigation is believed to center on Sharpton's 2004 presidential bid and some of his nonprofit and for-profit enterprises.

A traffic hang-up leaves a motorist suspended with a case of high anxiety. It's a pretty incredible rescue. You'll want to stick around and see how it ends.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's check in on what's cooking with all you dot- commers. Some of our most watched videos this hour, Jodie Foster publicly acknowledging for the first time that she's gay. At a recent award ceremony the actress and director paid tribute to those closest to her, including her long-time partner. Finders keepers, maybe. While remodeling a home a construction worker found some very old, very rare bills in a wall. Estimated value -- half a million dollars.

And high drama high up -- a car dangling between the sixth and seventh floors of an Atlanta parking garage. An unconscious man inside. Rescuers managed to save both man and car. All these stories and much more at CNN.com.

This small plane is definitely not where it's supposed to be. It went down this morning about five miles off the Florida Keys. Two people on board, but incredibly enough they are alive. The Coast Guard plucked these two lucky travelers out of the water. They are not even hurt. No word yet on what caused the plain to ditch.

We have been covering severe weather in the Midwest. But neither snow nor ice kept Iowa doctors from rushing to help the tiniest of patients. This is Dorataya (ph), who arrived three months early right in the middle of this week's Midwest storm. She was born in a health center which isn't equipped to handle such a tiny preemie. So two specialists from Iowa City drove 50 miles over slick roads to fetch her. She's now in their preemie unit. In the looks of their opinion, looks pretty good.

Des Moines, Iowa is the backdrop right now. Live pictures. Democrats who want to be president are center stage, as we prepare to run these debates in 15 minutes. Wolf Blitzer and the best political team on television. Tell us who will be in the spotlights in minute. You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're about 15 minutes away from the Iowa Democratic presidential debate. You can see it right here on CNN at the top of the hour. Let's get a preview now from the best political team in Washington. Our Wolf Blitzer standing by in Washington. Candy Crowley, Jessica Yellin, there at the debate site in Johnston, Iowa.

Wolf, let's start with you. What can we expect to see? What are you waiting for?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well the format will be similar to what we saw yesterday. So it's not necessarily all that conducive to the kind of fireworks we have seen in some of the earlier Democratic presidential debates, including the one I hosted out in Las Vegas. But I suspect there will be efforts by the respective candidates to get some jabs in there. Although I think it will be relatively polite today because the moderator, the Des Moines Register, the format is such that they are not supposed to be able to get into these interchanges with each other.

So I suspect it will be relatively tame. But look, it's a battle in Iowa right now. There's effectively a three person race right now, the most recent polls show it's neck and neck between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton with John Edwards right up there. He did well four years ago when he was a candidate. He's doing well right now in Iowa. You can't rule him out.

The other second tier candidates Chris Dodd will be there, and Joe Biden will be there, Bill Richardson. There's only going to be six candidates on the stage this time. Dennis Kucinich was not allowed to participate. Mike Gravel was not allowed to participate. So with six it becomes a little bit more manageable. Each will have a little bit more time to make his or her respective positions.

PHILLIPS: All right, Wolf, lets just back up for just a second. You use the word polite. Now, Wolf, these debates are never polite. Somebody always says something and gets everybody going.

BLITZER: I think it will be a little bit more polite this time because in Iowa, the polite factor is important. It seems that on the Democratic side specifically they don't like all these Democrats attacking each other and bickering and fighting and feuding. They want a more civilized tone. Remember four years ago, when Dick Gephardt was engaged in a real bitter battle with Howard Dean, it hurt both of them.

They both went down in the process. Allowing John Kerry and John Edwards to move up. And I think they've learned that lesson in recent days and I suspect they are going to be relatively, let's use the word Kyra, relatively polite.

PHILLIPS: And if you were the moderator, you'd be holding them all accountable.

BLITZER: It's not an easy job. It's really tough. I would do my best.

PHILLIPS: All right Wolf. We're going to talk to you again in just a second. Stay with us.

Candy Crowley, Jessica Yellin, we're going to check with both of you there in Johnston, Iowa after a quick break. And we'll show you what technology that one group of debate watchers will be using with our very own Mary Snow. The countdown is on. And you're watching CNN, the home of the best political team on television.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We are just minutes away for the last Democratic debate before the Iowa Caucuses. It starts at the top of the hour right here on CNN. And with polls showing a tightening race, sparks could fly. We're going to rejoin Wolf Blitzer now in Washington, Candy Crowley, and Jessica Yellin at the debate sites.

Jessica, let's start with you. We saw that all the Democrats were running late for this debate. And you point out the most interesting part. They were all taking separate chartered flights after they were voting on an energy bill designed to reduce gas usage. How ironic.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's a real irony here, Kyra. Four of these candidates are also senators, and they were asked to be at the U.S. Senate this morning in Washington, D.C. so they could cast this important vote for the Democrats to try to cut down on our gas usage in this country.

But they had to hurry and get here in time for the debate, which means they needed to take a private jet. They -- there was some discussion, we're told, of jet sharing but some folks, it seems, didn't want that to happen. They wanted their private time to prep for the debate. Other folks say Senate ethics rules weren't going to allow it but that was dismissed by some lawyers I talked to.

So, it seems that all four candidates ended up on their own private charters, leaving what you can imagine is a considerable carbon footprint after trying to vote to reduce our carbon emissions. A real irony here. The good news is they all made it.

PHILLIPS: They all made it, but Candy Crowley, should we, you know, be talking about something like this a little bit more, or is it one of those -- it's just politics.

CROWLEY: Well you know, in fact, yes, it is politics, but on the other hand, when you go back and make that kind of vote, you're kind of opening yourself up for criticism. You know, this has bee -- there's a lot out there at this point any way to pick on.

There has been, as you know, this back and forth between the Clinton and the Obama campaigns today. So, it really sets up some tension as we go into this debate. But I just talked a little while ago to a Clinton aide. I said well, is she going to really come out and go after him? And he said, no, she's really wants to be upbeat, and he said on the other hand, if they come after her, she's going to respond. And by the way, she's always up for making contrast between herself and the other candidates.

So, attacking and making contrasts. You know, sometimes it sort of -- the distinction gets lost. But that's at least how the Clinton campaign wants to approach this particular debate.

PHILLIPS: And just to bring people up to date, Candy, in case folks didn't catch the last live report with you. Apparently, it was Hillary Clinton's -- one of the main chief of staff, is that correct, that made a comment about Obama's drug use and she had to apologize?

CROWLEY: Yes, it was -- right. It was the co-chair ...

PHILLIPS: Co-chair, OK.

CROWLEY: ...of Hillary Clinton's campaign in New Hampshire, and he made a remark that Barack Obama would be unelectable because they would use his drug use in his teenage years, which Obama has in fact written about, against him. That they would ask whether he dealt drugs. He pulled that back. The co-chair pulled that back last night and said the Clinton campaign had nothing to do with it.

But today as they were on that tarmac in Washington, Clinton apologized personally to Obama, said, listen, this isn't the kind of campaign I want to run. I'm sorry, I was really upset by what he said. I made it known in no uncertain terms that he had crossed the line.

So, we now have a personal apology from Clinton to Barack Obama hoping, of course, to put this thing to rest at the moment because they think this sort of going after it in this way feeds into the negatives about Hillary Clinton. And obviously, that's not something they want to do as they approach the final three weeks of the Iowa campaign.

PHILLIPS: And Wolf, you mentioned Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel will not be participating in this debate. Explain what happened, why they are not a part.

BLITZER: The rules according to the Des Moines Register and Public Television out in Iowa, the rules that they came up with were that anyone could participate provided that that candidate had a staff or an office and an office in Iowa. And they concluded that Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel did not have offices, staff members working in Iowa.

Yesterday, Alan Keyes, who's a marginal Republican candidate, apparently he did have an office or a staff person there. So, they let him debate. Obviously, Kucinich and Gravel are not happy about this decision. And I'm sure they'll be speaking out, they already have, complaining about it.

But as we pointed out earlier, Kyra, only six Democratic presidential candidates are going to be on that stage. And it's interesting listening to the discussion about four of them being sitting senators who had to be in Washington earlier today to vote on this energy bill. Four sitting senators, one former senator, John Edwards, a former member of Congress, Governor Bill Richardson, he's a sitting governor right now.

So, you got a lot of senators up there on that stage and you can see them right now. They are beginning to get ready for this debate. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And just five minutes away. Wolf Blitzer, Candy Crowley, Jessica Yellin, I know you're going to be busy in the next hour. Plus, also, just as important as what the candidates say is what voters think about what they're saying.

And that brings us to CNN's Mary Snow. She joins us from Iowa with real time voter reaction tracking technology. Tell us about it, Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, we're here with 23 registered Democrats. They are all undecided. We asked them to come here, watch the debate with us and what we've asked them to do is -- I'm going to borrow one of these dial meters. Each one has a meter just like this. And when they hear something that they like, they'll move the meter. When they hear something that they don't like, that's when they'll also move the meter. We have two professors from Southern Memphis (ph) University here with us. They're going to be analyzing this data, real time data to see what people are responding to.

Now, one of the participants today, Mark Hollib (ph). Mark, you have caucused once before. You said you're undecided. What are you looking for today in terms of making a decision?

MARK HOLLIB, UNDECIDED VOTER: Well, I'm looking for somebody who is really kind of exemplifies the leadership that we need.

SNOW: And if you had to -- where are you leaning right now in terms of picking a candidate?

HOLLIB: Between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

SNOW: And specifically issues, what are you looking to hear today?

HOLLIB: I think they need to talk about the economy a lot.

SNOW: Why so many undecided? This campaign has been going on for so long. Why do you think people like you are so undecided at this point?

HOLLIB: Well, because I think in Iowa, you get to meet everybody and get to see everybody so often, that you really have to make an informed judgment on it. And amazingly here, we get to do that.

SNOW: OK, and you have three weeks to make that decision.

Kyra, obviously the people here taking their duty very seriously as we sit and watch with them how they are going to react to these candidates -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And so, who's actually going to be operating the meters during the debate?

SNOW: The people operating the meters during the debate are all participants in this focus group. Each one has one of these meters. And they'll be responding second by second as they watch the debate along with us. This is all being watched by two professors here who are going to be monitoring the feedback and then in the end, put it all together to tell us what it means.

PHILLIPS: All right, Mary Snow, we'll be waiting for that. Appreciate it.

SNOW: Sure.

Let's go back to Wolf, Candy, Jessica, for just some final thoughts here as we get started. We've see, the candidates out on the stage. Less than two minutes away. Candy, leave us with a thought.

CROWLEY: Duelling needs for the candidates in the top tier, particularly Obama and Clinton. They are tied, they need to go at each other. On the other hand, this is the final three weeks of the Iowa campaign. And it is traditionally a time where you go positive. So, they have to work against those two principles.

PHILLIPS: OK, Wolf has said polite, you have said positive. Jessica, final thought?

YELLIN: Well, they -- for Senator Clinton, there's a real challenge to try to differentiate herself from Obama without sounding like she's going negative, as Candy says. And if they do duke it out, Obama and Clinton, the real winner could be Edwards for seeming like he's staying above the fray.

PHILLIPS: Twenty seconds, Wolf.

BLITZER: Edwards in recent days has been trying to stay above the fray. He's had plenty of opportunities to go negative. He's avoided that. I think he's learned the lesson of four years ago. We'll watch a lot more closely this debate, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Less than a minute away. Thanks to all three of you. Sure appreciate it.

And a reminder, before we toss it over to Iowa Public Television, before the Democratics debate -- or the Democrats rebate, rather, the full Mitchell Report on steroids in Major League baseball is due out this afternoon. We're going to keep an eye on developments during that debate. You can check out CNN.com for updates.

As a matter of fact, we've even gotten a partial list coming in here to CNN looking at all the names. Possibly 60 to 80 players linked to performance-enhancing substances. Plenty more information that exposes "deep" problems, we are told, afflicting that sport right now. Sources with knowledge of the findings actually told the Associated Press that they would not address the issue of amphetamines, that's just one more thing to add to -- that's going to come out of this report.

Let's take it now to the final debate ahead of the January 3rd Iowa Caucuses.

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