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American Morning
Iowa Caucuses; Big Wins for Obama; California Storms; Spears Hospitalized; Light Bulb Concerns
Aired January 04, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Extreme weather, blizzards and pounding rain on the move in California, a live report from the stormfront.
And carried away. Britney Spears rushed by ambulance, and a late night fight over her children, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: A lot to tell you about and a diverse palate of news this morning for you. It's Friday, the 4th of January. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for joining us.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. And boy, what a night it was last night. Great stories to tell both on the Democrat and the Republican side, a big surprise and upset some might say as Mike Huckabee winning the caucuses last night.
ROBERTS: Don't get ahead of yourself.
CHETRY: Exactly. He's joining us in 15 minutes. He would love it if I said he was winning the nomination. Also, Barack Obama, and they're trying to ride that momentum right into New Hampshire this morning. A lot of the candidates already on the ground in that state after the Iowa caucuses last night.
Well, Barack Obama certainly made history, an eight-point victory over John Edwards. Hillary Clinton into third place for the Democrats. A record-breaking number of first-time caucus-goers showing up to pick Obama. More than half of the voters said they wanted a candidate who would bring about change, which has been Obama's theme from the start.
Also, you may not have even known his name six months ago. Out of obscurity, with little money and little organization, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee taking Iowa, a nine-point win over Mitt Romney. He was polling in the single digits just weeks ago, did not have the cash or the organization of some of the other candidates, but entrance polling showing that religious voters pushed the minister over the edge, over the top, actually, winning that state. Two to one margin among evangelical voters for Huckabee.
ROBERTS: Yes. And Romney winning by the same margin among nonevangelicals as well or at least winning those voters over. We want to go live to Manchester, New Hampshire, right now. We've got a picture to show you. Just a little while ago, we showed you a rally for John Edwards.
There's John and Elizabeth Edwards on stage now in Manchester. Elizabeth speaking. Of course, he finished second to Barack Obama last night, coming in with 30 percent of the vote in Iowa. Eight points behind but ahead of Hillary Clinton, so that's a very significant placement for John Edwards. Can he turn that into some momentum in New Hampshire over the weekend? We're going to have to take a look at that.
So we've got the best political team on television watching everything that happened last night, analysis, what it means for the race going forward. Joe Johns is in Des Moines, Iowa, for us. John King here in New York. John, let's start with you and boy, talk about a fantastic political story.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is an amazing story in Iowa. Now, the candidates already bright and early trying to react in New Hampshire and what are they trying to react to? Victories in Iowa by two very different candidates but united by one single theme.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Iowa's verdict is change.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Years from now, you'll look back and you'll say that this was the moment. This was the place where America remembered what it means to hope.
KING: And more change.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A new day is needed in American politics, just like a new day is needed in American government. And tonight, it starts here in Iowa.
KING: The first votes dramatically reshaped the race for president, in both parties, new and different, winning out over candidates more familiar.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now you know we have always planned to run a national campaign.
KING: And with deeper pockets.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You win the silver in one event. It doesn't mean you're not going to come back and win the gold in the final event and that we're going to do.
KING: On now to New Hampshire, and Barack Obama sent us a chance to deliver the knockout blow.
OBAMA: They said this day would never come. They said our sights were set too high. KING: Democratic turnout was way up, and Obama's victory was convincing. Senator John Edwards vowed to fight on, while Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd bowed out. But the biggest question among Democrats is whether Senator Clinton has the resilience that became her husband's trademark.
CLINTON: Who will be the best president on day one? I am ready for that contest!
KING: Questions for Republicans, too. Evangelicals powered the big Huckabee win in Iowa, but the former Baptist preacher faces more difficult terrain in libertarian New Hampshire. Senator John McCain is the favorite there now and under attack by Romney who can ill afford to lose again. McCain, as his rival, is ignoring Iowa's lesson.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That negative campaigns don't work. They don't work there, and they don't work here in New Hampshire. They're not going to work.
KING: Round one changed just about everything. Round two now just five days away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And because it is just five days away, John, as you know, you traditionally get a bounce out of Iowa and the past has been time for candidates in New Hampshire to try to push back the momentum of the people coming out of Iowa. The reason these candidates were up so early this morning is that next Tuesday is round two. If you want to get into the mix, you got to act fast.
ROBERTS: Now, everything is getting into the mix this morning. We showed you that picture live from Manchester just a moment ago. Let's go back to it now. Live, John Edwards up on the stage there. Let's dip in and hear what he's saying.
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JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's great between them, over $200 million, but -- but -- with a message of change and a message of fighting corporate greed and corporate power on behalf of the American people showed last night. That message and what you stand for matters more than money. And that here in New Hampshire, we are not going to have here in New Hampshire, we're not going to have in New Hampshire, we are not going to have an auction. We're going to have an election in four days.
You know, the one thing I've learned from all the time I've spent in New Hampshire, is the people here are a little independent-minded, a little ornery, and they don't like to be told what to do. And they are not going to be told either by money or the national media what they're supposed to do. Instead, they're going to look for somebody who speaks from here, who truly believes in this call, who will stand up and fight for the middle class, who will fight against money and interests in Washington D.C. And I have to admit, although Elizabeth came up with it, I kind of like to see this effect. You know, we have just a few days, just a few days to do important work here in New Hampshire, and this is not about me. It's not about Elizabeth. It's about the future of this country that we love so much because all of us have been given such an enormous responsibility.
We have been passed a torch from our parents, and that torch goes, what comes with that torch is a responsibility to ensure that our children and grandchildren have the promise of America available to them, that our children and grandchildren have a better life than we've had. This is not just about politics. This is about making certain that all those, including our own parents and grandparents, who came before us, and work and struggled and sacrificed for us, that we meet our responsibilities, that we ensure that our children and all future generations get the chance that they need, and there are so many examples in America of what we need to do to bring about change.
We have 47 million people in this country who woke up this morning with no health care coverage. Thirty-seven million who woke up living in poverty. We have millions who are terrified, living in the middle class, working hard, doing what they're supposed to do, and being responsible, and worried with what tomorrow's going to bring and knowing.
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ROBERTS: So there's John Edwards this morning making the case to the voters in New Hampshire saying what he would do as president, getting people warmed up this morning after his second place finish in Iowa and, of course, all the candidates are going to be there all weekend making their case.
There's also two debates for both the Democrats and the Republicans this weekend as well as they look toward that first in the nation primary on Tuesday -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, and we're going to talk about a little bit more why Huckabee and Obama won in Iowa. CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider breaking down the numbers. By the way, John Edwards looks pretty bright eyed and bushy tailed. For a second place win, he looks energized.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He does, good haircut, too.
CHETRY: There we go. Let's talk about the winners because even they come from -- they represent different parties and seem to be ideologically different, they do actually seem to share a lot of things in common as well.
SCHNEIDER: They certainly do, and one of them is that they're both running against the party establishment. They're both trying to be candidates of change. Now the top qualities for Democrats in Iowa was change, and among those who cited it, Barack Obama clearly, he won the majority of those voters. Hillary Clinton just 19 percent. She said she was the candidate of change. The Democrats really didn't believe it, and Mike Huckabee also said he was running against the establishment of the Republican party. Who is the establishment candidate he's running against?
Could be Mitt Romney if he ends up winning New Hampshire. Could be John McCain or Fred Thompson or Rudy Giuliani. We just don't know yet, but it's going to be an establishment/anti-establishment race.
CHETRY: That's interesting. And also, more about their personal demeanor and also how they carry themselves on the trail. Some similarities there as well.
SCHNEIDER: There certainly is. They both talk -- do not talk like typical politicians. They talk like ordinary Americans. They don't use a harsh divisive partisan rhetoric. Here he says what he believes. That was one of the top qualities Republicans were looking for in Iowa. That is Mike Huckabee, 33 percent. Thompson, McCain followed him. Romney, not even close. People did not say, Republicans said he does not say what he believes.
This is a very important quality because Americans are looking for someone who can reach across that red/blue divide. Barack Obama tries to do that with his language of hope and inspiration.
CHETRY: Yes.
SCHNEIDER: Mike Huckabee, of course, is a Baptist preacher. He talks about hope and about aspirations. Neither guy talks like a typical politician. Voters in this country are looking for someone who can reach across that divide, and Obama and Huckabee both sound like politicians who can.
CHETRY: And is that enough? This is the question going into New Hampshire. When you talk about the issues, a lot of people put the war in Iraq and terrorism high up there, yet neither one of these two are getting super high marks for their foreign policy experience.
SCHNEIDER: That's interesting and important because in Iowa foreign policy really wasn't a major issue. Now, John McCain is counting on foreign policy to deliver votes for him in New Hampshire. He runs on the war in Iraq, which has embraced Bush's surge policy, on the terrorism issue, where he says he'll stand up for America, national security. That's not Huckabee. That's not Obama. That's not their strength. If international affairs suddenly emerges as a major issue, watch for John McCain to start collecting votes.
CHETRY: Bill Schneider, always great to see you. Thank you.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
CHETRY: Also, we're going to be talking this morning with Republican candidates, who finished first and second. Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney join us in this hour. In fact, we're going to speaking to Mike Huckabee in just a couple of minutes, so keep it here on AMERICAN MORNING -- John.
ROBERTS: Eleven minutes after the hour. Other headlines new this morning, breaking news overnight in Los Angeles. Singer Britney Spears was carried out of her home on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Police had been called to her home after she reportedly refused to turn over her young sons to her ex-husband.
According to the Web site TMZ.com, the Los Angeles police department found Spears to be "under the influence of an unknown substance." The celebrity Web site also says Britney's son, Jayden James, was taken to the hospital. His older brother, Sean Preston, is said to be with Kevin Federline, her ex-husband who has primary custody of both children.
A new revelation in the CIA tapes investigation. A top lawmaker warned against destroying the interrogation tapes way back in 2003, saying it would "reflect badly on the agency." California Congresswoman Jane Harman's office publicly released the letter. This is the letter that she told us about when she visited us here on AMERICAN MORNING a few weeks back. She was at that time asking for it to be declassified.
It refers to a briefing in which then CIA General Counsel Scott Mueller told the House intelligence committee that Al Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah was being interrogated using waterboarding, that's the technique that makes a person feel like they're drowning. The CIA destroyed those tapes in 2005, saying it was done out of fear, that they could be used to identify the interrogators.
Investigators from Britain's Scotland Yard are in Pakistan right now looking into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. President Pervez Musharraf has acknowledged reports that evidence was destroyed because the crime scene had been quickly hosed down after the attack. Musharraf says a Taliban commander is responsible for that assassination.
And doctors say words like unprecedented, and amazing, only begin to describe a window washer's recovery from a 47-story fall. It happened last month in New York City. The worker and his brother were on a scaffold when it collapsed, dropping them almost 500 feet. His brother was killed. The doctors now say that the other brother is awake, talking to his family, and he is expected to walk again. Nothing short of a miracle.
CHETRY: It really is, and we're going to talk more about that this morning.
Plus, on to New Hampshire now. Can Barack Obama turn his victory in Iowa into a win in New Hampshire? We're back out on the campaign trail to find out.
Also, flying high after his win in Iowa. Mike Huckabee is already on the ground in New Hampshire. He joins us in just a couple of minutes to talk about his plans for that key state, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: No time to celebrate victory. Mike Huckabee is already in New Hampshire after winning the Iowa caucuses, the next key state which holds the primaries on Tuesday, and that's where Mike Huckabee joins us now. Thanks for being with us this morning, Governor.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Kiran. Great to be here.
CHETRY: And congratulations. I don't know if you're comfortable with the term front-runner.
HUCKABEE: Thank you.
CHETRY: But that's what you are this morning. morning. You were outspent by some estimates 15:1 in Iowa. How did you pull out a win last night?
HUCKABEE: I think it was about the message. It's a refreshing thing, and I think a lot of people around America are looking at that race and saying, isn't it nice to know that a person can be elected president not because he has more money but because he has more of a message that connects with everyday Americans who are out there struggling to put food on their table and making sure their children have a better life.
CHETRY: You know, one of the things that put you over the top yesterday, clearly, was the evangelical vote, 2:1 they chose you over Mitt Romney. As we head into New Hampshire where conservative Christians are not a big voting block, how do you plan to get your message to appeal to the more moderate factions of the GOP?
HUCKABEE: Well, I think I continue to connect with the same message. I talk about changing our tax system. Eighty percent of Americans hate the current tax system, so why don't we change it? Why do we always let Washington just tinker with it, instead of really doing something to empower people to keep more of the income they've worked so hard to have? Why is it that we never been energy independent?
That connects with voters. They're paying 70 cents a gallon more for gas now and with oil prices hitting 100 bucks a barrel, it's going to get worse. And they want a president who will say, we'll take that on and we'll become energy-independent. It's not just the religious vote. It's the vote for people who care about their country and their children, and who really believe that a lot of folks in Washington have been paying more attention to their next election than they have to the next generation of young Americans.
CHETRY: Governor Huckabee, you mentioned taxes and changing the tax system. Your national sales tax plan talking about replacing the IRS has been criticized. Some critics have called it unworkable. Can you briefly explain how it would work?
HUCKABEE: It's really simple. What you do, you don't penalize productivity. You eliminate the taxes on income, savings, investment, capital gains, inheritance and you have a consumption tax, which means you pay tax at the point of retail sales. It eliminates the underground economy. What it also does is bring working capital back to the United States that's been chased offshore, put in offshore accounts to protect it from the tax code.
So right now, the people working the hardest are the ones paying the most taxes and this doesn't penalize rich people. In fact, it encourages to go out and get rich but you only pay taxes at the point of retail sales. Most of the critics haven't ever looked at the fair tax. What they've looked at is some form of consumption tax but not the proposal called fair tax, which has a prebate that untaxes the poor and the elderly.
That's why I like it. It gives people at the bottom end of the economic spectrum a real shot for the first time in their lives to reach the next rung on the ladder.
CHETRY: Some financial analysts, though, including ones that we showed the plan to, say that it unfairly penalizes the poor because, as you said, it's a consumption tax so the more, it's not on your income, so a larger chunk of the money you make is going to have to be spent on things that you need because this tax, it does apply to groceries, correct, and gasoline and other things that people need to buy every day.
HUCKABEE: Well, but the prebate is what changes it. And again, the critics haven't looked at the actual proposal because if they did they would know it does exactly opposite of what they say. It's aggressive, not a regressive tax because of the prebate.
And the way it works, Kiran, is that you have an amount of money that comes back to each taxpayer that would untax him for the basic necessities of life so you don't end up hurting the people who can least afford to pay. And the people at the bottom end of the economic spectrum actually benefit the most by some 12.8 percent, versus those at the top, who still benefit, but by a less of a percentage in terms of the impact of their own tax status.
CHETRY: In one of the things you've taken some heat on is foreign policy. You've been questioned about whether you have enough of it and whether during the campaign you've been able to answer some of the questions on foreign policy. How do you prove to the voters that you would know what to do and that you would do the right thing and some of the biggest foreign policy concerns of our day, including the situation in Pakistan and the war in Iraq?
HUCKABEE: When people read the speech that I gave in Washington in September, they'll think I'm almost prophetic. I talked a lot more about Pakistan, was even criticized for it. People say, why are you talking about Pakistan? Now it looks like the smart thing to talk about.
Ronald Reagan didn't have a lot of foreign policy experience when he became president. That was one of the things people complained about. But 10 years after he was sworn into office, there wasn't a Cold War, a Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall was down. It's about convictions and character. I've been to 41 countries. It's not like the only place I've ever been is somewhere within the confines of my home state of Arkansas although that's not a bad place to spend some time.
I think people recognize that when you're a governor, you do trade missions. You deal with CEOs of multinational corporations, as well as with heads of state. And if people watch the interview that I had with Tim Russert on "Meet the Press," I think they'll say that I handled those foreign policy questions quite adeptly.
CHETRY: Well, we're glad you joined us today and talk a little bit about it. Once again, congratulations on Iowa. You're already in New Hampshire. Not much time to savor that victory, but good luck to you in the future and thanks for being with us.
HUCKABEE: Thank you, Kiran. Always a pleasure to talk to you.
ROBERTS: Twenty-two minutes after the hour now.
And after getting knocked down in Iowa by Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney is ready for round two in the Republican primary fight. He joins us live from New Hampshire. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 24 minutes after the hour now. A lot of talk this morning about Barack Obama's victory speech last night. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are choosing hope over fear. We're choosing unity over division and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Polls from last night show that his message of change resonated with voters and likely pushed, it was what was responsible for pushing him to victory. But can he carry that momentum into the next contest in New Hampshire?
Jeff Zeleny has been on the campaign trail for the "New York Times." He joins us now live from Des Moines. Jeff, good morning to you. You spent a lot of time on the road with Barack Obama. What was about his message that really connected with voters there?
JEFF ZELENY, NEW YORK TIMES: Well, John, I think part of it was his biography. He started only a year ago until he actually decided he was going to run for president.
ROBERTS: Yes.
ZELENY: In that year, he had to introduce himself to Iowa voters. He was a bit of a celebrity. But from the beginning, it was a message of change. It was a message of hope, and he had to weave in messages of experience and show Iowa voters that he could do the job. In the final weeks of this campaign, his advisers were very concerned when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton began saying it's time to pick a president. They were concerned that Iowa voters may sort of reject his biography argument, his message of hope and change. But last night his organization showed that it was strong enough to withstand that. So going forward into New Hampshire, one thing that really gives the Obama campaign some hope is that he won support from a wide share of independent voters, people who had never come to the Iowa caucuses before and, of course, in New Hampshire, those independents will be very important.
ROBERTS: You said that Hillary Clinton was trying to drive this message to Iowa that it's time to pick a president. Obviously, they seemed to think that Barack Obama would make a pretty good president.
But what about Hillary Clinton? You can't count her out because her message and her position on the issues certainly attracts a lot of people into the Clinton tent.
ZELENY: It did attract a lot of people. And from the beginning, the Clinton campaign had said look, Senator Clinton is going to have a hard time playing in Iowa. That was a bit of lowering expectations. It turned out that's exactly what they needed to do, lower expectations.
But going forward, the Clinton campaign realizes that the senator has probably four or five days to correct this problem. She has to convince voters or raise questions in the minds of voters about Senator Obama. Is he ready to become the president? Is he ready to lead, as she says from day one? The Iowa voters said we think he is, but the Clinton campaign and the Clintons themselves are much more popular in New Hampshire.
But it was interesting last night that even before Senator Obama's victory was declared, the Clinton campaign sent out a news release saying President Clinton will spend the next five days blitzing around New Hampshire. So this is and perhaps the final moment for her campaign, if she does not have a strong win in New Hampshire.
ROBERTS: Right.
ZELENY: So that's what they'll be doing in the next few days.
ROBERTS: Jeff, on the Republican side, you might have just heard Mike Huckabee, who won on the GOP side there in Iowa, saying that he wants to broaden out his message of economic populism and hope and change beyond the state of Iowa. Can he do that? Because certainly the demographic makeup in New Hampshire is quite different, and he was talking at length about this 23 percent consumption tax, which is something that just will not go over well in a state where they have no state income or sales tax.
ZELENY: I think one thing that Governor Huckabee has to do when he moves beyond Iowa is see if he can expand his support and populism into mainstream Republican base. He was really fueled by the Christian conservatives here in Iowa.
ROBERTS: Yes.
ZELENY: Home schoolers, other people who came to support him, when they decided they did not like Governor Mitt Romney's message. Governor Romney had spent more time than any other Republican in Iowa, so as Governor Huckabee, as he just said a few moments ago on this broadcast, he is going to reach out to them with these messages of populism. Obviously, tax is a big concern.
ROBERTS: Yes.
ZELENY: And I think we'll be seeing a bit of an issues change between Iowa and New Hampshire. Here in Iowa, immigration was a major concern for Republicans. It's not as much of a concern for voters in New Hampshire. So as they move along, the issues will change a bit as well.
ROBERTS: Yes, may be leaning more toward the Iraq war. Jeff Zeleny from "The New York Times." Thanks for being with us this morning. We'll let you get back inside where it's warm. Appreciate it -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Britney Spears back in the news as well this morning. The singer is in a Los Angeles hospital this morning after being carried out of her home on a stretcher. We're going to talk about how this latest incident will affect her child custody case. A police person on the scene said she was apparently intoxicated. That's certainly against the rules of her custody fight, so we're going to talk more about that coming up when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back this morning to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Friday, January 4th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Lots to talk about today. What an event last night.
CHETRY: Sure was, some surprises as well and a history-making night in Iowa. The candidates already in New Hampshire now, not much time to savor the victories. Barack Obama riding a wave of record turnout. He finished with 38 percent in the Iowa caucuses calling his victory a defining moment in history.
There's a look right now. You see John Edwards coming in second at 30 percent. Hillary Clinton 29 percent and Bill Richardson 2 percent with a fourth place finish, promising to fight on. Although some other democratic candidates like Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd calling it quits after last night. Obama drove home his theme of change in his victory speech and also in talking about his commitment to ending the war in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll be a president who harnesses the ingenuity of farmers and scientists and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil, once and for all. And I'll be a president who ends this war in Iraq and finally brings our troops home!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: On the republican side, it was a huge win for Mike Huckabee. Take a look at the numbers there, 34 percent of the caucus voters choosing Huckabee, drawing strong support from evangelicals in what was a record turnout by the caucus-goers. Mitt Romney taking second place, he called it the silver, with 25 percent, and John McCain and Fred Thompson tying for third place, 13 percent each there. Mike Huckabee said that he won Iowa by connecting with average Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're finding out how to talk to the middle class, finding out how to talk to people in small business that make up 80 percent of the jobs in this the country, to speak up for the folks that maybe felt like nobody was talking for them and to them in the Republican Party. This was not just an Iowa deal. I think it was an American deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: We talked with Governor Huckabee just moments ago. Coming up, we're going to speak with Mitt Romney live from New Hampshire.
ROBERTS: A big question a lot of people are asking this morning, can Obama and Huckabee keep the momentum going? Dan Lothian is live at the site of round two. He's in Manchester, New Hampshire for this morning. Chief national correspondent John King is with us in New York. We've been talking an awful lot about Mike Huckabee. Let's turn our sights toward Mitt Romney. He got a bloody nose last night but this is only round one of what will be a very long fight.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: One of the things you learn and you see quickly in politics is Iowa delivered its verdict. Its verdict was change, for the other candidates change in reaction to that so Governor Romney, who spent months and months trying to appeal to the Christian conservative base of the Republican Party, now is talking about how "I was the governor of a blue state, Massachusetts. I worked with democrats. I can get things done." What he's trying to do, his biggest threat in New Hampshire is Senator John McCain. Mitt Romney cannot afford to lose two in a row so he's campaigning now saying Washington is broken and McCain is part of the problem. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They look at what's happening there and they say how come Washington can't deal with illegal immigration? How come Washington can't build better jobs for us? How come Washington can't help us become energy-independent? How come Washington can't get health insurance for all of our citizens without making it Hillary care or socialized medicine? Washington is broken and we're going to change that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: He says Washington is broken, and we're going to change that. John, he's also going to get much more personal saying Senator McCain is part of the problem in Washington, that he is part of the past, part of the problem. The republicans need to find somebody new and different going forward. The problem for Governor Romney, he just lost in Iowa. One of the big themes he was the electable republican. I've spoke on it two of his senior advisers who expect him to drop six, eight, ten points in New Hampshire right now. McCain is the favorite up there. Huckabee is up there.
ROBERTS: Whoa. He's got a difficult time making the case against McCain because McCain is surging in New Hampshire and a lot of people like his message, particularly on Iraq. That's a big issue in the granite state.
KING: The consistency, the persistent stubbornness of John McCain is appealing in the Yankee state of New Hampshire, if you will. He's from Arizona. I was with him the other day, joking about the cold up there. He has appeal. He has a base. He comes across as authentic, says what he means, even if you don't agree with him on things, that has been one of Governor Romney's problems and one of challenges for Governor Huckabee. Will he be the same person? The reason he did well in Iowa, not just evangelicals. People like him and think he's authentic. Republicans in New Hampshire favor abortion rights. There was a huge civil union ceremony New Year's Eve. Governor Huckabee says same-sex marriage is wrong. Will he talk issues in New Hampshire openly like he did in Iowa or bury them because they're not as popular in New Hampshire? So Governor Huckabee faces an authenticity test in New Hampshire as well.
ROBERTS: Let's not forget McCain has a track record there. He won in the year 2000.
KING: Favorite right now John McCain, written off in the summer, has a big chance right now.
ROBERTS: It's incredible the way politics works. John, thanks very much.
CHETRY: So can Barack Obama carry the momentum from Iowa into New Hampshire? For more on the democratic side of the race, Dan Lothian joins us from Manchester, New Hampshire. A lot of the private planes landing there this morning, and overnight, as the candidates now look ahead. For Barack Obama, what will be the key?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This will be a huge moment for Barack Obama, not really expected to win in Iowa, and pulls out that surprise win there. He comes here with all of that momentum. Certainly he will be under a lot of attack, even more scrutiny than we had seen before. What he will be doing here in the state of New Hampshire is trying to reach the large number of independent voters. That is where he can get a lot of the support. He still trails Hillary Clinton in the polls; although, her lead has been shrinking here in the state of New Hampshire, but certainly he hopes to make up some ground reaching out to those independent voters. As for Hillary Clinton, she plans to be campaigning here in New Hampshire with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. He remains a very popular figure here in New Hampshire. As I mentioned, she still does have that light lead and hopes to make up some ground, needs to make up some ground after the devastating loss in Iowa. All three of the top democratic contenders have landed here in New Hampshire, Senator Clinton, Senator Edwards, Senator Obama. Senator Edwards wasted no time in reaching out to his supporters after landing here this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I ask you to join us. We are "Seabiscuit." I ask you to join news this cause. I ask you to join us in this movement. I am not the candidate of money. I am not the candidate of glitz. I am not the candidate of glamour, nor do I claim to be, but what I am, I am the candidate for president of the United States, that is the people's candidate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Of course here to make that reference, to Seabiscuit, the horse in the movie behind, comes ahead. He did say he got that from his wife. She came up with that first but certainly he wants to sort of add on to what he did in Iowa, and hopefully also reach out to some of those independent voters here, gain some support and hopefully pull out a win here. He has a lot of work cut out for him.
One thing we have to remember, people here in New Hampshire like to be very proud of the fact that they're independent-minded voters, that just because of what has happened in Iowa, they won't rubber stamp it here. We don't necessarily expect to see a replay of what happened in Iowa, at least if you talk to the people here in New Hampshire. They're very independent-minded people and they want to meet the candidates and vote from their heart. After meeting them, they'll vote on what they believe in.
CHETRY: All right. It will be interesting to see how that shakes out. Dan Lothian, great to see you, thanks.
ROBERTS: There's another big story this morning, 20 minutes to the top of the hour that we're tracking, extreme weather in California, and we mean extreme. The potential for historic snowfall up in the Sierras, up to ten feet over the weekend possible. Blizzard warnings have been posted. The bay area also bracing for floods, mudslides and hurricane-force winds.
Our Reynolds Wolf is in the middle of it all, he's live for us in Truckee, California. Reynolds, dubious distinction there in Truckee, you think the most snowfall in the United States and some unbelievably high winds forecast for this weekend. REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, John. It's going to be a nasty combination. Right now it is fairly nasty right now. We're just getting some rainfall the time being. Perhaps you at home can see the rain drops coming from the top to the bottom across your television screen. We're here in downtown Truckee. Elevation about 6,050 feet above sea level, Donner Pass Street. Pretty quiet for the time being but we've got one salt truck making its way through and we've seen the Coltrane trucks moving up and down the streets. The video, they were busy yesterday on many of the roads.
We have video along I-80, where we had all kinds of accidents. California CHB doing what they could to clear out the roadways. Very treacherous conditions yesterday, having a combination of not just driving snow but winds through the mountain passes.
Now take a look at this video. This shows people making their way around parts of Tahoe, here in the Tahoe basin. What we're going to be dealing with today is deteriorating conditions. We'll see the snow begin to pick up as we get to the mid morning hours into the afternoon. We have the blizzard warning that's going to remain in effect until tomorrow. Until 10:00 on Saturday morning, as we go to the weather map you'll see the reason why all of this is coming together.
First, we take you off the coast of California, where earlier this morning, we had reports of severe thunderstorms, or thunderstorms rather just out of San Francisco Bay. A loft the moisture will work its way across the San Joaquin Valley, into the Sierra Nevada and cool air aloft and generate a lot of winds, as Jacqui Jeras was talking about earlier this morning. We're going to see some winds anywhere from 35 to 40 miles per hour, some gusts up to 60, but in the high peaks, some gusts topping 145 miles per hour, already we've had power outages in parts of Lake Tahoe. It is going to be a mess.
John, that is the latest from Tahoe. More updates throughout the morning into the evening. We'll be here for you. Let's send it back to you in the nice warm studio in New York.
ROBERTS: Thanks very much, Reynolds, although I should point out I was outside in Iowa over the last couple of days so I paid my penance. Kiran?
CHETRY: You looked so warm and cozy in the diners in the past few mornings. Didn't that make up for it?
ROBERTS: It's the travel from the car to the diner, that will kill you.
CHETRY: Every time the door opens we heard the bell ring and the gush of wind coming in.
ROBERTS: It is so cold it hurts.
CHETRY: Well, they're supposed to be good for the environment and better for your electric bill. Some say compact fluorescent bulbs may be bad for your health. We're seeing them crop up all over. We're being encouraged to use them so what's going on? Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will explain, just ahead.
And so long Iowa. Hello, New Hampshire. Mitt Romney and the other candidates already barnstorming before the next primary. We're going to talk live with Governor Romney and hear what he is saying to voters there. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: 15 minutes to the top of the hour. Mitt Romney came in second to Mike Huckabee in Iowa. Now he has to take on John McCain in New Hampshire. Polls there show that they are in a dead heat.
Governor Romney joins us now from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Governor, good morning to you. Congratulations on your showing yesterday. Thanks for being with us this morning.
ROMNEY: Thank you, John. Good to be with you.
ROBERTS: So one of the questions we're asking of the candidates is what kind of president they would be, what kind of white house would you run and you're presenting yourself as an agent of change here, and so I want to ask you about the Iraq war because it's a big issue there in New Hampshire. You have complained that under the Bush administration, it was under-prepared, under-managed. As president, what would you do differently?
ROMNEY: Well at this stage, I believe that General Petraeus and President Bush have laid out a strategy that is making a difference and will keep Iraq from becoming a safe haven for al Qaeda. We have to do not only in Iraq but throughout the Middle East, is develop a strategy along with other great nations, to help moderate forces in the world of Islam, strengthening the forces so they can reject the extreme, in Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand or anywhere the violence occurs or where there are these violent elements. We want to avoid war-type settings. We want to make sure we can move the world of Islam toward modernity.
ROBERTS: How do you do that? At the moment in those countries, the United States is not exactly well thought of.
ROMNEY: I think what we have to do is bring together a summit of nations, great nations, including Islamic nations, like Jordan and Egypt and Indonesia, along with other leading nations of the world, and work together to say how can we assign responsibilities to help move the moderate voices to greater strength, how do we make sure there's the rule of law, good health care, good education systems other than the Wahabi schools. We want to work together as unified nations to strengthen the other nations so they can reject the violence and that's something, we did that in the Philippines, where our military, with our, I call it a special partnership force of intelligence and special forces army, work together to help get rid of an al Qaeda offshoot and has had enormous degree of success.
ROBERTS: In those countries, would you go as far as President Bush has gone in his promotion of democracy there or would you try to work within the framework of the existing political systems in those nations?
ROMNEY: Well, democracy is a big word and it's much bigger than just a vote. You want to make sure that to have a true democracy, that you have the underpinnings of a democracy, which includes the rule of law, and education system, free press, and so forth, and so you want to establish some of those features, some of those foundational elements, so that ultimately you can have democracy. I don't rush in saying let's have a vote. I look instead to say how can we strengthen the core of a nation such that the people there are ready for principles of democracy.
ROBERTS: I asked this question of Senator John Edwards yesterday and got a pretty good answer so let me ask you the same thing. A measure of a leader is the people that they surround themselves with. So have you thought about who you would put in your cabinet? What type of people would you put in your cabinet? Can you give us some names?
ROMNEY: Well, I'm not going to give you the specific names at this point, probably a bit presumptuous. When I was governor of Massachusetts my chief financial was a person who was a successful investor and chief executive officer. The person who helped manage my housing and transportation and environmental area was the guy who sued Massachusetts more than anybody else in our state's history. He was head of the Conservation Law Foundation, a democrat, who I believed could bring a different perspective.
ROBERTS: But Governor, would you surround yourself with people who share your point of view and are "yes" people or would you want people who challenge you?
ROMNEY: You know, I came from an educational background which was law school and then business school, and in my professional life, I loved to have people who disagree, who have differing viewpoints, different backgrounds, who will express them openly and will convince one another with the use of data and analysis, and logic, as opposed to just having people who say they either agree with you or give you their opinion based on gut feel. That's the only way I've been successful in the private sector and frankly as a governor as well.
ROBERTS: I've got to ask you one other question, if I could, sorry for taking a little bit of extra time here. Everybody else called Governor Huckabee to say congratulations. You expressed your congratulations to him on the Fox Network. Why didn't you call him?
ROMNEY: You know, I'm happy to give him a call. Typically this is a process which goes on over a long period of time. The election's not over yet. This is a primary process that goes on over 50 states and if he's the nominee of the party, of course I'd call him but this is, at this stage, just getting started.
ROBERTS: Governor Romney, thanks very much. Good luck in the next contest on Tuesday. We'll be watching closely.
ROMNEY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Good to have you on. Kiran?
CHETRY: You may be trying to go green, but could the new compact light bulb be making you sick? Chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta has the answer for us, just ahead.
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ROBERTS: Coming up to seven minutes to the top of the hour. A lot of political news to tell you about but other things happening including this. Britney Spears at a Los Angeles hospital this morning for a mental evaluation. Police were called to her home last night after she refused to hand over her two children to her ex-husband, Kevin Federline. Spears was later taken from the home on a stretcher. Both of her boys are reportedly now with Federline. He has primary custody of the children. Kiran?
CHETRY: The old incandescent light bulb is on its way out. Energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs are in. They're good for the environment but some say not so good if you suffer from migraines. Well, paging Dr. Gupta. He's at our medical update desk in Atlanta. Are these fears valid? Do these fluorescent compact light bulbs contribute to migraines?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There's not scientific data to prove that they do but there are a lot of people out there who are concerned, people who say they do contribute to migraines. There is a relationship we know for sure between light and migraines. For example, people have a migraine headache they often develop photophobia, which literally means that they become frightened of the light. The light bothers them so much, they have to go into a darkened room. The question being posed, could the light induce the migraine in the first place and the real concern here is the low- energy lights because they have a flicker rate that you could actually notice or some people could notice or because of the dimness of the light, could they trigger a migraine? No scientific evidence to say for sure but a lot of people concerned about that, and saying that it does.
CHETRY: Now, they also mentioned these low-energy bulbs possibly triggering seizures in people with epilepsy?
GUPTA: That's another sort of well-known thing. Strobe lights can possibly cause epilepsy. People who have epilepsy, they get a seizure because of the effect of the strobe light, and there's a relationship between migraines and epilepsy, so people who have migraines for example are more likely to develop a seizure. Therein lies the complicated relationship and it can be so profound, Kiran, sometimes people driving down the road and there's a string of trees and the sun is shining behind the trees you get a quick flicker of light through the trees, even that can be enough of a sort of flicker, if you will, to induce a seizure.
CHETRY: So what are they saying in terms of recommendations right now? Because there has been a really big push to replace your incandescent bulbs to use these for a number of reasons. GUPTA: There is no consensus now, because again the manufacturers of some of the light bulb also say a couple of things. There is no scientific evidence to show this causes migraines and two, they've gotten so good at the technology that the flicker rate should be almost unrecognizable, by the human eye. You just should not be able to recognize any kind of flicker rate. It's more of a constant light. What the doctors that we've talked to about say look, if you are someone who suffers from migraines, if you are someone who suffers from epilepsy, and these lights appear to be a trigger, you may not be one of the people who wants to switch over to the low energy bulbs or not be mandated to do so, as is happening in some places
CHETRY: Interesting enough, Sanjay. Thanks.
GUPTA: Great to see you, thanks.
CHETRY: By the way, be sure to catch Sanjay's "HOUSE CALL" this weekend. It starts the New Year with hope, and healing. "HOUSE CALL" is on at 8:30 a.m. eastern, Saturday and Sunday on CNN.
ROBERTS: The presidential candidates are already out stumping for votes in New Hampshire this morning. How has what happened in Iowa changed the campaign in New Hampshire? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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