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American Morning
Obama Widens Lead: Can Clinton Come Back?; 8 Foot Flood: Hundreds Homeless After Levee Breaks; Missing Georgia Hiker Feared Dead; Tight GOP Race, Clemens Denies Steroids Use
Aired January 07, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of people with us and even more are going to be joining us throughout the morning, including four of the presidential candidates to talk a little bit more about their issues and about their strategies.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We've got a whole lot to talk about. Mike Huckabee is going to be joining us along with Bill Richardson.
CHETRY: That's right. Senator John Edwards and Representative Ron Paul, so we have all four within the hour and a lot going on this morning, including the stunning new poll that has Barack Obama 10 points above Hillary Clinton, in a state where they've run neck and neck at least for the past month or so.
ROBERTS: Yes. People are calling it omentum this morning. That would definitely got a huge bounce out of Iowa. We're also going to talk with one voter who had a special visitor on his doorstep this weekend. Hillary Clinton came to his house. We are going to ask him all about the issues, what's important to him and what's going to drive the vote tomorrow in the New Hampshire primary, which is different than the caucuses because it is an all-day vote. It is almost like your Election Day ballot.
CHETRY: Exactly. The only difference is that you're going to be getting as an undecided voter, many phone calls and possibly visits from the candidates.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Something that's quite unusual for people in the larger states to understand that literally hi, this is Barack Obama. How are you this morning?
ROBERTS: And also, unlike Iowa where only about 10 percent of registered voters participated in the caucuses, as much as two-thirds of registered voters play here so it's a big turnout.
CHETRY: A big state.
ROBERTS: And looking forward to seeing what the results of that are going to be tomorrow.
CHETRY: That's right. A big state for independents as well. You can vote in either primary that you want to, so that's going to be key for a lot of the candidates. And we're going to talk about that all morning.
Meanwhile, just days after his win in Iowa, Senator Barack Obama opening up, as we said, a double-digit lead here in New Hampshire. According to the latest CNN-WMUR poll which was conducted over the weekend after the Iowa caucuses by the University of New Hampshire, 39 percent of likely Democratic primary voters are for Obama. For Hillary Clinton, it's at 29 percent. She lost some ground since the last poll, and 16 percent for John Edwards.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has been traveling with the Clinton campaign this weekend, and we've seen a little bit of a change.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Sure.
CHETRY: Sharpening some of her attacks, pushing her experience, but saying I'm also for change. I've done change for 30 years. How is that registering with the viewers?
MALVEAUX: One thing that's happening is that it's a totally different way of campaigning. She's kind of thrown away the old campaign speech and now, she's taking questions.
So you'll have thousands of people who are like packed into this tiny little gymnasium yesterday and for about 90 minutes to two hours, she's answering, trying to answer every single question. The whole idea behind this is she's trying to show, look, I'm the person who has enough experience, life experience. I've done enough so that I can understand the issues. I can answer your questions.
They're trying to set up this comparison between her campaign and what she does and Senator Barack Obama, her main opponent. And I had a chance to actually talk to her one on one yesterday and asked her about the change and some of the lessons that she learned from Iowa because obviously, she lost the young voters as well as the female voters. So I wanted to take a quick listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think this distinction between talking and doing, between rhetoric and reality, is important for voters to focus on because when we elect a president who goes into that oval office on the first day, the decisions start being made and we need to know how consistent and how reliable that president is because we're really going to have to count on our next president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And so actually, it's just one of the things that we talked about. There's also this kind of the squirmish back and forth over. She's saying that he's inconsistent when it comes to certain positions. That he took one position when he was running for Senate and then he voted for something else. And I challenged her on that point because I said, eight years of the Senate, you know that sometimes is give and take. You're not always finding things. Sometimes you hold your nose and just find it anyway. And she said, you know, why are you bringing this up now? And she said, well, it's the timing of it. And essentially that's a clue there. They know that they could be in some trouble here.
CHETRY: Is it just a change in strategy for the Clinton campaign or are they also acknowledging what issues seem to resonate with the voters in Iowa and whether or not some of them will be carrying over into the early states like New Hampshire?
MALVEAUX: Well, sure. Some of the issues and also some of the voters, too, because we've seen her. She's now reaching out to young voters. She is actually working a lot harder. We see her on the campaign bus with those young voters, the undecided ones. So, I mean, it's a huge operation here and they're really counting on this state. But make no mistake. They are worried about this one.
CHETRY: Interesting. They are answering a lot more questions, spending a lot more time.
MALVEAUX: Oh, absolutely.
CHETRY: They let some young people tour her bus. So yes, you're right.
MALVEAUX: And they are answering our questions or spending some time with us.
CHETRY: Which is always a good thing as well. Great to see you, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Nice to see you.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Hey, Kiran, while Barack Obama seems to have the omentum as people are calling it coming out of Iowa, Mike Huckabee himself got a bit of, I guess, what we can call a huck-a-bounce out of Iowa. Here's what our latest CNN-WMUR poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire shows.
On the Republican side of the coin, John McCain in the lead with 32 percent of voter support now, followed by Mitt Romney who's back at 26 percent. Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani literally have switched positions since our last poll. Mike Huckabee now with 14 percent. That's up from 11 percent and Rudy Giuliani now with 11 percent. That is down from 14, and Ron Paul right behind at 10 percent.
Because of the number of independents here in New Hampshire, there's a chance that Ron Paul could do very well on Tuesday night. We're going to be talking with Mike Huckabee coming up in just a little while. He'll be joining us here on AMERICAN MORNING in about 25 minutes time. We'll ask him more about the issues, health care, of course, a big concern here for voters in New Hampshire. We'll talk about his plan for that as well as what he would do in terms of foreign policy.
But right now for more of today's news, let's go back up to New York and here is Alina Cho with that. Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John, good morning. We look forward to all of that, and we're also following some breaking news out of Utah this morning.
A bus crashed overnight, killing at least seven people. The Utah Highway Patrol says the bus was heading from Telluride, Colorado, to Phoenix when it flipped near the town of Mexican Hat. No word on the cause, but heavy snow has been falling there all weekend long.
And the search is on right now for eight people missing in the Colorado Rockies. Rescue teams will be heading out again this morning. They're looking for two couples and their two teenage children. They've been missing since Friday when they failed to return from a snowmobiling trip near the New Mexico border. Two skiers in the area are also missing. At least four feet of snow fell over the weekend and more is falling today.
And hundreds of people are out of their homes in Nevada after a fierce winter storm there. A levee gave way in Fernley, Nevada. That's about 30 miles from Reno. Hundreds of homes are flooded with as much as eight feet of icy water. Some folks had to be rescued by boat and helicopter.
AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence is live in Fernley this morning. So Chris, what's it like there this morning?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alina, it's a little bit better than it was this weekend. But that's a little bit like saying it's a little bit better than just plain awful. I mean, you can take a look behind me. You can see some of the debris that's still out in the streets from when this water was so high. Over the weekend, there's no way I could have been standing right here, but take a look down here.
I mean, you can see the water is definitely receded but it's so cold now you are starting to get this layer of ice that is starting to cover all of this water. It would make it even harder for the folks here to get in and start getting this cleaned up. Now, take a look at what this street and the neighborhoods around it looked like over the weekend. A very, very big difference.
This morning, the repair crews have sealed the breach in that levee. Officials believe that a gopher or some of that kind of rodent burrowed a hole into some of the canal banks. Normally not that big of a problem. But when the volume of water rises and it doubled during this most recent storm, that water just whips straight through those weak spots and you get the damage that you are seeing right now.
Imagine three, four, five feet of icy cold water in oozing mud just pouring right through your home. It happened to a lot of the folks here. One man told us it almost seems like his home was dropped into the middle of the river. We talked to some of the other residents about some of the damage that they saw when they were able to get a chance to get into their homes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRET PETERSON, FLOODED RESIDENT: Bad. Real bad. About three to four feet of water inside the houses. I mean, what's not high is lost, so it's pretty ugly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: That was Bret Peterson. He was actually at the hospital when all of this happened. His wife had just given birth to his son. He saw his home on television, came back, got a boat from one of his buddies, paddled in, got what he could out of the house. But again, a lot of damage and it's going to be a long time before things get cleaned up around here -- Alina.
CHO: I know. They're hoping for a federal disaster declaration so they can get some more funds there. They certainly need it. Chris Lawrence live for us in Fernley, Nevada. Chris, thank you very much. We'll check back with you later.
Jacqui Jeras is watching all of the extreme weather for us. She is in for Rob Marciano at the weather update desk. So are they going to get some relief, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's cold there in Nevada, but they already have the relief in terms of drier weather. And the last hoorah of all that series of western storms is finally pulling out of southern California now and it's looking a lot better there.
But our focus now is going to change to the nation's midsection and across the east where we are going to get some extremely warm temperatures. Combine that with some rainfall and we're going to be concerned about things like fog and flooding. We're looking at parts of Wisconsin and northern Illinois right now.
There you can see the rain showers north of Chicago and into the Milwaukee area. And as those temperatures continue to stay high, and the moisture lingering near the ground is high, look at the fog advisories in effect. We have some video we want to show you out of Madison, Wisconsin, from yesterday afternoon where the fog was so thick visibility was only about 100 yards at times. It caused a 30- car pileup along I-90 and the Wisconsin state patrol had to shut that down for a while until they got it cleared up. Unfortunately, two people have died in that accident. And visibility right now, by the way, in Madison is only a quarter of a mile and that fog is going to linger, we think, throughout the rest of the morning.
The temperatures are going to be unbelievably warm across the Midwest and the east. Look at this, Alina, up to 30 degrees above normal today for Chicago and Indianapolis. Enjoy the warm weather while it lasts. It is January.
CHO: That's right. We are feeling it here in New York as well. All right. Jacqui Jeras, we'll check back with you later. Thank you very much.
JERAS: Yes.
CHO: We're also watching a story from where you are. Police in Georgia now say they believe a hiker missing since New Year's Day is dead. Investigators say they believe 24-year-old Meredith Emerson was the victim of a violent kidnapping. Police say her wallet and bloody clothes were found over the weekend in a trash can next to a grocery store about 50 miles from where she disappeared.
61-year-old suspect Gary Michael Hilton goes to court today. He's also being questioned about two elderly hikers in North Carolina in October. One of them was beaten to death. The other disappeared.
We want to end with a programming note. A happy one for all of us here in the CNN family. Nancy Grace returns to her show tonight two months after giving birth to twins, Lucy Elizabeth and John David. There is a happy mother there. The twins were born a little early, but everybody is doing just fine. We are happy to report. Nancy Grace, of course, airs tonight and every night on "CNN HEADLINE NEWS" at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. And with that we're going to send it back to John at the City Side Grille in Concord. John, we'll talk to you a little bit later on in the hour.
ROBERTS: Alina, thanks very much. Loving that name, John David as well.
Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens stands his ground in his first public interview since being accused of using steroids and human growth hormone. Clemens told "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace that his longtime trainer, Brian McNamee, only gave him painkillers and vitamins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE WALLACE, "60 MINUTES" CORRESPONDENT: Never, never a human growth hormone?
ROGER CLEMENS, FORMER BASEBALL PITCHER: Never.
WALLACE: Never testosterone?
CLEMENS: Never.
WALLACE: And never anabolic steroids?
CLEMENS: Never.
WALLACE: Swear.
CLEMENS: Swear.
WALLACE: How about a lie-detector test?
CLEMENS: Some say they're good and some say they are not. I will do whatever. I mean -- WALLACE: I mean, as far as you are concerned you would conceivably --
CLEMENS: Yes, I don't know if they are good or bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: According to "The Houston Chronicle" Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit last night against McNamee just before CBS aired the interview. Clemens says the news conference scheduled for this afternoon, he could be called to appear before Congress next week.
Well, Mitt Romney takes his message of change to New Hampshire hoping to score with voters who say they are sick of Washington. We're live on the campaign trail.
Plus, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's first one-on-one interview since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and we'll tell you who he's blaming for her death. That's ahead on the special edition of AMERICAN MORNING live from the City Side Grille in New Hampshire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: The search for a survivor tops your "Quick Hits" now. Rescuers are looking for a tourist plane that went down off of the coast of Venezuela. Fourteen people, most of them tourists, were onboard when the pilot reported engine trouble.
An evacuation order in Ecuador around a rumbling volcano, southeast of Quito. It began spewing ash over the weekend, and scientists say activity could become more intense in the next few days. The last eruption in 2006 killed four people.
And thousands of people in Australia are headed off by floodwater this morning following four days of torrential rains. As many as 3,000 people in New South Wales are stranded and could be stuck for at least a week.
Coming up to 16 minutes after the hour. Change is in the air in New Hampshire. All of the candidates have picked up that theme since newcomers Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee won Iowa last week.
CNN's Mary Snow is traveling with the Romney campaign. She spent the weekend with him, and he was really the target of the attacks during those series of debates on Saturday night and now, he's coming back on the counterattack pretty hard.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He really is, John. It was almost like a boxing match watching it Saturday night with the Republican rivals at each other. Mitt Romney has so much at stake here in New Hampshire as you know. His whole strategy has been to win Iowa and then on to New Hampshire, so he came out. He's very aggressive last night particularly at Mike Huckabee when they were talking about tax cuts. We have a clip from that. We'll take a listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You raised taxes by half a billion dollars. Is that right?
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, Mitt, let's talk about --
ROMNEY: No. Answer the question.
(CROSSTALK)
HUCKABEE: These, I think he raised for more like a billion dollars not 240.
ROMNEY: You know, Mike, you make up facts faster than you talk and that says something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Wow. They're really going at each other there.
SNOW: They really were. And also there were some barbs with Senator John McCain although it was much tamer than it was on Saturday night. But he has been trying to portray Senator McCain as the Washington insider. And Senator McCain kind of shot back saying well, I have experience, not management experience.
ROBERTS: We first heard this change from Mitt Romney when he was on the plane, in the way from Iowa over to New Hampshire where he started talking about change, change, change, change, change.
SNOW: Right.
ROBERTS: That he is the Washington outsider. Now, Mike Huckabee also a Washington outsider. You can say a similar thing of Barack Obama because he's only been there for a couple of years. Can Romney really portray himself as the agent of change when Iowa voters have already indicated that they believe two other people of those agents?
SNOW: Yes, you know, he tried to seize on their victories and has been mentioning Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama a lot on the campaign trail. And he wants to say he's the Washington outsider. But as you see in these polls, he is lagging behind John McCain.
ROBERTS: All right. We will see if he can sort of get himself up there the next 24 hours or so. Mary Snow, thanks very much. Don't forget, Mike Huckabee joining us coming up in our next half-hour, 6:30 Eastern here on AMERICAN MORNING. It's going to be fun -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks al lot, John. We want to let you know about a couple of other stories that are taking place right now, including the latest out of Baghdad.
A deadly attack there topping your "Quick Hits" now. Police say 11 people were killed by a suicide bomber during an army day Celebration. The U.S. military says three Iraqi soldiers threw themselves on the bomber and probably prevented more deaths from happening.
Also, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy is now engaged. The French media is reporting that he proposed to his supermodel girlfriend, Carla Bruni, last month. The couple were reportedly get married next month. This will be Sarkozy's third marriage. He divorced his second wife back in October.
We are taking a quick break. When we come back, we're going to talk more about more booze and less books. How one college is trying to cut down on student drinking. And we also have much more on our special edition of AMERICAN MORNING." We're live at the City Side Grille here in New Hampshire, and we're going to be talking to some undecided voters. We'll bring you the latest polls, and we're going to be hearing from many candidates throughout the morning. So keep it here on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The world's biggest fans of fast food, topping your "Quick Hits" now. A study of 13 countries showing that the British have the biggest fast food appetite. Forty-five percent of Brits surveyed agreed with the statement "I like the taste of fast food too much to give it up." Forty-four percent of Americans -- some have to be lying. It's got to be higher than that.
Thirty-seven percent of Canadians also agreed the French apparently have the least appetite for fast food. Eighty-one percent saying they could give it up.
They need to taste McDonald's french fries more often.
Well, forget Atkins or South Beach, Oklahoma City's mayor is pushing a municipal weight-loss plan. Mick Cornett challenging his city's residents to shed a million pounds in 2008. So far, more than 2,600 people have signed on to the mayor's obesity initiative and lost more than 300 pounds. Oklahoma City ranked 15th last year in a magazine that surveyed America's fattest cities.
ROBERTS: Well, the best way to get college students to drink less apparently is to make them go to class. The University of Iowa is offering its department's more money to hold extra classes on Fridays, a move that they hope will decrease heavy drinking on Thursday night.
Currently, only about half as many classes are held on Friday compared to Monday through Thursday. The University of Iowa, by the way, ranked number 12 on a recent list of party schools.
And college football will crown a national champion tonight. The Ohio State Buckeyes will play the LSU Tigers, in the BCS National Championship game. The game will be played in the superdome in New Orleans -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good. Well, extreme flexibility on your wheels, your "Hot Shot" now. This is a 6-year-old kid in India who has a unique New Year's resolution. He wants to break his own world record by limbo skating. I mean, look at the flexibility on this kid. He's going underneath the car right there. He wants to do it under 100 cars in under a minute. His personal best is 57 so far. There you see his legs bent, his chest wide open.
ROBERTS: That is weird.
CHETRY: It is.
ROBERTS: I'm sorry.
CHETRY: I see a couple of other young kids doing this. I guess they're just so much more limber at that age. But obviously, it takes some talent, too. When he is down like that, by the way, he is no more than eight inches above the ground when he's under cars. He has been skating 60 miles twice a week to get ready, and there you have it.
Hey, good luck to you. 100, you don't see -- 100 cars. That's his goal. Pretty cool.
Well, if you've got a "Hot Shot" send it to us. The address, amhotshots@CNN.com, you're still staring with your mouth open. Be sure to send your name, where you're from, a little bit about the picture and video. And one more thing, please make sure the image is yours and not someone else's.
ROBERTS: He looks mechanical when he does that.
CHETRY: He does. He doesn't even look like a person.
All right. Well, let's take you to Ali Velshi right now. We've got a tough day on the stock market on Friday. Hopefully futures are looking up. Ali Velshi fills us in right now. Hey, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, that's just weird. That kid.
CHETRY: I know.
VELSHI: That's just weird. I can't even concentrate on what I'm doing. I'm thinking he was doing a Dow imitation, going down really low, which is exactly what the Dow did on Friday, losing 256 points.
Boy, just a rough week generally for the markets ending off on a sour note. Take a look at how major U.S. indices did. This is one week. I can't believe this. 4.25 percent down for the Dow. Nasdaq down 6.3. The S&P down 4.5 percent in one week, the first week of trading. And that has had a spillover effect because so much of that happened in the afternoon on Friday that it's had a spillover effect into international markets. So we are looking to start the day in a bit of a rough way.
Take a look at the markets that have already closed overseas. Right now, we've got a tough day particularly in Taiwan, which is a tech-heavy index. And, of course, technology stocks did poorly last week so Taiwan is down about 4 percent this morning. Australia is down 3 percent. Japan and Hong Kong both down a little bit more than 2 percent. We're looking for a rough morning.
Again, I'm going to come back and tell you a little bit about what the government and Congress is hoping to do about the economy to try and kick start it for the new year. But I'll be back with you all morning. Back to you, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Definitely need something. Ali, thanks very much.
A massive fire is burning in South Korea. Hundreds of firefighters are trying to get the flames under control. The dramatic pictures from the scene ahead.
And up next, Mike Huckabee joins us live. He pulled off a big win in Iowa, but can he do it again in New Hampshire? We'll talk to him about that and his chances of nailing down more than just the evangelical vote.
That, plus today's headlines ahead on the special edition of AMERICAN MORNING live from the City Side Grille in Concord, New Hampshire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Beautiful shot this morning. And where we are not, John. Midtown Manhattan. That's usually where we sit. But today we're in Concord, New Hampshire on the eve of primary day here. Meanwhile, unseasonably warm temperatures up and down the east coast. In fact, they're looking at a high of 60 degrees in New York today.
ROBERTS: Yes. Washington, where I came from yesterday afternoon, as much as 70 degrees today. And this is the 7th of January. It's just unbelievable.
CHETRY: Yes. And we're thankful for the 40-degree high we're getting today in New Hampshire because that is very rare as well.
ROBERTS: Better than it was last week. That's for sure.
CHETRY: Exactly. Thanks for joining us for a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING." I'm Kiran Chetry along with John Roberts. As I said, we are here and behind us, a bunch of primary voters who are going to be turning out to the polls today. Some of them have picked their candidates. Others are still undecided. So what is going to sway their opinion before they head to the booth?
ROBERTS: This is the City Side Grille in Concord, New Hampshire. It's about 20 miles north of Manchester, the capital. And the people here, just talking politics all morning long.
CHETRY: That's right. ROBERTS: We will be speaking to them. We have also got four presidential candidates joining us this morning. So make sure that you stick around with us for all of that.
Lot of stories new this morning. Our Alina Cho has got those now, as we go back up to New York or actually down to New York from here. Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Where it is just a little bit warmer than where you are, John. Good morning, everybody.
We are watching a deadly fire in South Korea. More than 500 firefighters are battling it right now. At least 27 people killed. Ten injured. And more missing after several chemical explosions. It started this morning at a warehouse about 50 miles south of Seoul.
New violence in Pakistan this morning. A security official says eight tribal leaders have been killed by suspected Islamic militants. It happened along the border with Afghanistan where Taliban militants and Osama bin Laden are thought to be hiding out.
"The New York Times" reported on Sunday that the White House is considering sending in U.S. troops that Pakistan has so far refused to let them hunt al Qaeda inside of a Pakistan's border.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf says Benazir Bhutto's assassination was her own fault. Bhutto, you will recall, was killed just last month in an armored car after a campaign rally. Musharraf told "60 Minutes" last night that Bhutto should not have stood up through the sunroof, calling it a fatal mistake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTAN'S PRESIDENT: For standing up outside the car, I think it was she to blame alone. Nobody else responsibility. It's hers.
LARA LOGAN, 60 MINUTES: Don't you think it will make her supporters crazy to hear you say that?
MUSHARRAF: I don't think so. I mean, that's a fact. She shouldn't have stood up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: And Musharraf also rejects criticism that his government was behind the assassination and did not do enough to protect Bhutto.
President Bush leaves for the Mid-East tomorrow. He will visit Israel and the West Bank hoping to speed up Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Speaking on Israeli television on Sunday, Mr. Bush said, he did not expect a full peace accord before he leaves office. Israel and the Palestinians don't expect major developments either. It's the president's first visit to Israel since taking office.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. Justices will hear arguments based on work done by an unknown 29-year-old public defender from Kentucky named David Baron. Now, Baron has been working on the case for more than three years on behalf of two death row inmates. He argues that the use of the three-drug system can cause excruciating pain that amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which violates the eighth amendment to the constitution. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on this case in mid-April.
Some extreme weather to tell you about. Parts of one Nevada town still under water this morning, after a big levee break over the weekend. It is so cold in Fernley, Nevada, the water is now beginning to freeze and it can't drain away. Hundreds of homes are flooded with as much as eight feet of water. Now, the levee broke Saturday with heavy rains. Busses and helicopters are being used to evacuate those who are still trapped and that same storm system dumped 11 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada.
That's a look at the headlines this morning. We're going to head back up to Kiran at the City Side Grille in Concord.
Hey, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much, Alina. Yes, a big contrast with what we are dealing with on the west coast versus the east coast. Where were unseasonably warm in this part of the country. Our Jacqui Jeras is following all of the weather for us from the weather center in Atlanta.
Good morning, Jacqui.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Mike Huckabee has got momentum going into tomorrow's New Hampshire primary after his big win in last week's caucuses in Iowa. So, is he sticking to his messages he appeals to New Hampshire voters? Joining me now live from Manchester, New Hampshire, about 20 miles south of the capital here in Concord is former Arkansas governor, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Governor, good to talk to you again this morning. How are you?
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm doing great, John. Thanks a bunch.
ROBERTS: Hey, watching the debate last night, there was a heated exchange between you and former governor Romney over taxes. Take a quick listen. And I want to ask you about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You raised taxes by half a billion dollars. Is that right?
HUCKABEE: You know, Mitt, let's talk about.
ROMNEY: I don't see you answer the question.
HUCKABEE: The fees I think you raised were more like half a billion dollars, not $240 million.
ROMNEY: You know, Mike, you make up facts faster than you talk, and that's saying something. So let's slow it down and let's get the facts correctly.
HUCKABEE: You spent tens of millions of dollars sayings all negative things about me. If someone raises a question, you say it's a personal attack.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Governor, you and Governor Romney have been going at each other pretty seriously for the past couple of weeks. Is that where you want to be in the closing hours before this primary? Attacking each other.
HUCKABEE: I haven't gone after Mitt Romney. Actually, he has gone after me in millions of dollars of ads. A lot of distortions about my record that I wanted to try to clear up. I'm not the one who is having these visions of marching with Martin Luther King and imagining having the NRA endorsement, when I didn't. I actually got NRA endorsements when I ran for governor because my views in the (INAUDIBLE) are consistent. My views in the sanctity of life are consistent. Not only what say but what I have done.
And I think a lot of people in our country are looking at the records closely. They're examining not just what we are saying on these debates but they are looking at what we have been saying through our careers and seeing does it match up with what we have actually done. And when they do that with me, they're going to find out that there is a consistency and there is an authenticity. And if there is anything voters are looking for this year, it is somebody who actually believes in what they are saying and says what they mean and means what they say.
ROBERTS: Governor, of course, what you have done up until now is very important. But we are also interested in what you would do going forward now. A big issue here in New Hampshire is that of health care. You have laid out a set of principles for health care more than you have any kind of a detailed plan. And one of those principles is that you want to move it from an employer-based system to a consumer- based system. How exactly would that work?
HUCKABEE: Well, the key is ownership of your own health. A lot of the Democrats say let's let the government manage it and a lot of the Republicans say let's turn it over to the private insurance companies. I think, most Americans would say, I don't trust private insurance companies or the government. I trust me. So empowering individuals to own their health care. Make the health care portable to them, so that if they change jobs they don't lose health insurance.
But the key fact is to recognize that 80 percent of our health care expenditures are going to chronic disease. So what we have to do is start moving towards a prevention system rather than an intervention system. Because, we really don't have a health care system, John. What we got is a disease care system. We need a health system that focuses on being healthy, not waiting until people are really desperately ill and then trying to figure out how to put them back together again.
ROBERTS: Governor, looking at your website and your set of principles for health care, you have the following quote. You say, quote, "Costs have skyrocketed because the party paying for the health care and party using the health care, the employee, are not the same. It is -- it is human nature to consume more of something that is essentially, quote, "Free.""
Do you believe if you moved it from an employer-based system to a consumer-based system, where people were actually responsible for their health care, they were the ones paying the premium that they would use the health care system less?
HUCKABEE: Well, if you have -- let's say, a health savings account where give me an incentive to manage the cost, don't just tell me I can have anything I want. I never even know what the costs are much less know what the management is. Three elements of health care that have to be in place, accessibility, affordability and quality. If those three things aren't in place, you don't have a health care system you have what we have now, which is a health care maze.
So as a consumer, I need to know, what's this costing me. How important is it that I have this procedure done and what is the quality of the procedure? What is the outcome going to be and is my doctor going to be compensated fairly and even maybe compensated better for having an outcome that results in my better health. Create incentives. We did this in my state where we created incentives for people to take better care of themselves. There is a financial reward back, not only to the employee, but to the employer as well.
ROBERTS: Governor, you said on the airplane over here from Iowa early on Friday morning, you expected John McCain is going to win here in the granite state. What's your goal in terms of how you do tomorrow night?
HUCKABEE: Well, you know, we come into New Hampshire and most people didn't expect me to be in anywhere about fifth or sixth place, we're going to do better than that. And I think, you know, if we come in anywhere in a third or fourth slot, we are going to be doing great. I would like to do better than that. But, you know, you have people who had a lot more money spent here. They have geographical or maybe deep roots. John McCain has been campaigning here a long time. He has a big base that he has from eight years ago. But we have just incredible crowds coming out. And really energized.
I think we are going to have a good day in New Hampshire tomorrow because voters are looking for a fresh face. I think, they are looking for somebody who understands the struggle in the middle class, who is championing the calls of small business, and nobody else in the Republican ticket is saying, we've got to help small business succeed, because that's where 80 percent of the jobs come from in this country.
ROBERTS: Well, governor, it is always good to talk to you. Thanks for joining us early on this Monday morning. And good luck to you tomorrow.
HUCKABEE: Thank you, John. Great to talk to you again.
ROBERTS: All right. We will see you again soon.
Complete coverage, by the way, of the New Hampshire primaries continues tomorrow morning right here on AMERICAN MORNING. We are live once again from New Hampshire. And then The Best Political Team on Television fires up for live coverage of the New Hampshire primary. Its happening 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. We will be at (INAUDIBLE) Diner down in Manchester tomorrow.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Yes. Meanwhile, it is really busy here. We are talking to a lot of people this morning. We have a mix of everybody besides the politics. Of course, you can see the political posters up all over the place. We have undecided voters. We first-time voters. With people that are deciding between a Democrat and a Republican. As we said, there's a lot of independent voters in this state. So a lot going on. And we're going to get -- we are just going to set the scene for and you talk to a few of the people who are here at the grill this morning when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
Also ahead, we have our Veronica De La Cruz. She is in Las Vegas. She is at the Consumers Electronics Show. You know, last year, it was the iPod that was the big, hot, new gadget. What is it this year? She is going to fill us in when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, it's just one day to go, the push is on by presidential candidates to sway undecided voters their way and there are a lot of them for sure here in New Hampshire. Joining me now is Bill O'Neil. He is a Democratic voter who still has not made up his mind. And he got a little visit yesterday from Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea. They stopped by his home in Manchester. They talked with them right on his front, trying to help him make up his mind.
Bill O'Neil joins me this morning. Thanks for being here. They're trying to make you make up your mind and get rid the Edwards for president (INAUDIBLE).
BILL O'NEIL, UNDECIDED N.H. VOTER: She did cry. It was very impressive.
CHETRY: What was it like when she came up to talk to you?
O'NEIL: Well first of all, I was very surprised that she came to the door. And I was very impressed that -- the personal attention that she gave to any questions that I had for her, any issues that I had, it was very impressive.
CHETRY: Now, would you say it is safe to say you've met Obama and you've met Edwards and you like all three?
O'NEIL: Yes. All three.
CHETRY: What are the issues then that are going to ultimately change your mind?
O'NEIL: The issues are probably the first thing are jobs. Jobs in America. Jobs in New Hampshire. They just had a few articles out recently, where a lot of children in New Hampshire -- I have four kids. And a lot of children in New Hampshire leave New Hampshire. They work here, I mean, go to school here and then they leave to go to other cities for work. And my issue is keeping the technology here in the state of New Hampshire.
For example, the Verizon-FairPoint deal. Verizon wants to leave New Hampshire. And that's technology. That's FiOS technology. That wants to leave New Hampshire as oppose to a rural company coming in here and offering 1980s technology. That's going to hurt New Hampshire. And that's going to hurt us. That's one of many issues. I mean, oil prices. I mean, there are tons and tons of issues. And -- know what's probably like the biggest things, especially like jobs, jobs in New Hampshire. Why does -- why do oil companies have to triple their profits? And still, you know, $3.11 a gallon for oil.
CHETRY: Let me ask you this. You said that this is going to be the biggest decision that you've made in your lifetime.
O'NEIL: Yes.
CHETRY: A lot has been made over the change versus experience. Obama representing change and Clinton representing look 35 years of being able to get things done. What in your mind is going to ultimately make you decide on the issues you care about, who do you believe is going to do a better job?
O'NEIL: Like I said, all three of them I think would do an excellent job. It's just for me to finish doing my homework and pinpoint which one would do the best job and do the job with Congress and make big changes in this country. Because really corporate America has taken over this country and with this administration that's in there now, they've really set us back. And we need definite change. We definitely need a complete 360 around. We have to really give America back to the middle class.
CHETRY: You are going to the polls when tonight?
O'NEIL: Tomorrow.
CHETRY: Tomorrow. Are you going in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening?
O'NEIL: Probably in the morning. I always...
CHETRY: You will make up your mind by tonight?
O'NEIL: Yes, yes. I have to make up my mind, so I have a lot of homework to do tonight.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we are going to speaking with John Edwards coming up a little bit later in the show. Maybe something that he says will help your -- change your opinion. We will certainly be asking him about those big issues like oil prices and jobs. Bill O'Neil. Thanks so much for being with us.
O'NEIL: Thank you. Thank you very much.
CHETRY: Thanks for spending your time with us this morning.
So as we said, John, a lot of people like Bill, still have not make up their mind and they only have, really hours, if you will, to decide.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, it's more 50 percent on the Republican side. A little less than that on the Democratic side. But a lot of people could sure change the way that this race is going.
Hey, coming up, the newest and hottest gadgets on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. We are live in Vegas with a look at the must-have items.
And the desperate search for two families. Missing all weekend after a snowmobile ride in heavy snow. We are live from the search scene. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ten minutes now to the top of the hour. Rescue teams face extreme conditions today as they search for eight people missing in the rugged mountains of Southern Colorado. Two couples and their two children were on a snowmobiling trip near the New Mexico border. And two skiers are missing near the Wolf Creek ski area in southwestern Colorado.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is live in Antonito, Colorado for us this morning. Thelma, rugged terrain. The snow there, still coming down. It's got to be making search efforts very difficult today.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. In fact, I was talking to the sheriff a little bit earlier. He says that is an understatement. The visibility up in the pass is only three to ten feet and they haven't been able to actually conduct this search by air. In about 3 1/2 hours, though, 20 volunteers will gather here at Conejos County sheriff's department. They will go up in their snowmobiles. And for the third day now, look for the families and hope that they are alive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ: A frantic search in the deep snow for two families. Jason Groen, his wife, and 14-year-old daughter. And their friends, Mike Martin, his wife, and 13-year-old son. They went snowmobiling north of Cumbres Pass, near the New Mexico border on Friday. They were supposed to return home that evening when a fierce winter storm dumped about four feet of snow in the 10 thousand-foot town. A search from the New Mexico side had to be suspended because of dangerous avalanche conditions. Frustrating for Jason Groen's father.
LARRY GROEN, FATHER OF JASON GROEN: Well, you have a lot of mixed emotions of what is really going on. We pray that he is in a cabin somewhere and that they are safe.
GUTIERREZ: In southern Colorado near the Wolf Creek Ski Area, a search is on for two missing skiers. Michael George and Kyle Kurchen (ph) haven't been seen since Friday. Their car was found in a parking lot at the resort but no signs of the men. Nerve-racking for their families.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are very, very concerned and worried.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help is on the way. And you know, just stay strong. Not to leave each other. That's the biggest thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ: Now, the skiers' family says that they are very concerned because the men probably went out -- went up to the mountain without provisions. Because they were at the resort and there are restaurants up there.
As for the snowboarder's families, they are saying that one of the men is very experienced and likely carried with him a shovel, food, and also an avalanche beacon. And so they are hopeful that perhaps they found a cabin and they are holed up there just waiting for this storm to break.
John?
ROBERTS: And if not a cabin, perhaps, even a snow cave. Because, we have seen many, many people survive in hellacious conditions in the mountains simply by digging a snow cave. Thelma Gutierrez for us this morning in Antonito, Colorado. Thelma, thanks very much.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, all the must-have gadgets are on display right now at the Las Vegas 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. Our Veronica De La Cruz is there checking out some of the cool ones. Last year, it was the iPod. Is there a big thing for 2008, Veronica?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kiran. You know, I have got something for you. This is the Ego- Lifestyle Notebook. Take a look at this. This is a fashion notebook. It comes with clips with Windows Vista operating system. But, check this out, Kiran. Look at that. Swarovski crystals, animal fur. This thing retails for $7,500 to $10,000. And it comes equipped with other skin. Now there about 20 to 30 different skins to choose from. I thought that you would like that, Kiran.
Now, I have also got something here for, John. John, I have a helmet for you. Don't take that the wrong way. This is actually a wearable camcorder. And it shoots action video hands-free. Really, super simple. Let's say you go on a ski trip with your family. You know, dad sitting there with the camcorder. He's like skiing at the same time. Well, that's going to alleviate all this. You just put this on your head. Also you can take this off and you can attach it to other places.
So this is a detachable camera, all you do is -- use a USB cable and you can upload your videos. It's super simple to use. This is just a sample of what we have seen so far at the International Computer Electronics Show. The doors open this morning at 10:00 a.m. and the show goes until Thursday. So I know we are going to see a ton more products and if you keep it here to CNN, we are going to be taking a look at a lot of that throughout the day.
In the meantime, we want you to send your I-reports. Send us your favorite gadgets. Maybe your ideal gadgets. Send us an e-mail. You can send us pictures and video by logging on to cnn.com/i-report.
Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good, Veronica. I meant to say iPhone.
DE LA CRUZ: Did you like your fashion laptop? I got this just for you.
CHETRY: I love that.
DE LA CRUZ: I got this just for you.
CHETRY: I really love that. I think that's pretty cool. And I love the helmet for John. You can file I-reports from New Hampshire.
ROBERTS: I'll tell you that next time I go windsuit jumping I will use that helmet.
CHETRY: Thanks, Veronica.
ROBERTS: Hey, McDonald's is looking to take another bite out of Starbucks. Tops you "Quick Hits" now. The fast food chain will begin adding coffee bars at its nearly 14,000 locations, according to the "The Wall Street Journal." McDonald's and Starbucks have slowly been moving in on each other's territory over the past few years. McDonald's upgraded its coffee and Starbucks added drive-through and breakfast sandwiches. Going head to head increasingly.
A fire chief accused of taking advantage of a woman who was taking her final breaths. The topless photos taken at the crash scene could get him fired. My goodness.
And coming up, we will be speaking with democratic presidential candidate Governor Bill Richardson. Live from the City Side Grille here in Concord, New Hampshire. We'll ask the governor, why he feels that he has the best foreign policy experience and what he would to boost America's security. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Making change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Change for good. Change for bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: 24 hours to go in New Hampshire. What does the new campaign buzz word really mean? We are live with potential presidents. Bill Richardson and John Edwards.
Flooded and frozen. Eight feet of icy water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad. Real bad. What's not high is lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And a record snowstorm. This morning, the desperate search for two families missing on snowmobiles.
Plus, a view of the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a product called the Invisible Show that's hard to demonstrate because it's invisible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: What's new and coming your way from the Consumer Electronic Show? Live from Las Vegas.
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