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American Morning
Hunt for Votes in New Hampshire; Bloomberg Due at Unity Forum; Deadly Bus Crash; Lost in the Snow; Obama Widens Lead; Clemens Denies Steroid Use
Aired January 07, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Obviously something happened there but welcome back. Here we are at the City Side Grill in Concord, New Hampshire. It's January the 7th which means the day before the New Hampshire primaries, all important date in the American political calendar, everybody wondering which way it's going to go.
Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Made all the more exciting by the fact that from the Iowa caucuses to now, we've seen a lot of changes in the polling. All of it seems to show a big surge for Senator Barack Obama on the democratic side and also really a field up for grabs from the GOP so a lot going on. We're talking about what it's going to take to convince some of the undecided and the all important independent voters and a lot of them here in this state. There are people here in the room right now who are split between let's say John McCain and Edwards so a lot of minds still need to be made up as we move into the final hours.
ROBERTS: You know our latest CNN/WMUR poll showed that on the republican side, the majority of voters still have not made up their mind. Slightly in the minority for the democrats, but there are so many undecided voters out there and so many independents, which can go either way as well. It's going to be interesting to see how those people vote. Will they go in with Obama as they did in Iowa or might they go to John McCain and even Ron Paul here?
CHETRY: Something very unique to these early primary states is that you literally hear a knock on the door, it's Hillary Clinton or it's John Edwards.
ROBERTS: Retail politics.
CHETRY: Yeah. Ask them one on one. I want to hear more about your policies on let's say the environment or heath care. It's that one on one touch that really makes as difference in these states and ultimately could push one of the candidates over the edge a couple votes in any direction.
Meanwhile, we're going to start off by talking about the last campaigning day. It's today, before the New Hampshire primary which is set for tomorrow. The republican candidates are taking their best shots at each other just as a new poll shows that the race is tightening. In fact, the new CNN/WMUR primary poll, which was conducted by the University of New Hampshire, has John McCain now leading the pack at 32 percent, Mitt Romney with 23 percent, Mike Huckabee getting a bit of a bounce from his win in Iowa. He's in third place, jumping past Rudy Giuliani who is standing at 11 percent right now and Ron Paul with 10 percent of the vote.
Mary Snow was with Mitt Romney all weekend and she joins us now to talk more about what else he's doing on the ground. A lot of people praising him for a debate that he did last night, saying that he really did a good job and was able to bring some of those people who were not quite sold on him around.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sure that was music to the ears of the Romney campaign, because he is really in a tight spot. He had anticipated winning here. He had been the front-runner. And as you just mentioned, John McCain has been surging in popularity. Mitt Romney does not want to suffer another setback because after Iowa. So when you're talking about so many republicans undecided, he and John McCain have really stacked their schedules to really reach them but you know, it is such a contentious battle among republican candidates. Saturday there was a debate and Mitt Romney really came under heavy fire. He was much more aggressive last night. He's been trying to really take aim at John McCain over immigration and he's been fine tuning his strategy saying that he is the agent of change. We have a little bit of a clip from that debate last night. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's a very dramatic difference between talking about change and getting together in the cloakroom and working ideas with other senators and actually having led an organization with executive leadership skill.
JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I led the largest quadrant in the United States Navy. Not for profit but for patriotism. I'm proud of that record of leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: While we're hearing some of the back and forth, and there was a lot of back and forth actually between McCain and Romney, it doesn't seem like those two would necessarily let's say go have a beer and watch a football game together. How is Romney changing his strategy?
SNOW: Well you know, as soon as he left Iowa, you could tell that there was a change. He started trying to position himself as the candidate of change, really harping on Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee's wins and even the settings. He put up a to-do list at his campaign events, kind of brushed aside some of the anecdotes that he was telling in Iowa, really sharpening his focus and trying to say, look I am not a Washington insider. That's his main thing.
CHETRY: So everyone's picking up on this notion that change is quite important. They're just trying to position themselves, saying here's what I've done that proves that I'm a candidate of change. So it will be interesting to see whether or not the voters respond to that here in New Hampshire. Mary Snow, great to see you. Thanks a lot.
SNOW: Sure.
CHETRY: Well, he's hoping that the buzz translates into big things in New Hampshire. Congressman Ron Paul will be joining us at the bottom of the hour. He's live with us on AMERICAN MORNING coming up. John?
ROBERTS: All right, Kiran. Checking on things on the democratic side of the fence, here's what our latest CNN/WMUR poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire shows, Barack Obama obviously getting a bounce, a big one, out of Iowa. It was all even up at 33 percent in our last poll. Take a look now. 39 percent is the new number for Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton, ten points behind at 29 percent there. John Edwards back at 16 percent and Bill Richardson rounding out at 7 percent. So obviously, even though people in the grandest state like to say they don't care what happens elsewhere in the country prior to this first in the name primary, there's some indication that Barack Obama came out of Iowa with a huge head of steam.
You know this is not the only political gathering going on in the nation right now. In Norman, Oklahoma, a bipartisan group are getting together, republicans and democrats, to talk about a way forward. And could this be leading to a potential independent candidacy for New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg? That's what everybody wants to know, because he is one of the key participants in that forum.
Our Jim Acosta is in Norman, Oklahoma live for us this morning. Jim, exactly what is going on out there?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this is curiously timed, won't you admit? Just on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. This bipartisan forum featuring some of the nation's most respected political elders is being built as you put it, as sort of a wake-up call to the two political parties to get serious about solving the nation's problems, but there is a potentially bigger event happening here. That is perhaps the beginnings of an independent presidential bid by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The mayor, who has repeatedly said he is not running for president, arrived here in Oklahoma last night for dinner with meetings to host, former Senators David Bourne and Sam Nunn. Both Bourne and Nunn have both said that the nation's problems are simply too big, that the country simply cannot afford another four years of bipartisan bickering in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM NUNN, FMR. U.S. SENATOR: We believe the country has serious problems and we believe the country let partisanship lead to polarization and we have to find a way to re-align that and get people discussing fundamental issues and give the next president of the United States a chance to really govern successfully.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: And one of the other participants at this, former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, has also been mentioned as a possible independent presidential contender, but it is Bloomberg, the democrat turned republican turned independent who is also a billionaire, he could potentially tap into his personal fortune, to mount an independent presidential bid against the two major political parties. Over the weekend, one of his pollsters told the "Los Angeles Times" that some time over the next couple of months, Mayor Bloomberg will make a final decision about running for president, and David Bourne told us on Friday that he could perhaps reconvene this group, this bipartisan forum, after Super Tuesday in February, after they get another sense of what the political field looks like. John.
ROBERTS: Interesting, Jim. You know a lot of people are saying the dream ticket would be Mike Bloomberg and Chuck Hagel. We'll see how that one shapes up. Jim Acosta for us this morning at that bipartisan meeting in Norman, Oklahoma; Jim, thanks very much. Kiran?
CHETRY: All the other headlines this morning. From New York, our Alina Cho is with us. Hey Alina, following the latest developments on this horrific accident out of Utah.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. Good morning to you. We are following that breaking news out of Utah right now. A bus crashed overnight killing at least seven people, 20 others were injured. The Utah highway patrol said the bus was heading from Telluride, Colorado to Phoenix when it flipped over near the town of Mexican Hat. No word on a cause, but heavy snow has been falling there all weekend.
And hundreds of people are out of their homes in Nevada after a fierce winter storm. A levy gave way on Saturday. It happened in Fernley, Nevada. That's about 30 miles from Reno. Hundreds of homes were flooded with as much as eight feet of icy water. Some folks had to be rescued by boat and helicopter. Some plan to return home this morning. So some encouraging news there.
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 southwest Colorado. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is live in Colorado. Thelma, this is rugged terrain. The snow is still coming down. I know the search was suspended over the weekend. Do you think rescuers are going to be able to get back out there today?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, in fact, Alina, I talked to a rescuer just a short time ago. He told me that they are planning to head up in the next couple of hours. Now, this path has been closed, the road, highway 17, has been closed because the conditions up there are so bad. Rescuers say there are whiteout conditions. They're working in literally zero visibility. But they are gathering here in a couple of hours. They'll be heading up the mountain, and they're only taking volunteers who were raised in this area, who know this country intimately, because they say it's so dangerous. (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, and his wife and 13-year-old son. They went snowmobiling north of Cooper's Path 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 10,000-foot path. 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's in a cabin somewhere, and that they're safe.
GUTIERREZ: In southern Colorado, near the Wolf Creek ski area, a search is on for two missing skiers. Michael George and Kyle Kerchin haven't been seen this Friday. Their car found in a parking lot at the resort, but no sign of the men. Nerve-racking for their families.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're very, very concerned and worried.
MISSY GEORGE: 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 sheriff says there is a reason to be hopeful. The area up in the pass where these families are believed to be is dotted with cabins out there, and they're hoping perhaps these families found their way to the cabins and that they are taking up shelter there. Alina?
CHO: Fingers crossed for everybody out there. Thelma Gutierrez, live for us from Colorado, Thelma, thanks.
And we end with this programming note, a very happy one for all of us here in the CNN family. Nancy Grace returns to her show tonight two months after giving birth to her twins Lucy Elizabeth and John David. There's the happy mother there and her babies. The twins were born a little early, but everybody is doing just fine. Nancy Grace, by the way airs, tonight and every night on "CNN HEADLINE NEWS" at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. Welcome back, Nancy.
With that we send it back up to Kiran at the City Side Grill. Kiran, I would say bring me back home fries but by the time you get back, they won't be so good anymore.
CHETRY: They're so incredible. I just asked them if we could take the recipe back to New York. They haven't gotten back to me on that one. Thanks, Alina.
Meanwhile, get you caught up on a couple other stories this morning. Reconstructing the tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo. Police say they want to examine the cell phones of the two brothers who were mauled but survived that attack by the 350-pound tiger. They're looking for possible text messages or photos, possibly showing them taunting the tiger. The brothers' attorney, Mark Geragos, is denying this. He says that cell phone records will show that his clients tried for more than half an hour to notify the zoo that the tiger escaped. He's claiming that those desperate and frantic cries were largely ignored until it was too late.
Britney Spears getting a house call from TV's Dr. Phil. Apparently he met with her Saturday morning, going to visit her at one point in the hospital. Dr. Phil says Britney is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention and plans to devote a taping of his show to the singer's problems. Spears was taken to an L.A. hospital last week after a fight with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, over their two sons. In an emergency hearing on Friday, Federline was then granted sole custody of the boys with no visitation for Britney.
Still ahead, an angry Roger Clemens fires back at his former trainer who accused him of using steroids. We're going to tell you what Clemens said and did coming up.
And still ahead, a brand new poll, if it's any indication, Barack Obama may be about to do it again in New Hampshire. Hillary Clinton finding herself on the defensive and down in the polls. But what is she doing to fight back? CNN's Candy Crowley will be live on AMERICAN MORNING, special edition of AMERICAN MORNING, live from Concord, New Hampshire, in the hours before this state goes to the polls.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to a live edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We're always live, but we're live on location in Concord, New Hampshire at the City Side Grille where steak and eggs are making their way with politics this morning as people get ready to decide.
We've had a chance to talk to a lot of the candidates this morning. In fact, earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we talked with Mike Huckabee for the GOP. All morning long we've been talking to the various candidates and Mike Huckabee of course as you know won the caucuses. He's polling in third place here in New Hampshire. We asked him about the attacks and the counterattacks he's been trading with Mitt Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not the one who's 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 on the second amendment are consistent, and I've used sanctity of life, consistent, not only what I say but what I've done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: He's also lowering expectations here in the state saying he believes Senator McCain will win and he considers a third place finish a victory. I also had a chance a few minutes ago to speak with John Edwards on the democratic side; the former senator talking a little about why he would be the best choice and how he would help explaining his message to voters about the middle class.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You give tax breaks to middle class families, tax breaks to small business. You create a health care system that works for small businesses and saves health care costs. All of these things make small businesses stronger, more viable. What's been happening in America is, it's big, corporate business and big multi-national corporations that have entirely too much influence on the policy in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: By the way, just a quick look again at the polls. Edwards is third, but he's more than 20 points behind the front-runner in the state, Barack Obama; he of course swept out a second-place finish, finishing about a point ahead of Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucuses. John?
ROBERTS: Senator Barack Obama is his widening his lead thousand. Ten points over Senator Hillary Clinton in our new CNN/WMUR poll. Candy Crowley is CNN's senior political correspondent. She joins us now. Good morning to you. This whole thing with Barack Obama right now is it a result of the results in Iowa or this idea his message of change finally caught fire across the country?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean --
ROBERTS: Everything?
CROWLEY: It really is everything. I mean, obviously, he did get a bounce coming out of Iowa. People began to look at him in New Hampshire. So that doesn't necessarily give him those votes, but it gives him a lot of eyeballs on his campaign.
ROBERTS: What about this fiercely independent state that doesn't look at other states according to everybody you talk to as far as a lead on how they'll vote?
CROWLEY: Exactly but we also know there's a huge amount of undecided voters here. They're looking all around. Barack Obama pops up into the headlines. He's also, you know, looks different. He's selling you know, change. He's obviously in himself change; perhaps the first black American that will get into the White House. So he's selling both himself as well as his message, and obviously, change, as you've been talking about all morning, is the thing to be, and he's the one that's been on that from the get-go.
ROBERTS: This has got to be a sharp slap in the face for the Hillary Clinton campaign, which has been leading here in New Hampshire, spent all that money, great name recognition, Bill Clinton did so well here in 1992. He's been running around this state. How devastating would a loss for her be near the granite state and what is she doing to prevent that from happening?
CROWLEY: It would not be good, let's put it that way. I mean obviously they say that we are in this for the long haul. We're going to get to the February states on Super Duper Tuesday, where she has name recognition, she's got money to put the ads up on the air and couch potato races as opposed to this kind of retail campaigning that you do here. What's she doing? She's saying, listen, this guy doesn't have the record that shows he's about change. It's not change just to talk about it. Look at his record. They're trying very hard to point reporters at discrepancies in his record to say, listen you know, he says he was against the war, but he voted for war funding. That's not change. So they're being very specific in going after him.
ROBERTS: Now, the last time that she took on this very aggressive attack-style of politics, it didn't work out so well for her. How will it play this time around?
CROWLEY: The fact of the matter is, because she has this public persona, people saying, listen, she's cold, she's calculating, kind of this cold, aura around her, it doesn't work well when she goes after anybody, but the fact of the matter is, when you are behind, as she is right now, at least as the polls tell us, you got to do something, and that means you got to be aggressive. So you go for it.
ROBERTS: I don't know, is it a Hail Mary for her at this point?
CROWLEY: I don't think it's that -- that dire, but obviously, you don't want to go in a two-time loser by the time you roll in, into South Carolina, Michigan and beyond.
ROBERTS: Candy, always good to talk to you. Have a good day on the trail. Look forward to talking to you again tomorrow. Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to talk more about Roger Clemens, what he said and did yesterday when it comes to accusations of steroid use. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
And also ahead, we're going to talk about Starbucks. There is a new heavyweight muscling its way into the coffee bar business, but will it work? We'll talk about that as well ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Major league baseball pitcher Roger Clemens stands his ground in his very first public interview since 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 VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE WALLACE, 60 MINUTES CORRESPONDENT: Never, never a human growth hormone?
ROGER CLEMENS, DENIES STEROID ALLEGATIONS: 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, some say they're not. Do whatever.
WALLACE: As far as you're concerned --
CLEMENS: Yeah. I don't know if they're good or bad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit last night against McNamee just before CBS aired that interview. Clemens has a news conference scheduled for this afternoon and could appear before congress next week. Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Well, extreme flexibility on wheels. This is your Hot Shot. The first time we saw it, we all literally just had to look twice. This is a 6-year-old kid in India who wins in the flexibility department. Now he's trying to break his own record by limbo skating, that's what they call that, under 100 cars in under a minute. His personal best so far, 57. He can keep that position and slide under 57 cars, legs bent, chest bent forward, his chin almost skipping the road, but, hey, wears a helmet. He's safe. He's no more than eight inches above the ground when he vanishes underneath the cars. He's been skating he says 60 miles a week to get ready. So again, he's attempting to break the world record, which would mean he would hold that position under 100 cars.
ROBERTS: That is downright weird, just to the see a person that flexible.
CHETRY: Well, how about it? If you've got a Hot Shot, send it to us. The address is amhotshots@cnn.com. But sure to include your name, where you're from, a little about your picture or video and make sure the image is yours. You have to be born with that flexibility.
ROBERTS: Almost looks mechanical. Doesn't it? Likes a little transformer.
CHETRY: Well, meanwhile, it's coming up right now to about, what, almost at the bottom of the hour now. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business," a down day on Wall Street.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can't pay attention when you keep running that kid before me. Why does he have to do 100 cars? Once he's under one, that's kind of an accomplishment.
Anyway I want to tell you, you're sitting there, I see a cup of coffee, you're in a diner. This one's more you. All of you following the campaign on a regular basis are up very early and having to drink coffee. You know I try and tend to stay away from Starbucks. I see no particular reason to order my coffee size in Italian and pay more money than it costs me to take a cab to work but I do happen to frequent McDonald's and they are taking yet another chunk out of Starbucks now announcing most of its stores by the end of the year will employ baristas, the people who make the coffee, selling lattes and frapachinos and fancy drinks like that.
You know a couple years ago, McDonald's got into the premium coffee business. Unbelievable how well it did for the company. They felt that some people who would otherwise go McDonald's because it was convenient or getting breakfast there would go somewhere else to get fancy coffee or bottled water or fancy teas and all that. McDonald's is starting to do more of that. Trail thousand espresso machines at the front the store. Another big departure for McDonald's because mostly they hide food preparation. They were selling more in test markets when the barista was facing customer. McDonald's should get over the name, it's still the drinks priced from $2 to $3.30, get flavors in them, whipped cream in you'd like. McDonald's is also considering selling Mountain Dew and Red Bull, both of which are huge caffeine drinks. John, more options at McDonald's over the course of the next year.
ROBERTS: All right. You can always use more options. Ali Velshi, thanks so much. You're watching the most news in the morning here on CNN.
It was snubbed but his support continues to grow. Republican Ron Paul gets his show to speak out on, next on AMERICAN MORNING.
And dozens killed in a massive fire in South Korea. Dramatic pictures ahead.
And today's headlines, when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Here's a shot this morning coming to us from WWL in New Orleans, Louisiana, where it is shaping up to be 74 degrees today and a huge, huge night in Louisiana. The national championship, college game, played O.S.U. versus L.S.U. tonight. So, a lot of people are going to be turning out. It looks like the weather is going to be good. Hopefully the game will be good as well.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: If you got good weather, you want to have a good game. Right? CHETRY: Absolutely. And speaking of good weather, on this Monday, January 7th, we're coming to you on a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING live in Concord, New Hampshire, where it's a balmy 40 degrees compared to what it was like over the weekend. And last week, we lucked out.
ROBERTS: You know, people were saying that Iowa was cold. New Hampshire was pretty much as cold as Iowa was.
CHETRY: That's right. And now we're seeing, of course, 40-degree temperatures. 60s for New York and I think, you said, it was getting up to 70s.
ROBERTS: 70s in Washington, yes. And then you know, tremendous amount of excitement surrounding this primary. So that combined with good weather could bring out a record turnout here tomorrow.
CHETRY: Everyone you talk to is planning on voting. The big question is who the heck are they going to pick? A lot of undecideds.
ROBERTS: And you know, voters in New Hampshire, typically, much more so in Iowa, really playing this primary. Because it's not just a series of meetings that happen over the course of a couple of hours at night. It's an all-day voting thing, actually Dixifield Notch opens up at midnight. That's when people traditionally cast the first votes there. So, it brings out a lot of participation. It will be interesting to see the outcome. Hey, a new CNN-WMUR poll gives us some indication of how it might turn out. Senator Barack Obama opening up a double-digit lead here in New Hampshire. Former Senator John Edwards more than 20 points back in that poll. He joined us earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, pushing his plan for the middle class.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: you give tax breaks to middle class families, tax breaks to small business, you create a health care system that works for small businesses, and saves health care costs. All of these things make small businesses stronger, more viable. What's been happening in America is, it's big corporate business and big multi-national corporations that have entirely too much influence on the policy in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We also talked this morning with Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico. He is setting his sights on undecided voters, he say he can ease New Hampshire voters concerns about their money.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I say is that with Bill Richardson you get change and you get experience. You got to have experience to change things. You got to have a record. I've got a foreign policy record as U.N. ambassador, as energy secretary. I - as governor, I'm the only one that's managed and the only one that created jobs.
You know, look at New Hampshire. The problem here is that half of the graduates that graduate from college leave the state, because there are not enough high-wage jobs. Nobody in this campaign is talking about the economy and jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Richardson is currently polling in fourth place with 7 percent of voters throwing their support behind him. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, early on AMERICAN MORNING, we talked with republican Mike Huckabee. Mike Huckabee of course the winner in Iowa. He is polling well behind, Mitt Romney and John McCain here on New Hampshire.
Huckabee says he expects McCain to win but he also said that he doesn't need to come in first to claim victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We come into New Hampshire and most people didn't expect me to be in anywhere but about 5th or 6th place. We're going to do better than that. And I think, you know, if we come in anywhere in the 3rd and 4th slot, we're going to be doing great. I'd like to do better than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Huckabee says he's been outspent and out campaigned by McCain in New Hampshire but he says his supporters are energized and ready to vote.
Yet another presidential hopeful joins us in just a few minutes. Ron Paul, congressman, he will be joining us live to talk about his surprise finish in Iowa and his hopes for New Hampshire as well. That's coming up at 8:40 a.m. Eastern time, just a couple minutes from now. John.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.
You know, one of the most interesting things about New Hampshire is the number of independent voters that there are in the state. It's up to 40 percent or so of the electorate considers themselves to be independent. They can vote either way in tomorrow's primary and it is well particularly on the republican side. There's still a huge number of undecided voters. Some 50, I think 7 percent of voters on the republican side, still haven't made up their minds about which way to go.
So, let's talk with some folks this morning. One of them independent, two of them undecided republicans. We got Sheridan Cudworth here. Good morning, good to see you. She just turned 18 years old. This is going to be her first time to both in the primary. Jenilan Chadwick over here with a new baby. We could imagine what some of your concerns will be and Dave Livingston as well. Let me ask you first, Sheridan, have you made up your mind yet? You're registering as an independent. Have you made up your mind yet on who to vote for?
SHERIDAN CUDWORTH, UNDECIDED N.H. VOTER: I'm leaning towards one candidate, mostly John Edwards. Mostly because he is a democrat and I like his education reform. But because he is looking towards making education more affordable, that would raise taxes, and knowing that, I am leaning towards John McCain as well because I know that would lower taxes. So, I'm kind of conflicted because I don't want to pay for college and then having to pay a lot more money in taxes after the fact.
ROBERTS: It's really interesting that you are on the fence between a democrat, quite a populist democrat, quite a liberal democrat, and a republican.
CUDWORTH: Yes, but a more conservative republican. More liberal republican.
ROBERTS: Moderate, but he likes to say he's got a very conservative record. Jenilan, what are the issues for you? Your split between Giuliani and McCain?
JENILAN CHADWICK, UNDECIDED N.H. VOTER: The immigration reform also the fact that we want to become an energy dependent country, kind of looking at what they're doing for the environment, and just the future for, you know.
ROBERTS: So, what is it that will help you make up your mind between those two candidate tomorrow?
CHADWICK: I want to - still listening to what they're going to say but deciding which one will actually accomplish the goals of order, you know, the board of security, things like that.
ROBERTS: And Dave, any candidates you're trying to decide between?
DAVE LIVINGSTON, UNDECIDED N.H. VOTER: Yes. I really - you listen to all the candidates speak, and they all tell you we're going to do everything for everybody, and they can't. And the candidates speak and they want to promise you this, and I think deep in their own minds they know they can't deliver it. So the message of consistency, somebody that's there, that isn't going to waffle, that you can pretty much take to the bank, if you will.
ROBERTS: So, who do you think you can take to the bank at this point?
LIVINGSTON: I'm not sure. I don't know.
ROBERTS: Wow. You only got 24 hours to make up your mind.
LIVINGSTON: I understand.
ROBERTS: What are you looking for to hear today that will help you make up your mind?
LIVINGSTON: I will have to wait and see. When I step into the poll tomorrow, when I step in the booth, I'll make my mind up there.
ROBERTS: When you know, when you feel it, then you'll know.
LIVINGSTON: Yes.
ROBERTS: All right. Dave Livingston, Jenilan Chadwick and Sheridan Cudworth. Thanks very much for being with us this morning. Good luck voting in your first primary.
CUDWORTH: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Exciting times ahead. Don't forget that CNN continues our coverage of these New Hampshire primaries. Tomorrow morning, we'll be at the Shaye (inaudible) Diner in downtown Manchester and then of course we have got the best political team on television covering the New Hampshire primaries as the results come in. That's tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Make sure you're around for that.
A lot of other news this morning. For that, let's go up to New York and here's Alina Cho. Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, John. Good morning.
We're following some breaking news now out of the Middle East, an incident between the U.S. Navy and Iranian forces. CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon. Barbara, I know this story is still developing. What do you know at this point?
BARBARA STARR, CNN, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alina, CNN has learned now from several U.S. military and defense officials there was a significant, in their words, incident with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Naval Forces Saturday night in the Persian Gulf, in the strait of Hormuz, in international waters. U.S. officials are confirming to CNN that five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats, in their words, harassed and provoked three U.S. Navy warships sailing in the strait of Hormuz. One of those Iranian boats came within 200 yards of a navy warship. Again, these are international waters and, of course, a choke point for the world's oil supplies.
According to the sources we have spoken to, the Iranians made threatening moves and threatening radio transmissions. One U.S. official confirms to CNN that one of those Iranian radio transmissions to the U.S. Navy was, "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes." This official also tells CNN when that radio transmission was heard, the navy went to manning its positions, its gun positions on those ships, and that they were very close to shooting at one of the Iranian boats. In fact, they were ready to shoot.
The orders had been give when the Iranians suddenly turned away, Alina. So, of course, now the question is what were the Iranians up to? Why did they take the U.S. Navy on in international waters? Again, one official say this incident is significant. They are very concerned about what has happened. Alina.
CHO: I know Pentagon officials are watching this very closely. No shots fired, nobody killed. That is the good news but certainly a close call. And again, lots of questions. Barbara Starr, you're watching all of it for us. We'll check back with you later.
We're going to send it back up to Kiran in New Hampshire. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Alina, thanks.
Well, he was denied TV time in a debate last night but Ron Paul will join Jay Leno a bit later on and he's going to be here with us on AMERICAN MORNING, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, he was left out of the republican forum last night but Congressman Ron Paul traded that for an appearance on Jay Leno and he joins us now live from L.A. where he did tape that appearance and he's still out there this morning. Congressman Paul, thanks for being with us. Great to see you and thanks for being with us.
REP. RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nice to be with you. Thank you.
CHETRY: You know, you were excluded last night from a debate that aired. It was a forum that aired last night on Fox. They claim it's because you didn't have 10 percent or more nationally. But do you believe that voters should still get a chance to hear from you? You're a candidate pulling in delegates. Do you think voters were cheated because you weren't on last night?
PAUL: Well, obviously so. I think this is an awful embarrassment for Fox to do something like this. We got 10 percent in Iowa. We raised more money than any other candidate in the republican side in the last quarter, and our polls in New Hampshire are much better than Giuliani. We beat Giuliani two to one. All of a sudden they say that I don't qualify to be in the debate? I think they're making a mockery of the whole situation and I think they're going to suffer for it, quite frankly, because they've lost all credibility.
CHETRY: It was your supporters once again that really spoke out. Was there ever a chance that they were going to change their minds when they were talking to you and your people about possibly getting you back into that forum or did they hear from you at all?
PAUL: You know, it's interesting. They never talked to us. You know, we even had Fox affiliates around the country calling them. They wouldn't talk to their affiliates and give an explanation when they went on the news. They would interview me but they won't even talk to their affiliates or to me. Fortunately they talked a little bit to the New Hampshire Republican Party, used good sense and they got out of it. They didn't co-sponsor the event. They knew it was a sham, and it didn't represent what New Hampshire stands for. So it was an outrage.
CHETRY: Interestingly enough, though, we did here on CNN re-air the ABC debate that took place the night before, so people did get a chance to hear from you if they were watching last night. One of the issues that was brought up that you were not able to talk about obviously because you weren't there last night was the issue of taxes. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You raised taxes by half a billion dollars. Is that right?
MIKE HUCKABEE: You know, Mitt, let talk about -
ROMNEY: Answer the question. I think you raised more like a billion dollars, not 240.
You know, Mike, you make up facts faster than you talk, and that's telling you something. So, let's slow it down and let's get the facts correct.
HUCKABEE: Just say, saved tens of millions of dollars, saying all negative things. Someone raises a question, you say it's a personal attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: I'm sure you would have gotten into the fray if you were there last night. How would you have responded?
PAUL: Well, from that LITTLE conversation, sounds like I didn't miss a whole lot, but, yes, if I'd have had my chance, I would have been able to defend my position. I've never voted for a tax increase and never will and everybody knows it, because I would like to get rid of the income tax. I don't even want to replace it. I want the government to be shrunk in size. If we get rid of the income tax, we'd still have as much revenues as we had more than ten years ago and we lived up until 1913 without an income tax. So, this nitpicking who raised, who lowered what they did just seemed to be missing the whole point.
The whole point is, why is our government so big? Why are we policing the world? Why do we have a runaway welfare state? And why is our dollar crashing? It's because of our economic system here that we have been spending too much and not only do we tax too much and borrow too much, then we turn around to the federal reserve and expect the federal reserve to bail us out by printing more money and then we wonder why our dollar is weak and why inflation is coming back? I mean, it is astounding that they knit pick over who raised or who lowered taxes 10 years ago.
CHETRY: You know, you believe in the gold standard. A lot of people say it's unrealistic. You're talking about getting rid of income tax. Some financial analysts say that's too simplistic, it wouldn't work. One of the key things, as president, it would be building consensus, getting people to come over to your side. When you're sort of out there with stuff alone in the wilderness with some of these proposals, how would you bring people together and get them to compromise?
PAUL: Well, what is unrealistic is continuing to do what we're doing. What is unrealistic that wealth can come out of a printing press, you just print money. That's what is so unrealistic. It's unrealistic to continue do to do what we're doing. And this is what the young people are realizing. The young people know what kind of a bad deal they're getting, how they are obligated to pay all entitlements in a social security system that is broken. They will have to work for years to come and get nothing out of it.
When they hear this message, they're coming our way. So, everybody who hears this message, our numbers are huge. The big trouble that we have over the last year was you know, getting our message out and now the money is flowing in, the money comes in faster than we can spend it. Because when people hear this message, they get so excited about it. That's why I think we're going to do extremely well with the independents in New Hampshire.
And I think that the foreign policy is a big issue and the main other individuals who want to get an independent vote is John McCain. He wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years. Where are you going to get the money to do this? I mean, this is preposterous to think that we should go and invade a country, occupy a country and claim we should stay 100 years until they obey our orders and do as we tell them. This is just something that is unacceptable to the American people, unacceptable to young people and really unacceptable to the independence of New Hampshire.
CHETRY: All right, is this a message that will resonate with those independent voters today? We'll find out certainly as they go to the polls starting at midnight tonight. Congressman Paul, always great to talk to you. Thanks for being with us.
PAUL: Thank you very much.
ROBERTS: CNN NEWSROOM is just 11 minutes away now, Heidi Collins at the CNN Center in Atlanta with a look at what lies ahead. Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: Good morning, John. That's right. Politics, front and center on the NEWSROOM rundown. A new CNN poll nun numbers from New Hampshire, Barack Obama and John McCain on top going into Tuesday's primary. We're talking about that.
And six snowmobilers and two skiers missing after a Colorado snowstorm. The search grows more urgent this morning.
And baseball great Roger Clemens strikes back with a lawsuit against his former trainer. He defiantly denied steroid use in a "60 Minutes" interview. We'll have that for you as well as all the breaking news when it happens Monday morning in the NEWSROOM at the top of the hour right here on CNN. John.
ROBERTS: Heidi, thanks. We'll see you soon.
From the intersection of politics and humor, John Stewart and Stephen Colbert back on tonight. What will they have to say about the presidential candidates? Our Lola Ogunnaike will have that and developments in the writers' strike coming right up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: So we have Ron Paul headed to Jay Leno's couch, and John Stewart and Stephen Colbert returned to late night tonight without their striking writers. How hard is it to write political comedy and how easy have the candidates headed since they haven't been mocked every night? Our Lola Ogunnaike finds some missed opportunities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE COLBERT REPORT," COMEDY CENTRAL: Fred Thompson is in some hot water. Ah, that is a horrible image to get stuck in your head.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can almost see the presidential candidates shaking in their boot, and it's not from the New Hampshire cold.
COLBERT: The democratic candidates have convened to give basically the same answers to the same questions in what they're dry cleaners will tell you are exactly the same suits.
OGUNNAIKE: Political jokesters John Stewart and Stephen Colbert are back. And even though they're without writers, it's likely that no one who wants to sit in the oval office will be spared.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: They like to bring powerful people down a keg or two. That's exactly the business John Stewart and Stephen Colbert are in.
OGUNNAIKE: Imagine how many pegs they'd be down by now if Comedy Central stars were on the air with writers these last crazy weeks?
And with gems like these to work with.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you prefer diamonds or pearls?
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want both.
OGUNNAIKE: Don't be greedy, Hillary, just pick one.
MITT ROMNEY (r), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I saw the Patriots win the World Series. It doesn't necessarily mean you were there.
OGUNNAIKE: The patriots in the world series? Tom Brady's good, but I'm not sure he can hit a fastball.
SCHNEIDER: Oprah and Obama are just an invitation to satire because first of all look at the names. Oprah, Obama. Obama, Oprah. Oprah, Obama. Obama, Oprah.
OGUNNAIKE: It's coverage that's intended to make you laugh but also make you think.
WARREN LEIGHT, STRIKING WRITER: They're quicker to expose the hypocrisy. And I think that's an important function in a democracy.
OGUNNAIKE: But can Colbert and Stewart keep the laugh coming without their team of writers?
LEIGHT: The best host in the world is good maybe three or four minutes for maybe week. And then he's out of luck.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OGUNNAIKE (on-screen): So we don't know who actually will appear on Colbert or Stewart tonight as guests but we do know is that Ron Paul will be on Leno this evening. Huckabee will be on Letterman, and Scott Baio is actually going to appear on Kimmel. Clearly, Kimmel and Leno are having trouble getting A-list talent. They're actually so desperate that they're appearing on each others shows on Thursday. They're going to interview one another on Thursday. How difficult it is to get guests. So that will be interesting to check out. John.
ROBERTS: Hey, Lola, what about the Golden Globes coming up this Sunday? What are you hearing about the drama surrounding that with regard to the writers' strike?
OGUNNAIKE: Well, it was announced the other afternoon that the actors have decided that they are not going to show up for the Golden Globes. They won't be there to present awards and they will not be there to accept awards. So essentially will there be a show? How do you have a show that celebrates Hollywood if you have no one in Hollywood there?
ROBERTS: Well, perhaps special effects. Lola Ogunnaike for us this morning. Lola, thanks very much.
OGUNNAIKE: Thanks, John.
CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. AMERICAN MORNING live from Concord, New Hampshire, returns in just a sec.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. That's going to wrap it up for us. We'll be live again tomorrow from the Shaye (inaudible) Diner in Manchester. I'm so looking forward to this, because I'm going to introduce to you a dish tomorrow that will knock your socks off. It will be the most incredible thing you have ever eaten. Because Shaye (inaudible) which is sort of a French/Canadian/American restaurant is famous for poutine.
CHETRY: Let me write it down.
ROBERTS: P-o-u-t-i-n-e. CHETRY: All right. You know, it's not a hard sell for a pregnant lady. We'll try anything.
ROBERTS: You will love it. It's the best food in the world.
CHETRY: All right. I got to tell you that today's food is pretty good as well. We're not only talking with the candidates but enjoying steak, eggs benedict and many other things here. We want to thank everyone for their hospitality at the City Side Grill. We had a great time here this morning. And thanks to all the voters.
ROBERTS: Thank you very much, everybody.
CHETRY: We're going to be heading out to the polls. The undecideds, the independents and the people who have already picked their candidates. Thanks for being with us this morning as well. Great to have you here. And we'll see you back here tomorrow.
ROBERTS: Heidi Collins has NEWSROOM starting right now.
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Monday morning. Here's on the rundown for January 7th.
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