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American Morning
The Wide-Open Battle for White House; Deadly Pileup Along Interstate 4; Fierce Storm Swept Across Northern New York; President Bush Sees a New Opportunity for Peace
Aired January 09, 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: New ball game. New Hampshire upset.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're famously independent and they sure showed it last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: How did Hillary do it? And where does Obama go from here?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We know the battle ahead will be long. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And McCain rises again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We sure showed them what a comeback looks like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Anyone's race. The wide-open battle for the White House. On this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning to you. Thanks very much for being with us on this Wednesday, the 9th of January, a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Boy, we're all talking about how bleary eyed this morning because it was a nail biter up until the very end. What we thought would happen and what ended up happen in New Hampshire, two very different things.
ROBERTS: I sleep 90 minutes last night between 7:30 and 9:00, and woke up. We couldn't stop. You know, we couldn't stop watching. Make phone calls, trying to book everybody. It was great.
CHETRY: Yes, right. Because it was, you know, just an improbable comeback. Two of them, actually, and two new winners, and the race still wide open, of course.
In New Hampshire last night, the polls said no way, but the people heading to the polls said something different. It was Hillary Clinton who claimed victory over Barack Obama, just squeaking it out with a two-point win. Exit polling showing that she won back some of the women who overwhelmingly went to Barack Obama in Iowa. We spoke to Senator Clinton about her win earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I don't pay a lot of attention, when people say that I'm up or when people say that I'm down. I sort of, you know, take my own measure of what voters are doing, and I came back from going to all of those polling places, and I really believed that I had a very good chance to win. Nobody else believed it, but all day I did, and I'm very grateful that the people of New Hampshire gave me that victory last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: She wasn't kidding when she said no one else believe it. Even her own campaign conceding that she would lose New Hampshire. On Republican side, Senator John McCain beating Mitt Romney. His campaign was left for dead over the summer. He was down in the polls. He was down in the bank account. But independent voters sent McCain over the top in New Hampshire. Here's what he said about his comeback.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: In a time of war and the terrible sacrifices it entails, the promise of a better future is not always clear, but I promise you, my friends, we face no enemy, no matter how cruel, and no challenge, no matter how daunting, greater than the courage, patriotism and determination of Americans. We are the makers of history, not its victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Exit polls show that those who supported Senator McCain thought that the war in Iraq was the most important issue for them and those who voted for Mitt Romney said that immigration was most important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: After riding a wave of momentum from Iowa, the tides have turned for Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee. Mitt Romney says he now have two silvers and one gold. He did win Wyoming. The former governor of neighboring Massachusetts finished second in New Hampshire. Iowa's winner, Mike Huckabee had a slight bump, but finished way behind the front-runners in third place in New Hampshire.
Senator Barack Obama finished two points behind Senator Clinton in New Hampshire despite polls that gave him a double-digit lead a day ago. Senator John Edwards was third, more than 20 points behind. Senator Obama was our guest in the last hour here of AMERICAN MORNING and I asked him how he felt about his showing last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We feel great about what we've been seeing between Iowa and New Hampshire. Record turnouts, people extraordinarily engaged in the process, and what's pretty clear is that the American people are taking this process seriously. They're paying a lot of attention. They want to participate and they want to bring about a fundamental change in how our politics works here in this country, and so we think that serves our campaign well and will serve the American people well once I'm president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Obama also suggested that Former President Bill Clinton was playing politics by accusing him of taking contradictory positions on his opposition to the war in Iraq.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, thanks, John.
Well, Hillary Clinton making her comeback in New Hampshire with some help from the female voters. And our senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us now with a breakdown of this vote. You know it was a surprise because it was a completely different story that we are talking about for Democrats in Iowa.
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In Iowa women voter was supposed to be her base, she lost them. What happened in New Hampshire? Take a look. She got them back. She carried women voters by 12 points. Was this because she showed emotion? Well, maybe but there are some theories going around.
CHETRY: Tell us about some of the other issues that helped pull Clinton ahead of Obama.
SCHNEIDER: The economy. The economy was the number one issue to Democrats. A lot of women are concerned about the economy. And that could have been the secret issue that propelled her to victory. Look at this, among those voters in New Hampshire, Democrats who said their tough concern was the economy, choose almost ten points ahead of Barack Obama.
CHETRY: And it is unbelievable, because we're talking about such small margins when it comes to her win. 39 percent to 37 percent. So it was close and every one of those votes mattered in obviously in New Hampshire. Let's talk about the GOP because it wasn't necessarily issues but more the person, when you asked people, what made them ultimately choose McCain?
SCHNEIDER: Well one of the things was people who had a negative opinion of George Bush's administration, these are Republicans. You know what half of them had a negative opinion of Bush. They don't like Bush and they voted for John McCain over Mitt Romney by 14 points. McCain was the anti-establishment Republican just as he was in 2,000 when he ran against George W. Bush.
CHETRY: And that's interesting. Because in some of the debates, Mitt Romney has defended the president on some of those issues and John McCain hasn't, yet he's the one who has been in Washington since 1983.
SCHNEIDER: That's right but somehow he has come out of this looking like the anti-establishment candidate and they remember what he did in 2000. Maybe a way of saying, we told you so. Now here, these are voters who said personal qualities were more important than issues in how they voted. They voted for McCain by 20 points over Mitt Romney. What kind of personal qualities? We asked. The answer is, they said McCain says what he believes and he has a lot of experience. He didn't win this election on ideology or on issues. He won it on personal appeal.
CHETRY: It is very interesting because as you said, a lot of the people seem to side with Mitt Romney when asked, who do they agree with in terms of the issues?
SCHNEIDER: That's right. But it wasn't the issues that trumped this election. It was the personal qualities.
CHETRY: Very interesting stuff. Bill Schneider, always great to see you. Get some sleep. I know you're working on two hours.
John?
ROBERTS: A contest in Michigan is up next. It's an important state for the Republicans. Mitt Romney has two connections there. He's a native and his father was governor of Michigan. Romney finished in New Hampshire with 32 percent of the vote. That was five points behind John McCain. Romney spent millions of dollars and mountains of time in New Hampshire and he also has a home there. Despite the loss, he says the voters made it clear they are frustrated with Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will strengthen America as your president. When I come back here next November, I will fight across this nation, on to Michigan, and South Carolina and Florida and Nevada and states after that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The Iowa GOP winner Mike Huckabee says he is more than happy with third place. He told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he would have been happy with fourth, based on his prospects just a week ago. Huckabee told supporters to keep the momentum going.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to say how much I appreciate the people in New Hampshire for standing with us. And it wasn't because that they could see a few weeks ago some obvious victory. It was because they saw in this country the opportunity to really bring the kind of leadership that you and I all know. We really need to take America up and not down, and that's what we're going to continue to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, his prospects look better for South Carolina next week on the 19th. He is counting on a large evangelical population there to push him over the top. South Carolina will also be the next step for John Edwards. He went from second place in Iowa to third in New Hampshire with 17 percent. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson again finished fourth with 5 percent. He told CNN that he'll go back to New Mexico for a few days to re-assess. Last night, both he and Edward sounded like candidates who planned to stick to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Up until now, about half of 1 percent of Americans have voted. 99 percent plus have not voted. And those 99 percent deserve to have their voices heard, because we have had too much in America of people's voices not being heard.
BILL RICHARDSON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We head out west, and the fight goes on. And we will continue -- we will continue to raise the issue of getting all our troops out of Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Edwards says that he is going to keep fighting for the middle class and to eliminate corporate influence in Washington. So here's where the candidates are up to next.
The Michigan primary is next Tuesday. Hillary Clinton is the only major Democrat on the ballot. Michigan being penalized by the Democratic National Committee for holding their primary prior to February the 5th. Obama and Edwards withdrew after Michigan moved up its primary. And Saturday, January the 19th, the Nevada caucuses, which is sanctioned, and South Carolina's Republican primary.
Democrats hold their primary in South Carolina the following Saturday, that's the 26th. That's unofficially sanctioned contest as well. The Florida primary though, which is also penalized for moving up, is Tuesday, January the 29th, and then it's Super Duper Tuesday, February the 5th, when 21 states have primaries. That, a lot of people are saying, Kiran, could be the end of it.
CHETRY: Yes, for at least for a while there. A brief lull until the convention takes place. Interesting.
Well, we have some other stories this morning besides politics. Our Alina Cho is following close including a developing story out of Florida this morning.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, a big mess.
CHETRY: Terrible weather?
CHO: Oh, yes. Some fog and smoke there. We've been watching some dramatic pictures that are just coming in to us. A deadly pileup this morning along Interstate 4, just east of Lakeland, Florida. You're looking live there, and you could see how the weather might be affecting the situation. At least one person has been killed. The Associated Press says 50 cars crashed in that thick smoke and fog. Visibility is down to zero right now, and I-4, a major highway, is closed in both directions. So people will want to pay attention to this story, if you are waking up in Florida and heading to work.
Also to report this morning, fierce storm swept across northern New York just before dawn around the Buffalo area. Again, you're looking live there. Heavy rains, severe winds knocked down power lines. 40,000 customers are reported to be without power. So a lot to watch in the weather department. Jacqui Jeras in for Rob Marciano today. She is at our weather update desk tracking all of the extreme weather. Hey, Jacqui, good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: Also new this morning out the Middle East, President Bush says he sees a new opportunity for peace. Mr. Bush landed in Israel a couple hours ago. His first visit there since taking office. Security, as you might imagine, extremely tight. The president is meeting with Israeli leaders right now, at this moment. Tomorrow he is going to go to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian leaders.
The U.S. navy has released dramatic video of a confrontation between Iranian speedboats and U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf over the weekend. It includes the following exchange between both sides. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
U.S. NAVY SHIP: Inbound small craft, you are approaching a coalition warship operating in international waters.
SMALL CRAFT: You will explode after a few minutes.
U.S. NAVY SHIP: You will explode after a few minutes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: President Bush called it a serious incident. Iran state TV today is saying those pictures you see are file tape and the audio is fake. The U.S. Navy says it actually cut down the video from the 20- minute long clash and recording the audio separately.
Concerns this morning about the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, as it's being called. The FAA wants to make sure its hacker-proof. The Dreamliner is scheduled to go into service by the end of the year and will be pre-wired for Internet connections and most of its onboard systems will be controlled by computer. The feds say that could make it a tempting target for cyber terrorist, though Boeing says the computer that control things like steering are already designed to be impossible to hack. But they want to check and recheck just to be sure.
CHETRY: So that's a look at the headlines at this hour.
CHO: Hey, in the next half hour, I'm going to show you an interview that I had with Nancy Grace last night, as you know and her fans well know, she's back after a two-month maternity leave. She had some health concerns. She is going to talk to us about how motherhood has changed her, how its changing her show and about how her twins are doing.
ROBERTS: Great.
CHETRY: So adorable. Thanks a lot, Alina.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Alina.
Stock markets get off to a rough start in 2008 with the Dow dipping more than 600 points in the new year. Is a recession coming or is it already here? And they are the gold standard for restaurant ratings, but would you count on the Zagat folks to choose a doctor? Well paging Dr. Gupta ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Could choosing a doctor soon be as easy as choosing a restaurant for dinner? Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent and a "Time Magazine" columnist. And Sanjay, you wrote about doctor ratings in this week's columns. How could they benefit patients? Could they benefit patients?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting. Zagat and WellPoint Insurance Company actually have teamed up to try and provide ratings for doctors. Think about it. I mean, medical profession is one of the last frontiers for sort of consumer input overall. So this is sort of an interesting idea. They wanted to basically rate doctors in a few areas. Their trust, their communication, availability and environment.
Basically, they have 700,000 doctors at work in this particular -- for this particular company, and they have 35 million patients, you know, or reviewers potentially and they want to sort of bring those two things together. They have comment section, where you can comment on, you know, how nice the waiting room was, what the waiting time, the decor, things like that, but basically the chance for patients to let their opinions at least be heard. Sort of word of mouth.
ROBERTS: Shows you how much I use restaurant ratings, because I was taught it was Zagot (ph) and that's Zagat. Aren't there already websites that provide this sort of ratings? I mean, it could not look you up on the Internet and try to find out a little more about you?
GUPTA: You could and people have. Apparently including my producer, Daniel, actually looked me up. And there's a website, HealthGrades for example, where you can do that exact sort of thing. You go on there. You type in your doctor's name. Some of them, I'll tell you have a fee. You have to actually pay for them. But some of them, you can actually get for free. And it tells you what types of (INAUDIBLE), that's me.
Apparently I did very well. Hadn't actually looked myself up before. But you'd look up the types of procedures the person does and any kind of patient feedback as well that comes in there. That's important.
Now, let me say something else about this. Zagat though -- first of all, this is a partnership with WellPoint. So it doesn't have the independence of the Zagat alone and they have to actually put in ten surveys before they'll actually post anything. So they want very, varying opinions on a particular doctor.
John?
ROBERTS: All right. Well, maybe Zagat or Zagot (ph) as I've been calling it, is looking into up untapped market? Maybe they'll get into it.
GUPTA: You know, let me say about -- yes, right, exactly. Let me say about one thing about that, you know these ratings aren't perfect, obviously. You know, in the column I talk about the fact that Dr. House, of the television show, probably wouldn't do too well in this particular survey, yet he's a smart doc, none the less, John.
ROBERTS: Don't forget. He only plays a doctor on TV.
GUPTA: Correct.
ROBERTS: Sanjay, thanks very much.
GUPTA: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Well, thank you for the pronunciation guide, by the way.
CHETRY: Hey you know, when I first went to New York I said Zagot (ph), too. The natives got restless with me.
ROBERTS: Shows you how often I go out for dinner.
CHETRY: I know. I'm the chief, what are you going to do?
ROBERTS: My life.
CHETRY: Well the stock market's now in a correction. Growing fears of a coming recession. In fact, some analysts have said we're already there. We're going to talk about that with Ali Velshi coming up.
And it's a whole new ball game, but not much time before candidates make their next pitch. Where do the race and messages go from here? Also some of the other top stories of the morning when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every farmer knows that earthworms are good for the soil. They aerate it, they fertilize it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
STEVENS: In India, Dr. Suneet Dabke has big plans for the humble earthworms he's been studying for the past dozen years. He says they can do a lot more for the earth than just fertilize it.
SUNEET DABKE, BIOCHEMIST: These ones are going to do some magic for us. They are going to take the soil and waste into their body and going to excrete out the good nutrients to soil.
STEVENS: Dr. Dabke says worms can remove toxic waste from contaminated soil just by doing what comes naturally. Bad stuff in, good stuff out. In 2006, Dabke received a $15,000 grant from an international NGO, the Blacksmith Group to cover the cost of removing four acres of waste using earthworms.
Initially, about 300,000 worms were released. A year later, soil tests showed a 60 percent reduction of heavy metal. An additional 100,000 worms were added later, along with natural soil conditioners to help absorb the remaining waste.
DABKE: We are commencing to losing the volume of toxic waste from such a huge amount, from such a small amount.
STEVENS: Good news for the farmers but bad news for the worms. They are sifted out of the earth and burned after their work is done. The heavy metals they've absorbed are released into the air, where doctor Dabke says they do less harm than in the soil. But for the next two years, these worms, a worm's version of the good life. Happily munching their way through the soil, helping India digest its toxic waste. Andrew Stevens, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Its 25 minutes after the hour and this just in to CNN. President Bush started talks with Israeli president Shimon Peres this morning after arriving for his first visit to Israel as president this morning. First time an American president has been to Israel since 1998. President Bush said he sees a new opportunity for peace but Peres says time is precious to achieve a deal.
This is part of the six nation trip to the Middle East that the president is taking. He is also visiting the West Bank. Go to Kuwait, Bahrain, The United Arab of Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. So a lot of coverage of that trip ahead on CNN.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, 25 minutes past the hour. A lot of talk of market correction or possible recession. Ali Velshi joining us now "Minding Your Business." What's going on Ali? ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you that yesterday we had this sort of Harvard economist who is in charge of that group that decides on recession saying we're headed or are more than a 50 percent chance of heading to a recession. Merrill Lynch also said that we're already in a recession. If you think back to 2007, Merrill Lynch got a great deal of things wrong to the tune of several billion dollars. But now this morning, just moments ago, Goldman-Sachs saying it's predicting a recession for 2008. Goldman- Sachs got it very right in 2007.
Let's talk about what the markets did yesterday. And it's all of these recession fears and the fact that the housing market continues to be lower. The Dow giving up 1.7 percent yesterday. NASDAQ giving up 2.5 percent. S&P 500 giving up a little more than 1 percent. These markets are have been rough Right since the beginning of this year. We are a week in and we've got massive numbers.
The Dow has given up 670 points just in the last week. Since the highs of October, this is what the Dow has given up, 1576, NASDAQ 371, S&P 175 and that's more than 10 percent off of those highs that were set on October 9th and 10th. When you're off of 10 percent off of your recent highs. When you lose more than 10 percent off your recent highs, that's called a correction in the market. For most of you, that's just going to be a technical term. But when you take all of this together, all of these fears of recession and housing, and things like that, it gets you worried about a recession.
One more indicator, always a good indicated of troubled economic times. Gold hit an all-time high. The highest priced gold that ever hit until yesterday was $875, back in the '80s. Now trading at $878. People rush out of their investments into gold when they fear that economic bad times are coming.
ROBERTS: And all of this is kind of feeds on itself.
VELSHI: That's exactly right. Once it starts, it starts to gather momentum.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks for the good news, this morning.
Well, she's back on the air and she has got her newest and smallest crime fighters by her side. We're talking to Nancy Grace about her return to primetime and the new joys in her life, her twins, just ahead.
Plus, how is the black vote breaking. Looking ahead to South Carolina and a key battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Roland Martin joins us ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Wow. Pretty picture this morning. This coming to us from Columbia, South Carolina. It's your Bay Street Bridge. It's 62 degrees there right now, and cloudy. It's going to be a high of 71 degrees with some morning showers on this Wednesday, January 9th special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry. A lot of the candidates looking ahead to South Carolina after the first primary in the nation.
ROBERTS: They'll be there very soon. Democratic contest, on the 26th. The republican contest on the 19th. A lot of attention focused on that state.
Good morning, I'm John Roberts. It's the morning after New Hampshire. One thing is for sure, there is no clear favorite on either side of the presidential race. Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain won the nation's first primary. Despite what the polls said going in, Clinton eked out a win over Barack Obama. Exit polls show that she won back some female voters. And a new life for the McCain campaign. Independent voters sent the senator over the top in New Hampshire. Now, he's off to Michigan for next Tuesday's primary there. It's important for the republicans but it doesn't really count for the democrats.
CHETRY: And Senator Barack Obama finishing two points behind Senator Clinton in New Hampshire, but it was a big two points making a big difference and changing fortunes. Despite polls, it gave him a big lead just a day before, Hillary Clinton pulling out that win, and John Edwards coming in third. More than 20 points behind. Then on the republican side, Mitt Romney now says he has two silvers and a gold. He won the Wyoming caucus, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts finished second in New Hampshire and Iowa's big winner, Mike Huckabee, got a slight bump but finished way behind the frontrunners, to take third place in New Hampshire.
One person thought that Hillary would win New Hampshire despite all the polling and punditry saying the opposite and that was Senator Hillary Clinton herself. That's what she said when we talked to her on AMERICAN MORNING earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really believed that I had a very good chance to win. Nobody else believed it, but all day I did, and I'm very grateful that the people of New Hampshire gave me that victory last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So now it's a whole new race as the candidates look ahead. Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joins us now from Manchester, New Hampshire. Good morning, Candy. Interesting to talk about what the factors ended up being that lead to Hillary Clinton pulling out a slight but decisive win against Barack Obama?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And I think one of the factors we really have to look at are the issues. When you look at the democratic exit polls, what voters said was the most important thing to them was the economy, and by a big margin, those voters picked Hillary Clinton as the one best able to do that. They voted for her. So I think there was an issue thing going on. I think as well, basically, Iowa voters are not the same as New Hampshire voters. They see things differently. Hillary Clinton has been selling herself as an agent of change, because she is experienced. She did that all through the summer and the fall in Iowa. Here it seemed to sort of take on in a way that it did not in Iowa. They may have been able to chip away at what they think Obama's real fault line is, and they believe that's experience, and that's where she has it over him. So I think there were a lot of things that kind of determined this. There's also the idea that here in New Hampshire, it was a primary. It's a much more conventional way. You get up in the morning, you go and vote anytime you want between then and 8:00 at night. It gave the Clinton infrastructure, the people who knock on the doors, the people who make the phone calls, an opportunity to really turn out the vote over time. And so I think, all of those things went into her win.
CHETRY: Also, some of the buzz about the big story of Hillary Clinton's win, Candy, is John Edwards and he is heading into the state where he probably has the best chance. He has won the state before. What's his strategy?
CROWLEY: Well, his strategy actually going into New Hampshire was he was thinking as many of us did that, in fact, Obama would win New Hampshire. That he thought would set up an Obama-Edwards race. Obviously, that didn't happen. He's moving on generally right off passion, because if you look at the cold, hard facts it is hard to make a case, a scenario, for a John Edwards win. I'll tell you that the Edwards factor does weigh heavily on the Obama campaign. Because if there is an anti-Hillary vote it is now being split between Edwards and Obama, when they go into a very crucial state, which is South Carolina, which John Edwards won the last time around in 2004, and where he was born. So that is of concern in the Obama campaign.
CHETRY: All right, Candy Crowley for us live in Manchester this morning. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Senator Barack Obama is turning his attention to the nation's first southern primary in South Carolina, as Candy was talking about. We talked with him earlier on AMERICAN MORNING and I asked him about one of the critical issues of the campaign, the economy and concerns among many people that the U.S. may already be in a recession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was concerned about the technical definitions of a recession. When all the people I meet who are struggling every day, and they have been struggling for many years, even when the economy looked like it was doing well on paper, and Wall Street was flushed with cash. People - people feel that they're working harder for less. They are having a tough time hanging on to health care, college is less affordable and it's harder to save and harder to retire. So, we've got rebuild our economy and that means providing tax relief to people who really need it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
So, now it is on to South Carolina where African-American voters make up half of the democratic primary electorate. Roland Martin is a CNN contributor, host of the "Roland Martin Show." And here we have the calendar here. We already passed Iowa, New Hampshire. There's a Michigan contest here with some significance for the republicans and not the democrats because they're being penalized having all their delegates taken away because they went before February 5th.
And then we got the republicans in South Carolina on the 19th. The democrats in Nevada and then here's the big one, the democrats in South Carolina on the 26th. Now Hillary Clinton, I mean, in a large African-American voter population there as we said, Hillary Clinton does very well with African-American women. How much of an uphill climb is it for Barack Obama to try to take some of those voters away?
ROLAND MARTIN, HOST, "ROLAND MARTIN SHOW": Well, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, likely survey of black voters showed her with significant number among black women. That is an issue, because black women, the issue of gender and race. And so Obama has to find a way to connect with them. That's why Michelle Obama is the key. She spent a lot of time in Iowa, and she's made some in-roads in South Carolina. She is going to be the key. Here she is, a woman, mother, wife. She also is a lawyer, from the south side of Chicago. So, she has the ability to really connect with them. I think what you're going to see is Michelle Obama really having a lot of conversations, town hall, symposiums, all kind of different things trying to say, hey, make it a case, why Obama is a better case of them than Hillary Clinton.
ROBERTS: But you know, you don't vote for the candidate's wife, you vote for the candidate.
MARTIN: That would be very true but again who can connect better with black women than a black woman? And so she has to make the case, not only does she -- he has to make it as well, but I think she can say, this is why he is better for you than she is.
ROBERTS: What about on the republican side of the coin? We have Mike Huckabee who drew an enormous amount of the evangelical vote in the state of Iowa. There wasn't the same population of evangelicals in New Hampshire which is why he came in where he did. There's a large population in South Carolina.
MARTIN: Huge.
ROBERTS: Does he peel off all of them or might some go to John McCain to say, oh, look, he looks pretty viable after what happened in New Hampshire?
MARTIN: Well, obviously, people want to go with a winner. You know, I believe Huckabee was going to place third in New Hampshire. And that was important for him. But again, Huckabee's been able to do is to deal with grassroots evangelicals. And so we're sitting here saying, well, Pat Robertson, what is Dobson saying? No.
He is targeting individual pastors. That is his strip. And so again, he's going to execute that. So I think he's going to carry a significant number. I don't think Fred Thompson is going to be a key in South Carolina, but definitely Huckabee if he goes after the evangelicals, you're going to hear Jesus returning as his running mate. He left Jesus in the car in New Hampshire but he's going to be with them in South Carolina.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll see how it goes and see if McCain can get any of those voters.
MARTIN: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Roland Martin, it's always good to see you.
MARTIN: Glad to be here.
ROBERTS: All right. So, we just walked you through the upcoming primary calendar, the fact that Michigan is the next one. Hillary Clinton, the only major democrat on that ballot. Obama and Edwards withdrew when it moved up its primary. It was actually sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee for going before February the 5th. Then Saturday, the 19th, Nevada caucuses, South Carolina's republican primary, democrats hold their primary in South Carolina following Saturday January 26th, the Florida primary, Tuesday the 29th. That one also being sanctioned because they went before the 5th. Then, it's super duper Tuesday on February 5th, 21 states have primaries and there are some people who say that's the day when we could know who the nominees are going to be on both the republican and democratic side. Kiran.
CHETRY: John, thank you. You know, we've been watching these dramatic pictures coming in all morning from Florida, where the combination of extreme fog and a brushfire has made visibility down to nothing on some parts of interstate 4. It led to a 50-car pileup this morning. This was just west of Orlando, in Lakeland, Florida, Polk County. At least three people so far confirmed killed, according to deputies there. A thick blanket of fog and the smoke from the brushfire is still hanging over the area. Visibility down to zero, they say, for 14 miles in both directions. Interstate 4 in that area is shut down.
And we're going to take a look again. You can get a quick look at one of the reporters who was standing there, from Bay News 9 in Polk County, Florida. That's an on the ground look. And you can see, he's almost hard to make out there but being covered not only the intense fog but the haze and the smoke from that pileup. So just a look there, extreme situation for them down in Lakeland, Florida, and for that we go to Jacqui Jeras. She is at our weather update desk this morning tracking extreme weather, and, boy, the combination both of that early morning fog as well as the smoke from those brushfires, making for a deadly situation, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, all the acid in the air from the smoke helps condenses water vapor that is in the air, and creates the smog and smoke a little bit thicker and that area we do expect however that conditions are going to start to improve. You know, the sun's up now and so temperatures are going to start to rise and we'll see a greater difference between our temperature and Dew Point. That fog should be lifting. We really think of the 9:00 hour, between 9:00 and 10:00, that things will be getting better there.
Things getting better in the northeast, too. This is our strong systems that we've been dealing with. The same one that produced all the severe weather and tornadoes in the Midwest yesterday and the day before. Well today's strong storms possible, mainly in interior parts of the northeast. A severe thunderstorm watch, which was in effect, now has been dropped. But we may see some isolated squalls that could produce gusting wind and maybe even some small hail. Now as that front pushes on through, strong, gusty winds move back in behind the system. So there you can see wind advisories in effect right now. In the yellow, and high-wind warnings in the orange wind gusts as strong as 55 miles per hour. So very windy today in the northeast. Kiran.
CHETRY: Jacqui Jeras for Rob Marciano, thank you.
ROBERTS: The newest editions to the CNN family. Nancy Grace with her brand new twins. We're meeting the family just ahead, plus the challenges that Nancy faced. Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the risks to pregnant women over the age of 35. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: We probably told you earlier this week about a very homecoming for one member of our CNN family, Nancy Grace. She returned to her show on "Headline News" after maternity leave and a big health scare. She gave birth to her twins two months early and then she dealt with some health problems of her own. But there they are, two little bundles of joy. And Alina Cho had a chance to sit down with Nancy last night to talk about how happy she was.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Unfortunately, the twins weren't there, but she was there looking as good as ever, Kiran, and you know, Nancy Grace, as many of her fans know by now is back. Just before her show last night, we sat down and talked. Nancy told me how her twins are doing. She talked about her health problems during and after her pregnancy. She had blood clots in her lungs and about how motherhood has changed her and her show, but we began by chatting about what it's like for her to be back on TV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, CNN, ANCHOR: In some ways, it's as if I never left.
CHO: I bet.
GRACE: Because you plunge back in feet first, but it hurts me to leave, and it never hurt me to leave to go to work before. This is little Lucy. This is her big brother John David.
CHO: I want you to take me back to November 4th. You had some breathing problems. You get sent to the hospital.
GRACE: I just thought was some type of a pregnancy-related issue, maybe asthma. I didn't know. Sunday morning, November 4, getting ready for church, I started coughing so violently and couldn't catch my breath. Could not breathe at all. CHO: So you had an emergency c-section.
GRACE: Yes, I remember an emergency c-section.
ROBERTS: I remember the doctor, the Dr. Robinsons -- how does 4 cm sound for a birthday I went -- you mean today?
CHETRY: You were finally able to bring the babies home. A little less than a month later.
GRACE: They're fraternal twins but they look almost identical. The happiest day of my life was the day I finally got to bring Lucy home, and I remember the tree was like a parade of gold and yellow and red and orange, all waving at the car. And we finally were a family. I want you to meet live two very, very special guests.
The tiniest crime fighters in my life.
CHO: You came back on Monday and you spent a good part of your show introducing your viewers to your family via web cam. What was it like to share your family with your viewers?
GRACE: If you had only seen the cards and the prayers written out.
CHO: You're still tough as nails.
GRACE: I don't care who paid the bill, they're going to get it.
CHO: Was it me? I noticed a change in your smile. You looked a little different.
GRACE: I never knew that I could love anything this much. Everything has changed now. The world is Technicolor. Used to be black and white. Now it's Technicolor for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: She really has never looked better and she said at the close of her show on Monday night, dreams do come true. We are happy to report that the twins, Luc Elizabeth and John David are doing just fine. They're already vying for mom's attention, we're told. Kiran, you'll have to deal with that in a couple of months. Lucy was just two pounds when she was born. That's why she stayed in the hospital a little bit longer than John David. She is now six lbs. and John David is now up to eight pounds. Everybody is happy and healthy, and Nancy assures me, Kiran, that that web cam that she introduced on Monday to show her twins to the world, really, will be back from time to time when I asked her do you have a name for the web cam? No, not yet. Do you have any ideas? How about twin cam. She said. That's not bad. It may happen.
CHETRY: They don't know anything different. Those two are going to spend their whole entire lives as best buddies. It's also nerve wracking when you're bringing a new one into the home who used to be spoiled in the spotlight. CHO: I'm sure but she actually said you know, it was a while before I learned I was carrying twins. At first, I thought I just had one child. She said when she found out she was carrying twins. She said, how on earth am I going to divide my love. I was going to devote 100 percent of my love to this one child and she says of course, she can't imaging life without the twins now.
CHETRY: It is something all first-time moms go through. I had a great life before and, boy, this changes. You're even happier.
CHO: You're in for it, too in a couple of months.
CHETRY: We're so glad with Nancy. We're so glad to hear everything worked out. Thanks for bringing us that story, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: We want to bring in our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta to talk more about what Nancy was describing going through, Sanjay, because in these times it's such a double-edge sword for new mothers that go through problems. They're so happy and thrilled at the birth of their baby, you know, this joy that's come into the life, and yet at the same time, so concerned for not only their health but in this case, Nancy had what was called pulmonary edema. She had to worry about herself as well.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Fortunately, that's a pretty rare thing to develop, pulmonary edema, but it is related to the pregnancy. She sort of had a few things that made her more likely to develop it. She's talked about, advanced age for child bearing. She was 47, I think, when she got pregnant. She also was having multiple twins as we know here, and she also had the, the third thing here, I'm sorry. She was on her last trimester as well, the last trimester of pregnancy is when pulmonary edema is more likely to develop. So, these three things would have made it more likely for her to have this problem but it is an unusual problem still.
CHETRY: An interesting thing is they say that twice as many women over the age of 35 are having children than they were, let's say back in, say, 1980. Some of that due to lifestyle choices but also to advances in fertility treatment. So it teams that you're going to have more women who end up being at this greater risk because of the age they get pregnant?
GUPTA: Yes, you know. There are certain things obviously an older woman needs to pay attention to, but you're absolutely right. I mean the numbers have - sorry. I have - just clocked out there. But the blood pressure concerns, gestational diabetes is also a concern, chromosomal abnormalities. But there are a lot of women in their late 30s and early 40s who have just absolutely have normal pregnancies and absolutely no problems at all. There are some important things to talk to your doctor, ahead of time. Make sure you're in optimal shape to have the pregnancy. Weight management before and during pregnancy as well and even maybe starting prenatal vitamins ahead of time. All those things can help. CHETRY: Well, some good advice. All right. Thanks a lot, Sanjay. And also you can see Nancy Grace, by the way, every night 8:00 Eastern on "Headline News." John.
ROBERTS: 51 minutes after the hour.
An alleged internet hoax led to a teenager's suicide. Now there could be charges. Our Veronica de la Cruz has that story, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: New developments in a story we've been following here on AMERICAN MORNING. The investigation of a teenager's suicide after an alleged internet hoax. Our Veronica de la Cruz joins us with the latest this morning. What's going on?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN, INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Well, you remember those, of course, you know, the case of Missouri teen Megan Meyer. It was her tragic story that drew national attention, committed suicide in 2006 after being rejected by a person she thought was a boy she had met on myspace. It was later revealed that the boy might actually be the mother of one of Meyer's former friend Lori Drew. And the state decided not to charge Drew for her alleged role in the hoax saying they were unable to find a statute under which to pursue a criminal case.
But federal prosecutors might have a different plan. According to the "L.A. Times," they are considering charging the mother with defrauding the social networking site, myspace. The "Times" is reporting that prosecutors believe they have jurisdiction because myspace is headquartered in Beverly Hills. And federal grand jury in L.A. has apparently began issuing subpoenas. Lori Drew has maintained her innocence. She denies sending any messages to Meyer, even knowing about them. In the mean time, Meyers' case has inspired Missouri lawmakers to push, to make it a felony for an adult to harass a child online. A proposal made yesterday by a special task force would make this crime felonies and would also stiffen fines but the law would not hold businesses that provide internet service or social networking websites like myspace responsible.
ROBERTS: What would the charge be? Pretending to be somebody else?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, you know, we're going to have to take a closer look, and of course, we're going to continue to follow the story and bring on the latest developments. Because, you know, the case, of course, is still unfolding.
ROBERTS: All right. Veronica, thanks very much. Kiran.
CHETRY: Here's a look at what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.
TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM. Campaigns revived. John McCain and Hillary Clinton looking ahead after victories in New Hampshire.
The Supreme Court looking at voters I.D. law today.
Iran claiming the U.S. fabricated this video. The Pentagon says it proves Iran made threatening moves against American warships.
Stormy weather slamming the northeast today. The Midwest, trying to recover from tornadoes and floods.
NEWSROOM just minutes away, at the top of the hour on CNN.
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ROBERTS: Update on a story that we've been telling you about this morning. There is an aerial picture. You can see now that the fog has cleared a little bit of that 50-vehicle pileup just outside of Lakeland, Florida. Apparently, three people dead now in that crash.
CHETRY: This was on interstate 4. It's closed. At least last time we checked, it was for 14 miles in both directions because of that low-lying fog made worse by the brushfire. And you can see some of those vehicles just tossed around there, thrown like Matchbox cars. A lot of the big rigs as well jackknifed in some places off the road.
ROBERTS: And it's that time of year, you know, in winter, it's the dry season there. So, probably we'll be seeing a lot more of these brushfires.
That's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks so much for joining us on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you again tomorrow.
CHETRY: CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins starts right now.
HARRIS: And good morning everyone, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday morning. Here's what's on the rundown for January 9th.
The resurrection of John McCain and Hillary Clinton.
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