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American Morning
Countrywide Deal: Bank Of America to Buy Troubled Company; South Carolina Debate: Economy, Tax Cuts are Top Issues; Wonder Drug: Statins to Treat Diabetes; Missing Pregnant Marine: New Developments
Aired January 11, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Fight for the right. Taxes, jobs and renewed attacks. Republicans duke it out in the next battleground state. We're live with the candidates.
Secret weapon --
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Give it up for Michelle Obama.
CHETRY: And this important woman in Barack Obama's political future. And it's not Oprah.
Plus, tornado terror.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I could see was rain and trees started to hit the roof.
CHETRY: Deadly storms pound the south. Another round of extreme weather takes aim on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And welcome. It's Friday. It's January 11th. I'm Kiran Chetry. John Roberts has the day off today. And we start with big news for your money. The candidates focusing on how to fix the economy. There is now word of a blockbuster deal tied to the mortgage meltdown.
Bank of America close to purchasing Countrywide financial, and it would be the country's largest mortgage lender in the hands of the country's largest bank. A deal worth $4 billion in stock, saving Countrywide from bankruptcy which would have dramatically worsened the credit crisis.
And we're also watching new talk of a merger in the airline industry, involving Delta and either Northwest or United. Delta's board is expected to meet today. The news sent airline stocks sky- high Thursday. They actually had their best day in years.
And on the ground, the Nissan and Chrysler talks right now. Chrysler needs Nissan to make a smaller, fuel efficient car to sell in North America. In return, Chrysler would pick up the production of Nissan's full-size pickups. And the chairman of the Federal Reserve sending a strong signal about another rate cut. Our Ali Velshi watching all of that for us this morning. We'll start with the Fed and the words from Ben Bernanke regarding recession.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, everybody has been waiting to hear from Ben Bernanke because we've been hearing from everybody else that a recession is coming. Once again, the Fed chair is saying they're not seeing a recession but he all but took the guessing out of whether the Fed is going to cut rates when it meets at the end of January. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession. We are forecasting slow growth. But as I mentioned today, there are downside risks and therefore it's very important for us to stand ready, as I mentioned, to take substantive action to address those risks and provide some insurance against -- against those negative outcomes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And George, those negative outcomes is Fed-speak for cutting interest rates. Most people expect the Fed to cut interest rates half a percentage point at their meeting on January 30th. Initially, markets really like this news. Then they sort of fell back a bit. The Dow did end up higher at the end of the day, but all sorts of other things are going on which affected overseas markets.
One piece of news we're getting, The "New York Times" is reporting right now that Merrill Lynch may take a $15 billion writedown next week. That's in the earnings for the fourth quarter. Merrill, you'll remember, took an $8.4 billion writedown in the third quarter that cost the CEO Stanley O'Neil his job. John Thain, who used to run the New York Stock Exchange, is now in charge of Merrill. $15 billion.
There's talk that Merrill may need more money and that they're looking at private investors in Asia and in the Middle East to do that. The Dow taking in all of this news. Futures now down in triple digit for this morning. So a very, very busy and complicated day in the business world, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. We'll continue to follow with you all morning.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
Taxes, jobs, paying the bills and stopping a recession -- economic issues that could make or break the candidates dominating the Republican debate last night in South Carolina. Dana Bash on the campaign trail now live from Myrtle Beach with more on what the candidates' pitches were to the public last night, about what they would do to help make the economy better. Hi, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. You know, it's interesting. Right out of the gate, the first question to the candidates was, do you think that the United States economy is in a recession? Everybody except Ron Paul essentially said no.
But it was fascinating to watch how Mitt Romney, the former Republican governor from Massachusetts, who is battling for his life right now in Michigan, having to try to turn that into the issue that is most potent to voters especially in the state of Michigan and here in South Carolina. And that is economic anxiety over job loss. And he specifically went after his chief rival in the state of Michigan, John McCain, for being pessimistic about jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know that there's some people who think as Senator McCain did. He said, you know, some jobs have left Michigan they're never coming back. I disagree. I'm going to fight for every single job. Michigan, South Carolina, every state in this country. We're going to fight for jobs and make sure that our future is bright. We're going to protect the jobs of Americans and grow this economy again.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sometimes you have to tell people things they don't want to hear along with things that they do want to hear. There are jobs. Settle the straight talk. There's some jobs that aren't coming back to Michigan. There's some jobs that won't come back here to South Carolina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, John McCain on the campaign trail and also in last night's debate made the point that he thinks that the government should be more aggressive in job training for people who lose their jobs, particularly in the industries that have been hurt -- hit hardest like in South Carolina and Michigan. South Carolina, of course, it's textiles. Michigan, it is the auto industry.
You know, you look at the national unemployment rate, Kiran, it's about five percent. Here in South Carolina, it's higher, 5.9 percent. In Michigan, which is the next contest state in just four days, it's 7.4 percent. That is the reason you heard these Republican candidates talking about the economy. Talking about their various prescriptions, whether it's tax cuts or reducing spending to try to fix it -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And you've got a big problem in that state. And people there certainly want to hear these answers from these candidates. Thanks so much, Dana.
We're also going to hear from another Republican candidate later this morning. Mitt Romney is going to be joining us 7:30, about 25 minutes from now. And then a bit later in our 8:00 hour, we're going to be visiting with former Democratic candidate Bill Richardson.
And we're following extreme weather this morning, some dangerous thunderstorms and tornado warnings in effect across the southern U.S. National Weather Service crews are now headed to Alabama today to look at tornado damage there. One suspected twister destroyed this supermarket in Wiley. That's about 40 miles west of Birmingham. And classes were also suspended at nearby colleges.
That same storm also damaged buildings at the schools in Mississippi. Boy, you can just see the rain coming down. And here's the aftermath. This is the school that was destroyed being blamed for two deadly accidents as well.
Our Rob Marciano tracking extreme weather for us. He's in Steamboat Springs, Colorado this morning. You know, Rob, it's interesting. My husband takes meteorology classes actually at Mississippi State University remotely, but he is still on their, of course, their campus text. And they got text messages yesterday, all of the students, warning them to stay indoors. That a tornado was headed toward the campus. So some very, very scary moments in Mississippi yesterday.
ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I heard that. And great move by the university itself. That cell that was moving through and around campus actually was a supercell and there were several reports of it dropping a couple of tornadoes along its path. We're going to see similar results probably today as another chunk of energy comes out of the Rockies like we saw two days ago, now heading across the plains and into the mid-Atlantic states.
So severe weather a likelihood, especially from the Florida panhandle up through the Carolinas, we're going to see some isolated tornadoes in this. We saw over 20 reports of tornadoes yesterday across Mississippi and Alabama, so look for some of that action to head east. We do have a tornado watch that's in effect right now for parts of the panhandle, southern Georgia, and Alabama until 8:00.
As you can see, that heavy weather moving through that area. Not quite as bad, but might with the heat of the day fire up across the Carolinas there and up the I-95 corridor as well. This is front part of a chunk of energy that came out of the Colorado Rockies just two days ago. We're getting another chunk of energy here.
Just last night, we saw six inches of snow right here, down at the base of the mountain, probably another foot up top. It's pretty light. But we had two feet just the other day, Kiran, so avalanche is high. The danger is high here, and they're doing all they can to control it.
And we'll show you some of the video that we shot yesterday when we went out with an avalanche control crew. It's pretty dramatic stuff. That's coming up in half an hour. Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: It's fascinating to see how they do it. They look like they're having a lot of fun while they're doing it as well. All right, Rob. Thanks so much.
Well, Ali Velshi is back. He is following breaking news for us. And this is news that we spoke about this morning, but now has happened concerning the largest bank and the largest lender.
VELSHI: That's absolutely right. Bank of America just announcing, in fact I just finished talking to you, went back to my desk, Bank of America is announcing that it is buying Countrywide Financial. This is a deal we've been expecting for the last 12 hours or so. This comes two months after Bank of America invested $2 billion to try to shore up Countrywide and was at risk of seeing all of that disappear because Countrywide was facing bankruptcy.
Yesterday, Countrywide shares popped by about 50 percent. They're now worth a grand total of about $7.50 on news that this would happen. This is a big deal for those of you who have mortgages with Countrywide because Countrywide is the biggest mortgage lender in the country.
You can see this is a rescue plan. It means that this business and those mortgages will continue to be around. One of the problems was if Countrywide disappeared while most people wouldn't lose their mortgage, it would continue to tighten the mortgage market, make it harder for people to get credit and could increase mortgage credits. At this point, there's some hope for this. A good deal for Bank of America, it seems, and probably a very good deal for Countrywide.
A great deal of criticism is about to fall on to Anthony Mozilo, who is the chairman and CEO of Countrywide. He's been seemed to have made a great deal of money while many Americans have been losing their homes. Chuck Schumer just the other day actually said he'd like to boil Anthony Mozilo in hot oil. That's -- you know, a lot of people are --
CHETRY: So he's upset.
VELSHI: He's upset. He's upset.
CHETRY: And it settled that.
VELSHI: And Anthony Mozilo will make more money now as a result of this deal going through.
CHETRY: If you're getting a mortgage, though, with one of the -- if you have a mortgage currently with Countrywide, is it better for you, worse or you know --?
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: You know, we got to study this a little bit. But I think it's better for you generally because there's no risk to what happens to that mortgage. If Countrywide went bankrupt, something would have to happen to that mortgage and that could affect you.
At this point, Bank of America will take those mortgages and you should be able to go on living your life as normal. Generally, initial view right now is that this is good for the market and good for the industry. Countrywide has been the big black eye in this one. It started this whole -- the situation started with countrywide. This is generally seen as a bailout rescue. CHETRY: All right. Well, you talked about a silver lining as we talked about the mortgage crisis. Could this be a turning point?
VELSHI: I'm glad to not have something other than depressing news for you.
CHETRY: Yes.
VELSHI: All week it's been bad news. It's been about recession. It's been about Countrywide. This might be a signal that there is faith in the economic system. If a bank is willing to buy a troubled company, that tells you there might be a future.
CHETRY: All right. Ali, we'll be watching this all morning with you. Thanks so much.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: Still ahead, we're going to take a quick break.
An eight-month missing marine who's eight months pregnant, she's missing, has not been seen for three weeks. There is new information now on the search for her and the clues as to where she might be. We're going to get the latest from Camp Lejeune coming up.
And also, millions use this drug or this class of drug statins to battle cholesterol. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is now following the story for us about how this class of drugs could be used to help people with other illnesses. Hi, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Diabetes we're talking about. You know, people who have diabetes are at special risk of a heart attack and strokes. What can you do about it? I'll tell you. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.
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CHETRY: Millions of Americans take them to control their cholesterol. And now, there's research showing that statins could save the lives of millions of diabetics as well. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the medical update desk with details on this for us. Good morning, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Good morning, Kiran. We know there's a relationship between heart disease, strokes and diabetes. That's a pretty well- established relationship. The question for sometime is, what can you do about it? And there's new data about statin drugs specifically, as you mentioned, showing there might be some benefit even if your cholesterol isn't particularly high, and that's an important point. So people who aren't necessarily having problems with their cholesterol, statin drugs could help them.
This was based on actually looking at the previous 14 big studies on this particular issue and sort of combining all of that data. And something started to emerge as they did that. Take a look at some of the numbers here. They found that overall, even with small doses of statins, there was a 10 percent reduction in mortality. And even within the first year, a 21 percent reduction in heart attacks and strokes.
Kiran, it didn't seem to matter if you're a woman or a man, or you're young or old, statin drugs in diabetics seem to confer some sort of benefit here, Kiran.
CHETRY: So what does it mean then for diabetics? Should they start taking statins? As you said, I mean, for many diabetics who are on a lot of medications, do they add another?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's a good question. And a couple of points. First of all, statins like any other medications can have some side effects. That's something you need to consider. They can cause muscle pain. They can cause problems with the liver. These are the things you need to think about with your doctor. But also, you need to think about your overall cardiovascular risk.
If you're an older person who already has had some risk factors for heart disease, statins are probably going to be a good option. If you're a diabetic but also 18 years old and you're in very good physical condition, statin drugs may not be a good option for you. We talked to the American Diabetic Association. We talked to the American Heart Association. They say that statins are a good option for a lot of people out there who have diabetes and trying to reduce the risk.
CHETRY: Very interesting. And why are diabetics at such a higher risk for heart attack and stroke?
GUPTA: It's a good question. And, you know, I think that if you look sort of globally at diabetes, you'll find that their glucose level sort of within the bloodstream that can actually cause inflammation within the blood vessels themselves. That can sometimes cause clotting. It can cause -- sort of damage to the blood vessel wall and that might put you at a higher risk for a heart attack because of the blood vessels in your heart or stroke because of the blood vessels that go to your brain, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Very interesting. We'll be following this, probably talking more about it. Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, stepping up the search now for an eight-month- pregnant marine who's missing. Last seen three weeks ago from Camp Lejeune. Why police now want her roommate to answer some questions about this case. We're live with the latest on the investigation still ahead.
And also, he spent the most money on the Republican side and now he's banking on Michigan. That's where he grew up to keep his campaign alive. Mitt Romney joins us. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: We'll update you now on the latest in the search for a missing pregnant marine. Police seem to think it is possible that Maria Lauterbach may have left on her own accord. Lauterbach was reported missing back on December 19th. AMERICAN MORNING's Ed Lavandera joins us now with more from Jacksonville, North Carolina, on this puzzling case. Good morning, Ed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Well, December 14th was the last time this marine spoke with her mother. On December 15th, the day after, the sheriff here in Onslow County tells us that she had bought a bus ticket to El Paso, Texas, but never used it. But it's an ATM withdrawal on Christmas Eve that is the focus of the investigation right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The details of Maria Lauterbach disappearance are especially troubling. She's eight months pregnant, missing since mid December. Lauterbach, according to court documents, is also in the middle of a sexual assault case against a superior officer at Camp Lejeune. The missing marine's mother anxiously awaits news of where she might be.
MARY LAUTERBACH, MISSING MARINE'S MOTHER: I have no idea. We have no idea what's happened. But the one thing we do know is it's extremely out of character for her not to call.
LAVANDERA: But there are pieces of this mystery that also suggests Lauterbach is struggling with personal problems and disappeared willingly. In court documents, Lauterbach's mother alleges the marine is a compulsive liar who suffers from bipolar disorder. The documents also say the military investigation had gone sour.
Military officials say she is facing a possible discharge from the Marine Corps because of that stress. Police will not say if they suspect foul play or if they think Lauterbach just walked off on her own, but they're hopeful she's still alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want her to know that sometimes people do things. If they could turn the clock back, they wouldn't do them the way they've done them. Regardless of the issues linked to this, regardless of the circumstances, this has got to stop.
LAVANDERA: For now, investigators are hoping to learn more from Lauterbach's roommate, a fellow marine who has been training in California. He's returning to North Carolina to speak to investigators. He's believed to be the last person to see Maria alive.
LAUTERBACH: I hope the baby is healthy. I'm very concerned for both of them because it's not just one person, it's two. They're very much at risk here.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LAVANDERA: And the sheriff tells us this morning that as far as he knows, that marine roommate has not yet arrived here in Jacksonville, North Carolina, but is expected here this morning and he hopes to have another interview with this marine here in the coming hours -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Ed Lavendera for us on this case out of North Carolina. Thank you.
Well, the fight over your money now. Front and center in the fight for the White House at the Republican debate in South Carolina last night. Taxes, the economy, how to head off the recession, all of the candidates weighed in. Ron Paul even saying the nation is in a recession. Other economists have said that as well.
And it brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Which issue will affect your vote the most this election year? Taking a look right now, the numbers -- 44 percent say it is the economy. Seventeen percent saying it will be Iraq. Seven percent, terrorism or security. And 32 percent saying it is health care. We're going to continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.
If you'd like to weigh in, CNN.com/am to get to our "Quick Vote" page.
Well, you're watching the most news in the morning. Is it do or die for Governor Mitt Romney in Michigan? It's a state he knows well, and he's hoping that it will keep his presidential hopes alive. He'll be joining us live, next.
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CHETRY: This is from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where it's 64 degrees, shaping up to be a high of 72. You may not be able to use that beautiful pool today if it happens to be yours because we're looking at some thunderstorms this afternoon.
Meanwhile, it's Friday, January 11th. I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks for being with us on AMERICAN MORNING. John Roberts taking a well deserved day off today.
Well, a big deal just announced. Bank of America buying Countrywide, the nation's largest mortgage lender. Ali Velshi is here now. He's "Minding Your Business" with more on the implications of this deal. First of all, will we see any major changes for either a customer of Bank of America or we have a mortgage with Countrywide?
VELSHI: There might be some changes. I suspect you'll see fewer changes than if Countrywide went bankrupt, which was beginning to surface as a very real possibility. Countrywide is the country's biggest mortgage lender. Bank of America is the country's biggest retail bank between that and credit card issuer.
Between the two of them now, you'll have a very powerful mortgage and banking company. Countrywide is being bought by Bank of America for $4 billion partly because Bank of America invested $2 billion in Countrywide months ago to try and shore it up, and there were real risk of seeing that investment disappear. So this is definitely a rescue plan for Countrywide. It guarantees for the time being Countrywide stays in business.
Those who have mortgages with Countrywide or Bank of America should see few changes. Your statements may change at some point. You're not dealing with a mortgage with a company that has gone out of business. There are issues about where or who takes up that mortgage and whether the terms get tighter, whether it's harder to get a mortgage.
If Countrywide went out of business, a lot of people, including sub prime borrowers, without access to a mortgage. That demand for more money would have pushed rates up, tightened credit even further than it's tightened already.
This is generally good news. You combine that with yesterday's news from Ben Bernanke, all but saying that the Fed is going to continue to cut rates, probably a half a percentage point at the end of January. You have now a slightly more stable mortgage market and the possibility of rates going down further than they are. Those are historically pretty good rates. For buyers in the market or for people trying to refinance, it's not a bad market. Now it's generally positive news. Markets are not entirely thinking, so the Dow futures are showing probably 100-point decline in the open. We're still two hours away from that.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Ali, thank you.
The state of Michigan is seen by many as one that Mitt Romney does well to move on in the presidential race. He grew up there, his father was governor there. He launched his campaign there. It's also a state with some serious worries about the economy. No surprise that the first question in last night's debate in South Carolina was about the economy and it went to Governor Romney. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Number one -- we're going to have to make sure that we stop the housing crisis. Number two, we're going to have to reduce taxes on middle income Americans immediately. Number three, we're going have to deal with gas prices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Governor Romney joins me now from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Governor, great to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.
ROMNEY: Thanks, Kiran, good to be with you.
CHETRY: Let's talk a little bit about the first question that you brought up as well. How would you deal with the rising gas prices, a big concern for many? ROMNEY: The first thing to do is to lay out a comprehensive and believable plan that allows America to become energy secure and independent by pursuing nuclear power, liquefied coal, all of the renewable resources, more efficient homes and appliances and cars. You do that and show everybody in the world we'll be energy independent. That will bring down the prices of energy globally because we'll share that technology with other nations.
This is a time for us to take aggressive action. We've watched Michigan be in a one-state recession for ten years, not recognizing they were like the canary in the mine shaft, that the whole country would follow Michigan's lead unless we got serious about protecting our jobs.
CHETRY: Michigan has unique elements making it difficult as well, including the large manufacturing sector in there. The unemployment rate in Michigan, the highest in the nation. Many have called it a one-state recession. What is your solution to reverse that trend of unemployment in that state?
ROMNEY: Well, Michigan had a lot of industry and a lot of experience and highly talented workforce. There is manufacturing going on throughout the world even here in the United States, new facilities being built. They're just not being built on Michigan.
So what we need to do is not to write off Michigan but to say we're going to stop sending mandates to Michigan employers and put them at a disadvantage. Number two, invest in science, technology, and innovation in Michigan to help them develop automobiles and other products that are more competitive on a global basis. Number three, we have to work with manufacturing leaders and labor leaders to make adjustments so they can be more competitive, removing certain legacy costs so Michigan can have the kind of economic attractiveness that draws jobs there as opposed to having them continuing to leave.
It's unacceptable to say some jobs just can't come back to Michigan. All jobs we should fight for. Every industry has every reason to believe it can survive and thrive in Michigan if we have the right kind of federal and state policies working together.
CHETRY: I believe you're referring to what Governor -- what Senator John McCain said yesterday when it came to the same issue with the debate. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MCCAIN, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the reasons why I won in New Hampshire is because I went there and told them the truth. Sometimes you have to tell people things they don't want to hear along with the things they do want to hear. There are jobs -- let's have a little straight talk -- there are some jobs aren't coming back to Michigan, there are some jobs that won't come back here to South Carolina.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: You take issue with that assessment that perhaps realistically speaking there are some jobs, manufacturing jobs that aren't coming back to that state.
ROMNEY: You know, I'm not going to throw in the towel on any jobs in Michigan. Of course there will be different jobs in many respects. The industries have changed over but Michigan can be an economic power house. It must be an economic power house. It is a center of manufacturing and technology for this country.
When I grew up there, people thought about -- with great pride the fact that Michigan was the motor city. We're still buying cars, trucks, RVs. We buy tractors. We buy a lot of manufactured goods. And Michigan can be a center for those goods. But we'll have to invest in technology, tax breaks, incentives for companies to come to Michigan. We can't say, oh, it's too bad. I'm aware of the problems there. Too bad they're having a one-state recession.
Frankly, if we can't solve the problems in Michigan and bring Michigan back, what we see there is going to spread to other parts of the entire country and we'll find ourselves playing second fiddle to China. That's unacceptable. We have to have a policy, an industrial policy which keeps America strong and the leader of the world.
CHETRY: You're in South Carolina now because of the debate that took place. You pulled ads from South Carolina and Florida and put a lot of time and money into Michigan. If you don't win there, are you going on to Super Tuesday? What are the implications for your campaign?
ROMNEY: So far I'm pretty pleased. I've gotten two silvers and a gold. Thank you, Wyoming. I'm planning on picking up a gold in Michigan. If I do that, I'll have a strong position for South Carolina and will be up heavy with ads here, also in Florida and Nevada. If I get another second in Michigan, we'll have to re- evaluate which states we go to next. But this is the battle for the support of 50 states. The fact that I've gotten more support and more votes than anyone else at this stage is a confidence builder.
CHETRY: So regardless of how Michigan turns out, you're on to Super Tuesday?
ROMNEY: I expect you can see me all the way through Super Tuesday.
CHETRY: All right, we hope to see you on the show as well throughout. Mitt Romney, thanks so much for joining us this morning. Governor, great to have you on.
ROMNEY: Thanks, Kiran. Good to be with you.
CHETRY: The day after dropping out of the Democratic race for president, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will join us coming up in our next hour, 8:30 eastern time. He'll be weighing in on the candidates still in it. Does he believe any of them have what it takes in terms of foreign policy experience to be a great president? Any vice presidential buzz? We'll talk to Governor Richardson coming up in the hour.
Meanwhile, Alina Cho joins us with other stories making the news this morning, the latest details on many of them as well.
Hi, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. Good morning, again. Good morning, everybody. The city of Cleveland wants to throw the book at some of Wall Street's biggest banks, filing suit over the sub prime mortgage crisis accusing banks of committing fraud. The city wants hundreds of millions of dollars to cover the costs of cleanup and law enforcement in neighborhoods that have disintegrated from the mortgage meltdown. The suit names Bear Sterns, Citigroup, Countrywide, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs to name a few.
President Bush is on his way to Kuwait right now. He left Israel with a promise to return in May. His latest Middle East peace plan calls on Israelis and Palestinians the make, quote, "painful concessions." Israel would have to redraw its borders for a Palestinian state. Palestinians would have to accept compensation instead of returning to the former land in Israel.
Violence escalates in Kenya this morning. Police trying to break up a big march by about 70 opposition protesters. There you see the protests in the video there. The protesters calling on Kenyan officials to be prosecuted for allegedly rigging the recent presidential election results. More than 500 people have been killed and a quarter million displaced in Kenya since the election late last month.
New developments in the showdown at sea with Iran. The U.S. has filed a formal diplomatic protest. Both sides, you may recall, released videos of the standoff. Both had different versions of what went down. The Pentagon said armed Iranian speedboats buzzed Navy ships and threatened to blow them up in a major oil artery in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says there's nothing unusual about its encounter and released its own video.
Major turbulence in the skies. An Air Canada flight from British Columbia to Toronto had to make an emergency landing in Calgary due to that turbulence. Passengers described what it was like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AIR CANADA PASSENGER: The lady in front of me bounced off the roof a couple of times, hit the floor and banged her hand up pretty bad.
CHO: Was she (Inaudible).
AIR CANADA PASSENGER: No, she woke up and was in shock because she was showing up the dislocated finger. I was asleep when I started and it shook me awake. I put my feet in front of me and held myself that way. I saw people who did not have seatbelts on that flying right out of their chair and come back down. AIR CANADA PASSENGER: At fist, turbulence, and then felt -- suddenly released it was a lot more than that. I fly a ton. So you realize quickly that it was more than that. But the plane wasn't a boat, a fixed degree angle that way. Shoes, jackets, people screaming bloody hell, bloody murder on the plane. And the service cart hit the roof and oxygen masks dropped out. It felt like you'd been rear-ended in a car accident or in an earthquake is what it felt like to your body or your physical self.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Oh, my goodness. Can you imagine all that stuff flying on the plane? Ten passengers were hurt but we're happy to report none of them were hurt seriously.
CHETRY: That's why you have to listen to those flight attendants when they tell you to wear that seat belt. You never know.
One of the passengers said I thought that was it for me.
Can you imagine?
CHO: Thankfully no one was injured seriously. But scary moments on that flight.
CHETRY: She described it well.
CHO: Yes, she did, in great detail.
CHETRY: Alina, thank you.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Unstable snow, a growing threat for avalanches. Our Rob Marciano went to the slopes to see how they conduct these explosions, these controlled explosions to get dangerous slides under control. He's going to bring us an inside look at that.
Also, new screening could help find a cure in your breast much sooner.
Paging Dr. Gupta. Hi, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Good morning, again, Kiran. Imagine if you're able to get a test for cancer. It takes a few minutes and you get it in the general practitioner's office. Not today, but one day may be a reality. That's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
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CHETRY: 43 minutes after the hour now. Rob Marciano joins us this morning. He's in Colorado. Steamboat Springs and you're getting a lot of snow there.
Hey, rob. ROB MARCIANO: Hi, Kiran. Two days ago, dumped over 20 inches and a record-setting month for the month of December. So you get a ton of snow. The Rocky Mountains, very, very steep terrain and winter sports enthusiasts trying to get out to enjoy, you know, the winter and the snow.
But there's such a huge avalanche danger. What do you do to control it? Sometimes one of the options is just to blow it up.
Just in this past year alone, we have seen 15 fatalities due to avalanche across the west. We typically average 25. We're not halfway through the season. This kind of work is critically important. They do it along the roadways here in the Rockies and in the ski resorts they do it as well.
Yesterday we went out with a ski patrol group at dawn to see how they do all of this stuff. You have to ski through some of the hefty powder in order do that. That was kind of fun.
But the terrain they control is very, very dangerous and they were all about safety. They used charges that are usually staked into the ground or actually tossed like a hand grenade. It's a combination of kerosene and fertilizers, documented because the government wants to know where the potent stuff is being used. And fascinating to watch these guys go to work. We'll have a complete piece on it next week. But, you know, aside from that, we made it out all right. And I'm not going lie to you, Kiran, its gorgeous right now.
CHETRY: It looks wonderful. You are a fine skier judging from that brief clip we saw. You look like you know how to handle the snow and the slopes pretty well.
MARCIANO: It's fun -- I like gravity. You get this much snow, it's fun.
Down here at the town level, they have their issues with clearing the snow. So, yesterday afternoon, kind of a busy day, went out to learn how to drive a bulldozer, which was fun. Because out west, you don't plow the stuff, you have to pick it up, move it around, use backhoes and estimators and bulldozers to move this stuff around. That was a treat as well having all of the power. And although it's moving very slowly -- I guess any guy would want to drive a bulldozer.
Snowy again here in Steamboat. We got another six inches tonight or last night and will probably get a few more today. You bet the avalanche control groups up there on the mountain.
CHETRY: All of the fellows in the studio were nodding. They too would like to drive a bulldozer.
And you gave us the quote of the morning -- "I like gravity." Thank you, Rob. And we'll see you.
MARCIANO: Yes, Gravity's a good thing. Back to you.
CHETRY: Mammograms, MRIs, self-exams are tried and true ways to screen for breast cancer. But now there's hope for a new way to find tumors sooner using saliva.
We're paging Dr. Gupta. He's in Atlanta for us.
Tell us about this.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Isn't this interesting. When we talk about breast cancer, one of the things you want to do is try to find it early. That makes sense when it comes to cancer and a lot of other diseases. But just how early might you be able to find it?
Researchers published this in is journal "Science," are looking at the idea of looking at your saliva and trying to figure out, before someone feels a lump or they have any symptoms, whether or not they can give them an idea of if they develop breast cancer, more specifically if it's benign or malignant. Very early studies but interesting nonetheless.
The study basically, they had 30 women, ten women were healthy. Ten women had benign breast cancer, and ten had malignant breast cancer. What they found was in their saliva, they had 49 different proteins relevant to this. Relevant to determine if they had cancer, breast cancer specifically. And with about 95 percent accuracy, they could tell if the cancer existed and if it was benign or malignant -- small and early study. There are a lot more proteins they plan to look at in the saliva. But interesting nonetheless as a screening test -- Kiran?
CHETRY: Because you talk about the costs associated with getting that type of health care. A lot of people don't have insurance and can't afford a mammogram or something very extensive. It seems this would be cost effective as a first marker.
GUPTA: Absolutely. It could be done in your general practitioner's office. Imagine going for a routine visit and, if you have history or concerned about breast cancer, you could do this test in a few minutes.
A lot of the research was done by dentists. For women who have breast cancer and are getting therapy, saliva is looked at to determine how effective sometimes chemotherapy is. It's not a brand new idea, but the idea as a screening test, very exciting nonetheless.
CHETRY: How far on the horizon is this?
GUPTA: That's always a tough question. I mean, after the test is approved, you have to go through the clinical trial process to make sure it's as accurate as you think it is. You have to compare it to things like genetic testing and things like mammogram and ultrasound. For the reasons you mentioned, it will be easier, cheaper, because it tell you things more quickly, it will be exciting. I'd say a few years, Kiran, for sure.
CHETRY: Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thank you. CHETRY: It's the car of the future. Detroit is trying to keep it under wraps. We're pulling back the curtain on what's being called the extreme hybrid. A lot of good gas mileage but also a lot of power. We're going to show you how it works, coming up.
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CHETRY: Welcome back. Detroit is keeping a tight lid on what could be the car of the future. We're getting a look, though, under the hood. It's a hybrid that gets this, 150 miles to the gallon.
Our Greg Hunter is live in Queens, New York, "Looking Out" for you. He has a first look at the extreme hybrid.
There's got to be a catch, Greg.
GREG HUNTER, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a catch -- it plugs in. But most people want a hybrid that runs just like a regular car and also get good gas mileage, but not just good gas mileage, good enough gas mile annual to justify the additional expensive? And one company you're about to meet says they've done that.
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HUNTER (voice-over): Meet the extreme hybrid, the SH-150 can clock 87 miles per hour using only an electric motor and drive more than 40 miles on electrical power alone. That could mean huge fuel savings for the nearly 80 percent of Americans who drive under 40 miles a day.
EDWARD FURIA, CHAIRMAN & CEO, AFS TRINITY POWER CORP: For those people, they'll never turn on the engine.
HUNTER (on camera): The gas mileage is unlimited.
FURIA: Literally, unlimited.
HUNTER (voice-over): No small feat in the supercharged hybrid car market.
AFS Trinity Power Corporation took an existing hybrid SUV, the Saturn View, and added batteries and electronics available to everybody.
FURIA: The batteries, the altercapacitors (ph), the electronic pieces are all these are things you can buy off the shelf.
HUNTER: Which they say, combines the energy savings of an electric vehicle with the performance of a traditional gas model.
(on camera): Whoa. This thing takes off.
(voice-over): With the gas motor off, the SH-150 accelerates quickly enough to pass another car or merge with highway traffic. FURIA: You're not limited to driving on just on -- just on side roads and not on a highway. Your can go on any superhighway. And you have all of the acceleration you need to merge into traffic. Those are compromises in electrics and hybrids.
HUNTER: One drawback, the prototype needs to be plugged in and charged every night, but it takes a standard outlet.
(on camera): This is quiet.
(voice-over): And after the first 40 miles, you have to switch to the gas-powered motor. Since the car is just a prototype, it's not yet in production, AFS Trinity couldn't say what the price tag would be, just that it's expected to cost about $8,700 more than current gas-only SUVs, which start about $25,000.
FURIA: I can drive often. It rocks.
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HUNTER: AFS Trinity says they'll be showing the car off next week at the world famous Detroit auto show. They hope that the car companies will see the technology and lighten their technology. Again, this is existing stuff they put together in a patented form. They say if the car companies won't bite on it, they're going to raise cash and do it themselves.
Back to you guys in the studio.
CHETRY: That's interesting that -- even some of the first hybrids or electric cars plugged in. People are wary about that, whether they think they have to plug in their car every night. Is that just the prototype? When they go to production, will that be the case?
HUNTER: That may be the case in production, when they do the car. This is a slick engineering job. These guys aren't shade-tree mechanics. That was really well done. They used an existing General Motors vehicle, but it was really, really well done.
They think if a big car company picks it up, they could have that car out in three years. As usual, if you want to contact me, you can do it at lookingout@cnn.com.
Back to you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Neat. A lot of new technology on the horizon when it comes to this as we talk about rising gas prices. Very neat, Greg, thanks.
You're watching the most news in the morning.
He wants a recount. And no, New Hampshire did not lose 100,000 votes. So why does Dennis Kucinich say something was going on with the primary and he thinks the votes maybe need to be counted again. We're going to talk about that. And the truth about Vitamin D, is it an amazing cure-all? Is it just another vitamin? Can you take too much of it? Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be joining us at the top of the hour with more.
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CHETRY: America votes. The race for president spanning out to other states and the candidates speak out to us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My tax plan would eliminate the IRS.
ROMNEY: This is a time for us to take very aggressive action.
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