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American Morning
Battle for Michigan: Voters Decide Among GOP Hopefuls; One-on- One Interview with Mitt Romney; Dennis Quaid Speaks Out About Twins Health Scare; Health Care Plans: Where Candidates Stand
Aired January 15, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts here in Warren, Michigan. We're at the National Coney Island Diner this morning. It's just before opening time here at the diner. You would have typically expect to be a crowd here, but it's sort of indicative and emblematic of the hard times here, particularly in the Detroit area where the auto industry has been flagging. A lot of jobs have been lost.
Business here even at this diner is down these days. We're going to be talking about this all morning today. Polls up in here for the Michigan primary in about an hour's time, the Republicans battling it out. The Democrats not competing here. They are protesting the fact that Michigan moved up its primary date earlier than the February 5th cutoff point that was set by the Democratic National Committee, and they've been penalized for that.
We're just north of Detroit in Macomb County. It's the home of the original Reagan Democrats. The county here in southeast of Michigan that is crucial, often a bellwether when it comes to electing a president. And for all the talk across the nation about Iraq and immigration, the economy is the issue here. Michigan has the highest unemployment rate of any state in the nation and is home to the struggling American car industry.
Mitt Romney is counting on his native state to rev up his expensive campaign that has so far gotten off to a slow start. He finished second. He did a couple of states. He did manage to get a win out of Wyoming. It's a close one between him and a rejuvenated Senator John McCain who's been surging lately. We're going to talk with Governor Romney as well as the undecided voters that he is trying to sway coming up later on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're also looking, of course, at the issues that are important to voters here and across the country. Our AMERICAN MORNING correspondents are with me here in Warren. Ali Velshi and Gerri Willis talking about markets, jobs and the housing market. Dr. Sanjay Gupta looking at the candidates and health care, and Chris Lawrence talked with families about the issues most important to them.
They're just chatting about the issues here over a cup of coffee this morning. We'll get them on the air in just a few minutes. Let's raise the curtains meantime on this primary day with CNN's Dana Bash. She is on the campaign trail in Grand Rapids, west of here. Dana, by many accounts, this is a make or break day for Mitt Romney. DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's no question about it. When the polls open here in about an hour, it is going to be the start of a day that could really determine the viability of Mitt Romney's campaign. He has poured so much money into this campaign, a lot more than any of his rivals, particularly here in the state of Michigan. After what happened last week in New Hampshire when he came in second for the second time in a big contest, they, of course, within Iowa as well, he pulled his money and he pulled his resources from the next contest states of South Carolina and Florida and really focus on here because he is, of course, a native son and he says that over and over again on the campaign trail.
He is somebody who grew up in this state. His father was governor about 40 years ago. And so, he's trying to make his pitch personal as somebody who connects to the people of Michigan. He says I don't need a compass to know where Michigan is on the map. But also, in terms of the issues that you just talked about. The number one issue for voters here on Michigan on the economy? What he is trying to do is say, I get it. I know how to do it. This is what I do for living.
He, of course, is a businessman. He's a former CEO who basically helped turned around companies. He says I can do that for the state of Michigan because I understand how to do that for a living. So that's going to be his pitch. He says if he doesn't come in first, he's going to go on. But there's no question, John, as you said, if he doesn't come in first here, it can fatally wound his campaign.
ROBERTS: Dana, you know, the polls, you're looking at polls of polls. They're within the margin of error between Mitt Romney and John McCain as to who is actually in the lead. What's the fine point of difference between the messages that the two candidates are sending?
BASH: Really different especially on this topic of the economy. What Mitt Romney is trying to do is say this is Washington's problem. Washington exacerbated the problem here in Michigan by, first of all, ignoring it and then perhaps when Washington got involved in issues and regulations that had to do with the auto industry like cafe standards or mileage or miles per gallon for gasoline, that they have hurt the auto industry here.
And so, what he is saying is that when I become president, I'm going to convene a summit and I'm going to have everybody sort of sits around in the auto industry from Congress and really try to fix it.
What John McCain is saying is you know, I think it's possible that some jobs in the auto industry can come back, but it's not probable. So what he has been pitching to voters here are likely much more of an independent focus because independents can vote here and they've helped McCain. What he is saying is, you know, they might not come back and so I want to spend a lot more money, a lot more time on retraining these workers to help get them another work force besides the auto industry, which might not come back -- John.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll see which message carries the day? We'll find out very soon. Dana Bash for us this morning in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dana, thanks.
And now back to Kiran in New York for a look at other stories making headlines this morning. Good morning, Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, and we're talking Democrats as well this morning. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton trying to bury the hatchet. Each of them made statements last night softening the tone that erupted over comments she made over Martin Luther King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I may disagree with Senator Clinton or Senator Edwards on how to get there. But we share the same goals. We're all Democrats. We all believe in civil rights. We all believe in equal rights. We all believe that regardless of race or gender that people should have equal opportunity.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We may differ on minor matters, but when it comes to what is really important, we are family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The fighting between the two camps started when critics complained that Clinton diminished the importance of Martin Luther King. She said that his dream couldn't be realized without President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act.
Civil rights activist, the Reverend Al Sharpton has some strong ideas about what the candidates should be doing. He'll be our guest in the next hour, 7:30 Eastern time.
Also, new this morning, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Iraq. These pictures are in to CNN with her meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. She flew from Saudi Arabia where President Bush is talking with Saudi leaders. Secretary Rice is expected to push for more political progress to go with the military gains that have been made on the ground in Iraq in recent months.
The CIA official who ordered the destruction of interrogation videotapes will not testify in the Congressional hearings set for tomorrow. The "New York Times" is reporting that the House Intelligence Committee has not decided if Jose Rodriguez, Jr. should get immunity, so they have postponed the appearance. The tapes were destroyed back in 2005. They show Al-Qaeda suspects being waterboarded, where the suspect is made to feel like he's drowning.
Thirty-two thousand more marines are preparing to go to Afghanistan. The troops are getting ready for an expected Taliban offensive in the spring. The deployment means there will be 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the highest level since the 2001 invasion. Head back to Michigan now with John.
ROBERTS: Kiran, thanks very much. Big news this morning about Citigroup. Job cuts and debt writeoffs. Our Ali Velshi joins us now with more on that. Good morning, Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. We were expecting this to sort of be over last year, when Citigroup announced the big cut and some infusions from Abu Dhabi, if you recall for a stake in the company. But now, it's going to get worse.
This morning, we are expecting to get earnings from Citigroup for the fourth quarter. That's the last three months of 2007, and we are expecting some major news. We're looking at $20 billion possibly in writedowns. That's what the reports have so far. Perhaps cuts of 10,000 more jobs. At least 4,000 over the 17,000 that were already announced last year.
We're expecting another cash infusion, this time possibly from Kuwait. The last time it was a cash infusion from Abu Dhabi Citigroup. This means, Citigroup is very much still in trouble. Now, a writedown is sort of an admission from these companies that investments that they thought that were of a certain value are of a much lower value. It's not the same as a loss.
It's an admission that these mortgage-backed securities, these investments that were based on mortgages that were supposed to be secure, are not secure and that they may not be worth the money that Citigroup and other banks thought they were.
ROBERTS: SO is this a final clearing of the decks or could the problem still go deeper?
VELSHI: This is the problem. The problem is we thought we were getting final clearing of the decks sort of before the end of the year, and we're not. This is the biggest one yet. So we're now looking at pushing these writedowns into, you know, high-double digits in terms of the billions. We're also looking at the stock. Many people are invested in Citigroup stock, though you may not know it through most of your major mutual funds, that stock is down 47 percent in one year.
So for American, Citigroup generally touches everyone either through a mortgage, a bank account, or an investment of some fashion. A lot of investors hoping -- wow, they really hope with a new CEO at the top there, that this is the end for Citigroup, but it may not be. As that news comes out this morning, we'll give it you in greater detail.
ROBERTS: Stocks would take another hit today.
VELSHI: That's right.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks. We'll check back in with you. Lots of other issues...
VELSHI: That's right.
ROBERTS: ... particularly in the focus on Michigan.
VELSHI: The rest of the country is talking about recession. Michigan knows what it feels like.
ROBERTS: Now, Mitt Romney calls it the canary in the coal mine.
VELSHI: That's right.
ROBERTS: The rest of the country consumed for the effects of what are being felt here in Michigan.
Mitt Romney is pushing a plan to help Michigan. I caught up with him in Detroit to talk about the economy, especially the auto industry. Romney says that although newly passed fuel economy standards are helping the environment, they're killing automakers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS (on camera): You said in your speech that the new fuel efficiency standards that President Bush recently signed into law are an anvil on the auto industry.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.
ROBERTS: President Bush called it a major step forward when he signed the legislation. Was he wrong?
ROMNEY: Well, it certainly adds to better fuel efficiency which is terrific and reduces dependence on foreign oil. That's good. But to the automaker, it's an anvil because its new mandate coming from Washington saying, here's the new number you have to hit.
All of the vehicles that you're making now are outmoded. You're going to have to build new engines, new transmissions, new axels. All of these things have to be changed at the cost of tens of billions of dollars. Good luck. Now, it's a benefit to the entire nation paid for by one industry that's already in trouble.
ROBERTS: So if you were president, would you seek to roll back those standards?
ROMNEY: What I'd seek to do is to sit down with the leaders of the industry and unions and the state and congressional leaders and say, how do we help? How do we make sure that the schedule we put in place is one that can be met by the Detroit automakers. And number two, how do we make sure that tax incentives, tax policies, research and development incentives are all put in place so these companies can meet the standards and survive? The last thing is you want to do is sit back and say, great, we have wonderful fuel efficiency and all the cars are made in China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We're going to have more on my one-on-one interview with Mitt Romney throughout the morning. And CNN, of course, will be covering the candidates all day long. And if you're away from your television set, by the way, you can watch all of the coverage on your computer. Just head to CNN.com/live.
And primetime coverage begins tonight with a special edition of "Lou Dobbs Tonight" called "Independents Day." That's at 8:00 Eastern -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much. Well, you know, yesterday, we're expecting a big storm here in New York. That didn't happen, at least the snowfall. But New England certainly got slammed. Let's check out some video. This is some different parts of New England including Massachusetts as well as -- Well, this is Boston actually from yesterday. They got -- what did they get, Rob? As much as 20 inches fell in parts of Maine?
ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST: In parts of Maine, parts of the Mass got up to a foot. Boston, officially at Logan got seven inches. You know, folks in Boston, they're kind of -- they kind of get a bad wrap for being bad drivers or at least aggressive drivers, and we're not helping them out by showing, you know, the cop sliding around the snow. But the bobcats were out with heavy equipment to the front loaders trying to get some of that snow out of the way. But they got it.
You seem very depressed that you can --
CHETRY: Well, you know, I had the snowsuit out for the kitty.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: I was ready to go, and we got nothing.
MARCIANO: Sorry. Blame your local weather guy here to help you out. Do I do the weather now?
CHETRY: Yes, absolutely.
MARCIANO: Pull on the weather guys. I see Britney Spears on the prompter. I suppose I don't want to read that. All right. Let's go on.
CHETRY: We'll talk about that a little later.
MARCIANO: The official totals across the northeast that we have for you as far as what fell and where. Royalston, New Hampshire, 14.5 inches of snow there. Leverett, Mass, 12.6. Townsend, Mass, 11.2 and up in Bridgeton, Maine, not on the map there, 16.7 inches. All right.
So fair amounts across New England, they'll take it. The radar pretty quiet right now. You might see a spritz or a flurry across the big apple today, but that really should be about it. The backside of the system about to come through. And there is the Michigan Radar. Chilly, some flurries, some snow in Detroit. Folks heading out to the polls there for primary day today. It will be a typical winter weather, but no massive storm to deal with. So get out there and vote.
Virginia, some snow in the mountains there, especially West Virginia. Snow Shoe (ph) will probably get a little couple of inches of snow out of this particular system. And then we slide the map down to Texas. South Texas, Corpus Christi into Austin and San Antonio. A storm system developing there that will bring rain across the Gulf Coast that may bring some wintry precipitation across the southeast and some of the mountains in the Carolinas and in Georgia. We'll talk more about that as the morning progresses and, of course, much more about Britney Spears.
CHETRY: You're wanting to hear about what happened yesterday? It almost feels like one day spills into the next in the life of Britney Spears. So we'll show the video. She was supposed to show up for court yesterday. She decided not to go in, surrounded by paparazzi. Again, as usual, there it is.
Meanwhile, inside the courthouse, very serious discussions going on about whether or not she'll be able to see her children. We're going to have more on the bizarre outcome from another bizarre day for the pop star.
Also, actor Dennis Quaid talked for the first time about the hospital error that could have killed his newborn twins. He's not now ruling out suing the hospital over what he says the staff did. We're going to talk with our legal analyst Sunny Hostin when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Another day in the life of pop star Britney Spears. She showed up late for a crucial child custody hearing surrounded by paparazzi, missing a chance to persuade the judge to restore her rights to visit her two young sons. There's her ex-husband Kevin Federline also, arriving at the courthouse.
She got back in her car and left a short time later without entering the building. Witnesses say she was shouting I'm scared. I'm going in the car. Ex-husband Kevin Federline retained sole legal and physical custody of the boys indefinitely. There is another hearing, by the way, scheduled for February 19th.
Our legal contributor Sunny Hostin joins us now.
CHETRY: The one thing that I was wondering, can't she be brought in to a different area, underground, some part of the courthouse?
SUNNY HOSTIN, AMERICAN MORNING LEGAL ANALYST: Of course.
CHETRY: Many deal with -- they deal with criminals and people, they don't want to be seen all the time.
HOSTIN: Exactly. And it's much better to do that, Kiran, than not to show up to court. Judges hate that. That is something that you cannot do. And the only excuse, I think, she has at this point is that the paparazzi were swarming her and overwhelming her and that is why she couldn't get in. But the fact that after everything that we've seen, she didn't show up yesterday is a big problem. And that's why we know there's another hearing, February 19th. But, you know, she still does not have even visitation rights with her children.
CHETRY: Also, actor Dennis Quaid and his wife are speaking publicly for the first time now since their twin babies had a major health scare. He talked with "The L.A. Times." Their twins were given an overdose of the blood thinner, heparin. They're OK now, but Quaid says Cedars-Sinai Hospital did not tell him about the overdose, even when he called to check on them. They're not suing the hospital, but they're considering it at this point.
As we know -- you've talked about this -- they were considering -- they wanted to sue the makers of heparin.
HOSTIN: Exactly.
CHETRY: Saying that you're not labeling it properly. But did Cedars-Sinai do something improper here by not letting them know about the condition of their children when they called that night?
HOSTIN: Of course. Of course, Kiran. And we're both moms. We're both parents. And you know, that is -- it's a primary thing. You have to keep the families informed. And apparently, these twins were given 1,000 times the recommended dosage. And when he called, that he was told they're OK. Everything is OK. God forbid something would happen to his children, he would not have had the opportunity to say good-bye and to be with them. That is significant.
And when the story broke, I was saying on air that it was very admirable. They sued, you know, Baxter Health Care, the maker of heparin really just to fix this problem of mislabeling of medication. And for a nominal amount -- it wasn't for the money
CHETRY: Right.
HOSTIN: They didn't sue for very much. But now, they're saying that the hospital -- there was a leak. Their children's patient confidentiality was broken. Privacy rights were trampled upon. State regulators now have found that the hospital mishandled and improperly used that medication. And so while I thought the hospital was doing a great job before, now the Quaids are saying actually we haven't decided whether or not to sue them.
CHETRY: They want to see how Cedars-Sinai responds to some of these allegations.
HOSTIN: Response.
CHETRY: All right. Sunny Hostin, great to see you as always. Thanks.
HOSTIN: Thank you.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: Coming up at 19 minutes after the hour. Kiran, government health officials say food produced by cloned farm animals is safe to eat. But are you buying it? We'll take a closer look at the cloned food controversy just ahead.
And what will the candidates do to help millions of uninsured Americans? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at where they stand on health care. Ahead on the special edition of AMERICAN MORNING live in Warren, Michigan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, your "Hot Shot" this morning comes from an I- Reporter in Michigan. Larry Ball in Lansing wants to show us what happens when you leave your faucets on up there in January. It's a frozen fountain. There you have a chance to see it. Some pretty cool sculptures formed when a neighbor kept his pond fountain running in the frigid temperature. The more the water would spray up, it would freeze, and then it would grow on itself until you have a big sculpture there, an ice sculpture. And that is our "Hot Shot" of the morning.
Larry, thanks so much for sending it in. Pretty neat. And if you have a "Hot Shot," send it to us. The address amhotshots@CNN.com. Be sure to include your name, where you're from and a little bit about the picture or video and please make sure the image is yours.
Now I know it's not that cold where you are, John, right? You're not freezing ice. You're not throwing coffee in the air and having it freeze on you?
ROBERTS: We have a little bit of snow on the ground here. But we don't have big ice sculptures like that. Something like that, you'd think you've seen a cave, not outside like that. Pretty beautiful stuff this morning.
CHETRY: Was neat.
ROBERTS: Hey, we've been talking about economic issues that are important to voters here in Michigan across the country. Health care. Also, very much on everyone's mind. So Dr. Sanjay Gupta back home in Michigan this morning joins me now with the look at where the candidate stands.
So, you know the local perspective here. How bad is it out there?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think a lot of people think the health care issue is responsible for the way the economy has sort of turned, which you were talking about with Ali earlier. Health care premiums so expensive for people, and companies less -- more reluctant to come in to Michigan because they have to pay those high health care premiums in addition to trying to make a profit.
So Michigan sort of getting a two-fer (ph). People don't want to pay the premiums. Companies don't want to pay the insurance and people say that that's contributed to the problem of the economy over the last eight, 10 years.
ROBERTS: So we got 47 to 49 million Americans without health insurance, as many as nine million children. Who's got a plan?
GUPTA: Everyone is talking about trying to get everyone insured, but very different plans. If you look at the Democratic front- runners, for example -- first of all, John Edwards released his plan first. And he has a plan to sort of insure all Americans and mandate people who don't have insurance buy it. Hillary Clinton plan is very similar to that as well. Both very expensive plans. About $100 billion each on that.
As far as Barack Obama's plan, the biggest distinction there is very similar except that there is no mandatory insurance. For adults, for children, there is. But not for adults. They both say look, we'll roll back the tax cuts. We'll try and cut off of some waste. That's where the money is going to come from. Show them $100 billion here for two of those plans, very expensive.
ROBERTS: What about on the Republican side?
GUPTA: You know, it's very interesting because everyone's talking about plans there as well. Former Governor Romney probably the most interesting because he had a universal health care plan for the commonwealth (ph) of Massachusetts requiring health care for all residents of that state. Hasn't he saying, you know, we're sort of backing away from that, for a country. That's what the pundits are saying he's doing saying it should still be in the bailiwick of the state, so to speak.
As far as McCain, Giuliani, Thompson and Huckabee, they're all saying look, let's increase competition among insurance companies. Let's get insurance regulation. Huckabee probably the most outspoken on this, you know, saying prevention that's key. He lost 100 pounds himself, so he preaches it, so to speak.
ROBERTS: Yes. Did you hear him particularly for the auto industry as well because those health care costs just adding so much weight to their ability to be able to compete globally.
GUPTA: Absolutely. And you know, companies don't want to come into this area because they have to pay those health care costs.
ROBERTS: Yes.
GUPTA: In addition to the salaries, they go 15 minutes across the border and they might not have to do that.
ROBERTS: Yes. Sanjay, thanks. By the way, we'd like to note that two of our AMERICAN MORNING correspondents, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Chris Lawrence is also joining us this morning. Our native Michiganders. First of all, we've got some pictures here we want to share. Here's a look at Sanjay back in the day. Take a look at this. Oh, you're wearing a tie and back then, and this morning you don't have one on.
I got to tell you. I forced him to take it out because we're here at the diner. And here's a look at Chris from back in the day.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, my gosh.
ROBERTS: There you go. When was that taken, Chris?
LAWRENCE: Oh, high school.
ROBERTS: You look like you have not aged a day. Chris talks to families of Michigan about their struggles and how it's going to affect their votes ahead. You're from where? The Ann Arbor area here?
GUPTA: Well, I was most recently in Chelsea, but Novi before that. Novi.
ROBERTS: And you, Chris?
LAWRENCE: Detroit.
ROBERTS: Oh, so this is home for you.
LAWRENCE: Home.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: One of the suburbs of Detroit. When did you leave?
LAWRENCE: I left right after high school to go to college and came back and worked here for a few years in the late '90s and then moved on again.
ROBERTS: Right. It's good to have you back. We'll be talking to both of them a little bit more this morning about the issues important to people here in Michigan and how it might affect their vote today. Bur right now let's go back to New York, and here's Kiran.
CHETRY: They are both so adorable as little kids. I can't believe it. Very cute. Now, we need to get a picture of John Roberts when he was a young boy.
ROBERTS: You'll never find one. You will never find one.
CHETRY: I know. I bet you someone's going to try to meet that challenge on the internet. Thanks, guys.
ROBERTS: Let them try.
CHETRY: The FDA, by the way, is about to announce that cloned meat is safe to eat. "The Washington Post" is reporting that health officials have concluded that food from healthy cloned animals and their offspring is as safe to eat as meat from other ordinary animals that are not cloned. While the agency does note in the document though that moral, religious and ethical concerns have been raised but they say this risk assessment is strictly a science-based evaluation saying that it is safe to eat as far as science goes.
And it brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Would you eat food from a cloned animal even though you've gotten the OK from the FDA saying it's safe, would you do it? Cast your vote, CNN.com/am. Yes or no. we're going to have the first tally of the votes later on in the hour.
Still ahead, President Bush meets with the king of Saudi Arabia today. Coming up why it's in Saudi Arabia's best interest to cut the price of oil.
Also, he lost a son in a tragic car accident more than a decade ago. Now, another scare for presidential candidate John Edwards. This time, his daughter and her running with a drunk driver. That story and today's headlines when a special AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: There cooking up breakfast here at the National Coney Island Diner in Warren, Michigan. People starting to trickle in on this Tuesday morning, primary day here in the states. And you know, we got to tell you, though, the business here at the diner is not as good as it used to be. Because it sort of overall here in the state that things are a little bit depressed. Some people say it's a one-state recession. Other people say it's indicative of what might happen across the country in the next few months.
Good morning. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING live from Warren, Michigan and New York. Tuesday, January the 15th, I'm John Roberts, good morning.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, John, great to see you. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York. Some of the polls are opening in Michigan in just about 30 minutes. Right?
ROBERTS: They are. Yes, the first polls open at 7:00 this morning over most of the states. There is four counties there in the far western section of the upper peninsula there. They're actually in the central time zone. So they don't open until 8:00. And then there's a little bit of stagger and closing.
As I mentioned, we're live in Warren at the suburb just north of Detroit. Michigan has got the highest unemployment rate in the country. Its home to the American car industry. And economy in transition. When people talk about a nationwide recession, they point right here as the starting point. Our Chris Lawrence is tied with families who are feeling the pinch. Many homeowners say that they would leave if they could. But resale values for their homes are down 30 percent to 40 percent in the state. They just can't afford to lose the money. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis has got more on their struggle and what they can possibly do, all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Thanks, John. Well, also new this morning. Federal investigators are ready to announce why the I-35W Bridge collapsed in Minneapolis last summer. The NTSB says that a design flaw was behind the collapse which left 13 people dead and others injured. Steel plates that hold the beams together were not strong enough to hold the weight of the 40-year-old bridge and the renovation that were added to it.
Congressional hearings on steroids and baseball will start today but without the big stars. Commissioner Budd Selig and the head of the player's union Donald Fehr will testify along with Former Senator George Mitchell. Another hearing scheduled February 13th will focus on players using steroids and is expected to feature Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee.
President Bush in Saudi Arabia today will talk directly with King Abdullah about the high price of oil and what it's doing to the American economy. The president wants the Saudi to use their influence at next month's OPEC meeting to bring the price down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: The oil prices are very high, which are tough on our economy. And that I would hope that as OPEC considers different production levels, that they understand that the biggest consumers, the economy suffers, that means less purchases, less oil and gas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: President Bush wraps up his Middle East trip tomorrow with a visit to Egypt.
And a scare -- quite a scare for presidential candidate John Edwards. His daughter, Kate, was in a car wreck caused by a suspected drunk driver. Police say -- in North Carolina say it happened as Kate Edwards was driving through downtown Chapel Hill Friday afternoon. Edwards says she was not injured and is doing fine. Police cited the other driver for driving while impaired. The Edwards lost their 16- year-old son, Wade, in a car accident back in 1996.
John?
ROBERTS: I was shocked when I heard about that.
We want to hear from families voting today in Michigan. Do they think that one of the candidates will have the ability to actually turn things around should they become president? Our Chris Lawrence joins us now and Chris, what did you find out from talking to these folks.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just from a personal perspective. I mean my grandfather worked for Ford his entire life. He retired from Ford. We were a Ford family. And there was a sense of loyalty, a mutual connection there. Now you've got some families like the ones we spoke with who say it's gotten so bad here that they're considering moving to another state because they just can't make ends meet in Michigan anymore.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Unemployment was up. Mortgages went in a meltdown. And a building blocks of one small business crumbled.
BILL CAVERLY, UNEMPLOYED CONTRACTOR: There is no work for what I did.
LAWRENCE: Bill Caverly hasn't worked since his construction company went on dirt last year. It was a business he had taken over for his dad.
CAVERLY: You can't go into church or into the grocery store without meeting somebody who's having a hard time.
LAWRENCE: Bill says Michigan needs a president with business experience, not someone who just extends tax cuts for the middle class.
CAVERLY: I'd rather have the tax cuts for business. Because if you give a business a tax cut, you're going to go ahead and they are going to hire people.
LAWRENCE: And he wants a candidate to explain how they cut spending to pay for it.
CAVERLY: I just heard it from Mitt Romney on the TV. He was talking about change. He's going to stop the spending. I don't know how one guy can do it unless they give the president a line item veto.
LAWRENCE: Only Mike Huckabee favors going that far. So many people have lost their jobs and left town. Pew sit empty at First Baptist Church in Sterling Heights. John Sansoterra is a painting contractor who says he competes with companies that hire illegal immigrant workers, a problem made worse by the bad economy.
JOHN SANSOTERRA, SMALL-BUSINESS OWNER: Hidden builders or maybe other painting companies that were, you know, above board. Kind of feel like they have to go this direction in order to stay afloat.
LAWRENCE: He disagrees with John McCain's support for a guest worker program. Economically, John likes Mitt Romney's promise to help the auto industry and Rudy Giuliani's plan to produce corporate taxes. But neither will get his vote in the primary because he wants to elect a true social conservative.
SANSOTERRA: Granted the temptations there of what can hold economically. What could, you know, maybe better? But you know for us, the -- the social comes first.
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LAWRENCE: Yes and just goes to show you that even in a state as hard hit economically as Michigan, there's no way you're going be able to preach one issue across the state and have it attract everyone. But on the economic side, John, people here do want answers. All of the candidates are saying that they will help Michigan. It's not a matter of deciding which approach is best. Voters have to decide whether it's Fred Thompson's, free market, free trade approach. Or whether its John McCain's desire to re-train these workers with new skills or perhaps another plan entirely.
ROBERTS: We got a personal perspective on this. As we said, you grew up in Michigan. How long ago did you leave and how have things changed since you left?
LAWRENCE: I left right after high school. And I think I was a little kid in the '70s when you had some really tough times here. But I think at the time, you felt like it was temporary. You felt like this was a bump in the road. This feels different. This feels like these jobs are gone. They're not coming back. And Michigan will have to revamp its economy in order to really survive.
ROBERTS: A real atrophy that setting in here.
LAWRENCE: Just a sense of real depression. Everywhere we went, people were talking about jobs. Even when we didn't have the cameras around and we're just standing there in line at the Starbucks, you could hear people talking about jobs, jobs, jobs.
ROBERTS: That's what it's all about here. Chris Lawrence, thanks very much for that. Good perspective on that story.
The leading Democratic presidential candidates have got a debate tonight. That takes place in Las Vegas. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and John Edwards pointing toward their next big context test, that's the Nevada caucuses on Saturday. And we're going to be heading to Vegas. Next, we're hitting all of the battleground states on the road to Super Tuesday talking with voters, candidates, and focusing on the issues that will help you choose a president. It's all about information. We hope to give you the best so that you can make the most informed choice.
Kiran?
CHETRY: John, thanks. Well, the Republicans may be focused on Michigan but Florida actually begins going to the polls today too. This morning, there are 37 locations across Florida open for early voting. Now the state doesn't hold its primary officially until January 29th. In addition to the polls opening, more than 200,000 Republicans, 150,000 Democrats, and 520,000 unaffiliated voters had asked for absentee ballots in that state.
You're watching the most news in the morning. And still ahead, antlers sticking out of a frozen lake in Washington. There you see a moose in some danger and the race to save his life. The amazing rescue effort. We'll show you the pictures coming up.
Also, Britney Spears goes to the courthouse for a custody hearing. Never makes it actually inside the building though. Britney's latest strange bizarre day ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Well, talk about a bad day. How about that poor moose stuck in the ice out in Washington State. He wondered out on to Loon Lake, north of Spokane. The 900-pound animal, obviously, too much for the ice to handle. The moose watching anxiously as crews used sledge hammers and chainsaws cutting through the ice. And they finally were able to help prod him out with an oar.
I mean, he's doing a lot of it on his own too. Amazing, given how long he was sitting in there. They say that after a quick shake, they're backing up wisely. A 900-pound moose, shaking himself off after that. He doesn't look any worse for the wear. So there he is. That was before, and then of course, we showed you what he looked like afterwards. So hopefully he got off the ice quickly before he, you know, actually -- walked in a couple more feet but fell back in again. But he is OK this morning. So kudos to the crew that help that little moose out or the big moose.
Interstate 4, by the way, in Florida close again this morning. A live picture now. You may remember we talked about this on Friday as well. A problem because of some really bad fog coupled with some pretty bad smoke from some wild fires that were taking place and brush that was burning there. Last week, there was a 70-car pileup on I-4 that killed four people. People on the ground talked about how visibility is so terrible there that they were unable to see. And that's what really caused the pileup.
43 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano here with us this morning. When we saw the pictures, (INAUDIBLE) it was Friday or Thursday or Friday, you couldn't see -- I mean, when we had our reporter on the launch, we couldn't see the path, you know, the car next door.
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CHETRY: Well, meanwhile, speaking of accidents, how about Britney Spears. She had another tough day yesterday as she tried to make it to the courthouse to testify in her custody hearing. A court commissioner in Los Angeles upheld the order to suspend her visitation rights. Spears, while causing a big ruckus didn't even attend the hearing. She was driven to the courthouse. Actually came back a couple of times but never made it inside.
Our Lola Ogunnaike joins us now with more on this situation. So what happened yesterday? She knew she was supposed to appear in court. All the other parties involved appeared in court. And instead, there was this paparazzi chase that we see every time she's involved. And she didn't show up in the courthouse.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the big question was, will she or will she not show up? And she actually did show up, Kiran, but she never made it in. As soon as she jumped out of her Escalade, she was immediately swarmed by the paparazzi. Over 300 of them were on hand to capture photos of her. She gets scared. Actually says, I'm scared. She starts yelling stop it, stop it, stop it. She's unable to get in. Jumps back in her Escalade. And guess where she heads, Kiran, she heads to church.
CHETRY: Oh, really?
OGUNNAIKE: The same church that Nancy Reagan and Ronald Reagan actually got marry in, in the '50s, by the way. Quick fun fact. She heads to church and then she decides that she's hungry and she heads to the Gaucho Grill which is a steakhouse near her mansion, has lunch and then heads home.
CHETRY: Hold on, time out for one second. There are ways that people can get in to the courthouse without being seen, without being photographed. They need help of the sheriffs and they can be ushered into a private garage. Why not take that route?
OGUNNAIKE: Absolutely which is causing some people to say, maybe this was again one of Britney's glorified publicity stunts because there is a way for her to sneak in quietly.
CHETRY: So as it ends up, she's now once again been denied visitation rights. There's another hearing February 19th, which sadly -- I mean, there are two children involved but emotion is sense up as fodder for the paparazzi.
OGUNNAIKE: Absolutely. Yes, there's another hearing February 19th. So she has about a month to try to get herself together.
CHETRY: Let's not hold our breath. Thanks, Lola.
John?
ROBERTS: MySpace announcing some big changes in an attempt to protect your children from on-line predators. Veronica De La Cruz takes a look at what's being done and whether it would actually make a difference.
And between the mortgage crisis and high unemployment, some say that Michigan is in a state of economic despair. Do the Republican candidates here today have answers that voters want to hear? Gerri Willis will take a look at the state's economic struggle coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. The most popular social networking site on the web is now taking a major step to protect children. Attorneys general in 49 states are partnering with MySpace to fight predators on-line. Our Veronica De La Cruz has been following the story. She has details for us this morning. Good morning, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. You know, it's a pretty big deal. You know, MySpace claims to be the biggest social networking site in the world. It seems about 70 millions users monthly in the United States alone. So this is a big agreement from both parties. But here is the problem -- though the site system changes have been made, others are going to take some time to develop. The most important thing, age and I.D. verification.
But here are some of the changes that you might see so far. If you're under the age of 16, your profile will automatically be set to private. You can only change the age in your profile above or below 18 once. You won't be able to browse anyone under the age of 18 if you are an adult. And then in terms of pictures and video, the site says anything uploaded will be reviewed.
A registered sex offender Dave Wades will be created so any profiles that match will be taken down and any complaints will be acknowledge within a 24-hour period. MySpace is also inviting parents to register their child's e-mail address. And if that information matches the database, that child won't be able to create an account.
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DICK BLUMENTHAL, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Parents are the first and last line of defense and in no way will any of these safety measures ever supplant or replace the role of a responsible parent.
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DE LA CRUZ: So still the onus lies directly on the parent here. The attorneys general have also urged all social networking sites to follow suit warning. That litigation is still an option.
Kiran?
CHETRY: That's very interesting. You mention 49 states, which is the one state that's not addressing this is Texas.
DE LA CRUZ: Texas is saying that the plan is too vague. Like I said, the catch here is age and I.D. verification, the technology doesn't exist right now. So right now, anybody can sign up for a profile.
CHETRY: And say they're 16 but they're really 49 years old.
DE LA CRUZ: Exactly.
CHETRY: All right. So that is the one catch. Interesting to know that parents can register the e-mail address of their children.
DE LA CRUZ: And the other important thing is that they are implementing this registered sex offender database and the, you know, attorney general of North Carolina said that -- I believe it was last spring -- there were 29,000 registered sex offenders on MySpace alone. So that is a very big deal, its database.
CHETRY: Veronica De La Cruz, thanks for the update.
John?
ROBERTS: Well, we're cooking up breakfast this morning here at the National Coney Island Diner. Some food news for you. The Food and Drug Administration is about to announce that cloned meat is safe to eat. "The Washington Post" reported today that health officials have concluded food from healthy cloned animals and their offspring is as safe as food from ordinary animals. But would you eat it? That brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Would you eat food from a cloned animal? Right now, 56 percent of you say yes. 44 percent of you say no. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll continue to tally the votes throughout this morning. We'll bring you the final check just before we go off the air at 9:00 Eastern.
The mortgage crisis is spreading. Financial giant Citigroup ready to announce deep cuts and huge -- we mean huge losses. A full report on this red flag for the economy coming up at the top of the hour.
And Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say they want to put the issue of race behind them. That may not be so easy to do. The Reverend Al Sharpton will be with us in the next hour ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: For Republicans, all eyes are on Michigan today. But do the candidates have their work cut out for them here? It certainly would seem so. Michigan is one of the most economically depressed areas of the country. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with me now to explain how bad are things here?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Chris Lawrence is an absolutely right. This is more than a bump in the road for Michigan. As a matter of fact, their unemployment rate right now, 7.4 percent, the highest in the nation. The state has lost 150 auto- related jobs in the last decade.
ROBERTS: 150,000?
WILLIS: 150,000. Thank you. 150,000 jobs gone over the last decade and 60 percent of the total. I mean, that is a huge hit. One economist I talk to said it's a loss of a decade for Michigan. They're going to be fighting back trying to grow new industries for years. Its very difficult.
ROBERTS: Unemployment rate, 50 percent above the national average here.
WILLIS: 7.4 percent and the nation is something like 5 percent. You can see there's a big gap there. Very different.
ROBERTS: So how different is the downturn here from other areas across the nation?
WILLIS: Quite different. You know, the rest of the nation is struggling with a housing boom gone bust, it's an asset bubble that burst. And as you've seen, you know, prices are going down. We've got lots of problems in the mortgage industry and the finance industry. But here in Michigan, it's much more fundamental. The jobs are gone. And that is the classic economic problem. And you have seen problems in the housing industry as well. For example, in Detroit, the median home price is $39,000. Think about that.
ROBERTS: That's incredible.
WILLIS: The median price across the country is $210,000. Very different scenario here. It's going to take the economy a very long time to rebound.
ROBERTS: The big question is, are the jobs gone forever or may they ever come back?
WILLIS: They're going to have to be really creative here in Michigan. And I know that state and local officials here are trying to do just that with all kinds of economic development programs. But those don't turn on a dime, John. They take a long time to play out.
ROBERTS: And a lot of ideas from the presidential candidates. That we'll go over it this morning. Gerri Willis on that. Thanks very much.
WILLIS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: John, Gerri, thanks. A reminder, by the way, to catch CNN's primetime political coverage. A special edition of "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," called "Independents Day." Starts at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
So can Democrats put the issue of race behind them? We're going to be talking with the Reverend Al Sharpton about it in our next half- hour.
And the NTSB now says it knows the cause of the deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis last summer and it's leading to a warning for other states. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
Michigan votes, polls opening right now. What's driving the must-win race?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no work.
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CHETRY: The candidates and their plans for health care and the economy.
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MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I think to do is to sit down with the leaders of the industry and unions and the state and congressional leaders and say, how do we help?
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CHETRY: Plus, can they just get along?
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HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are family.
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We share the same goals.
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CHETRY: How real is the truce between Clinton and Obama. It's the "Most Politics in the Morning," live from New York and Michigan on this special election edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome. It's Tuesday, January 15th. They're going be voting in Michigan today and the polls open actually right this second for most of the counties there. Welcome to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry in New York.
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