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American Morning
Fight for Florida: Focus Flips to Economy; Dow's Wild Swing; Ledger's Final Moments: No Illegal Drugs Found; Ford Buyouts: All UAW Eligible; Customizing Anti-Depressants
Aired January 24, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: We'll take a closer look at what he's saying to voters.
A famous life cut short. But why? New details on Heath Ledger's death. What police found in his bedroom.
So good it makes you sick. The "Cloverfield" effect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, I'm so hot right now. I'm about to pass out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Why some people are giving back their buttery popcorn during the number one movie in the country, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
That's right. "Cloverfield" shot sort of like the "Blair Witch Project" but on the big screen, and making some people sick.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: "Blair Witch" drove me nuts so I can imagine what this one might do.
CHETRY: Well, it's Thursday, January 24th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
Big news about the economy this morning. A final agreement is near on the president's massive stimulus plan. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and members of Congress worked into the night with concessions on both sides. Americans could see tax rebates worth $96.5 billion. That's about two-thirds of what President Bush says it will take to jump-start the economy. It's caution, however, that the numbers were the subject of intense negotiations.
Overseas markets seem to be responding well to the news. London FTSE up by more than 200 points today. The Dow's big game boosted most Asian and Pacific overnight. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunged 550 points. That was after news of more than $7 billion fraud charge at a French bank. That bank says it was committed by a lone trader who quote, "escaped all control" -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, AMERICAN MORNING is on the "Financial Security Watch" this morning. We have senior business correspondent Ali Velshi tracking the markets aboard the CNN Election Express. And our personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here in New York with us, telling us if now is the time to buy stocks.
And we start with Ali. The Election Express bus began in Atlanta, rolled into Arkansas, and Ali is now live in the capital this morning of Little Rock. Now, we talked about, Ali, that wild swing with the Dow yesterday, swinging 600 points when all was said and done. When it was over, though, all smiles.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, 300 point higher almost. A big day for the Dow. For the S&P 500, it was a big day for markets in general. I wouldn't read too much into it, though. We are still in for tough times. This is the sign that most investors think that there is a recession coming. So very close eyes on that stimulus package that we're expecting to hear about, that John talked about.
We've got the "State of the Union" address on Monday, and we've got the Fed probably making another rate move either next Tuesday or Wednesday. Now, we've got news that we are expecting any moment now from Ford. Probably some massive buyouts again to try and reduce its work force. And as we travel through the south, starting in South Carolina going all the way to California, through nine states over six days, we're hearing a lot about jobs.
Now, while people are concerned about gas prices and they're concerned about home prices and they're concerned about mortgage rates, the one thing that is very easy to tip an economy into recession is when people think that their job and their income is at stake. So this job news does concern people. We've heard a lot of people talk about things that will stimulate jobs in the economy whether that's a stimulus package, meaning, a give back from the government, a check that goes to individuals, or it's a cut in taxes.
We're going to be hearing a lot of discussions about that, and we're also hearing from a lot of people about their specific concerns, which I'll be sharing with you a lot more later. But absolutely, housing and rates are one of the biggest ones, and I know Gerri's going to talk you about that -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Ali Velshi has rolled -- road trip rolls on, by the way. He's taking the economic pulse of the nation. His next stop for him and the CNN Election Express will be Shreveport, Louisiana.
He's traveling more than you lately.
ROBERTS: Yes. And he's doing it by bus which is a great way to see the country as well. And it's a plush bus as well.
It's a roller coaster ride of investors on Wall Street. Is now the right time to get on board? Our CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis has got some advice in our "Financial Security Watch." Mitt Romney said it the other day campaigning in Florida, if I were an investor, and he is, I'd be buying stocks right now. GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, stocks are down. When stocks are on sale, when they're cheap, that's when you want to start thinking about investing. But I have to tell you, you should be investing all the time. You should have a program where you're putting in a little bit of money all the time. This is in making your decisions based on headlines. That's a sure way to lose money.
Look, if you take your money out of the market right now, you're going to miss some move higher. That's just a rule. So what you want to do is make sure you have a plan. That you're putting in a little bit at a time. And this is the kind of time where you look for opportunities. What sold off? They have a lot of confidence in that you might want to invest in going forward.
ROBERTS: Dollar cost averaging? I think that's what they call it.
WILLIS: That's exactly what it's called.
ROBERTS: There's an old saying that says a bull market won't let you in, a bear market won't let you out. A lot of people are considering taking money in their 401Ks and putting it into a savings account. Is that the right thing to do?
WILLIS: No. No. Look, your 401K should be sacrosanct. You should be saving that money. And what's more, you'll have a penalty for taking money out of your 401K early. Don't do it. It's a big mistake. And where are you going to put it in? Savings? Something that's paying two, three, four percent. I can't think of a worse idea right now, John.
ROBERTS: Some people, though, are considering, well, let's see, I want to make sure I've got money for my future. Should I be saving it? Should I be spending it to stimulate the economy and promote growth, get those interest rates up, get the stocks up?
WILLIS: No.
ROBERTS: Is there any way that, you know, people can really gauge exactly what to do here?
WILLIS: Well, you know, I don't think it's my job to stimulate the economy. And I don't think consumers out there should be having those, their first priority right now. I think you should be thinking about your family. What do you need to do for your bottom line? What do you need to do to keep yourself safe?
Right now, you're biggest threat is the recession. Ali just said it. There could be more layoffs, more consolidations in the auto industry. If you're worried about your job, what you need is savings. Three to six months worth of savings that you can count on, just so that you have living expenses. You can pay the mortgage. You can put food on the table if the worst comes to pass. That's going to give you some peace of mind, not, you know, getting rid of your 401K right now. ROBERTS: You know, the other day, we did one of our "Quick Votes." And we asked people a question, what would you do if you got one of those tax rebates? And majority of the people said that they would use it to pay off some of their debts.
WILLIS: That's a great idea.
ROBERTS: Which is a great idea.
WILLIS: That's a great idea.
CHETRY: But not the intents of what the stimulus plan would be...
WILLIS: No.
CHETRY: ... which is to get it out there right away?
WILLIS: No. Everybody wants you to go to the mall, buy a car. You know, whatever.
ROBERTS: Yes. But we are carrying way too much debt as a nation now.
WILLIS: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: All right. Kiran?
WILLIS: Negative savings rate.
ROBERTS: Yes. Thanks.
CHETRY: Thanks, Gerri. We're turning now to the battle for the White House, and it looks like the constant bickering between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is actually not hurting Barack Obama in the polls. Two new polls have Obama easily beating Clinton in South Carolina. There's one. This is American Research Group Poll. It has Obama at 45 percent, Hillary Clinton at 39 percent and John Edwards at 10 percent.
On McClatchey-MSNBC/Mason-Dixon Poll puts Obama ahead by nine points. Well, according to this -- yes, 40 percent for Barack Obama, 31 percent for Clinton, and 13 percent for Edwards in the state where he was born. South Carolina's Democratic primary, by the way, is going to be held this Saturday.
Just two days before the Democratic primary in South Carolina, and former President Bill Clinton is again in the spotlight. His wife returns to South Carolina today after campaigning last night in New Jersey.
Hillary Clinton has been focusing on some of the Super Tuesday states while Bill Clinton lashed out yesterday in response to a question from CNN's Jessica Yellin about the racial back and forth with the Obama camp, and she asked about a charge that South Carolina, former South Carolina Democratic chairman made that Clinton's tactics are similar to those of the infamous Republican operative Lee Atwater.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Long before South Carolina was in play when we were in Iowa months ago, I never heard a word of public complaint when Mr. Obama said Hillary was not truthful, not enough character, was poll driven. He had more polls than she did. When he put out a hit job on me, at the same time he called her the senator from print job (INAUDIBLE), I never said a word. And I don't care about it today. I'm not upset about it.
The only thing I pointed out was that there was substantially no difference in her record and his on Iraq, and that he had said in 2004, there was no difference between his position and President Bush. And he said that was somehow dishonest but he never answers how it's not accurate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: We'll talk with CNN's Jessica Yellin coming up in the next half hour about the race issue, and what Bill Clinton has been saying on the campaign trail.
Also, from Hillary Clinton's husband to Barack Obama's wife, Michelle Obama, also weighing in on the race issue in the race. Here's what she said to a local North Carolina reporter yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, CANDIDATE'S WIFE: Our belief is that the decision of who will be the next president will not be based solely on race or gender. You know, my deep hope is that people will base their decision on who they think they can trust, who's got a vision for the country, who's bringing a different, you know, tone to politics, and who's going to really take this country in a different direction. And quite frankly, I think the only person that comes close to that is Barack, and he happens to be a black man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, yesterday was Michelle Obama's first day of a four-day campaign swing through South Carolina ahead of Saturday's primary.
ROBERTS: On the Republican side, five days and counting until Tuesday's Florida GOP contest. The new poll in this morning's "Miami Herald" shows Rudy Giuliani struggling for third behind frontrunners, John McCain and Mitt Romney. Giuliani spending nearly all of his time in the state and lately he's been talking about the economy instead of national security. So will the issue of the economy dominate tonight's Republican debate in Boca Raton?
CNN's Dana Bash is following the Giuliani campaign. She is live in Hollywood, Florida. Dana, are they surprised at the slide that he's been experiencing the last couple of weeks? DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is no way they aren't, John. I will show you. This is the newspaper you're referring to. This is what Florida voters woke up to this morning. A poll showing that Mitt Romney and John McCain are essentially tied for first, but Rudy Giuliani is tied for a distant third with Mike Huckabee.
It's not just that. His numbers in just two months collapsed 21 points. That is the number of points that his poll numbers dropped here in just two months. And it is why Giuliani is actually trying to adapt on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): On the stump, Rudy Giuliani's theme of tested is retooled. The economy now trumps security as he tries to ward off embarrassment in Florida.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did it with New York City, and you can go and look at the results to the economy of New York City. I've done it with businesses. I've done it before, I can do it again.
BASH: His biggest challenge -- getting Floridians to listen. There are fresh signs Giuliani's strategy to skip most early contests in search of a Florida win may not be working. A new poll here shows Giuliani now statistically tied for third with Mike Huckabee. A 10 point fall from his Florida lead a few months ago.
BASH (on camera): So why is it that you seem to be losing support, not gaining support?
GIULIANI: I think the reality is that we are gaining support. I think the issues that we're hitting on are the ones that are key ones for the people of Florida. And the most important one is, you know, proven leadership.
BASH (voice-over): There, his obstacle is John McCain, on TV with this new ad.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's no one more qualified to meet our national security threats. I've been dealing with these issues my entire adult life.
BASH: And McCain appears to be competing for Florida's top spot with Mitt Romney.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I will go to Washington using the experience I have in the private sector, in the real economy, to strengthen our economy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now, when I asked Giuliani about his plummet in the polls, why he thinks that is, he insisted that his campaign is just kicking into high gear. But if you talk to pollsters here, they say one telltale sign, one bad sign for Giuliani, is that the number of undecided voters here, John, is actually relatively small, especially compared to the other early contest states that we saw.
So that is pretty bad news, they say, for Giuliani because somebody like him who's so well-known here, it's going to be hard for him to make up those votes as they head towards Tuesday's election.
ROBERTS: Yes. Awful lot of ground to make up in four days. Dana Bash for us this morning. Dana, thanks. And keep it right here for "The Most Politics in the Morning." Senator John McCain is going to join us live at our next hour to talk about the fight for Florida.
And remember, our political coverage continues in primetime. Join Soledad O'Brien and me tonight for CNN's Election Center. I'll be in Charleston, South Carolina. It all starts at 8:00 Eastern -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, there's some new details this morning about the moments immediately after actor Heath Ledger was discovered dead in his New York City apartment. Police are now revising their story as they get more information and talk to more people who were there. And there's also word of phone calls made by the masseuse who found him in his bed to another celebrity, Mary Kate Olsen.
AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho has been following the latest developments in this. A lot of intense interest in exactly what happened. And there's still a lot of unanswered questions.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's still a mystery. It's going to be a while, Kiran. Good morning, everybody. In fact, it could be another two weeks before we know the exact cause of death.
An autopsy performed Wednesday was inconclusive. More toxicology tests are being done and it's going to be a while before we get those results. Now, police do confirm six types of prescription drugs were found inside Heath Ledger's Manhattan apartment, including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication but nothing illegal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND KELLY, NYPD COMMISSIONER: There was another issue as to whether or not there were any illegal drugs found. That's not the case. There were no illegal drugs found. There were prescription bottles. All of the pills were in the bottles. There was some report that they were strewn. That's not the case. The bottles were capped. They were sealed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: And police also tested a rolled up $20 bill, but it tested negative for drugs. Now, here's what we know about the timeline. A lot coming out about that. Ledger's housekeeper arrived at 12:30 p.m. At 1:00 p.m., just 15 minutes later, she apparently heard him snoring. 2:45 p.m., the actor's masseuse arrives. When he doesn't respond to her trying to wake him up, she uses his cell phone to speed dial actress Mary Kate Olsen. Knowing the two were friends, Olsen sent over a private security guard and the masseuse called Olsen again before calling 911.
Also, Ledger's ex-girlfriend, Michelle Williams arrived home in Brooklyn last night at the townhome. Williams and the couple's 2- year-old daughter came back from Sweden where she was shooting a movie. And in fact, Kiran, Heath Ledger had moved to Soho after they broke up last summer to be close to their 2-year-old daughter, Matilda.
CHETRY: That's right. And we all -- as you said, Michelle Williams and her daughter arriving. She was on a movie set, I believe.
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: ... in Sweden.
CHO: She was. And, of course, rushed home but did not speak to reporters. Understandably.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Alina, thank you.
ROBERTS: The whole thing is such a shame.
Coming up on 15 minutes after the hour, Drew Peterson wants to get back out and start dating again. But one Chicago radio station doesn't think it's such a good idea. We'll explain, coming up.
And if you're one of the millions of Americans who takes antidepressants, your doctor may now be able to customize your dosage to help get you up and out of the dumps. Is it the light at the end of the tunnel that many have been waiting for? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Seventeen minutes after the hour. Just in to CNN. Looks like Ford is offering buyouts to its employees as it tries to trim its work force. Our Ali Velshi joins us now live from Little Rock Arkansas, where he is traveling across the country with the CNN Election Express. Ali?
VELSHI: John, we just heard from Ford with its financial results. What they have said is that at 9:00 Eastern time, they will announce buyouts. The details of those buyouts are still sketchy. What we have from various newspaper reports that are citing sources close to the union delegations, close to contract negotiations. What we have is that Ford is going to offer a buyout or early retirement plan to all 54,000 of its UAW workers.
We think that it might be a $50,000 buyout to retirement eligible workers and $70,000 buyout to skilled trade workers. That is an increase for both of those groups over what was offered in 2006. There have already been more than 60,000 auto workers who've been offered buyouts by Ford and General Motors in the last couple of years. It's an aim to reduce the number of highly paid UAW workers and replace them with lower paid non-union workers to be in line more with the Toyota and Honda model of manufacturing in the United States.
Now, these are only reports at the moment. Ford has confirmed it will offer buyouts to its employees and they'll get details to us at 9:00 Eastern time. But reports are now that it might be buyouts to all 54,000 remaining UAW workers at Ford. We'll continue on the story and get you more details as soon as they become available, John.
ROBERTS: And so, Ali, quickly, how does this square with what Romney was saying on the campaign trail in Michigan that he can bring back those jobs in the automotive industry?
VELSHI: Well, what Ford is saying is that they're not likely -- they do want to reduce their work force and their costs. This is what GM and Chrysler have been doing as well. They want to change the cost structure. The auto company says if their workers are paid more in line with Toyota or Honda workers, in terms of not having the legacy, those health care costs, they may be able to be more affordable, more competitive on their cars.
General Motors has said in the past that the cost of each car compared to a car made by a non-American auto maker for exactly the same type of car is an increase of $15,000 per car. So that's either profitability or sales price. They're trying to bring their costs in line. Mitt Romney is also talking about the fact that if we don't rush with fuel efficiency standards, to reduce fuel efficiency standards, it could help Detroit sort of survive a little longer and get back on its feet.
ROBERTS: Ali Velshi for us this morning in Little Rock, Arkansas, where obviously, he's drawn a crowd of Hillary followers behind.
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks. We'll check back in with you in just a little while -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, millions of people take antidepressants everyday, and the drugs work better for some than they do for others. Now, there is a way possibly for doctors to be able to figure out whether or not the drug is going to work for you.
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us at the medical update desk. It has been known that they work better for some people than others and now, they may be able to find out why?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is really interesting stuff here, Kiran. First of all, antidepressants are some of the most popular medications in the United States, mostly commonly prescribed. About 118 million prescriptions are written in 2005. Think about that number for a second.
Also think about the fact that in only about a third of patients does a single drug trial of this actually work, only about a third of patients. The question for a long time has been why and can you better predict for who the medication is going to work? What researchers identified is a specific brain protein that basically likes to kick out foreign cells. So if you give a medication, it will say, you know what? We don't' like this medication, so it spits it out.
If you have this particular gene, you're less likely to actually benefit from these antidepressants. They studied Celexa. They studied Effexor. They studied Remeron, and they found the gene really had no effect on Remeron. But as far as Celexa and Effexor goes, it sorts of spits those drugs out if you have this particular gene. Obviously, this is brand-new stuff here, Kiran, but sort of an interesting way to be able to sort of tailor medicine a little bit.
CHETRY: You know, it's also interesting when you talk that. If people are taking these drugs, should they go and ask their primary care physician for some sort of genetic work-up?
GUPTA: You know, we're not there yet. But what you're describing is what a lot of people are talking about. It's sort of this idea of personalized medicine, doing a genetic screen on people before you prescribe medications and determine which medications are going to work best. And it's also worth pointing out that obviously, this isn't a genetic test for depression. It is rather a genetic test to try and figure out what may be the best treatment for depression.
CHETRY: Right. I know this is a whole other ball of wax, and we need to save it for another day. But 118 million prescriptions for antidepressants, it also makes you wonder what's going on.
GUPTA: I know. Are we just throwing medication at all society's ailments? I don't know. It's worthy of a whole other topic. You're right.
CHETRY: Maybe I'll write a mailbag question. I did last week. It was fun. We encourage people to do it, by the way.
GUPTA: We give yours preferential treatment as well.
CHETRY: Well, am@CNN.com, if you have a question for Dr. Gupta, by the way. And we're going to look forward to opening up your mailbag coming up in about an hour. Thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Flag of the play here. Unfair advantage.
CHETRY: No. I mean, I asked it for my dad. I get one a year.
ROBERTS: Here you go.
Drew Peterson makes an offer that one radio station refuses. What did he have to say? That's coming up.
An entire teaching staff at one Cincinnati school fired. The principal and the curriculum also out the door. Why? And was the punishment too harsh? Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, Chicago radio station pulling the plug on former Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson's plan to appear on a program where women can compete for a date with him. Peterson, as you know, is suspected in the disappearance of his wife, Stacey.
Also, questions surrounding the death of his last wife that was ruled accidental. Peterson's lawyer said Stacey ran off with another man and that Drew was entitled to have some fun. The 23-year-old mother of two has been missing since the end of October. Her family maintains there is no way she would ever leave her two small children behind.
ROBERTS: Common sense prevails.
Fired. The principals and teachers at one Cincinnati school all looking for work this morning. The entire teaching staff of Taft Elementary School was let go and the curriculum wiped out. The school district said it had no choice. Repeated efforts to raise test scores didn't work, so the change was needed to comply with the no child left behind act. It certainly came as a surprise to some parents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAXINE MILNER, PARENT: I had no idea that they were going to do it. So I was upset about that because I do like her teacher, too.
ROSA BLACKWELL, SUPERINTENDENT, CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Perhaps, we need to look at some incentives to get the best of the best minds to come into the preschools to work with our children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, the Teachers' Union president hopes that a new curriculum will attract new students and better teachers. The fired teachers, by the way, can reapply for their jobs.
And that has many people talking this morning about the no child left behind act and other education reform issues. In this morning's "Quick Vote" question, we're asking, are the presidential candidates doing enough to address problems with education?
Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. Right now, let's take a look at the results. Eight percent say yes, they're doing enough. Ninety-two percent say no.
CHETRY: That must be our biggest landslide "Quick Vote."
ROBERTS: I've been hearing about this from people who work in, you know, in the teaching area. That they're just not hearing what they need to hear from these candidates. We'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.
You're watching "The Most News in the Morning." Bill Clinton, the so-called campaigner and chief, takes aim at our Jessica Yellin, claiming reporters are taking cues from the Obama spin doctors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: ...take care of that, and they never do because you don't care about it. What you care about is this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We're going to be talking with Jessica about her Bill Clinton run-in. That's coming up.
Well, it's a thriller at the box office but it's also making some moviegoers sick. We're paging Dr. Gupta to diagnosis the "Cloverfield" report. Sanjay?
GUPTA: We actually have warnings posted outside a lot of these theaters. I'll tell you what those warnings are for and more importantly, what you can do about it. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Beautiful shot this morning. The Arkansas River in Little Rock, Arkansas. Thanks to our friends at KATV for that.
Ali Velshi in the CNN "Election Express" in Little Rock today following stories about the economy. All across this nation. As he heads from South Carolina, where we were the other day, over to Los Angeles for our big debates coming up next week. It's 27 right now and sunny. Feels like 16, though. Very cold there. Could go up to a high of 39 today.
Welcome back and thanks for joining us on this Thursday, the 24th of January. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
We're now learning a little bit more about that deal that's said to be very close to happening. President Bush's $150 billion economic stimulus package. Sources are telling CNN that a meeting between Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and congressional leaders is now on hold while those leaders sell the plan to lawmakers.
And there are some concessions. Democrats have agreed to drop increases in food stamps and unemployment compensation in exchange republicans have agreed to allow non-taxpayers to also get these tax rebate checks. It would affect an extra 23 million people, including those on fixed incomes.
ROBERTS: So how is the economic downturn affecting people in this election year? Ali Velshi making his way across the country aboard the CNN "Election Express," talking with folks at every stop. Yesterday, he was in Atlanta. Today, he's in Arkansas and joins us now from the state capital, Little Rock.
Good morning, Ali.
VELSHI: Good morning, John.
You were just showing the Arkansas River here, and the weather here, it is really cold here in Little Rock. So, I've moved indoors. We're at the River Market in downtown Arkansas, right next to the Arkansas River with the "Election Express" as the Pied Piper express now. We got a lot of Hillary Clinton supporters, some Barack Obama supporters here and people who are concerned about education and energy and coal.
We are here at the Coast Cafe at the River Market. Joan is the owner of the Coast Cafe. She's cooking up some great bacon over here for a bunch of people ready to eat. Joan, tell us, we're talking about business, we're talking about the economy and how people are concerned about it. What's happened to your business?
JOAN, OWNER OF COAST CAFE: Well, my business has slowed down in the last few months. That's typical for this time of the year down here at the River Market, but I've noticed an even bigger slowdown. You know, we're probably down about 25 percent in our sales.
VELSHI: And people come here for breakfast. They come here for lunch. You talked to them, are they telling you they're feeling a pinch?
JOAN: Well, yes, they're feeling the pinch. They don't come as often. One of the problems is they say, we talk about food prices, because I have food prices and they do, too. And I know that every week my food prices are going up. My suppliers are now charging an additional delivery charge to make up for fuel costs.
VELSHI: And your dairy, your wheat, your bread, things like that are costing you more?
JOAN: Oh, yes. We were talking the other day about three years ago I was paying $20 for 30 dozen eggs. They now cost me $52.99.
VELSHI: Are you able to pass that on to your customers?
JOAN: At this point in time I'm trying to, you know, keep my prices steady. But, yes the time has come then I'm going have to raise my prices.
VELSHI: Well, Joan, at least here today it's a little bit busy. I hope business continues well for you. Thank you for talking to us.
John, it's a story we're hearing a lot about. Grocery price, fuel prices, food prices going up. That's hurting people a lot. We'll continue our tour. We're leaving Little Rock this morning heading west. We're going to get to California by Sunday.
Back to you, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Ali, thanks very much. Looking forward to it -- Kiran.
CHETRY: The Democrats are facing off in South Carolina in just two days. The hardest punches may have already been thrown by the time the voters head to the polls. In fact, former president Bill Clinton lashed out at CNN's own Jessica Yellin after she asked about a charge that was made by an Obama supporter who compared Bill Clinton's campaign tactics with those of the infamous republican operative Lee Atwater.
Let's listen to a bit of that exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: They're feeding you this because they know this is what you want to cover. This is what you live for. But this hurts the people of South Carolina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is in South Carolina. She's covering it all and she joins me now. What is - what are they saying about whether or not President Clinton and some of his aggressive back and forth with reporters are helping or hurting Hillary in that state?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a pretty savvy campaign. He would not be out here if they didn't think he was helping. He has been in Iowa. He's been in New Hampshire. He has been with her. He has been separate from her. He has had several, for instances, when he was pretty aggressive, either with reporters or against Barack Obama, but still he is out there. So there's no doubt they think he's a help.
He's wildly popular among democrats. He is in particular popular among African-Americans. He got almost 80 percent of their vote in his first campaign in '92. His first campaign for president, more than that in '96. So, they really believe he's an asset down here, regardless of what he says. He's a draw.
CHETRY: What about the Clinton-Obama feud in general? What sort of impact is that having on the democratic campaign?
CROWLEY: Well in a curious way, I think it helps people pay attention. Now, whether they are like it once they pay attention is something else, but the fact of the matter is, again, negative words, negative advertising works. It's why candidates or their spouses use them.
So though people say they don't like it, we do know some people react to it, but what you find down here is, as we found in other states, obviously, is that there is a lot of excitement generated and I've heard a lot of talk about the debate, which you know is pretty contentious and the first thing people say is wow, that was really something. Wasn't that debate really something.
So it's sort of a love-hate relationship between the voters and this kind of negative attacks or negative campaigning, because they say they don't like it, but it does move them and it does make them pay attention. CHETRY: It does. It was the most watched debate in cable news history. So, yes, it did get people to pay attention. Any benefit from John Edwards out of all this? In the debate, he also sort of stepped in and said this is the problem with Washington politics. You need to focus on the issues. Is he getting any type of bounce or is he being boxed out?
CROWLEY: Well, yes. Sort of the answer to that. I mean, the fact is that the conversation, at least on a newspaper headline or TV lead is between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Nonetheless, the Edwards campaign thinks they do, in fact, benefit from this, in a couple of ways. We did see post the Obama-Clinton spat over race early on that John Edwards had an up tick in the national polls.
Secondly, it kind of fits into the Edwards strategy, and that is, they believe that eventually people will look at these two front- runners and get a little buyer's remorse and sort of say, well, wait a minute, should we take a second look at number three? So, they think that they benefit from that, and I guess we'll know in the polls come South Carolina's primary this Saturday.
CHETRY: We'll be watching. Candy Crowley for us in Columbia, South Carolina this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Coming up now on 22 minutes to the top of the hour. New this morning, police here in New York releasing new information as they try to figure exactly what killed actor Heath Ledger. An autopsy yesterday was inconclusive and more tests will be done over the next two weeks. Police found six different types of medication including anti-anxiety pills and sleeping pills but no illegal drugs in Ledger's apartment.
Police also tested a rolled They up 20 dollar bill but it tested negative for drugs. The masseuse who found Ledger faced down in his bed at about 2:45 in the afternoon reportedly picked up his cell phone and called Mary-Kate Olsen knowing the two of them were friends. Olsen sent over a private security guard and the masseuse called Olsen again before she called 911. That was about 15 minutes after she discovered Ledger.
And Ledger's ex-fiance Michelle Williams arrived home in New York last night. Williams and the couple's two-year-old daughter arrived at their house in Brooklyn. They had been in Sweden.
A scandal this morning in the Detroit mayor's office. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is responding to a report that he lied about having an affair. The incident unraveled after intimate text messages between the mayor and a top aide were revealed.
Our Veronica de la Cruz joins us now with a closer look.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the "Detroit Press," the "Detroit Free Press." The publication has gained access to tens of thousands of text messages exchanged in 2002 and 2003 between the mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, his chief of staff. Kilpatrick sent them from his city-issued Blackberry. In one the mayor writes to Beatty. I'm madly in love with you. She responds, I hope you feel that way for a long time, in case you haven't noticed, I'm madly in love with you, too.
Other messages, from Kilpatrick to Beatty include I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for three days, relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping, and making love.
The problem here, John, not only were the two married to other people in that time period but they also involved in a whistle-blower trial in which they testified under oath they were not romantically involved. Since the messages have been made public, the mayor Kilpatrick gave this statement to the Associated Press.
"It is profoundly embarrassing to have these extremely private messages now displayed in such a public matter. My wife and I worked our way through these intensely personal issues years ago. I would now ask that the public and the media respect the privacy of my wife and children and of Christine Beatty and her children at this deeply painful moment of our families."
Again that statement issued there by the Detroit mayor. A conviction of lying under oath can bring a sentence of 15 years imprisonment and that is what the issue is. They did lie under oath and that's, you know, that's perjury.
ROBERTS: A little bit of a sticky wicket for the mayor this morning. Veronica, thanks.
CHETRY: Also, a reminder, though, that text messaging, I mean, you can call that up forever, pretty much, right? I mean,
ROBERTS: Particularly when do you it on your government-issued Blackberry.
DE LA CRUZ: A city-issued BlackBerry. Something you have to think about. Nearly 14,000 text messages and here's the thing opinion. Now they're all over the Internet.
CHETRY: Like everything else is! And any time we're hearing, people are shocked that it gets on the web. I mean, that's how it is these days.
DE LA CRUZ: You have to think before you text, before you type, before you speak these days, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Don't put anything in an e-mail you wouldn't want the world to read.
CHETRY: Exactly.
Well, a potentially innocent man kept behind bars for 26 years all because of attorney-client privilege. It's the killer's secret that kept him locked up. Our Sunny Hostin weighs in. Also, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is about to open up his mail bag. He does it every Thursday and he's going to be answering your questions. Hey, Sanjay?
GUPTA: Yes, lots of great questions today, talking about this cholesterol lowering drug that we were talking about earlier in the week. It got some interesting questions about the heart. I have some models I'm going to show it to you. Some really good stuff coming up on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
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ROBERTS: Forty-four minutes after the hour. Thursday, which means it's time to answer your medical questions, as we do every week.
CHETRY: That's right. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Atlanta, and we're scratching our heads how he made it there so fast. He was in New York all day. And he was on Larry king last night and Anderson Cooper and I'm trying to figure where in the middle there he managed to get to Atlanta?
CHETRY: What did I tell you? He cloned himself and he is not telling any of us about it.
Hey, Sanjay, this morning..
GUPTA: Will make a whole documentary about that. Cloning all of us.
CHETRY: Exactly. Well, let's ask the first question. This is from Lisa in Houston, Texas. She writes "I heard you reporting about Zocor and Zetia. What is the real scoop here? Does these drugs really cause more problems?"
GUPTA: Lisa, this is a great question, something that I've been researching all week long. Let me just say a couple things. The story really was about this medication called Vytorin, which is a combination of Zocor (VIDEO GAP) the questions was does it work? Does it lower your cholesterol? The answer is yes, it does seem to lower the cholesterol.
The issue here, Lisa, an important one, is what is it that we're trying to achieve with these drugs? We're trying to achieve not having more heart attacks and reducing the amount of plaque in our blood vessels. And what they found when they studied this particular medication was it did not reduced the plaque from the blood vessels and in some cases, the plaque actually increased. That is the trouble. That is what people are concerned about.
Doctors aren't saying stop this right now. It's just one study. They rarely make clinical decisions based on one study. But it's very interesting to take sort of a bigger look at these statin medications and figure out if they're doing what they're supposed to be doing.
ROBERTS: Sanjay, second question comes from Pampi in Malone, New York, who says, "I've been diagnosed with a mitral heart condition, a leaky valve. Can you shed some light on the subject and possible treatments for it? "
GUPTA: Yes, absolutely. Thanks for asking that as well. I brought a heart model actually, because we knew this question was coming. And I want to show you something here. Because the mitral valve is actually a valve that connects one of the big pumping chambers of the heart to another pumping chamber. In fact, this is the valve right here and what happens is instead of closing, it sort of stays a little bit open and some of the blood sort of flies back into one of the chambers where it shouldn't be and as a result, you get less blood flow into the rest of the body.
People may feel tired. They may not have as much exercise tolerance and they can also develop some clots around that area as well, which if those clots actually flick off, they can go to your brain and sometimes people need to be on blood thinners. If there's a problem, you an get it checked out. For a lot of people, they just live with it and it doesn't cause them trouble in their lives.
CHETRY: Can you grow out of that, by the way? They told me I had it when I was younger and then they usually detect it by some rhythm in your heart. Right?
GUPTA: Yes. If it's -- if it's loud enough you can actually put a stethoscope on someone's chest and you can hear the blood instead of -- a particular sound, a whooshing sort of sound and it sort of changes a little bit as the blood is going through that valve. So, you can just hear it. An echo, it's like an ultrasound, Kiran, what they do for the baby, they do the same sort of thing for the chest and they can actually see that the valve is not closing all the way.
CHETRY: Very fascinating. There's another question, a lot of people wrote about this. This one comes from Karla in Canton, Ohio. She asked about the ill-effects of eating fish because of the mercury content. She says, why is it okay to have the mercury in the shots but not to eat it in fish?
GUPTA: I am so glad you asked that question, Karla, because a lot of people have been curious about that. First of all, a couple of things about the vaccines. Really, since around 2001, most of the famerosol which is this mercury preservatives is out of vaccines except for the flu shots, as a lot of people know.
The story you're referencing is about fish specifically and they were found to have a lot, restaurants specifically in New York, that have levels of mercury in some of the fish, which was higher than expected. What we're really dealing with here is what are called threshold levels.
At what point does mercury become a real problem? And what the studies have shown that the amount that was in these mercury preservatives was so small, that really it shouldn't have been a problem in a lot of studies that were done. If eating fish regularly, over time, you over many, many weeks, are you starting to accumulate mercury in your body? That's the real issue here. So, one shot versus lots of accumulation from the fish.
ROBERTS: Pretty shocking what we heard about the sushi yesterday. What are you looking at for tomorrow, Sanjay?
GUPTA: I got a couple interesting stories here. One is, you know, oral contraceptives. Obviously, we know what they're designed for but could they actually help you prevent ovarian cancer as well? I'll tell you some interesting studies about that.
Also, we're doing this whole "Fit Nation" series, John, and always fascinated by this idea that we can provide on camera partners for people trying to lose weight. People who have actually been in the same position as many of our viewers and have had success. We're going to introduce you to one of those people tomorrow.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it. Sanjay, thanks very much. And thanks for the mailbag today.
GUPTA: Thank you.
ROBERTS: CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away now. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead.
Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, John.
A new stress for the troubled economy in the NEWSROOM.
Ford reportedly offering buyouts to all 54,000 hourly union workers. They'll be replaced with, yes, cheaper labor.
Will Egypt seal its border with Gaza today? The U.N. estimates a fifth of Gaza's people have crossed into Egypt to food and medicine.
Also, new details emerge about the death of Heath Ledger. Why was a celebrity called before 911?
We are watching that yo-yo'ing Dow all day long, too.
You are in the NEWSROOM, top of the hour, right here on CNN -- John.
ROBERTS: Heidi, will see you then. Thanks very much.
CHETRY: And still ahead, a potentially innocent man behind bars for more than a quarter century. All that time, lawyers for another man held the secret that could have gotten him out. Does attorney- client privilege have its limits? We're going to ask Sunny Hostin, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: It's eight minutes now to the top of the hour. A 26- year-old secret may be the key to get an innocent man out of prison. Alton Logan was arrested in 1982, and convicted of killing a McDonald's security guard on Chicago's south side. He maintained his innocence all along. Lawyers for another convicted killer knew that Logan was telling the truth, the whole time because they say their client confessed the crime to them. They didn't tell anyone because of attorney-client privilege. Now they're coming forward, because their client is dead.
Joining us to talk about these rights, is AMERICAN MORNING legal analyst, Sunny Hostin.
Good morning to you, Sunny. It seems extraordinary that they would sit on secret for as long as they did.
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, it's a requirement as an attorney and it is an attorney's worst nightmare. I mean, you know, I've had folks tell me things that will die with me that I'll never be able to tell anyone else. And that is what the attorney-client privilege is about. It fosters trust between an attorney and his or her client and you must have it.
And basically, the bottom line is, if you are an attorney and someone's looking for legal advice and anything they tell you is completely confidential, completely privileged and you cannot disclose the secret. In fact, the secret or whatever is told dies. Dies with the client. It is the client who waive or keep, and in this case, what we're learning is, once they found out about this, the client said, when I die you can tell someone. And they had to keep that secret for that long.
ROBERTS: Are there any circumstances under which you can break attorney-client privilege?
HOSTIN: Oh, there is one exception. And that exception is if someone tells you they are about to commit a crime. So, If someone says to you, listen, I am going to kill my wife tomorrow. Then absolutely you can do something about it and you can say something. But if it's something that's happened already, there is no exception.
The other exception is if you're talking to your client and someone else is in the room. A third party. The privilege doesn't apply, because that means you've told someone and so obviously you don't want to it to be confidential. And in that case there is no privilege, but if it's an attorney and his or her client, everything is kept a secret.
ROBERTS: So what are the penalties if you aggregate this so- called trust?
HOSTIN: You certainly can be sued by your client and you can also be disbarred. You can lose your right to practice law. And as you would know, John, any attorney is not going to take that risk.
ROBERTS: I mean, a case like this where you got an innocent man in prison for this long, did they make the right decision?
HOSTIN: They made the only decision they could make. I have to tell you this was going around and around in my head after I read the story. And I've spoken to a lot of other attorneys. It really is a difficult choice. What they did do though is that they both went there. There were two attorneys. They both went to a notary public, wrote it down and put it in a safety deposit box in the event that their client died and they didn't want people to sort of question whether or not they were making this up. So, they did everything they could do, and if you read what they've said. They said this tore them apart for over 25 years. I mean, they made the right call, though.
ROBERTS: At least, they finally came forward. Quickly, do you think this will get him out of jail?
HOSTIN: I absolutely think it will, and it better, and it should.
ROBERTS: All right. Sunny Hostin, thanks very much.
HOSTIN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: A quick look now at what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM -- Ford offering buyouts to all 54,000 hourly union workers.
Markets in Europe and Asia make gains today. What will Wall Street do?
A murder indictment expected today in the case of fugitive marine Cesar Laurean.
Heavy snow shutting a major California highway. Record rain for the L.A. area.
And caught in the act. A family's 90-minute shoplifting spree.
NEWSROOM, just minutes away, top of the hour on CNN.
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CHETRY: We want to give you a final check of this morning's quick vote question. We asked about the issue of education after one Cincinnati school just wiped the slate clean getting rid of all the educators in one school because it was low performing.
We asked, are the presidential candidates doing enough to address problems with education? And the people have spoken. Just 11 percent of you feel that the presidential candidates are talking about it enough or proposing enough to do about it. 89 percent of you saying, no. We want to say thanks so much for voting today.
ROBERTS: The people certainly did speak this morning.
CHETRY: Yes, It's a eye-opener.
ROBERTS: It's huge.
CHETRY: People do want to know more about the various plans to improve education.
ROBERTS: Pretty much nine out of ten people say the candidates aren't talking enough about an important issue like that.
Well, a reminder, we're hitting the battleground states on the road to super Tuesday, talking with voters, candidates and focusing on the issues to help you choose a president. Here's my itinerary the next few days, I'm going to be in South Carolina tomorrow. Then to Washington on Monday for the state of the union, which for me is actually going home. It's a little bit like cheating.
On Tuesday, I'm going to be back in Florida. And then across the country to California. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday for our series of debates. These are going to be great debates. The republicans on Wednesday. And the democrats get another chance to beat on each other on Thursday night. Remember, our political coverage continues in primetime. Join Soledad O'Brien and me for CNN's Election Center all starts at 8:00 Eastern.
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
CHETRY: I'll miss you.
ROBERTS: I'll miss you too.
CHETRY: Will BlackBerry.
ROBERTS: I'll see you maybe February 6th or thereabouts.
CHETRY: If I don't join before you that.
Well, thanks so much for joining us today on this AMERICAN MORNING. We hope to see you back here tomorrow.
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