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Fight for SC: Will Race Be an Issue?; Overseas Rally: World Market Reacts To Stimulus Package; Anti-Terror Rally: Musharraf Lashes Out; Rebate Checks: How Much and When?

Aired January 25, 2008 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This election is not about them, it's about us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: What voters really want to know. The most politics in the morning. Live from New York and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And good morning to you. Thanks for joining us on this Friday, the 25th of January, a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts at Alex's restaurant, not Alice's, Alex's restaurant in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Good morning, Kiran.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Home of the best grits you've eaten all year.

ROBERTS: They are pretty good. I'll give them that.

CHETRY: Well, thanks for being with us this morning, everyone. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York, and we start off with a big endorsement from "The New York Times." Hillary Clinton and John McCain waking up this morning to a new endorsement, getting some buzz of that. The papers says Clinton would be a strong commander-in-chief saying, quote, "Her new openness to explaining herself and not just her programs, and her abiding, powerful intellect show that she is fully capable of doing just that (leading the nation)."

Then about John McCain, the paper writes, he's, "the only Republican who promises to end the George Bush style of governing. He would offer a choice to a broader range of Americans than the rest of the Republican field. Now "The Times" also blasted New York's former mayor, Rudy Giuliani, saying the real Mr. Giuliani whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust is a narrow, obsessively secretive vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power. Mr. Giuliani's arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking, again, quoting "The New York Times."

In last night's Republican debate, Giuliani seem to wear "The Times" rejection as a badge of honor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I probably never did anything "The New York Times" suggested I do in eight years as mayor of New York City. And if I did, I wouldn't be considered a conservative Republican.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: "The Times" had endorsed Giuliani for reelection for mayor back in 1997. Also, praising him for his 9/11 role, but the editor said, "that man is not running for president."

John?

ROBERTS: Fairly harsh anti-endorsement there. The five Republican candidates altogether faced off in Boca Raton last night. No surprise that the economy was a hot topic. It's their final debate before Florida's all-important primary. When voters go to the polls, that will be on Tuesday. CNN's John King was there. He joins us now live from Boca.

Good morning, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. You know, the moment the candidates said good evening, the e-mail flurries started from the campaigns. The Giuliani campaign say that Governor Romney and Senator McCain were running from their records on taxes and the economy. The McCain campaign said Governor Romney was waffling again on the issues. Mitt surfing, is what they call it. But if you were watching on television, you saw none of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's good to see Congress working --

KING: Despite the high stakes or perhaps because of them, remarkably polite.

GIULIANI: Senator McCain is right.

KING: At times, more economic seminar than debate. The leading Republican candidates called the new bipartisan stimulus deal a good thing, but said it doesn't go far enough.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just went -- I wish it went further.

GIULIANI: I would support it, but it doesn't go far enough.

KING: Four days until Florida votes, John McCain and Mitt Romney lead the pack, and the former Massachusetts governor did question his rival's history.

ROMNEY: I also support the Bush's tax cuts. Senator McCain voted against it.

KING: The Arizona Senator said he voted no for good reason.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fact is that if we had had the spending restrains that I've proposed, we would be talking about more tax cuts today.

KING: The struggling economy dominates now, but Mike Huckabee recalls how his rivals dismissed his alarms at a debate six months ago.

HUCKABEE: I know people acted like I was the only guy at the U.N. without a headset that night. But the truth is I was the only guy on that stage who said, it may be doing great if you're at the top.

KING: No one brought up Barack Obama, but McCain said he would relish debating Iraq with Hillary Clinton.

MCCAIN: I'm so proud of the job that the men and women in the military are doing there, and they don't want us to raise the white flag of surrender like Senator Clinton does.

KING: Romney was asked what it would be like to run against both Hillary and Bill Clinton.

ROMNEY: I frankly can't wait because the idea of Bill Clinton back in the White House with nothing to do is something I just can't imagine.

KING: Giuliani is running third despite targeting Florida almost exclusively. He credited his rivals with running strong campaigns and tried a little humor.

GIULIANI: I believe that I'm going to have the same fate that the New York Giants had last week, and we're going to come from behind and surprise everyone. We have them all lulled into a very false sense of security now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: So it was remarkably polite and also a reminder of how dramatically the tone of the campaign has changed just over the past several weeks. Less talk about who would be the best to lead the war on terror. No emotional clashes over illegal immigration. But, John, a lot of discussion of the issue that is now first and foremost in the voters' minds -- the economy.

ROBERTS: John, this idea that none of them brought up Barack Obama, is that because they don't think he has a chance, or they think that Hillary Clinton is a much better motivator to talk about at a Republican debate?

KING: Absolutely the latter point. I suspect if Senator Obama can win in South Carolina when we have our CNN Republican debate next week, he will be more of a topic of discussion. But if you're trying to motivate the conservative base, try to get your voters to turnout on Tuesday here in Florida and to say, look, I'm a conservative. You beat up Hillary Clinton.

ROBERTS: All right. John King for us in Boca Raton this morning. John, thanks. We'll see you back here in just a little while. And now, let's go back up to New York and here's Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Thanks, John.

Well, overseas markets up dramatically this morning in reaction to the U.S. economic stimulus plan. Japan's Nikkei up four percent today. And in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index closed nearly seven percent higher.

The president is also stumping for that $150 billion tax plan today. He and the House have agreed to send rebate checks to about 117 million families. Individuals will get $600 checks if they earned less than $75,000, and couples get checks for $1,200 if they earn less than $150,000 per household. Also, those with children get an additional $300 per child. And people who don't earn enough to pay taxes will get $300 rebate checks if they bring home at least $3,000. Those checks, by the way, should start going out by mid April.

Our Ali Velshi is crisscrossing the country on CNN's Election Express. Let's have your take on the stimulus package and then what you're hearing from the people you're talking to.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, good morning. We're just west of Abilene, Texas, heading on Interstate 20 toward Odessa and then El Paso and Phoenix, and we're talking to people on the way about the stimulus package. In fact, just a few minutes ago, we stopped there. The truck stopped to talk to somebody about it.

Let me tell you the feeling that we're getting on the street here. A number of people are -- number one, they're concerned how we pay for this thing exactly. Where does that $150 billion for the stimulus package come from? The government is assuming that it will stimulate the economy and cause taxes to be paid. We spoke to one gentleman, though, who said it may not last very long and it might just be a short-term pop, not enough to get us out of the slump that we're in right now. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK MCKAY: I think it's going to help some in a certain economic level. You know, they're going to need that $300 or $400, or whatever they end up deciding. Others, I think, as I've heard on the news, a lot of people will just use that to maybe pay down credit card bills, so it doesn't stimulate any new purchasing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: And remember that if you don't purchase with it, if you do pay down credit card bills, it may be very good for you. It doesn't necessarily stimulate the economy. Kiran, we're going to continue on the road, but take a look at what we've got out here. This is I-20 going west. Mark Preston, CNN's political editor is part of the team with me. Dale, our driver. We got a crew of seven guys. We're going to be continuing to drive and stop and get back to you with what people are saying about the economy, the election and the stimulus package -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Sounds good. I got to ask you, though. You sleep on the bus, too?

VELSHI: We fall asleep on the bus, but usually we pull into somewhere to spend the night. We headed out about an hour ago.

CHETRY: I got you. All right, sounds good. Ali, we'll check in with you throughout the morning. See you later -- John.

ROBERTS: Seven minutes now after the hour, Kiran. The United States is willing to send combat troops to fight terrorism in Pakistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says American forces would fight alongside Pakistani troops with the caveat, if the Pakistanis want them to.

CNN's Becky Anderson sat down with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Becky joins us now.

And Becky, Musharraf doesn't seem to be very happy with the west, accusing leaders of intellectual arrogance.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. A fairly defiant President Pervez Musharraf joining other political and business leaders here at the World Economic Forum in Davos. This is his first major trip abroad since he stood down as army chief at the end of last year. And they are slugging this a charm offensive.

But let me tell you, he's not being particularly charming as president. Do you remember? He faces international pressure to hold free and fair elections in Pakistan next month. These are parliamentary elections, of course, postponed after the assassination of the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. Well, I sat down with him and I put to him that if he is wanting to run a Democratic country, that he ought to, perhaps, stop crushing the Democratic institutions that is supposed to help run that country. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTAN PRESIDENT: Why don't the west, which is supposed to be civilized, understand things, believe in democracy? Why don't they understand that we are maybe a developing country? We have our laws. We believe in constitution. We know how to run government.

We are not such clueless people who don't know how to run the country. We have our own way. Unfortunately, there's a degree of, may I say, intellectual arrogance that I see in the west. We think that these developing countries are some kind of people who don't know how to govern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Fascinating stuff by President Pervez Musharraf talking to me. Earlier, he also countered criticism that he's backtracking on his commitment to fight terrorism. At this point, he just left about 20 minutes ago. He's taking the plane back. End of the trip here. Back to Pakistan where he also faces an awful lot of opposition at home.

One hundred top former generals calling for him to stand down, saying he has no longer has a mandate. He's getting it from all sides. At present, tough times for President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan -- John.

ROBERTS: Certainly a lot of problems there, Becky, and an important ally to the United States on fighting the war on terror. Becky Anderson for us this morning from Davos, Switzerland. Becky, thanks. And now here's Kiran.

CHETRY: Thanks, John.

Well, a key to protecting women against one of the deadliest and hardest to diagnose cancers may lie in your birth control. Researchers say they have more evidence this morning the pill protects against ovarian cancer. Here to talk more about it with us this morning is CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, at the medical update desk in Atlanta. Hey, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning.

You're absolutely right. There's sort of this anecdotal evidence for some time that the pill may be protective against ovarian cancer. But now, there's a pretty definitive study out there and a good one. This is -- I get to report some good news today. When you look at about 45 different studies, 23,000 different women, researchers found that the pill was actually quite protective against ovarian cancer.

Now, the pills, obviously, has been around for about 50 years. About 100 million women take it. What they sort of have figured out is that over time, it is probably actually prevented around 200,000 ovarian cancers and prevented around 100,000 ovarian cancer deaths. They also project that people over the next several decades, another 30,000 women will be -- will have ovarian cancer benefits protection as well from the pills. So this is all very good news.

Keep in mind, as you mentioned, Kiran, ovarian cancer can be one of the trickiest and most difficult to detect. There's not a very great screening test for it. And unfortunately, a lot of women by the time they come in to see their doctor about something, it's already in the late stages. So ovarian cancer is one of those tough ones. About a half to two thirds of women who get it will die of it, so this is potentially some good news for them, Kiran.

CHETRY: There are side effects associated with taking birth control pills as well. I'm curious, do they know what mechanism or what it is about taking the monthly pill that seems to offer some protection against cancer?

GUPTA: We asked that same question. And we don't know. We don't know for sure what the mechanism is. There are other side effects. Obviously, taking the pill does interfere with your hormonal balance in your body and the mechanism probably lies somewhere in there. But some of the other side effects that you talk about, which people should know about as well, blood clots, for example, a concern especially for women who smoke.

Also there's the risk of possible increased risk of breast cancer at least while you're on the pill. Also, it may decrease your sexual drive. So these are some of the concerns about the pill. But overall, with regard to ovarian cancer, whatever the mechanism is, I think it's safe to say that it is protective now.

CHETRY: Well, all right. Thanks so much, Sanjay. We'll be checking in with you with some more interesting medical stories throughout the morning. Thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

ROBERTS: A new radar system at O'Hare Airport is being criticized. We'll tell you why an air traffic controller's union head says it doesn't work and why it's putting the public in danger. That's coming up.

Plus, a critical vote for the people of South Carolina, and some of them are angry about the media's coverage so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This election is not about them. It's about us. OK? Please stop baiting these people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: What do they want to know from the candidates? A pastor tells us what he's hearing about the vote and what's important next on AMERICAN MORNING live from New York and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The first year that I'm president of the United States, we're going to bring this war in Iraq to an end. I have committed to getting all combat troops out of Iraq in my first year, to ending combat missions in Iraq in the first year and there will be no permanent military bases in Iraq.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't want to just end the war, I want to end the mindset that got us into war. I said earlier in this campaign, I would not just meet with our friends, I would meet with our enemies. Not just with leaders we like, but leaders we don't. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: As Barack Obama and John Edwards talking issues here in South Carolina. There has also been a lot of talk about race in this campaign, and some voters say, enough is enough. Then they're telling the media to stop it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This election is not about them, it's about us, OK. Please stop baiting these people and let them talk about what we care about -- the war, education, senior care, all of the issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: That voter speaking her mind at a town hall meeting in Anderson, South Carolina. What else is on voters' minds? Reverend Joseph Darby is pastor of the Morris Brown African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. He joins us this morning.

Reverend Darby, good to see you. Thanks for dropping by.

So what we heard from that woman there, telling the media, stop covering these ancillary issues, focus on the issues themselves. Is that what you're hearing a lot from your congregation?

JOSEPH DARBY, PASTOR, MORRIS BROWN METHODIST: I'm hearing a whole lot of that from the congregation. There is a little surprise and a great deal of disappointment that the race took a very ugly turn when it started out on fairly high ground.

ROBERTS: Right. Who was behind that? Was it the media or was it the candidates?

DARBY: Well, the media didn't say it first. I think the candidates started that, and the media did. But the media does -- you found a way to report that. I think that's the media's job.

ROBERTS: Well, I think, yes. The media, obviously, is looking for the different twists and turns in the campaign. It's coming to criticism in the past for focusing on those minor twists and turns as opposed to the 30,000 full view of the overall issues. But, you were concerned enough about it that you've actually spoken to the candidates about this tit-for-tat back and forth. Can I ask you -- I mean, if you can't tell us exactly what was the content of the phone calls, sort of characterize it for us?

DARBY: I just need a pleasant reminder -- number one, that those who are running ought to have the decency and respect to be kind to each other.

ROBERTS: Yes.

DARBY: And number two, eventually somebody is going to run as the candidate in November. That person hopefully is going to want some votes and you don't need to turn off voters if you want votes. ROBERTS: Right. Do you think that it's potentially damaging to the Democratic Party?

DARBY: I don't know if it's damaging to the party. I know that it's certainly not helpful. It might put people in the position in November of having to vote for the least of two unpalatable candidates if the wrong thing happens.

ROBERTS: Right. Now Bill Clinton, and I know this because I cover the Clinton White House for a couple of years, he's a master at playing the media to say, you know, you should be covering something different than what I'm saying or what's going on in the race. Take a listen to how he characterized it this week?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What they care about is not going to be in the news coverage tonight because you don't care about it. What you care about is this. And the Obama people know that. So they just spin you up on this and you happily go along. The people don't care about this. They never ask about it, and you are determined to take this election away from them, and that's not right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: He was saying that to our correspondent, Jessica Yellin, who's been to a lot of Bill Clinton's events. And, in fact, there were people who were bringing up the issue of race in this campaign. But let me ask you about the president. Is he stepping beyond his bounds here? He has so much power and influence as the titular head of the party. Should he stay out of these issues?

DARBY: I would very much like to see him look a little bit more presidential and a little less than a pandering politician, yes.

ROBERTS: That is Congressman James Clyburn said, as we say here in Gullah-Geechee country, would like him to chill out a little bit.

DARBY: No.

ROBERTS: What do you think his position in this campaign should be? Obviously, he's got vested interest. His wife is running.

DARBY: I think that he needs to be presidential, even though his wife is running. I have a wife, I pastor a church. If she's outraged, she doesn't say anything to the congregation because she knows it's my job.

ROBERTS: Right.

DARBY: If he's going to let the lady be the candidate, he needs to let the lady be the candidate.

ROBERTS: So Reverend, what is the number one thing that you want to hear these candidates talking about? DARBY: Oh, any of the candidates talk about what they're going to do, how they're going to do it, and how they're going to do it in a way that does not amount to the same old song with a new slightly new lyric.

ROBERTS: Reverend Joe Darby, thanks very much for being with us this morning, sir. Good to talk to you.

And a reminder that we are hitting the battleground states on the road to Super Tuesday, talking with voters and candidates to help you choose a president. Come along with us. On Monday, we're in Washington, DC, ahead of the president's "State of the Union Address." On Tuesday, we're going to be in Orlando, Florida, for the primary there. That means a lot for the Republicans, not so much for the Democrats because that one is being sanctioned for going early.

And then, we're going to go all the way across the country to California for CNN's back-to-back debates with Republicans and Democrats. We'll be talking with the Republicans at Simi Valley, at the Reagan Library, and then at the Kodak Theater on Thursday night with the Democrats. It's going to be a great week as we head toward February 5th, that all important Super Tuesday -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Definitely looking forward to it. All right, John.

Well, the head of an air traffic controllers union now says that a new ground system at O'Hare Airport doesn't work. Joseph Bellino said that the radar loses accuracy in snowstorms and can't see snowplows, baggage carts, or other vehicles on the runway, and that puts the public in danger. The FAA says it can take up to a year to fine tune the ground radar system after it's installed at an airport.

What would you do if you searched your kid's jacket pocket and found this? It is only a breath mint, but Hershey is now admitting it does resemble something scary. We're going to hear about Hershey's next move coming up.

Also, the check is in the mail or it will be soon, actually. Uncle Sam will be sending you as much as $600 per person, more if you have kids. Should you spend it or save it? We're going to talk to our personal finance editor Gerri Willis ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Top lawmakers in Congress agreeing on a $50 billion plan that would kick start, design to at least kick start the economy. And your check is in the mail. Or not quite. CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with your "Financial Security Watch."

And we talked about -- a little bit about who qualifies. Who's going to be getting these rebates...

GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right.

CHETRY: ... these so-called rebate checks. But then the devil is in the details. What do they get? WILLIS: I think you're getting it next week? Forget about it. Congress has to pass the legislation, and that's going to take until February, then they have to cut the checks. That's still April. So May, June is probably when you're going to look at getting these checks.

So, Kiran, let's take a look at the money you're actually going to get -- get in the mail. First, starting with individuals. Talking about $600, if you make under $75,000. Now, if you're a couple, you'll get a little bit more money, $1,200. That's for people earning less than $150,000. If you have kids, you get $300 per child, which is great. But as I said, this is not happening tomorrow. So, you know, if you're planning on using the money right now, forget about it.

CHETRY: This is the one time I can thank my friend. Tricia (ph) is thrilled. She has triplets.

WILLIS: Exactly.

CHETRY: Because she's getting triple the money. So, if you were advising somebody, you were their personal, you know, money woman, what would you say to do with the money?

WILLIS: I think, you pay off debt. You know, look, Americans have so --

CHETRY: Which is not what he wants you to do.

WILLIS: No. I mean -- you know, I've been saying it's not my job to jump start the economy. You know, if you're going to give me some money, I'm actually going to use it wisely. And I think maybe paying off some credit card debt is a great idea. Americans have about $9,600 in credit card debt.

And take a look at this. Here is the average interest rate -- 15 percent. You look at that. You're paying $1,400 a year in interest, and that's even if -- that's given that you're not even adding to the debt.

CHETRY: You're right. It's something that you rarely get ahead of -- the credit card debt. But pretend I'm a person who has absolutely no credit card debt. Maybe I only have a mortgage and I'm looking to figure out what to do. What would you recommend?

WILLIS: Stocks are on sale. You might want to invest. You might want to put some money in a high-yield savings account. There's lots of places to put it right now because the market has been doing so poorly. Maybe it's time to buy an index fund. Just, you know, there's lots of places to put it because this market has been trading lower.

CHETRY: All right. Good advice, Gerri. If people listen to you, the government is not going to be happy, but as you said, not your job. Thanks, Gerri.

By the way, Gerri is doing "OPEN HOUSE" tomorrow. It's Saturday morning, 9:30 Eastern, right here on CNN.

Hey, John.

ROBERTS: So, I got to ask you, Kiran, is Gerri looking a little tired last night? Because she was up --I've been looking a little tired this morning because she was up late last night.

CHETRY: She looks wonderful. But yes, you're right. She was pulling double duty, right?

ROBERTS: Yes. Yes, she joined "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" last evening. Lots of serious talk including about Gerri's specialty, the mortgage meltdown. Take a listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": We have these two financial networks. Didn't -- was anyone over there going, hey, man, these subprime loans look crappy? Like is that -- is that something that you guys look at? Like how does that work?

WILLIS: Yes. Well, we talked about it a lot. There was a lot of concern and a lot of media reports about holy guacamole. They are saying, what's going on with these.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So, Kiran, you and I only get on "The Daily Show" when we stick our hands in cold water. Gerri, what was it like?

WILLIS: You know, Jon -- he is very, very smart. And it was a pleasure to be on. You were on too. All of the political people on CNN, they showed lots of video of you guys talking about the issues, talking about what's going on.

CHETRY: Right. And they always take what we say exactly in context and never to poke fun.

WILLIS: And very seriously. It was all very serious.

CHETRY: Hey, you did a great job, though.

WILLIS: Thank you. You're so sweet.

CHETRY: And we were all happy to get to see you. Rock on, Gerri.

WILLIS: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Congratulations, Gerri.

WILLIS: Thank you.

ROBERTS: You're watching "The Most News in the Morning." Mom, it's only candy. Would you buy that if you found this? News about a scary-looking breath mint and why it's going away. And a big payday for the man whose tip led to the conviction of 9/11 conspirator, Zacharias Musawi. That's story and today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: A shot this morning coming to us from Charleston, South Carolina, WCBD. This is the Arthur or Cooper River Bridge. We know it because when we show this shot, we had a lot of folks down there locals who write into us. Right now, it is 34 degrees, a high of 47 degrees on this January, 25th Friday. You know what I love about it is you are actually sending me messages from your Blackberry as you were driving over yesterday. You get to see it firsthand.

ROBERTS: Yes. I haven't been to Charleston at least in the area where I would go over that bridge since it was built. It was a pleasure not only see it in our beauty shot as we do very often in the morning but to actually drive over it. It's a lovely bridge. Six lanes, boy, and there was no traffic this morning at 3:00 a.m. either.

Hey, I'm at Alex's Restaurant here in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. We're asking to voters about tomorrow's democratic primaries. We're asking them about the issues that will help them choose a president. Talking to some folks here. As many as 36 percent of voters here in South Carolina, the democratic side, still undecided and their primary is coming up in just a little more than 24 hours.

Meanwhile, there are brand new polls out showing a tight republican race in the state of Florida. The "Miami Herald" and "Petersburg Times" poll has Senator McCain up two points over Mitt Romney. The two points - you can see the margin of error there, plus or minus 5.1. That puts it well within the margin of error. So, it's a statistical tossup. Rudy Giuliani has devoted all of his time this year to the state. He's now ten points off of the lead.

An American research group poll also has Senator McCain on top. Mitt Romney not too far behind with Mike Huckabee edging out Rudy Giuliani for third place -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Florida could be make or break for Mike Huckabee. The republicans talked a lot about the economy and the debate last night and Huckabee said the new economic stimulus plan has major flaws. Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, I asked the former governor how his national tax plan which would basically be a national sales tax, the centerpiece of about 23 percent replacing some of the other taxes like income tax. How would that stimulate the economy?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUCKABEE: One of the reasons that our economy is sucking air instead of, you know, really working hard for us, is because other economies of the world are dumping things on us that they're not paying taxes for in their home country. But there's an embedded tax of 22 percent of everything, plus, every American never gets to see his whole paycheck. The deductions take out a significant amount. So the average American is paying over 33 percent in his or her own income just to cover the tax bill. That's why we need a complete overhaul. I want to abolish the IRS. Get rid of it completely go, to a consumption tax. That way we don't have this incredibly hidden as well as burdensome tax obligation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Huckabee also talked to us about social issues. He said he would work to amend the constitution to ban abortion and gay marriage.

The democratic field is now down to three. Dennis Kucinich is dropping out of the presidential race to focus instead on getting re- elected to Congress. He's going to be making an official announcement this afternoon in Cleveland. He said he faces four challengers vying to take over his house seat -- John.

ROBERTS: Well, what about us? That's what many voters are saying here in South Carolina. Issues that are important to them seem to get shoved to the sidelines in favor of the race debate. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has been listening to voters and their questions to candidates. She joins us this morning.

You spent an awful lot of time in South Carolina. Where's the disconnect between what the voters want to hear and what they are hearing?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, sure. I spent like months with all three of the democratic candidates. And really they talk about the economy. They talk about health care. They put forward their plans. And Barak Obama, he has universal appeal as we've seen, but he really has become what some fear is the black candidate here in South Carolina. Race has become somewhat of an issue to voters. And they talk about it quietly, but it seems like as if something is spilled out publicly and it has become a very hot issue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

B. CLINTON: One more story, shame on you.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Former President Bill Clinton is hot - he's accusing the media of injecting the issue of race in the presidential campaign.

CLINTON: The people don't care about this. They never ask about it.

MALVEAUX: For this voter, who attended a Hillary Clinton rally, she couldn't agree more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That this election is not about them. It's about us, OK? Please stop baiting these people and let them talk about what we care about. The war, education, the senior care, all of the issues the senators brought up and all of the economists as well. This is about us. Please make it about us. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amen. Amen. Amen.

MALVEAUX: So, what issues are voters talking about? Here's what we found. To Edwards -

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: What's the privacy on this, our border?

MALVEAUX: To Obama -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you going to do about the equity of the schools?

MALVEAUX: To Clinton -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What can you do to ensure that you will work with the Congress?

MALVEAUX: The issues run the gamut. And we found some voters do ask about race.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE My dad is 77-years-old and he feels like maybe a black candidate will not be able to do what you need to do in Washington to get it done. Now, he's 77-years-old, what can I tell him and people like him in a small Senate that would change his mind that would give him the hope and the ability to support for Obama.

OBAMA: Well, tell him this...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: John, what we're hearing is there are some voters who are expressing doubts. They're expressing fears. And it seems like those are things that are OK to overcome. You could seen that voters are trying to overcome whatever kind of issues they have about race but that race is something that they're thinking about. It's something they're talking about privately.

A lot of people perhaps don't ask President Clinton about the issue of race in a public setting, but it's certainly is an issue that has come up addressed to each of the candidates and talking to them, and covering them, you see with Edwards, with Hillary Clinton, and also with Barack Obama.

ROBERTS: I saw a poll this morning that suggested Barack Obama's support among white voters has started to slide since this whole issue came to the forefront. And it fits in with what Dick Morris, Bill Clinton's former political advisor, was saying in a recent article that the more they make Barack Obama appear like the African-American candidate, the more white voters may turn to Hillary Clinton.

MALVEAUX: That's the fear. That really is the fear. And what you hear from Barack Obama and what he stresses all the time is that he has universal appeal. I mean he won Iowa. You know, what's that two percent African-American population there. He has broad appeal to the other states as well. So, we know that's something we don't want to get into a box.

ROBERTS: It'd be nice to have a unifying candidate in this nation, wouldn't it? Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning. Suzanne, thanks. Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. New this morning. Egyptian security forces beginning to seal the border with Gaza. And over the past few days, Palestinians have crossed that border after blasting through a wall. Israel imposed a blockade this past week that's been cutting off food, and medicine, and other vital supplies to the Palestinians. Israel said it had to do something to punish the Hamas government after a series of rocket attacks on southern Israel.

A former flight instructor getting $5 million for information that led to the arrest and conviction of 9/11 conspirator Zacharias Moussaoui. Clarence Prevost was Moussaoui's instructor in flight school in Minnesota and he's the one who alerted the FBI about Moussaoui's desire to pilot a jumbo jet but not learned how to take off or land them.

A private viewing today for the family of Heath Ledger taking place at a funeral home in New York City. Details of the actual funeral are not being released. Police are revealing new details though about the day that Ledger died. They say that his masseuse found him unconscious in his apartment and then called actress Mary Kate Olsen three times, not two, before calling 911 and that she also made a fourth call to Olsen after the paramedics arrived. Police say the calls will not likely have a major bearing on the investigation because they think Ledger was dead before the masseuse arrived.

Hershey's is phasing out a new breath mint candy because cops say they look like tiny bags of illegal drugs. "Ice Breakers" packs come in tiny pouches about the size of a nickel with sugary powder inside. Hershey agreed to pull the candy after narcotics officers in Philadelphia said a child could confuse a bag of cocaine with the candy.

And a stunning upset at the Australian open. Roger Federer lost this morning to Novak Djokovic. Federer had been dominating men's tennis. He has won 13 grand slams, including the last two Australian opens. The winner now goes on to play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday's final.

Troubled singer Amy Winehouse may finally be getting some help. We're going to tell you how she's trying to fight her drug addiction, coming up.

And also, the FDA looking into suicide risks for patients taking certain drugs that's not just anti-depressants. We're paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta about it.

Hi, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Hey, Kiran. We're going to tell you what those specific drugs are. Why there's a concern. And more importantly, what should you be able to do about it. All that's coming up. I'm working on it for you in AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, she didn't want to go to rehab, but she did. Universal Music Group said Amy Winehouse did check in to a rehab facility to deal with her drug addiction, comes a day after a video was released of Winehouse smoking from what looked to be a crack pipe and also admitting that she had taken six Valium. Winehouse breakthrough hit was called "Rehab." And in it she sang -- "they tried to make me go to rehab and I said no, no, no."

Well, the FDA is taking a closer look at suicide risks, not only for patients taking anti-depressants but other prescription drugs as well. We're paging Dr. Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent in Atlanta. And Sanjay, we talked yesterday and you said that, what 118 million prescriptions for anti-depressants are written each year. That's a huge number of people that could possibly be taking some of these drugs. Why is the FDA focusing on this now?

GUPTA: Well, it's interesting. I think they've been focusing on it for sometime since 2003 when there was a concern specifically about children and adolescents with regards to anti-depressants, curious and concerned that the risk of suicide might actually go up. What they're saying now is on a case-by-case basis, they're going to look at not just anti-depressants but other classes of drugs as well. Drugs that might have an impact on the brain, and they want drug manufacturers in certain cases to ask as they're doing clinical trials, are there concerns about suicide here?

Let me tell you some of the classes of drugs that we specifically talk about. Some of them may surprise you -- smoking cessation drugs for example, obesity drugs, drugs that treat urinary incontinent, epilepsy drugs as well. No one is saying for sure that any of the drugs actually cause suicide. What they're saying there is there's enough concern about the mechanism, the way the drugs work, that they should ask the questions.

Now, the questionnaire, basically it's a questionnaire. It's a bit of a subjective test, but they ask questions, have you ever wished you would sleep and not wake up, have you had any thoughts about killing yourself, have you come up with a plan to kill yourself? These are the sorts of questions that people in clinical trials may be asked now for certain drugs. Kiran.

CHETRY: Would you recommend that people are more cautious when deciding whether or not to take some of these drugs?

GUPTA: You know, that's a great question. And let me be careful on how I answer that. Because when it comes to anti-depressants, for example, you mentioned the 118 million number. Well, in 2003, they did put this black box warning in for anti-depressants for children and adolescents. Now, what happened, as you might expect, the number of prescriptions for anti-depressants went down. But they saw during that time as well that suicide actually went up. The reason I'm being cautious here is you don't want to sort of be cautious to the point in terms of prescribing these medications for people who truly need treatments aren't getting treated. And I think that's a real concern here.

So you really have to balance those things. As far - I mean, depression and suicide are linked. People can be very depressed to the point where they may be suicidal. This question about whether the medication itself causes suicide is difficult to sort of put it all together, Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes, obviously, it's whether they continue to focus and look in to because it's highly important. Sanjay, thanks. Great to see you.

GUPTA: Thank you. All right. Thanks.

CHETRY: Forty-six minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano at the CNN weather center tracking extreme weather for us today on this Friday. I see a lot of activity going on behind you out west.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Check out the satellite, Kiran. This is really pretty cool. But it also illustrates how little this storm is moving. Cold air driving from the north. Warm air and moisture coming in from the south. All just sitting and spinning here, not really moving in either direction. So, that means that California folks are definitely going to get it. San Francisco, you're getting the rainfall. Now, you're getting snow at the higher elevations.

And then Los Angeles, looks like the moisture plumes, just directly pointed out to the two most populated cities in Cali - San Francisco and also Los Angeles. Heavy rain falling across the L.A. basin this morning, just a miserable way to start your day. Still I- 5, grapevine is closed. And snow is falling across parts of the Los Angeles county mountains, back to Ventura and Santa Barbara county as well. One to two feet, there's more snow on top of what we've already seen and as expected winter storm watches posted. These yellow areas are high wind advisories and high wind warnings. Strong south winds could gusts in the mountain passes up to 40, 50, 60 miles an hour.

Over five inches of rain falling in Santa Barbara. San Luis Obispo, over three inches of rainfall. So, this is a big storm. More rain expected to fire off that way. Dallas, a little bit rain, west of Dallas, a little bit of freezing rain. Kiran, back up to you.

CHETRY: All right. Rob Marciano, thanks so much. John.

ROBERTS: Well, he's got Chuck Norris to train him, Mike Huckabee's plans to enter a different kind of race coming right up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Ten minutes now to the top of the hour. It will probably feel like a stroll in the park compared to the race that he's in now. Mike Huckabee says he plans to enter the Boston Marathon on Patriots' Day this April. We talked to him earlier about it earlier on AMERICAN MORNING. He says it's hard to get in those long training runs while he's on the campaign trail. He's run four marathons, 51 years old, 110 pounds lighter than he was five years ago. He dropped the weight after doctors diagnosed him with diabetes. Maybe he should run between campaign stops. That will get those long runs in.

Ali Velshi making his way across the country aboard the CNN "Election Express." Talking to you. He's asking American voters what they think about the down economy and the issues that affect the way you vote. Ali is traveling in west Texas right not far from Abilene.

What are you hearing, Ali?

Well, unfortunately, Ali is probably hearing a lot, but not able to convey it to us. Because we've got a little bit of a problem that would seem, with this transmission. So what we'll try do is we'll try to get that back up and running.

Ali - Ali, can you hear me now? No. He can't hear me now.

But he's in the middle of this cross-country trip, ten states, six days, 2,600 miles, best across America we're calling it. He's showing up every morning looking like he's about to go hunting. He started in South Carolina, down and across to Dixie, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and now on to Texas.

The journey will end in the west coast in California as we take the CNN "Election Express" out to the two debates. It will be the republicans on Wednesday. The democrats on Thursday. The republicans from the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. The democrats from the Kodak Theater where as you know, where they host the Academy Awards very often.

And we'll try to get Ali back up and running. As you can imagine the technology to get you live from the road going 60 miles an hour sometimes a little bit wonky. Let's go back right now to Kiran in New York.

CHETRY: That's one of the hazards of the road. I think he was beeping though when you were showing his road trip to signal. He's out there somewhere. We'll hear from him soon.

Hey, and how about Mike Huckabee, that's really admirable. You're going to go from, you know, from being almost diagnosed with diabetes, being more than 100 pounds overweight. And then boom, you're running a marathon. Good for him.

All right, I guess John's signal is not working this morning either. Well, House leaders and the White House have agreed on a plan to put more money in your pocket in an effort to jump start the economy. Typical rebate checks would range from $600 to $1,200. The proposal still has to be approved by both Houses before President Bush can sign off on it.

Also, those checks according to Gerri Willis says is not going to happen overnight even though many people wish it would. First, it has to get passed and of course, they may have to start cutting these checks and physically mailing them out. Many people should be seeing them around May, which brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question, though.

Considering it could be months before that extra cash goes out, we wanted to know if the U.S. economy is in a recession? How long do you think it will last? Right now, 16 percent say that a recession will last six months. Nine - 20 percent of you say it will last nine months and the overwhelming majority of our viewers this morning feel that this recession will last more than a year before the economy recovers.

You can cast your vote still for us at cnn.com/am and we're going to continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.

Well, it's Friday. That means it's time to dig through our inboxes to see what viral videos we've received this week. Our Veronica de la Cruz joins us with what she has found. You always find the best stuff. So, what do we have this week?

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN, INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: My signal is working.

CHETRY: Yes. You are right here.

DE LA CRUZ: We have some great video to show you this week. We're going to start with this one. This actually some animal video. It is a video shot by our affiliate KWTV last January of a deer stuck in a frozen lake in Oklahoma. Take a look at this. Now all across the country watched as the wind from the helicopters blade freeze from this poor deer from the ice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was actually blowing a lot of stuff on the ice. Maybe I could get close enough to where if this deer gets it back feet out, which I was worried if they wouldn't come out, that I could just blow it over to the side. That's what they wanted me to do.

DE LA CRUZ: Isn't that absolutely incredible.

CHETRY: That was very smart thinking.

DE LA CRUZ: And you know, we see this happening all the time, so, definitely smart thinking.

CHETRY: Probably scared the heck out of the poor deer. They blew - they blew the legs out.

DE LA CRUZ: And watch this. He gets on to the snow. And he is going to scamper right off into the woods.

CHETRY: It took a little bit of time to get up and there he goes.

DE LA CRUZ: There he is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just frozen. DE LA CRUZ: That video on the web right now. Unfortunately, we're out of time.

So, that's all I've got but you know, next Friday, there's more.

CHETRY: Show us - show us some more a little bit later. That was a great one, though. Love that one. Veronica, thanks.

DE LA CRUZ: Of course.

CHETRY: John.

ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, Kiran, when tempers flare out of the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

B. CLINTON: Don't be accusatory with me. I had nothing to do with this lawsuit.

And the final thing I'd like to say is you're asking me -

ROBERTS: The candidates and reporters mixing it up. Well, hear one reporter got caught in the middle of some of these fiery attacks. That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS (voice-over): Last stand. The democrats battle on primary eve.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This administration has delivered a foreclosure notice on the American dream.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that if you work in this country, you should not be poor.

ROBERTS: Trying to put issues over race. We're live in South Carolina with the most politics in the morning.

Money pit. What do you do if you've invested everything in your house and the bottom falls out?

Plus - freedom ride. A wheelchair that can climb stairs and balance on two wheels. How it gives a physical and emotional lift, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Fascinating news for people who are disabled. It's Friday, the 25th of January. Welcome to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

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