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American Morning

Ten in a Row for Obama; Tough Road Ahead for Clinton; Huckabee Fighting on; McCain Sweeps; Oil Prices Spike and Stocks Slide

Aired February 20, 2008 - 06:00   ET

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


JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Ten in a row.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is our time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Now it's do or die in Texas and Ohio. Can Clinton come back?

Perfect night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will be our party's nominee for president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: John McCain makes plans for November. The "Most Politics in the Morning."

Consumer alert. The half billion dollar solution to a threat in nearly every home on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And good morning. Thanks very much for joining us on this Wednesday, the 20th of February, the morning after. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. And maybe we should be saying aloha this morning because while you were sleeping, people in Hawaii were making their choice and they overwhelmingly picked Senator Barack Obama. The results came in a couple of hours ago, and CNN has projected that Barack Obama indeed won the Hawaii caucuses. There you see the numbers, 76 percent to 24 percent. This is about 68 percent of the precincts reporting, and quite a big win for Barack Obama there.

We're live in Hawaii. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has been up all night, and we get a live report from her coming in just a few minutes -- John.

ROBERTS: If you're going to stay up all night anywhere, Hawaii is the place to do it. Earlier in the night, Barack Obama walked away with a big win in Wisconsin, putting Hillary Clinton in a must-win position in Ohio and Texas on March the 4th. Another double-digit victory; 58 percent of the pie to 41 percent for Senator Clinton. Obama now has 1,301 total delegates, including pledged and superdelegates. Hillary Clinton has 1,239. They need 2,025 to clinch it.

Obama states, take a look here as this map comes up, are in dark blue. Clinton states are highlighted in the light blue. And Obama has got a broad coalition of voters behind him. He won every age group under 60. He won among whites and blacks, and won thousands of voters that make up some of Clinton's core constituencies, white working class voters. And now he's banking on one of the biggest prizes left in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The change we seek is still months and miles away, and we need the good people of Texas to help us get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Obama didn't just take Wisconsin and Hawaii. He also took center stage and all-important television time. Obama jumped on stage in Texas just minutes after Hillary Clinton started her speech in Ohio, effectively cutting her off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My opponent claims to stand up for workers. He often talks about the plight of the Maytag workers in his home state, but the union at that plant supports me because when 1,600 jobs were being lost, they say he didn't do a thing to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Now, Hillary Clinton's presidential hopes hang on Ohio and Texas, two huge prices coming up two weeks from now on March the 4th.

Jessica Yellin is live for us in Youngstown, Ohio this morning. And Jessica, when you look at the results of the exit polls from last night, what does that suggest about what might happen there in that all-important state of Ohio?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, it is as you suggest, terrible news for Senator Hillary Clinton, because Barack Obama won those key constituencies you were pointing out. Union voters, low income, every age bracket, except seniors. These are the very people that a Senator Clinton should be able to woo. This is her key constituency, and these are the voters that make up Ohio, Ohio and then Pennsylvania. Two states she has said she must win. And these are the voters who should be responding to her message of promising policy solutions, health care solutions, economic solutions. But another detail from the results last night -- Barack Obama won the health care voters and the economy voters. It means she's fundamentally not connecting with her demographic, the key base that she should be wooing if she is to become the presidential nominee. Either she needs to change her message, she needs to find a way to connect, or Barack Obama has to mess up in some significant way that she can take advantage of. It is really telling last night, and it will make this fight ahead in Ohio an even more uphill battle for her -- John.

ROBERTS: So what does she do, Jessica, over the next couple of weeks? Does she go at him hard in tomorrow night's debate, to try to push him into a corner, force him to make an error? Does she continue to go negative as she did in Wisconsin, which didn't seem to work out too well for her? What options does she have left?

YELLIN: Well, first of all, she will spend as much time as possible between now and then in both Ohio and Texas. If she's not in one state, her husband will be in the other and so will her daughter. And, yes, we've seen her taking increasingly, what they call sharp, but we can call negative tone about Barack Obama. In a sense really, what does she have to lose at this point? And if she says the news media isn't doing enough to point out his flaws, then it's her campaign that has to find a way to make those points that she thinks are essential to draw this difference between her and Barack Obama. But there really is not very much time left for her.

ROBERTS: And is it safe to say --

YELLIN: For her -- I should say before Ohio.

ROBERTS: Right.

Is it safe to say that it's at the critical stage for her now?

YELLIN: It really is critical. I mean, look, she's a Clinton, so you never count her out. And she is a fighter and things can turn around. But right now, she really does have very little time to make a big difference and it is critical, yes.

ROBERTS: Jessica Yellin for us this morning in Youngstown, Ohio. Jessica, thanks -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, John McCain emerged a victor this morning after he pulled off another sweep of his own. In Wisconsin, McCain claimed more than half of the votes. There's a look, 55 percent to Mike Huckabee's 37 percent. Ron Paul getting five percent of the vote. Thirty-seven delegates up for grabs there.

In Washington State, we take a look at these numbers. McCain held off Huckabee 49 percent to 22 percent. Ron Paul getting seven percent of the vote in Washington State. Forty delegates up for grabs there. All of them went to McCain. And McCain now says he is finally ready to declare that he will be the Republican nominee for the White House. Let's take a look at why. McCain now has an estimated 918 delegates; Mike Huckabee with just 217. There's 1,191 needed for the nomination, and McCain states are in red. If you take a look, Mike Huckabee is in pink, and the darker states still belong to Mitt Romney. Last night, McCain was already thinking, though, about a different opponent in his message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And for Mike Huckabee, there was really no rally, just a news conference and some more questions about why he's sticking with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If it were ego, my ego doesn't enjoy getting these kind of evenings where we don't win the primary elections. So it's got to be something other than that. And it is. It's about convictions. It's about principles that I dearly, dearly believe in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Huckabee also led McCain among voters who said they want a candidate who shares their values. Governor Huckabee will be joining us at 7:30 Eastern time to talk a little bit more about his campaign.

He's vowing to fight on despite being way back in the delegate count with virtually no chance to catch up. CNN's Mary Snow is live in Little Rock for us. What did the Governor have to say last night, Mary?

MARY SNOW: You know, Kiran, he is remaining defiant. You would have thought that last night would have been a knockout punch to Mike Huckabee, with John McCain saying that he is the nominee. Huckabee is now trailing by 700 delegates. He is holding out hope for perhaps a brokered convention. I sat down with him last night and asked him what he hopes to achieve at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Why should we give up? We worked awfully hard for 13, almost 14 months now, and we did it with far fewer resources than anybody else. I mean, we've created and just gruelled our way through it to be here. Can we not push through a little further and go a few more weeks and just at least give the people of this country a chance to make their own decision? I think we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SNOW: Mike Huckabee was clearly disappointed, he said, with the results in Wisconsin. He had spent five days campaigning in the state, more than Senator John McCain. He still shows that he has support among rural conservatives. But last night, one of the details that came out in the exit polls shows that Senator McCain and Mike Huckabee pretty much split the vote among conservatives. Senator McCain has been saying that he has been working to unite the party, reaching out to those conservatives, so perhaps the inch up in numbers in that group shows that John McCain is making some inroads.

But Mike Huckabee is vowing to go on to the two big contests in Texas and Ohio. He's going to Texas later today. He believes he has a chance there because he says that the Texans are very independently minded. And perhaps one symbolic gesture, he is going to visiting the Alamo while he's campaigning in Texas. Perhaps it could be symbolic for him -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Mary Snow for us in Little Rock this morning. Thanks.

SNOW: Sure.

ROBERTS: So here's what's next. Ohio and Texas are the big prizes on Tuesday, March the 4th. Rhode Island and Vermont also in the mix. Democrats looking at 370 delegates. The bulk of those are in Ohio and Texas. For the Republicans, 256 delegates up for grabs on March the 4th. Even if John McCain managed to win every last one of them, though, he would still be a handful short of winning the 1,191 that he needs to clinch the nomination.

We're going to be heading to Texas next as well. Obama and Clinton head to head tomorrow night live in prime time from the University of Texas in Austin, 8:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night right here on CNN.

Other stories new this morning. A major earthquake in Indonesia just a couple of hours ago. It measured 7.5 and hit just after 3:00 this morning. The epicenter was about 200 miles southeast of Banda Aceh. That's the same region devastated by the tsunami in 2004. Tsunami warnings were issued but have now been canceled. No reports of damage or injuries.

And oil prices spike and stocks slide. Markets overseas are taking a hit this morning. Ali Velshi and his oil barrel at the business update desk for us this morning.

So oil over $100 a barrel now, Ali. We got a refinery that's out of commission for a couple of months. People must be asking this morning what's going to happen with gasoline prices come spring.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, John, and that's -- you know, typically in spring gasoline prices go up. It's been a while since I've had the barrel. I got to say I wasn't expecting to see oil at these kind of levels at this point. We've seen oil trace back into the 80s. In fact, a $100.01, which is where oil settled in New York yesterday. It's the first time it actually settled over $100. We've hit that point previously. We had an inter-day high yesterday of $100.10.

Take a look at where oil has been since the beginning of the year. You'll notice the gain has been about $13. We've gone from -- well, actually that's not -- we went down into the 80s in February, so we've only gained about $4 since the beginning of the year but we've gained $13 since the beginning of February. $100.01. Why is this happening? Well, there are a few reasons.

One is that because oil and gasoline prices are high, demand has actually come down. So OPEC came out and said we are expecting demand to fall, which many people read as OPEC saying if demand falls, they're going to cut supply as well which would then cause oil prices to go up again. And this refinery that we saw a fire at earlier on, that's going to be out of commission for a little while. Some tensions around the independence of Kosovo and that not being fully recognized around the world. All that has pushed oil up. Not many people expecting to stay at this level, although I did hear one person say it could go to $105 before it goes lower -- John.

ROBERTS: We don't want to see it go near $105.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROBERTS: But perhaps it's inevitable. Ali Velshi for us this morning. Ali, thanks -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, you're watching the "Most News in the Morning," and it's 10 in a row for Barack Obama. He won voters over once again. Some of them thought to be solidly behind Hillary Clinton. So what can she do to turn things around?

Also, a plane soars past its destination. No one can reach the pilot. What went wrong in the cockpit? We're going to find out ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Word coming in within the last few hours. CNN projects Barack Obama has won the Hawaii caucuses. The news is not good for Senator Hillary Clinton.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has been up all night watching the race and talking to voters, and she joins us now live from Honolulu. Suzanne, good morning to you. And any notion that this race might have tightening for the rest last night?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Veronica.

ROBERTS: Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton about three to one in those caucuses.

MALVEAUX: We just -- we really just saw over the last couple of hours all of these results trickling in. It's about 1:15 in the morning here, John. So really, they wrapped up their caucusing just a couple of hours ago, but 100 percent of the precincts now reporting. We see Barack Obama at about 76 percent to Hillary Clinton's 24 percent. What made this kind of an extraordinary event is just the sheer numbers, the sheer magnitude of people who actually participated.

If you think back, the last time people caucused here it was 2004; 4,000 people showed up. This time around, it was 37,000. That is nine times the number of people who participated the last time. Obviously, it did create some problems. There were some long lines, some delays. You had 81 precincts, seven different islands, some places where cell phones wouldn't work in the remote areas. But clearly, what Hawaiians thought they were doing here was making history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought there was going to be 30 people here. I really did. I thought it was going to be real quick.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, it was a long wait, but it was worth it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had no idea the line would be that long.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is amazing. This is like Disneyland in Hawaii. Everyone has come out and everyone's excited.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, this is my first experience and because of the tight race that's why it made me come. We made sure that our votes counted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Clearly, a lot of pride and support for Senator Barack Obama, a native son. He was born in Honolulu. He was raised most of his childhood here. But there was a sense over the last couple of days. The party officials where seeing somewhat of a surge for the Clinton campaign. That because of daughter Chelsea Clinton who had been campaigning across the islands for three days or so. Ultimately, John, it did not necessarily pay off in the way that they had hoped or expected. A clear win for Barack Obama -- John.

ROBERTS: What do you think that bodes for the general election? Hawaii not a huge prize, only four electoral votes. But I remember in 2004, when for a moment, it looked like it was going to be competitive. Dick Cheney flew out there and back to do a couple of campaign events. Do you think the excitement that they are sensing that the caucuses last night will translate to the general election?

MALVEAUX: Well, they certainly feel like they can make a difference here. I mean, they are motivated. They are excited. You have a lot of people now who have registered to vote. If you think about Hawaii in general, it's about 80 percent Democratic here. So clearly, they're going to go for the Democratic candidate. But a lot more people involved in this process. It is really quite amazing, so they're enthusiastic. They believe that potentially they could make a difference in the general election. ROBERTS: All right. As far as you go, Suzanne, I think it would be a good idea to get your pitch in now to cover Hawaii for the general election.

MALVEAUX: I will. I will.

ROBERTS: Suzanne, thanks very much. Suzanne, by the way, is going to be leaving us in a little while to go cover this missile shootdown. It's going to happen later today, so a lot of news out there in Hawaii these days.

CHETRY: From one exciting assignment to another.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: Well, she's not leaving the island. She spent another way. Sure, there's probably a story she can do on brief depopulation or something as well.

CHETRY: Oh, of course. She'll dig up something up next week.

ROBERTS: ... which stretches until June.

CHETRY: Well, Barack Obama now has won 10 contests in a row, taking votes from groups thought once to be solidly behind Hillary Clinton.

John Dickerson is CNN's political analyst and chief political correspondent for slate.com. Good morning, John.

JOHN DICKERSON, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, SLATE.COM: Good morning.

CHETRY: You know, when we hold up this exit polling out of Wisconsin and when we take a look at, you know, some of it, it looks among almost every group with the exception of white women there, you see a slight edge for Hillary Clinton. Among every other group that we've taken a look at, including whites in general and, of course, the runaway number for Barack Obama among black voters, where is her base? What does she tap into now looking ahead?

DICKERSON: Well, this is the problem with the results in Wisconsin. The Clinton argument has been we can withstand these losses in February because we have a floor. We have a base of voters who will come back to us in Texas and Ohio and later in Pennsylvania. And that floor was built up with blue collar workers, folks who make less than $50,000 a year, folks who have less than a college education. Barack Obama won those groups last night in a state that doesn't have a very big African-American population, so he showed that he could eat into Clinton's base.

This is important for races going forward and for his larger argument. The Clinton folks have been saying, you know, Barack Obama has a sort of boutique group of voters. Younger and more affluent and he is saying basically, I can win with anyone and anywhere. CHETRY: You know, the interesting thing that I'd like you to answer for us is what exactly is it that's helping Barack Obama gain so much traction against Hillary Clinton? Is it an issue? She's the one that sort of come out ahead of the health care with the proposal. She's criticized him on his. She's come out with an economic plan. And when you poll voters, they say these are very important issues to them. So why is Barack Obama still taking the lead?

DICKERSON: You know, voters say that those are important issues but if you look at these Wisconsin exit polls, you see that he won across the board on health care. Voters who cared about health care went with Obama. Those who cared about the economy and those who cared about Iraq all went with him. You know, in this race, it's largely been about approach and not so much the specifics.

The Clinton campaign has certainly tried to drag Obama into a debate over health care plan. They charged that his plan doesn't cover everyone, and they've tried again and again to get this debate about the specifics of health care. And people keep going back to Obama because they are basically focusing on the idea that he can change things. He can change the dynamic, and they're buying his argument that leave the details aside, only somebody who can rally the country will be the kind of person who can pass universal coverage sort of regardless of what the details of the plans are.

CHETRY: Yesterday, "The Politico" Web site was reporting that the Clinton campaign intends to go after some of these pledged delegates. These are the delegates already won by Barack Obama. How would something like that work, and what impact would it have as we're seeing how these numbers are so close moving ahead?

DICKERSON: Well, that argument would work. Essentially, the Clinton folks would have to go to these delegates and say, here's some argument for why Barack Obama should not be the nominee. That argument is getting harder and harder to make. And if Senator Clinton cannot make that argument to the voters, it's going to be hard to convince delegates to change their mind. This would be an ugly and brutal process. The Clinton campaign has knocked down that story, although they didn't for the actual story so there's some confusion there.

CHETRY: This is the -- you're talking about the superdelegates that people within the party that get to make these choices as well?

DICKERSON: No, this is an additional level of complexity. We have the superdelegates who are the 796 folks who are unpledged. But this story in "The Politico" by Roger Simon was about those pledged delegates. The ones that have already been determined by the election.

They are not actually bound though we all think they are. They are not bound. They can change their mind, but that's sort of an extra level of convincing that the Clinton campaign would have to go through. And right now, they don't have the argument or the momentum. For that to happen, they would have to come up with some kind of argument that would be so compelling... CHETRY: Right.

DICKERSON: ... that these pledged delegates would change their minds.

CHETRY: It just seems like it just screams backfire. You're saying you are going to try to do, go behind the scenes and get people who are technically going to be voting to represent what their district or their state picked to change their minds?

DICKERSON: Exactly. And that's why the Clinton campaign has backed away from the story. It screams sort of backroom maneuvering, changing the rules. Although, it must be said that the rules are quite complex and byzantine. And so, there is a way if you look at the actual rules that the Clinton folks could do this, but it doesn't feel like fair play. And that's certainly something the Obama folks have zeroed in on here when the story came out. And basically, to go back to the argument, you know, we're winning in the actual voting and the Clinton folks are trying to find some other kind of way for her to win.

CHETRY: Right. Well, certainly fireworks expected on Thursday night. 8:00, the CNN debate between the two. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out. I know you'll be watching, John.

DICKERSON: Indeed.

CHETRY: Thanks for being with us.

ROBERTS: Well, here is something to think about before you board your next flight. Did your pilot have a good night sleep? The FAA demanding answers after two airline pilots ignored calls from the ground.

And look, up in the sky. First, falling satellites. Now, meteors. Quite a sight for folks out west. We'll show you next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Today's "Hot Shot" in the skies over Portland, Oregon. A giant meteor. Let's check out some of these amazing pictures. There it is.

This is from a surveillance camera there that caught this meteor streaking in the sky. And -- well, you can see also when it slams into the ground. There you go. Wait. Did you see yet? The left hand side of the screen? There it is. It's just streaking through the sky. It was caught on one of the surveillance cameras. This was in eastern Washington State Tuesday. There were also some reports of sightings all the way from northern Idaho, as well as parts of Oregon and into British Columbia.

ROBERTS: I wonder if it actually hit the ground and if there's a crater left then will people go searching for it? I mean, what will they find when they get there? CHETRY: How about it? Well, if you have a "Hot Shot," send it to us. Head to our Web site CNN.com/am and follow the "Hot Shot" link.

ROBERTS: Well, here's an interesting story for you and a worse one as well. The FAA is investigating the case of sleeping pilots. It happened last Wednesday. Air traffic controllers reportedly lost touch with pilots for Hawaiian Airlines as the plane flew past Hilo Airport on the big island. Passengers say they noticed the plane heading out to see before it turned around and came back to land. The airline says it's cooperating with the investigation.

CHETRY: All right. Well, Cubans this morning are saying they're looking for Fidel Castro's brother Raul to fulfill some of his promises of change. Many are hoping for opportunities to open businesses or to travel abroad, now that Fidel Castro has resigned as president. And there are some asking the question whether or not the U.S. should lift the embargo. The Bush administration is saying it is staying in place for now.

It brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Should the U.S. lift the embargo on Cuba? Cast your vote, CNN.com/am, and we're going to get a first tally of the votes coming up a little later in the hour.

ROBERTS: One of the people who says that yes, the U.S. should lift the embargo is Ron Paul, presidential candidate, who's going to be joining us at our 8:00 hour this morning.

More big wins last night for the front-runners. John McCain makes it a sweep, and Barack Obama makes it 10 in a row. Where do we go from here? We'll head to Texas to see what voters there are looking for in a president.

And new charges of an inmate in a Florida jail. AMERICAN MORNING legal analyst Sunny Hostin with details on that coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the shot of New York this morning. A clear and somewhat cool day and good morning. Welcome back. It's Wednesday, the 20th of February. The day after an important primary last night. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. And we found out just the results of the Hawaii caucus, at least a big projection just a couple of hours ago. Another big win for Barack Obama and a big battle for the Democrats. That's only now wrapping up this morning. The results are finally in. Senator Barack Obama in Hawaii taking 76 percent of the vote in the caucuses there. Senator Hillary Clinton winning 24 percent.

Let's look at Wisconsin now. It was a little bit closer there but still another major victory. Barack Obama taking 58 percent of the vote, Hillary Clinton 41 percent. And so here's how it all stands now. Barack Obama in the dark blue, if you take a look at that map of the United States with 1,301 delegates. Clinton in the light blue has 1,239 delegates. For the Democrats, they need 2,025 to cinch up the nomination.

The candidates both used their speeches to drive home the issues, especially the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I propose $30 billion in assistance to help families avoid foreclosures and to help communities rebound from this housing crisis, because no one should foreclose on the American dream and we're going to stop it.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When we got CEOs making more in ten minutes than ordinary workers are making in a year and it's the CEOs who are getting a tax break and workers are left with nothing, then something is wrong and something has to change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And on the Republican side many say it is all but over. John McCain actually claiming victory this morning after another sweep in Wisconsin. John McCain getting more than half of the votes. 55 percent to Mike Huckabee's 37 percent. Ron Paul still in there at 5 percent. And in Washington State, McCain held off Huckabee 49 percent to 22 percent. Ron Paul taking 7 percent of the vote there.

McCain now says that he is finally ready to declare he will be the Republican nominee for the White House. And if you take a look at why, McCain now has an estimated 918 delegates. Mike Huckabee with just 217. There's 1,191 needed for the nomination when CNN crunches the numbers even if Mike Huckabee were to win every single state going forward. He still wouldn't have enough delegates to win that nomination.

McCain states are in red. Huckabee is in pink there and the darker states still belong to Mitt Romney. Last night, McCain was already talking about a different opponent in his message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Well, it was another clean sweep for John McCain and a major win for Barack Obama. Joining us now to breakdown how voters pick their candidates and what it means for the rest of the race is CNN contributor Roland Martin. He is with us now.

And Roland, Hillary Clinton 0-10. What does she need to do to stop the bleeding before Texas and Ohio two weeks from now? ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: John, she has to strip down her message. I mean, it's too convoluted. This whole notion of 35 years, I can lead from day one. He's all about speeches. She has to just zero in on the economy. Because again, all these messages they're not working. They're simply not resonating with voters and it trap the whole issue of plagiarism, but will (INAUDIBLE). That didn't even resonate. She lost by 17 points. That's huge in a state that was really set up for.

ROBERTS: She lost 3-1 in Hawaii.

MARTIN: Right, absolutely.

ROBERTS: On the subject of the economy, let's take a quick look at some exit polling from beginning from last night. Barack Obama beat her on the economy, 57 percent to 41 percent. Almost by the same percentage he beat her in the vote in the state. And let's take a look at polls from Texas coming up, where voters say that the economy is the number one issue there. So if bidding on health care and the war in Iraq, so if he beats her by 16 points in Wisconsin on the economy, what does that suggest might happen in Texas?

MARTIN: Well, Texas is also a different kind of state. Well, because if you look at the Latino population in terms of Democratic voters, if you look at a larger black population, whites make up majority of the folks voted in all four corners. Ed Lavandera just reported a few minutes ago.

But again, though, what she argues is he doesn't have any specifics. Well, when he lays out specifics, how can you dance around the issue? I just think again, trying to put out three, four, five, six different messages is confusing to a voter. She has to get so personal and say this is why I'm the best person.

You know what, forget his speeches, forget what he's doing, forget this whole notion that he is not ready to lead from day one. She has to get so personal with voters to connect with them which she frankly has not done.

ROBERTS: Can she make the case that, look, they're not that far away in policy. That his economic plan is very similar to hers and the fact that he is claiming to be the agent of change is a bit of a hollow argument, because how can you be the element -- the agent of change if your policies are the same as mine?

MARTIN: Well, absolutely, but also the fact that she set this up for herself by saying 35 years, 35 years, 35 years. You know, that works in experience issue. But voters have clearly say -- you know what, the experience doesn't matter. He also frankly had benefited from losing a political race. When he lost the Congress in Bobby Rush in Chicago, they've got beaten bad and so he learned from that.

This is her first real campaign where she has been tested. Remember, he's been elected office longer than she has. So the question is how is she going to rebound after voters here rejected her in ten straight races? That's going to be the real key in Texas. ROBERTS: We showed how voters voted on the economy. Let's take a look at how voters voted along racial lines. The white vote went to Barack Obama last night. That's cutting into her core constituency. We also found that he won among voters of all economic strata and beat her among union voters. What's happening to her core here?

MARTIN: Well, what's happening is -- again, they are looking at all of the same things we are looking at. Ten straight wins. And so when people see that they say, wait a minute, who is this guy? Let's find out more about him. That's the problem.

She allowed based on her campaign focusing on big states. They allowed him to run up the score in many of these places to give him all kinds of momentum. She's got to figure out some way to stop it. This whole micro strategy trying to focus on large states. They have problems with that. She is going to have to go into Dallas County, going to Harris County in Texas and not to simply focus on the south Texas, because if she doesn't win those folks over these large cities, she has problems.

She loses Texas, it is game over. She has to win Texas. She has to win Ohio. You can even forget Pennsylvania.

ROBERTS: Well, the good thing for her is she has got two weeks and in politics, two weeks is a lifetime.

MARTIN: Well, of course, she is also tied right down in polling in Texas. So he does well when he's at a good point like this here. So, yes, she's got to pick it up big time.

ROBERTS: But two weeks is a long time for that momentum to carry over.

MARTIN: Very true. The debate on CNN has been critical for her.

ROBERTS: Absolutely. We're just about to get to that.

MARTIN: Oh, I read a memo.

ROBERTS: Thanks very much. All of this as Roland said makes tomorrow night even more interesting. Clinton and Obama go head to head in a presidential debate right here on CNN, live from the University of Texas in Austin. Will it be like it was in Los Angeles where there was this group hug or is it going to be like it was in Myrtle Beach where they came out slugging? We have to find out. Tune in tomorrow night, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

And I will be heading to Austin this morning for a Texas edition of CNN Election Center. That's tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and then right back again tomorrow for AMERICAN MORNING.

Kiran?

CHETRY: We have an update now to our breaking news. Just a few hours ago, a major earthquake struck Indonesia and now there are reports of at least three deaths, 25 others hurt, and several buildings damaged in the area. That quake measuring 7.5. It hit just after 3:00 this morning Eastern Time. It happened about 200 miles southeast of Banda Aceh.

Now, you may remember, this was the same region devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Tsunami warnings were issued. Those tsunami warnings though have now been canceled. They say that it looks like they have not detected any large waves according to those sea gauges.

38 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano following this for us as well as the extreme cold we're looking at across our country.

Good morning, Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: It's a hidden danger in nearly every home in America. Find out what is being announced today that could save a life in your home. Our Greg Hunter is looking out for you, coming up next.

And you saw the tape of a sheriff's deputy dumping a quadriplegic man out of his wheelchair. There it is. Now another video has emerges from the same sheriff's department. Our legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, weighs in ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: There are some serious questions being raised about the staff at the Hillsborough County jail. This is in Florida and this is the same facility where a deputy was captured on tape dumping a quadriplegic man from his wheelchair. This tape surface last week on YouTube.

Well, now, another video has emerged. And it appears to show a deputy grabbing a female inmate by her hair, yanking her out of the chair, and there you see her on the floor getting beaten. The sheriff's department claims the woman was quote, "disruptive" and that officers followed proper procedure. AMERICAN MORNING legal analyst, Sunny Hostin joins us now with today's "Legal Brief."

Just quickly, being able to see a snippet of that videotape, does that look like proper procedure in a jail?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really doesn't in terms of seeing her being pulled by the hair. You also see her being punched with a closed fist. I think, though, what's interesting here is that this is not the first time that this woman has had issues with this particular department in this state.

What we've learned recently, Kiran, is that she's been imprisoned for grand theft, trafficking in stolen property, prostitution, fraud and resisting an officer. And so I think what happened here is that they were familiar with her. Maybe there was a little bit back and forth, that does not excuse what we have all seen on this videotape. We're seeing a closed fist beating. And she has filed a lawsuit.

CHETRY: Yes. She's claiming and this lawsuit was filed just about Friday. She's claiming that she had some brain injury as well as loss of consciousness from what happened. But was this filed because of the uproar that was caused by the other tape that surfaced last week where you saw the paraplegic man dumped out? That sheriff's deputy has been relieved of duty as I understand.

HOSTIN: She's not only been relieved of duty, Kiran, she's been charged with one count of felony abuse of a disabled person. So it's difficult to tell whether or not this lawsuit was filed as a result of that. I was filed on Friday. I have been looking online. It's not electronic here. So I haven't seen the actual lawsuit. But the bottom line is this does appear -- we have one video and now another one, this does appear that there could be some sort of systemic issue at this particular police department.

CHETRY: And when that's the case, what's the recourse? I mean, oftentimes if you're in there for a crime and as you said, you know, as you said before somebody who has been in the system a lot because of breaking the law, what's your recourse?

HOSTIN: Well remember, I mean, you can always sue of course. But remember what happened with Rodney King and the L.A.P.D. Usually a monitor is put in place so that the police departments' procedures are completely overhauled. Again, if it's determined that this is systemic, I think that is what we're going to see.

One video is one thing. Now we are seeing two. I'm sure we're going to have a lot of other people come up and talk about their -- what has been happening. The lawyer in this lawsuit is now saying, actually I have another client. I'm going to file another lawsuit. I think we're going to see a lot more about this particular department.

CHETRY: Sunny Hostin, great to see you. Thanks.

HOSTIN: Thank you.

CHETRY: John?

ROBERTS: A consumer alert to tell you about this morning. Kiran, something in your kitchen that could be a land mine. We have showed you just how easily your stove can tip over. This morning, the half billion dollar solution being announced today that could save a life. It's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Coming up on nine minutes to the top of the hour in an update on a story that we first brought you about the dangers of stoves tipping over. Take a look at that. It can happen more easily than you think. It has already killed or hurt dozens of Americans. There is an announcement this morning to protect families. And our Greg Hunter has got out, "Looking Out for You" this morning.

Good morning, Greg.

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, safety advocate say 95 percent of stoves don't have a simple product bracket that would keep the appliance from falling over but if you own a stove from Sears, that's about to change.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTER (voice-over): Consumer advocates say stoves that tip over have been linked to more than 100 deaths and injuries. CNN has learned that Sears has settled a class action lawsuit that will pay to install anti-tip safety brackets or provide other reimbursements for qualified customers.

Sears has agreed to notify almost 4 million customers who may have Sears stoves dating back to 2001. One consumer group estimates fixing the problem would cost Sears $545 million.

JOAN CLAYBROOK, PUBLIC CITIZEN: This agreement by Sears and the lawyers for the consumer is a real deal. This is a fantastic deal for a lawsuit to make this headway and to get the protection for the consumer.

HUNTER: For three years, Sears also agreed to install brackets on all new stoves for free. Sears told CNN, quote, "The parties dispute many aspects of the case including the value on this settlement, which Sears estimates to be a small fraction of what plaintiffs' counsel estimates." Sears also told us that customers can visit www.searsrangesettlement.com for more information.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTER: Now, it's very important to point out that it's not just Sears brand stoves that can tip over. It's almost any stove that doesn't have the safety bracket installed. But putting brackets on stoves is currently not required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The consumer groups argue the devices should be mandatory for all stoves, but a CPSC spokeswoman told us, quote, "We believe the voluntary standards are working."

ROBERTS: Right. So, question here. Do they install those little brackets or do you have to do it yourself?

HUNTER: They install it. They send the guy out. They call you and notify you. Install the brackets. Also, you can get a $50 coupon. And ask you, is there a $50 coupon. Is that any good? But actually, this is a great coupon deal because you get a new stove and they are required for the next three years to put the bracket on. So, it's a good deal for you. And for more information on that story and how to get that bracket, just log onto cnn.com/americanmorning.

ROBERTS: Greg, thanks very much.

Kiran?

CHETRY: All right. Well, thanks guys.

A huge night and morning for Barack Obama. He won the last ten races in a row and now the question today -- what can Hillary Clinton do to slow his momentum? She's heading to Texas and so are we. Live from Austin to find out what voters there are looking for in a president. Ed Lavandera is live in just a couple minutes on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Texas is going to be a major prize for the Democrats. A total of 126 delegates are going to be awarded and now we can take a look at what Texas voters want to see in a candidate and what they want to see when it comes to where the candidates stand on the issues. AMERICAN MORNING's Ed Lavandera takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are trying to hit the jackpot with Texas Democratic voters.

Pull the slot machine lever here and you'll almost never get three of a kind. Voters are as diverse as the state's landscape. Elvia Longoria is a 41-year-old stay-at-home mother who worries about the rising cost of health insurance and she says she knows who can address it.

ELVIA LONGORIA: I would love a woman to be running this country and not just because she's a woman but I know she has the experience.

LAVANDERA: Clinton is focusing on the large Hispanic vote particularly in El Paso and South Texas.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I am proud to be part of the El Paso, Texas family.

LAVANDERA: When Obama steps up to the Texas slot machine, voters like Victor Allen, are pulling for him. A retiree who says Obama is a throwback to the good old days.

VICTOR ALLEN, TEXAS VOTER: He reminds me a little bit of Kennedy. The young person that wants to be for everybody and for everybody even the low man on the Totem pole.

LAVANDERA: Obama's strategy is to focus on major urban areas like Dallas and Houston. With a special emphasis on getting voters to the polls, a record turnout is expected. Sign most voters are happy with their choices.

ED MEYER, TEXAS VOTER: Barack Obama's message of hope is wonderful. I mean, I think it really resonates for me personally as well. But more than that is Hillary's experience and her solution focus. It's experience which means she could really get the job done.

LAVANDERA: Solution. It's a word that Clinton embraces.

CLINTON: We have a lot of work to do and I know that El Paso understands that picking a president is one of the most important jobs.

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you are ready for change, we can go ahead and tell the lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over.

LAVANDERA: And that kind of talk excites Louis Guerra, a small business owner who supports a guest worker program as part of immigration reform.

LOUIS GUERRA, TEXAS VOTER: I want a fresh approach to these things. I want someone who is new to it because there are some big issues to be tackled and so let's try a new approach.

LAVANDERA: The slot machine wheels are spinning in Texas. The question is which candidate will cash out with the most delegates?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Now, four years ago in the Texas Democratic primary, most senior voters were women. About 52 percent white, 24 percent Latino, 21 percent African-American. Most of these voters made between $30,000 and $75,000 a year in their jobs. Of course, all of this could change dramatically this year on March 4th, when the primary is held here in Texas because a record turnout is expected.

Kiran?

CHETRY: Ed Lavandera for us in Austin, Texas. Thanks. Also a reminder, by the way, a bunch of us are going to be joining you, at least John is in Austin, Ed.

Clinton and Obama going head to head tomorrow night in the campus of UT Austin. Tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

ROBERTS: It is "The Most Politics in the Morning" and the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING, starts right now.

Ten in a row.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: This is our time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Now it's do or die in Texas and Ohio. Can Clinton come back?

Perfect night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: I will be our party's nominee for president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: John McCain makes plans for November. "The Most Politics in the Morning," on this AMERICAN MORNING. And good morning. Welcome back. Thanks for joining us on this Wednesday, the 20th of February. Quite a day after here to tell you about. I'm John Roberts.

CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks for being with us.

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