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American Morning
Ten in A Row for Obama; What Can Clinton Do to Stop Obama's Momentum?; McCain Sweeps the Primaries; Oil Prices Spike and Stocks Slide; Priced-Out: Housing Crisis for the Middle Class
Aired February 20, 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)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will be our party's nominee for president of the United States.
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JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: 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.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks for being with us.
That's right. A 10-state winning streak and word just coming in a few hours ago. Now, 100 percent of the precincts are reporting, actually that's within the last few minutes. Senator Barack Obama with a decisive victory over Senator Hillary Clinton in the Hawaii caucuses, and here is the breakdown.
Barack Obama taking 76 percent of the vote to Clinton's 24 percent of the vote. And so, here's how it shapes up when you take a look at the big map. There is the United States and the dark blue ones went for Barack Obama. The lighter ones to Hillary Clinton. Obama has won every contest since Super Tuesday including last night's primary in Wisconsin.
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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.
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CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux has been up all night, and she joins us live from Honolulu this morning. A record turnout for Barack Obama's native state.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, that was really critical when you think about it. It's 2:00 in the morning here. A lot of people went to bed not really knowing just how decisive this victory was going to be but getting a sense that it would turn in favor of the native son, Barack Obama. It certainly did, and a lot of that had to do with how many people came out.
Think about the numbers here, Kiran. 2004, about 4,000 Democrats came out to caucus across the islands. This time around, 37,000. That's more than nine times that number. There was a lot of excitement. There was a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of participation. Clearly, a lot of support for Barack Obama.
But party officials also sensing an uptick for Senator Clinton over the last couple of days because of the visit with Chelsea Clinton, crisscrossing the islands. But when it all came down to it, when it was all said and done, there was a sense for Hawaiian voters that they were making history.
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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 is coming out, and everyone is 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: And, Kiran, in light of the big crowds, there was some confusion. There were some delays. Registration -- this is something that took place across seven islands. There were some remote locations where cell phones weren't working, so they had to use landlines. But when it was all said and done, it came together and it was a very decisive win for Barack Obama.
What does this mean next for both these candidates? Well, we heard them last night, kind of testing out their messages moving forward, looking at their strategies. Of course, that debate is going to be critical for both of them and they're looking forward to the March 4th contest. In just a couple weeks, Texas and Ohio will be critical -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux for us in Honolulu this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: For the Republicans, John McCain pulled off another sweep of his own. He added Wisconsin and Washington State to his list last night. All his wins to date are highlighted in red there. Mike Huckabee states are in pink in the map next to it. He hasn't racked up a win a couple of weeks since his surge in the south, and he's been stuck with the same number of delegates. We're going to talk with Governor Huckabee live at 7:30 about why he continues to march on and whether he's worried about angering GOP leaders for the fact that he's sticking around.
Well, Ron Paul isn't going anywhere either. He's going to join us in the next hour. Both candidates also have something to say about Fidel Castro's resignation, what the future of U.S. policy toward Cuba should be.
The next big day is now less than two weeks away. It's March the 4th. Ohio and Texas are the big prizes, but Rhode Island and Vermont also in the mix. And I'm going to be heading to Austin, Texas, for a special edition of CNN "ELECTION CENTER" tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, and then we'll be right back again tomorrow morning for AMERICAN MORNING, as we preview tomorrow evening's debate there. The Texas size showdown -- Clinton and Obama go head to head tomorrow night from the UT campus in Austin. That's tomorrow night 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Well, oil prices spike. The stocks slide. Markets overseas taking a hit this morning. Ali Velshi and his barrel are at the business update desk. And, boy, $100.01. That's where it closed yesterday.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And in fact, that is a record. We hit $100 a couple of times earlier in December, but we never actually closed above it. So $100.01 is where it settled in New York yesterday. It actually got up a little bit higher than that. It's pulled back a little bit today. There are a few reasons for this, Kiran.
Number one, because of the high oil prices resulting in high gasoline prices, demand for oil has actually pared back over the last several months. So OPEC came out and said that it sees demand continuing to cut back a little bit. Now, speculators take that to mean that if OPEC thinks demand is slipping, OPEC is likely to cut its output as well when it meets in March. That doesn't necessarily make sense because OPEC is worried about oil at these prices. They know that when oil is at this high, people don't buy as much of it.
They're a couple of other problems. There is a refinery fire in Texas that we learned about, so that has sort of slowed down some of the processing of oil into gasoline. We are seeing oil pull back a bit. Most people think it will pull back, most experts we have spoken to, although we have heard at least one person say it might go to $105 a barrel before coming down. And, of course, you can expect that to trickle into your gasoline prices.
Remember, we're in February, and we typically -- it's usually April or May before we start to see that demand pick up for gasoline in the United States and those prices increase. But over the next few weeks, you'll probably see this translate.
Take a look at what oil has done since the beginning of the year. It started the year at about $95. It dipped down into the 80s, about $88 earlier in February. Now, we're back up about $13 up from there to $100.01. We'll keep a close eye on that, Kiran, and tell you how it affects you.
CHETRY: Sounds good, Ali. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Veronica De La Cruz now is here with more stories new this morning. Good morning to you.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.
It's nice to see both of you, and good morning to you out there. We have some breaking news we want to get to now out of Indonesia where a 7.5 earthquake hit off the coast of Sumatra just a few hours ago. Three people now dead. 25 others injured. Many buildings have been damaged. The quake hit about 200 miles southeast of Banda Aceh, the same region devastated by the 2004 tsunami. A CNN producer says the town where the injured is inaccessible right now, and rescuers will have to reach them tomorrow. Earlier tsunami warnings have been canceled.
President Bush is describing the opposition's party win in Pakistan as a victory for the people. President Bush spoke out just this morning from Ghana saying hopes the new Pakistani government will be an ally to the U.S.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Will they be friends of the United States? I certainly hope so. We need Pakistan as an important ally. We've got common interests. We got interest in dealing with radicals who killed Benazir Bhutto.
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DE LA CRUZ: The final results of the parliamentary election in Pakistan are due out today. The opposition party's massive victory could force President Pervez Musharraf to leave or share power. Musharraf says he intends to serve out his term which ends in 2012.
Police in Arizona are on the lookout for real guns that look fake. Take a look. This is one painted pink with a Hello Kitty character on it. Police are trained to be able to distinguish a real gun from a fake one, but paint jobs like this make it difficult. Sergeant Manny Mendoza said no officers have yet been in a situation where a real gun looked fake, but they are being instructed to consider anything that looks like a gun to be a real firearm.
New figures to report now from the American Cancer Society showing an increase in cancer deaths; 559,000 people in the U.S. died from cancer in 2005, the last year for which statistics are available. That is an increase of 5,000, reversing a two-year trend of decline. The death rates are way down compared with the early '90s. Thanks to a decline in smoking and better diagnosis and treatments.
And one of the country's most prestigious universities making a radical change in its financial aid policy. Stanford University will no longer charge tuition to students whose families earn less than $100,000 a year. The school is also waiving room and board fees to students from families earning less than $60,000 a year. The university will announce those changes today. They follow published reports that Stanford's endowment had grown to more than $17 billion.
Kiran, John, we'll send it back to you. Still $17 billion, they are still third in line after what other two universities? Obviously, Ivy League school?
ROBERTS: Harvard and Yale.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. Bingo.
ROBERTS: Hey, it's amazing that there's just been an absolute bonanza in fund raising for top flight universities in the last couple of years.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
ROBERTS: So it's nice that they're sharing some of the wealth.
DE LA CRUZ: It is nice, isn't it?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: It's also interesting some of these colleges are doing some unconventional things. In fact, our Polly LaBarre is going to be joining us, coming up a little bit later to talk about another school doing something unique. Paying students to not study.
DE LA CRUZ: Really?
CHETRY: A little late for us.
ROBERTS: Yes, perhaps.
Housing pricing across the country are down, so why are so many middle class families struggling to afford them? Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis takes a look at that coming up.
And with two more wins, the Obama train has rolled to 10 victories in a row now. What does Hillary Clinton need to do to derail Obama's momentum? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." The space shuttle "Atlantis" is scheduled to return to earth today. The first landing opportunity will be at 9:07 this morning at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And NASA says it will do its best to land "Atlantis" as early as possible today to give the Navy extra time to shoot down a dead satellite. You don't want the space shuttle flying around where you're trying to shoot down a satellite.
The first shot comes tonight at 10:30 Eastern. That's 10:30 p.m. They have to get the shuttle on the ground sometime this morning. The $10 million missile will not have an explosive warhead in it. Instead, it will use kinetic energy slamming into the satellite at 22,000 miles an hour, which they hope should do the job.
And there's another sight in the skies to tell you about. A total lunar eclipse tonight. The last one for almost three years. And another treat, Saturn appears next to the moon tonight. And if you've got even a small telescope, you can sometimes see the rings around it. If you miss it, the next one is not going to be until December 2010 -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Oh, it's funny, for a second there I got nervous. It said dead satellite. We're showing a picture of Time Warner Center. I hope it's not headed for us.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, you know, it could be our dead satellite dishes.
CHETRY: Right. Unless the producers know something we don't. Thanks a lot, John.
Well, turning now to the race for the White House. With wins last night in Wisconsin and Hawaii, Barack Obama seems to have the inside track for the Democratic nomination. He also picked up key voters that were thought to be solidly in Hillary Clinton's camp. The next two votes in Texas and Ohio are crucial to her campaign.
John Dickerson, CNN's political analyst and chief political correspondent for Slate.com, John, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
JOHN DICKERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
CHETRY: You know, you can't pick up a paper today or read any story online and it says, you know, Obama's on a roll. This makes it 10-0. If you're Hillary Clinton this morning, what do you need to do?
DICKERSON: Well, you need to focus on trying to puncture the swell of momentum that gets just bigger and bigger for Obama, and you have to do it fast because, you know, everybody is riding her obituary, I think. She's also, of course, got to work hard at this debate Thursday night that CNN is hosting.
CHETRY: And exactly, what do we want to hear in that debate? We've seen -- when they've seem to really get along and agree on many issues and appear that they are getting along, and then we saw some fireworks at some of the debates where they're going after each other on things outside of the issues. What will work tonight, tomorrow night?
DICKERSON: Well, the bright spot in the exit polls for Hillary Clinton is on the question of experience when voters were asked -- where the voters that cared about experience that she was their pick. So she's got to remind voters why experience or the kind of experience she has is crucial to this race, why it's a dangerous world.
She returns, of course, many times to her argument that she's ready on day one and she's got to convince voters that experience is the key quality they need to see. Now, she's been trying to do that for many, many months and it hasn't worked yet.
CHETRY: Let's take a look at some of the exit polling CNN has out of Wisconsin. And here, we take a breakdown of the Democrats gender and race. So you see Obama with clear leads among men, splitting it among women in general, losing only slightly to Clinton among white women. Among whites in general, taking it by nine points and a runaway 91 percent to eight percent for blacks. Will these trends continue? What can you take away from them as we look toward Texas and Ohio?
DICKERSON: I think the key thing to take away is that particularly in Ohio where Clinton was arguing essentially that her support among voters who make less than $50,000, the kind of blue collar workers, that that was going to really give her some strength in Ohio and create a firewall for all of these Obama victories. Well, Obama won among blue collar voters in Wisconsin.
The question in Texas is, of course, how Latinos will vote, Latinos will vote. And Obama has had some trouble there in the past but he's rolling and he's showing up in the polls, doing much better in Texas. So, you know, it looks like his momentum is helping him there. So the question is, where does Clinton build back her support among these groups that he's been eroding in these wins over these last 10 contests?
CHETRY: Let's pop some of the exit polling results for the GOP out of Wisconsin as well. And this, I guess is something that's probably being -- let's do the Republicans, please.
This is probably is good news for the McCain campaign. You take a look at conservative voters. He edged out Mike Huckabee, 48 percent to 44 percent. Now, under very conservative, he looks like he still has some ground to make up. But is there a shift in thinking, coming around to John McCain among conservatives in general?
DICKERSON: Well, there has to be. I mean, he's the nominee. So conservatives can complain, but it's over now, although Mike Huckabee's warm body still travels around the country. The benefit for McCain is that he is able to go out and take on Barack Obama as he did last night, rather full-throttledly (ph). And this is something that can bring conservatives to him.
They can say, well, we may not like him or his positions on immigration and some other things, but, boy, he really has a strong case to make against Barack Obama and that is something that might unite conservatives, indeed is uniting conservatives behind him, now that it's certain that McCain will be the nominee.
CHETRY: I want you -- I want to talk to you about Mike Huckabee because Mike Huckabee, up until this point, I mean, he won some of the primaries last week. He's not getting blown away like you're seeing with Ron Paul. I mean, he is getting a good chunk of the vote, and we're going to be speaking to him in just about 15 minutes. Even though he statistically can't win it, is there a role for him to play? Is there a way for him to actually help when it comes to the GOP nomination? DICKERSON: Well, he's not a -- if you're a Republican, let's look through their eyes for the moment, Mike Huckabee is a compelling character. He is a nice presence out there on the campaign trail. He talks about a lot of these economic woes people have been having from the sort of working man's perspective, which some might argue helps against the Democrats. Barack Obama will certainly be making the case for the working man in the general election if Obama is the nominee.
So -- and also Huckabee is not really attacking John McCain in any way. So it's not a huge problem. There are some in the McCain camp who wouldn't mind Huckabee kind of maybe going off stage now, but it's not a huge problem, and Huckabee is probably not a bad face for the GOP.
CHETRY: Right. But what do you know? Is there anything going on behind the scenes to say, listen, we'll deal you into the fold here? You do have a role to play? Maybe it's time to step aside?
DICKERSON: Well, I don't know if there's anything going on behind the scenes. You know, all the speculation about him possibly being McCain's running mate, I think, is just that at the moment. And so, I don't know what they're trying to do. Certainly, Huckabee and McCain have talked but my understanding at least as of the moment is that McCain hasn't said, OK, enough of this. Please be gone.
CHETRY: Right. OK. John Dickerson, great to talk to you. As always, thanks.
DICKERSON: Thanks.
CHETRY: We're going to be talking, by the way, in just about 10 minutes to Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor, about why he's marching on. We're also going to get his take on the Cuba situation now that Fidel Castro has resigned.
Also, Republican Ron Paul coming up at our next hour. Both Congressman Paul and Mike Huckabee have some interesting takes on the situation in Cuba and what the U.S. should do, where they should go.
ROBERTS: Yes. Mike Huckabee a huge change in position. One supported the lift in the embargo, now firmly against that idea. And Ron Paul coming out yesterday reiterating the idea that the embargo should be lifted. So ...
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: We'll find out what they're thinking about this morning.
Hope this morning in Cuba meantime, as people there look to Fidel Castro's brother Raul to fulfill the promise of change. Many are hoping for opportunities to open businesses or travel abroad now that Fidel Castro has resigned as president. The Bush administration says that the U.S. embargo will stay in place for now.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. We want to know what you think. Should the United States lift its embargo on Cuba? Right now, take a look at this, 85 percent of you say yes. Fifteen percent say no. Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. We'll tally the votes throughout the morning.
CHETRY: Maybe if all of those who said yes voted for Ron Paul, it might be a different outcome this morning.
ROBERTS: There you go. He might have gotten a lot more votes in Wisconsin and Washington.
Well, do you work a night shift? Here's an important story for you. Why some doctors say you could be at risk for a deadly cancer. Should you be concerned about it? We'll check in.
And despite a housing downturn, a new study says many middle class workers still can't afford to buy a home. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis tells us why ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: John McCain closing in now on the Republican nomination, winning the Wisconsin and Washington State primaries last night. His fund-raising also on a roll. The newest reports from the Federal Election Commission show McCain raised nearly $12 million in January. That's his best month of fund-raising yet. McCain also turning down matching funds from the earlier primaries this month which lets him spend more money now in the general election.
ROBERTS: We've been talking for months about the housing crisis. Home prices around the country have dropped in the last year. Obviously, it's a problem for people who are reselling but making them more affordable for first-time buyers. So why aren't middle class people able to afford them?
CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis joins us now. So you work and you save up some money and you wait until house prices come down and you still can't get in the market. Why?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Forget about it. Houses are still out of reach even though prices are falling. Take a look at these numbers. The National Housing Conference. It came out with the study recently that looked at 201 metro areas, median prices in those areas and then compared it to occupations, about 60 occupations. Take a look at affordability. Here's what they came up with.
So many people in so many occupations still cannot afford housing. Let's take a look at Cleveland as an example here. Now, houses in that area are $121,000 median price.
ROBERTS: Yes.
WILLIS: And so, the earnings that you need to purchase that home given a 10 percent down payment and you're paying 28 percent of your gross income is about $39,000. Just shy of $40,000. However, most folks don't make that. Take a look at this. Average office clerk makes $30,000. Retail salesperson, somebody in a store somewhere in a mall, $21,000. Service reps, $37,000. And as you know, we're going to be having this primary in Ohio very soon. You can see that these economic issues are really coming home to those people there, even now, even with prices going down, people can't afford homes.
ROBERTS: So what can these folks do? Is there any way to get into the market?
WILLIS: Well ...
ROBERTS: And I -- you know, a lot of us worry about our kids, too. Will they ever be able to afford a home?
WILLIS: That's a great question. Right now, no. There's nothing you can do. You know, if prices slide further, obviously, that would be a positive for people in this situation, John, but I have to tell you, you know, interest rates are not high here. That's not the issue. It's still prices and still median incomes are not that high. You know, we haven't seen incredible growth in wages in some time. So given those factors, the outlook is not positive for this.
ROBERTS: I guess people could try to save up some more money to get that equity knocked down a little bit. Maybe that might help out.
WILLIS: Yes, that's always a great idea. But that can be tough, too. You know, if you have kids, you know, you have a family, there are lots of obligations out there.
ROBERTS: Yes, no kidding. Everything is competing for every dollar.
WILLIS: That's right.
ROBERTS: Gerri, thanks very much.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, they are some of the best pilots in the world and our Dr. Sanjay Gupta getting to ride along with them.
Look at that beautiful formation. We're flying with the Blue Angels. Supersonic speed, seven times the force of gravity. How do they train their bodies for it? There's a live look. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta getting ready for the ride of his life coming up.
Also marching on, Mike Huckabee is here live to tell us why he is not ready to get out of the race yet. That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Only one of us is ready on day one to be commander in chief, ready to manage our economy. And ready to defeat the Republicans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Hillary Clinton last night making no mention of the loss in Wisconsin when she did give that speech. But she did call Barack Obama afterwards.
ROBERTS: She did. Yes. Now, there's two weeks to go until the next big contest, and she's got a lot of work ahead of her because if they were playing nine ball, he would have run the table and more.
A 10-state winning streak now. Word coming in just a few hours ago from Hawaii. One hundred percent of the precincts are now reporting Senator Barack Obama with a decisive victory over Senator Hillary Clinton in Hawaii caucuses. Seventy-six percent of the vote to Clinton's total at 24 percent.
And here's how it's shaping up on the big map. Dark blue went for Obama. The lighter blue are states that went to Clinton. Obama has won every contest since Super Tuesday including last night's primary in Wisconsin.
Last night, Obama was already in Houston hoping to take away a must win from Hillary Clinton on March the 4th.
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OBAMA: We seek is still months and miles away, and we need the good people of Texas to help us get there.
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ROBERTS: Well, for his part, John McCain is now saying he will be the Republican nominee after racking up more -- two more wins in Wisconsin and Washington State. But the GOP nomination nearly secured. McCain starts to take aim at Obama.
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MCCAIN: 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.
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ROBERTS: McCain also said he is not the youngest candidate out there but he is the most experienced.
CHETRY: So, what are the four states holding presidential primaries on March 4th, with 256 Republican delegates up for grabs. Yes, Mike Huckabee, if he wins every single one of those races from now on, still according to CNN's number crunching makes it mathematically impossible for him to catch up on the delegate count but Huckabee is saying he is not going anywhere and the governor joins us now this morning from Little Rock, Arkansas. Thanks for being with us.
So, not enough delegates to win even if you won every race from now until the end, why stay in it?
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, for one reason, Kiran. We need to keep the message out there that conservatives want to be heard from. The immigration issue is one that Republicans care deeply about. We better have that discussion going into November. If I leave, we're not going to have it. We're not talking about tax reform and we need to. A lot of Americans are hurting.
Two million Americans face foreclosure. The Republicans have acted like the economy is just fine. Well, it isn't just fine and somebody better be talking about how are we going to help the people at the middle class and at the bottom of the middle class. And it's not going to happen if we just suddenly ignore that many Americans are struggling, particularly small business owners to keep their places open.
And for many conservatives, the human life amendment becomes an important reason that they are Republicans. And if there's an indifference toward the sanctity of human life, you're going to lose a lot of the foot soldiers out there that knock on doors and make the phone calls. Now, I understand about the math of getting the nomination of 1,191 delegates but it's always possible that nobody gets that magic number. This goes to a brokered convention.
So, as I've said all along, when someone gets 1,191 delegates I accept that that person, me or somebody else, John McCain, is the nominee. But until then, voters in these other states at least ought to have a choice and a voice and they don't have that if we just declare this thing over.
CHETRY: Mississippi's Governor Haley Barbour recently said "I think Governor Romney did the country and the party a service. It was the right thing for him to recognize that John McCain is going to win the nomination. He put the future of the country in front of his own interests." Does staying in the race, governor, hurt the GOP?
HUCKABEE: No, not staying in the race hurts the GOP. It makes it like we're so weak that we can't have a debate and a discussion. If this party is so completely incapable of discussing the issues that matter deeply to Republicans, then I'm not its problem. It's problem is that it doesn't have a message that it can run on and it just wants to circle the wagons and act like it's all well.
Well, it isn't all well. And anyone who thinks it is, is kidding themselves and is going to get clobbered in November. We better have this honest discussion about what it is that cause a lot of people to say they're going to vote Democrat this year. We can change that. It's not too late.
But it is going to be too late if we act like we're afraid to have an election. If the party wants to have a coronation and not an election, then set up the rules like that but that's not the way it's set up. We're supposed to have these primary contests so voters can express themselves. If we act like now that we want to hear from them, what does that say to voters of the Republican party? We're not interested in what you think? I hope not.
CHETRY: You know, it's interesting because you brought up economic concerns and in Wisconsin, you actually did very well among voters who said they want a candidate who shares their values but John McCain beat you among voters who thought the economy was the most important issue. How do you convince voters that your fair tax plan and that your economic proposals are stronger than what McCain is putting out there?
HUCKABEE: Well, for one thing, you know, if every day I wasn't faced with the constant barrage of every media outlet in America saying the race is over, the race is over. If people believed that there was a reason to continue to have this discussion, I think it would have more traction.
There are a lot of people in this country who do think our economy needs serious help and the people who have looked at the fair tax, they know that it would make a dramatic difference in saving a lot of American jobs, small business particularly, and we would give a lot of Americans particularly those at the bottom a chance to actually reach the next rung on the ladder rather than finding themselves slipping further and further behind.
CHETRY: Now, I don't doubt that you're not being sincere when you talk about the need to discuss some of these issues but I was watching some of the election coverage last night and everyone was asking the same question or at least trying to answer that question about why you're still staying in it even though the delegate counts are certainly against you at this point.
And people were saying maybe you are trying to build base for 2012 that you have a great response from some of these mega churches and people within them and that you're positioning yourself as the conservative candidate of the future. Can you tell us about those ambition?
HUCKABEE: Well, all these speculations. In fact, I heard Ari Fleischer, former press secretary to Bush on a program last night talk about how that, maybe I like to fly around on chartered airplanes. Well, Kiran, let me be real clear. I would like to get more than three to four hours of sleep at night. My wife left her job so she could be out on the campaign trail full time.
I have given up a lot of opportunities to earn income and instead don't get a dime for campaigning and I have been doing it every day relentlessly for 14 months relentlessly. There's got to be something other than my ego driving this. And I'd like for people to understand that it just might be that I love my country and I'm really worried about it. I'm worried about the future for my own children and for their friends. A $9 trillion debt and who has given it to us? Washington. So what are we going to do, elect somebody else from Washington to run the country? I'm not sure that, you know, a lot of people are yet getting it that if we continue to go the direction we're going, overspending and overtaxing, we don't really present the best kind of future for the kids that we raised and we owe them better than that.
CHETRY: Mike Huckabee, presidential candidate and former Arkansas governor. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
HUCKABEE: Thank you, Kiran.
CHETRY: We're also going to be talking to Ron Paul coming up in the 8:00 hour. His state is up next, March 4th and we'll get his take on Castro's resignation as well.
Also, it could be another Super Tuesday for someone. The next big day is now two weeks away on March 4th, Ohio and Texas are the big prizes but Rhode Island and Vermont also in the mix. Again, that coming up on March 4th.
ROBERTS: Other news new this morning to tell you about a small Minnesota town is mourning four school children who died yesterday in a bus accident. The school bus flipped over on its side after being reportedly being broad-sided by a van. Witnesses say the bus driver was helping students out of the bus through the escape hatch in the roof. 14 other people were hurt in that accident.
And in Rhode Island, family and friends are remembering more than 100 people killed in a nightclub fire five years ago today. Hundreds of survivors attended a ceremony this weekend where a design for a permanent memorial was unveiled. The fire was started by rock band Great White's pyrotechnics display.
And new details are emerging about the gunman who opened fire at Northern Illinois University. His godfather Richard Grafer revealed that Steven Kazmierczak reached out to him just days before the shooting. Grafer who hasn't spoken to his godson in years says that Kazmierczak called him wanting information about guns. Grafer says he never saw signs that the 27-year-old was capable of such violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD GRAFER, STEVEN KAZMIERCZAK'S GODFATHER: When they told me that he's a monster, he's a killer. He's this and that. He's not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, he did kill a lot of people. State police now say that Kazmierczak tried to buy weapons from six Illinois gun stores before the attack -- Kiran.
CHETRY: President Bush is in Ghana this morning. And it's the next to the last stop of his five-nation African tour. There, he received a warm welcome at the presidential residence. Ghana is a strong ally of the United States in west Africa. At a news conference following his meeting with Ghana's president, our addressed rumors of U.S. military expansion on the continent. He says the U.S. is not considering building new military bases in Africa.
Scientists are linking artificial light at night to breast cancer. Researchers in Israel overlaid satellite images of the earth on two cancer registries and women who live in areas with large amounts of illumination at night were more likely to have breast cancer. Some scientists believed the artificial light tricks the brain into not producing melatonin. It's a hormone that can affect and in some cases prevent tumor growth.
Well, congratulations, Seattle. "Cooking Light: magazine says you are the healthiest city in the U.S.. Seattle, Washington, followed by Portland, Washington. Washington, D.C. Wait, is that Portland, Oregon?
ROBERTS: Portland, Oregon.
CHETRY: Then Washington D.C., Minneapolis and San Francisco. "Cooking Light" based its ranking on 15 criteria including overall health, exercise, restaurant ratings and park and recreation.
ROBERTS: Well, it was a surprising sight in the night's sky. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know what it was. It caught my eye. A big flash of fireball coming down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, we'll tell you what it was. That's coming up.
And a deal to create the nation's largest airline appeared to be on the runway but could a last minute snag foil the billion dollar deal? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: New details are emerging about when that rogue stock trader began to carrying out the biggest bank fraud in history. A scam that caused France's second largest bank $7.1 billion. Court documents show that Jerome Kerviel started betting and losing the bank's money back in July. So far, the bank has only revealed losses dating back to December. The bank, Societe Generale is set to release its findings into the unauthorized stock trades today.
An estimated $20 billion combining Delta and Northwest may have run into unexpected turbulence. Ali Velshi joins us now with the new developments. Kiran just said a second ago. Did they miss their flights?
VELSHI: Delays, turbulence. The things you can say about this whole thing. All right. Most of the betting is that this deal goes through between Delta and Northwest. The boards are meeting and have met. The issue here seems to be whether or not the Pilots' union, the same pilots' union that represents the pilots in both of these two airlines, can come together on some sort of agreement.
Now, reports that are coming out and I don't know how accurate these are because we can't get a confirmation on it are that there are some issues about the seniority and how to blend the seniority of the pilots on both these airlines.
I'm not sure what the issue is there because seven years at one airline and you can get eight years at the other and the guy with eight years has more seniority. The issue here, of course, is that if you did have eight years in one airline and you know, you have 100 people above you, you may have 200 people above you. Not sure how they will resolve that.
But the airlines probably don't want to go into the deal without the support of their key unions. They definitely don't need the support of the key unions in order to do this deal. In fact, Northwest has snubbed its nose at its unions for some time. However, given that there are other problems in getting a deal like this done, it would probably be helpful to have the pilots' union on side and then the other union and then you have to get shareholders' support.
So, even if the two boards say this is a good deal, they got to get the shareholders on site and you still do have to get government approval. And there are some people have been crowing about the fact they don't want this to happen because they definitely, well it may not be clear that fares will go up it's quite unclear that they will go down. So, there are a lot of people saying are airline mergers a good thing? So, lots of complications so this is definitely not a done deal.
ROBERTS: What do you think the chances are that it would happen?
VELSHI: I think the chances are very good and a deal will be announced. The issue is will it get done?
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks. Appreciate it.
CHETRY: How about this one? It's an early morning surprise in the Pacific northwest. It was a meteor shower that lit up the sky over eastern Washington, northern Idaho, even British Columbia early Tuesday. A lot of people saw it and when they did they called 911.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. I'm sorry to call. But I just saw something fall out of the sky. I'm not sure if it was plane or is it fireworks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know what it was. It just caught my eye. A big flash of fireball coming down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A lot of calls like that going into local 911 dispatchers. No reports of any damage. And if the meteor actually hit the ground, there's no evidence of it. Just caught on a surveillance camera streaking through the sky there.
Forty-five minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano following extreme weather for us. What do you think of that though? Pretty cool. You would have called 911, if you were there.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I would have ran out there to see if any little green men I'd like to meet.
Hey, we got a pretty spectacular show going on tonight here, Kiran. It's a total lunar eclipse. And it's the last one we'll see for almost three years. So, try to get out there to check it out. Most of you and all of the U.S. will see it but it would be kind to coming to an end on if you live the West Coast.
It's going to happen between 10:00 and 10:50 tonight Eastern time. Of course, you need clear skies to see that moon to be covered up by the earth's shadow. And I think the East Coast should be all right. We'll see a little bit of cloud cover across parts of the Great Lakes. In the intermountain west, you'll see some spots between clouds there. Texas will see a little bit of cloud cover.
But definitely get out and check that out. Again, total eclipse happens between 10:00 and 10:50 Eastern time.
All right. If you will check it out across the western Great Lakes, definitely bundle up. Temperatures right now, these are actual temperatures, minus 15 in Duluth, minus 11 Minni. It's 2 right now in Milwaukee. You couple in the wind-chill and in certain spots right now at it's minus 50 is what it feels like in Morris, Minnesota. Grand Forks, North Dakota, it feels like minus 47. The wind-chill on Flag Island, Minnesota, minus 42. Your skin will get frostbite in a matter of minutes if you're out in that area.
Hey, speaking of space, we got the Space Shuttle landing today. 9:07. Just got word from our SciTech producers out there at Cape that they have gone for deorbit burn. So, it's all a go. The weather looks to be good. We'll probably have that for you live here on CNN a little bit later on.
Snow advisory out for parts of the Ohio River Valley today and maybe a couple inches and then probably more significant weather event happening tomorrow and through tomorrow night and into parts of Friday. Maybe some icing across parts of the western Ohio River Valley, Missouri and Mississippi Valleys as well. That's the latest from here. Kiran, back to you. Check out that eclipse tonight. It should be pretty cool.
CHETRY: Well, I'm going -- what time is it again?
MARCIANO: 10:00. You know, a little bit past your bedtime but you know.
CHETRY: Can't do it. I'll have to put out a surveillance camera. MARCIANO: Somebody will tape it.
CHETRY: Review it in the morning.
MARCIANO: We may even show it tomorrow morning.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
ROBERTS: Thirteen minutes now to the top of the hour. Classes resume this morning at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, two weeks after tornadoes ripped through the campus and wiped out several dorm buildings. Many of the students return to campus this week. They've been moved into dorms that weren't damaged in the storm.
Hillary Clinton hopes to get back on track in Texas and Ohio two weeks from now. How big a mountain is it for her to climb? Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley looks at what's ahead for the Democrats.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the human body pushed to the brink. They are pulling Gs and going supersonic and the secret to how they survive isn't what you think. How do they do it? Dr. Sanjay Gupta is flying high with the Navy's Blue Angels ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Nine minutes to the top of the hour. A live look from the naval air station in El Centro, California. That's Dr. Sanjay Gupta's new ride. Pretty sleek. Plane number seven from the Navy's world famous Blue Angels team. Pilots who fly for the Blue Angels face severe demands. G forces that can make mere mortals black out in flight or even red out which is the opposite of a black out, but still just as effective at putting you under.
How do they train for it? Sanjay takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Lieutenant Frank Weisser, call sign Walleye. One of the nation's finest pilots and this is his plane. The Blue Angels number seven jet. It's the only two seater in the squadron. Yes, he'll be flying. I'll be riding along up to 1,200 miles an hour.
Gravity defying maneuvers are second nature for the Blue Angels but to perform the high speed turns, rolls, climbs, loops, the pilots need to fight gravity and physiology. Priority one, they need to make sure their brain is getting enough blood and oxygen.
Make no mistake, pilots are athletes putting their planes to work in the air means their bodies work hard in the gym. And here's something maybe you didn't know. Blue Angel pilots don't wear G suits or gravitational suits instead they rely on some simple techniques. LT. MARK WEISSER, THE BLUE ANGELS: First of all, you need to learn a good, we call it AGSM or an anti-G string maneuver and what that entails is squeezing your legs and your rear end and your stomach to keep the blood in your head.
GUPTA: Pilots also use a special breathing technique. Blue Angels like other military pilots need to withstand more than 7Gs. That's more than seven times the force of gravity. At 4Gs, blood flow to the eyes becomes a trickle and your vision dims.
At 4.5 Gs you go temporarily blind and yes, you can pass out. There is motion sickness. That's when your brain gets conflicting signals from your eyes and your ears. Considering I get sick in the back of a New York taxi cab, this should be quite a ride.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, El Centro, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: So, he is just hours away from the flight of his life. Sanjay, is going to join us from El Centro. That's coming up in our next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING. If so many people do stories on the Blue angels or the Thunderbirds or in Canada it was the snow birds. Have you ever been up in one of those?
CHETRY: No, I was going to and then I went and got pregnant. I don't encourage that when you were flying.
ROBERTS: That was just recently or that was the first time?
CHETRY: I think both times I was going to go up with them. You know, you really have to clinch your stomach muscles. I mean they train you to do all of that.
ROBERTS: He was talking about the black out which is when you pull a G4, you do a reverse roll where you go top over, you can do a red out where so much blood rushes to your head that you actually black out.
CHETRY: See that, I'll stick to roller coasters for a little while. That's about all the excitement I can take.
ROBERTS: But what a thrill to be up on those aircraft. He is well a very fortunate guy.
CHETRY: Pretty cool. All right.
Well, actress Kirstie Alley, you may remember, she lost 75 pounds. Now, she's also cutting ties with the company that helped her. You may remember all the commercials that she did and we're going to talk about why coming up.
Also, a $100 a barrel from heating your homes to filling your cars. The fallout as oil prices close above $100 a barrel for the first time ever. Ali Velshi is weighing in coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Now, onto this morning's "Quick Vote" question, should the United States lift its embargo on Cuba? That's the question we've been asking this morning. Let's check in with the results. 83 percent of you say yes. It's time to do that. 17 percent say no. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning. And coming up in just a little while, we're going to be talking to candidate Ron Paul.
CHETRY: That's right. We're going to see what he says about the situation and a lot of people actually agree with his position. You're watching the most news in the morning. He is running a distant third right now but he is carrying on his bid for president. We're going to talk with him as he swings through his home state. He joins us live coming up.
Also, Prince William and Prince Harry have done it. And now you may have a chance. Find out how some colleges here at home are taking a page from the princes. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
ROBERTS: Pulling away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I will be our party's nominee for president of the United States.
OBAMA: This is our moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Obama and McCain own the night and early morning. What's next in Texas? The most politics in the morning.
Playing with fire. A consumer alert about unstable stoves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A child could use the oven door as a step and the entire stove could tip.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Today, the half billion dollar solution.
Plus, good heavens. Meteors, missiles and the moon. Why you want to look up in the sky on this AMERICAN MORNING.
A whole lot going on today both in the sky and here on the ground. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's February 20th, Wednesday, a day after a big primary day. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: Right, some of the results came in during our show and that includes Hawaii. We begin this morning with a 10-state sweep for Barack Obama. Hawaii's caucuses, the senator's latest conquest. We now have 100 percent of the precincts reporting and if you take a look at the chart, a whopping victory for Barack Obama, 76 percent of the vote to Hillary Clinton's 24 percent of the vote.
So, here's how it shaped up on the big map. The states in dark blue are the ones who went for Obama. Obama has won every contests since super Tuesday, including last night's primary in Wisconsin. The states highlighter in light blue are for Hillary Clinton. Some bigger prizes, fewer contests. She's now banking on March 4th, especially Texas. Barack Obama also in Houston, and he's trying to put an end to that.
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