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American Morning
Reports Link McCain and Female Lobbyist; Pentagon Press Conference on the Satellite Shootdown; Clinton Campaign: Can She Stop Obama?; Strokes in Middle Age: High Risk in Women 35-54
Aired February 21, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Firing back -- the McCain campaign answers questions about their candidate and a female lobbyist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD HARRIS, MCCAIN 2000 CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: These people had an ax to grind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Barn storms ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you ready to make sure your voices and your votes count from south Texas?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama lock in for a critical debate tonight. We're deep in the heart of Texas with the "Most Politics in the Morning."
Plus, wild ride.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ready to take off. We have 6.1 Gs right away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Sanjay comes back to earth after taking a highway to the danger zone on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Yes, and John, from what I heard around the newsroom, maybe Sanjay is wishing he didn't take up that flight with the Blue Angels this morning.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Did he have to use the air sick bag?
CHETRY: Well, he's going be joining us in a few minutes, and I guess he's going to dish and we'll get to see a little bit more of exactly what it felt like for him to be up there. But, boy, pulling seven Gs. It's not easy if you're not used to it. ROBERTS: I'll tell you, that's a real thrill ride. Looking forward to hearing from him as to how it went.
Hey, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on this Thursday, the 21st of February.
Serious questions this morning for Senator John McCain's campaign. "The New York Times" and the "Washington Post" are running with the story about his past links to a female lobbyist. Here she is. Her name is Vicki Iseman. She is a telecommunications lobbyist whose clients had business before McCain's commerce committee. The papers say that during his 2000 presidential campaign, advisers grew concern. They thought that McCain was spending too much time with Iseman, who at the time was in her early 30s.
Here's how "The New York Times" put it. "Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself, instructing staff members to block the woman's access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him."
The reports even say a top aide, John Weaver, seen here next to McCain, arranged a meeting with the woman at Washington's Union Station to tell her to stay away. But this morning, there is just as many questions about the timing of the articles as there are about John McCain's conduct. His campaign has come out blasting the articles. Here's what his 2000 campaign spokesman said earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: These are unnamed sources that the "Times" specifies and says these people had an ax to grind. The "Times" points that out, and I think the voters need to be very wary of stories with rumor and innuendo from unnamed sources.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: John McCain is expected to address the issue himself at a news conference. That's coming at 9:00 Eastern and, of course, we'll carry that here on CNN.
CNN's Dana Bash is following the McCain campaign. She's live in Perrysburg, Ohio, and just a few minutes ago, she spoke to John Weaver, the one person who's quoted in that story, and saying that he headed the meeting with Iseman at Union Station back in 1999. Dana, what did he tell you?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what he said, John, is that he did in fact ask for and have that meeting with this lobbyist that you just described, back about eight years ago, maybe even a little bit more. But what John Weaver says is that it is not because there was any concern that he had about any romantic relationship. He said he never even brought that up. He said because he didn't have to. But he said what he was concerned about, and what other members of the McCain campaign back then were concerned about is that they heard that she was telling people around town that she had access to John McCain and access to him and his influence on the Senate Commerce Committee, and that would potentially help her clients. That Weaver insists that she simply did not have.
So he said that what he did is he arranged this meeting in Washington's Union Station. And what he said here and I'll quote. He said, "My concern wasn't anything that John had done. It was about her comments and it was about access that she claims to have had. He said that I have no reason to question her about anything that is implied in the "The New York Times" story."
Now, John Weaver was one of the top advisers for a long, long time to Senator McCain. He actually was Senator McCain's campaign adviser up until the summer when he left as part of a stash shake-up. But he insists that he doesn't have an ax to grind. That is not why he's spoken in "The New York Times." He said, and I quote, "Love John McCain." This is in response, John, to some people behind the scenes questioning about whether or not, or why John Weaver was quoted on the record in this story talking about what happened eight years ago.
Weaver says that he did in fact have an e-mail exchange with "The New York Times." But he said he had that in December, a couple of months ago. But he says that the newspaper has been working on this for several months. This sort of speaks to the bigger question about what John McCain is going to have to answer in a couple of hours when he goes before reporters.
And it really does go to the heart of what John Weaver and other people were worried about eight years ago. They're worried about the same thing right now with this "New York Times" story, which is that McCain just like in 2000, this year is running as somebody who's a reformer, running as somebody who wants to change Washington.
And so, what this "The New York Times" story does is put into question whether or not his actions really do, and have in the past, really has undermined that. And what John McCain is likely to say, just like in this quote that I'm about to read to you from his campaign, is that there's no way that he did anything improper. I'll read you the quote from one of John McCain's spokeswoman. This came out last night.
She said, "He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election. Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics, and there is nothing in this story to suggest that John McCain has ever violated the principles that have guided his career."
So, this is the heart of what the McCain campaign is going to try to get at. Questions about whether or not this could undermine what McCain talks about every single day on the campaign trail, John, and you know what it is. And that is, he wants to change the way things work or don't work in Washington -- John. ROBERTS: All right. We're looking forward to that press conference coming up in a couple hours. Great information for us this morning from Perrysburg, Ohio, Dana Bash.
The accusations are close to a decade old, so how could it impact John McCain's 2008 hopes? The current senior adviser to the McCain campaign, Charlie Black, joins us at 7:30 Eastern live here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will spend the day prepping for tonight's key debate here in Texas. Some candid words, meanwhile, from former President Bill Clinton about his wife's campaign. He spoke to Hillary's supporters at a rally in Beaumont, Texas, and said the primary elections on March the 4th will decide the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If she wins in Texas and Ohio, I think she'll be the nominee. If you don't deliver for her, I don't think she can be. It's all on you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Bill Clinton is still emphasizing that his wife has the experience to be president, while suggesting that Senator Obama may not be able to deliver on his promises of change.
And it is a Texas-sized showdown. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton head to head tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern from the UT campus here in Austin. You could see that right here on CNN -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the Navy says it successfully shut down that rogue spy satellite, but it is still waiting for final confirmation that the toxic fuel tank they were so concerned about was in fact destroyed. And they're talking about it right now. The Pentagon holding a briefing about this multimillion dollar operation and whether or not it was a success.
Let's listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
GEN. JAMES CARTWRIGHT, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: ...reach the hydrazine tank so that we can vent the hydrazine off the toxic fuel. And then have all of that done prior to impact. The intercept occurred. We just saw that. We're very confident that we hit the satellite. We also have a high degree of confidence that we got the tank. We're still working our way through that. We will not be at a point where we are ready to say for sure. But let me give you a sense of what we've got.
We have a fireball and given that there's no fuel, that would indicate that that's a hydrazine fire. We have a vapor cloud that formed. That, again, would be likely to be the hydrazine. We also have some spectral analysis from airborne platforms that indicate the presence of hydrazine after the intercept. So again, that would indicate to us that the hydrazine vented overboard in some quantity and we're starting to see that in space.
Anyone of those has a stand-alone, is not a smoking gun, so we're putting the pieces together. I would tell you that it's probably going to take us another 24 to 48 hours to get to a point where we are very comfortable with our analysis that we indeed breached the tank. The imagery that we have, the high definition imagery that we have indicates that we hit the spacecraft right in the area of the tank. So each of the pieces put together, we're pretty confident, but we're not standing there.
They don't have a picture that shows you a tank. What we have afterwards is a debris field. We're tracking that debris field that is already starting to re-enter. We're seeing re-entries in the Atlantic and the Pacific right now, and we'll track that over the next 24 to 48 hours. It generally takes us about a day to two days to start to get a good sense of each piece of material that's up there.
Thus far, we've seen nothing larger than a football which tells us that we're in the right area. But again, it's not conclusive because it's going to take us more time to make sure that we've got all of the reporting in. We've been able to correlate the data.
Most of what we see in space, we use radar to see. So when you use radar, at that kind of distance, you may see an object that appears large, but it could be that it's reflective and not actually large in mass. And so, we're trying to work our way through that. And after you see several passes, you'll see a change in angles and then you'll be able to correlate the data and understand that you either have a large object or you have a small object that's just glinting. And so, that's what we're trying to work our way through right now.
As I said, we do have some re-entries beginning. We expect that that will continue through the day today and into tomorrow. All of the activity that we went through last night, we provided updates through the night to the state department so that they could keep their embassies informed. So that reporting has gone out. We're standing by for consequence management. We have seen nothing yet in the way of reporting or in the way of re-entry that has survived to the earth. We have re-entry in the atmosphere, but we don't necessarily have anything hitting the earth.
And so, those are the key pieces of information that we have this morning. Obviously, as we went through the process last night, from the secretary taking his brief about eight hours prior to the shot, General Shelton from Strategic Command recommended to the secretary that we had a window, that all systems were go. One of the things we watched was the weather. We had some indications yesterday that we might have high seas. But when we actually got the ship on station, the ship reported that the seas were about two to three feet which was well within the limits.
So we had a good weather window. But what we were facing is there is a low moving into the area. That would be in the area for the next four or five days. So we decided that we would proceed last night. The secretary made that decision and then we moved forward. United States Strategic Command out in Omaha, Nebraska, ran the intercept, commanded the forces.
We had a great team from Space and Missile Defense Command out of Colorado Springs that worked the terrestrial sensors from the Joint Space Operation Center in Vandenberg, California, that worked the space sensors, and the Missile Defense Agency that worked all its imagery (ph), worked the test parts.
CHETRY: All right. So you're listening right now to the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General James Cartwright, talking a little bit about that mission, saying, indeed, the tank was breached of that dying spy satellite.
Our Jamie McIntyre, chief Pentagon correspondent, has been listening as well. They say it may take them a while, though, Jamie, before they can definitely know for sure whether or not everything went exactly as planned?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, they're being cautious because all of the indications, as we heard from General Cartwright, are that this was a direct hit, exactly where they hoped to hit in the area of the fuel tank. And all of the evidence including what appeared to be a fireball and vapor leaks as well, all of the tracking they've done indicates that they hit it exactly where they want.
But they're going to take another day to sort of analyze all the data. And they're also trying to figure out if any of the debris is going to make it to the ground.
The other indication they had right away that this was a success was they immediately saw more than 80 separate debris field in these orbit. And that told them that essentially this satellite had been pulverized. So it looks like a complete success at this point, but they're still waiting to get all of the data, crunch the numbers and give a final verdict -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Jamie McIntyre for us this morning at the Pentagon. All right. We'll continue to follow this, too, throughout the day and see when we get more information. But so far, they say nothing larger than the size of a football from what they've seen so far on their infrared pictures -- John.
ROBERTS: Coming up at 14 minutes after the hour, Kiran, tonight's debate could be critical for Hillary Clinton as she tries to slow Barack Obama's momentum. We'll ask a Clinton campaign adviser about their debate strategy for this evening.
Plus, new research shows why you might need to worry about a stroke even if you're only in your 30s, 40s or 50s. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is paying us a "HOUSE CALL." That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Here's some important news this morning about the risk of stroke, especially in younger women. A new study says the number of strokes in women ages 35 to 54 has tripled over a recent five year period. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with more on this. Why -- tripling in five years seems like an astounding number?
GUPTA: Yes. And we're starting to see the ramifications of what we talk about all the time which is the obesity epidemic. There's a couple of things going on here. Certainly stroke overall in the United States has gone down among many populations but among women, it seems to have gone up, in part really for two reasons.
The obesity problem, Kiran, and also this idea that women aren't thought of as having strokes. So they show up in the emergency room with some sort of symptoms and doctors say, well, it's probably not a stroke. We typically think of strokes in men, especially older men. So when a young woman shows up, they think it's something else.
The other important news out of this conference I think highlighting is that it's important to call 911 if you think you're having a stroke. That probably sounds obvious, but a lot of people will call a taxicab. They'll call their doctors' offices.
What we know is that those first couple of hours, while you're having a stroke or the early parts of a stroke, are the most critical in terms of your overall overcome. Some of the symptoms to look for specifically -- sudden weakness or numbness in the face, arms or legs; sudden loss of vision; sudden slurred or thick speech; also severe headache.
And let me say as well, Kiran, as much as we talk about with heart attacks being somewhat vague in women, same thing with strokes. Sometimes, a woman who's otherwise feeling healthy, suddenly has an onset of generalized weakness. That's something they should not blow off. They should think about that and get to a hospital.
CHETRY: So when you're having a stroke, it's because there's an underlying heart problem that you have, right?
GUPTA: Well, it can be. Or it simply be a blockage to some of the blood vessels that go to the brain. These are the carotid arteries right here. Those are the one people always feel for the pulse.
CHETRY: Right.
GUPTA: If they're getting blocked, that means there's probably not enough blood flow getting to the brain. It could also be blood clots. It could be because of the heart. There's lots of different reasons.
CHETRY: Yes.
GUPTA: But the bottom line is, the brain isn't getting what it needs. You need to get it what it needs quickly. CHETRY: And you also mention the age groups, 35 to 54, and there have been concerns about birth control pills, being on oral contraceptives, and whether that increases your risk for a stroke, especially if you're a smoker?
GUPTA: Especially if you're a smoker. It does increase your risk for clotting, specifically clotting in the lower legs. And the concern there is could those clots sometimes break off and go to your lungs, cause pulmonary embolism. So it might be slightly different sort of physiology there between the strokes and that phenomenon.
But, you know, this obesity epidemic -- you know, it's one of those things. We talk about it all the time.
CHETRY: Yes.
GUPTA: But now, we're starting to see the ramifications of it. A woman in her 30s having a stroke. I mean, just think about that for a second. That's something that people don't associate typically.
CHETRY: You're right. You're absolutely right. And it's the same thing that you always talk about. Getting out there, trying to exercise, trying to eat healthier foods. And ...
GUPTA: The basics still apply.
CHETRY: Right.
GUPTA: You know, as much as we talk about, the basics still apply.
CHETRY: All right. Well, speaking of that, before Sanjay came to New York, he took a wild ride with the Blue Angels. And, in fact, he came on the set today and said, I'm a little discombobulated this morning. I can't believe you even did it.
But that was Sanjay yesterday right before his big flight. There he is climbing into the cockpit. Was it a rough ride for Sanjay? Well, he's coming back in a minute to tell. He's just sitting here smiling right now. I have a feeling it wasn't that great for him -- John.
ROBERTS: You can see the trepidation on his face as he's walking to the aircraft. But, hey, any ride in an F-18 like that or any supersonic jet for that matter is just an absolute thrill and a real privilege. So looking forward to that.
Hey, Hillary Clinton, big night tonight here in Texas. She needs to reverse Barack Obama's momentum, starting with our debate this evening at 8:00. We're going to ask a senior Clinton campaign adviser how she is going to do it. That's coming right up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, the all-important Texas primary is less than two weeks away now, and Hillary Clinton has a great critical task ahead of her. She needs to turn things around in tonight's debate on CNN here in Texas and stop Barack Obama's momentum. Can she do it?
Ann Lewis is a senior adviser to the Clinton campaign, and she joins me now. She's going into tonight's debate, Ann, 0-10. I mean, anyway you look at it, she's got to have a big night.
ANN LEWIS, SENIOR ADVISER, CLINTON CAMPAIGN: Well, we know Texas is an important state. Ohio is an important state. Hillary has been campaigning in Texas. She's been getting a great response, by the way. I am really excited about the way people are coming out, listening to her, responding to her here in Texas. And she has very important messages for the voters of Texas and Ohio. Tonight's an important night, she's going to get to say them.
ROBERTS: She's got some deep ties here in Texas, going all the way back to the 1972 McGovern campaign...
LEWIS: Yes.
ROBERTS: ... which she worked on. But let's take a look at a new CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll in the state of Texas that has got what used to be a very wide margin of support for her, now down to just a couple of points. It's 50-48, within the margin of error. What happened?
LEWIS: Well, no, that's what campaigns are about. That's why Hillary is down here campaigning now. I think people in Texas have been seeing national news. But now, they're going to get to see and hear Hillary for herself, and she's going to be talking about issues that are particularly important to them, to their families.
She's going to be talking to them about health care. She's going to be talking to them about all her work for veterans over the years. Again, a very important issue for her plans for the economy. That's why we've got two weeks to campaign. So you get to talk to people about what's at stake.
ROBERTS: And as we know, two weeks is a lifetime in politics.
LEWIS: Two weeks is a lifetime. And I have a very old fashion view which is, you let voters tell you who's winning, not polls.
ROBERTS: OK. We did, though. You know, we do talk to voters when we take these polls, and here's what they said. And I don't necessarily know that you're going to argue with the findings here.
LEWIS: Right.
ROBERTS: Because on the issues, our poll found Hillary Clinton beats Barack Obama on all the big issues. Health care, the economy, Iraq, immigration. So if she's beating him, why are the numbers so narrow?
LEWIS: Because, again, now they have to hear her say these are her positions, and they have to hear her say, I've been fighting for these issues all my life. I have been a fighter for people. That's why I came to south Texas more than 30 years ago, went door to door to register voters because I wanted to be sure your voices were heard. That's why I've been standing up in the Senate, and fighting to raise the minimum wage and make sure that American workers get a fair chance to give their children get a better chance.
That's been Hillary Clinton's record. Those are the issues she's fighting on. Universal health care, very important. Now, she's got to make the connection and say these aren't just issues I talk about. These are issues I've been working on. This is my record of achievement, and this is what I'll do for you as president.
ROBERTS: James Carville was the first one to say a couple of weeks ago how critical this Texas primary and Ohio are going to be. Her husband, the former president, reiterated that yesterday in Beaumont. Have a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: If she wins in Texas and Ohio, I think she'll be the nominee. If you don't deliver for her, I don't think she can be. It's all on you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So we know what that's designed for. It's designed to motivate people to get out to the polls, to say you got to do it, you got to back her up. But he laid down a chip there to say, if she doesn't win Texas, she's out. Do you see it that way?
LEWIS: But look, there is a mathematical reality. This is a fight for delegates. As you know, this campaign is virtually tied. The two candidates are so close. I think it's like one percent of all the delegates right now. They will again divide them. And so, we're going to have hundreds of delegates elected in one day in Texas and Ohio. When you have two candidates who are virtually tied, and you've got hundreds of delegates at stake in one day, that's a very big day.
ROBERTS: But you agree with that, Ann, that if she doesn't win in Texas, it's over?
LEWIS: I'm going to take the positive view and say she's going to win in Texas. She's going to win in Ohio, and it's going to be a very good day for Hillary Clinton.
ROBERTS: All right. Fair enough. Ann Lewis, as always, good to see you.
LEWIS: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Thanks for joining us this morning. Good luck tonight and over the next couple of weeks heading towards this primary.
LEWIS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: And don't forget that Obama and Clinton go head to head tonight from the UT campus here in Austin. Tonight, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, we've been talking about oil closing at over $100 a barrel for a second day this weekend, and high energy prices just one of the things eating into family budgets. Some people tapping into their 401(k) plans for money. Analysts say taking a loan from your retirement account can provide that short-term relief but also lead to longer-term problems. We're going to be talking about that with our Gerri Willis coming up.
And it brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Have you had to tap into your 401(k) to pay monthly bills? Right now, 51 percent of you were saying yes. Forty-nine percent saying no. You still have time to weigh in. Cast your vote CNN.com/am. And we'll continue to tally the votes throughout the morning.
Still ahead, you're watching the "Most News in the Morning." Accusations so serious that they could crush any candidates' chances. Today, the McCain camp responds live. The candidate's senior campaign adviser joins us next.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the ride of his life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Here comes the after burst (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: He's pulling Gs and pushing his body to the brink.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your view? Still awake or not there?
GUPTA: I'm awake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Flying high with the Navy's top guns, the Blue Angels ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're inside the Rec Center here at the University of Texas here in Austin, the Texas capital, a fabulous place to be. Tonight at 8:00, just about 12 1/2 hours from now, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama square off one on one for what could be a pivotal debate here. Just a little more than a week and a half before that all- important Texas primary on March 4th.
Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks very much for joining us. I'm John Roberts in Texas.
Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: Hey, John. Good to see you.
I'm here in New York and we have some breaking news this morning, regarding the airlines. British Airways pilots have now voted to go on strike. The Pilots' Union says it has not yet set a date for when the strike will stake place.
The strike would be the first in nearly three decades and it could effectively ground British Airways worldwide. The main issue, pay. The union fearing new demands between trans-Atlantic flights will result in lower wages for pilots.
ROBERTS: The John McCain campaign is blasting this morning's "The New York Times" report about the candidate's links to a female lobbyist, denying that there was any inappropriate relationship between the two of them.
The "Times" report complains that advisers to McCain's 2000 campaign were concerned with his relationship with Vicki Iseman, a telecommunications lobbyist, whose clients had business before McCain's Commerce Committee. The story is also carried in today's "Washington Post."
The McCain campaign says, "it is a shame that "The New York Times" has lowered its standards to engage in a hit and run smear campaign. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election.
Joining me now to talk more about this is the current senior adviser to the McCain campaign, Charlie Black. He is in Washington this morning.
Charlie, good to see you. Thanks for being with us this morning.
CHARLIE BLACK, MCCAIN CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: Good morning, John.
ROBERTS: John McCain's got a press conference coming up in about an hour and a half's time. What is he going to say during that press conference in response to this report?
BLACK: Well, John, I expect him to repeat the message that we put out in a statement last night that, you know, there's nothing wrong here. John McCain does not give special treatment to lobbyists or special interests. He doesn't do favors for anyone. I think he will reiterate that.
Look, this is a simple case of the largest liberal newspaper in America trying to run a smear campaign against the integrity of the new conservative Republican nominee for president. They do it by printing false rumors and gossip unsourced. The journalistic standards here aren't those of a third-rate tabloid. And "The New York Times" should be ashamed of themselves. They're writing about something that's a non-story.
ROBERTS: Well, we should also point out that "The Washington Post" also carried the story and also had at least some of the same sources. One of those being John Weaver who was quoted in "The New York Times" story, Charlie, as saying "our political messaging during that time period centered around taking on special interests and placing the nation's interests before either personal or special interests. Ms. Iseman's involvement in the campaign was felt by us could undermine that effort."
What do you understand to be the nature of John Weaver's concerns back then?
BLACK: Well, I haven't talked to John about it. But apparently, John said that he took her aside to talk about her involvement, her conduct, not about Senator McCain's conduct or anything he did. But interestingly enough, the other people involved at the time, the campaign manager and Senator McCain's chief of staff were not aware of such a contact. He did not know that it happened and did not see a problem with Ms. Iseman or any other lobbyist.
Again, this is nine-year-old rumors or gossip that doesn't have a single person on the record saying that anything inappropriate happened. It's a smear campaign against the new conservative Republican nominee for president, trying to smear his integrity. It's a false story and it won't work.
ROBERTS: Well, Charlie, can you clarify for us what was the nature of the relationship between Senator McCain and Ms. Iseman?
BLACK: Well, he has said it was a professional relationship. She was a friend. But there are dozens of people who work the committees. And lobby senators who they get to know personally. But she was no different than maybe 100 other lobbyists.
John McCain will always listen to lobbyists or corporations or unions or charities who have an issue before Congress. He listens to both sides. He then makes up his mind on the merits, on his principles. And doesn't do favors for anyone. So she was no different than the dozens of other people in town.
ROBERTS: Well, did that friendship ever result in favorable treatment on the part of the senator?
BLACK: Absolutely not. If you read "The New York Times" story, they don't have any evidence whatsoever, let alone proof, that there was any special treatment. Now, on the issues that they have mentioned in the story, we gave them extensive exhaustive background on all of these issues. A to Z, here's what happened. Here's what did not happen.
And of course, they didn't use most of that in the story. Their purpose was not journalism here, it's to run a smear against the integrity of John McCain. It's false. It will not work.
ROBERTS: It is my understanding that you did provide them with a lot of information. Is it also true, Charlie, that the McCain campaign tried to get that story killed? BLACK: No, no. We cooperated with "The New York Times" for over three months. Answered every question that they gave us. Again, a lot of it in writing with extensive detail. They chose not to use the extensive detail that put these issues in context. That demonstrated there were no special favors. Their purpose here was not a journalistic purpose.
Unfortunately, "The New York Times" has decided to become a political player, and the largest liberal newspaper in America is trying to smear the integrity of the new conservative Republican nominee for president, John McCain. It's false, it's gossip and rumors, unsourced. The "National Inquirer" would not print this story, even with their journalistic standards and "The New York Times" should not have.
ROBERTS: Well, we should also point out, Charlie, that "The New York Times" has given us a statement saying that they stand by their story. And that the story speaks for itself. They will not have any further comment on it at this time.
BLACK: Yes. It's a smear.
ROBERTS: All right. Charlie Black, senior adviser to the McCain campaign. Charlie, thanks for joining us this morning.
BLACK: Thank you, John.
CHETRY: There are some brand new poll numbers out also, John, released this morning about how people will vote in Texas. They're from the new CNN opinion research corporation poll. Showing if John McCain and Barack Obama were the nominees, 52 percent of the registered voters would choose McCain. 44 percent would choose Barack Obama. And if Hillary Clinton, McCain will be her 55 percent to 42 percent. Texas usually votes Republican in the general election.
And another reminder, tonight Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton do go head to head at the primetime debate right here on CNN, live from the University of Texas at Austin tonight, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
Just a few minutes ago, we heard an update from the Defense Department on a successful shoot down of a dying spy satellite. And there are some new video this morning from the Pentagon. You can see the satellite being obliterated by the missile. This is new video just coming in from the Department of Defense. The military said that all indications are that the toxic fuel tank was hit.
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CARTWRIGHT: We have a fireball. And given that there's no fuel, that would indicate that that's a hydrazine fire. We have a vapor cloud that formed. That, again, would be likely to be the hydrazine. We also have some spectral analysis from airborne platforms that indicate the presence of hydrazine after the intercept.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: They say they still will not be completely sure that the tank was destroyed for at least another day or two. They did say that none of the debris from the intercept that they've been seeing come back to earth was larger than a football. CNN's space correspondent Miles O'Brien is going to be joining us in the next hour with a closer look at how this operation went.
Well, central New York getting pounded with snow. As much as 3 feet of lake-effect snow falling in some areas yesterday. There's a look right now. I think that little kid might need more than that shovel to get that snow out of there. Rob Marciano is in the CNN Weather Center tracking extreme weather for us. The sides are piled up this high, the poor kid.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Looks like a scene out of "Christmas Story." His mom's got him bundled up and they're getting to move.
Hey, Kiran.
We've got not only the severe -- the snow across upstate New York which pretty much has wound down now. We've got a storm that's winding up across the Gulf Coast and we got a tornado watch. The damaging winds, tornadoes a possibility here across the I-10 corridor via Chapala across the mouth of the Mississippi towards Houma. This is where the bulk of the action has been, just south of the Big Easy. And stretching towards Biloxi. So no tornado warnings out yet. We've had this watch that's in effect until noon time.
I want to tell you about the winter storm warnings and ice storm warnings that are posted for a good chunk of the mid-south and middle of the Mississippi River Valley and to the Ohio River Valley. From Springfield to Louisville, Cape Gerardo and St. Louis. Check this out. Pink obviously indicates the mix of precipitation. It's 19 degrees in St. Louis. 31 in Memphis. 22 degrees in Springfield.
And we've got freezing rain and sleet happening there. It's 22 degrees at the surface. At about 5,000 feet, the temperature is over 40. So, you want to talk about an icing event. That's how you get that to happen and then we got some beneficial rains that will be stretching into Alabama and Georgia later on today.
Kiran, back over to you.
CHETRY: All right, Rob. Thank you.
MARCIANO: You got it.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: Corn. It is the new fuel but it takes an awful lot of work and money to get your car to run on it. So, who is paying for it? We got your answers for you, coming up.
And before Dr. Sanjay Gupta went to New York, he took a wide ride with the Blue Angels. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Because I'm concerned about the vomit factor and I'm concerned about the pass-out factor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we'll just go straight level for a little bit and let your body catch up.
GUPTA: Oh, good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, that was him yesterday on the show before his big flight and this is him in the cockpit. Hey, so comfortable. He is having a little bit of a snooze there or is it a rough ride? He joins us, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING to tell us all about it. Sanjay, wake up. Wake up.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Relax in the G. You should be able to relax here and look straight up. We're pulling through now. We just have 1 G on the jet now.
We're going to 14,000 feet. We're upside down here and I'll go nice at 15,000 feet with a little more G on the backside. Are you still feeling OK?
GUPTA: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: If we have your thoughts in a little cloud up there, it would say, "what am I doing here?" CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta for the ride of his life with the Blue Angels, all in the name of medical science.
Sanjay is with us now. It's true though because you go through a lot of physiological changes when you're up there and you're going that fast. What was it like?
GUPTA: Yes. I wanted to know that as a doctor. Certainly, I mean, there's a lot of things people talk about theoretically in textbooks. But I wanted to see it first hand because you would understand it better. You know, what was it like? I liked the first part and I like the last part. The middle part not so good. It was a tough ride. There's no question about it. I mean, you're doing a lot of different things up there in the sky.
CHETRY: Is that you afterwards?
GUPTA: I think that's right before. I'm getting in the plane. I look happy there. I'm not so happy afterwards. Still smiling. But you know, when you have all of these Gs on your body, things start to happen to your body. Four Gs you start to lose your color vision. 4.5 Gs, you can actually go temporarily blind. Your blood starts pulling your legs. Your lungs collapse.
All these things are happening and these guys don't wear G suits. They do not wear gravitational suits. They think it interferes with the precision flying. As a result, I didn't wear a G suit either. They did some things that I didn't think planes could even do. Fly upside down, for example. Take a look here.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch those legs. Take a deep breath. Ready? And it's four Gs, now breathe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: I think I may have -- they say you pass out for seconds and you come right back. I think I passed out briefly there. You heard him say "are you still with me." Just like that.
CHETRY: Yes, because of the gravitational pull, your face, actually, your skin comes back.
GUPTA: Right. Yes. And my knowledge of aerodynamics is sort of like the Wright brothers, I mean, flying upside down, I thought you need lift underneath the wings and stuff. It was amazing what they can do up there, for sure.
CHETRY: He was telling you to squeeze your legs periodically throughout. You also did not have one of those gravitational suits on. So, how did you maintain any type of control over your body?
GUPTA: Yes. This is pretty interesting. You're basically locked in. You're harnessed in. And what you try to do when he says squeeze your legs. You try and squeeze all the muscles in your leg, like you try and stand up. And what that does is sort of forces the blood out of your legs, where you don't really need it for this flight, into your chest and into your brain, more importantly, so you don't pass out.
That is the squeezing legs part. That's what they really do in order to keep themselves from passing out. The other thing they do is actually a breathing technique. And basically, really quick, is "hick," you just say the word "hick." What you're doing is sort of forcing your diaphragm to lock down, and pushing all that blood flow into your heart and into your brain. And you'll hear him doing that as he's going into these high G maneuvers for sure.
CHETRY: And do they get used to it after a while? Does it become natural for them to feel that way and for them to be able to control it?
GUPTA: Yes. You know, it's funny, for him, he said he's actually more comfortable now in the cockpit than on earth. You know, on the ground. You do get very used to it, he says. You know, this is a guy who I've spent a lot of time talking to up there. He was chosen to be a pilot. In part because he could tolerate some of these physiological forces.
CHETRY: They are athletes.
GUPTA: They are athletes. I would not have passed the test here. I got to tell you. You know, what's the famous line from "Top Gun," "your ego is right in check, but your body can't test."
CHETRY: That's right.
GUPTA: I couldn't catch those exercise.
CHETRY: Would you do it again?
GUPTA: You know, I think once is enough. I think it's a once in a lifetime experience at so many levels.
CHETRY: I hear you.
GUPTA: You know what, though, I nominate you.
CHETRY: No way.
GUPTA: Right after the baby comes out, we'll put you up on the plane.
CHETRY: Not -- a single time is enough for me after seeing what you went through. You're much braver than I am. Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: I need to take a ride like that because I just cannot sleep on airplanes.
Ethanol quickly becoming the future of fuel. And it's turning corn into cash. But who exactly are the big winners in the ethanol rush ad who is paying? Plus, hundreds of superdelegates could ultimately decide the Democratic nominee for president. We'll talk to two here in Texas who say they're uncommitted. We'll ask them what the candidates need to do to get their support. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING .
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CHETRY: All our government's push to find new energy sources to and to limit our addition to foreign oil, corn farmers are turning corn into ethanol. But who is paying for the development of ethanol. CNN environment correspondent Miles O'Brien is here with more for us this morning.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: In a phrase, we are, Kiran. Definitely, you know, if you listen to a lot of politicians these days, you get the sense that corn ethanol is the perfect silver bullet solution for our dependence on foreign oil. But the more you dig into this, the more you realize it looks a lot like snake oil.
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O'BRIEN (voice-over): Now, the free market is rewarding us for the job we're doing.
Well, actually, it's not so free. As a matter of fact, you and I are fueling the fuel from corn frenzy with as much as $17 billion a year in government subsidies even though corn ethanol is not as clean, efficient or practical as the politicians claim. And what's worse, even the biggest corn ethanol advocates agree. It won't make a dent in our addiction to foreign oil. More on that in a bit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go to the ethanol plant.
O'BRIEN: Couser is a founder and chairman of this $90 million ethanol plant in his hometown of Nevada, Iowa.
BILL COUSER, FARMER/ETHANOL PRODUCER: This is what we hope people will refer to as the Kuwait of the midwest.
O'BRIEN: The place is humming. 24-7, 365. The trucks roll in, drop their loads of Iowa gold. Nationwide, there are now 139 corn ethanol plants, and they are maxed out. Distilling more than 6 billion gallons of the stuff every year. Every drop loaded on to freight cars and sent down the line to be mixed in with gasoline. The plant is making money right now?
COUSER: The plant is profitable.
O'BRIEN: You don't want to say?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: He didn't want to say. He was a little coy about that. Safe to say, he's making a bit of a killing out there in Iowa.
CHETRY: It's very fascinating when we talk about the food prices being higher because corn's being used to grow for ethanol.
O'BRIEN: That and the $100 a barrel oil has a lot to do with that as well.
CHETRY: Throw that all and mix it up. That's turning out to be a little bit of problem for us. What else do you have on the special tonight?
O'BRIEN: Well, we've got some interesting stories. We have a story of how the bankruptcy laws are being used to circumvent the super fund laws. And we're getting stuck with the costs for a lot of cleanups. How some scientists inside the government, who are climatologist involve in climate change have been muzzled in recent years.
And then we have the story of this. We got to show you these pictures. From the badlands of South Dakota, take a look the those cute critters right there. Those are prairie dogs. One federal agency is organization is working to protect them and the rare species that depend on them. Another is laying out plans for a mass poisoning campaign to kill them all.
One hand doesn't know what the other does. Both hands are in our pockets, Kiran. It's an amazing and convoluted tale.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. We'll be looking forward to it. It's happening tonight, by the way, right after the debate. Don't forget to watch Miles' special, "broken government -- scorched earth." It airs tonight 11:00 p.m. right here on CNN. And Miles, you're going to be back in just a couple of minutes, talking about that satellite in space that the military successfully shut down.
O'BRIEN: Looks like a direct hit.
CHETRY: Thanks, Miles -- John.
ROBERTS: Kiran, while the high price of oil is fueling the development of alternative fuels, it's also taking its toil on the economy. Our Ali Velshi "minding your business" this morning. Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
I got the barrel behind me again, $100.74. That's a new record again for the settle for trade in New York. Now, this high price of oil has caused people to pull back on their spending because it's making everything more expensive here in the United States and the world over. And one of the things that we've just found out from the Fed is that, you know, they've cut rates twice in January.
But they don't tell us about the discussions that they had leading to those rate cuts. They released those minutes later. So, we just got those minutes yesterday. And it said that fed has decided that, you know, there is a problem here. and they're expecting the unemployment rate to go up as a result of the slowing economy.
The current unemployment rate is actually 4.9 percent. it says 4.7 percent but it's 4.9 percent right now. That was in January. The Fed says it's expected to go up to 5.2 percent to 5.3 percent over the course of 2008. They're also saying that the economy is going to slow, although their forecast for the economy in 2008 as measured by GDP growth is not low enough to put us into a recession. They're saying the growth will be 1.3 percent to 2.0 percent in 2008.
The EU has also lowered its forecast for growth to about 1.8 percent. Just to give you some sense of it, the world, the economies all around the world are expected to grow by an average of a little more than 4 percent over the course of the year. So, Europe and the U.S. will be much slower, more than half as slow as the rest of the world, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Ali Velshi for us this morning. Ali, thanks. And that brings us to the morning's "Quick Vote" question. Because of all these extra expenses that you're facing these days, have you had to tap into your 401k plan to pay for monthly bills? Right now, 51 percent of you say yes. That is a troubling statistic. 49 percent say no. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.
A new research out today by -- let's try that one again -- new research out today about why more kids are getting hooked on soda. It has to do with salt in their favorite foods. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us with the implications. That's coming up at the top of the hour.
And they have been getting the hard sell from both the Clinton and the Obama campaigns. Let's talk with two Texas superdelegates, husband and wife. One is the head of the Texas Democratic Party. That's straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: McCain affair or media smear. Questions about his past links to a female lobbyist.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE These people had an axe to grind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The campaign fires back this morning.
Must win.
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SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is the chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Countdown to tonight's critical debate as the clock ticks on the Clinton campaign. We're live in Austin, Texas with the most politics in the morning.
Ship to space.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARTWRIGHT: We have a fireball.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The Navy blasts a falling satellite. How it happened? And just who carried it out on this AMERICAN MORNING.
That's right. And John, talk about pressure. They had a 10- second window to get that right. They had to launch and looks like they hit it. It looks like they did it this morning. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com
