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American Morning
Oil Prices Hit $102; Clinton vs. Obama: Final Showdown in Cleveland; Florida Blackout; Teens and Depression: What Works; New Details on Nuclear Program in North Korea; School Bus Brawl
Aired February 27, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Inside the only maternity ward in Pyongyang on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Amazing stuff. More of Alina Cho's trip to North Korea. Very emotional experience for her, considering that a couple of her relatives still missing from the Korean War 50 years ago. So --
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, once in a lifetime opportunity for her to go there and see if she could hear from them. So we're going to hear from her this morning.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Welcome once again.
The news, though, over here, unfortunately, is the possibility that we could be paying $4 for gas sometime in the near future. A startling prediction this morning about where gas prices are headed. That's right. Analysts saying 4 bucks a gallon by the spring. AAA calling the possible spike "alarming," and the expected jump comes as the cost of oil continues its dramatic climb to new records.
Oil surpassing $102 a barrel at one point in electronic trading overnight. And that has traders on Wall Street turning their attention to Washington. Today, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke heads to Capitol Hill. He's testifying before the House Financial Services Committee. The Fed chief will then meet with senators tomorrow. He's expected to face some questions about the weak housing market, inflation and the U.S. economy.
So what does all that news mean for your money? Senior business correspondent Ali Velshi covering it all for us aboard the Election Express, talking with voters in Goliad, Texas, this morning. What do you expect to hear? What impact will any of this testimony from Ben Bernanke have as we take a look at the latest rundown of economic woes?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, you know, the rundown of economic woes is something that hasn't necessarily made it right here, the specific news we've had in the last 24 hours about inflation, about oil prices. But the folks here in Goliad in south Texas know exactly what's going on. They've gathered with me on a very, very cold morning.
And over my right shoulder you'll see a gentleman with a white hat and a fawn (ph) colored jacket. His name is Emilio. He was telling us about how oil prices are affecting a little community like this. Listen to what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMILIO VARGAS, JUSTICE OF PEACE RET.: We've got people here that have to travel daily, 30, 60 miles to go to work. At more than $3 a gallon, sometimes it's not profitable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Not possible to get to work in some cases. A lot of these folks are telling me they have equipment that they have to run the ranches with. Farming is a big deal around here. There is some oil around here, too, and those people are getting a little bit more benefit from the high price of oil. But generally speaking, if you're not involved with oil, it's expensive.
Let's take a look at what oil did. Last night in New York, it settled at the highest price it's ever settled at -- $100 -- $101 -- I'm sorry, $100.88, that overnight $101, then $102. It's pulled back a little bit but it still trading above $101 a barrel right now. The dollar is also being affected right now. It is at the lowest point it's ever been at against the Euro, more than $1.50 now to buy you one Euro.
The dollar is weaker against other major currencies as well, including the British pound, the Canadian dollar and something that is important around here, the peso. I'll be back talking to these folks in Goliad about the economy and we'll also be listening to Ben Bernanke who's testifying today, how he's going to deal with the idea that we've got inflation and slow growth at the same time, Kiran.
CHETRY: Ali Velshi for us in Texas this morning, thanks.
ROBERTS: It was the final showdown before the critical March 4th primaries, and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama went after each other last night in Cleveland over health care, free trade and negative attacks surrounding those key issues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have a great deal of respect for Senator Obama, but we have differences. And in the last several days, some of those differences in tactics and the choices that Senator Obama's campaign has made regarding flyers and mailers and other information that has been put out about my health care plan and my position on NAFTA have been very disturbing to me.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Clinton has -- her campaign at least -- has constantly sent out negative attacks on us, e-mail, robo calls, flyers, television ads, radio calls. And, you know, we haven't whined about it because I understand that's the nature of these campaigns.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: Senator Clinton also said the one Senate vote she would want back if she could is her vote to go to war with Iraq.
And the IRS is investigating Barack Obama's church after Obama announced his run for president at the United Church of Christ's national meeting last year. The government has tried to determine if that violated restrictions on political activity for tax-exempt organizations. An Obama spokesperson said the speech was not a campaign event, but the IRS says Obama volunteers were outside promoting his candidacy.
Republican Mike Huckabee is well down in the delegate count, but the former Arkansas governor is making it clear that he is still in it and ready to debate his Republican challenger, Senator John McCain. Huckabee insists the race for the Republican nomination is still going on and that competition is still good for the party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think we ought to still have another debate before next Tuesday. And I just want to say, I'm available anytime, any place, any location on any network.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, McCain said that he would consider the possibility of another debate before the March 4th primaries. Time is running out, though.
Both Ohio and Texas will hold their primaries next Tuesday, March the 4th. Voters in Rhode Island and Vermont will also be heading to the polls. And the best political team on television has everything that you need to know leading up to the big day in Ohio and Texas.
Candy Crowley breaks down last night's debate and whether Hillary Clinton scored any points. That's coming up in about 35 minutes here on AMERICAN MORNING -- Kiran.
CHETRY: North Korea making history as we speak. First, we saw the New York Philharmonic perform in Pyongyang. It was the first major cultural visit by the U.S. since the Korean War, and the isolated country also allowing hundreds of visitors and journalists to attend. In fact, our Alina Cho has been traveling through the country, gauging reaction to the American visit. And this morning, there's also word of breaking developments overnight on the country's nuclear front. Alina Cho live for us in Pyongyang with that. Hi, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, good evening from Pyongyang, Kiran. The very latest is that CNN spoke with the top nuclear negotiator for North Korea. The vice minister told CNN that he does not believe that talks aimed at ending the nuclear standoff are at a standstill. He did admit, however, that progress has been slow and that the next 10 months will be critical.
Now, having said all of that, the vice minister also commented on last night's historic, really groundbreaking concert right here in Pyongyang, the first time an American orchestra has been invited to play here, the largest American delegation to come to North Korea since the end of the Korean War. The vice minister said all you had to do was look out into the audience, see the applause, and then you could see the sincerity of the North Korean people. Members of the orchestra I spoke to got quite emotional about it, including violinist Michelle Kim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Are you a better person for coming here?
MICHELLE KIM, N.Y. PHILHARMONIC VIOLINIST: I think so. I feel very good about it. I feel like a real diplomat.
CHO: Do you hope to come back?
KIM: I hope so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: In fact, Michelle Kim hopes to bring her children back someday. We'll have to wait to see if that happens. Meanwhile, the New York Philharmonic has already left Pyongyang. Incredibly they were only on the ground here for 48 hours. They are already in Seoul, South Korea, where tomorrow they will play a companion concert. I will be live from Seoul tomorrow.
But coming up in our next half hour, Kiran, inside Pyongyang's only maternity hospital, it is unlike any hospital you have ever seen. It is literally a jaw-dropping experience to be inside that hospital, and I'm going to be bringing you that report in our next half hour -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, we look forward to it. Alina, thank you.
ROBERTS: Eight minutes after the hour. The power is back on in south Florida this morning, but we still do not know what caused a massive blackout that left millions of homes and businesses in the dark in broad daylight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can't ring up customers. We can't do coffee. We can't slice anything in the meat department, deli. So pretty much we were just stuck doing nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Live report from Miami coming up about all of that.
And extreme weather. Icy weather causing slippery roads in many parts of the country. What's ahead for morning commuters? That's also coming up.
And there is promising news for teenagers struggling with depression. What researchers suggest might work best when the medications fail. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has got that for us ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: The power's back on this morning in Florida, but utility officials are still in the dark about what caused a glitch at a Miami substation yesterday that left some three million people in the dark. Malfunctioning traffic lights caused some major congestion on the roadways. The state's largest electric company shut down a nuclear reactor near Miami for safety reasons because of it.
And dangerous driving conditions across the country. These are pictures from Omaha, Nebraska, where drivers were slipping and sliding on the icy roads. Several accidents had been reported there.
Rob Marciano is here with us now tracking extreme weather. We're getting something in the northeast today that may cause a few problems.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We got some snow. We got some wind, and we got the cold air back in town. Lake-effect snow, check out these totals, John. Grand Beach, Michigan, 18.5 inches of snow; La Porte, Indiana, 16.8; Toledo, Ohio, 7.8. Yes, winter --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: That's some good cross-country skiing there.
MARCIANO: Yes. You're not going to get much downhill there, that's for sure. Although across the northeast, we've got winter storm warnings that are posted. So some of the ski resorts across northern Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, even Whiteface might see a powder day tomorrow.
Here's the radar right now showing a little bit of moisture moving across upstate New York through the Catskills into the Berkshires, but New York City should be OK, just some flurries, but they'll be high winds across the I-95 corridor. That's why we think we'll probably see some airport delays again today.
All the New York metropolitan airports, because of wind, same deal in Philly. Cleveland still seeing lake-effect snow, and they'll see wind as well, 30 to 60-minute delays expected there. And also the D.C. metro -- you're going to have to take the train, John. Both airports are flying to and from are going to have some problems today.
Check this out. We've got a cold front moving well down into south Florida. A late winter Florida chill definitely. Thunderstorms this morning across parts of south Florida. But behind this, we'll see wind chills that will feel like they're in the 20s across Disney's -- Mickey Mouse is going to, you know, have a little frost on his ears and maybe it's going to be chilly across --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: They'll be selling those sweatshirts at Disney World today.
MARCIANO: Hey, that's right. That's a good market for it.
ROBERTS: Yes. Rob, thanks very much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: We'll see if you have a much better chance of getting first in line at Space Mountain when it's bad weather. That's one of the plus sides.
ROBERTS: Yes. Looking for, you know, the lemonade in the lemons.
MARCIANO: Let's all go to Disney World!
CHETRY: Exactly.
All right. Well, the chairman of Barnes & Noble donating $20 million to build new homes for Hurricane Katrina victims. That plan is to start building new houses for low-income families in New Orleans' Gentilly neighborhood. The Project Home Again would place at least 120 families into new houses. It would be built with energy- efficient features and elevated to a height that should protect them from many future floods. Officials say they hope to begin construction in the spring and that these homes will be completed within a year.
Well, there is some new research about treating teens for depression. And it's also offering some new hope. Our in-house brain surgeon, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has more information on the latest study just ahead.
And inside North Korea. Our Alina Cho getting rare access to Pyongyang's only maternity hospital. A look at how the state enters people's lives from the very beginning in North Korea. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Sixteen minutes past 7:00 here on the East Coast. Some questions being raised this morning about what kind of action school bus drivers are allowed to take to deal with students after a bus brawl made national headlines last week. Well, the whole incident was captured on surveillance tape. And police in Arizona just released the 911 tape of the incident. Does it tell the whole story, though? You take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): It starts out as a normal ride home from school until bus driver Kim Sullivan apparently gets angry that students are talking on their cell phones. So she pulls the bus over.
KIM SULLIVAN, BUS DRIVER: Just be quiet and behave yourselves so we can make it home.
CHETRY: Then things got ugly between Sullivan and a 15-year-old student on the bus, Sammy Taylor. SAMMY TAYLOR, STUDENT: Seriously, I'm getting off the bus.
K. SULLIVAN: No, you're not.
TAYLOR: Do you want me to call. Don't touch me. Stop touching me. Stop touching me!
CHETRY: And then, from the back of the bus, another student comes to Sullivan's aid. That student is the bus driver's 16-year old daughter.
ERIN SULLIVAN, KIM SULLIVAN'S DAUGHTER: Get the [bleep] off my mom [bleep]!
CHETRY: Chaos follows.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off me! Get off!
CHETRY: Students on the bus escape through the emergency exit, and one even calls 911.
TEEN: Our bus driver is insane. She just got in a fistfight. I'm getting off the bus. I'm not dealing with this.
CHETRY: Police want charges filed against everyone involved. Sammy Taylor says she never touched the bus driver and is embarrassed by the incident, admitting she made a mistake.
TAYLOR: I acted really immature on the video, and if I could go back, I would just -- I would have just sat down and shut up.
CHETRY: But her mother says she didn't do anything illegal and points the blame at the bus driver.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, SAMMY TAYLOR'S MOTHER: If you watched the video, she backs herself back underneath the video, and now you can't hear or see her. You only see Samantha responding to her.
CHETRY: School officials stand by the driver's actions.
DENISE BIRDWELL, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT: The bus driver continued to enforce the policy, which is this is not a designated stop, and you need to stay on the bus.
CHETRY: Police want disorderly conduct charges filed against the girls and aggravated assault charges against the driver. Now it's up to the district attorney.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Police are also seeking aggravated assault charges against one of the teens, Sammy Taylor.
ROBERTS: In about three hours' time, Congress will hear a progress report on airline delays. It is expected to say passengers still find themselves stuck on the tarmac for hours, further fueling the need for a proposed Passenger Bill of Rights. It promises to get rid of extended delays and provide essentials to passengers stuck on planes. The bill has already passed the House but is mired in the Senate.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Do you think it is time for the Senate to pass a Passenger Bill of Rights? Right now, 67 percent of you say it's long overdue. Eighteen percent say it won't make a lick of difference. Sixteen percent say it is not necessary. Cast your vote at CNN.com/am, and we'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.
CHETRY: Well, Veronica de la Cruz is here with some other stories new this morning for us. Hi, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kiran. Good morning, John, and good morning to all of you out there.
We begin with Defense Secretary Robert Gates saying Turkey has two weeks to get out of Iraq. Gates will meet with Turkish leaders later today. The U.S. has provided intelligence for the Turkish assault on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. Now the secretary says Turkey must respect Iraq's sovereignty.
And another case of mad cow disease to tell you about detected in Canada. It is the second case in as many months. Officials say no part of the diseased animal entered the human food supply. This is the 12th case of mad cow in Canada since it was first detected in May of 2003.
Well, pet owners in Los Angeles will now be ordered to have their pets spayed and neutered by the time their pet is four months old. The new law will exempt animals which are competing in shows or other competitions as well as guide dogs, police dogs and animals used by professional breeders. The goal is to reduce the number of pets euthanized every year by the city's animal shelters.
Valerie Bertinelli is out with a tell-all biography. And last night she spoke to Larry King. Bertinelli talked about her weight gain and loss, her drug use and her troubled marriage to rocker Eddie Van Halen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Was infidelity tough -- tough for you to do? In other words, were there guilt feelings?
VALERIE BERTINELLI, ACTRESS: Oh, my God, yes. And that went right into all of the eating issues. No. infidelity -- oh. I know for a fact that I will never, ever, ever do that again because I know how it feels to hurt somebody that way and to be hurt in that manner. And I think your heart just falls apart and aches in both ways. When I knew that I had hurt Ed that way and when he had hurt me that way, who wants to feel like that?
(END VIDEO CLIP) DE LA CRUZ: And you can catch "LARRY KING LIVE" every night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. We're going to send it back to you, John and Kiran. And the good news is that apparently she and Eddie Van Halen are still very good friends and their son named Wolfgang, 17-year-old, tours with his father as a bassist.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: That's right. Yes.
CHETRY: That's right. He's part of the Van now. He's part Van Halen.
ROBERTS: My Anthony got the old -- out of the band.
DE LA CRUZ: They're incredible.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: There are a lot of old school Van Halen (INAUDIBLE) are happy with that, Veronica. You'll probably read that on a blog.
DE LA CRUZ: Oh, John.
ROBERTS: I interviewed them once a long, long time ago.
DE LA CRUZ: Ozzy Osbourne, maybe.
ROBERTS: I got the pictures to prove.
It can be a frustrating battle trying to help depressed teens who aren't responding to medications. But there are other treatments, and a new study provides some hope that they can work.
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at our medical update desk for us this morning. Sanjay, what did they find worked best for kids in the study?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what seemed to work best was actually taking -- switching to another medication and actually adding some form of psychotherapy, John. This was an interesting study. A couple of interesting things emerged from it.
First of all, if you take teens who have moderate to severe depression, about four out of 10 times, about 40 percent of the time, the first medication they try doesn't work. Just think about that for a second. The first medication they try, almost half the time, doesn't work. The question these researchers wanted to answer, what to do next?
Well, that's exactly your question, John. What they figured out was that actually switching to another medication plus adding some sort of psychotherapy, in this case cognitive behavioral therapy, and about 55 percent of the time the teens improved. If they just switched to another medication, then 41 percent of the time the teens improved.
John, these were about 300 teens that were followed. They had, again, moderate to severe depression. They've had it for about two years, and a significant number of them also had what are called suicidal ideations or suicidal thoughts as well. So they had significant depression but you get a sense there of what to do if the first treatment option fails.
ROBERTS: When you talk about this cognitive therapy, what kind of talk therapy were these teens treated with? And is there any type of cognitive therapy that works better than any other?
GUPTA: So you basically look at the general category of talk therapy, and you can separate it in the various forms. Cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, is specifically what they use in this study. What that is basically is this idea that to focus on the idea that the thoughts, instead of extraneous things, are causing these behavioral or depressive-type symptoms. And focus on those thoughts instead. That's to be distinguished, for example, from interpersonal therapy which focuses on the idea that relationships in your life might be more the source of the problem. So cognitive behavioral therapy is what worked at least in this study, John.
ROBERTS: Is it common, Sanjay, for these antidepressant medications not to work well in teens?
GUPTA: Well, you know, that was interesting. I get about 40 percent of the time, the first medication, in this case, what's known as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, SSRI, didn't work the first time around. Switching to another SSRI or switching to a different class of medications altogether seemed to have improvement. So that was sort of interesting. Even though the drug that they switched to is in the same class, sometimes just switching to a second drug seemed to make a difference, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, you know, it's like anything dealing with these psychological disorders that sometimes a lot of trial and error involved.
Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks. We'll see you in a little while.
GUPTA: All right.
CHETRY: Well, the Democratic contenders going at it in Cleveland last night. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton facing off over your job, health care and the vote they regret the most. So was Clinton able to slow Obama's momentum?
Also, a Special Report. We'll go inside the secret state of North Korea. Our Alina Cho gets to go inside Pyongyang's only maternity hospital with a look at what it's like for citizens of North Korea from the moment they're born.
Also, if you're thinking about packing some extra clothes on your next trip, you may want to pack some extra cash as well. Find out which airline is joining the list, charging more for an extra bag.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. A shot from right outside of our building here in Columbus Circle. That's the Time Warner Center this morning.
ROBERTS: How'd you like to work at a beautiful place like that?
CHETRY: It is -- it's wonderful. There's -- we're waving. Can you see us? We're there on the fourth floor. Oh, can't see us. Oh, well. It's what? 37 degrees right now, cloudy, only getting about two degrees warmer today. We're still in the throes of winter.
ROBERTS: Yes. Lots of wind out there as well. So if you're heading to the airports, check with your airlines first because we're hearing of some delays this morning.
CHETRY: And welcome back, by the way. Delays, you might want to think about taking the Amtrak or the CNN Election Express bus.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: That's a decision to take.
CHETRY: That thing is always on time.
ROBERTS: I wish we could take the Election Express bus, but Ali Velshi has got that down there in Texas. We'll be checking in with him in just a couple of minutes.
Meantime, it was the final showdown before the critical primaries next Tuesday. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama went after each other last night in Cleveland, Ohio, over health care, free trade and negative attacks surrounding those key issues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have a great deal of respect for Senator Obama, but we have differences. And in the last several days, some of those differences in tactics and the choices that Senator Obama's campaign has made regarding flyers and mailers and other information that has been put out about my health care plan and my position on NAFTA have been very disturbing to me.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Clinton has -- her campaign at least -- has constantly sent out negative attacks on us, e-mail, robo calls, flyers, television ads, radio calls, and, you know, we haven't whined about it because I understand that's the nature of these campaigns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator Clinton said that if she could have a vote back, the one vote that she would want back is her vote to go to war with Iraq. Police in Texas on a hunt today for a person suspected of vandalizing an Obama campaign office. Police say the word "racist" was sprawled across the building as well as two nearby vans. It's believed that the incident happened sometime Sunday a few hours after an Obama rally.
In New Mexico, Governor Bill Richardson could be ready to endorse one of his former rivals for the White House soon. Richardson praised both Clinton and Obama during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" yesterday. Richardson says he might be ready to publicly back one of them in the next few days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: I'm just not trying to be cute, I just have felt that an endorsement by me, I don't think it's that significant. But I still might do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Richardson is one of the highest ranking Hispanics in the Democratic party. He could give either candidate a boost ahead of the Texas primary where the Hispanic vote is expected to play a very big role.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: We have talked to him time and time again trying to nail him down. His beard is growing longer, and he still hasn't decided.
ROBERTS: Looking more and more dignified with each passing day.
CHETRY: Well, the European Union is fining Microsoft, a record $1.3 billions. This news coming in within the last half hour. The European regulators are saying that Microsoft failed to obey an antitrust order that would make its operating systems more accessible to competitors. The fine is the largest ever for a single company.
The cost of crude oil now climbing into record territory today. In trading, prices now topping more than $102 a barrel. That spike comes as the U.S. dollar was sent into a tailspin against the euro. The European currency spiking to a record high of $1.50. The dollar picked up steam after predictions that the Federal Reserve will again cut interest rates.
U.S. Airways is about to charge a fee for extra baggage. Starting May 5th, it will cost you 25 bucks to check a second bag, 100 bucks if you want to check a third one. U.S. Airways says the fees will bring in $75 million a year. United Airlines also announced extra baggage fees about three weeks ago.
ROBERTS: So with oil at a record high, the dollar at a record low, the average American is feeling the pinch at nearly every stop. Our senior business correspondent Ali Velshi is aboard the CNN "Election Express." He's been traveling around Texas. He's in Goliad, Texas, today, talking with folks there. The hat's back, Ali. And what do you got for us this morning? ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The hat's back, John, because it's cold this morning here in Goliad. We're in south Texas. This is one of the very key places in the history of Texas' independence, the battle of Goliad which came right after the Alamo battle. You know these stories that you're talking this morning are really affecting people down here. This is ranch land. This is oil land. If you're in the oil business, the price of oil is not bad for you.
If you're in the ranching business, it, in fact, is very expensive. Ranchers around here and you know this is across the country in many places - they have a red dye put that's into the diesel that they use on their farms, which allows them to have tax- free diesel. But the fact of the matter is that diesel still goes up with the price of oil, and they're really feeling it. We spoke to one of the ranchers about that. Then we spoke to somebody about the impact of those high oil prices. Here's what they told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM HARPERING, TEXAS RANCHER: Red diesel is a diesel that has a red dye in it that's used strictly for farm and ranching uses as far as in tractors and different conveniences on the ranches. And when it goes up at the cost it's going up every day, that definitely has a domino effect for all the products it produces, be it cattle, grain, any of the other byproducts from those resources.
HILLARY HAYES, TEXAS RESTAURANT WORKER: Now it's affecting the prices. We're fixing up to go up on prices because of the cost of gas that's causing our delivery costs to go up. So we're having to raise all of our prices on that, and it's really affecting that in our business. We see -- we're seeing less people coming in on the weekends, it's been slower. So none of us are making as much money as we were.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Now, that young woman, Hillary, her parents own a restaurant just around the corner here on the main town square, the court square here in Goliad. She was talking about the price of their deliveries, the price of their food and the fact that that might go up. We had a bunch of people around us a little while ago. They've gone over to that restaurant to have some breakfast, but Hillary's going to be 18 in two weeks, so she's not going to be able to vote in the primary, but she is going to vote in the election. She's the perfect example of in fact that everywhere we've gone across Texas, there's nobody who isn't following the political process and doesn't want to know what the candidates are going to do about the economy. John.
ROBERTS: All right. Ali is hitting the road in the "Election Express," all next week too, by the way, right to the heart of Texas from Goliad to Houston to Dallas and back to the state capital of Austin before a stop at the home of the western White House, in Crawford, Texas. Looking forward to all that. Ali, thanks. We'll check back with you soon. CHETRY: There he is, waving the whole way. He keeps his hand out the window and waves. It's the only exercise he gets.
Well, now our special series inside of North Korea. All this week we're seeing parts of the secret state that are rarely, if ever, visited by outsiders. And this morning it's a trip to Pyongyang's only maternity hospital. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is live for us there. Hi, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, good evening from Pyongyang, Kiran. You know, North Korea is not a wealthy country. Even parts of Pyongyang are run down. There are food shortages. There are energy shortages. And often children are the most vulnerable. That's why this story is so remarkable.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): 25-year-old Sung is one of Pyongyang's newest mothers. Her baby boy is just four days old. But already she sees what she thinks is a glorious future for her child. She says, I want him to become a soldier to help keep our country safe. The baby doesn't have a name yet because his father will have the last word, and he hasn't met his son. But that's normal. The chief doctor here tells us new mothers are quarantined for three to five days after they give birth to protect them and their newborns from dangerous germs. Dads anxious to see their new children must do so by videophone, the same way I talked to this obstetrician when we arrived. Is it possible to see some of the babies?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One moment, please.
CHO: OK. The doctors are proud to show us the preemie room and tell us the mothers are grateful for free medical care under North Korea's socialist system. And here they say even the tiniest babies can grow to be healthy, obedient citizens. She says, mothers want their babies to be good patriots for the general, Kim Jong-il, and our country. The mother says it would make the general happy. We love our country, and we want to make it stronger. This maternity hospital is unique. The red stickers on the medical equipment show they are gifts from Kim Jong-il. The red signs above the doors show these are rooms Chairman Kim has visited himself. So, here's the mural in the entrance, the massive chandelier, and semiprecious stones for the floor. Yet the hospital halls are freezing cold and dark in a country where food and energy are both in short supply. So these babies are lucky, warm and secure in the care of the state, thriving in this showpiece hospital in North Korea's showpiece capital, Pyongyang.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Now, we're told that there is a maternity hospital in every province in the country, but it is safe to say, as you leave Pyongyang, the conditions get considerably worse. That's why the media is often not allowed into those parts, and the hospitals, if there are any in those countryside areas, are basic, Kiran. Certainly nothing like what you just saw. CHETRY: Yes, you're right. As you called it, a showpiece, to say the least. Also fascinating, every single one of those babies, all sound asleep. You don't see that in every American hospital.
CHO: Still, still, still like dolls. You're absolutely right.
CHETRY: Fascinating look, Alina Cho, thank you.
ROBERTS: An explosion rocks the city. Smoke and debris fill the sky, and nearby residents are left wondering whether anyone could survive such a blast.
And clashing over trade and health care. Today, where thousands of blue collar jobs have warned. Did the debate change the dynamic of the race in Ohio? The best political team on television takes a look ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A massive explosion levels a two-story building. Here are some of the pictures. Seven people were injured in this. It happened yesterday, just north of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Utility crews reportedly checking on a gas leak at the time of that blast. Police say, though, fortunately almost everyone had already gotten out of the building when that explosion happened.
ROBERTS: It was their 20th debate before the crucial March 4th primaries. And Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama clashed over issues such as health care, NAFTA and anti-Semitism. From the outset, Senator Clinton appeared to be determined to set the tone of the debate. On the issue of the Iraq war, she accused Senator Obama of giving a good speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every time the question about qualifications and credentials for commander in chief are raised, Senator Obama rightly points to the speech he gave in 2002. He's to be commended for having given the speech. Many people gave speeches against the war.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My objections to the war in Iraq were simply -- not simply a speech. I was in the midst of a U.S. senate campaign. It was a high-stakes campaign. I was one of the most vocal opponents of the war, and I was very specific as to why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joins us now live from Cleveland. It was incumbent upon her last night, Candy, to try to change the dynamic of this race. Did she do it?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't think so. I think she performs generally really well in this debate. Last night was no exception for her. He has gotten progressively better. He seemed to be able to respond to her criticisms well, keeping his cool. So this looked to me like a no harm, no foul debate. It did not certainly give her the dynamic shake-up that she needs right now to kind of slow his momentum.
ROBERTS: As we showed just a moment ago, she was trying to attack him on Iraq. He came back a little bit later on with his own response to her. Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Well, here is the initial decision, but since then, we've voted the same way. Once we had driven the bus into the ditch, there were only so many ways we could get out. The question is, who's making the decision initially to drive the bus into the ditch? And the fact is that Senator Clinton often says that she is ready on day one, but, in fact, she was ready to give in to George Bush on day one on this critical issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: She's making the argument that he didn't have any responsibility, and it was easy to vote, at least, and it was easy to be against the Iraq war. He's suggesting that she helped drive the bus into the ditch in the Iraq war. Who's winning on that issue there in Ohio?
CROWLEY: Well, you know, certainly within the Democratic party, it is very anti-war. The Clinton campaign knew going into this campaign more than a year ago that, in fact, her yes vote on the Iraq war resolution was going to be a problem. But it was sort of easier at first because the higher profile candidates also voted in favor of the war, many of them, at least. John Edwards being one of those. Barack Obama clearly became a favorite particularly among the vociferously anti-war Democrats because he did give a speech, it was an affecting speech. He was running for the U.S. Senate at the time, and so this is always been problematic for her. For a while it seemed to go away, but it's been his ace in the hole much as health care has been hers.
ROBERTS: She was trying to force an error on his part last night. I don't know if she actually found an area where she could make it happen, but she certainly tried on this issue of Louis Farrakhan from the nation of Islam saying Barack Obama is the candidate that I'd like to see become president. He was asked if he would denounce or at least renounce that support. He didn't quite go all the way, and here's what she said in response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: There's a difference between denouncing and rejecting, and I think when it comes to this sort of, you know, inflammatory, I have no doubt that everything that Barack just said is absolutely sincere, but I just think we've got to be even stronger. We cannot let anyone in any way say these things because of the implications that they have which can be so far-reaching.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Of course, she's talking about some of the language that Minister Farrakhan has used. Is he vulnerable on that issue?
CROWLEY: Well, what was interesting here was I thought she gave him a way out because you're right, he sort of fumbled around with that answer because the question was, you know, do you renounce his support? And Obama said, I renounce what he said. I renounce his anti-Semitism. I've been very clear, but the support question was left open. She came right back and said, boy, I've had a similar situation, and I said I don't want that support. So it was almost as though she gave him this opening and, f course, he came back and said, you know, call it renounce, call it rejection, whatever you'd like, then that's fine. So, I don't think in the long term that this present a problem for him.
ROBERTS: We'll see how it plays out, six more days to go. Candy Crowley for us this morning from Cleveland. Candy, thanks. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the principal says it's distracting, and his mom says it's discrimination. We're going to see why a 6-year-old's haircut is causing quite a stir in school. There it is.
We'll also make a promise to exercise. Many times we just find reasons to skip going to the gym or taking that walk. Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us what muscle we should work that could make all the difference, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, we all know that exercise is good for us, and self-control may be the muscle that we need to exercise more to get our bodies in shape. We're paging Dr. Gupta, chief medical correspondent. Sanjay is also a columnist for "Time" magazine. And that looks a lot like George Clooney, but hey, it could be Sanjay, too. You know, they look similar. His latest post is on the psychology behind exercise. Sanjay joins us now. Why do you think it's so hard, by the way, for people to stick to an exercise routine?
DR. SANJA GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it has a lot to do with what you were talking about. This idea that self-control is like a muscle. You know, when we were researching this column, we talked to people who have done research in this specific area. It's interesting, about 60 percent of the people don't exercise regularly. A lot of people surveyed say they are contend to admit they don't exercise at all. They all say that exercise is good for them. So the question that we tried to answer, is what's the disconnect here?
If you think it's good for you, why are so many people not exercising? And it gets us to this idea that we make decisions every day about things that we're going to do, things that we're not going to do. And when it comes to self-control, some people think of it as a muscle that can become exhausted throughout the day. So you're dealing with a willful toddler, you have a demanding boss, you use all your self-control to get through those situations. At the end of the day, you simply don't have enough self-control to actually will yourself to exercise.
Other people also look at this idea that a muscle can be built up over time. So are there things you can do to sort of build up your self-control, so even in the most trying of circumstances, you're still going to make exercise a priority. So it could be simple things according to some of the researchers, just simply reminding yourself to sit up straight all day long is a form of exerting self-control. Forcing yourself to drink the necessary amount of water that you should be drinking every day is a form of self-control. Start to do those things, make self-control a part of your life, and eventually you'll be able to apply that to exercise as well.
It's a fascinating research but we're hearing more and more sort of emerging research about this very idea, Kiran.
CHETRY: That is fascinating. You know, a lot of people talk about needing that outside motivation, too. Perhaps getting a trainer. Is there any evidence that shows if you have a workout buddy or someone else that's kind of pulling you along when you don't necessarily feel like doing it, that that helps you stick to a routine?
GUPTA: Yes, you know, what was interesting about this, a little counterintuitive. It seemed that a trainer or workout buddy was very good at helping overcome the initial inertia of actually developing some sort of exercise routine. The problem was -- and again, this is from several different studies on the topic, that over time people become too dependent on that. So if your workout buddy skips or your trainer's not available or you move, or something like that, all of a sudden all this hard work that you've done to get to this point in your life may go with that. So you have too much reliance on an extraneous thing. Ultimately, even though the trainer or workout buddy may help you get over the initial problems, ultimately it has to come from something that's really from within that you can do autonomously without any help.
CHETRY: I got you. Very interesting. All right. Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Trying to take a look at the weather forecast for the day. Rob Marciano joins us here in New York tracking extreme weather. We got all kinds of it in the last 24 hours. Who's getting it today?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: We do. When we were in Chicago yesterday, it was blowing and snowing all over the place. Guys were out there jogging, right through our live shots, splashing through the slushing.
CHETRY: Exercising their self-control muscle.
MARCIANO: That is some self-control, right there. Very impressive, no doubt about it. Hope you're having a great day. We do have come cold air that's driving down the southeast. I want to start you off with that. Word out of the ATL, CNN World headquarters, there have been flurries in some spots a dusting of snow across parts of northern Georgia. Temperatures certainly cold enough to sustain that. Just not a whole lot of moisture.
All right. Down in the south, more moisture across southern parts of Florida. Some heavy thunderstorms rolling through there. They will be dying out. That's the tail end of a front that is bringing the cold air all the way down into the south. Late winter Florida chill definitely on the way. Freeze warnings up for the northern part of the state. Windchill watches and warnings up for the central and southern part of the state. Feel like temperatures in the 20s there before too long across, say, West Palm Beach up through Orlando and Daytona as well. And across the northeast, just a few showers of the snow variety, mostly north of the New York area. So you had your snow, Kiran, last Friday. Hope you enjoyed that.
CHETRY: I told you, I'm not going to ask for any more. I'm looking ahead to spring.
MARCIANO: I think everybody is.
ROBERTS: That's enough snow. Thanks.
Congress gets a report card this morning on how airlines are handling flight delays. It is expected to say that progress is not being made. And passengers continue to find themselves stuck on the tarmac for hours at a time. The proposed passengers bill of rights would eliminate long delays and provide essentials to stranded passengers. It has already passed the house, but it's stuck in the senate.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Do you think it's time for the Senate to pass a passengers' bill of rights? 69 percent of you say it's long overdue. 18 percent say you don't think it's going to make any kind of a difference. And 13 percent say it's not necessary. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am, we'll have the first tally of the votes and we'll have another tally of votes coming up in our next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
And in our next hour, we're going to talk with Kate Hanni. She is the founder of the Coalition for the passengers' bill of rights. She'll share phone calls from frustrated flyers about their airline nightmares. That's coming up in our next hour here. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, inflation is rising, consumer confidence falling. And now, there's talk of what is known as stagflation. What is it? And how does it affect your pocketbook? Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis will explain ahead in your "Financial Security Watch."
Also, as a tense debate before the crucial March 4th primaries, did Barack Obama scored the points he needs to win? Obama campaign national co-chair Claire McCaskill is going to be joining us live. And the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) Roberts (voice-over): Tense times.
OBAMA: ... equates experience with longevity in Washington.
CLINTON: Maybe we should ask Barack to be comfortable and meet another fellow.
ROBERTS: Did Clinton or Obama gained ground? One week before a crucial showdown. McCain's warm-up act fires back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've had it up to hear with John McCain. Now, making enemies of both frontrunners.
ROBERTS: Plus, live bait. Questions after the death of a tourist. Why people pay to go nose to nose with hungry sharks on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And welcome back. Thanks very much for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. Some interesting things to tell you about just ahead, including this idea of why will you jump in the water to dive with sharks when the water has already been, if you will, fertilized with a lot of blood, and sort of fish parts to attract the sharks.
CHETRY: And that's a draw for these divers who say that normally, while it may seem very dangerous, it isn't.
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