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American Morning
Oil Hits New High in Electronic Trading Overnight; Antidepressants, the Most Commonly Prescribed Drugs in U.S.
Aired February 27, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: 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 would you jump in the water to dive with sharks when the water has already been, if you will, sort of fertilize with this -- with a lot of blood and fish parts to attract the sharks.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's a draw for these divers who say that normally, while it may seem very dangerous, it isn't. That not the case for this.
ROBERTS: Yes. I wish the shark didn't know the difference between you and a piece of chum.
CHETRY: We're going to talk more about it when our next guest joins us with that. He's done it many times.
Also, new concerns about your money coming from many fronts this morning. Oil hitting a new high in electronic trading overnight. It surpassed $102 a barrel at one point and it's possible we could see gas at $4 a gallon soon, according to some analysts. Wheat prices also soaring, hitting an all time high.
And inflation grew at the fastest pace we've seen in sixteen years last month. All of this sent the dollar to a record low against the euro this morning. Our Ali Velshi covering all of it aboard the Election Express, talking with voters from Goliad, Texas, about what they see is some of the biggest problems with the economy and who they think is ready to fix them.
Hi, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. And that's exactly it. There's no complexity to this one. When you talk to people in South Texas, and in fact, around Texas, about the economy, they talk about two things. They talk about gas prices and they talk about inflation. The two are tied. They're hand-in-hand around here.
The ranchers are telling me about the cost of diesel for powering their farm equipment, their ranch equipment. How that's going up and that is translated into cost on the kitchen table. The other thing around here and in many parts of rural America, people drive to work and they drive some distances. And in some cases, the vehicle they have is the one that they use for work, too. Maybe it's a big truck.
We spoke to a gentleman named Emilio about the price of gas. Here's what he told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMILIO VARGAS, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, RET: We 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 profitable to go and get your job done. So that's part of the story we're hearing. Take a look at what happen with oil. It closed at $100.88 yesterday. That was the highest price of oil as ever settled at. And then overnight, as you said, $101, $102. It is since paired back a little bit, but it's still above $101 for a barrel of oil. That is going to translate into the price of gas.
Just earlier this week, we are reporting the gas prices were up 16 cents. In two weeks, 75 cents in a year. You can probably expect to see a little more of that. And Kiran, as you know, as we approach spring, that price tends to get even higher. Today, we're going to hear from Ben Bernanke. He is testifying before Congress.
Gerri Willis, I know, is going to talk to you about stagflation. The idea of no growth or slow growth and inflation, at that same time, and how dangerous that is for the economy. So we are in some tough times right now and people around here know it.
CHETRY: All right. No doubt. Ali Velshi, thank you.
ROBERTS: To politics now. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama hit the campaign trail again today following their debate in Cleveland last night. Health care was the prime focus of the evening. Both agree that Americans need affordable health care, but they disagree on who has the better plan and how to get it done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: If everyone's not in the system, we will continue to let the insurance companies do what's called cherry picking. Pick those who get insurance and leave others out. We will continue to have a hidden tax so that when someone goes to the emergency room without insurance, 15 million or however many, that amount of money that will be used to take care of that person will be then spread among all the rest of us.
OBAMA: The main difference between Senator Clinton's plan and mine is the fact that she would force, in some fashion, individuals to purchase health care. If it was not affordable, she would still presumably force them to have it unless there is a hardship exemption as they've done in Massachusetts, which leaves 20 percent of the uninsured out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton desperately needs a victory or two in the March 4th primaries. Barack Obama has won 11 straight contests. Four states are up for grabs next Tuesday.
Republican Mike Huckabee is 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 the competition is 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 any time, any place, any location on any network.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: McCain later said that he would consider the possibility of another debate before the March 4th primaries. But certainly time is running out. The primaries are going to be held, Tuesday, March the 4th, Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Our Veronica de la Cruz here now with other stories new this morning.
Good morning to you.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John and Kiran. And good morning to you, Rob. It's nice to see you there.
CHETRY: You didn't say hi to Pete, Bruce, and...
DE LA CRUZ: Bruce, Pete, good morning to everybody out there. And good morning to you. Well, some good news to start with the power back on Florida this morning. But utility officials still in the dark about what cause a glitch at a Miami substation yesterday. It left some three million people in the dark. Not functioning traffic lights caused some major congestion on the roads. The state's largest electric company shut down a nuclear reactor near Miami as precaution.
And new comments overnight to tell you about from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. About the recent arrest of a U.S. Marine, accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old Japanese girl. Secretary Rice says the concern right now is to see that justice is done and the case won't damage U.S. relations with Japan. The military placing a curfew on the 50,000 troops there. Locals say they're responsible for crime, noise, and pollution.
And a surprise on Capitol Hill. Senate Republicans have agreed to debate a Democratic Bill that would cut Iraq war funding, but not because they agree wit it. Republican leader Mitch McConnell says a debate would give his GOP colleagues a chance to talk about the military and political progress made in the last six months.
And President Bush, meantime, threatening to veto an aggressive plan to change bankruptcy laws giving more bargaining power to homeowners facing foreclosures. The White House disagrees with the provision allowing bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of mortgages. Democrats say the bill could prevent as many as 600,000 home foreclosures.
Finally, molds in Miami. A Federal judge has closed parts of Miami's historic downtown courthouse because of concerns over mold and leaky pipes. Employees have long complained about health concerns face there linked to the mold growing in the courthouse. And that is what is new this morning. Send it back to John, Kiran, and Rob. And lots of problems in Florida.
CHETRY: Mold in Miami.
DE LA CRUZ: Blackouts.
CHETRY: The only thing about the blackout is you can't see the molds.
ROBERTS: I used to work in Miami and somehow everything happens there. Anything that can happen will happen in Miami.
DE LA CRUZ: You know, the molds isn't surprising, though, because it's so humid.
ROBERTS: Mold happens everywhere.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Of course.
CHETRY: Thanks, guys. Well, antidepressants, the most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S. and now there is a new analysis suggesting that in many people, they don't work any better than a placebo.
Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the medical update desk with details now.
First of all, what is your take on this study, because there are, what, 100 million prescriptions and more written for antidepressants?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. About 120 million. It's obviously, a very -- these are widely prescribed drugs. What's my take on the study? You know, it's interesting. We're starting to see a lot of evidence. Basically, about the fact that if you start to aggregate, a lot of the published studies out there about antidepressants and they put them together with a lot of the studies that never were published. The benefits of antidepressants may not be as much as we think they are. That's sort of my take on this study.
I don't think this was a perfect study by any means, because I think there's a lot of newer studies that may show some benefits of antidepressants. But this is very confusing for a lot of people. So let me try and break it down. If you take all the studies out there that exist on antidepressants and try and figure out just how effective they are, two things start to emerge.
One is that, a significant amount of the time, they are no more effective than a placebo. Take a look. About 82 percent of the time, the improvement that you seek from antidepressants can actually be duplicated by a placebo. That is a sugar pill. A pill that has no specific medicinal qualities.
But also, people who had the most severe depression did seem to have statistical improvement in terms of their depression by taking a medication. So, you know, it's interesting. There are a lot of people out there who are paying attention to this, because of the wide number of prescriptions written every year for antidepressants. But just how effective are they? It's something that they really have to talk about with their doctors and with their health care professionals.
CHETRY: Yes, especially when you factor in some of the side effects as well. Are there other treatments that are proven to be effective? You've heard before about people analyzing whether or not frequent exercise can have almost the same effects on feeling good in people with mild depression as perhaps taking a medication?
GUPTA: Yes. You know, it's interesting. This is a couple of things that sort of spring to mind. And it's hard to say, Kiran, that one has the same effect as another. These are hard studies to do, but there's no question, for example, that talk therapy as we're talking about earlier can have a significant benefit as can exercise.
We've done about talk therapy. Something known as cognitive behavioral therapy. Again, this idea that you focus on the thoughts in your head possibly causing the depression as opposed to extraneous things seems to be of great benefit to a lot of people. Especially people who have not gotten benefit from medication in the first place.
But also, exercise. At least three times a week. Three to five weeks in a row, you'll start to see some benefits in terms of the production of endorphins. So sort of natural, feel-good hormones in your body and that can have an affect on mood as well. I can tell you that that works for me, for sure. I feel better after I exercise.
But again, the headline here. This made front-page news, all across the U.K. This idea that antidepressant, in about 82 percent of people maybe no better than a placebo pill.
CHETRY: So maybe, perhaps, it is time to talk to your doctor about that type of thing if you are either on them or considering them.
GUPTA: Yes. I think if you have mild to moderate depression, it's really worth a close examination as to whether or not you need to be on this medications or not and if they are really working for you.
CHETRY: Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks. ROBERTS: It's bitter cold air driving into the Northeast and the Deep South today. We've got our Rob Marciano here in the nice, warm studio tracking extreme weather.
Head out there in Michigan Avenue, Chicago yesterday. It was cold, so we have you inside today.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Well, a daredevil pilot performs a fly-by, taking lives in his hands. Potentially dangerous top gun stunt that cost him his job. That's a 777, huge plane there, just 30 feet above the ground. We're going to have more pictures coming up.
Also, the last debate before the March 4th primaries. Did Hillary Clinton slip off? Did Barack Obama? Did either one stand out? We're going to speak live with Senator Claire McCaskill. She's Obama's campaign co-chair, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton clashed on campaign tactics, health care, and Iraq in last night's debate. The last crucial one before those primaries on Tuesday. Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill is Senator Barack Obama's national campaign co-chair. She joins us now live from Washington.
We should tell you that we also reached out to Hillary Clinton's campaign. They would not provide us with a representative. So, Senator McCaskill, we say good morning to you. Thanks for being with us.
SENATOR CLAIRE MCCASKILL, OBAMA CAMPAIGN NATIONAL CO-CHAIR: Thank you. It's great to be with you.
ROBERTS: Let's start off by talking about the very first moment in the debate last night. The very first question went to Hillary Clinton, as we have found out it has in many so debates. Here's how she responded to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I seem to get the first question all the time and I don't mind. You know, I'll be happy to field them, but I do find it curious. And anybody saw "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE", you know, maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and needs another pillow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Inference there, Senator McCaskill, is that Senator Obama is getting a free ride in the media. What do you say to that?
MCCASKILL: Well, I don't think that's true. And I'm not sure that that point in the debate is particularly persuasive to undecided voters or those very important independent voters. If Barack Obama has set a tone in the campaign that is positive, that has, in fact, been reflected in the press.
And that's why independent voters are so attracted to his candidacy. Because he's refused to engage in the old-style slash-and- burn politics that frankly, I think, has made it difficult for Senator Clinton to engage in that kind of politics.
ROBERTS: Do you think that he's been allowed to get away with ambiguities on certain issues where her feet have been held to the fire to a greater degree?
MCCASKILL: I don't think so. If you look at every major issue facing our country, Senator Obama has very detailed, and what you saw last night, was the grasp he had of those details -- whether it's in foreign policy, whether it's health care, whether it's trade.
This is a man of great intellectual ability. And he has complicated and complex plans that he has laid out all through this campaign. He also happens to be able to inspire people and we should never look down our nose at the ability of a leader to inspire us.
ROBERTS: All the way through this campaign they've been attacking each other's positions on the Iraq war. Let's listen to the attack that she leveled at him last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Many people gave speeches against the war then. And the fair comparison is he didn't have responsibility. He didn't have to vote. By 2004, he was saying that he basically agreed with the way George Bush was conducting the war. And when he came to the Senate, he and I have voted exactly the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So she is saying there, her argument is, that it's easy to be against something when you don't have responsibility for it, but when you're put on the spot, it's a wholly different kettle of fish. What do you say to that?
MCCASKILL: I fundamentally disagree with her point because the hardest time to be against something that is wildly popular is when you're running for office.
When Barack Obama gave that speech, there weren't lots of people speaking out against the war. He was running for the United States Senate to replace a Republican senator, and he was brave enough to speak out and not only speak out against the war, but accurately predicts exactly what, in fact, has happened.
That takes courage. That doesn't take something that's easy to do, and so I think that speech he gave and his willingness to campaign against a very popular war back in 2002-2003, I think speaks volumes of his judgment, and the judgment he'll have as commander-in-chief.
ROBERTS: Senator McCaskill, she also took aim last night at his mailers that the Obama campaign has sent out regarding her positions on health care and NAFTA, saying that there are page right out of the Republican playboy Karl Rove couldn't have written it any better. And fact-check organizations say those mailers stretched the truth at the very least.
Are you comfortable with the tactics that this campaign is engaging in?
MCCASKILL: First of all, there's a lot of fact-check organizations, and although...
ROBERTS: Let me just say, factcheck.org says that they stretched the truth.
MCCASKILL: Yes. Because there have been many looks at both health care plans. And here's the bottom line. The health care plans are very similar. Senator Clinton wants a mandate. Barack Obama believes that we just need to drive down costs and everyone will want health insurance.
And what Senator Clinton still is refusing to do, and this is what the mailers point to, you have to enforce a mandate. And we're not talking about a mandate against the insurance companies. We're talking about a mandate against Americans that have difficulty in paying for it. So, I think the mailers are fair, they're accurate, and frankly I think this, you know...
ROBERTS: Even if she never said NAFTA would be quote, "a boon to the economy"?
MCCASKILL: What she said was NAFTA has been good for America and good for New York. And it's very clear that until she ran for president, she didn't have the nasty things to say about NAFTA that she has now. And by the way, this is really about, I think, Senator Clinton trying to find something that will work against Senator Obama.
And here's why it's not working -- he is, in fact, showing leadership in the way he's run this campaign. He's showing the ability, inspiring and enthused. And most importantly, in a pragmatic way, he's showing independent voters that there is someone who thinks we got to change the way we do business in Washington. That's why he's winning.
ROBERTS: Well, it's going to be an interesting six days leading up to this contest.
MCCASKILL: It is.
ROBERTS: Senator Claire McCaskill, thanks very much for joining us this morning. Good to see you.
MCCASKILL: Thank you, John. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, there are more horror stories of airline passengers stranded on tarmacs with no food, no drinks, and nowhere to go. Congress is going to get an earful on the problem today and renewed calls to pass a Passenger Bill of Rights. We're going to be talking to the president and founder of the coalition that's been pushing this bill forward, next.
Also ahead, it's called stagflation. What is it and what does it mean to your pocketbook? Gerri Willis has you "Financial Security Watch," ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILF DINNICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): City of 50,000. No cars, no waste, and producing all its own power. Leaders in the United Arab of Emirates are announcing they are going green.
SULTAN AHMED AL JABAR, ABU DHABI FUTURE ENERGY CO: It is the first attempt on the world to develop a whole city targeting zero carbon emissions, zero waste and (INAUDIBLE) to be fully powered on nuclear energy.
DINNICK: The company building the city, Masdar, is state-owned. It's part of a massive, multibillion dollar plan to create new economy and lifestyles. Preparing for the day, the wells run dry. This is an ambitious project, especially for the UAE. Just look at this press conference. Guests arriving in SUVs. The show powered by generators. This is the land of endless air conditioned malls, massive building projects with cheap gas and big cars.
(on camera): And the country won't get its first public transit until late next year. You can see it being built behind me.
(voice-over): But this is not just about one city. The Emirate is inviting 1500 green businesses to set up shop in Masdar and work for the environment. The city will take 80 years to build. The price tag, $22 billion. Financing is not yet in place.
Wilf Dinnick, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: "HotShots" time for you. Wow. It's like something out of "Top Gun" except it's not an F-14 Tomcat, it's a 777. A British pilot suspended for pulling a stunt with a 230 tons aircraft. Official say, he pulled off a flyby about 30 feet from the ground with his landing gear up.
The low-level pass with 69 people onboard including some airline VIPs. Apparently, he was delivering this brand new aircraft. The 322-mile per hour flyby was reportedly cheered by onlookers. The pilot later toasted it with champagne. Then after pictures leaked on to the web, the company said, thank you very much, but you won't be doing anymore flybys or anymore flying for us for that matter. If you've got hot shot send it to us. Head to our Web site cnn.com/am and follow the "HotShots" link. CHETRY: How about it? Well, no doubt you'd notice that you're probably paying a lot more for gas. Prices are also up at the grocery store on many key items as well. The problem is your paycheck remains the same. CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with your "Financial Security Watch".
And Gerri, when this situation happens, when you see a lot of things go up and you see people's paycheck not go up, it is being called stagflation. Explain what that is.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you've got it exactly right, Kiran. Stagflation is essentially when the economy is not growing, but guess what, prices are. Now, the consumer, what you face is higher prices everywhere you go. To the gas pump, the grocery store, the mall, you name it, but your wages aren't growing. So you're kind of caught in the middle. The last time we went through a big bout of this was 35 years ago, during the oil embargo and consumers were just really stuck.
Let's take a look at some of the prices that are going up. We know that gas is going up. We've seen a ton of that, but a loaf of bread is up 10 percent. Milk is up 26 percent. You can see the numbers right there. And this isn't good for consumers, because, you know, their paycheck only goes so far and it's not growing.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Yes. That is interesting. So what should people do or what advice do you have if they find themselves in a situation like many are?
WILLIS: Well, the main thing to think about are your investments. Your 401K. Any investments you have outside of retirement saving plan, guess what? Stagflation, inflation, hurts both stocks and bonds but particularly bonds. They really -- their returns are completely robbed by inflation.
So you might want to think about getting a treasury inflation protected security. This is -- the return on these investments, simply go up with inflation. They're tied to inflation. So it protects you a little bit. Now this is a hedge. It's not the kind of investment that's going to return 10 percent or 15 percent. It does not replace stocks.
But if you're looking for a hedge, you're looking for a little solace here that would be a great place to go. So you definitely want to watch your investments and you also just simply want to keep your eye on the bottom line. The prices you're paying out there. Watching for sales, watching for any advantage you can get, because at the end of the day, you're going to see that your paycheck just isn't going as far as you want it to go.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Especially, when you hear things like analyst predicting $4 a gallon gas come to spring. Scary proposition for a lot of people.
WILLIS: It sure is.
CHETRY: What's coming up on "Financial Watch" today?
WILLIS: Well, we're going to be talking to Senator Chris Dodd about a bill he has to bail us out of the mortgage meltdown. And we'll be talking about what you can do to protect yourself during this tough economic times. We'll have lots of solutions and, of course, we'll be taking your phone calls. We want to hear from you. We're answering e-mails. Be sure to join us today at noon. We have the entire hour. We want to talk to you. Give us a call.
CHETRY: Sounds good. We'll be watching, 12:00 noon, each and every day. Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: Thank you, Kiran.
ROBERTS: It's almost 29 minutes after the hour now.
A Passenger Bill of Rights for air travel. How close is it to a reality? We got an update this morning on the airline's progress or lack there of. That's story coming up next.
And first, he went off on Barack Obama at a rally for John McCain. But when McCain didn't back him, in fact, denounced him, conservative radio host Bill Cunningham went after the Republican.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CUNNINGHAM, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: I've had enough to hear with John McCain. He's off the list. I'm joining Ann Coulter in supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We'll tell you why Bill Cunningham, believes McCain has done him wrong. That story in today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: We're back on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning. All kinds of news to tell you about, and some interesting topics this morning as well, like swimming with sharks.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: That's right. These cage less dives that are pretty popular with people that want to get an up close encounter.
ROBERTS: And not just a cage less dive into the water but a cage less dive after they filled the water with fish parts to attract a shark.
CHETRY: To get them over there. Now, we're going to talk to a gentleman who's been on many of those dives, in light of the news that one person died from a dive like that.
ROBERTS: Yes. Bitten in the leg by a shark and bled to death over the weekend.
Meantime, some news that could affect your money this morning. Oil hits a record high overnight, getting as high as $102 a barrel. That's got some experts saying that this spring we could see gasoline hit $4 a gallon. An economic worry sent the U.S. dollar to an all- time low against the euro this morning. Euros about a buck and a half now. Trying to fix these problems falls into the hand of the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke who's going to testify at a House hearing this morning. We'll be watching that very closely.
Less than a week until the crucial March 4th primaries. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be back on the stump today. Their debate in Cleveland last night was their final face-off before the primaries next Tuesday. The debate was contentious, the candidates sparring over health care, free trade and negative attacks related to those issues and debated whether experience makes one more qualified than the other to handle the war in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- foreign policy decision that we face in a generation, whether or not to go into Iraq. I was very clear as to why we should not. That it would fan the flames of anti-American sentiment, that it would distract us from Afghanistan, that it would cost us billions of dollars, thousands of lives and would not make us more safe and I do not believe it has made us more safe.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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 then, and the fair comparison is he didn't have responsibility. He didn't have to vote. By 2004, he was saying that he basically agreed with the way George Bush was conducting the war, and when he came to the senate, he and I voted exactly the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton desperately needs a primary victory. Barack Obama has won 11 straight contests and even her husband says if she doesn't prevail in Texas and Ohio, it could be all over for her.
Power had been restored in Florida but the cause of a massive power failure remain as mystery this morning. Utility executives say none of the events connected to an equipment malfunction and fire at a Miami substation should have caused something that big. Some 3 million customers were affected by the daytime nightmare that knocked out traffic lights left people in seven counties all over south Florida in the dark. CNN's Rusty Dornin is in Miami for us this morning.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: John, we've been watching Florida power and light crew taking pictures, and investigating an area inside the substation which is blocked off by yellow tape, presumably the area where these incidents occurred. Florida power and light officials are scratching their heads about just what exactly caused the outage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORNIN (voice-over): Mass confusion in the sunshine state as the power went out for as many as 3 million customers right in the middle of the day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Normal day and the power went out. We thought maybe it was going to come back on quickly.
DORNIN: The power outage snarled traffic and shut down electricity in businesses and homes from Tampa to the Florida keys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't ring up customers. We can't do coffee. Can't slice anything in the meat department, in the deli. So, pretty much we were stuck doing nothing.
DORNIN: So, what went wrong? Investigators say it was a pretty big coincidence. A failed switch and an unrelated fire happening at the same time at the same electrical substation outside Miami triggered the whole thing. But the question is, why couldn't the substation handle it? The outage triggered the shutdown of two nuclear reactors at Turkey Point nuclear power plant outside Miami.
MAYOR CARLOS ALVAREZ, MIAMI DADE: There are sensors going into that nuclear power plant that when it notices a disruption of electrical power outside, a disruption, it shuts itself down for safety reasons.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORNIN: Both of those reactors are expected to go back on line sometime within the next 12 hours. Apparently they are taking the opportunity to go ahead and do some maintenance that was required on the reactors anyway. But the investigation here will continue until they find out some answers. John.
ROBERTS: Rusty Dornin reporting from Miami for us this morning. Rusty, thanks. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, it's an air travelers nightmare stranded on the tarmac for hours, stuck in the plane with overflowing toilets, no air conditioning and no way out. In fact, let's listen to this call from a desperate passenger in that situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm stuck on the tarmac for five hours, and we have not left. I'm on JetBlue.
CHETRY: The coalition saying the airline is doing too little to fix this problem and worse yet, not even acknowledging as big of a problem as it is. This morning the Coalition for the passenger's bill of rights will deliver a scathing report card. Kate Hanni, the founder of that coalition, she and her family were stuck on a runway in December 2006 for more than eight hours. She joins me from our Washington Bureau this morning. Thanks so much for being with us.
KATE HANNI, AIRLINE PASSENGERS' BILL OF RIGHTS: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: First of all, give us a summary if will you of this report card. Have things improved?
HANNI: No, they haven't. Unfortunately, since we took on this cause, we have been gathering information through our hotline and through e-mails and things have gotten far worse than they were even in the beginning of last year when we heard about all of these stranding events. And so we have documented events that you, frankly, would not believe, and then just in the last couple of weeks, we found out that the ETA did a test and found out there's E. coli in the water of the airline, and American Airlines and United Airlines won't release their data on that water. So if you're either drinking boiled water for coffee or tea or if you're watching your hands with that water, you are subjecting yourself to the possibility of getting E. coli. And then, of course, we all know about that death that happened recently inside the American Airlines jet, which what it clearly is telling us that they're maintaining the exteriors of the jets so that there's no crashes, but they're not maintaining what's going on inside the jets. They're not taking care of the passengers' dignity and well-being inside the jets and making that a priority.
CHETRY: So, in fact -- you guys, what you try do is compile some of this information so that you can give it to members of Congress, because as you point out, you don't necessarily get an accurate picture because of the way the government is reporting or not reporting this including canceled flights, is still counted as having zero delay regardless of how long you sat on the tarmac before that cancellation takes place. What are some other things that you're hoping changed?
HANNI: Well, that's correct. You know, all of the JetBlue flights that happened this last year, none of those will be reported in government data. None of our flights will be recorded, because they were diversions. The government doesn't require those be reported. We want that to change. We want it to stop. We want people to be able to get off planes in three hours. We want them, if there really is an act of god, to be able to be fed, have potable water in a bottle, to be able to have hygienic toilets, access to electricity so they can have breathable air and temperature control. The basic human needs that frankly a prisoner of war gets per the Geneva convention, but an airline passenger, it's the only business on the planet that we're aware of that doesn't provide it. We don't get it as an airline passenger at all.
CHETRY: When you put it that way, it does sound ludicrous, doesn't it?
HANNI: Yes.
CHETRY: Also your passenger bill of rights did pass in the house and it's stuck in the senate now. Why?
HANNI: Yes. Well, Chairman Rockefeller evidently wanted some things in the senate that had nothing to do with our bill, and he has decided to hold up that bill and has asked for an extension on the bill and he wanted it to be extended until September. And there's some push back. And many of the senators are saying please don't extend it that long. Please make it July. Of course, we'd like it to be right now. And we're here two weeks out of every month in Washington stomping the halls of the Senate, but the airlines are there every day, and they're pushing not to the have it happen, and the reason is that they don't like what's in the house bill. And so, you know, basically, Senator Rockefeller is someone that we need to appeal to and have him understand how important passenger rights are. I'm not sure that Chairman Rockefeller flies commercial aircraft. And I'm not sure that he actually has ever experienced what we have experienced. So we need his help.
CHETRY: You know, just yesterday the director of Delta Airlines operation at the control center told federal regulators that if there was this requirement to unload passengers after a certain amount of time that possibly end up leading to more people stuck on the tarmac, more delays and possibly causing a plane to miss maintenance. Do you agree that there, in some cases, could be a problem with trying to regulate an exact time frame?
HANNI: I am on the task force with that gentleman. The task force was held from 8:30 yesterday morning until 5:00 p.m. I was the keynote speaker at that task force and I heard his arguments. We are against the merger between Delta and Northwest Airlines, and his argument holds no water. Basically, they're using the safety argument. They're using the, you will not be able to get another flight argument, and the truth is, why do they load passengers on a plane that's not going to take off? I mean, Southwest has been pretty successful at not putting people on planes until the plane is going to take off within a half hour. All of the airlines have the ability to do that, and yet they're not doing it. They're putting people on the planes. Pushing back and sitting them out there on the tarmac because they've got their money and it's easier to control the passenger if they're out on the tarmac than in the terminal. It you're in the terminal, you might ask for your money back or say I want to rent a car or take a train to get to my destination. You know, another alternative. And they don't want to have to deal with the customer service issues that might ensue.
CHETRY: All right. Kate Hanni will be delivering this report card to Congress today, 10:00 a.m. so keep us posted. Thanks for joining us.
HANNI: You bet. Thanks for having me.
ROBERTS: Coming up on 43 minutes after the hour. And a ...
CHETRY: Which brings us to our "Quick Vote" question, which we've been asking whether or not people think this passenger bill of rights should pass or not. Do you think it's time for the senate to do it? Well, 69 percent of you feel it's long overdo. 18 percent of you think, even if they do pass it, it's probably not going to make a difference and there's 14 percent who think it's not necessary. Thanks so much for weighing in. We're going to have one more like at the "Quick Vote" tally before we leave you today.
ROBERTS: Sorry, I didn't mean to be a but insky (ph). I just want to see this Geneva convention for passengers. Holy cow.
Conservative talk show host is fighting mad at John McCain after the Republican denounce his verbal assault on Barack Obama at a McCain rally yesterday. We're going to hear why Bill Cunningham is now turning up the heat on John McCain.
And shark diving. It's one of the most popular tourist activities for adventurers. But one man paid the ultimate price for the experience this past weekend. We're looking at the debate over the extreme sports. That's coming up. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: A war of words is brewing in the Republican camp this morning over John McCain's warm-up act in an event yesterday. A radio talk show host was invited to warm up the crowd at a McCain rally in Ohio. He was blasted for attacking Barack Obama but now the host has turned his fire on John McCain after McCain denounced him. It's getting ugly. I talked with Bill Cunningham last night on CNN's "Election Center."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL CUNNIGNHAM, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: John McCain threw me under the bus, under the straight talk express.
ROBERTS: Hours after serving as his warm-up act in Cincinnati, radio talk show host Bill Cunningham had decidedly some cold words for the Republican front-runner for president.
CUNNINGHAM: I've had it up to here with John McCain. He's off the list. I'm joining Ann Coulter in supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton.
ROBERTS: Cunningham says he was doing what the campaign asked him to do, fire up the conservative crowd by tossing out some, in Cunningham's words, "red meat." And he delivered a feast, taking aim at Senator Barack Obama.
CUNNINGHAM: Well, my fellow Americans now we have a hack Chicago-style daily politician who's picturing himself as change. Peel the bark of Barack Hussein Obama. That day will come, then you'll know the truth about his business dealings with Resco when he got sweetheart deals in Chicago.
ROBERTS: But after McCain immediately denounced him
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will take responsibility and I apologize for it. CUNNINGHAM: The local radio legend turned his sights on the Republican senator and fired away.
CUNNINGHAM: I for one regret that John McCain is the nominee of the conservative party because John McCain is not a conservative. He ought to be attacking Obama politically and not attacking Bill Cunningham, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
ROBERTS: Cunningham stood by his repeated use of Obama's middle name, Hussein.
CUNNINGHAM: His name is proudly Barack Hussein Obama, and people that object to that, they're the racists.
ROBERTS: And despite denials from Senator McCain, Cunningham insisting he and the senator knew each other.
CUNNINGHAM: I met him twice. His people called me specifically. His people said you're the guy we want because you've met John.
ROBERTS: Senator McCain insists he never met Cunningham. Aides to the McCain say that the senator has no memory of meeting him but said that it was possible that McCain said hello or exchanged small talk with Cunningham at a fund-raiser and just doesn't recall that event. Certainly, he can recall what's happened in the last 24 hours.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Exactly. Wow, fiery. A lot of energy for you last night, huh?
ROBERTS: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Well, CNN NEWSROOM is just minutes away. Heidi Collins is at the CNN Center now with a look at what's ahead. Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Kiran. That's right. Clashing Cleveland on the NEWSROOM rundown. Hillary Clinton came to fight but was there a knockout? I talked to an insider about Ohio politics six days before that state's primary.
And interest rates are down, but inflation is up. The fed chairman live on Capitol Hill trying to steady the wobbly economy.
And this photo. Too hot to handle for the people of one small town. A flash of skin cost the mayor her job. Hmm. Those stories and breaking news all in the NEWSROOM, top of the hour right here on CNN. Kiran.
CHETRY: Wow, the mayor works out. All right.
COLLINS: Yes.
ROBERTS: In her underwear. That's the problem.
COLLINS: Just without the clothes. No biggie!
CHETRY: Oh, goodness. Heidi, thanks so much.
COLLINS: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, they're banned off the coast. You can't do it in Florida, but legally in some open waters after a tourist tragic death, a debate over whether shark dives should be shut down for good, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, open water dives one of the hottest tickets in adventure travel right now. Eager divers and thrill seekers paying big bucks for the experience. One of them an Austrian tourist who died Sunday after being bitten by a shark on one of those cage less dives off the Bahamas.
My next guest is a film maker and shark expert who recently took that same dive. Rob Stewart joins me now from Beach, Florida. Rob, thanks for being with us this morning.
ROB STEWART, SHARK EXPERT/FILMMAKER: Thanks.
CHETRY: So, tell us a little bit about what it's like to go on these types of dives?
STEWART: Diving with sharks underwater is an amazing experience. You get to see firsthand that these animals are not menacing predators. But they're in fact beautiful, magnificent animals that are essential for all life on earth and actually don't want anything to do with people. They're there simply interested in the food. And you know, the shark population has dropped so dramatically over the last 30 years you can't really get interaction with sharks in the open water without bringing food under water to entice them to come around. So, sharks come around, they're interested in the bait and leave you alone.
CHETRY: So what do you think went wrong here? This was Marcus Groh, 49 years old. He was bitten on the leg. It was blood less that ended up taking his life.
STEWART: Yes. We spent 200 days a year under water filming shark water with dive operations just like this and with this operation. And you know, they've had a flawless track record. This is the first fatality ever from a shark diving operation. So, what happened in this situation, from my understanding, the shark was picking up a crate full of bait, full of food, moving that around, that went into the diver and the diver fallen and stirred up a lot of sand and in this sort of chaos the shark bit the diver's calf instead of the bait. Realizing he got something he didn't want, it let go and the diver had a cut on his leg. That shows you there's no flesh removed. The shark didn't actually eat the person or the person's leg. It shows you intent was not to do harm. It's a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to the family, but people should realize the reality is not that the shark was attempting to eat the man. CHETRY: I understand. There are also, I guess, a distinction made between what type of sharks you go diving with? Right? I mean, in its Web site and this tour group that advertised, being able to swim with tiger sharks and gray hammerhead sharks. Obviously, for people that know sharks a little more aggressive than let's say a reef shark or a nerf shark?
STEWART: Yes, absolutely. Every different shark has different personalities. But as you go higher up on the ladder, there are sharks that are potentially threatening for humans, the shark encounters and shark bites really don't increase that much. If you look at Great white sharks, and tiger sharks, five people a year get killed by sharks on average. And those aren't really eaten by sharks. So, situations like this, you know, it's a terrible mistake but I don't think it's one that's going to happen in the future and it shouldn't stop people from going diving with sharks. Human diving with sharks is actually saving sharks in many areas and proving they're worth more money in the water than they are dead.
CHETRY: I know what you're saying but they don't allow this in Florida. They don't allow this open type of diving, as I understand it. And in the Bahamas, the Bahamas Diving Association president, also sent a letter to this tour group leader saying that unfortunately it seemed to be an I told you so type of letter?
STEWART: I've lost audio.
CHETRY: All right. Rob's unable to hear us. Again it is not aloud in the United States or at least off the waters of Florida, in the Bahamas, it's not encouraged but it is still allowed, and there are people that have many different viewpoints on this as we've heard from Rob. He thinks it should be allowed to happen and called it a very isolated incident.
ROBERTS: Well, that's why they take these tours all the way out to Bimini, to get passed U.S. territorial waters and get in Bahamas where they're actually allowed to do this stuff. And this fellow had to be airlifted as well after the shark bites. That lag time obviously might have contributed as well.
A quick look now at what CNN NEWSROOM or sorry results of this morning's "Quick Vote" question that's coming up next in AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: A final check of this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Do you think it's time for the Senate to pass a passenger bill of rights for the airlines. 68 percent say long overdo. 18 percent say it won't make a difference. 14 percent say not necessary. To all of you who voted thanks very much and thanks for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'll see you from Washington tomorrow.
CHETRY: All right. See you then. Back Friday. Meanwhile, CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins begins right now.
COLLINS: Good morning, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday.
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