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American Morning
Prince Harry Recalled from Afghanistan; Oil Hits $103 Per Barrel; Tuesday Showdown: Obama Stumps Texas; Money Problems: Slowing Economy and Inflation; Ricin Found in Las Vegas?
Aired February 29, 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: Breaking news: oil prices explode overnight. Bracing for the fallout when you fill up.
Bio terror. Ricin found in a Las Vegas hotel room. Four people in the hospital. Who's at risk?
Leap day politics. Four possible presidents deep in the heart of Texas on this AMERICAN MORNING.
There's all kinds of news to tell you about on this Friday morning, the 29th of February. A leap day today.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Once every four years and a lot going on.
We start, though, with some breaking news. Not the best news, of course, to wake up to this morning. And that is that while you were sleeping, oil hit a new record, now more than $103 a barrel. This was in overnight trading in Asia, and the combination of the weak dollar and the potential for even lower interest rates also helped send oil higher.
Wall Street now expecting the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by another half point in March. It comes after two days of testimony on Capitol Hill by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke who explained that a slowing economy is not his only worry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: The other, I think, problem is that we do have greater inflation pressure at this point than we did in 2001. And that's coming -- the simple number is that in 2001 the price of oil was somewhere around $20. Today it's $100.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: After a key economic report yesterday showed that the U.S. economy was growing but barely, President Bush was asked if we were in a recession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think we're headed to a recession. But no question we're in a slowdown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Worries about the U.S. economy are spreading throughout the world this morning. Stocks in Asia lower today. Japan's Nikkei fell by more than 300 points.
So following all these developments this morning is Ali Velshi. He's touring Texas on the CNN Election Express. He's in San Antonio this morning following more about this situation. First, let's start off with the news about oil closing -- did it close at $103, or did it reach it at one point?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, it settled at 102.59 yesterday, gaining almost $3 in one day. And then overnight, above $103. 103.05. It has since pulled back a little bit. But now, we're in -- we're in a whole different territory with oil prices. We know that gas prices were up almost 80. That would be more than 80 cents in the last year, almost 20 cents in the last two weeks. So it's a big deal around here.
President Bush, you heard those comments about him saying we're not in a recession. Well, the bottom line is I talked to people here in San Antonio. Here's what they had to say about President Bush's comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAYNE BRYAN, TEXAS VOTER: You got to do is go to the grocery store and see that things are 50 cents, a dollar more than they were just, you know, a few months ago. And so, something has got to be done about that.
SAM DUDLEY, TEXAS VOTER: We are in one hell of a fix, economy- wise, because everything is downhill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: I spoke to a few people who said, no, we're not technically in a recession because a people know technically what a recession is, but they all talk about an economic downturn. You're right. By the end of 2007, growth in the U.S. economy was just 0.6 percent. Again, not a recession. We know it did not start in 2007, but it could have started since then. The bottom line is people are spending less.
The Dow is set for another big tumble this morning because AIG, the country's biggest, largest insurer wrote off -- had a loss of $5.2 billion yesterday. AIG is one of the 30 Dow components, so we know it's going to drag the Dow down. The futures are pointing to 100 points lower right now as we speak, Kiran. So it's going to be a busy complicated business day again.
CHETRY: And then, how does the possibility of that rate cut factor in?
VELSHI: Well, we've got a rate cut set for about the middle of March or a Fed meeting set for the middle of March. Right now, the people who deal in a trade based on what the Fed is going to do, 100 percent chance of another 50 basis point cut. That's half a percentage point again. The problem now is we are getting pretty low on those Fed rates. They could run out of tools.
Remember one thing, that the Fed has brakes and a gas pedal. It's like driving a car without gears and without a steering wheel. They can only slow it down or speed it up. And right now, the economy may demand something a little more complicated, Kiran.
CHETRY: Ali Velshi for us. We'll talk a little bit more about what you're hearing from voters coming up later in the hour as well. Thanks, Ali.
ROBERTS: Well, today is our leap year bonus day. Because of that, we thought that we would do more of what we do best here at CNN, cover politics. There are just four days to go now until the crucial election on Tuesday. Rebounding from a rough fund-raising in January, Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign reporting it raised more than $35 million this month. That is a record haul for her White House run.
So far, the Obama camp is keeping mum about what it raised but the "Chicago Tribune" is calling Obama "the $50 million man" quoting sources saying, he shattered monthly donation records. And Obama is spending a lot of that money in Texas. Statistics show that he has aired nearly twice as many television spots as Hillary Clinton, as the candidates stump in the final days before the Tuesday primaries.
CNN's Jessica Yellin is following the Obama campaign live this morning in Houston. Jessica, 96 hours to go until Tuesday, what a lot of people are calling junior Super Tuesday. What are the candidates' plans for today?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you won't be surprised to hear that they are stumping hard. Barack Obama is going to be traveling throughout the state of Texas. He'll be meeting with veterans, with evangelicals, will have a prayer meeting, and then he'll end the day with a major rally. Barack Obama these days, John, is taking attacks from all sides from Republicans, from Democrats. And frankly, this couldn't be better news for his campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN (voice-over): While he's courting votes near the president's Texas ranch ...
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Thank you.
YELLIN: ...a chorus of detractors is fighting to keep him out of the White House. The presumptive Republican nominee on Iraq.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Obama said, well, we shouldn't have gone in in the first place. Well, that's history. That's the past.
YELLIN: The other Democratic contender on his record in the Senate.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My opponent said he never held a substantive meeting because he was off running for president. So I don't think he should be touting that as experience.
YELLIN: And the current White House occupant on his offer to meet with tyrants.
BUSH: It can send chilling signals and messages to our allies. It can send confusion about our foreign policy.
YELLIN: So far, Barack Obama is playing it cool.
OBAMA: I'll give Bush credit.
I have enormous respect for Senator Clinton.
I revere John McCain's service to this country. He is a genuine American hero.
YELLIN: He is distancing himself from the fight ...
OBAMA: It's just that John McCain seems to be talking about me a lot.
YELLIN: And he hits back only on the issues that he wants to highlight.
OBAMA: For the president to say that he doesn't think we're in a recession is consistent with his general attitude towards ordinary workers.
YELLIN: No doubt there will be more incoming fire with Republican opposition already calling him a hypocrite on special interests, challenging his position on public financing, and reminding reporters of an IRS investigation into his church.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN: Now, Barack Obama tells reporters that he's still squarely focused on Tuesday's races in Ohio and Texas, and he's not thinking about the general election. But the fact that these people are going after him, the president in particular targeting him, only helps feed the inevitability, the perception of inevitability that Barack Obama is going to win the nomination and help Obama position himself as if he's already the nominee -- John.
ROBERTS: But the flip side of that, Jessica, how much of that fire from the Republican side is aimed to try to tear Obama down so that Hillary Clinton becomes the nominee, because Republicans would like to run against her in the general election more than they would Barack Obama?
YELLIN: It's a factor. Yes, it's no doubt a factor. I have to say, John, that we used to get a ton of negative e-mail about Hillary Clinton from the Republican Party, just a barrage every day. Almost all their comments are aimed at Barack Obama. And the polls show that Hillary Clinton on the ticket actually helped the Republicans more than having Barack Obama on the ticket. I get a genuine sense that the Republican would really rather run against Hillary than Obama.
ROBERTS: All right. Jessica Yellin for us this morning live from Houston, Texas. Jessica, thanks very much.
Obama's campaign economics also showing up on Republican Mike Huckabee's radar. Until now, he's avoided harsh attacks against the Democratic front-runner, but yesterday he pounced on Obama for the cost of his plans. Huckabee says Obama's proposals so far cost about $287 billion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we were doing the MasterCard commercial, we'd simply say, we know what some of the costs are, some of the items on his agenda priceless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Huckabee will stay in Texas until the Tuesday primary. Polls show that's the state that he is doing best in, but he still trails fellow Republican John McCain by 25 points in the Lone Star state.
He is hundreds of miles away from the magic monitor, but John King is still on top of the race for the White House. He's going to join us at 7:40 live from the other big Tuesday prize, the state of Ohio -- Kiran.
CHETRY: We're also following breaking news from London this morning. British military officials are saying Prince Harry is being withdrawn from Afghanistan immediately. In fact, they confirm that news to CNN moments ago after news of his deployment was leaked in the media. The Defense Ministry is calling the media leak "regrettable."
The military says it decided to remove him because the worldwide coverage of his presence in Afghanistan is seen as a big threat to his safety and to that of his fellow soldiers on the front lines. The prince has been deployed in southern Afghanistan, an area of heavy fighting with the Taliban. We're getting a live report from Buckingham Palace in just a couple of minutes.
There's also breaking news out of Las Vegas this morning. Police and Homeland Security agents are waiting for the final test results on a substance found in a hotel. This is certainly not something you see every day. Preliminary tests showing it is the deadly poison Ricin. Employees found the powder in a room yesterday afternoon. Seven people came in contact with that Ricin. They were decontaminated at the site and then taken to local hospitals as a precaution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. JOE LOMBARDO, LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have three employees of Extended Stay America. We have another citizen at large who has a cursory interest in the apartment. He was cleaning out some items within the apartment when he discovered this and brought it into the management because he didn't know what it was. And he initially said that it didn't belong to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: According to the CDC Web site, as little as 500 micrograms, something that could be found about the size of the head of a pin can kill a human. Ricin made headlines back in 2003 because the Feds fear that terrorists could easily produce it. It's made from the waste after processing castor beans. So far, though, police say this does not appear to be terror related.
So what exactly is Ricin? And what does the substance do to the body? CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us live at the medical desk in Atlanta. And that's certainly isn't something that you hear every day. This is certainly a top concern. But, wow, the possibility that Ricin was found at this Las Vegas hotel. How dangerous is it?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's pretty potent stuff as you mentioned. First of all, you know, when they do the screening tests, Kiran, they're sort of designed to have a lot of positives, meaning that they're going to find lots of different substances as they do the confirmatory tests.
You know, it may not come back that this was Ricin. So, you know, we have to still think about that. But, you know, this is potent stuff. As you mentioned, 500 micrograms can potentially kill somebody and kill somebody fairly quickly, within three to five days. There's really three different ways that someone might get exposed to Ricin. They either inhale it. They ingest it or injected with it in some way.
Now, with regards to inhalation, because that's what we're probably talking about here, if in fact this was Ricin. You can have all sorts of different symptoms. People may start to develop fever. They might start to develop cough, nausea, fluid in the lungs, organ failure, sort of generally. And this is basically what's happening, what Ricin is doing to the body, sort of shutting it down.
These seven people in the hospital that you mentioned, Kiran, will probably be observed. Looking mainly to see if there's some unusual fever, cough. They'll probably get chest x-rays to see if there's any fluid build-up in the lungs. That's going to be the first sign that maybe there was an exposure. There is no specific test, and there's no specific antidote either, Kiran.
CHETRY: That's unbelievable. And as we said before, it's not something that's terribly common, right? I mean, this is not something that you see used. The last time, I guess, the most high profile was this 1978 assassination of a Bulgarian dissident.
GUPTA: Right. It's not commonly used, although the process by which it is made is sort of interesting. Actually when they make castor bean oil, that whole processing leaves what's called a mash. It's sort of a byproduct of the substance, and that subsequently is the genesis for Ricin. So it's from, you know, these castor bean plants, castor oil plants, I should say, all over the world.
But getting a hold of that mash is not very common and it's not commonly used. Kiran, it's not a particularly effective tool of, for example, terrorism or certainly mass terrorism. While a small amount can kill somebody if injected, in order to actually make it a mass terrorism tool, you would need tons and tons of this. And that's obviously hard to get.
CHETRY: Right. All right. Fascinating to say the least. And again, as you point out, these are preliminary tests. They're going to find out more in a few hours. And, of course, we'll bring you the latest as we hear about this possible discovery of Ricin in a Las Vegas motel room.
Thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thanks, Kiran.
ROBERTS: He showed no mercy unleashing chemical attacks and committing genocide on Saddam Hussein's orders. Now, Chemical Ali, it looks, will pay the ultimate price. The decision by Iraq's new government coming up.
And Prince Harry being pulled out of Afghanistan after the public disclosure of his combat deployment there. A live report from Buckingham Palace ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Seventeen minutes after the hour. We have been following breaking news from London this morning. Britain's Prince Harry being pulled out of Afghanistan immediately after media leaks disclosed his secret combat deployment. A statement from the British Defense Ministry calls the leak "regrettable" and says the prince is being removed because of potential threats to him and his army unit. Prince Harry spent 10 weeks in the front lines in southern Afghanistan. There is a concern that he could become a prime target for the Taliban if he stays.
CNN's Phil Black is live for us this morning at Buckingham Palace. And we should point out, Phil, that while it was a media leak that caused him to be pulled out of Afghanistan, the media was well aware, at least there in Britain and CNN as well, of what was going on.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very true, John. For 10 weeks, there has been an agreement in place between the British media and some international outlets including CNN not to report the fact that Harry is in Afghanistan. This was a carefully negotiated agreement with the British military, and it has held quite remarkably for some 10 weeks. But it was always going to be a tough ask. The agreement did not take in other aspects of the world media. And so, the story has leaked. It has gained momentum, and it has now this worldwide force that we have seen. And the British military have come to this conclusion that it is simply too dangerous to keep Harry there.
Let me read to you from the statement that they have released just a short time ago. "This decision has been taken primarily on the basis that the worldwide media coverage of Prince Harry in Afghanistan could impact on the security of those who are deployed there, as well as the risk to him as an individual soldier."
No surprise here. This is essentially the reasoning behind this elaborate operation to maintain the secrecy. It was also the reasoning that kept him from going to Iraq just last year. His nickname within the army, after all, among his fellow British soldiers is the bullet magnet -- John.
ROBERTS: Right. So, Phil, are they just suspecting that there could be threats against him? Do they have any evidence that Islamist militants are actively pursuing him? There were some reports that there were urgings on Web sites, Islamist Web sites for militants to try to search him out and do him harm.
BLACK: Since this story has broken, there have been reports that, yes, perhaps Islamic militants would be targeting him. I mean, certainly, he is an attractive target. When it was publicly announced that he would be going to Iraq last year, the response was considerable. There were said to be direct threats to the prince himself. Again, it was determined that it was simply too dangerous for him as an individual, too dangerous for the British soldiers that would be serving with him. And so, on that occasion, the decision was reversed and he was told not to go.
In this case, I think it was expected that the Taliban would respond to the same way -- in the same way that the Iraqi insurgents did. As I say, he would make a very attractive target. And it would be a big blow to the British military if the ghastly situation were to take place where either he was shot, injured or perhaps even taken hostage -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Phil Black for us this morning outside of Buckingham Palace in London. Phil, thanks -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, you're watching the most news in the morning. And still ahead, word overnight from Iraq showing no mercy on Chemical Ali. The death sentence stands.
And extreme weather causing all types of problems on the road. A snowy forecast ahead as well on AMERICAN MORNING. Rob Marciano following all for us at the extreme weather desk in Atlanta.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. Our Veronica De La Cruz here now with other stories new this morning. Good morning.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to both of you. Happy Friday.
CHETRY: You too.
DE LA CRUZ: TGIF, thank goodness. And Happy leap year as well.
ROBERTS: Hey, I'd love to be here all through the weekend if I possibly could. But we got to turn it over to other people.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. Yes, you're right about that.
Well, good morning to all of you out there. New this morning. One of Saddam Hussein's most notorious henchmen will now meet the same fate as the former dictator. Iraq's president has approved the execution of the man known as Chemical Ali. He was Saddam's first cousin and his defense minister. Chemical Ali was convicted in June of last year and sentenced to death for his role in killing at least 100,000 Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s. Kurds gave him his notorious nickname for using chemical weapons in those genocidal attacks.
Well, police in Los Angeles say they have a suspect in custody responsible for firing into a crowd at a bus stop earlier this week. 24-year-old Billy Ray Hines was arrested yesterday afternoon while walking down a street near the scene of the shooting. Police plan to charge Hines with 10 counts of attempted murder. One for each of the eight people who were shot and two more for those police believed for his intended victims.
There are new calls for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to resign. The Detroit City Council passed a resolution accusing him of using his office for personal gain. The resolution accuses Kilpatrick of lying under oath when he denied that he was involved with a romantic relationship with his former chief of staff. A Detroit paper found text messages between them, indicating there was a relationship. Kilpatrick has denied wrongdoing, and he is vowing to stay on as mayor of Detroit.
Well, one of the world's most active volcanoes is spewing lava again. Scientists this morning say lava from Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano destroyed three abandoned houses this week. In all, Kilauea has destroyed 66 homes and buildings since it began erupting on January 3, 1983.
Finally, there is a new baby polar bear in town. Take a look. A German zoo announcing the birth of Wilbaer, now more than two months old. The young male cub is still being cared for by mom. The zoo says it kept the little guy's arrival under wraps because it didn't want to spark immediate frenzy that erupted around Knut last year. Probably something that you remember.
I can look at those pictures all day long.
CHETRY: Yes. I'm loving these polar bears. This one's so cute. There was another one last week, right? That took Knut's place.
ROBERTS: A few weeks ago, I think. Yes.
CHETRY: What was that one's name?
DE LA CRUZ: I forget.
ROBERTS: Is it Flocke or something?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, Flocke. Flocke was adorable as well.
ROBERTS: Flocke and Wilbaer and ...
CHETRY: So cute.
DE LA CRUZ: So this one's under wraps until May because they don't want it, you know, gaining notoriety. Apparently, Knut ...
CHETRY: They don't want all those fame getting to its head so early.
DE LA CRUZ: Knut has a movie deal I was reading online. So ...
ROBERTS: Well, you see, none of these other bears have the back story that Knut had as well.
DE LA CRUZ: Right. Right.
ROBERTS: That Knut was an orphan let's not forget.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. Yes. That Corinna, the mom of this new baby bear, she's right there.
CHETRY: She's doing a good job.
DE LA CRUZ: She's doing a good job.
CHETRY: Thanks, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Sure.
CHETRY: We're also tracking extreme weather for you today. Check out the video from the roads of Dakota County, Minnesota. There you see it. Wintry weather causing several accidents. You see some of the cars smashed up there. Emergency vehicles on the roads. That storm could also be headed to many other parts of the country today.
Rob Marciano is tracking where this extreme weather is headed for us today. Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran.
Yes, weather only a polar bear would love, I assume. We hear of snow moving across parts of Michigan. This all came through Minnesota, part of the video you just saw there. We are seeing snow eastward into parts of northern Ohio. Two to four inches expected.
This is an Alberta clipper. It's a fast mover. We have a ton of moisture with it, but it has enough to dump an inch and a half of snow in Chicago so we already have delays there. Just an inch and a half, and they've got an hour delay at O'Hare. So be aware of that if you're traveling through that big time Midwestern hub.
All right. Here's your Alberta clipper. It starts in Alberta, dry place. It's a quick mover. It will dump a swath of snow across the western Great Lakes today, anywhere from three to six inches of snow. And then, it will get to the East Coast, maybe gather a little bit more moisture by Saturday morning. So five to 10 inches of snow expected across parts of northern New England and winter storm warnings are posted for that area.
Here's our computer model showing exactly where the heaviest amounts of snow will fall. Maine will see probably a foot plus. Upstate New York, maybe 10 inches. It doesn't paint a whole lot of snow across the I-95 corridor, but I think -- well, probably, the folks in New York will see a couple of inches of snow on the ground by around this time tomorrow morning. Not enough to cause too many problems but just enough to get the kids excited on a Saturday morning.
Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: That's right. Got the sled and everything. It's just trying to keep the kid on the sled that's the challenge, especially when they're two. You're pulling it, the next thing you know, whoop. Where did they go?
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: Not that it happened to me personally. I just read about that.
ROBERTS: I thought that there was a big tree at the bottom of the hill.
Now to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. It's leap day which means that we're going to spend a lot of today talking about politics. Now that we've got this opportunity, we have an extra day to do it.
So we're asking you this morning, do you think we'll know who the presidential nominees will be after Tuesday's primaries? Well, right now, 62 percent of you say yes. Thirty-eight percent don't think so. Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. We'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.
You're watching the most news in the morning. A royal exit from Afghanistan. British military pulling Prince Harry from the front lines after public disclosure of his secret 10-week deployment there.
And breaking news. A lethal poison found in a Las Vegas motel room. Who put it there and why were they messing with it?
Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is following the potential terror threat coming up next. And new concerns about your money this morning as oil sets another record. Ali Velshi is following from Texas on the CNN Election Express. Good morning, Ali.
VELSHI: Good morning, John. There's my ride over there. We're at the Alamo in San Antonio. Yesterday, President Bush said we're not in a recession. Folks around here don't believe, and I'll have more for you on that in a moment. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A shot this morning from Nashville, Tennessee, coming to us from courtesy WSMV. It's 44 and cloudy in Nashville right now. This afternoon showers are expected, a high of 52 degrees.
ROBERTS: Well, I had enough of this. I'm ready for the day we can say sunny and 72, with a high of 85.
CHETRY: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: It can't happen soon enough for me.
We're following breaking news this morning out of Las Vegas. A deadly poison found in a motel room yesterday. Early tests say it's Ricin. We're expecting confirmation from police and Homeland Security in a just few hours' time.
CNN's Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live in our Washington Bureau now with the very latest. Jeanne, the Feds are quick to say it's not terrorism. But they know what the source of this Ricin was?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, they don't know yet. They are not saying definitively it's not terrorism. They don't believe it's terrorism at this point in time. The suspected Ricin was found in an extended stay America motel, not far from the Vegas strip by someone saying he was retrieving articles from a room there. That individual, three hotel employees and three police officers are being watched for signs of Ricin poisoning. At last report, they had not shown any symptoms.
Authorities say at this point, they do not believe, as I said, as I said this is a case of terrorism, but the investigation continues. Police say they have no suspects in the case but they are checking out the individual who most recently rented that room. Meanwhile, hazardous materials teams are trying to make the effected areas safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had three different locations. The manager's office, the residence in question and the quarantined apartment. They have all been cleaned or for lack of a better term, decontaminated at this point and considered safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MESERVE: Ricin is a highly lethal substance made from castor beans and authorities say they found castor beans in that motel. Ricin was used most famously in 1978 in the assassination of a Bulgarian dissident, Georgi Markov, who was killed in London by a poison dart filled with Ricin and fired from an umbrella. The KGB was suspected in that case, but in again in this instance authorities do not have any indication of terrorism at this point in time as their investigation and tests continue -- John.
ROBERTS: Jeanne, of course, the tests for Ricin are extremely sensitive. If memory serves correctly, there are been other cases where it was found to be Ricin but only as a byproduct of the bean, hadn't actually been purified into the poison. What are they saying about the purity of this substance?
MESERVE: You know, we haven't read anything about that at this point in time. I think until they have the tests done and confirmed, that's what it is, they wouldn't be able to comment on that. John.
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning from Washington. Jeanne will be back with more on this as we get it this morning -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, we have breaking news this morning on oil. Oil prices hitting a record overnight in trading going over $103 a barrel. So, what does this mean for the already slowing U.S. economy?
Ali Velshi is in San Antonio, Texas, this morning. He is traveling with the CNN "Election Express." So, we see another, yet another surge in oil prices, Ali.
VELSHI: Yes, Kiran. Before we had these records, we had today's, we had yesterday's, we had Monday's. Before we had that, the number one topic people were talking to me about when I would ask them what their concerns about the economy are is gas prices, oil prices, diesel prices to power their farm equipment or their trucks, the big trucking country or the cars that they drive.
Let's look at what oil did. $102.59 overnight, last night. Yesterday, it settled at that up to 2.95. And then higher overnight to $103.05. It's pulled back a little. This is speculative trading. It's the same fundamentals affecting the price of oil but yesterday in a news conference, President Bush was asked at point blank does he think we are in a recession?
Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I don't think we're headed to a recession. But no question we are in a slowdown. That's why we acted and acted strongly with over $150 billion worth of pro-growth economic incentives.
OBAMA: We're in a recession, is consistent with his general attitude towards ordinary workers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: I got to say, I spoke to a lot of people here and in other places in Texas about recession and what they think about it. Most people I'm talking about, do feel that the United States is in a recession. The numbers don't indicate that certainly as of December 31st, 2007, our numbers say that the U.S. was still growing economically. If even by a little bit.
But here's what somebody told me on the streets of San Antonio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUBEN RAMIREZ, TEXAS VOTERS: President Bush, I believe, doesn't know what he's talking about. Because this is a recession. What are they going to do about these gas prices going up? Or you can't even afford to go anywhere because, you know, they're outrageously upped in prices. And people with the wages that we make now, we just can't keep up with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: But a lot of people have been telling me that we've had people come up to us saying that they really like President Bush and that they are Republicans, they just don't feel that the government wants to spread this bad news and sort of feed into the problem that consumers are feeling right now, feed into their idea that we may be in a recession. But most people believing that, in fact, the United States is in one -- Kiran.
CHETRY: You always say that's only an indicator that you can go back and check later, after you have already been through those quarters. I mean, under the definition of a recession.
VELSHI: Absolutely.
CHETRY: All right. No argument there.
VELSHI: By definition, you don't know you are in a recession until you start it.
CHETRY: Right. And no doubt and everybody is acknowledging, including the President that we are in slowing times and we do have a lot of difficulties ahead. And the high price of oil and gas certainly doesn't help that. Ali, thank you.
ROBERTS: Thirty-seven minutes after the hour. We're also following breaking news from London this morning. British military officials say Prince Harry is being withdrawn from Afghanistan immediately after public disclosure of his secret deployment there. The Defense Ministry calling the media leaks about his presence "regrettable."
The military says it decided to remove him because the worldwide coverage of his presence in Afghanistan could threaten the Prince's safety and that of his fellow soldiers in the front lines. The Prince has been deployed in southern Afghanistan in an area of heavy fighting with the Taliban for the past ten weeks.
CNN and other news organizations knew about the Prince's deployment. We agreed, in exchange for access to the Prince, to a British military request not report it for security reasons until now. In a recent interview, the Prince spoke about everything from his daily duties on the front lines to what he misses most about Buckingham Palace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE HARRY, BLUES AND ROYALS REGIMENT: I'm in the ops room, I have the OC next to me, worst case scenario, if I have to drop a bomb to get these guys out of contact to all the guys on the ground, I just turnaround, he's on my shoulder, I say can I drop? He'll say, yeah, drop.
Taliban and his mates as soon as they hit air, they go to ground, so which makes life a little bit trickier. Having air, something that gives us a visual feedback from way up means they can carry on their normal sort of passage of life and we can follow them.
I need to keep my face slightly covered in the off chance I do get recognized, which will put other guys in danger. I'm called the "bullet magnet."
Yeah, I haven't had a shower for four day. I haven't washed my clothes for a week. And everything seems completely normal. I don't -- honestly I don't know what I miss at all. Music. We got music. We got lights. We got food. We got drink. No, I don't miss booze, if that's the next question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, Prince Harry spent almost three months on the front lines in Afghanistan. Again, new this morning, British military officials say he will be withdrawn immediately after public disclosure of his secret deployment there -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, you are watching the most news in the morning. And still ahead a shopping scare. Walls crumble. The ceiling collapses. Shoppers ended up running for their lives. We'll tell you what happened there.
Also, it's a countdown to super Tuesday. The candidates spending this leap day on the campaign trail. And our John King is taking the campaign pulse in Ohio this morning. Key crucial state for the voting taking place Tuesday. So, will both races be over by Wednesday?
Also a leap day political extra. The Democrats talk about universal health care. Only one state in the nation is offering it. So, could it work everywhere? We're paging Dr. Gupta ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning, here on CNN.
Broken glass, debris, a lot of questions after an explosion tore through a strip mall outside of Chicago. The blast was so powerful it also collapsed walls and blew the roof off. Nine people were hurt. None of them thankfully seriously. Investigators say a gas leak may to be blame. Neighbors say they had been smelling fumes for the past few days.
CHETRY: Well, four possible presidents are in Texas today heading into the critical primary there on Tuesday. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton remain in a tight race on the Democratic side. In a new CNN poll, it takes the average of three surveys, Barack Obama has a slight lead, 48 percent to 45 percent in Texas. But get this, 7 percent remain undecided.
On the Republican side, John McCain leading with 53 percent, Mike Huckabee at 34 percent. Ron Paul at 9 percent. Only 4 percent remain undecided. That is a Texas poll of polls. And there are just four days left until key primaries in Texas and Ohio. So, will they push Barack Obama to victory or will a struggling Hillary Clinton pull out another surprise like they did in New Hampshire?
Our chief national correspondent John King is covering the contest in Ohio where Clinton still holds an edge but Obama has been gaining momentum. John King joins me now this morning, thanks for being with us. What is the strategy, John? Sorry, go ahead.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm feeling a profound sense of abandonment, all the candidates have rushed off to Texas.
CHETRY: That's what happens, it is always bigger in Texas. You'll be there soon. You know, what's interesting, you know, yesterday Barack Obama was asked on his campaign plane whether or not this could be the end for Hillary on Tuesday.
Let's listen hear what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is writing the obituary of the Clinton campaign.
OBAMA: Well, I am not. Remember, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Remember New Hampshire, that was, of course, the big comeback for Hillary Clinton. Can she do a replay of that?
KING: There's no question that she can. The polls are very close in Texas. The polls are very close in Ohio. She is favored in Rhode Island, which also votes on Tuesday. Obama is expected to run up a big victory in Vermont, which also votes on Tuesday but Obama is being very careful. He has been in a sparring war of words with President Bush and with John McCain but at the same time he does not want to appear to be overconfident or cocky because Democratic voters might not like that. He remembers New Hampshire very well. He was way ahead of the polls. He was surprised in New Hampshire. Most Democrats are now warming to the idea that Barack Obama is their frontrunner but narrowly. Kiran, and let's watch and see what happens on Tuesday.
If Senator Clinton can win Ohio and Texas, there's still a question of how big of a margin she would need to catch up with the delegate chase. But if she can win those two big states, Ohio and Texas, well guess what, we'll hit the reset button on the Democratic race all over again.
CHETRY: How significant is the campaign numbers come out for the month? She raised a very, very respectable amount of $35 million. And then, of course, Barack Obama's campaign seems to be able to steal the thunder by letting out some whispers that maybe they raised much more than that, possibly as much as $50 million in February.
KING: There is no question the Obama fund-raising machine is one of the extraordinary stories of this campaign. She is the former first lady, her husband is a former president who was the powerhouse Democratic fund raiser throughout the 1990s and now here Barack Obama is beating her. But it is significant still, Hillary Clinton is now raising enough money, more than enough money to compete.
And if you turn on a TV here in Ohio or in Texas, you are seeing both of these campaigns all the time. Quite a bit of Internet advertising as well, radio advertising as well. So, if she loses in Ohio and Texas, Kiran, it will not be because she is that far behind in the resource game. Barack Obama is still ahead but Senator Clinton has enough to compete.
CHETRY: All right. Let's talk about the Republican side for a minute. A bit of a slip of the tongue yesterday for John McCain in Texas. Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I am a proud conservative liberal Republican -- conservative Republican -- hello. Easy there. Let me say this -- I'm a proud conservative Republican, and both of my possible or likely opponents today are liberal Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A bit of a funny moment for John McCain. And we know how many hours these candidates are out there on the trail. And you don't always say what you mean, especially when you are sleep-deprived as many of us know. But is that another opportunity for the conservatives that have been hammering him to pounce?
KING: No doubt about it, Kiran. As George W. Bush might say, never misunderestimate the ability to trip over your tongue when you're tired out there campaigning. We do it on live television from time to time. So, you know sometimes your tongue gets out ahead of your brain. That's what happened to Senator McCain yesterday.
But it's one of those things, he is in this battle with this conservative talk radio show hosts, here in Cincinnati and across the country and you can bet that one now goes into the audio board. And any time they want to poke fun at John McCain, bang, push the button, and that one will be played over and over again between now and November. You can bet the ranch on it.
CHETRY: Who said politics was fair, right, John?
KING: Absolutely. Nobody.
CHETRY: Exactly. All right. Well, good talking to you this morning. And you can make your way to Texas, too, since everyone abandoned you there in Ohio.
Meanwhile, the best political team on television will be in all of the key states today all the way through the primaries on Tuesday, March 4th. Ohio and Texas, the big prizes. And don't forget voters in Rhode Island and Vermont, are not to be counted out either. They will also be headed to the polls on March 4th.
ROBERTS: Massachusetts is doing what no other state has been able to do, provide universal health care, but will their plan work and work where you live? We are paging Dr. Gupta for this leap day extra.
Good morning, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Hey, good morning.
Yes, what is about Massachusetts that allows this plan to work? What has worked and what hasn't? And also, what about other states and their plans? I'm going to break it down for you. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It was an innovative plan that assured every one of its citizens had health insurance. And last year that plan went into effect in the state of Massachusetts and so far no other state has been able to duplicate it. Why not?
We are paging Dr. Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Atlanta. So, why not, Sanjay?
GUPTA: Well, I think when the plan was proposed in Massachusetts, you had several things happening. First of all, you had bipartisan support, then Governor Romney, Senator Ted Kennedy, sort of getting behind the plan. A lot of people who were uninsured, about 650,000 people. And of those uninsured, a lot of people could actually afford to buy health care insurance. So, those were some of the ingredients that I think that initially got this plan off the ground.
And so far there are been some things that worked and some things that have worked maybe not as well. 300,000 more people as you can see have health insurance. That's obviously a victory. About 100,000 to 350,000 depending on whose estimates you use, still without any kind of health care insurance. And the costs are high. They say $400 million by 2009. They anticipated that the costs are going to go up by hundreds of millions of dollars as more people and more people signed up for health care insurance.
But that sort of essentially what happened here. The Massachusetts plan does sort of focus on this idea of mandating people to buy health care insurance that can't afford it. And to fine people if they don't buy the health care insurance but it also provides some subsidies for people who find themselves in a situation where they need the healthcare insurance so they have to have it but they simply can't afford it and that's sort of the reason for some of these cost increases, John.
But, you know, I think those are the ingredients that allowed Massachusetts to sort of work and to continue to work for the last year or so.
ROBERTS: Right. Of course, the Democratic candidates are talking about universal health care, though it takes different forms, whether it's Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. That still is a long way and one election off at this point. Are there other states that are considering doing what Massachusetts is doing in the meantime?
GUPTA: Yes. And let me just say about the election, you are hearing two plans, similar, but some important differences between Senators Clinton and Obama with regards to health care. But as you mentioned, these are the plans that are being proposed, you still got to get elected. You still have to get them through Congress and what we saw in other states are some of those obstacles.
In California, you and I were there together, John. It can be very difficult. Governor Schwarzenegger proposed a similar plan to Massachusetts. They have 7 million uninsured in California and it was voted down in senate health committee. You got about nine other states that are sort of thinking about some sort of universal health care plan, whether it's for everybody or whether it's for children, for sure, you know. So there are different variants of it.
But again, Massachusetts is the only one who actually has launched it, gotten it off the ground and it seems to be working, at least according to those numbers.
ROBERTS: And proving a tough nut to crack across the country. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks. And of course, you can catch Dr. Gupta this weekend on his own program "HOUSE CALL," Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
And that brings us up to this morning's "Quick Vote" question since we're talking politics on this leap day. Do you think that we will know who the presidential nominees are after Tuesday's primaries? Those big primaries in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island.
Right now, 60 percent of you say yes, we'll know. They'll decide the contest. 40 percent don't think so. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We will continue to tally your votes and we'll bring you a final result just before we go off the air about an hour from now.
CHETRY: As we have seen with this election year, anything can happen. Don't count anyone out.
ROBERTS: Not yet.
CHETRY: Green Bay Packers fans recovering from a tough playoff loss and now another brief scare. The teams Web site reported that legendary quarterback Brett Favre was retiring. The Packer spokesman says it was a dummy page that went live for a few moments by mistake. The Web site made it in the event that Favre does decide to call it quits in his career. That's got to be reassuring though for Packer fans.
Rumors of Favre's retirement are as common as ice in the Wisconsin winter. His agent says he still has not made a decision though about next year. Just want to be ready to go.
ROBERTS: So, maybe it wasn't incorrect but just premature.
CHETRY: Exactly. All right. Well, in case you missed "Larry King Live" last night, will you want to see this. Larry got a dance lesson from Janet Jackson. So, how did it go? You be the judge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET JACKSON: Push your chest, let that arm out.
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Same arm.
JACKSON: Yes, and that bent leg, go out. Here you go. Bring this leg in, put that hand out. Hit your chest. And push it out. Let this -- no. Push this out and ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Maybe he wouldn't star in a "Rhythm Nation" video, but he actually has the makings of a great taekwondo form. So, he should feel better about himself there. And also, see, he is a slow dancer at heart.
ROBERTS: He is a ballroom dancer.
CHETRY: Very suave. Exactly. Well, congrats, Larry, you looked great anyway.
Senate Democrats are pushing a bill that they say would save homeowners from foreclosure. Republicans and the president though claim it does help lenders than families. Our Gerri Willis will sort it all out for us. She's on your financial security watch this morning.
Plus, Britain's Prince Harry recalled from combat in Afghanistan after his cover is blown. Breaking news just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Oils surge. Breaking $103 a barrel overnight. Your money and the race for presidency. Four candidates push in Texas today. The most politics in the morning. Terror threat, deadly poison found in a Las Vegas hotel room.
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